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Swearing an Oath
“And Abraham said, ‘I swear.’”
(Genesis 21:24)
My mother always told me that it wasn’t nice to swear… Of course, she was talking about something a little different than what Abraham is doing at the moment. In this case, Abraham is taking an oath and promising an alliance between himself and Abimelek. Yet, doesn’t Jesus also say that we ought not take oaths (Matthew 5:34-37)? What shall we make of this action? Can we say that Abraham is sinning here and be done with the discussion? No, for in the very next chapter, we find God swearing an oath (Genesis 22:16, Hebrews 6:13), and we certainly don’t want to accuse God of sin, confusion, or otherwise making a mistake. So what do we do with this apparent contradiction?
The first thing that we must affirm is that Abraham is swearing an oath to a pagan leader. And, as we mentioned before, this is a mark of the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham (that the world will find their blessing in Abraham and in his seed). And along with that affirmation, then, we must conclude that what Abraham is doing is a good thing and indeed scripture never condemns him for this.
So what about Jesus’ statement that we should not swear an oath at all, but simply let our word be “yes” or “no”? The answer is found in the context of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has been intensifying the Law of God so that we can begin to get a handle on how we are intended to live that lies behind the Moral Law and as to just how sinful we are. In verse 33, Jesus begins a section of his sermon that focuses not only on the 9th Commandment, but also the 3rd Commandment. Both of these commandments deal with a kind of false witness — one toward our fellow man and the other toward heaven, and both typically for personal gain. Often, people use the name of God as a way of getting others to believe that a contract will be fulfilled or that a promise will not be broken, and the 3rd Commandment says that this is sin. Jesus says, don’t do this, but let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.”
Yet, in the case with Abraham, we do not find him swearing for his own gain — the same is true for the scripture that speaks of God swearing an oath. Neither God nor Abraham benefit, but the oath is designed to bless those who would hear the oath, those who would draw assurance from the fact that an oath was stated, not just a “yes” or “no,” but with the emphasis of an oath. Thus, in application, when we are debating where an oath might be permissible, the same principle holds true. Who will benefit from the oath? If you are the one who will benefit, then you are using God’s name for your own gain. But if others will benefit (as happens when you swear an oath to tell “the truth and only the truth” on the witness stand), then it does not stand out of accord with the teaching of Jesus and with the teaching of the rest of scripture.
Bottom line is that Abraham is choosing to bless Abimelek and in this blessing we find a partial fulfillment of God’s promise that the nations will find their blessing through Abraham and through Abraham’s children. As Christians, we are the descendants of Abraham (Galatians 3:9,29). The question that we must pose to ourselves is whether or not those who live in the midst of the Church would believe that we are a blessing to them. Would unbelievers say, “I never have any interest in becoming a Christian, but I am glad that the Christian Church is there because their presence is a blessing to me and to my community.” Sadly, my concern is that so many Christian churches have become inwardly focused and self-serving that this is not the case. May indeed we repent of our selfishness and live in such a way (individually and corporately) that unbelievers will come to us, as Abimelek did with Abraham, and ask for our blessings.
Safety Inside Our Bondage
A strange thing sometimes happens when people have been held captive for a period of several days or longer. In certain instances, the captive begins to associate with his or her captors, and in some cases, not only resists rescue, but serves to help their captors in their criminal activities. This is typically called “Stockholm Syndrome,” named after an event that took place in 1973 in Stockholm, Sweden where four captives were taken and held in a botched bank robbery. Six days later, the hostages both resisted rescue and even refused to testify against their captors. The 1974 kidnapping of Patty Hearst by members of the Symbionese Liberation Army. Not only did Hearst’s sympathies run with her captors, but she would aid them in robbing banks. There have been some who have suggested that this syndrome helps to explain a variety of cases where captives become sympathetic to their captors, participation in cults, and even the loyalty that some people feel toward the use of PC computers☺.
It is granted that in kidnapping cases, statistics have found that this particular syndrome is a minority case, but I believe that if we apply the principle more broadly, we will find how remarkably common an experience it happens to be. How often, we stay in a situation that is bad, but has become comfortable. How often do people stay in bad jobs where an employer constantly berates them simply because they have become used to the setting and are made to feel that they would be a failure in any other setting. Women often stay in abusive marriages for the same reasons—their self identity becomes dependent upon the identity of their abuser and thus to abandon the abuser is to abandon themselves. Even children experience this in relationships. How often kids stay “friends” with people who treat them very badly because they feel so insecure outside of even that bad relationship. Teenage girls stick with “boyfriends” who treat them badly for the same reason—their self-identity has become so interwoven with their boyfriend that they cannot see themselves without him—no matter how better off they might be. The emotional and spiritual bondage begins to provide a wall of safety, within which people find comfortable.
It seems that this principle, as we take it broadly, can also apply to habitual sins in people’s lives. Their sins, though grievous, have become comfortable and being without those sins, while perhaps desirous at times, is fearful. Certainly, recidivism rates that are calculated by sociologists and criminologists would concur with this assessment. In Hebrews 12:1, the author refers to sins that are eujperi/statoß (euperistatos), which refers to things that ensnare, constrict, or otherwise bind themselves to you. Yet, the author of Hebrews does not simply allow us to look at those sins and leave them alone—you must put them off, lay them to the side, get rid of them! Why? The writer goes on to say that because Jesus has endured the cross to redeem us from the power of sin and death, we must live lives that reflect that redemption. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that in Christ we are a new creation—in other words the new order should reflect the death of the old order in our lives.
Every time a Christian chooses to engage in serious habitual sin, that sends a message to those who are watching that the Gospel is not true. Certainly Christians will sin and will stumble into error and certainly we will not be perfect until we are with Christ in heaven. Yet a falter or stumble is not quite the same as habitual sin. In fact, the Apostle John would suggest that the presence of habitual sin may be a sign that the person is not a genuine believer (1 John 3:4-6). These are hard words for some, but for others, they should be words of assurance and empowerment. For in Christ we have been made a new creation—He delivers us from our sin—we are free! Habitual sin for the believer is a willful choice to turn back to the things from which we have earlier been delivered. It is a choice to go back to the slavers and away from the freedom that our Great Liberator—our divine Goel—who has come to take us to freedom. In some senses, we might refer to it as a spiritual form of Stockholm Syndrome, but Biblically we would say this falls under the heading of spiritual warfare. Whenever we are tempted with a major habitual sin, we are given a choice, will we trust the promises of Christ or will we slink back into the dark self-identification with sin that so long has kept us in chains.
A Living Parable
It has disturbed me to see the attitude taken by many toward the creation account as rendered by Genesis One. Even within my own denomination, one which finds its theological moorings in the Westminster Confession of Faith, there are many who have accepted “alternate explanations” of the account. Some have gone as far as to say that those who hold to a literal, six 24-hour day reading of Genesis One are “trouble-makers” in the grand scheme of the theological conversation. Ultimately, people are choosing to interpret their Bibles on the basis of their science and not to interpret their science in light of the plain teaching of the Bible.
As we look at the life of Jesus, we find that he often told parables to communicate spiritual truths. These parables are not simply “earthly stories with heavenly meanings,” as my old Sunday School teacher used to say, but these parables were used, according to Jesus, to blind the eyes of the unbeliever while enlightening the believer at the same time (Matthew 13:11-15). While the parables themselves were not actual accounts of events that happened, the events taking place within the parable were certainly realistic enough that they could have been either true events or based therein.
Yet, Jesus, being the best of teachers, also taught truth through the events that took place around him. One day Jesus and his disciples were in the temple observing the line of people giving their gifts to the temple treasury and amidst the wealthy people who were there to offer great wealth there was a poor widow who gave her last two copper coins and thus Jesus used that historical event to teach the truth about what it really meant to give to God (Mark 12:41-44). Similarly, when Jesus goes to visit two sisters in their home, one is busily working to prepare the meal while the other simply sits at Jesus’ feet to learn from him (Luke 10:38-42). Again, Jesus uses this historical event to teach us the truth about what it looks like when we truly love God with our entire being and submit ourselves to His priority for our life. The fact that these events are recorded to teach us a spiritual lesson does not make them any less historical. In fact, since God has ordered all history (Ephesians 1:11), we should not be surprised to see such illustrations popping up regularly all around us.
And such brings us back to the creation account. There are a variety of objections to the literal ordering of the creation account, but these objections seem to be able to be broken down into two categories: those who reject a literal reading of Genesis 1 due to its conflicts with science and those who reject the literal reading of Genesis 1 due to a belief that its purpose is to teach spiritual truths and not historical truth. Yet, as with these “lived out parables,” the very fact that spiritual truth can be drawn from the account does not take away from its historicity. By teaching that Genesis one tells us of the divine origin of all things (which it does) does not mean that Genesis one is not telling us the manner and the timetable in which all things were created. Just as we should expect that the widow in Mark 12:41-44 really was a widow and that the details around her giving of the last two coins she had were historically reliable and accurate, there is no reason not to expect the same of Genesis one.
