Zephaniah 1-3
Zephaniah prophecied during the reign of King Josiah, which would be after Assyria sacked Israel but before Babylon sacked Judah. It’s difficult to find a more stern warning than Zephaniah’s. We immediately read of God telling Judah that he will wipe everything off the face of the earth. The day of the Lord comes up again, which is the day of judgment. His point is that it is closer than we may think. Beyond Judah, God will neither turn a blind eye to the wickedness of foreign nations, especially Judah’s enemies. This is a good reminder that the whole earth is God’s, not just Israel or Judah. But all is not lost. After God pours out his wrath and judgment, he will turn the hearts of men to himself. He will always have a remnant reserved for himself. The final verses of chapter 3 does seem to look forward to a time that is not yet, when God will restore this world and remove the curse. Haggai 1-2 Haggai writes during the restoration process of the temple when the Jews return from the Babylonian exile. He and Zechariah (the next prophetic book) were contemporaries. Haggai’s main goal is to inspire the people to stay focused on the task at hand. For the context of Haggai’s ministry, think back to the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The Jews faced considerable opposition from the surrounding nations during their time spent rebuilding. Even as the people are still unclean and unholy, God will reverse this and do the work of making them clean and holy. Zechariah 1-14 Zechariah is a longer book, but like Malachi, it was written relatively late in Old Testament history. Zechariah reminds us that salvation is open to all who call on the name of the Lord. Even before Paul, there was in a sense no Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. Of course the old covenant made it so those groups related to each other in different ways than under the new covenant, but the point is that God is found by those who seek him. Zechariah even prophecies about the messiah, Jesus Christ. For example, Jesus fulfilled Zechariah 9:9 when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey the week he was crucified. We are reminded again and again that God has always had one plan of salvation and it centers on Jesus Christ. Malachi 1-4 While the books of the Old Testament are not necessarily arranged according to date, Malachi is the newest book of the Old Testament. There are only about 400 years between the writing of Malachi and John the Baptist. Malachi does not have a novel message. He is calling the people back to right worship of God. The people have become lazy in their worship, and Malachi is calling them to wake up and remember who it is they are worshiping. The book ends with a clear prophecy about the return of Elijah, which both John and Jesus affirm was fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist. Revelation 17-22 After the plagues of the seven bowls, John receives a third vision. He now is shown the immoral city, Babylon, portrayed as a woman of ill-repute. Adultery is a common Old Testament image of idolatry. Babylon stands for all those nations who prostitute themselves for nothing but monetary gain. The woman is seated on many waters, which is how Jeremiah describes the city of Babylon (Jeremiah 51:13). He also describes Babylon as making the whole earth drunk with its sin (51:7). The whole world is now joining together to worship the beast and turn against God. The scarlet beast is described in the same way as Revelation 13. The woman is seated on many waters, showing her to have a lot of influence over the world. She is also seated on the beast, showing her intimate relationship with the antichrist. The woman promises peace and luxury, but it’s all a lie to draw men away from God. John marvels because he sees a beautiful woman, but he has been told about judgment. What’s the connection? The angel goes on to explain what’s going on. The beast was (it existed), it is not (it will be cast aside for a time), and is about to rise (the final battle). Its followers will be amazed to see it come back. The seven hills and seven rulers are seven world powers and their heads. Some have argued that the seven hills is Rome (the city built on seven hills), but they are also aligned with seven kings, which seems to draw a separate conclusion. The sixth kingdom must be Rome, which was in power during John’s lifetime. Judgment takes place in that Babylon finally falls in chapter 18. The only things who reside in the city are demons and beasts. A voice calls for all who are in Christ to flee the city. Every power throughout the world who aligned themselves with Babylon will mourn Babylon’s fall. But the woman, the city, tells herself everything is okay. But the plagues are a sure thing. Every item John lists that no one is now buying is an item of luxury. This is how Babylon has lured in the nations. If you can get people to think primarily in terms of comfort, you can get by with just about anything. Once we get to Revelation 19, we cannot avoid discussing the issue of the millennium. At the beginning of the millennium, there is a resurrection of the just. These resurrected saints will never taste death again. We will receive new bodies without the effects of a fallen nature. I hold to the view called “historic premillennialism”. What follows is an outline of why I believe this view is the most faithful to a historical-grammatical-typological reading of Scripture. Beginning in Revelation 12, we are introduced to the unholy trinity: the beast, the false prophet, and the dragon. In Revelation 19:11, Jesus returns (Faithful and True, v.11; The Word of God, v.13) riding on a white horse. He pours out the wrath of God on the unregenerate. The beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lack of fire. Chapter 20 is an unfortunate chapter break, because the dragon is chained and thrown into the pit, a different place than the lake of fire. The lake of fire seems to be final, whereas the pit is a temporary holding cell. But this finishes the capture of the unholy trinity. The destruction of the beast and false prophet (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2) and the thousand years of the dragon’s imprisonment is concurrent with the thousand years of Christ’s earthly reign. It seems best to me to understand Satan as inactive and unable to affect the world during the millennium. When Paul calls Satan the god of this world in 2 Corinthians 4, you do not get the impression that Satan is bound and inactive today. After that thousand years, the dragon is released, deceives the nations again, but the dragon and his army is consumed by fire from heaven. The dragon is now banished to the lake of fire, where the beast and false prophet are already. It all reads like a sequence of events, of cause and effect. Christ’s return prompts the capture of the unholy trinity, which prompts the thousand