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The Dating of the Exodus
There is a great deal of debate as to the dating of the Exodus. Some scholars, based on archaeological evidence, place the Exodus in the 13th century BC. Others, citing both Biblical and extra-Biblical evidence, place it in the 15th century BC. To support the later dating, scholars like John Currid cite the massive building projects that took place in the 13th and 14th centuries BC. They also note that one of the greatest of the builders was Rameses II, who reigned between 1290 and 1224 BC, who built a new capitol city in his honor, named Pi-Ramesse (“Domain of Rameses”). Exodus 1:11 records that the Jews were used to build the cities of Pithom and Raamses. It is also important to note that it was not until the 13th century that Egypt lost its control over Canaan as a province. There are also Egyptian reliefs that depict the Israelite conquest of Canaan that date between 1224 and 1214 BC.
The most convincing evidence, though, places the Exodus in the 15th century BC. Scholars like Keil and Delitzsch begin with the termination of the 70 year exile, which took place in the first year of Cyrus’ sole reign (536 BC). Thus, dating backwards, the captivity began in 606 BC. According to the chronologies in the book of Kings, Judah was carried into captivity 406 years after the year the building of Solomon’s temple began, placing its beginning in 1012 BC. 1 Kings 6:1 also tells us that the building of Solomon’s temple began 480 years after the Exodus from Egypt, placing it at the year 1492 BC. Their dating concurs with the traditional Christian and Jewish chronologies which date the Exodus. This also concurs with archaeological evidence which shows that the likely date of the destruction of Jericho was in the early 1400s BC.
How do we understand this earlier dating of the Exodus in light of modern archaeology? First, archaeology is not an exacting science, but a lens through which to view history. Archaeological facts are largely the result of educated deductions and scientific hypotheses, not divine revelation. In terms of the specific evidence, Exodus 1:11 speaks of the building of tAnK.s.mi yrE[‘ (store cities), not capitol cities. There was likely a store city of Rameses already in existence when Rameses II build Pi-Ramesse. With respect to Egyptian influence over Canaan, Israel would not have been considered a kingdom by the Egyptians until the enthronement of Saul. Given the upheaval in the land during the time of Joshua’s conquest and the time of Judges, the point where Egypt would have lost all of it’s influence in the land would coincide with the later accounts of the judges or that of Samuel, where some sense of identity was firmly established in the land.
To set this event in its larger context, it is worth recognizing what is going on in the world surrounding Egypt and the wilderness at the point of the Exodus. Assuming an early date of 1492 for the Exodus to have begun, the city of Sparta would be formed two years into the Israelite wilderness wanderings. In addition, the nations of Athens (1556 BC), Troy (1546), and Thebes (1493) had been founded at this point. What would later become the Olympian Games (then called the Panathenaean Games) also had its beginnings during this era (1495). The Areopagus was established in 1504 BC, and in 1493 Cadmus is credited with bringing the 15 Phoenician letters into Greece, which gradually changed in form to become the Romans letters used predominantly in Europe and America today. Though these events may not seem to bear very heavily upon the Biblical text, it is important to note that this era was a time when civilizations were being born and establishing themselves. Growing up in the Pharaoh’s household, Moses would have been aware, particularly of the politics of these (largely Greek) new nations. Who better than one trained in such legal codes to receive and teach the Law of God to God’s people? Who better to organize God’s people into a nation than one who had watched nations form?
I am My Beloved’s
“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine—shepherding in the lilies.”
(Song of Solomon 6:3)
Beloved. That is a name that is given by God to his own people, and as a reflection of God’s use of that word toward us, we use that term to refer to one another. Beloved… The word literally means “the one who is loved,” that is simple enough, but oh, what connotations that word carries for us in life. Believer, do you recognize that you are the beloved of Christ? When you think of yourself in relationship to God the Father, do you think of yourself as the object of his love? So often, we talk a great deal about what God did for us and of the love that Jesus demonstrated for us on the cross, but sometimes we don’t let those words sink home. Do you really know that God loves you personally, individually, deeply, and passionately?
I remember what it was like when my wife, Denise, and I were first courting one another. Her simple presence in the room was enough to make my heart skip a beat. The excitement of the fact that this beautiful woman loved me was something that I found to be overwhelming. And though the dynamics of that relationship have changed dramatically over the past decade, there is a peace and a confidence that I get as a result of knowing that I always have a safe place to return to and loving arms to hold me. And Christ wants us to understand that this is the kind of relationship that he wants to have with his people. It is not enough that he redeems us, but he wants us to have a love affair with him as well. He wants us to know the excitement that comes from a relationship with one who loves us so deeply and unconditionally that pretenses have no place—there is no dark spot of our lives that we can hide from him, yet he chooses to love us anyway.
And though, over time the initial excitement of this relationship to Christ may wane some, there still should be the wonderful peace that comes from knowing that no matter where you happen to go or what trials that you happen to experience, you will always have Christ at your side, loving you, holding you, strengthening you, carrying you… And knowing this peace—knowing that you always have a safe place to retreat to in the arms of Christ and a promise that you cannot be plucked from his hands—knowing this peace should give you the confidence to take chances for the gospel. When you know you are loved so fully and deeply by Christ, you can risk the rejection of the world because you are never without a safe place to retreat to—a place that we are never separated from, for Christ will never, no never, leave the side of his loved ones.