To those who complain that it is scientifically possible for the widow to give of her last two coins but not scientifically possible for the creation event to take place in the order or timetable as recorded in Genesis one, I think that the problem lies not with their faith in science (an ever changing field) but with their lack of faith in the miraculous. God does not present the creation as a result of natural events taking place, but as a supernatural work of creation without respect to contemporary scientific explanations. And if the miraculous is going to be rejected at the creation event, on what basis would the person accept other miraculous works: the parting of the Red Sea, the raising of the widow of Zarephath’s son, the Incarnation, or the Resurrection of Christ? If you would deny a miraculous creation, why would you accept the possibility of a miraculous re-creation at the return of Christ? The Bible affirms both without compromise.
I suppose that to be fair, there is a third group that would seek to interpret Genesis one as a non-literal account, and that is a group that fears being mocked and scoffed at by the world’s scientific community. They find themselves frustrated that holding to a literal reading of Genesis one causes them to be catalogued with fundamentalists and fundamentalists carry with them a stigma of being anti-intellectual (and to be fair, sometimes this is true). Yet, in compromising the natural reading of the Genesis one text, they undermine the intellectual integrity of their own scholarship. More importantly, by their compromise they fail to understand Paul’s words:
“But God chose the foolishness of the world in order the disgrace the wise, and God chose the weak things of the world to disgrace the mighty. God chose what is ignoble in the world and despised, that which is not, in order to invalidate that which is, in order that all flesh might not boast before God. From him you are in Christ Jesus, who has become wisdom for us from God—and righteousness and holiness and deliverance—so that, just as it is written, ‘The one who glories, let him glory in the Lord.’”
(1 Corinthians 1:27-31)
In a very real sense, the creation of this world (and all things) is a lived out or historical parable told by God not to give us spiritual fiction, but to teach the believer spiritual reality within a historical event and at the same time, blinding the eyes of those who would seek to explain all things apart from God’s almighty hand. Thus, God has told us the historical reality, but has created in such a way to leave the eyes of the unbeliever perpetually closed largely as a judgment for their unbelief. It is not the praise of the world that we ought to be seeking, but the words, “Well done my good and faithful servant,” spoken by our God—remembering that a faithful servant believes and submits to the words of his master.
Is the Bible Inerrant?
One of the things we talk a lot about in church circles is the authority of scripture—that it is given by God and is designed to instruct us in every area of life. One of the terms that we use when we speak of why the scriptures are authoritative is the term “inerrant.” But I have found that while we often throw that term around, a lot of times, people aren’t entirely sure what the term means.
To be “inerrant” means far more than something has no errors in it. When I was in school, I regularly had “error-free” mathematics tests; when I was in seminary, many of my Hebrew vocabulary tests were found to be “error-free,” but none of these were inerrant. The word inerrant means not only that something has no errors, but that it is incapable of making an error. The Oxford American Dictionary defines “inerrant” as “incapable of being wrong.” One writer described the inerrancy of the scriptures in this way: “They are exempt from the liability to mistake.”
So why do we ascribe such a nature to the scriptures? To begin with, they are God’s word, and if God is incapable of making a mistake, then his word also must be incapable of making a mistake—remembering that those who wrote down God’s word were “moved along by the Spirit” as a ship is blown by the wind filling its sails (2 Peter 1:21). In the language of the Apostle Paul, scripture is exhaled by God (2 Timothy 3:16) and thus is the source of all training and guidance for the believer. These are God’s words and not man’s and thus we ought to expect them to carry the authority and attributes of God’s character and not man’s character.
It is granted that there are many these days that doubt the inerrancy of scripture. For some, it is a plain matter of unbelief. For others it is misinformation or not having studied the evidence. For others it is the fear that if one acknowledges these words to be the inerrant word of God then one must submit one’s life to scripture’s authority and demands, and such is true. Regardless of the reason that people doubt, Scripture has withstood every test and challenge that has been leveled at it.
There is one other thing that is worth noting about such a book as we have. Not only are the scriptures our only guide for faith and life, but they are the only book to guide us as we go to our deaths. The Bible shows us Jesus Christ, our need for him as a redeemer, and his promise that if we trust in him in life, confessing him with our lips and believing in him in our hearts, he will confess us before the Father and guarantee us eternal life in paradise. For the one who is facing death, this is the kind of knowledge that brings peace and enables them to leave this world with grace and not fear. It is no wonder that the Scriptures are what most people ask to have read to them on their deathbeds, and not Shakespeare or Coleridge. The Bible is the one book that transcends death because it was written by a God who died and rose again—promising that he would do the same for us.
The Scribe’s Comment (Mark 12:32-33)
“And the scribe said to him, ‘Very good, teacher, you speak truthfully that He is one and that there is not another besides him. And to love Him with the whole heart, with the whole understanding, with all strength, and to love a neighbor as ourselves is far greater than all of the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
(Mark 12:32-33)
It is obvious that the scribe is pleased with Jesus’ response, and this sets up an interesting dynamic, for Jesus will commend (at least on one level) the scribe as well. This makes for one of the more unusual interactions that Jesus has during this week. Prior to this question, Jesus has been bombarded by challenges to his authority and traps to try and trick him into siding with this group or that. Here, as we discussed above, is at least an underlying question again as to who Jesus will side with in his interpretation of the law. Some have made the suggestion that this comment by the scribe is rather insincere, but that seems rather odd given the context of Jesus’ statement in response. So how are we to understand this dialogue and how are we going to understand the variation between what Jesus taught immediately before and how this scribe paraphrases his statement?
To begin with, we see the scribe giving the briefest summary of the Shema. Jesus has quoted it verbatim and the scribe is giving his own interpretation of what Jesus said, tying in Deuteronomy 4:35 to support his answer. This was a common rhetorical technique amongst the Jewish Rabbis. Theology was done in the form of dialogue, so one might begin with a question, and the discussion that ensued would be in the form of more questions, answers, and interpretations in the hopes of arriving at a better understanding of the question at hand. We should not see the Scribe as being incompetent and unable to quote the Shema back to Jesus, but that he is interpreting Jesus’ statement in the context of the discussion. With this in mind, it sets the stage for the second part of the scribe’s statement. The scribe misses the language of yuch/ (psuche), or life, altogether and he replaces Jesus’ language of dia/noia (dianoia), or understanding, with the language of su/nesiß (sunesis), or intelligence. In addition, the scribe ties in passages like Hosea 6:6 and 1 Samuel 15:22, to speak of our loving obedience to God is far better than the ritual sacrifices of the temple. Again, what we find is that the scribe is responding to Jesus’ statement by offering an interpretation of it, and Jesus will respond favorably.
One of the major issues that Jesus battled with during his earthly ministry was the issue of people missing the intent behind the law in their pursuit of the letter of the law. The Pharisees, especially, were guilty of this. In their zeal for obedience, they had allowed the law to be understood in a legalistic way and had become blinded to the truth behind what God was commanding. God demands love and obedience from his people in every aspect and area of their lives. As Abraham Kuyper commented, “There is not an inch of this whole life that Jesus, as Lord of creation, does not put his finger on and declare, ‘Mine!’” And in the case of this scribe, it seems that he got it. He understood the intent of the law and demonstrated that understanding by the way he tied in other passages of scripture that spoke of similar things. So, beloved, what should we be reminded of from our scribe’s answer? We should be reminded that in all that we do, in whatever capacity that we serve the church, we are to be wholly committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. This commitment must never take the form of a list of “dos” and “don’ts” apart from what scripture commands to be a “do” or a “don’t,” but instead, we are to pursue God and his righteousness in service to our fellow man. This is our calling, to share the gospel with all and to make disciples by baptizing and teaching people to obey all that Jesus taught. Beloved, what a task we have before us; pray that the Holy Spirit will bless that task and empower it in such a way that God is glorified in all we do.
The Festal Horns (Psalm 118:26-27)
“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh!
We bless you from the house of Yahweh.
Yahweh is God and he has given us light—bind up the festival in thickets!
As far as the horns of the altar!”
(Psalm 118:26-27)
While it may seem that these two verses are rather disparate at first glance, they are actually linked together by a common theme upon closer inspection. Verse 26 begins with a wonderfully Messianic statement: “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh!” This statement, of course, will later be used by the crowds as they come to greet Jesus at his triumphal entry into Jerusalem just prior to his crucifixion. It is a statement that has a clear hope toward the Messiah, and in the context of the “hosannas” that precede it, it is looking toward the Messiah’s kingly office and saving work. Notice, though, the singular use of the Hebrew participle: “blessed is the one…” This should not be seen as an error or as a generalization, but should be recognized as a very individualistic statement. Blessed is the one, the person, the individual, who comes in Yahweh’s name, representing him to the people of Israel. All hail the king who comes—all hail Yahweh’s anointed one!
