God shows Ezekiel a detailed vision of the temple restored, walking him through and measuring it.
He does this to make Israel ashamed of her sins (43:10).
The sacrifices are described, and the priests' duties.
The east gate stays shut now, since God re-entered through it. The prince sits there.
There is water flowing from the temple out to the sea, giving life to the world.
Trees on each side of the river give fruit. Eden is restored.
Land of Israel is described with tribal boundaries.
How this is about Jesus
This is a picture of life as it is supposed to be. Jesus is the way, truth and life.
Notice how Ezekiel and Revelation are very similar. Vision at the beginning of the wheel and vision of Jesus. In the middle we have judgements, and at the end a great final battle where evil is defeated and the city is restored and life-giving.
12.05.2015
Puritans on Infant Baptism
Chapter 45 - Puritans and Paedobaptism
Does covenant theology justify baptizing infants?
The promises God made to Abraham still apply to us today in Christ. There is no clear Scripture taking away the sign of the covenant from the children of believers.
Baptist view:
- "when circumcision was abrogated with Christ, the command to keep this covenant [Genesis 17] ended with it. No 'substance' remained from Genesis 17" - pg. 730.
- "circumcision as a sign did not entail being 'in' the covenant of grace" - pg. 730.
Beeke/Jones outline in detail a debate over Genesis 17 - was this a covenant of works or of grace?
The baptist view imposes the "oppose law and gospel" interpretation on this, winding up with us "under two contrary covenants at once" (734). They want to say since that covenant was of works, it is now abrogated. But just because God tells Abraham to do something doesn't make it a covenant of works or dependent on works.
Evaluation
I expected a far more comprehensive treatment of baptism. This chapter honed in on Genesis 17 and didn't deal with New Testament texts at all. They treat Genesis 17 as expected (Baptists dismiss it as irrelevant and abrogated; paedobaptists take it as their starting point to argue their view), so the detail of the debate was a unique contribution.
12.04.2015
2 Peter
1
God has given you all you need for a life of godliness, so make sure of it.
I remind you of this since I will put off the body soon. I'll make sure you can recall this after I'm gone. We saw Jesus transfigured with our own eyes, and we have even more reliable prophecy in the Word written by men moved by the Spirit.
2
False teachers will come following their sensuality, denying Jesus, blaspheming God, and destroying faith. God punished the evil angels in Noah's day, and Sodom, while rescuing Lot. So He can save you and deal with them. They carouse like beasts and pursue gain like Balaam. They promise you freedom but are slaves to corruption themselves.
3
Scoffers will come rejecting Christ's coming. They stubbornly forget that God made the world by a word in water, and will judge it by His Word in fire. God isn't tardy in coming, but is being patient in waiting for men to repent. How much should we pursue holiness since such things are coming? Listen to Paul, too, though he is hard to understand at times. Grow in Christ's grace!
How this is about Jesus
False teachers always deny some important truth about Jesus Christ. Stick to the apostles' writings.
Application
Let the coming of the Lord motivate you to holiness now.
Beware the connection between sensuality and heresy. When you are addicted to and cherish your pleasures, you will eventually deny your Lord to keep them.
Ezekiel 35-39
35
Edom is judged for gleefully watching as Israel was
destroyed.
God will judge, conquer and possess it instead.
36
Speak to the mountains of Israel and tell them that
Israelites will walk on them again.
Israel’s deeds were unclean like a woman’s menstruation. When I sent them into exile they kept
profaning My name there. For My name’s
sake I’ll bring them back home, sprinkle them clean, give them My Spirit in them
instead of their stony heart, cleanse their sin, make the desolate land like
Eden again, increase them as a flock, and I will be their God again.
37
God shows Ezekiel a valley full of bones and tells him to preach to them.
God will put flesh on them, breath in them, make them stand and live.
He will bring Israel out of their graves, back to their land.
He will unite Judah and Israel under one king like David in a covenant of peace forever.