Part of our problem is that we often do not or have not stopped to experience and enjoy the love that Christ has for us. We do not dwell in it or on it; we do not rest safely within his arms. Friends, think of the peace and security that you enjoy resting safely in the arms of your parent or your spouse. No words need to be exchanged, but when words are spoken they are both calming and assuring. Can you say this about the times when you rest in Christ? Do you deliberately take time dwelling in meditation on God’s word, prayerfully reflecting on a given passage of scripture, that you can draw your security out of such a relationship? Beloved, how stale a marriage is where parties to not communicate with one another or rest in each other’s arms—how stale our faith grows—how stagnant it gets, when we do not rest in the security that comes from knowing that we are the beloved of God. And that security comes from spending time in prayer and meditation upon God’s word.
The Horn of Salvation
“and he raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David, his servant.”
(Luke 1:69)
The theme of the “horn of salvation” has important Old Testament Biblical-Theological implications, yet, before we delve back into the Old Testament history of this language, it is important that we set the context of the passage and make several observations:
- Note that this statement is part of the prophesy of Zechariah at his son, John’s, birth. It is prophetic in its scope, but note the use of the past tense with the verb “raised.” This is what is called the “prophetic past,” and it is a common element in Hebrew prophesy. Rather than speak of what God will do in the future tense (which the prophets do as well), the prophets speak of what God will do in the future but use past tense verbs to communicate the absolute nature of this event coming to pass. In other words, the prophet is saying that we can be so sure that God will fulfill this event that we can speak as if it has already taken place even though it is yet to take place. Such language is always used with prophesies that are unconditional and irrevocable. Here, Zechariah is prophesying about the reality of God having fulfilled all of his covenantal promises in the coming of Jesus—John being the forerunner; Zechariah is certain that even in the coming of this child in the womb, God would fulfill all of his plans through his Messiah and there was nothing that the enemies of God’s plan could do about it. Even the might of the Roman Empire is but a bug to be squashed under the heel of our God!
- Note for whom this promise is given: for “us.” How is this, when the coming of Christ will bring about the in-grafting of gentiles? Judaism was never meant to be an isolationist religion—a central temple, yes, but isolationist, no. They were to bring in converts from all of the nations, yet rarely worked to do so. One of the great Messianic promises is that this Messiah would bring in gentiles to the fold, that people from every tribe and nation would come to faith and be part of God’s covenant people. See the prophesies of Zechariah 14, for example, which speak of all the nations coming together to celebrate the festival of Booths together as one people—signaled by the coming of the Messiah. Even as far back as the creation account, where Adam and Eve were commanded to reproduce and fill the world with their kind (Genesis 1:28)—was this not for a purpose? Certainly, it was to subdue the creation so that God would be worshiped in every corner of the earth. This same commandment God gave to Noah and his children (Genesis 9:7), yet, in their sin they settled in Babel and God confused their language to force them into obedience. This is the great downfalls of mankind—refusing to give proper and right worship to God the creator—in Christ, once again, God is hardening the hearts of the Jewish people to bring in the gentiles—forcing them into obedience to the command to spread God’s worship throughout the earth. Thus the promise of the coming Messiah is for “us” from the Jewish perspective, for it is God fulfilling his plan for them.
- “in the house of David:” This communicates the agency by which God will fulfill this promise—by the line of David. We might as easily translate this Greek preposition (ejn) as “by” or “through.” It is not so much that the promise will be fulfilled within the house of David, but it will be fulfilled through one who is from said line. Note too that John the Baptist was from the line of Aaron, not the line of David. There is absolutely no confusion in Zechariah’s mind as to just what is going on with his son. It is interesting to see the change in Zechariah that has taken place in these past 9 months of his life. In the earlier account, he is seen as humble, but doubting God’s promise. Here he is boldly proclaiming the truth about what God is doing in the lives of the people of Israel. Sometimes, when God silences our lips from speaking, we can finally hear the truth that God is speaking to us through his word. We may be moving into some degree of speculation here, but I don’t think that it is too unlikely that Zechariah would have spent much of his imposed silence seeking out God’s face in prayer and the study of the scriptures—perhaps we would all do well to experience such a trial.
- Finally, note the last clause in the passage. Normally, our English Bibles translate this word as “servant” (as I have translated above). Yet, in Greek, it is the term paivß (pais), not douvloß (doulos) as one might expect. The word paivß (pais) is related to the word pai/dion (paidion) and can also be translated as “child,” which is important to note. In speaking of one’s servant in language that would denote kinship, it communicates the idea that there is a significant level of affection that is found between the Master and the servant. A good example of this kind of affection is found in the account of Jesus’ healing of the Centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:5-13). Were this an ordinary servant, why would the Centurion have gone to such trouble to see the servant healed? Certainly it would have been a sign of disgrace for a Roman Centurion to go to a Hebrew Rabbi for healing. Clearly, there is great affection within this relationship. In the case of Zechariah’s prophesy, this concept of affection is especially pertinent. David is one whom scripture describes as being a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22) and it is to David that the promise comes to establish an eternal kingship (2 Samuel 7:12-16). Thus, we might even go as far to translate this clause, “in the house of David, his beloved servant” or even, “in the house of David, his child.” Either conveys the idea that Zechariah is communicating.
With the context of Zechariah’s prophesy before us, let us look at the passages that also communicate this idea:
- 2 Samuel 22:3. At the end of David’s life, he composes a song of praise to God that we find recorded here, in chapter 22 of Second Samuel. David sings of God’s fullness and of his provision even in the face of certain destruction. At the beginning of this song of praise, David uses a series of parallel statements that communicate the nature of God’s deliverance. God is described as deliverer, rock, refuge, shield, horn of my salvation, stronghold, refuge (a second time), and savior. What can be said about all of these images?