As we move on in the psalm, though, there is a shift in verse 26 to the plural that continues through verse 27. The psalmist, being a good southerner (southern Israel, that is…) says, “We bless y’all from the house of Yahweh.” Sometimes in English, we miss the plural use of the second-person verb, but here we have the transition. The rest of this passage is not so much focused on the “one” coming in, but all of the believers—all of the faithful—coming in to God’s house to worship—all faithfully hoping and praying for the coming Messiah. How these festivals looked toward the fulfillment of this ancient promise; how sad it is that when the one who fulfilled that promise came, the Jewish leaders rejected him and put him to death. How narrow-sighted we can become when we are more concerned with our own agenda and tradition than with the truth.
So how does verse 27 tie into this picture. The first thing we must note is the very general principle that the festivals of ancient Israel all revolved around various sacrifices for sin and guilt. In and of themselves, the sacrifices had no power; it is the sacrifice of Christ, once and for all times, that gave efficacy to the older animal sacrifices. The sacrifices of the animals served two important functions: first, they were meant to show the horrific nature of sin that would require such a bloody sacrifice and second, they were designed to point toward Christ’s sacrifice to come. And because there is surety in the promises of God, these sacrifices could be performed earlier with effectiveness because of the absolute certainty that Christ was coming to fulfill what the earlier sacrifices only symbolized—a substitutionary and propitiatory atonement for sins through the blood of Jesus. Thus, the people looked forward to and celebrated these times as they represented forgiveness from sin, which separated them from a holy and righteous God.
Secondly, notice the language of this verse as we have translated it: “Bind up the festival in thickets!” Usually, this is translated in terms of binding up the festival sacrifice in cords, but that is not what the text says precisely. First of all, the term gx; (chag) refers to the festival as a whole, not the specific sacrifice on the altar. One could make the assertion that the heart of the festival as a whole is the sacrifice, making the language idiomatic (using language that reflects the whole to speak of the central sacrifice). I think that this misses what the psalmist is seeking to emphasize. The language that speaks of the whole being used in the context of the central sacrifice can also be used to make the point that all that is done in the festival is sacrifice. Given that this is a Hallel Psalm, it seems quite reasonable to see this whole psalm as a sacrifice of praise to our God—that indeed, all that is done, from the streaming down of the people into Jerusalem, to the sacrifices on the altar, to the rejoicing on the trip home—all of that was connected to this festival was a sacrifice of praise to our God.
We need to park here for a few minutes and remind ourselves of the evangelistic nature of so many of these Hallel Psalms. One thing that most believers forget is that they are being watched by an unbelieving world. One of the methods by which we witness the gospel is the way by which we live our daily life. Sure, we may witness to them by sharing our testimony, gospel tracts, and offering short Bible studies, but what impact will that witness have if they see us dragging our feet Sunday mornings on the way to church? If they see you grumbling all of the time, what will attract them to the kind of life you are living? Beloved, do not forget that part of your witness is the joy and peace that the watching world observes as you live out your faith day to day, and imagine the power of your witness if your unbelieving neighbors see you excited about going to church on Sunday mornings!
What then about the language of the “thicket”? The word that is used (and is often translated as “cords”) is the term tAb[‘ (avoth). Literally, this term refers to branches of trees or bushes, like a thicket in the woods. The idea of the sacrifice being bound in a thicket had significant theological connotations for the Jewish people, for Abraham, when taking his son up on the mountain for sacrifice, found a ram caught in the thicket to be sacrificed instead of his son (see Genesis 22). The idea of a sacrificial animal caught in a thicket, then is connected to the idea of God’s providing of a sacrifice (certainly and ultimately fulfilled in the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah). In the context of the festivals, indeed the provision of sacrifice was a provision that was seen as divine mercy and providence, not one of human works. Thus, the sacrifice of praise, from beginning to end, was taken to the horns of the altar, from entry to sacrifice to exit—a sacrifice to the Lord.
One final note about the language of the “horns of the altar.” 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. 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). True refuge is in the arms of the redeemer.
Lastly, we would be remiss if we did not make mention of the language of God having given his people light. This, of course, carries with it a double reference. First, it looks back to the creation account where on the very first day of creation, God said, “Be light!” and it was. Indeed, even before the sun or the stars were brought into being, God revealed the light of his glory, shining forth upon creation. In addition, light is a major Biblical theme that is connected with truth. From what other place do God’s people gain truth? It is found in God’s word and in God’s word alone. Yes, we may glean some things from the natural world around us, but unless they are interpreted through the light of God’s word, what is learned is shadowy and incomplete light indeed. It is God alone who dispenses truth and wisdom, and God has revealed that within his wonderful and glorious Word—indeed, the Word, the Bible, which points to the one who is the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, the revelation of the glory of God. Beloved, let every moment of our worship reflect the joy we have in Jesus Christ in such a way that when the unbelieving world sees us, they see something in us that they don’t have, but want—and are drawn to Christ as a result. Rejoice, loved ones, rejoice in your Savior, that others may want to do so as well!
We praise thee, O God! For thy Spirit of light,
Who has shown us our Savior and scattered our night.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory,
Hallelujah! We sing;
Hallelujah! Thine the glory,
Our praise now we bring.
-William Mackay
Christ the Cornerstone (Psalm 118:22)
“A stone, which the ones who build rejected,
it is to the head of the corner.”
Though this translation is awkward and unfamiliar, I wanted to translate it more literally to retain the force of the idiom that is employed. Yet first, note that this is one of the most quoted Old Testament verses in the New Testament. It is quoted verbatim in Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11, and 1 Peter 2:7. Paul also paraphrases this verse in Ephesians 2:20, though, when Paul paraphrases the idiom about the “head of the corner, he uses the Greek word ajkrogwniai√oß (akrogoniaios), which can either mean “cornerstone” or “capstone.” Paul retains the meaning of the idiom (being the most important stone in a structure) though some of the force of the idiom is lost.
Before we look at the idiom itself, it is worth noting another important, though very subtle, difference between a literal translation and how we usually see the phrase translated. You will notice that I have translated the beginning of this verse as “a stone” rather than “the stone.” Neither the Hebrew nor the Greek translations of this passage contain the definite article (“the”) before the word for stone. Though this may seem like a very minor point to make, its connotations are sweeping. The implied thought, when the definite article is present, is that there is only one stone that the builders have rejected. Yet this is not the case! Indeed, one of Jesus’ great criticisms against the Jewish leaders is that they were constantly rejecting the prophets, murdering them because of the witness they bore.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones the ones sent to it. How often I have wanted to gather your children in the same way a bird gathers the chicks under its wing—and you would not! Behold! Your house is left to you desolate! For I say to you, you shall not see me from now until you should say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
(Matthew 23:37-39)
The fact is that the psalmist understood the nature of his people when this prophesy was made, and indeed, he did not place the definite article to leave open the condemnation of those builders who were rejecting the multiple stones offered by God.
This does not mean, though, that there were more than one cornerstones intended by God for Israel. The idiom that follows, “the head of the corner,” is clearly speaking singularly of the Messiah who would come—hence the New Testament writers’ application of this passage to Jesus. This is a standard technique in Hebrew poetry, to go from a broad concept to a narrow concept, to go from the general to the specific. The picture presented to us is that of a huge heap of rejected stones, one of which, one very special one of which, is the promised Christ. What sweeping condemnation this is against the leaders of Israel for their rejection of our Lord!
So what of this language of the “head of the corner”? In context, we usually simply translate it as “cornerstone,” but I think that the value of the idiom is that it forces us to see the implications of Jesus’ position in terms of the church. The word that we translate as “head” is the Hebrew word varo (rosh), which refers to something that is first, chief, or primary. Jesus as the head of the corner is the stone that is placed first, apart from which no other stone can be laid. It is because of Jesus’ pre-creational covenant with the Father to sacrifice himself on behalf of the elect as their mediator so that God would not enter into eternal judgment immediately after Adam and Eve fell. There would have been no church, old or new, apart from Christ. Hallelujah for that promise! Yet, at the same time, do not miss what that means for us today as the church. Our very existence is based on Jesus Christ. That means that all we do as the church, both individually and corporately, must be seen in terms of that relationship. What we do must be judged not on the basis of how well it happens to work, but on the basis of how faithful it is to Jesus Christ. As Americans, we tend to be a rather pragmatic people, but when stones must be conformed to a cornerstone, what is true and right becomes far more important. Too many churches compromise the truth to get things accomplished, but it is far more important, as believers, to be interested in doing what is right and not what may seem to work.
So what about the rest of the idiom? The word for corner is hN”Pi (pinah), and is a word that can be used in a variety of ways. Primarily it speaks of a corner of a wall, and that is exactly how we normally interpret it in this psalm. Christ is the cornerstone, it is on the basis of his position that all other stones are laid. No stone can be part of the church if it is not laid in alignment with Christ, etc… It is also worth noting that structures get their strength from their corners, thus Christ presents himself as a strong corner upon which the rest of the church gathers its strength. In addition, the word hN”Pi (pinah) is often used figuratively to refer to one who is a leader amongst the people (see 1 Samuel 14:38). Understanding the idiom in this way would present Jesus as the first or chief leader amongst the people of the church. Either way you understand it, the force of the idiom strikes home in a mighty way. We may function as part of the church, but only in our relationship to Jesus Christ—he is our cornerstone and our chief leader. He is the basis upon which all we do must be ordered. He is the reason for our very existence.