years of Christ’s earthly reign, which ends with the release of Satan for his final destruction. Historic premillennialism also reads Old Testament prophecy as being fulfilled in Israel until the apostles say that it was fulfilled in Christ. It does not make arbitrary distinctions between a literal fulfillment and a spiritual fulfillment that dispensational premillennialism does. Prophecy is fulfilled the way Scriptures says it is. IE, when Paul calls the church the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16) and says that it is only in Christ that all of God’s promises are fulfilled (receive their yes and amen [2 Corinthians 1:20]), and Christ says that he fulfills the law the prophets (Matthew 5:17), we read the Bible through the history of redemption, seeing that God has had a plan to fulfill in Christ since the beginning. But it also reads Romans 9-11 at face value and understands that there will be a great salvation of believing Israel at the end of the age (11:25-36), when all the appointed number of gentiles have been grafted in (11:11-24). The calling of Israel came before the law; it came to Abraham. This is the promise that God will not forget at the end of this age—Abraham will inherit the whole world (Romans 4:13). He will inherit this world, which makes sense of the millennial, earthly reign of Abraham’s true seed. Historic premillennialism also stands with the other millennial positions (but against dispensational premillennialism) and sees no reason to think the Jews will rebuild the temple. Hebrews 10 is so emphatic that Jesus was the final sacrifice that to reinstate the sacrificial system would be disobedient to that passage. When the author of Hebrews says that the sacrifices were connected to the law of the old covenant, he writes, “He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (vv.9b-10). “Where there is forgiveness of these (sins), there is no longer any offering for sin” (v.18). “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries” (vv.26-27). The truth is that there is no more sacrifice for sin because Christ has accomplished all that was necessary to fulfill the old and instate the new. To argue for a reinstated sacrificial system is to misunderstand the purpose of the sacrificial system. It was tied to national Israel. In addition to this, we must read "Israel" in the sense that the apostles did, which usually refers to the church. But the whole relationship of Israel and the church is a topic best undergone in its own discussion. After all the plagues, God now stands in judgment over individuals. Many books contain the name of the dead. One more book is opened, and it is called the book of life. This book contains the names of those who did not take the mark of the beast but the mark of God. Those who took the mark of the beast will follow the beast into the lake of fire. But that is not the final word. The consummation of the world is God living among men. A new city, a new Jerusalem, descends from heaven. God’s holy city, where he dwells, is no longer beyond our reach but is on our street. No more sin means no more sadness. The new city is described in a very particular way. It sits on top of a mountain, just like the original Jerusalem. It has twelve foundations and twelve gates. The foundations are named for the twelve apostles. The twelve gates are named for the tribes of Israel. God’s people are one. The city is enormous. Perhaps the most amazing part is that Christ is the temple. God gives the light, so there is no need for sun, moon, or stars. The gates never shut. The whole earth is the Lord’s. From the center of the city, from the throne of God, flows a river. The tree of life, from which we were forbidden to eat, is now for our healing. We will still bear the mark of God on our foreheads. We will finally see God face-to-face. Christ promises his return is not far off. What that means in years is uncertain. But as we have seen throughout the entire book, nothing is left to chance. It will all happen in his good time. When he does return, we can know that the end will be swift, and we will be guarded for the new age. Come, Lord Jesus!
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Amos 3-9
By using some obvious situations in nature, Amos shows that idolatry naturally leads to judgment from God. But in the same way that a shepherd rescues an animal from the mouth of a lion, so will God rescue a remnant of his people (signified by the two legs or corner of an ear instead of the whole animal) from the mouth of a lion. God shows Amos all the ways that God has called Israel to himself, but he also shows Amos all the ways the people have rejected him at every turn. But God’s anger is not forever. There will be a remnant which God will preserve in the midst of judgment to rebuild the city. Seek the Lord and live. You might read chapter 6 and see the familiar words of justice rolling like water and righteousness rolling like a stream. Martin Luther King Jr. used this passage to rally support for the civil rights cause of the 1960s. In its proper context, Amos is calling for proper worship. Instead of going through the motions of sacrifices, just live the law that was already given. Amos has nothing good to say, whether he’s addressing the northern or southern kingdoms. So far he has spoken more about the north, or Samaria, but he has plenty of scorn for Jerusalem, or Zion, in the south. The Judeans should not think that their proximity to the temple has any bearing on whether or not God accepts them. Chapters 7-9 are visions of judgment. God hears the prayers of his people and relents from judgment. The point of holding a plumb line against the people of Israel is to see how straight they are, or rather, how straightly (I can make up words better than anyone) they follow the law. The law is the plumb line, measuring stick, and guide for their obedience. As God sees their failure to obey, he will send a day of mourning to them. Amos sees a basket of summer fruit, which signifies a harvest, or an end to their labor with an expectation of ease. However, instead of ease and comfort, God will send an “end” of them. “Fruit” and “end” sound alike in Hebrew, so there is a bit of wordplay going on. Israel may be destroyed, but God’s anger is not forever. God promises to one day raise up the booth of David and rebuild it himself. The remnant will be preserved. This was seen first in the return from exile, again at the coming of Christ, and will be fulfilled at the second coming of Christ. Obadiah Sometimes I assume that the problem God has with Israel/Judah is that they are mean people. But that’s not it. God is in covenant with Israel to bring blessing to the entire world. His plan is to redeem the world, bring about new creation, and restore humanity to our place of image-bearing rulers. With Israel’s sin as a violation of that covenant, besides it being an extenuation of the