1. They are all defensive images—this speaks primarily of God’s redemption and not of his judgment upon his foes.
2. They are all passive images in terms of David. One is defended within the fortress or by the high and firm rock. One takes refuge within these safe places, the places do not move from here to there.
3. One may find rest in all of these places. One of the great themes in the Old Testament is that of seeking rest from one’s enemies. David is saying that as tumultuous as his life has been, rest has been given to him in the refuge of God alone.
4. The Hebrew term for “horn” that is used here is the term !r<q, (keren), and is normally used to describe an animal’s horn or something made in that general shape. In particular, it is also this term that is used to describe the four horns of the altar of burnt offering (Exodus 38:2). There are a number of things that are particularly interesting about this connection.
o While we don’t know the origin of the tradition, it seems that in Ancient Israel, people held the belief that clinging to the horns of the altar would provide them sanctuary and refuge from their oppressors. In 1 Kings 1:49-53, we find Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, running and clinging to the horns of the altar for protection. Soon afterward, as recorded in 1 Kings 2:28-35), we also find Joab doing the same. It seems that Solomon puts an end to this tradition, for while he pardons Adonijah, he has Joab slain while still clinging to the altar’s horns.
o In a similar vein, though this is a negative example, when God speaks through the prophet Amos, commanding him to speak of the judgment that is coming upon the people, one thing he states is that he will “cut off” the horns of the altar at the time of said judgment, implying that the presence of the horns on the altar was at least symbolic of God’s protection for his people—that in this judgment that is coming, there will be no place of refuge for the people to go (see Amos 3:14).
Note that this is not the term that refers to a musical horn made from the horn of an animal—that word is rp;Av (shophar) and the two words are not interchangeable.
- Psalm 18:2. This is the psalm that is based on the Psalm above, written by David as a praise to God for deliverance from his enemies, thus, even though the language varies slightly, the idea remains the same, the language of the “horn of salvation” is again used to describe taking refuge in the Lord.
Thus, how are we to understand Jesus as the “horn of salvation”? The answer should be fairly obvious at this point; the horn of salvation is a symbol of a place wherein one can find refuge from the assaults of this world—the greatest enemy we face being sin and temptation to sin. And, indeed, that is exactly the context in which Zechariah is speaking. In Luke 1:68, Zechariah speaks of God having redeemed his people, then in verse 69, he speaks of that redemption in terms of God having raised up the horn of salvation. As the praise song goes, “He is our refuge in days of trouble, he is our shelter in times of storm, He is our tower in the day of sorrow, our fortress in the time of war.” Oh, beloved, God is a strong fortress wherein which we can rest from the oppressors of this sinful world—he is our horn of salvation, clinging to which we cannot be destroyed and our sin before God is forgiven—we are truly redeemed. What a wonderful promise that God has given us in Jesus Christ! As David also wrote:
“Serve Yahweh with fear and rejoice with trembling!
Kiss the Son lest he become angry and you perish in the way!
For his anger will soon burn!
Blessed are those who take refuge in him!”
(Psalm 2:11-12)
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
-From John Rippon’s selection of hymns
And in the spirit of Zechariah’s prophesy of the coming Christ:
Say to those who are fearful hearted,
‘Do not be afraid,’
‘The Lord, your God, is strong, with his mighty arm,’
‘when you call on his name,’
‘He will come and save…’
-Fitts & Sadler
Bought Out and Set Free
“But may it not be for me to boast if it is not in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”—Galatians 6:14
“Once a man sees himself in the light of the cross, he sees the horror of that self-centered view in its every aspect.” -DM Lloyd-Jones
“God’s chief end is to glorify himself with a view to bringing man to enjoy him forever”
-J. Edwards
How often when asked to witness our faith to others do we begin with “this is what God did for me.” What a sad statement it is, when our view of salvation is centered on ourselves. I am not the object of redemptive history; God is. What a skewed view we have in the church.
Part of the power of the cross, when brought to bear on the lives of God’s people, is to break this idea that there is anything about the process of salvation that we deserve. We are but wretches before God, our righteousness, as Paul put it, is nothing more than a filthy rag (and we won’t discuss that imagery). We are nothing more than desperate beggars brought into the house before the storm. Yet, somehow, once we are in the house, we begin to think ourselves the master of the place. We see the meal that is brought to us as something that is deserved and we see the comforts within as our rightful place to recline.
When I was in High School, I worked for a wealthy couple tending their property. They had sixty acres of land and it was my job to keep it up and to do whatever odd jobs they had for me. Each year at Christmas, the St. Clair family had a huge and wonderful party for all of their friends. They often had as many as 70 people in their home for these parties. One year, they hired me to help direct traffic with people coming and going. Maryland winters are often quite cold, and I stood outside the festive home, all bundled up, directing people where to park.
After the party was well underway and the guests had all arrived, Mr. St. Clair came outside and invited me into their home to enjoy the festivities. Once inside, he introduced me as if he were introducing an honored guest and instructed me to eat my fill from the buffet table.
I did eat and was welcomed warmly by the guests, but at the same time, I had an overwhelming feeling of being out of place. Here I was, a high school student from a modest family, dressed in jeans and a sweat shirt, with mussed up hair from being under a stocking cap all night, mingling with some of the most wealthy people of the region who were dressed to the nines. I enjoyed myself on that evening immensely, but never once did I begin to feel that I deserved to be a part of these festivities. My presence was solely due to the grace of the host.
Our attitude toward our salvation ought to be the same as mine was at that party. How we don’t deserve to be present in the master’s house, but God has brought us in out of the cold, introduced us as an honored guest, and sat us at his table as his child. And why does he do this? Because of the work of his son on the cross. Oh, how we ought to cherish that cross! We are the recipients of God’s wonderful grace. It is something that we must never take for granted!