Beloved, we have a tendency to run off ahead on our own paths, seeking after our own visions of grandeur. The problem is that often these things are not in alignment with the cornerstone that has been laid long ago (before the foundations of the earth!). Yet, loved ones, when you are building a structure out of stones, it is not the stone that tells the builder where it should be placed—the builder has the arbitrary right to place the stone as he wishes. So too with God, the master builder of the church and of our lives. Sometimes we have a tendency to look over the fence at the greener grasses that lie out of our reach. There is a reason why we have been set where we have been set—trust the master builder’s reasoning—seek to fulfill God’s design for your life and forget about the flights of fancy that will do nothing more than feed your ego.
Christ is made the sure foundation,
Christ the head and cornerstone,
Chosen of the Lord and precious,
Binding all the church in one;
Holy Zion’s help forever,
And her confidence alone.
-7th century Latin Hymn
Translated by John Mason Neale
Sweet Spiritual Refreshment (Psalm 116:7)
“Return, Oh my life, to your resting place!
For Yahweh has ripened over you.”
(Psalm 116:7)
We talked about the word vp,n< (nephesh) in verse 4, and how even though that word is sometimes translated as “soul,” it largely deals with the fleshly, physical aspect of life, which is why I think that it is more proper to translate it as “life” as I have done here and in verse 4. What we do need to understand, though, is this language of “resting place.” Usually when we speak of resting places, we think of the “final resting place”—namely, the grave. And though we as Christians know that the grave is not our final resting place, either for our flesh or for our spirit, this has nothing to do with what the psalmist has in mind. When he speaks of returning to a resting place in this verse, he is speaking of a place of safety and protection (Deuteronomy 28:65, Ruth 3:1). The idea that the psalmist is expressing is that as a result of sin he has wandered from the safety of God’s house and his soul yearns to return to the blessings that are connected with God’s presence.
This sentiment is echoed in the second half of this verse. Many of our English translations have followed the King James and translated this passage as saying “for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.” The term that is used is the verb lm;G” (gamal). This word is normally used in the context of something being brought to completion. It can be used, for example, of a baby that has been or is being weaned or of fruit that is brought to full and complete ripeness. In our case, the metaphor of ripe fruit seems to be what the psalmist is getting at. Thus we have the picture of God being like ripe fruit (mellow, dripping with sweetness, and satisfying to parched lips) toward his people, satisfying their every need.
When I was younger, I was not one who got very excited about ripe fruit. I had my orange juice in the morning, but fruit was never something that I sought as a snack. When I was in High School, I began working summers doing landscaping work for a couple of families in our community. One of the perks of the job was that they provided me with lunch while I was working there. I can remember how wonderful it was, after spending hours clearing brush in the summer heat, to come up the hill to the house and see a bowl of chilled, fresh fruit—especially the plums. I still don’t think that there is anything more refreshing than a chilled plum on a hot, dry, summer afternoon. This is the illustration that the psalmist is painting for us. Sin separates us from the blessings of God and he yearns to be back in the resting place of God’s presence, with our Lord satisfying his parched soul.
Beloved, is our Lord sweet like fruit to your lips? Is it God’s word that you use to satisfy your parched soul? If it is not, it needs to be, for there is no sweetness like the sweetness of God’s promises to the persecution and trial parched life of the believer. Loved ones, quench your soul in God’s word; find your resting place in the arms of Christ. Know the joys of forgiveness and redemption from the sins you deserve to be condemned for!
In Christ your Head, you then shall know,
Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below,
And own that love is heaven.
-Charles Wesley
Idols Do Not Growl (Psalm 115:5-7)
“Mouths are theirs, yet they do not speak;
eyes are theirs, yet they do not see;
ears are theirs, yet they do not hear;
noses are theirs, yet they do not smell.
There are hands, but they do not feel;
there are feet, but they do not walk;
there is no utterance in their throats.”
(Psalm 115:5-7)
The psalmist continues to point out the foolishness of idolatry. Though you carve a mouth onto a piece of gold or silver, such does not impart the ability for such an item to speak. Though you give it eyes, it will never see. It may have ears, a nose, hands and feet, but it is still a cold, inanimate, lifeless hunk of metal created by the hands of men and of no more value than it has in artistic merit. In contrast, we worship a God who does hear our prayers; he speaks from heaven as recorded in his word and he sees even what is done in dark places where no man may see. Our God is a God who moves in this earth and is bound by nothing, and the value of our God is not based on the limited skills of men’s craftmanship, but is infinite and based in His eternal glory and character. What a contrast there is between the gods of men and the One True and Living God!
The last clause in this passage must also be understood in terms of the Hebrew words that the psalmist employs, for it is not meant as a repetition of the first line of this passage, but intensifies it. The passage begins with the idea that these idols have carved mouths, yet cannot speak, but in the case of the last clause, the psalmist uses the term hg”h’ (hagah), which literally means, “to growl.” This is also the term that is often used to describe the faithful man deep in meditation over God’s word (see Psalm 1:2 or 63:6). In the ancient Jewish culture, when one was deep in meditation over the scriptures, one would often quietly mumble the words that one was reading. To an observer, that slow, almost rhythmic, mumbling would sound akin to the low, guarded growl of an animal—much like that of a large dog warning you that it does not wish to be disturbed. There is no such growl in the throat of these created idols because there is no intelligence in them with which to understand the wisdom of God’s word.
This begs the question about intelligence and where the source of intelligence is. The presupposition of the secularist in our culture is that intelligence is nothing more than exchanged electrical and chemical impulses in the grey matter that we call our brain. Yet, if this is so, it is genuinely impossible for us to have rational/creative thought and understanding. In their mindset, ideas, for example, are nothing more than cause and effect and “rationality” is nothing more than a complex set of predictable signals from one part of the brain to another. Yet, when you take this mindset to its rational end, our brains are really no more than complicated computers which are unable to create genuine, rational ideas or to understand—all we do is process. It takes a soul that is able to act independently of cause and effect to be able to rationally interpret data and to understand.
Why is this significant? It is significant because we live in a culture that is working hard to create what they term as “Artificial Intelligence.” Given that they believe human thought is just a mass of chemical-electrical signals, they believe that they can duplicate such within a sufficiently sophisticated computer chip. What are the ramifications of this? If their world-view is right, then when computers reach the point of being able to “think rationally” for themselves, they will be eligible for the same rights as we would give to a human. In addition, they are trying to place themselves in the position of God, having “created” for themselves a new race—a race of intelligent computers.
Certainly, much of this is still kept in the realms of science fiction, but often what is science fiction in one generation becomes science-fact in subsequent ones. In the beginning of the 20th century, the idea of rockets flying into outer space was something dreamed of only by the writers, by the end of the 20th century, rockets in space had become commonplace. When my parents were in college, they used computers that filled an entire room; when I went to college, laptops were becoming commonplace. Today, even young children are computer literate.
Why are we dwelling on this? It gets back to what the psalmist speaks of in the last clause of this passage—there is no meditation or utterance in their throats. A computer cannot “growl” over any information, let alone the scriptures because a computer does not nor can have any understanding. You may program it with sufficiently complex algorithms to mimic some aspects of human thought, but there will never be any genuine understanding or creative thought—it will never be anything more than input and output.
There is a wonderful little analogy given by a man named John Searle in the 20th century that describes why a computer cannot truly have independent thought. The analogy basically says, take a man who knows no Chinese and has never even seen Chinese, and put him in a room with a slot and two books. Through the slot, put in a list of instructions in Chinese. The man’s job is to take that list, look up each instruction in the first book, which will tell him what response to write from the second book. Instructions and responses are always in Chinese, there is never any translation given for him within the books and he never sees what takes place outside of the box when he gives said response.
Certainly, there will be many errors made at first, but over time, the man will get pretty proficient with it. In fact, over time, the man may even begin to recognize the subtle differences between characters and even be able to remember the proper responses to common commands. Yet, when you take the man outside of the box, he will not be able to read or comprehend Chinese. He will not be able to understand it or be able to interact with someone else using Chinese. Why? When there is no translation, there is nothing more than input and output—exactly the way a computer chip works. A computer chip cannot think, reason, or understand because it has no God-given soul—it does not have genuine life. The works of our hands, no mater how complex or lifelike they may seem are unable to understand. This is something that the psalmist understood nearly 3000 years ago—it is a shame that many today still have not learned that lesson.