sin of self-exaltation that took place in Eden, how will God fulfill the covenant and plan of redemption with Israel being who they are when they keep bringing about the curses of the covenant instead of the blessings? Edom is the neighbor-nation to Israel, and they have a fraught history. The Edomites are the physical descendent of Esau, while the Israelites are the physical descendants of his brother, Jacob. As Israel is being attacked by the Babylonians (pre-exile), the Edomites should have come to Israel’s aid. However, they “stood aloof” or turned a blind eye to their problems. So, the misfortunes of Israel will become the misfortunes of Edom. Edom will eventually be destroyed. Jonah 1-4 The story of Jonah is a familiar one. Jonah prophecies before either nation goes into exile. He is mentioned in 2 Kings 14, as well. Jonah’s background is quite important to understand his actions in the book. During the reign of king Jeroboam II, Israel was attacked by the Arameans because of his grandfather’s sins. The king of Assyria helps Israel to win against the Arameans. But there is still a general hatred of the pagans, especially if you should be grateful to them. God is showing compassion on the Assyrians, and Nineveh is one of their major cities. Jonah hesitates to go to Nineveh because he hates them. He would rather God destroy them in his anger than show them compassion, so he runs. But God shows Jonah compassion and sends him on the same journey again. Jonah obeys this time, and he sees the Ninevites repent and be spared. While he knows that God has done the right thing, he is not happy about it. Jonah knows that if God sees them repent, his anger will subside. God is glad to show mercy. There are a few other interesting parts of the book. We see the sovereignty of God in appointing a fish, a plant, a worm, and a wind, all to bring about his will. God does not just know the future; he determines it. In Jonah’s prayer, we also get the sense that Jonah actually died while in the fish. He said the waters closed to take his life, he went to the land where the bars are closed, and his life was sent to the pit. But he believed in new life. He knew he would one day see the temple. As he was dying, his prayer went into the temple. If it’s true that Jonah actually died, then it makes the connection between Jonah and Jesus even more strong. In Luke 11, Jesus says that his generation will receive no sign but “the sign of Jonah.” He is referring to the three days and nights in the belly of the fish being akin to the rising of the messiah on the third day. Does it not stand to reason that as Jesus was truly dead, so was Jonah? Micah 1-7 Micah is from Moresheth, which is a small village near Jerusalem. He is writing before and shortly after Assyria attacks the northern kingdom of Israel, but he is writing to Judah. He primarily addresses the citizens of Judah and not the religious leaders. God promises destruction in response to the idolatry of Judah. Micah writes to the ordinary people of Judah because the ordinary people are the ones oppressing their neighbors against God’s law. The ordinary people are calling for the preachers of the day to stop their preaching, such as Micah. Their rules are not addressed directly, but Micah does say the rules and prophets of Judah have failed in their job and will be removed from their offices. But that is not the end. God will restore his people and his land. God will bring his presence back to his house on Mt. Zion. Not only Israel, but all people will flock to the temple. But what about when there is no temple? We read a gospel promise in chapter 5:2. Christ would be born in Bethlehem, one of the smallest cities in Judah. He will be born, but he will also be an ancient being. This is only fulfilled in Christ. This ruler will finally deliver the remnant of God’s people. God promises restoration. The people seem to start getting the picture, and they ask what they need to do to please God. Does he need more sacrifices? What God actually demands is justice, kindness, and humility. Other than that, we must simply wait for God to act. He has promised restoration, and he will bring it about when his judgment has been meted out. Nahum 1-3 Nahum prophecies to the southern kingdom. One reason not to gloss over the prophecies of Nahum is that we come across one important attribute of God: jealousy. Yes, God is love, but God is also jealous, avenging, and wrathful. It is wrong for us to take vengeance, but not because vengeance itself is wrong. We are not in a place of authority to do so, but God is. And when his covenant has been cast aside by idolatrous people, he is right to seek vengeance for being wronged. Judgment is all too real, and we should not avoid the issue. God deserves our complete devotion. Anything else is prideful on our part. No one is blameless before him. This is why divine justice is so horrifying—we deserve it. Nineveh will be wasted and forgotten. God will throw filth at them and treat them with contempt. This is not because God is mean; this is because unredeemed people are wicked. Sometimes we are so far in time away from such atrocities such as the world wars that we think humanity has improved. But instead of physical destruction, now we see moral and sexual destruction. Gay men are paying women to have children for them so they can take them from their mothers. Men are dressing like women and dancing provocatively for children. We are enshrining into law the ability to murder unwanted children in the womb, and there is a very vocal minority advocating for infanticide after birth. We film people having sex and sell it online. And we think God was too harsh in flooding most of us out of existence? We have the audacity to look back at civilizations like the Vikings and Mayans and think they were barbaric? Having filth thrown at us is just a small piece of what we’re due. And this is where the short book ends. Sometimes there is a need to simply sit with our sin. Revelation 10-16 Chapter 10 Much like between the sixth and seventh seals, there is an interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets. Instead of silence (a sign of the response to judgment), there is a vision of a small scroll. By the description given, the angel giving the vision could be Christ (cloud, rainbow, sun, fire, and roaring voice). There have been seven seals, and there will be seven trumpets. At some unconfirmed point, there will be seven thunders. However, what these thunders refer to are kept a secret. He does, though, confirms that the next trumpet call will be the last and that it will arrive without delay. God’s patience with sinners is coming to an end. The request of the martyrs in chapter 6 is about to be answered. Eating the small scroll harkens back to the prophet Ezekiel. John must receive the words before speaking them. The sweetness is that although many from every tribe, tongue, nation, and