38-39
God prophesies against Gog and Magog, rulers who assemble the nations against Israel.
He will defeat them by turning them against each other and raining hail and brimstone on them.
Israel will bury the dead for 7 months (another valley of bones), and burn weapons instead of firewood. The birds will come and devour the carrion.
Israel will know that I am God then. I'll show Myself to them and pour out My Spirit on them.
How this is about Jesus
37 - He is the resurrection forerunner, and Davidic king who unites God's people.
38-39 - He leads the army of God to defeat Gog and Magog (Rev. 19-20).
Application
I never noticed before that the famous valley of dry bones in chapter 37 comes before a valley bones in chapter 39. God's people's graves are emptied of their bones and His enemies' graves are filled.
Look to God to restore you and all things.
John Bunyan's Preaching
Chapter 44 - John Bunyan's Preaching to the Heart
John Owen, who spoke with kings, often went to hear the tinker Bunyan preach.
His heart for the Gospel and men's souls was evident.
He understood the heart, having a lively faith that began with terror and doubt at his sinfulness, leading him to appreciate the grace of Christ.
He preached in a plain way that made the hearer participate. Today we call it dialogical, creating a dialogue or impersonating what the hearer might be thinking. He did this powerfully, so that the hearer thought he was describing himself to a "t."
He preaching in a pleading manner, not content to simply lay out the truth, but calling for change in his audience.
He preached to exalt Christ both in our conversion and for eternity in glory.
Quiverfull Gone Wrong, or, The Burned Out Housewife
I picked up "Instead of the Thorn" for some vacation reading this week. Written by a Dutch Reformed minister in west Michigan in the 1940s, it tells the tale of the settlers coming from the Netherlands and forging a colony in the 1800s. He has moments of vivid and striking writing, like this one.
Husbands zealous for large families, take heed.
This is not to persuade you away from large families, per se, but to have you take into account the self-sacrifice involved. Avoid this happening!
"Grietje [the wife] had borne him nine children in silence so that when the last two were still-born one could not tell whether she was sad or gay at the living or the dead. She had always given herself obediently to her husand, looking upon his pious assertions as the will of the Lord. Geert [her husband] was firmly convinced that it was a woman's task to bear children in sorrow, and he felt a great deal more respect for the psalmist's literal meaning than for his poetry when the latter spoke of the happy man and his quiver full.
"But Geert's... eyes, which often rolled upward with unction, did not see the frowning truth about his relation to Grietje. His quiver full of weakened arrows, that twanged dismally from the parent string, had settled mortally in the flesh and soul of his wife from whom the passion for wifehood and mother hood had long fled. Her peaked face had taken on a ghostly pallor that matched her shuffling step as she moved without a word about the draughty rooms. If she had any cares, she had long since learned to keep them locked up in her hollow breast from which there issued nothing but dry coughs as if indicating the depths where even rosy secrets had died. Upon her children she looked with more of duty than concern, for she felt that she could not love them for what might have been.... She had done with life and not all her husband's warmth about religion could strike one spark among the dead ashes of her soul."
Bastian Kruithof, "Instead of the Thorn" (Half Moon Press: New York, 1941).
Find it here, or probably at Baker Book House used books.
Husbands zealous for large families, take heed.
This is not to persuade you away from large families, per se, but to have you take into account the self-sacrifice involved. Avoid this happening!
"Grietje [the wife] had borne him nine children in silence so that when the last two were still-born one could not tell whether she was sad or gay at the living or the dead. She had always given herself obediently to her husand, looking upon his pious assertions as the will of the Lord. Geert [her husband] was firmly convinced that it was a woman's task to bear children in sorrow, and he felt a great deal more respect for the psalmist's literal meaning than for his poetry when the latter spoke of the happy man and his quiver full.