Beloved, not only ought we not bow down to the works of the hands of men, we ought not be intimidated by them either. Sometimes, when we see this person or that person with their strings of academic degrees, we set our God-given common sense and wisdom to the side and allow them to spout foolishness because we feel inadequate to stand up to them. Beloved, don’t be. The wonderful thing is that the facts and reality of this world—given that God created it—support the Biblical truth. Much of what the secularists espouse is propaganda designed to intimidate. It is like the old preacher who wrote on the side of his sermon notes: “weak point, preach loudly!” Much of their “scientific” theory is anything but scientific and all they are doing is preaching loudly and passionately to try and get you to go along with them. Don’t fall into that trap. God has given you minds with which to think and to reason—it is part of the Imago Dei (the image of God) within you. Don’t let them intimidate you for they are acting on their instincts, like unreasoning animals, but, we are getting ahead of ourselves. Beloved, we worship a living and active God who is infinite in his glory and in his worth—why would you want to settle for anything less?
Becoming… : Hebrews 1:1-4 (part 15)
Becoming so much greater than the angels, as much as he has inherited a name superior to theirs.
Becoming… What does it mean for Jesus to “become so much greater than the angels…”? Is Jesus not God? Is he not already greater than the angels? Has he not always been greater than the angels? Hasn’t his name always been superior to that of angels? While we know the answers to these questions from our study of the Bible as a whole, we need to ask what the writer of Hebrews is doing here, especially since there have been some who misconstrued these verses to support the idea of Jesus as one who was not divine in all senses until after the resurrection.
So what does the writer mean when he is speaking in these terms? To begin with, always remember the broader context of the passage and of the book, what is the writer seeking to communicate. For the book of Hebrews, one prevalent theme is that of Jesus being better than any other angel or god and of his covenant being better than the old covenant. So right away, you find Jesus being spoken of in contrast to the angelic beings—beings that some people even today are want to worship.
Secondly, this introduction sets up a picture of God’s work in redemptive history, beginning with the creation and coming to close at the resurrection of our Lord. This is important in terms of our understanding of the role of our Lord. Prior to the coming of the Lord, scripture speaks clearly and freely about the coming Messiah who will deliver his people from the bonds of death and destroy the serpent. Indeed, there is also a clear sense that with the coming of the Messiah, the old will pass away to make space for the new. Yet, at the same time, the fullness of the awesome work of the Godman was yet a mystery. It was a mystery, that is, until our Lord lived out that redemptive work before the eyes of a watching (and largely doubting) people. And in the completed work, now that we understand the fullness of what Christ came and did, in our hearts, Christ has become the focus of our adoration and hope. We now see the fullness of his redemptive work and proclaim the name of Jesus as the name above all other names and as Lord and Master over our lives. Thus, this change that the writer of Hebrews is speaking of is not a change in Jesus’ essential being, but a redemptive-historical change from the perspective of man gazing in awe at the completed work of Christ.
Beloved, and indeed, in our hearts, Jesus is elevated as one greater than angelic beings and as one who is the very hope and joy of our days. He is our master, our savior, and our companion—a friend in troubled times, a rock of defense in times of trial or persecution, and God’s hand of rebuke in times of sin. He is due infinite glory and then infinite glory again! He is to be the center of our thoughts, our dreams, and our desires. He is the one who is great and above all created things. Yet, how often we place created things before our eyes. How often we come to a point in our lives when we exalt other things more boldly or more highly than Christ. Loved ones, repent of this sin, for it is a sin, and flee to Christ for forgiveness. For his name is infinitely higher and greater than that of even the most mighty creatures within the creation—the angels themselves. Friends, the angels too, fall on their faces in worship before Christ, why do we think anything else might be able to be the object of our adoration?
Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne.
Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.
-Matthew Bridges
Purification for Sins: Hebrews 1:1-4 (part 13)
after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
There are many theories that have been put forth in the history of theology to try and articulate all of the ramifications of Jesus’ atoning work on the cross. Yet, the scriptures affirm so many different aspects of Jesus’ work on the cross that it is difficult to encapsulate all of them within one theory. And here is one of those passages in scripture that gives us a glimpse into one aspect of Jesus’ redeeming work—that of making purification for sins. This idea of making purification ties in closely with the Old Testament concept of the high priest offering a sacrifice to make atonement for his people. Indeed, this very language is found in the Greek translation of passages like Exodus 29:6 and Exodus 30:10, which speaks specifically of this atoning work.
In light of the Old Testament passages of atonement for sin, one thing that we must recognize is that sin is an offense to God, it is ugly and wicked, and it warps us wholly. The physical disease of Leprosy in the Old Testament is a visual description of the effect that sin has upon us in life. It makes us wretched and separates us from that which is holy and of God. Yet, God offers a means by which we may be made clean. In the Old Testament age, this cleansing revolved around the illustration of slaughtering animals. Though the blood of animals has no intrinsic value of its own, the promise of the work of Christ would impart value to it (Hebrews 9:15). And ultimately, the work of Christ in laying down his life as an offering of atonement, would offer a cleansing for those who flee to him in faith. Just as Jesus physically healed the lepers and others who were being consumed by disease and the other effects of the fall, Jesus heals us as well through faith in his finished work.
Does this idea of cleansing encapsulate the entirety of what Jesus’ atoning work does, certainly not! There are legal aspects where we need to talk about Jesus in terms of penal substitution. Scripture speaks of Jesus as having provided a ransom (to God, not the devil) for believers. There is the language of his being a model for us to follow and one who imputes his righteousness. We could go on, but that misses the point. The atonement is quite complex and we will likely never plumb the depths fully of this remarkable doctrine; this passage gives us just one glance at what Christ does for us: he cleanses us from our sins so that we might stand as clean in the presence of a righteous and a holy God who cannot tolerate sin in his presence. And this task, the writer of Hebrews affirms, Christ has gloriously completed, taking his seat at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Blessed be the name of our Lord!
Extol the Lamb of God,
The sin atoning Lamb;
Redemption by His blood
Throughout the lands proclaim:
The year of jubilee is come!
The year of jubilee is come!
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.
-Charles Wesley
Bearing All Things: Hebrews 1:1-4 (part 11)
also bearing all things in the word of his power;
What does it mean that Jesus bears all things? The Greek word that is used here is the word fe/rw (phero), which is a fairly broad verb, but it typically carries with it the idea of carrying something from point “A” to point “B.” Now, indeed, the writer of Hebrews is not trying to depict Jesus as carrying the universe around in a basket from location to location, but in the context of the passage, the writer is presenting Jesus as the one who carries all creation from time to time. Earlier in this passage, the writer of Hebrews describes Jesus as being the means by which God created, but he does not leave the imagery there, instead, Jesus is also portrayed as being the one who is preserving the universe in an ongoing way, holding it and binding it together (Colossians 1:17), and literally bearing up the universe through time from beginning to end.
There is an illustration that seems to be floating around Christian circles today for the purpose of illustrating God’s creative activity. This is called the “Watchmaker” analogy, and it is a very old illustration that has come back into usage. Essentially it poses the question of our innate expectations—when we see something that has a clear and orderly design, we expect that there is a maker. When we see a sandcastle, per say, we do not wonder whether it was formed by the wind and tides, we know that there is design and hence a designer. When we see a watch, we realize the same thing. While this is a good reminder, in principle, of God’s creative activity, it has dangerous ramifications in our understanding of the nature of God’s providential care of his creation. When a watchmaker makes a watch, he lets it alone after it is wound so that it will go on working as it was designed until it needs to be rewound. This idea of a “hands-off” God is not Biblical and leads to Deism, not genuine Christianity.
The writer of Hebrews is saying that not only did Jesus form the clock, the clock is formed in such a way that it cannot run on its own and that it is Jesus’ hand that allows it to move on. The second that Jesus withdraws his hand will be the second that the universe stops and dies. The word of Jesus’ power of so integral to the creation’s very being, that the creation cannot be said to have existence without it. It would be like being a human being trying to live and act without air or blood, it would be like an automobile trying to drive without fuel to run it or oil to lubricate its parts, and it would be like trying to turn on a light-bulb when there is not yet any power run to the house. Nothing can be said to be or to be able to continue without the word of God’s power—without the work of Jesus Christ.
Loved ones, think of the ramifications of this principle. Even the unbeliever needs Jesus, whether he likes it or not. Without Jesus, the unbeliever and the believer alike could not walk, breath, have life, or even exist—we would be nothing and nothing would be. That makes nonsense out of even the most ardent atheist’s rejection of God, for they could not reject were not Christ causing all things to be and were not Christ allowing them the setting and ability to reject. What a wonderful reminder of how we ought to be bold in our evangelism, for we know and have a relationship with the one who holds the cosmos in its place and who will bring it into its logical judgment! Oh, beloved, how our God did not create a clock to be wound and sit on the table, but instead, he created a machine that can do nothing on its own, but requires one to be ever moving and bringing it life—and the great promise is that Christ will not fail to uphold this universe, but will do so by the word of his power to its appointed time when it will be brought into judgment and remade free from the effects of the fall.
David in the Wilderness: Psalm 63 (part 12)
“The King will rejoice in God;
and boast, will all who swear by him;
for the mouth will be shut of all who speak a lie.”