The New Man
“But may it not be for me to boast if it is not in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”—Galatians 6:14
Oh how often we take this casually. We are made new in Christ, but so often we daydream back toward the sinful days of our past and forget the wretchedness of our life apart from Christ. I was reading the biography of John Paton recently. Paton was a missionary to the cannibals of the New Hebrides islands (and a minister in the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland, I might add). One of the things that he described in his journals was the insatiable craving for human flesh that these cannibals had. The small island where he served housed no less than 10 warring tribes. These tribes would roast the bodies of the enemy warriors they had killed in battle. Their lust for flesh was so strong, though, that when fresh bodies were scarce and they had no enemies to eat, they would dig up the corpses of recently buried people to feast on their remains. Depravity begets depravity.
Yet, I would argue that we are not all that different. We might not be in the habit of digging up dead bodies to eat, but drug addicts often sink to that same level of desperation to get their next high. Gambling addicts mortgage their homes and steal from their businesses to feed their craving. Sex addicts will risk ruining their marriages and the lives of their children for one more night of illicit ecstasy. Work-aholics will miss every important events in the life of their family for the opportunity to make another dollar even when the things that money can buy can never match the value of a presence in the life of a child. Depravity begets depravity.
But we, by virtue of the work of Christ on the cross, are made new. We are no longer bound by the downward cycle of sin. Yes, we will still sin, but there is forgiveness in Christ and there is strength through his Holy Spirit so we can resist temptation. Light has been shined in the darkness of our sinful lives and for the first time we can begin to see the path that we are on, albeit dimly. Let us not look back, then, at the way our lives used to be. The Christian has no use for the depravity of his old man for depravity begets depravity. We are called to be Holy as God is Holy. The contrast could not be more drastic.
Signposts
“But may it not be for me to boast if it is not in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”—Galatians 6:14
“Today, missed some fine opportunity of speaking a word for Christ. The Lord saw that I would have spoken as much for my honor as for his, and therefore, he shut my mouth. I see that a man cannot be a faithful, fervent minister until he preaches just for Christ’s sake, until he gives up trying to attract people to himself, and seeks to attract them to Christ. Lord, give me this.” -R.M. McCheyne
Spurgeon once likened the Bible to a road map of England. He pointed out on the map that every road, even if through a circuitous route, led into London. So too, he argued, did every verse, lead to Christ. And no matter how good your skill as an orator, no matter how well you have mastered the ancient languages, and no matter how apt your sermon illustrations are, if you do not point people to Christ, your preaching has wasted everyone’s time. We must ask ourselves of our preaching what Dr. Lloyd-Jones asked of our living, “Is God the chief end and object of your life?”
This is the model that I have tried to adopt within my own preaching. If I am to preach, I must become a beacon that points clearly to Christ and the cross. Exegesis and structure and illustrations and everything else that goes into writing a sermon is terribly important, but just like that road map, it does not matter how detailed and in-depth my directions are, if they lead the listener to any place but to Christ, then all my time and preparation are wasted and I might as well have said nothing.
In turn, this is the model that is set before us in living. We must constantly be asking ourselves if what we are doing is pointing people to Christ. Peter reminds us in his first letter that it is by our humble and submissive faithfulness to our Lord and Savior that people will be drawn to Christ. Too often we treat winning souls as a conquest. We hold revivals thinking that the Spirit of God somehow follows our lead when it comes to changing the hearts of man. This model could not be further from the truth. It is true that the Holy Spirit has moved at times to bring revival to a community through the preaching of one of his servants, yet for us to walk in with the expectation that we will be the next Whitefield or Wesley is sheer vanity. If you want to see true revival in our land, then it will come most reliably through Christians living faithful and humble lives in the sight of an unbelieving world. Our lives should be as street signs pointing to Christ, saying, “don’t look at me, but look at my Lord; I am merely a pointer so that He might be glorified.”
Is this how we approach the day? Is this how we approach witnessing? I suggest that it usually isn’t. So often, like Robert Murray McCheyne, we miss the opportunity to faithfully witness because our directions revolve around ourselves and do not point clearly to Christ and him crucified. Let us be deliberate in our lifestyle with Christ as the goal of every direction we give.
Walls
“But may it not be for me to boast if it is not in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”—Galatians 6:14
“The wall in Berlin, you see, is not the first wall that has been built in this world to separate people from one another. The World has always had its iron curtains. We change the terminology but the fact has always been there: the middle wall of partition, Jews on one side, Gentiles on the other side, and between them, a bitter hatred and animosity, which we can scarcely even imagine.” -D.M. Lloyd-Jones
What I find to be interesting about walls is that we are so careless about how and where we put them up. Walls do not have to be bad things. A good, stout wall can provide a defense against the attacks of enemy armies. It can bring comfort to all who are within it when the guardsmen are alert on the ramparts. I have endeavored to make my home that kind of place. My desire is that the sin and foolishness of the world not be able to encroach upon those who live within the walls of my home. This carries over to how I treat my wife and son and it carries over to the expectations that I place on them. Our home, I intend, is to be a place of building up, not a place of tearing down.
Likewise, our churches should reflect the same thing. Like shepherds, pastors must protect and build up the flock that God has given them. The church needs to be a refuge from the infighting and the frantic pace of the world. The walls that we build around the church are not to keep people out, rather they are to keep the seeds of the serpent that inundate our culture out. In a very real way, the church within should look very different than the world without.