"But Geert's... eyes, which often rolled upward with unction, did not see the frowning truth about his relation to Grietje. His quiver full of weakened arrows, that twanged dismally from the parent string, had settled mortally in the flesh and soul of his wife from whom the passion for wifehood and mother hood had long fled. Her peaked face had taken on a ghostly pallor that matched her shuffling step as she moved without a word about the draughty rooms. If she had any cares, she had long since learned to keep them locked up in her hollow breast from which there issued nothing but dry coughs as if indicating the depths where even rosy secrets had died. Upon her children she looked with more of duty than concern, for she felt that she could not love them for what might have been.... She had done with life and not all her husband's warmth about religion could strike one spark among the dead ashes of her soul."
Bastian Kruithof, "Instead of the Thorn" (Half Moon Press: New York, 1941).
Find it here, or probably at Baker Book House used books.
12.03.2015
Ezekiel 33-34
33
God makes Ezekiel a guard to warn Israel when danger is coming. It's his job to warn them, not to change them. If they won't listen, that's their problem. But if Ezekiel doesn't warn them, he has failed. God wants Israel to return to Him in repentance.
When news of Jerusalem's fall comes, God tells Israel through Ezekiel that He is taking the land from them for their sins. You don't deserve it just because you're a Jew or because you go listen to sermons or read your Bibles. You refuse to obey Me.
34
Israel's shepherds have been selfish and neglected the sheep, even hurting them to advance themselves. So God will come and gather His sheep Himself and feed them, but will judge the shepherds. God will restore peace and shower blessing on the land and the people in it.
How this is about Jesus
He is the watchman who warns Israel of her path, like Ezekiel did.
He is the shepherd who seeks out the sheep - Luke 19:10.
Application
33 - Is everyone responsible to speak out? Ezekiel was made a watchman directly by God. Parents guard their children. But are we all watchmen like Ezekiel? I'd say we need to speak up when we see something amiss. But we aren't all called to be expert culture warriors, speakers, lobbyists fixers or meddlers of everything.
34 - This is a great text for all those who have been burned by the church. God knows how to protect or restore children from abusive parents and church members from abusive shepherds. Same would go for governments that fleece their citizens.
12.02.2015
1 Peter
1
You've been born again to a hope for an inheritance from God in heaven, though you suffer here for a while. The prophets did - and angels do - search out this salvation you have been given. You are called to be holy, since Jesus has bought you with His precious blood.
2
You are being built into a spiritual house for God - you are stones coming to the living cornerstone Jesus. You are a chosen nation, set apart for God, so resist defiling passions, follow the rules of the state, honor and serve others with your freedom. Slaves should be respectful, even when suffering unjustly. This is what Jesus did when He died for us on the cross.
3
Wives should submit to their husbands. Their strength is their inward character, not outward adornment. Be humble and loving to each other. If you suffer for righteousness, don't be afraid or troubled, but be ready to give an answer. This is what Jesus did when He died, then proclaimed the Gospel in hell to the disobedient from Noah's time. He escaped with God's help in the ark, as we escape judgment with God's help in baptism.
4
Suffering has a way of purifying you from the ungodly passions you used to live in.
Be self-controlled, hospitable, not surprised when trials and hostility come.
Be careful you don't suffer for actually doing wrong.
Judgment should begin with the church, anyway.
5
Elders need to shepherd the flock willingly and well.
Be humble to each other, and resist the devil.
God will complete and restore you after you have suffered a while.
How this is about Jesus
He atoned for our sins with His precious blood.
He is the pattern for how we are to live under trials.
Application
Grace of Christ leads to humility, respect, and purity of life.
2
You are being built into a spiritual house for God - you are stones coming to the living cornerstone Jesus. You are a chosen nation, set apart for God, so resist defiling passions, follow the rules of the state, honor and serve others with your freedom. Slaves should be respectful, even when suffering unjustly. This is what Jesus did when He died for us on the cross.
3
Wives should submit to their husbands. Their strength is their inward character, not outward adornment. Be humble and loving to each other. If you suffer for righteousness, don't be afraid or troubled, but be ready to give an answer. This is what Jesus did when He died, then proclaimed the Gospel in hell to the disobedient from Noah's time. He escaped with God's help in the ark, as we escape judgment with God's help in baptism.