people will come to Christ, the bitterness is that there will be many who do not. Not only will individuals reject Christ, but entire nations and their kings will, as well. The vision of chapters 11-14 is what is called a “proleptic” vision. This just means it is a vision of the future, which will be known after the events of the various seven judgments. Chapter 11 Part of this vision consists of the two witnesses. There is debate on whether these are Jews or Gentiles. What gets measured is the temple, the courts of the priests, Israel, and the women. The court of the Gentiles is not measured. As in Zechariah 2 and Amos 7, measuring something is not about creating a blueprint but assessing its spiritual state. Should the city be preserved or destroyed? The inner court is found worthy, but the un-measured court of Gentiles is left alone. The whole world will attack Jerusalem and destroy her. But there is a distinction between what gets measured and what does not. What John sees is a remnant being guarded amidst persecution. Forty-two months is 3.5 years. The vision of seventy weeks in Daniel 9 is really “seventy weeks of years”. It’s called a heptad. In Daniel 9:27, a prince makes a covenant with his people for one week, and for half that week (3.5 years) he puts an end to sacrifices and offerings. However, the events of Revelation must necessarily come after the events prophesied in Daniel 9. Instead of directly applying Daniel 9:24-27 to Revelation, we should more than likely do nothing more than make the connection of 3.5 years being a time of satanic power. Though it is described in various ways through different numbers, 3.5 years is the duration of time Jerusalem is oppressed in 11:2, the length of the ministry of the two witnesses in 11:3, the time of the preservation of the woman in 12:6 and 14, and the time the beast is given to rule in 13:5. The oppressed people in Jerusalem will receive two witnesses, or prophets. I lean, although charitably, toward the interpretation that these witnesses represent the church preaching to the remnant of Jews being preserved in Jerusalem. The two witnesses are also called the two olive trees, two lamp stands (11:4), and two prophets (11:10). Even though the behavior of the witnesses pulls from Moses and Elijah (11:6), v.8 calls Jesus “their Lord”, which heavily implies that these witnesses are Christians. So it does seem as if the church is on the earth at this time, IE, a post-tribulation rapture. John is clearly pulling from the visions of Zechariah 4, where he sees a golden lamp stand with seven lamps and two olive trees on each side. These olives supply the lamps with oil. In Zechariah, they represent Joshua the priest and Zerubbabel the governor. The sin of the Jews was to reject their Lord, so God now sends the church to call Israel to believe. These witnesses cannot be harmed until the job is done. Elijah called fire down from heaven, and Jeremiah spoke words that were a devouring fire. Elijah stopped the rain from falling, and Moses turned the water to blood and brought the plagues. As John the Baptist was the fulfillment of Elijah’s return, so we do not need to think we will actually have a resurrected Moses and Elijah at the end of the age. A beast was a common prophetic/last-days figure, so we shouldn’t be surprised that John just throws him in seemingly out of nowhere. We will learn that this beast will be the antichrist and try to steal worship from Christ. Once the mission of the two witnesses has reached completion, they will be killed. Jesus mentions this kind of persecution in the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24-25. Paul mention the man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2. He comes from the pit, as did the plagues of the fifth and sixth trumpets. That the witnesses die in war could just as easily be because of spiritual conflict, but they will definitely be physically dead. Their bodies will lay in Jerusalem. While I do not think we should go as far as the dispensationalist and argue that the city and temple will be rebuilt in the last days, we can surely say that Jerusalem will play a significant role before Christ’s return. Laying in the street is a sign of a lack of dignity. The evil powers may think they have won, but the witnesses will be resurrected and ascend to heaven in bodily form. Their oppressors will see them ascend. For those not near enough to see it, there will be an earthquake to mark the occasion. Those who survive the earthquake give glory to God, which seems to imply repentance. This is the fulfillment of Romans 9-11; the Jewish people repent and believe! This is what the prophets have worked towards for so long. Think of the all the prophets God sent to Judah and Israel throughout their history. Their work is being rewarded. Now we come to the seventh trumpet. In the “days of the trumpet” the end will be introduced. The fifth and sixth trumpet were woes 1 and 2; the seventh trumpet will be woe 3. The seventh seal seems to have consisted of the seven trumpets, and the seventh trumpet seems to have consisted of the seven bowls. The seventh trumpet begins with the revelation that God has taken this world to be his kingdom. The elders, as they did earlier, begin to worship him. As God’s kingdom is established, the world becomes even more aggressive—they rage. The rage of the nations and the wrath of God against them is simply a summary worship statement of what is about to happen. The presence of a temple in heaven is not uncommon. This is where Christ entered with his blood on behalf of the elect. The ark is a reminder that God is the covenant keeper. It also shows us that we will see into the holy of holies in the age to come. There will be no temple, because Christ himself is our temple. God’s majesty is expressed in lightning and earthquakes. Chapter 12 One of the reasons I hold to premillennial return of Christ is that during his millennial reign, Satan is bound in the pit. Satan also seems to be inactive during that time. I struggle to see how Satan could be inactive in the present time as the amillennialist holds. In the vision of the dragon, the woman, and her seed, we will see how active Satan is. Instead of being a snapshot of time in history, this vision, or “great sign”, is indicative of the oppressive nature of evil (Satan, or the dragon) against the people of God, but God sustains them in the wilderness. I read this as an idealist; it is a picture of the whole age, not one moment in time. The woman gives birth to a male child (12:5), who is Christ, who is then caught up to God’s throne (12:5, which I take to be Christ’s ascension, thought we must admit he did not ascend to escape the devil; otherwise, the male child becomes the church, which is even less likely). Thirty-plus years are passed over in a single verse. The woman (must be Israel) is sent into the wilderness (the dispersion of Jews) and