Yet, sin muddles things up, doesn’t it? Sin causes us to build walls inside of our homes and within our church. No longer are the walls a sign of defense, but they become a thing of separation. We have a long tradition of building these kinds of walls, built with stones of pride and ignorance. The first of these human walls was built as far back as Eden, when Adam and Eve chose to break covenant with God and eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. While we don’t talk about it much, the thing that I think is amazing is that neither Adam nor Eve was repentant when confronted by God; they just played the blame-game. In that act, a wall was created between creation and God that could never be breached from our side.
But what a gracious God we serve. God paid the price of his only son on the cross, breaching the wall from the other side. Like prisoners of war that have been broken from our dark and filthy cells and brought out into the light, we who have been saved from our sin are indebted beyond comprehension to our Savior! We put up a wall that we could never hope to break down, but Christ shattered it!
To those who would accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, believing in their heart and confessing with their lips, God has given them eternal life. And he builds another wall around them, and what a wall it is! For this wall is one that does not separate one from God, but is a wall that joins them together in covenant permanently, for God will permit none of his chosen to slip from his hand (John 10:29).
We must take the time to survey the walls that we have constructed in our lives. We must look for cracks in those meant to defend against the attacks of the evil one and we must seek to tear down the ones that separate us from our families, our neighbors, and others around us. Christ has torn down the wall between us and God, let us tear down the walls between us and man that we might take the gospel to every corner of the world and apply it to every corner of our life.
Commandos of the Cross
“But may it not be for me to boast if it is not in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”—Galatians 6:14
“The power of the devil, the power of evil, is so great that every human being ever born into the world has been defeated by it.” -D.M. Lloyd-Jones
I am sure that you have rented or watched movies before that were recommended to you by a friend, but once you watched them, you sat aghast, wondering why ever this friend would have suggested such a film. A few years ago, my wife and I rented one of “these” kinds of films. I don’t recall the title but the movie was basically a modern rendition of the Faust story, where a Lawyer makes a pact with the devil to get to the top of his profession. Sadly, as is the way with most contemporary films, the Devil was portrayed in a good light and the lawyer’s decision was shown as a noble one. There was one redeeming line within this movie. The main character and the Devil were discussing “means” and the Devil made this comment. “The best thing that I ever did was to convince mankind that I do not exist.” How true this statement is.
In The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis, Lewis develops much of the same idea. Wormwood is constantly urged by his Uncle Screwtape to manipulate things from the background. I know that as I read that book, I was convicted of many sins that I had never even thought were within my life. In his book, Out of the Silent Planet, Lewis describes fallen earth as a darkened place. The people in Malecandra (Mars) cannot peer into the affairs of men. Oh how we can say with the Apostle Paul that we see through a glass darkly in this world. Even the humanist, Mark Twain, understood this idea that our eyes are clouded to the truth when he misquoted Paul by saying, “we see through a glass eye darkly.” Of course, one sees nothing through a glass eye at all!
We are born into a mess of sin in our lives. There is nothing we can do about it. It is all around us and it is within us. It does not take very long before you realize, as a parent, that your little baby is quite sinful. In fact, I would argue that anyone who denies the doctrine of Original Sin could never have had children. We are born spiritually dead on arrival. Not only can we not get away from it on our own, but we cannot understand why we ought to get away from it on our own. Pelagius argued that if you ought to do something you are capable of doing it. Yet, sin blinds us even from understanding what we ought do. One of the themes of the Epistle of James is being a hearer and a doer of the word. You cannot be a doer if you have not heard, but you cannot even really hear without a movement of the Holy Spirit in your life enabling you to hear it and internalize it. Without the work of the Holy Spirit you can no more expect someone to act upon the preached Word of God than you can expect the stones of the Church’s foundation to act upon it.
And here is the triumph of the Cross! Satan may ”own” us at birth, but we, the elect, are more like prisoners of war that God will send, in his time, the special forces to rescue through the power of the Holy Spirit. We often do not think of ourselves as soldiers or that we are at war; this is Satan convincing us that he is not at work. But the teachers and preachers of the Word of God are in a sense the Special Operations team of the church. We are fully equipped through the power of the Holy Spirit, but we are operating deep in enemy territory to seek and save those captive souls for the Lord Jesus Christ. If that is the case, we, like the Special Forces, need to be about rigorous training throughout life. Our weapons are the sword of scripture and the rifle of prayer.
But the victory is not ours to claim. We are simply instruments, servants, working in our master’s household and for his glory. Christ was the ultimate Special Force, for it is he that faced the very wrath of God for the sins of his people. When we meditate on that it ought to make us rejoice and weep at the same time. It ought to make us rejoice for that battle has been won and we, who are believers in and on the Lord Jesus Christ have been saved. And it ought to make us weep, for it is because of our sin that the Lord Jesus had to suffer so. We ought to reflect on this always.
Do Not Love the World
“But may it not be for me to boast if it is not in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”—Galatians 6:14
The cross of Christ is not a simple stop on the road of life, but it is the very road to life. Jesus did not stop at telling the Christian simply to take up their cross, but he commanded that they follow. Too many people think that the “taking up” is the most important thing. They might struggle to lift the burden, but once it is squarely upon their shoulders, they say, “enough of that,” and promptly drop the burden on the dirt. This is not the way that Christ has set before us. Yes, we must heft the cross that the Lord calls us to bear, but we must carry that cross, following Jesus. It will not be a pleasant load, for sure. There will be times when the splinters and the knots of the wood will dig deeply into your exposed back. You will be made to carry it across rough fields, potholes, dense brush, and the like. But even in the most difficult, painful, and unpleasant times, it will be a sweet load to bear, for it is the load of your savior.