4
Suffering has a way of purifying you from the ungodly passions you used to live in.
Be self-controlled, hospitable, not surprised when trials and hostility come.
Be careful you don't suffer for actually doing wrong.
Judgment should begin with the church, anyway.
5
Elders need to shepherd the flock willingly and well.
Be humble to each other, and resist the devil.
God will complete and restore you after you have suffered a while.
How this is about Jesus
He atoned for our sins with His precious blood.
He is the pattern for how we are to live under trials.
Application
Grace of Christ leads to humility, respect, and purity of life.
Corrupt Cultures Collide // Cranky Christmas? // Can a Believing Spouse Leave?
Doug Wilson's short response to the Paris attacks is good.
"We are observing, in slow motion, a collision between two very diseased cultures."...
Kevin DeYoung keeps Christmas constructive, when we are tempted to crankiness.
Wilson gives helpful wisdom on the situation of two married believers where one spouse leaves for their safety.
"We are observing, in slow motion, a collision between two very diseased cultures."...
Kevin DeYoung keeps Christmas constructive, when we are tempted to crankiness.
Wilson gives helpful wisdom on the situation of two married believers where one spouse leaves for their safety.
A Constitutional Congress
Imprimis essays are always good. This one on how to restore Congress' constitutional power is full of political wisdom. A couple proposals I didn't agree with: more hierarchy in congress, and making the Senate almost completely majority vote with no filibuster potential. But the 5 point plan is generally good.
Why won't it happen?
It's not glamorous. It involves a lot of work with little immediate reward in the polls.
It's not popular. It requires congress to put a stake in the ground with clear voting records.
The end of the first section, on the change in how the president operated from Kennedy to Bush 43, to what Obama is doing, is just golden. The politics of cynicism and intimidation are coming into full bloom.
Why won't it happen?
It's not glamorous. It involves a lot of work with little immediate reward in the polls.
It's not popular. It requires congress to put a stake in the ground with clear voting records.
The end of the first section, on the change in how the president operated from Kennedy to Bush 43, to what Obama is doing, is just golden. The politics of cynicism and intimidation are coming into full bloom.
Truth, acceptance, and disagreement in relationships
"So many of us have bought into the lie that in order to all get along, we have to accept everyone's personal opinion as truth. Therefore, real truth has lost its value and is not truth at all.... I want to happily create... relationships.... based on the reality of truth. Disagreement does not have to equal the end of a friendship" - pg. 102.
Aimee Byrd, Housewife Theologian
2 Timothy
1
Paul to Timothy:
I thank God for my ancestors in the faith and yours.
Don't be ashamed of the gospel or of me as a prisoner for it.
Guard the faith you were entrusted with; I know God will guard what he entrusted me with.
2
Teach other men to guard the faith, too. Work and suffer for this as soldiers, athletes and farmers do.
Purify yourself and handle the Word rightly. Be gentle, not quarrelsome, even in opposing error.
3
You'll have plenty rebellious and erring people to deal with.
Continue in the Scriptures - they will make you wise, all of it being useful for teaching.
4
Preach that Word! I'm close to death.
Come before winter if you can, with Mark and my cloak and books.
Nobody stood with me at my first trial, but I was delivered.
How this is about Jesus
He is the one Paul has believed, able to guard the faith and truth among His church until He returns.
Application
Though Paul charges Timothy to guard the faith, he ultimately trusts Jesus to do it.
Paul main charge to Timothy is two-fold: guard your life (self-control, suffering, discipline) and doctrine (read the Word, correct error, etc.).
Paul to Timothy:
I thank God for my ancestors in the faith and yours.
Don't be ashamed of the gospel or of me as a prisoner for it.
Guard the faith you were entrusted with; I know God will guard what he entrusted me with.
2
Teach other men to guard the faith, too. Work and suffer for this as soldiers, athletes and farmers do.