nourished for 3.5 years. After AD 70, the Jews were dispersed around the known world (this is one argument for a late date for the writing of the book—AD 90s). The dragon and his angels/demons are cast from heaven, so he can no longer accuse the brethren/the church before God. The church has conquered over Satan. Satan cannot accuse the church any longer, so he somehow causes the dispersion (“the woman who had given birth to the male child”, v.13). She/Israel is guarded from Satan for 3.5 years (symbolic of Satanic rule). Satan makes war “with the rest of her offspring” (v.17), which is the church, who is even called “those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus [not Moses].” There is a distinction between the woman and her offspring, which makes sense if they are taken as Jews and Gentiles. This cannot be entirely ethnic Jews. Both the woman and her offspring, who are scattered, who is distinct from the male child, are protected. The presence of the dragon in heaven is a difficulty, but it is not unprecedented. The Accuser is in God’s heavenly court in the book of Job. What this looks like in reality, Satan will be barred from accusing God’s people of their sins any longer. The dragon’s presence on the earth sets up what comes later. But now, Satan is pursuing the woman again. By seeing the woman with wings, John is simply shown that the woman will be guarded miraculously by God. The woman is guarded, so the dragon now prepares to call for the beast who will come from the sea. Chapter 13 Again, beasts are common images for anti-Christian powers. Both the dragon and the first bast have ten horns and seven heads. We seem to be finally reading of the fourth, most wicked beast of Daniel 7. The blasphemous names represent idolatry, or demanding worship for himself that is only due to God alone (Daniel 7:25, Matthew 24:15, 2 Thessalonians 2:4). The beast has a head which truly had received a deathblow and yet had come back to life. There is no explanation given, but this beast’s “resurrection” of sorts draw a lot of attention and wonder. It is astounding that the nations will be astounded at the resurrection of the beast and not Christ. This goes to show the human heart is devoid of any ability to love God apart from God loving us first. The beast is given the ability to rule for 42 months, or 3.5 years. During that time, he fiercely persecutes God’s people. He is not successful in converting the elect to himself, but he is successful in his persecution. The rest of the world will turn to the beast in worship. This is an advance warning of what will come; we must endure during that time, whether death or exile. But, because we have been marked out by God, we will stand. The first beast came out of the sea, and the second beast comes out of the earth. His goal is to draw worship to the first beast. But this second beast is meant to be seen as an antichrist as well. It has horns like a lamb but the voice of a dragon. It has the appearance of the Christian religion with the content of devil-worship. This second beast apparently truly has the ability to make the statue of the first beast speak, which is itself a parody of the creative work of God. In the same way God marked his own people, this beast parodies that and gives his people his own mark. Between the two beasts, we see satanic control of worldly and religious authority. Perhaps no other word or phrase in Scripture has been the subject of as much conspiratorial consideration as Revelation 13:18 and the number 666. I’m going to lay my cards out now: I think this is a situation where we will know the meaning when the time comes. Ancient languages often did not have a separate numerical system, so they would use their alphabet to form numbers. Roman numerals is the prime example, but Hebrew did the same thing. This is called “gematria”. Every possible solution has been offered to understand 666. The most popular is that the number refers to Nero. However, that is only possible if you translate Nero from Greek into Hebrew and add his title of Kaisar, also translated into Hebrew, and if you use a variation of the spelling of Kaisar. Keep in mind that John is writing in Greek. This was not even considered an option until the middle ages. The first intelligent suggestion was given by Irenaeus, a prominent pastor writing in the late 100s, and he said the number came out to the Latin Empire. If the number is used like Babylon standing in for Rome, then the Latin Empire may be nothing more than a stand-in for a world power. Chapter 14 After the beast has persecuted the church and garnered worship from the rest of the world, John sees the elect, with the mark of God on their foreheads, and the Lamb on Mt. Zion, or Jerusalem. In the midst of horrendous persecution, God’s people are kept safe by the Lamb. God’s patience is about to run out, but it has not yet. The angel flying above preaches the gospel yet again. John does not say “the” gospel, but we should probably not make too much of that. Paul does that from time to time. “Give him glory” is all about repentance, not just judgment. The world powers, represented by Babylon, are fallen. Those who followed the beast have been condemned. It is time for the great last-days harvest. The only way to understand the one “seated on the cloud…like a son of man” is Jesus Christ. An angel confirms to Christ that the harvest is ready; the number of the elect is full. He puts out his sickle, gathers not the church but the reprobate, and places them in God’s winepress. They will be smashed outside the city, and their blood will flow, fill the city as high as a horse’s back. We have come to the end of the vision between trumpets six and seven, chapters 11-14. Chapter 15 This brief chapter serves a kind-of epilogue to the vision of chapters 11-14. The elect who did not obey the beast are praising God with Scripture! They are standing on the same sea of glass from chapter 4. The song of Moses is known as the song the people sung as they were saved in the exodus. We do not know what the song of the Lamb is unless verses 3-4 are in the fact that song. Either way, what we see is Old Testament saints and New Testament saints worshiping together. The final plagues will come out of the seven bowls. Having the sanctuary filled with smoke is an image of the presence of God. In Exodus 40, Moses could not enter the tent because a cloud covered it and the glory of God filled it. The priests could not enter the temple for the same reason in 1 Kings 8. Ezekiel falls on his face and cannot enter the temple because the temple was filled with smoke in the temple of Ezekiel 44. Now, the heavenly sanctuary is covered in a cloud and the glory of God fills it. Chapter 16 The seven bowls are similar to the seven trumpets but are much more intense in nature. You’ll also see similarities between these plagues and the ten plagues of Egypt, or the city that oppressed