All members of the congregation may be expected to have good understanding of various portions of Scripture. Young and old, men and women alike, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, may have their hearts and minds illuminated through their personal study of the Scriptures. But in a distinctive way, it is the ordained teaching and ruling elders of the church that combine a position of authority alongside their understanding that qualifies them to read the Scriptures in worship.

“Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture” (1 Timothy 4:13)

Introduction

It’s a simple thing. Just a reading of Scripture. But who should read the Scriptures in worship? In response to this question, consider the following:

1. What is it that is being read?
2. Who should do the reading?
3. How should it be read?

1. What Is It That Is Being Read?

It’s the Old and New Testament Scriptures that are being read. Yes?

Not quite. It’s the old and new Covenant Scriptures that are being read. The Bible does not consist of two “last wills and testaments” of God. The Bible is a covenantal document. It contains the documents of the old covenant and the new covenant.

When someone reads the Bible to an assembly of God’s people, he is leading the people in a major aspect of a “covenant renewal ceremony.” The Lord of the Covenant himself speaks to renew his covenant with his people, and to lead them in the renewal of their solemn covenantal commitments. The reading of the covenantal documents formally reminds God’s people of his commitment to redeem a people to himself, and of the corresponding commitments of the people in response. These commitments for life and death are solemnly sealed in the covenant by divine oath and reciprocating human oath.

This process of renewing the covenant by reading the covenantal documents repeats an ancient procedure that goes back to the time of Moses. It has been re-enacted hundreds, even thousands of times over across the centuries. Note these recordings of the reading of the Scriptures in covenant renewal:

(1) Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” (Deut. 31:9-13 ESV).

Moses was renewing the covenant by reading the law to God’s assembled people in the plains of Moab just before they entered the land God promised in the covenant he made with Abraham. Embedded in this reading was the provision that this same ceremony of reading the law be rehearsed every year. The Levites and elders were entrusted with this special responsibility. This repeated practice ensured that each subsequent generation could participate in the covenant renewal ceremony by the public reading of the law.

(2) Moses had directed that after entering the land of promise, the nation should assemble for the renewing of the covenant (Josh. 8:30). In response to this specific command, Joshua assembled the people at Gerizim and Ebal.

Then he “read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them (Josh. 8:34-35 ESV).

Following the pattern established by Moses, Joshua renewed the covenant by the reading of the law.

(3) At the climax of the reform instituted by king Josiah, all Israel assembled for the renewal of the covenant:

The king went up to the house of the LORD, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD. And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant (2 Kings 23:2-3 ESV).

By the reading of the Book of the Covenant to all the assembled people, King Josiah renewed the covenant that God had established with his people. The reading of the law was at the heart of the covenant renewal process.

(4) It had been almost 100 years since Israel returned to the land from their exile to Babylon. The temple had been rebuilt, and the wall of Jerusalem was being resurrected. The people assembled in Jerusalem from all their villages. Ezra the priest led the people in a covenant renewal ceremony:

All the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.… the Levites helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading (Neh. 8:1-3, 7, 8 ESV).

This official reading of the law lasted from early morning until midday. Ezra and the other priests “read…clearly, and they gave the sense.”

These four instances, scattered across a thousand years from Moses in about 1400 BC to Ezra in about 440 BC, underscore the central role of the reading of the Scriptures to the assembled people of God. The solemn assembly for covenant renewal focuses on the reading of the written Scriptures.

The pattern is firmly set. The reading of Scripture to the people of God serves as an essential aspect of the renewal of the covenant.

One of earliest New Testament scriptures follows the same pattern. Paul concludes his first letter to the Thessalonians, which is very likely his earliest inspired writing, with these words:

I bind you by oath to have this letter read to all the brothers (1 Thess. 5:27 author’s translation).

The seriousness of his closing direction to the Thessalonians becomes evident when it is noted that Paul uses a word that contains the concept of “binding by oath.” He places his readers under a most solemn charge. What must they do?

They must read.

They must read this letter (of inspired Scripture).

They must read this letter to all the brothers (publicly).

Nothing could be clearer. Paul the Apostle to the Nations places the recipients of his God-inspired letter under a solemn oath. They must see that the inspired Scriptures are publicly read. The fact that the Apostle speaks in this most directive of manners indicates the seriousness of this charge. It must be done.

This solemn charge in connection with his first letter sets the pattern for all his subsequent letters. In concluding his letter to the Colossian church, Paul says:

When this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea (Col. 4:16).

The whole point of Paul’s writing his letters to the various churches, and the Holy Spirit’s inspiring them, is that they be read. They must be read publicly to all the brothers.

But why must this practice of reading the Scriptures to the assembled people of God be treated with such seriousness? Would it not be enough simply to pass the document around, and have it read in private among individuals and families?