Before I became a Christian, I gloried in the world. In fact, I went out of my way to draw attention to myself. I would do wilder and wilder stunts and gimmicks as if to say “look at me!” Some of these things were quite silly and foolish, but many were downright shameful. Not only was there no good within me, but I paraded and gloried in that which was detestable. The problem that arose when I became a believer was not one of grieving over my past wicked ways, but of putting those ways behind me, and not looking back.
This is the way of all believers. It is not good enough to simply confess that you have sinned and then go on living like a pagan; repentance means to turn around. Sadly, in my own life, there have been many when I have stumbled under the weight of trial and temptation. My heart has followed the example of Lot’s wife, looking back and longing for what I cannot have.
A pastor friend of mine once argued that the reason that Christians hold onto their sins so long is that human nature makes us hold on to things until they are too painful to grasp. We are like children reaching for the stove. At first we might receive a simple, “no” or a hand slap. But as we persist in trying to reach for the stove, the discipline becomes much more severe. This is not because our parents take joy in disciplining us, but it is because they want to prevent us from being burned severely. Sometimes the Holy Spirit’s fire of sanctification may seem too much to bear, but the sting of spiritual discipline will mature us where the fire of sin will consume.
So often, we find we are greatly tempted to look back fondly at the life God has saved us from. When that happens, let us remember well that the life God saved us from may seem sweet to the memory, but was only filled with bitterness once it passed the tongue. Let us be a people who live for their Lord; who keep eyes focused on the finish-line of heaven; and who never look back at our forsaken sins.
Shouts and Whispers
“But may it not be for me to boast if it is not in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”—Galatians 6:14
“I know of nothing so wonderful in the whole world today [than the cross]. That is why I do not preach topical sermons, I have something to tell you that is worth listening to!”
-D.M. Lloyd-Jones
I am going to gripe just a bit to get it out of my system—accept my apologies in advance. The question that I have is this. How many preachers can claim, with Dr. Lloyd-Jones, that they have something to say that is worth listening to? And if they do, why are so many of them being silent about it? When there is a report of an incoming tornado, the radios buzz with noise. When a major event happens in our community, not only is the grapevine buzzing, but it is announced in the streets with excitement. But what greater thing is there to announce or to hear than the news of the cross?
Why is this? Do we as Christians not have an urgent message to proclaim? Do we consider ministry something that is only done by trained professionals? Does the message of the cross of Christ weary us? Is it too inconvenient to take the time to share the Gospel with someone you have met? If this is the case, I say shame on you. We ought to leap with joy at the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus Christ!
I do not mean to disparage my brothers in ministry or in the church. I love them and I love you dearly. And there are many who are going out of their way to serve God both locally and elsewhere. It is not these that I gripe about, but it is those who wish to see the fruit of God’s blessing without being willing to plant in the spring. Yes, this is one of my soap-boxes. My wife tries to hide them from me, but I usually find them without difficulty. Some may think that I am a bit off my rocker, wanting the Gospel preached to every person in the city which I live and in the world which God has set me in. But, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the life-blood of the church. Without it, she dies. My prayer is that each of us would take the standard of the cross and raise it high in our lives. May it be seen from Jackson to Matherville, from Mississippi to Maryland, and from America to every corner of the earth! Yet, as far as it may reach, it needs to start with our own lives as Christians. We have a message to tell, and it is a wonderful one. The question that we must ask ourselves is whether or not we believe it is wonderful enough to step out and share.
The Cross: Lifeline or Lodestone
“But may it not be for me to boast if it is not in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”—Galatians 6:14
“The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is either an offence to us or else it is a thing above everything else in which we glory… These are the only two positions—offence, or glory.” D.M. Lloyd-Jones
Sadly, the cross in our society has become more of an ornament than it is a symbol of our Lord’s passion and our redemption. People have taken that old rugged cross, sanded out all of the burs and splinters, added some decorative beveling to the corners, stained it, and coated it with eight careful coats of polyurethane. The resultant cross is something beautiful to behold with the eye but has lost all traces of the savior who had hung there. The resultant cross is something that can be casually dangled from the neck for good luck but does little to remind us just what our salvation cost.
While many Christians do not wear a cross for this reason, which is ultimately idolatry, I prefer to wear, a cross. Yet, when I wear a cross around my neck, I see it as a brand of ownership, always reminding me to whom I belong. According to Levitical Law, when a slave is freed, if he chooses to remain a slave in the service of his master, his master is to take him into a doorpost and drive an awl through his ear (presumably to add a stud or ring) as a sign of that permanent ownership (Deuteronomy 15). While I do not suggest that all Christians to enlist their pastors to start driving awls through their ears, the principle is the same. I see the cross as a sign of ownership. My slavery to Christ cannot and will not be rescinded.
The bottom line is, though, that there is no middle ground when it comes to your understanding of the cross. You either glory in it–as it is and for what it is–or you hate it and all that it stands for. When you hate it, you are prone to cover it up and smooth it over, making it more acceptable to your sensibilities. The problem is that God is not concerned about our sensibilities. We must conform our lives to the image of God, not attempt to conform God to our image.
Before I came to seminary, I served as an interim pastor of two small Methodist churches in the country. One of those churches, in their sanctuary, had what I considered to be the most elegant cross that I have ever seen. It was made from rough-cut fence-post lumber and lashed together. The cross was rough, full of splinters, the beams were not symmetrical or completely straight, and it looked as if it had weathered a thousand storms. To me, it was a thing of beauty. Why? Because it was a constant reminder of the cost my savior paid for my soul. The cross will be either our lifeline or our lodestone in this sea of the world; there is no “neutral buoyancy” anywhere within it.