Purify yourself and handle the Word rightly. Be gentle, not quarrelsome, even in opposing error.
3
You'll have plenty rebellious and erring people to deal with.
Continue in the Scriptures - they will make you wise, all of it being useful for teaching.
4
Preach that Word! I'm close to death.
Come before winter if you can, with Mark and my cloak and books.
Nobody stood with me at my first trial, but I was delivered.
How this is about Jesus
He is the one Paul has believed, able to guard the faith and truth among His church until He returns.
Application
Though Paul charges Timothy to guard the faith, he ultimately trusts Jesus to do it.
Paul main charge to Timothy is two-fold: guard your life (self-control, suffering, discipline) and doctrine (read the Word, correct error, etc.).
12.01.2015
Irish Hallelujah
What!?!
Turns out, Handel premiered the Messiah in Dublin a whole year before it came to London! He used a combined choir from the Catholic St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Protestant Christ Church. They jammed 700 people into the seats on opening night, asking attendees not to wear swords or hoop skirts. Read more about it here.
Hear it here.
Ezekiel 25-32
25 - God condemns Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia for gloating over Israel's demise.
26 - God prophesies Tyre fall at Babylon's hand. Their music and trade will stop suddenly.
27 - The nations lament the end of the trade, listing all their wares.
28 - Tyre was strong and beautiful, in Eden. But he called himself a god so God will cast him out of Eden and kill him. Sidon will fall, too, so that no briers remain to harass Israel.
29-32 - Egypt will be destroyed, never again to rise as a strong empire. A lament for her.
She will go down to Sheol, just like all the other empires and nations already there.
How this is about Jesus
He is given the nations to rule and strikes them with a rod of iron - Psalm 2; Rev. 2:27; 12:15; 19:15.
He saw Satan fall like lightning - Ezek. 28:12-17; Luke 10:18.
Application
The power and glory of nations that Satan tempts Jesus with is described here. It comes and goes, and God can take it away as a punishment.
She will go down to Sheol, just like all the other empires and nations already there.
How this is about Jesus
He is given the nations to rule and strikes them with a rod of iron - Psalm 2; Rev. 2:27; 12:15; 19:15.
He saw Satan fall like lightning - Ezek. 28:12-17; Luke 10:18.
Application
The power and glory of nations that Satan tempts Jesus with is described here. It comes and goes, and God can take it away as a punishment.
Puritan Preaching
Primacy of Preaching
Preaching is echoing Scripture with a view to convert and sanctify men, changing their thinking and willing. Only God's Word may be preached, or man's ideas creep in and the message loses its authority. The Word must be preached to fan the flame in men's hearts. It is a high calling to speak God's message to His people. Preaching must be earnest and fervent to do it justice.
Power in Preaching
The Anglicans thought the Puritans emphasized preaching too much, and preached too intensely.
The Puritans thoughts the Anglicans valued refinement and rhetoric too much with no "Thus saith the Lord" authority in their homilies.
The Puritans sought to address the mind, prick the conscience and woo the heart.
Plainness in Preaching
This means simple and clear, not undignified or ugly speech.
Using "a middle-school vocabulary" to explain and apply a Scripture passage and doctrine.
Dependence on the Spirit and prayer make preaching effective.
The Preaching Program:
Reform preaching to be biblical, practical, of Christ, speaking to believer and unbeliever.
Establish lectureships, "free-lance clergy," to preach outside official church services.
Hold "prophesyings," preaching seminars and critiquing sessions to improve preaching.
Publishing sermons in book form - 140 books in the 1590s alone.
Ministerial training, through colleges mainly (Oxford, Cambridge, Trinity-Dublin, and upstart Harvard-1636), but also by personal mentoring and tutoring.
The Preaching Passion
They loved preaching the Gospel, and the people they preached to.
While Puritan preaching had weaknesses (legalistic, individualistic, overly doctrinal and long), they did burn with desire to glorify God and convert and sanctify sinners.
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