the Hebrews. These plagues end with Babylon, the city that will oppress the elect, being destroyed. Also, perhaps the biggest difference is that these plagues are clearly stated to be targeted at those who bear the mark of the beast. One of the ongoing conspiratorial effects of Revelation is that people think the drying up of the Euphrates river is a sign of the last days. If that were the case, then we’d had already gone through seven seals, seven trumpets, seven thunders, and five bowls. The Euphrates river was one of the original boundaries of the promised land. When the river dried up, as it often did, it was easier for enemies to attempt invasion. Isaiah uses the same imagery in Isaiah 11. That’s the symbolism here. The kings of the east, the wicked kings, are gathering together in the name of the unholy trinity (the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet) to attack God’s people. Armageddon is not the name of a battle but the name of the place where the battle happens. “Har Megiddo” is where Barak and Deborah defeated Jabin and where Jehu defeated Ahaziah. God sends an earthquake the likes of which the earth has never known. Babylon is devastated and broken into three parts. Entire nations collapse. Hailstones kill untold numbers of people, who curse God instead of repent. This is how given over to our own wickedness people are. God must do the work of regeneration if there is any hope of salvation. God does not forget justice. He remembers Babylon, meaning he will not let all the evil done in the world go unpunished. This is the moment God’s people have been waiting for. There is nothing wrong with wanting to see evil destroyed. Daniel 10-12
Daniel 10-12 is one vision. Daniel has been attempting to understand the prophecy of Jeremiah and the 70 years of captivity. We’re not given the name of the being speaking to Daniel, but we know that he has been with the arch-angel Michael. These beings are called “prince”—Michael, who is the prince of Israel, along with the the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece. This carries the sense of something along the lines of a spiritual power. Evil spirits do in fact have a measure of control over godless nations. We learn about the players in this vision by looking back. The Greek king whose kingdom will be scattered to the wind is likely Alexander the Great. After he died, four generals divided his kingdom among themselves. The king of the north is the Ptolemaic dynasty, and the king of the south is the Seleucid dynasty. These two empires fought constantly, and the land of Israel was geographically between them. After a series of battles and alliances, we come to a horrible king of the north, likely Antiochus IV. He won an important battle in Egypt, and as he went home, he ransacked the temple in Jerusalem and sacrificed unclean animals. Antiochus comes up against the Romans, but he is no match for them. He is not going to sit back as a loser, so he returns to Jerusalem, an easy target. He puts an end to the sacrificial system. This time, the Jews fight back in what is called the Maccabean Revolt of 167 BC, a well-documented event. The books of Maccabees in the Apocrypha recount much of it. The Jews had some help from the Romans, which resulted in Rome occupying the land. The Romans become extremely powerful, become known as the new king of the north, and defeat the Greeks. They will pillage Jerusalem and destroy the temple between AD 66-70. The point is that all of these events have an “appointed time”. God has determined the future of his people. Israel’s “guardian angel”, their prince Michael, will deliver God’s people. Daniel 12:2 is a promise of end-times resurrection. The devastation of chapter 11 is not the final word. It is fitting that we are reading Revelation and Daniel together. Hopefully you see the promises of Daniel being fulfilled in Revelation. This is why I (charitably) think that the scroll Daniel is told to seal is the scroll which the Lamb is worthy to read in Revelation. Hosea 1-14 The first three chapters of Hosea deal with a living prophecy. The Israelites have descended into rank idolatry, which is spiritual adultery. God has Hosea marry a whore and have children. She will be unfaithful just has Israel has been unfaithful. God will use this prophetic act as a way of warning Israel about their impending punishment. Hosea spends the rest of the book spelling out what this prophetic act means. He is clear about the specific sins of the people. If it seems as though Hosea jumps around a lot, it may be because these were separate prophecies he or a later editor published together. These accusations are the same as the other prophets, so I will leave you to read the book for yourself. Joel 1-3 The main idea of the book is “the day of the Lord.” That day is the day of judgment. But because God is a God of faithfulness, he will always spare his people from his wrath, even if they are in the midst of it. Sometimes Joel speaks of “a day” or “the day”, and it refers to the same thing. Sometimes Joel speaks of a current day of judgment, and sometimes he speaks of a future day of judgment for both Israel and all nations. Judgment can be averted if the people turn to God in faith and repentance. Covenant-faithfulness is what assures the people that repentance can turn judgment into blessing. A previous invasion of locusts serves as a prophetic type of a future foreign invader, likely the Babylonians in 586 BC. But even this destruction is not the end. In the same way Jeremiah and Ezekiel speak of a new covenant, Joel speaks of God pouring out his Spirit on his people (2:28-29). This is fulfilled, as Peter preaches, on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. Amos 1-2 If Amos has a single theme, it is “justice”. He also speaks, like Joel, of a “day of the Lord”. He lives in Tekoa, which is in Judah. Amos is not among those who live their whole lives as a prophet, but he is a shepherd of some kind. However, God uses this simple shepherd to send a great message. He writes before the fall of Judah and Israel. The first six chapters are various “oracles” of judgment, or prophecies. In chapter 1, God sends prophecies concerning places outside of Israel and Judah. In chapter 2, Amos moves on to judgments against Judah and Israel. They are not exempt from judgment; in fact, they are held to a higher account because of their knowledge of God and their covenants with him. Revelation 3-9 If you’re reading this, you probably take Bible reading quite seriously, so you take study of the Bible quite seriously, as well. The book of Revelation has been interpreted in a great many ways, some more faithfully than others. It might be helpful to place my cards on the table before moving forward that I firmly but charitably hold to a historic premillennial view of Christ’s return. This view generally holds that the church will be present through the