The Wondrous Cross
“But may it not be for me to boast if it is not in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”—Galatians 6:14
“The Cross is the strength of the minister. I, for one, would not be without it for the world. I should feel like a soldier without weapons, like an artist without his pencil, like a pilot without his compass, like a laborer without his tools. Let others, if they will, preach the law and morality. Let others hold forth the terrors of hell and the joys of heaven. Let others drench their congregations with teachings about the sacraments and the church. Give me the cross of Christ. This is the only lever which has ever turned the world upside down hitherto and made men forsake their sins. And if this will not do it, nothing will. A man may begin preaching with a perfect knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew; but he will do little or no good among his hearers unless he knows something of the cross. Never was there a minister who did much for the conversion of souls who did not dwell much on Christ crucified. Luther, Rutherford, Whitefield, M’Cheyne were all most eminent preachers of the cross. This is the preaching that the Holy Ghost delights to bless. He loves to honor those who honor the cross.” -J.C. Ryle
After preaching at the homeless shelter regularly for about three or four months I began to become frustrated. I was constantly facing the same kind of issues and failures in the lives of the men. I felt as if we had dealt with this or that issue in a previous sermon and now we should be able to move on. To be fair, there is a lot of turnover at the shelter, so we dealt with many new people all of the time, but the real problem was not in the men, the real problem was with me. My pride was telling me many things, but ultimately my pride was telling me that my preaching was about what I was interested in and not about what these men needed. When pride finds its way into preaching, the cross is the first thing that gets left out.
If the cross is not at the center of my life and my message, it means that I have forgotten how truly wonderful a gift and message the cross is. As Paul, we ought to revel in the cross. We are not to minimize it, spiritualize it, turn it into a decoration, or to apologize for it. The cross is our hope! As ugly and wretched as that cross was, it is the center for the most magnificent and wondrous gift that could ever be given, and was given for me. Without the cross, it is only judgment and condemnation that lies in my path.
As I struggled with this idea and with my pride, I ran into a quote from Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon described the Bible as a roadmap of the area around London. He challenged someone to show him a road that did not lead, even if the path were circuitous, into the heart of London. The man could find none. “The Bible, too,” Spurgeon said, “is like that map. Every verse in scripture either points to or is a direct result of the work of Jesus Christ. And if in your preaching you do not point clearly toward Christ, directing your congregation to follow the map, then you have wasted everyone’s time.” Christ is not only to be at the heart of our preaching, he is what motivates preaching, drives our preaching home in the hearts of our congregation, and he is the very reason that our congregation is drawn to worship in the first place.
And for the cross of Christ to be the center of a preacher’s message, the cross must be the center of his life. And while this message is essential for the preacher to learn, it is also a message that is essential for the life of every Christian. The cross is our only source of hope; it is the bridge through which sinful man can be brought into relationship with a holy God; it is the roadmap through which eternal life may be found; and it is the standard for the church today—a church in the wilderness, looking to it to be spared death. The cross of Christ means salvation and if it is not the center of the life of the Christian, then whatever is will likely lead him astray.
We sing of the “Wondrous Cross” of Christ in worship, but do we take the time to ponder the wonder of the cross and what happened on that day, nearly 2000 years ago. Do we simply see the cross at a point in history or do we glory in it as the apostle did? My fear is that we don’t. As we ponder the cross of Christ, let us remember that God did not have to do what he did for us, yet he chose to send his son to die on the cross that those who would call on the name of Jesus would be saved from eternal damnation. We do not deserve what he did on that frightful day, but let us proclaim God’s glory that he did.
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
-Isaac Watts
Reverence, the Image of God, and Politics
“revere all, love the brotherhood, fear God, revere the king.”
(1 Peter 2:17)
Reverence is a term that we hardly ever apply to life anymore, especially not toward others and even more especially not toward the king (or president and governors…). Reverence denotes placing a high value on someone’s head. For example, if someone shows you a priceless book, perhaps an original manuscript of Milton’s Paradise Lost that contains Milton’s own handwriting and notes, you would treat it with far more deference than you would a paperback science fiction novel. The reason that you treat it with reverence is because of the inherent value of the item.
Yet what Peter is telling us first in this verse is that other humans ought to be treated with reverence. Why? Because they are created by God and your attitude toward them is part of the way you witness Jesus Christ to them. It may be that it is your reverence toward your neighbor that guides him to salvation.
This has a great deal of ramifications in our lives today. First, it means that we must take other’s needs very seriously, even when they may seem silly or insignificant to us. For example, we might think it silly to wear gloves while handling a book. Yet, if that book is ancient, the oils on our hands can damage the manuscript. We might not understand the ways and reasons that our neighbor does what he or she does, but we need to treat those ways with dignity and respect.
This is very much the idea the Paul is getting at in 1 Corinthians where he is talking about food ways and stumbling blocks. If what you are doing would cause your brother to stumble, cease doing it. You cease not for your own sake, but for the sake of the other person’s faith. This is what it means to revere a person.
And if you take seriously the idea of revering a person simply on the basis of their being a human being, which God has made in His image, that puts abortion in a different perspective. No longer can you justify abortion on the basis of a mother’s “rights to her body,” but you must deny abortion out of reverence toward that little child. It puts euthanasia in a different light as well. It puts the care of the homeless, the disabled, the homebound, the elderly in nursing homes, and the nameless people you pass on the bus, at the grocery store, etc…, all of these people, in a different light. Each of these not only should be treated with dignity because they bear the image of God, but you who understand these things, now have an obligation to respect and to preserve their dignity. Indeed, you may even be given the opportunity to show someone that they do have dignity for the first time in their life. You may have the opportunity to restore that person’s sense of dignity after they have had it stripped violently from them. The Imago Dei brings a dignity to humans that has nothing to do with what they have produced or accomplished—it has nothing to do with their wealth or their bloodline—it has everything to do with whose image they bear.