This public reading of the Scripture is treated with such seriousness because it has the capacity to bind the whole community to the same principles—the principles operative for life under the new covenant. By the reading of Scripture, the people are bound together by the public pronouncement of their God-given principles and beliefs. They are together brought under the bonds of the new covenant people of God. Through the official reading of the inspired Scriptures, God speaks to renew his covenant commitments to his people, and the people respond by receiving the terms of their covenantal commitment to the Lord. Whatever portion of Scripture is being read, it has the same effect. For the whole of the Bible exists as a unified and coherent covenantal document.

It is generally recognized by evangelical Christians that the Bible is the inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God. But it is not so broadly understood that the Bible consists altogether of documents that bind them to God and to one another for life and death by the commitments of the covenant. This perspective introduces a sense of awesomeness into the moment of public reading of Scripture in every worship service. The God of the Covenant commits himself in a bond of life and death with his people.

But…who should read the Scriptures? Who should be given this solemn responsibility of publicly reading God’s Word to God’s assembled people? Who should perform the reading that plays such a vital part in the covenant renewal ceremony being regularly enacted in the worship services of the church?

2. Who Should Read the Scriptures?

Obviously in informal settings of reading at home or in a Bible study group, it would be quite appropriate for anyone who can read with clarity and some basic understanding to read the Scriptures. But the current question focuses more directly on the reading of Scripture in the formal setting of a Christian worship service. The people of God have been called together by the elders of the church as a worshipping assembly. In this assembly, all the basic elements appropriate to a proper worship service are represented, including the singing of God’s praises, intercessory prayers, confession of sin, a declaration of faith, the presentation of offerings, the preaching of the Word, the celebration of the sacraments—and the reading of Scripture.

Often preachers naturally tend to think of their sermon as the most important part of the worship service. They have worked hard, studied diligently, prayed much, and envisioned their ministry of the Word as meeting some critical need of the people of God.

But is the preaching of the Word actually a more significant moment in the worship service than the reading of Scripture? A sermon, as fine as it might be, is nonetheless a fallible representation of the truth of God. The perfect sermon never has been preached, and never shall be. But God himself speaks directly to his people at the reading of Scripture. God’s infallible Word comes forth from the mouth of the reader.

Give to God the place of honor. Let him speak! Let him address his people directly. Have faith in the power of the unadulterated word of God to communicate truth directly to his people. God’s Spirit works with the Word to infuse life into the hearts and souls of his people.

In this context of God himself speaking directly to his people, who should be the agent of this communication? One particular passage of Scripture specifically addresses this question. The Apostle Paul solemnly charges Pastor Timothy regarding his specific responsibilities as an ordained minister of the Word. Three items are included in this charge. As might be expected, “preaching” and “teaching” are listed as major gifts that Timothy must exercise. But neither of these critical items take first place in Paul’s list. Note well the first item listed in Paul’s charge:

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture..(1 Tim. 4:13).[i]

First in Paul’s charge is not Pastor Timothy’s preaching or teaching, which obviously are both critical to the fulfillment of his calling as a minister of the new covenant. Prior to these two items, Paul lists the public reading of Scripture. He does not treat this ministerial obligation lightly, as though it were an optional duty that could be delegated to someone else. Just as you do well to “pay attention” to the words of the prophets (2 Pet 1:19), so you must, as the Arndt and Gingrich Greek lexicon defines the term, “turn [your] mind to,” “be alert” regarding, “be careful, be on your guard,” “devote or apply [yourself] to” your public reading of Scripture. Focus your attention on this critical matter.[ii]

But where did Paul get this idea of stressing the public reading of Scripture for ordained ministers of the gospel? No doubt he got it from the very same records of Scripture going back to Moses, Joshua, Josiah and Ezra previously cited. In the long, unbroken history of covenant renewal ceremonies of God’s people, the ordained kings and priests of Israel were the ones who read the covenantal documents. This unbroken practice was followed in the synagogue system of the New Testament era, as seen in the experience of Jesus in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-21), Paul in Antioch (Acts 13:14, 15) and Timothy from his childhood (2 Tim. 3:14-17).

Ordained pastors following the practices of the reformers have regularly devoted themselves seriously to the “preaching” and “teaching” of the Word. But it is not at all clear that they have grasped with equal seriousness and devotion their calling to devote themselves to the public reading of Scripture. Instead of the pastor, various members of the congregation read the Scripture before the preaching of the Word. The minister would not think of relinquishing his calling to preach at the worship service to a variety of members from the congregation, and yet he surrenders this equally significant task of reading God’s Word to various members of the congregation, whether young or old, men or women.

Paul is not content with a single word of admonition. Four times in three consecutive verses he charges Timothy:

“Devote yourself! (1 Tim. 4:13).

“Do not neglect your gift! (1 Tim. 4:14).

“Be diligent in these matters!” (1 Tim. 4:15a).

“Give yourself wholly to them! (1 Tim. 4:15b).

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