tribulation and judgment of the last days, but God will shield his people through it as he did before the Babylonian exile. Christ will return at the end of the tribulation, destroy the beast and false prophet, cast Satan into the abyss, and establish his millennial kingdom in fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. The more popular view, somewhat held by default by many American Christians influenced by dispensationalism, is a pre-tribulational form of premillennialism. This view holds that Jesus will return before the tribulation and judgment to take his people to heaven for seven years. He will return with the church after the tribulation to establish his millennial kingdom. For a number of interpretive reasons, I believe the post-tribulational view of the rapture holds more water. Some of those I have mentioned in earlier posts, and it will come up throughout the comments on Revelation. If I had my druthers, I would like to be raptured beforehand to avoid the peril of the last days. But I believe that consistent interpretive methods (and reading the Old Testament as the New Testament apostles did) require me to hold to a post-tribulation rapture. However, as stated before, I hold this position firmly but charitably. This was the view of many in the church immediately after the time of the apostles. One church father, Polycarp, was himself a disciple of John, the author of Revelation, whose writings indicate a historic (although he would obviously not call himself that) premillennial view of the return of Christ. So, read on with this in mind. If you believe that Jesus is returning in his body to judge the living and the dead, we can learn from each other concerning the timing of that blessed hope. The church in Sardis does not have much to commend. There is a remnant, however, who have stayed faithful. The church in Philadelphia is small but mighty. Some have argued that 3:10 is evidence of a pre-tribulation rapture, but it does not hold up under scrutiny. There is no warrant to apply one component of one church’s letter to the church at the end of the age. If we want to apply a component of one church’s letter to all the other churches, we must be consistent. Are we going to apply the components of Laodicea, a church with nothing to commend, to the other churches, and vice versa? John begins his vision in the throne room of heaven in chapter 4. Another proof-text for a pre-tribulation rapture is “Come up here” in 4:1. If you believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, you can do so with a clear conscience, but you must use good texts. A voice in heaven simply tells John, not all the church at the end of the age, to come up to heaven. This call takes place before the vision is even given. The purpose of his coming is to receive a vision, not to live in heaven forever. This is “interpretation by free-association”. Even then, John says that he was “in the Spirit”, as he was on the Lord’s Day, meaning he might have stayed bodily on the earth and was simply shown the vision in his mind. I read the twenty-four elders as angelic beings of some kind. Some have tried to read this as twelve tribes plus twelve apostles, but if this were true, “elder” would be the first time this designation is used. Typically, “elder” in the biblical sense is an official in ancient Israel or as a pastor within the church. But God is often described as being surrounded by a heavenly court of angels. Later in chapter 7, there will be a series of angels, elders, and living creatures worshiping God around the throne (7:11-12). They are not praising God for salvation like the multitude are (7:9-10) but instead for his might. The point is that there little to nothing in the text itself to interpret the elders as the raptured church. Lighting and thunder are common illustrations of God’s presence, so there is no mystery about who is seated on the throne. “Seven” has already illustrated the Holy Spirit, and the seven torches of fire do the same here. In Exodus 24, the pavement under God’s feet is described as perfectly clear sapphire stone, and the elders of Israel are the ones privy to this vision. The heavenly elders saw the throne room of heaven, and John is bringing the biblical imagery to fulfillment. We read of living creatures in places like Isaiah 6 (seraphim) and Ezekiel 10 (cherubim). This is one means of God’s vigilance in keeping his eye on the world. Chapters 5-8 consist of the seven seals. There is a scroll sealed with seven seals of wax, and each one will be broken in succession. Each broken seal is accompanied by some kind of disaster or plague. Daniel is told to seal up his vision of the end (Daniel 12:4), and this may be that vision. Ezekiel is also told to write on a scroll of “lament and mourning and woe” (Ezekiel 2), but he is told to eat his scroll. I take this to be Daniel’s scroll. The problem is that no one is able to open it in heaven or on earth. But as close to the throne as possible, even before the elders, the Lamb who has the Holy Spirit is able to open it. Once the Lamb takes it, the elders burn incense, which is the prayers of the saints (and leads again to believe the elders are not saints themselves). Every creature in heaven and on earth is praising the Lamb. The seals are opened in rapid succession. The first four seals release horses and riders who devastate the world’s systems, both agricultural and financial. The fifth seal looks back to heaven and sees martyrs under the altar, presumably the altar where the Lamb presented his blood to the Father. They are told to continue resting until the end of the end. The sixth seal is complete devastation of the earth and sky. Between the sixth and seventh seal, John sees something else. It’s not necessarily an interruption, but it’s necessary information to understand what’s going on. God is guarding and protecting his people with a mark. This harkens back to Ezekiel 9 when God sends executioners into the city to kill the idolaters in Jerusalem. Six men are sent to kill everyone, but a seventh is sent out with a writing utensil to mark the foreheads of those who grieve the idolatry. They will be spared even in the midst of the judgment. God does not necessary remove his people from judgment, but he does spare them in the midst of it. In Revelation 7:5-8, we’re told just how many are guarded from the judgment of the seven seals—a predetermined remnant. This is the fulfillment of Romans 11, where Paul says that there will be a remnant within Israel at the end of the age who is elect and will be re-grafted in to the body. Only those who bear the beast’s mark, which is a cheap imitation of the mark of God, will endure the judgment (16:2). If Paul was referring to literal Israel in Romans 9-11 (which I think he was), then is John referring to the literal nation of Israel, as well? The list of tribes does not match any Old Testament list. Dan and Ephraim