Peter frames this verse with a second call to reverence. Not only must we show reverence toward all people, but we must show reverence toward our political leaders. It is easy to revere those politicians that we support, but what about those with whom we disagree? We tend to be quick to criticize and make personal attacks against those running for or within public office, but is that right? Was Peter only referring to those benevolent political leaders? The Caesar of Peter’s day was Nero. Nero went out of his way to execute Christians through horrible means. Nero would later take Peter’s life as well. This is hardly what I would call a beneficial leader. In fact, thinking of some of the worst leaders we have had, most pale in comparison to Nero.
Encapsulated within the bookends of reverence is a love for the brethren and a fear of God. This is the heart of the Christian life. But Peter reminds us that the flesh of the Christian life, that which the world can see and by which the world evaluates us and the God which we serve, is the reverence by which we deal with the world. This is the means by which we publicly live out our faith in the face of a watching world. Does not James say the same thing about pure and undefiled religion (James 1:27)?
Gethsemane
Oh how sober a garden that must have been. Here Jesus has come just prior to his arrest at the hands of the children of the Serpent; he has been betrayed by one of his twelve; he will soon be denied by Peter, the leader of the twelve; and abandoned, at least for a while, by all of the rest (John and the women make their way to the cross). Jesus is intentional. They have come into this garden so that he can retreat from the world and pray, seeking strength and an internally unified approach to the passion that was to come. Peter, James, and John, he has taken to the side to pray on his behalf as he seeks the Lord’s face.
There are many things that we can learn from this passage; a few are worth noting:
1) For the Christian, when preparing to face great trial, prayer must be our primary retreat. Here, even Jesus, the very Lord of Creation is seeking his father’s face. Oh, how we make a mess of this principle. Prayer so often is our last resort, when for the Christian it must be our first. Look here, dear Christian, if the Lord of the heavens needs to pray for strength before trials, then how much more do we, the frail and sinful, need that same prayer.
2) Jesus shows us the value of intercessory prayer. Here Jesus has taken three of his trusted apostles to the side. Jesus continues on to pray for a spell and leaves the three of them to wait. What, dear Christian, do you think that they were meant to be doing while Jesus prayed? If they were meant to be chatting about the day’s events in Jerusalem or swapping jokes, then why was Jesus so upset when they chose to take a catnap? No, these three were meant to be praying for Jesus that he would have strength to lift his prayers and burdens before his father. Brethren, do you want to know who your faithful friends are? It is those brothers and sisters who agonize with you in prayer before the father’s throne.
3) Times and trial and tribulation can cause us to have great internal struggles of faith, but disunity of spirit and body will cause us to stumble. Our Lord had two natures, a human one and a divine one. His petitions before the Lord were partly out of a desire to approach the coming suffering with the assurance of a unified witness. His human nature would not fail him, but would be faithful to the divine will. It is times when we are filled with indecision that we fail in our appointed task. As terribly important as Jesus’ next days were, not merely to his mighty work, but to the very future of mankind, Jesus was aligning his human and divine natures together for this task.
Yet what strikes me about this passage is how sad a place the garden must have been that night. There was a time that the Garden would have been a place for celebration and joy amongst the olive trees, but that night was quite different. Oh, the weight, not only of the task ahead, but of disappointment in his faithful apostles for their lack of faith even after all they had seen.
It must have taken Jesus back to another garden, Eden, recalling the disappointment that must have been felt at the time of the fall of our first parents. That garden as well was turned from a place of joy into a place of sadness. How often we do this with the gardens of blessing in our own lives. We take the gifts of God for granted and we bring sin into those gifts. We bring sin into our homes, or jobs, and our families. And we bring sin into our churches. Psalm 128 paints a picture of the blessing of work, family, and Church fellowship that God gives to those who fear him; we bring sin into all of these areas.
That same psalm describes our children as olive shoots. I want to be careful about how the analogy it draws, so as not to spiritualize the connection of olive shoots and the mature garden of Gethsemane, but it is worth noting the garden imagery. As with any garden, olive shoots need care and they need a strong fence to support them as they mature. If they do not have that fence to support and mold them, the shoots will creep across the ground and quickly become diseased, rotten, and die.
The sadness of Gethsemane came as a result of our sin. Adam and Eve sinned and fell, and Jesus, in this next garden, is preparing for the task of making right that which we made so wrong. As he leaves his time of prayer, he does so with a renewed determination. Notice that Jesus does not hide from the people coming to arrest him; he does not seek out just a few more minutes of prayer. He lays his prayer before his father three times and then, with renewed determination sets forward and presents himself to the children of darkness. It is as if he is saying, “let’s do it…” and entering into the belly of the beast—offering his life before them. And this he does on that lonely cross.
Loved ones, this was a path we could not walk; yet, Christ walked it so that we might not have to. This is the promise of the Gospel—we who deserve death are offered life and he who is the Lord of Life went to his death on our behalf. What wonder that this should raise in our heart, what amazement it should birth in our souls, yet how often we go through this time of the year thinking only of our own desires and wants. For you who are already trusting in Christ, let this Passion Week renew your adoration of and commitment to the Lord of your life; for those who are suffering in your own futile struggle against sin and guilt, know that Christ offers life—come to him and live!
The Preacher's Study 