(Psalm 63:12 {Psalm 63:11 in English Bibles})
And David, who is the rightful king of Israel, will rejoice in God (even in the midst of having to flee for his life) because God will shut the mouths of the liars—God will vindicate David’s name and bring to shame those who would seek to speak ill of him. What an amazing statement! David is saying that because God is who he is, that he has no fear. Even in the situation he is in, where people are seeking his life and his kingdom, that David is entirely confident that God will bring truth to the surface and will bring an end to the lies that are being spoken about him.
Beloved, were it that we could only have such faith! That we could walk with such confidence as to know that God will stop the mouths of those who lie about us. Yet, friends, we can because God will! How often do we respond to lies about us by angrily confronting the liars? How often do we drop everything that we are doing just to focus our energies on “restoring our good name?” Loved ones, do not misunderstand me, a good name is an important part of your Christian witness, but do you not think that God will restore your good name for you? Do you not think that God is able to put an end to false talk about you? If you believe that God will do this and that he is able to do so, why do you fret and panic about the lies of the enemy so?
Loved ones, you are held in the hand of the one who is the very definition of truth and righteousness—pursue His truth and righteousness and the lies of the enemy will be shown for what they are. As our Lord, himself said:
“Blessed are you when they reproach you, persecute you, and say evil and lies of you because of me. Rejoice and Exalt! For your reward is great in heaven. For thus they persecuted the prophets who came before you.”
(Matthew 5:11-12)
Beloved, let our lives sing and boast of the one we serve, for what other god is like our God? None! No not one!
I will sing of my Redeemer, and his wondrous love to me:
On the cruel cross he suffered, from the curse to set me free.
Sing, O sing of my Redeemer!
With his blood, he purchased me;
On the cross he sealed my pardon,
Paid the debit and made me free.
-Philip Bliss
The Light of Creation: Hebrews 1:1-4 (part 8)
Who being the radiance of the glory…
Many people ask the question of those of us who hold strongly to the Biblical account of creation (God creating in a literal period of six 24-hour days, then resting on the seventh, literal, 24-hour day), “If the sun and stars were not created until day 4, how was there light on the earlier days?” While there are many pseudo-scientific answers that have been presented to address this question, we need not go beyond the scriptural texts, for in this passage, God gives us the answer. Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God. He is the effulgent splendor of God’s glory—of his greatness—of his “weightiness! What a wonderful thought, God’s glory cannot be contained or cloaked in darkness, but it must be seen, and who is the one who reflects that glory down upon the newly created earth? Jesus the Christ! And he continues to shine God’s glory down upon us for all time. Thus, when God the Father pronounced, “Let there be light!”, it was God the Son who revealed and reflected that light down upon a watching world. In addition, we are told that in the new creation that there will be no sun and no darkness, but the glory of God will be with our light we will exist to praise him and to glory in him.
Yet, the first line of this verse should not simply be seen in terms of creation, but in terms of all redemptive history! The heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1), believers are redeemed to the glory of God (Philippians 2:11), and Christ is the means by which God pours out and demonstrates that glory to his created order. Beloved, that ought to cause your heart to skip! The reason that we know of the sun is because it radiates its light and heat to us. The reason that we know that a flame is hot is because of the heat that radiates out from the flame. Beloved, the reason that we know of the glory of God is because God chose to radiate that glory to us in Christ. What a wonderful hope and promise, what a wonderful privilege given to him, and ought we not honor him appropriately? Ought we not pour out our praise for God the Son, not only for what he has done for us as believers, but for who he is. As Paul writes, there will come a time that even those who are eternally perishing will give Christ his due (Philippians 2:11), ought we not begin now? Loved ones, think through your days, your weeks, and your years; what does your private worship look like? Do we genuinely praise Christ in all we do and give him thanks for all we have been given? Do we praise him for who he is? Do we exalt him before a watching world with our words and with our lives? If not, what is holding us back? Jesus Christ is the very radiance—the effulgent splendor—of the glory of God; honor him as such.
A Kingdom of Priests! (New Song, part 8)
“ Kingdom of Priests”
Just as the Levites (the Old Testament priesthood) were not given an allotment of land when the Israelites entered into Canaan, but rather lived amongst the rest of the tribes of the nation, we as Christians are a priesthood without a land here on this earth. We are called, just as the Levites were, to live as strangers and aliens in this land, for our land is a land that is not of this world, but has been reserved for us in heaven.
With this in mind, there are two things that we must always keep before us. First is that we are not to allow ourselves too high a degree of comfort in this world. This world is passing away and it has not been given to us; our world is imperishable. When the Christian becomes too comfortable with the things of this world, he begins to compromise his faith. Just as the Levitical priesthood allowed the idolatry of the land to corrupt their pure faith, so too, when we become comfortable in the land, we invariably compromise the truth of our faith, and we sink into idolatry.
Secondly, the reason that the priesthood was spread about the promised land was so that they would be a blessing to the rest of the Israelites. Yes, the Levites served an important function within the temple, but when they were not physically serving in the temple, the Levites were to teach the scriptures to God’s people and to be an advocate for the widows and orphans, or those otherwise excluded from the society. Just as the nation of Israel was blessed to be a blessing to the world around them, the Levites were blessed to be a blessing to Israel.
And friends, this also remains as our task. Not only must we seek to keep our faith pure and focused on Christ (as opposed to the things of this world), but we are also to be a blessing to the world around us. We need to care for the widows and the orphans, and by extension, all those who have been discarded by society. We are to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people and teach them about our God. And, as we are priests to God, we have an important role in worship itself, for the writer of Hebrews tells us that our sacrifice (as opposed to the Old Testament temple sacrifices) is a sacrifice of praise to our God (Hebrews 13:15).
Take my will, and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne.
Take my love, My Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee.
-Francis Havergal
The Ransom Paid! (New Song, part 5)
“The Ransom Paid”
We must be careful when we talk about the ransom to be paid, or the debit owed, because we must be absolutely clear as to whom that ransom was paid to. Through the history of the church, some have argued that Jesus’ death was a ransom paid to the Devil for sin, to redeem his people from the clutches of the enemy. Loved ones, this theology is wrong, for God owes no one, especially not the devil, anything at all. Scripture tells us that God chose the elect even before he began creating, which means that he chose the elect before there was sin in the world and before there was any need for a ransom.
Yet, there is a debit that is owed, and that is a debit that we owe to God. In ancient days, when countries were at war with each other, if one country was loosing badly and wanted to bring an end to the warfare, they would sue for peace. They would pay a large sum of money to the other nation, and the war would be considered over.
In a way, that is the same with us. We, in our sin, have been rebels against God for hundreds of generations. Our sin is an affront to a Holy and Righteous God, and there is a just penalty—a price—that is owed to God as a result. The promise is that no matter what we do, and no matter how good we are, we can never hope to repay that debit. Not even someone like Mother Theresa or William Carey could do it. Yet, Jesus chose to do it on behalf of those who put their faith in him as Lord and Savior—the elect. And, oh how grateful we should be!
John tells us that Jesus is the propitiation for our sin (1 John 2:2). Propitiation is different from atonement. Atonement is the making of peace between two parties. Propitiation is the act that brings atonement. We stand convicted and guilty of sin. Jesus acknowledges that and he acknowledges the price we owe as a result. And Jesus paid the price, beloved; he paid it all.
For nothing good have I
whereby your grace to claim—
I’ll wash my garments white
in the blood of Calvary’s Lamb.
Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe;
sin had left a crimson stain,
he washed me white as snow.
-Elvina Hall
Jesus Was Slain! (New Song, part 4)
“Jesus Was Slain”
To those who would deny the crucifixion, this song affirms even this gruesome detail of Jesus’ ministry. Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22); each year, the priest, on the day of atonement, would slay a lamb for the forgiveness of the people’s sins (Exodus 30:10), and Jesus has become that lamb for all of the elect (Matthew 26:28), and as Jesus’ sacrifice is perfect and effective, it is a sacrifice that never needs repeating (Hebrews 9:25-26).
In addition, it is a reminder to the historicity of the crucifixion. So many liberals would simply say that there was no real Jesus of history, and if there really was, he wasn’t anything like the Jesus we find in the Bible. Friends, ignore their lies. This song, as does all of scripture, affirms the historical sacrifice of Jesus.
Friends, Jesus was willing to pay a gruesome price for the redemption of believers. If you are a believer, born again by the Spirit in Jesus Christ, then he paid a terrible price for your eternal redemption. Yet, This is something that Jesus gladly did. Don’t take it for granted. It is too easy to relegate the words of scripture to a list of abstract concepts. There was nothing abstract about Jesus. He lived and he died, living in this world as you and I. He was slain for the sins of you and me. Yet, he arose, and therein lies our hope, for he has promised that if we put our faith in him as our Lord and Savior, then he will raise us as well on the last day.
Death cannot keep his prey—
Jesus, my Savior,
he tore the bars away—
Jesus, my Lord.
Up from the grave he arose,
with a mighty triumph o’er his foes.
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
and he lives forever with his saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!
-Robert Lowry
Jesus is Worthy! (New Song, part 2)
“Jesus is Worthy”
Jesus is worthy of our praise and no one else is. Mohammed was not worthy, Buddha was not worthy, Krishna was not worthy, our governments are not worthy, humanistic teachers are not worthy—no one but Jesus is worthy of our praise and adoration.
