Back to Course

1-2 Timothy and Titus: Pastoral Epistles

  1. Lesson One
    Overview of Pastorals (1 Timothy 1–6; 2 Timothy 3–4)
    20 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  2. Lesson Two
    False Teaching (1 Timothy 1; Titus 1–3; 2 Timothy 1–4)
    18 Activities
  3. Lesson Three
    Church Government (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1–2 Review)
    18 Activities
  4. Lesson Four
    Mentoring in Ministry (1 Timothy 1, 6, 2 Timothy 1–4 Review)
    21 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  5. Lesson Five
    Women in Ministry (1 Timothy 2–3, 5, 1 Corinthians 11 Review)
    21 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

Participants 30

Show more
Lesson Progress
0% Complete

Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

In describing his suffering, Paul appears to allude to the Old Testament to frame his trials. The passage in 2 Timothy 4:16-18 recalls Psalm 22:1-28, which is the same Psalm Jesus Himself identified with in His passion. The two passages are of different lengths and genres, but they refer to similar themes and a common situation.

  1. Read 2 Timothy 4:16-18 and Psalm 22 and compare the two readings. What comparisons do you see?  
Here’s some comparisons that we’ve come up with

Bible scholar Dr. David Ackerman has charted the common themes in 2 Timothy 4:16-18 and Psalm 22 as follows.

Theme Psalm 22 2 Timothy 4
A sense of having been forsaken 1-2, 6-7 16
Cry for help and deliverance 5, 9, 20 17
A mission to the nations 27-28 17
Delivery from death and the lion’s mouth 21 17
The theme of rescue 5, 9, 21 17
God’s sovereign rule 28 18

Table quoted from: David A. Ackerman, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus, 2016, pp. 380-381.

  1. What do you think Paul is trying to communicate with his allusion to Psalm 22 in 2 Timothy 4:16-18, which is also used similarly by Jesus in the Gospels?
Here’s what we think Paul is trying to communicate

In 2 Timothy 4:16-18, Paul is recalling both the Psalmist’s and Jesus’ own trials. Paul is presenting himself as an heir to the sufferings of Jesus and the persecution that Christ endured in his Passion.

It reminds us that Paul’s God is David’s God—YHWH. Paul too has encountered YHWH—in Jesus Christ.

Remember, Jesus has taken the place of both men—David and Paul—and experienced an even greater grief and loss. Paul’s allusion to this Psalm hints at the triumphant end of the Psalm:

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;

all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—

those who cannot keep themselves alive.

Posterity will serve him;

future generations will be told about the Lord.

They will proclaim his righteousness,

declaring to a people yet unborn:

He has done it!

Psalm 22:29-31 NIV