Jesus is worthy first because of his perfect character. From the beginning of time, Jesus is and was infinitely perfect in all of his ways. He is God. And for that simple fact, he deserves our worship. Friends, not only is the unbelief of the non-Christian a sin, but the refusal to worship both of the non-believer and of the casual churchgoer is also a sin. Had Jesus never done any work of redemption, he still would have been infinitely worthy of our praise and honor.
Yet, in his work of redemption, how much more worthy is he! He condescended to take on flesh and walk with us. He came to us while we were still rebels against God, wallowing in our sin—and he called us to himself. He did the work of redemption that bridged the infinite gap between a Holy God and a sinful man. He did that for me. And if you are a born-again believer, he did that for you as well. Because he did for me what I could have never done for myself, how much more is he worthy of my praise!
Praise Him! praise Him! Jesus our blessed Redeemer!
Sing, O Earth, his wonderful love proclaim!
Hail him! hail him! highest archangels in glory;
strength and honor give to his holy name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard his children,
in his arms he carries them all day long;
Praise him! praise him! tell of his excellent greatness;
praise him! praise him! ever in joyful song!
–Fanny Crosby
Birth Announcements
I. The Birth of John the Baptist Announced
A. John’s Parents
1. Zechariah the priest (name means “Yahweh has remembered”)
2. Elizabeth of the house of Aaron (name means “My God is an Oath”)
3. Both parents from a priestly line—not a common thing to happen
B. Herod
1. John’s righteous parents set in history against the background of a
tyrannical ruler
2. Herod the Great had been given an army by Rome to conquer as much
as he chose to rule
C. Zechariah in the Temple
1. Lighting the incense
a. The altar of incense was one of the pieces of furniture in the
Holy Place of the temple
b. The Incense was lit 2x per day so that it would perpetually burn
as a sign of the prayers of God’s people perpetually before him
2. The prayers of the priests were ones connected with the coming
Messiah (angel pronounces his prayers answered in Luke 1:13)
3. This privilege was drawn by lot and was a once in a lifetime privilege,
and many never got to do it—note God’s hand at work in the timing
D. Zechariah’s response
1. Zechariah responds in doubt, his tongue mis-speaks and thus, his
tongue is silenced
2. In contrast, Mary will pose a question, but it is a question asked in
faith, thus, she is not rebuked
E. Restrictions on John
1. John will be forbidden to drink wine or strong drink from birth
2. This is likely a Nazarite vow that is given to him (note Samuel’s
Dedication in 1 Samuel 1:11)
a. under such a vow they could not
i. drink wine and alcohol (could not even eat grapes)
ii. cut their hair
iii. be near a dead body
b. see Numbers 6:1-10
F. Both John and Jesus given names
1. John means “Yahweh has been gracious”
2. Jesus means “Salvation” or “he will save his people from their sins”
-Jesus comes from the name Joshua
II. Birth of Jesus announced
A. Note that Zechariah and Elizabeth are both in the line of Aaron and Joseph
and Mary are in the line of Judah
B. The Greeting to Mary
1. “Greetings O Favored One”
2. Note this is an emphasis on her being favored because of what God is
doing in her, not because of who she is.
3. She responds in shock at such a greeting given her lowly status
4. Though is befuddled, she responds in faith (see 1:45)
C. Title given to Jesus is “Son of the Most High”
1. This is the Greek word u¢yistoß (hupsistos), which when used
substantivally (as a noun) always refers to God himself
2. This Greek word is used to translate the Hebrew word !Ayl.[, (elyon)
which also is used in the Old Testament to refer to God
-Elyon means “God most High”
3. This is the name of God attributed to Jesus’ sonship—a clear statement
that Jesus is the Son of the covenant God of Israel (Amy Grant song,
“El Shaddai”—which means “God Almighty”)
D. Mary’s Song
1. Called the “Magnificat” meaning “the praises” from Latin
2. See 1 Samuel 2:1-10 and compare Mary’s Song with Hannah’s prayer
E. Note the 2 names given to Jesus in Matthew’s account
1. Jesus-“for he will save his people from their sins”
2. Immanuel-“God with us”
Jesus created Time: Hebrews 1:1-4 (part 7)
“through whom he also created the ages.”
When we think of Christ being the means, or the Word, of creation, typically, we think in terms of material “stuff” that is all around us. We think of rocks and trees, of birds and clouds, of stars and of everything else in this wonderful creation from the greatest heavenly body to the smallest microbe, quark, and string. But, oftentimes, we do not think of time in the context of God’s creation, yet, indeed, it was. Prior to the God’s creative act, time simply did not exist. God dwelt in perfect satisfaction in eternity prior, with no beginning, end, or middle. For most of us, that begins to make our heads hurt just a bit. Yet, time is a description of a progression of events with a definite beginning and a possible end. Eternity has no such progression, for to suggest eternity is bound by time, and hence God as well, is to suggest that God has a beginning, and such is not the case. In the beginning (of time) God was—he simply was, no temporal markers defined his existence, he simply existed (Genesis 1:1). And as God is the beginning, the great Alpha and Omega, all things, including time, flowed forth from his creative process—indeed flowed forth through the Son of God—the Word.
It is interesting, when we think of time, to see the difference between the way we usually behave toward time and to the way in which the Bible speaks of time. In scripture, there is a sense of time’s fleetingness. We are told over and over that time is short, that the return of our Lord is near, that the life of man is but a vapor and passing quickly, etc… Yet, despite all of these warnings and testimonies in God’s word, we usually go about our daily activities as if time were in abundance. We put off much that we ought to do today until tomorrow and then into the following weeks if it is not pressing. We usually do not conduct our affairs as if time is running out. Thomas Manton, the Puritan divine, once reflected that if a town were on fire and the fire was spreading, people would not go about their daily affairs at the usual pace. Instead, they would spring to action, alerting all of the imminent danger and would find a renewed vigor as they sought to do their duty in saving the town.
Beloved, we have been lulled into a slumber while the enemy is burning down our nation and indeed even the church. What is it that we are doing to alert our neighbors and fellow villagers? Are we doing our duty and joining the bucket brigade to extinguish this fire? Are we running through the village, joining the town crier, proclaiming, “Danger is Near! Danger is Near!” To change the analogy to one from our own national history, will you be like Samuel Prescott, and join Paul Revere and William Dawes on their ride to warn the valiant defenders of our land that the enemy is coming? Do you recall, that it is only Samuel Prescott who completed his ride to Concord? Dear friends, will you remain in your slumber, or will you shout loudly and proclaim that danger is upon us! Loved ones, we do not know how the War for Independence might have proceeded had Prescott not rallied himself from his slumber and joined the ride. Loved ones, the scripture cries to us that time is short and that even though many may mock you and proclaim that nothing has changed since their father’s day and nothing is bound to change, these are lies worked by enemies of God who are destined for judgment (2 Peter 3:1-7). No, loved ones, in this battle we need not fear the approach of the redcoats, but instead the fire of God’s impending judgment. You who are born again in Jesus Christ are ready, but what of those around you? Are they ready as well? And you who have been born again, are you prepared to present yourself as a faithful servant before our God, having studied to show yourself approved (note the importance of studying God’s word to our lived out sanctification!)? If not, count this as your clarion call as well. Awake beloved, our Lord has created time and has set its boundaries, and whether our Lord returns before the end of the day or whether he tarries another thousand years (or more), we have been given a job to do—to go into all the world and to make disciples of all men—a task that begins at home and extends to every corner of the earth; it is a task we will not succeed in if we slumber through the days that God has granted to us.
The Walls of Jerusalem: Psalm 51 (part 19)
“Do well, by your grace, in Zion,
you shall build the walls of Jerusalem.”
(Psalm 51:20 {Psalm 51:18 in English Bibles})
As David begins to close this prayer, the focus shifts from his personal guilt and needs to the needs of God’s people. While David, as king of Israel, does have a responsibility toward the people of Israel, it is important that we not see this part of his prayer as flowing only out of his kingly obligation. Believers in Jesus Christ are bound together in Christ as one body, and thus, ought to have a mindset that is focused on the whole of that body—something that many people call a “Kingdom mentality.” When one member of your physical body is hurting, not only is that pain felt in other parts of the body, but also you find that other parts of the body will work to compensate for the weakness of the injured member. So, too it should be with the body of Christ. We are to rejoice when other members receive great blessing and our hearts should ache when a member of the body experiences great loss. Sadly, this is an area in which the church often stumbles and falls.
Secondly, look at what David asks God to be the factor that determines such blessing. David is not saying, do well to Zion because of your great wisdom or justice, nor is he asking blessings on the basis of Israel’s status as God’s people, their heritage, or good works—he pleads God’s good blessings on the basis of God’s good grace. In many of our English Bible’s this is translated as “favor,” but the word that David employs, !Acr” (ratson), carries with it the connotation of blessing that can only come from the hand of God, often given in connection with faith. Thus, the English term “grace” is probably a better translation in this context. Israel certainly has not earned this blessing from God, yet David asks it for God’s people on the basis of God’s gracious character.
The last clause of this verse has caused some people to stumble, for they ask the question, how could this have been written during David’s time, for the walls of Israel were already built? Thus, some are quick to attribute this to a much later era in history, after the wall had been destroyed. Yet, there are two things that should be understood. The first is the practical observation that during ancient times, city walls were always being added to, either in the area that they encompassed or in height. The strengthening of the city’s walls was a sign of a city’s productivity and power. In turn, the Hebrew word hn:b” (banah) is flexible enough to carry the connotations of “building up” in addition to “building from scratch.” Yet, the best way to translate this is in the recognition that Israel’s safety did not come from stones and mortar but came from the very hand of God. And with this in mind, particularly in the context of David’s request for blessing in the first part of this verse, we should see this language as a metaphor for peace in Israel and security from her enemies.
I wonder sometimes whether we sincerely long to see Christ’s church blessed and at peace. We might have a yearning to see our local congregation grow or even our denomination, but what about Christ’s church? Do you pray for the growth of Christ’s church as a whole? Do you pray for God’s blessing on the other local churches in your neighborhood? Do you plead with God that these churches would prosper for the gospel even if your own congregation is facing great trials? So often jealousy shapes our prayers, and that is a sin we must repent of. Though we have many divisions in the church as an institution, all true believers are bound together in Christ as a united and unified body—how good it would be if we could learn to let our prayers and actions reflect just that.
I love thy church, O God: her walls before thee stand,
Dear as the apple of thine eye, and graven on thy hand.
For her my tears shall fall, for her my prayers ascend;
To her my cares and toils be given, till toils and cares shall end.
-Timothy Dwight
A Broken Spirit and Crushed Heart: Psalm 51 (part 18)
“The sacrifices of God are a spirit that is broken and
a heart that is broken and crushed—
O God, these you will not despise.
(Psalm 51:19 {Psalm 51:17 in English Bibles})
There are two ways in which we can look at David’s statement about the “sacrifices of God.” The first way is the way that this verse is typically seen and that is to say that the sacrifices that are “of God” or are “acceptable to God” are a broken spirit and a broken and a contrite heart. This interpretation clearly fits the context of the passage as a whole and joins hand in hand with the language about sacrifices that is found in the previous verse, and indeed, those who come before the Lord with hearts that are proud and haughty, filled with a sense of their own achievements, will be sent away in shame. We are a people who have nothing in our hands to show or offer—our lives and works can only earn us condemnation if it is what we are trusting in to bring us to God.
Yet, there is a second way that we can understand this verse, and that is as a prophetic statement of the coming of Christ. For it is God himself who would offer himself up as a sacrifice for the sins of his people—beaten and broken, and suffering not only in his death, but suffering in life as he grieved the state of his covenant people. Thus, in Christ, God himself offered up the sacrifice of a broken heart as demonstrated in Christ’s suffering and death. In addition, do not the scriptures speak of our sin grieving the heart of God? Indeed, out of God’s grieving heart he offered up the sacrifice of his Son so that any who would cling to Him as their Lord and Savior would be redeemed from their sin.
Oh, loved ones, how the cost of sin should cause us to grieve sin all the more. Someone else paid the price, took the punishment on our behalf—it cost God what we could not pay. How, then, knowing this, do we so often take sin so lightly—do we take forgiveness so casually? Beloved, examine your hearts; see where they are broken and supple, but most importantly, look to find those areas that have gotten proud and hard and pray to God that He will crush those parts to dust. It will hurt when God does so, but beloved, it is only in brokenness that you can have a heart that is right before God.
O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.
-George Matheson
My Mouth Will Declare Your Praise: Psalm 51 (part 16)
“Oh Lord, my lips you will open,
and my mouth will declare your praise.”
(Psalm 51:17 {Psalm 51:15 in English Bibles})
Loved ones, hear these words of David, and hear them well. When it comes to your worship, and what the writer of Hebrews calls your “sacrifice of praise” (Hebrews 13:15), the value and quality of it has nothing to do with the skill that is demonstrated. The value of it lies within the origin of the praise. Is the praise that you give a product of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, or is it a product of men? You may have the voice of a world-class operatic singer, but if your song is not powered by the movement of the Holy Spirit, you are but a noisy and lifeless instrument. Yet, you may have no more skill than a school-child, but if your praise is lifted up by a sincere heart before the Lord, and is empowered by the Holy Spirit, such a song is considered sweet in the ears of God.
Friends, do not forget who it is that is writing these words—it is David the songwriter. Yet, David understood clearly that the power behind his songs was the working hand of God in his life. It is God who must open our lips so that praise may flow forth. At the same time, sometimes our lips become closed in the wake of great sin, yet David sets these words forth in confidence, knowing that in his repentance, God will restore him in faith and will once again give him a voice to sing God’s praises.
Beloved, do you sing to God? I mean, do you really sing with your whole heart? Are you intimidated because you have difficulty holding a tune? Are you afraid that you will be off-key with the person in the pew next to you? Do you worry what that person will say of your singing behind your back? Beloved, there may be a hundred reasons why you do not sing your praises to God, but there are an infinite number of reasons to praise him with your whole voice! Loved ones, we are a people who have been redeemed from sin and death—how can we spend a moment of our lives not praising God? Yet, if you are one of those who are gifted in voice (something that I am not J), make sure that you are not singing because of the praise of your audience—if you sing thus, it will serve no other purpose. Rather, sing praise that points to God and use your gift to point others heavenward. Lastly, loved ones, praise God both inside and outside of His sanctuary. Praise him when you go to and fro; praise him in your homes and in your cars; praise him in your waking and sleeping—praise him, praise him, praise him in all that you do. Give God the glory, for great things he has done!
To God be the glory, great things he has done!
So loved he the world that he gave us his Son,
Who yielded his life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life-gate that we may go in.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O Come to the Father through Jesus the Son,
And give him the glory, great things he has done!
-Fanny Crosby
Do Not Send Me Away from Your Presence: Psalm 51 (part 12)
“Do not send me away from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit—do not take him from me.”
(Psalm 51:13 {Psalm 51:11 in English Bibles})
In this verse, David returns to a chiastic structure. The verses that have gone before have been largely arranged in a simple parallel structure and this change is designed to add emphasis. And the emphasis that David is making strikes at the very heart of the human condition: sin has driven us out of relationship with God. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked in communion with God; sin changed that. Because of sin, man and woman were driven out of paradise and out of the relationship that would make even the most hellish place a paradise to be in—they were driven out of their intimate and personal relationship with God in his presence, and all of the struggles and difficulties we face in our fallen nature when we seek to commune with God all have roots back to this origin.
How could a Holy God remain in communion with those who rebelled in sin? Indeed, sin must be punished, and the wrath of an infinite, Holy God was the only punishment suitable to the crime. Beloved, facing someone’s anger is one thing—it is rarely a pleasant thing to do, but it is something we have all done and will likely do again—this kind of anger can be weathered. But righteous anger is something altogether different—especially when we are in the wrong. Facing the righteous wrath of a man who has been wronged is a heavy thing to deal with and is grievous to endure. But what about the righteous anger of an infinite God who is perfect in his holiness and perfect in his righteousness? No man could stand. We would be utterly lost—even the best and most noble human being—we would be forever consigned to the fires of hell; and, in doing so, God would be vindicated.
Yet, in God’s unfathomable richness and mercy, he chose to redeem a people for himself. Sin had to be dealt with, but rather than putting a burden that could not be borne upon men, he allowed his Son to become flesh and to bear that penalty on behalf of those who would cling to him in faith as their substitute, mediator, and paraclete. Indeed, this is the demonstration of the infinite love of God, that he would give his only begotten son to die and bear the penalty of sin for those whom he would call in faith, that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but have eternal life and those who would reject the offering made by Christ would be forever consigned to their reasonable fate, paying the penalty for their sin in eternal condemnation (John 3:16-21). There is no other way and no other path to the paradise of God but through Christ. Adam and Eve lost access to it and Christ has shed his blood to offer it back to humanity once again—what good news that is to a dark and dying world!
Thus, in Christ, communion is restored through the work of the Holy Spirit, and David, recognizing the great blessing connected with God’s presence before him, clung to that above all else. Though his sin may have caused him to deserve to be forever cast out of God’s presence, the work of Christ allows the prayer offered in faith to be heard and answered. And though God may remove our sense of assurance for a time as a means of disciplining his children, he will not leave or forsake us because he has called us his own and adopted us as sons and daughters in Christ. God paid too dear a price to abandon those for whom his Son died. Thus, David pleads that God not remove from him the closeness and presence of communion that they had enjoyed, and indeed, how this should guide our own prayers of repentance, recognizing that God will not let his people be forever lost, but recognizing how essential that it is that we remain in daily—moment by moment—communion with God. Loved ones, cling to this promise, and cling to Christ.
O love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
-George Matheson