are left out, but Joseph is there. While the New Testament does not have a verse that says, “The church is considered the spiritual inheritor of Israel”, it says as much in many places. For example: Galatians 3:29, “And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.” Romans 2:28-29, “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” Romans 4:11, “He (Abraham) received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well.” Philippians 3:3, “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.” Even in the seven letters of chapters 2-3, the churches at Smyrna and Philadelphia had Jews were were Jews in name only and not true Israel (2:9, 3:9). Physical Israel is not the same as spiritual Israel. “For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel” (Romans 9:6). I take the 144,000 to be a stylized way of identifying the church, the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). If the 144,000 identify the ones with the mark of God before the tribulation, the multitude of Revelation 7:9-17 project the fulfillment of that promise to after the tribulation. Not a single one of the elect will perish in the great tribulation of God’s judgment. The seventh seal is silence. That may not sound too threatening, but in passages such as Habakkuk 2:20 (“But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.) and Zechariah 2:13 (“Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”), silence is an image of the earth’s reaction to God’s holiness. God is bringing this age to a close, he is no longer in the temple but in heaven, and the only appropriate reaction is for heaven to keep quiet. The seven trumpets begin immediately. The first trumpet destroys a third of the earth. The second trumpet sends a mountain into the sea, turning a third of it to blood, killing a third of sea life, and destroying a third of ships. The third trumpet is a great star (possibly what we’d call a meteor?) hurled to earth to make a third of the drinking water bitter so that many will die. The fourth trumpet darkens a third of the heavenly bodies. The first four trumpets have been about devastation on the earth, but the last three will focus on human life, as made clear by the eagle pronouncing three “woes” to those who dwell on the earth. The fifth trumpet introduces an angel described as a star who falls to earth with a key to the bottomless pit, or the abyss. This cannot be Satan, because he would not be given the key to his own prison. This angel opens the pit to let out smoke and locusts. The locusts are told to harm only those who do not have God’s forehead mark. Their stinger will be incredibly painful, but it won’t cause death. Their physical description come straight from Joel 1:6 and 2:4. The angel of the bottomless pit is likely the one who let them out in 9:2-3. The sixth trumpet releases the angels bound at the Euphrates river (the great river of Genesis 15:18, Deuteronomy 1:7, and Joshua 1:4). The fact that the angels are bound lends to the notion that they are evil and have been reserved for this moment. They must be the leaders of the horse-mounted troops. Their description is to identify them as wildly bloodthirsty and destructive. A third of mankind is killed. While the locusts of the fifth trumpet only tormented people with their stingers, the tails of these horses can kill. Perhaps the most incredible part of this trumpet is that no one who survives repents of their sin. This goes to show that mankind is hopelessly lost without God’s work on our hearts. Ezekiel 47-48
Ezekiel is closing out his vision of the restored temple. One reason not to take this temple as a literal blueprint is because of the water flowing out of the sides. If you read this description of the temple, flowing water, and trees, it sounds an awful lot like the new creation of Revelation 22. This is what I believe Ezekiel was shown. The flowing water is the water of life, and the trees also bear fruit in both visions (Ezekiel 27 and Revelation 22). Also in both visions, the fruit of the trees are for food and the leaves are for healing. Therefore, I do not think Ezekiel was seeing a third temple rebuilt in Jerusalem during the period of great tribulation at the end of the age (through I affirm a great end-time tribulation). I think Ezekiel and John were seeing the same thing—Christ is the temple in the new creation with life-giving water flowing from his sides. Daniel 1-9 Daniel is a young man of some noble standing taken into Babylonian exile. This book is full of visions ranging from Daniel’s near-term future to the end of the new covenant age. The book is often broken up into two sections: chapters 1-6 and 7-12. However, while that division is helpful, there are many connection between the two sections. When we read of beasts and nations, the visions throughout both sections are sometimes referring to the same things. Daniel and his peers are taken into the court of Nebuchadnezzar to serve him. The first story of Daniel and his fellow Jews concerns their diet. The Jews followed strict dietary laws which the Babylonians did not respect. However, we read that God had compassion on Daniel and worked that the Babylonians would permit them to avoid the Babylonian diet and eat only vegetables. After a time of testing, they are found to be more fit and healthier than those eating the Babylonian diet. Even in exile, God shows grace to his people. King Nebuchadnezzar has a dream he does not understand. Dreams are not all that common in the Old Testament, so when they appear, we might be able to trace a common theme between them. Daniel is able to interpret dreams much in the same way that Joseph was. The magicians of Nebuchadnezzar’s court are unable to interpret the dream, and to protect themselves, they try to kill all the other magicians from having a chance. Instead, Daniel requests an appointment with Nebuchadnezzar to interpret the dream for him. Not only does Daniel interpret the dream, but he is even able to recount the dream without being told any information. In short, Nebuchadnezzar’s vision is of four successive kingdoms. Babylon is the kingdom of gold, or the head of the great image. After Babylon will come three more kingdoms, all of which will fall. But after those four kingdoms will come one set up by God himself, which shall never end. The sovereign God has made it certain and sure (2:45). Because of this, Daniel is promoted. Possibly motivated by this vision of a golden image, Nebuchadnezzar then makes a golden statue of himself and requires everyone to bow and worship it. However, the Jews refuse to bow to any idol, three in particular: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, or the same three Jews mentioned with Daniel in chapter 1. Their punishment is to cast into a furnace and burned alive. However, as they should be in fiery torment, the officials notice a fourth figure in the furnace. It seems as though a pre-incarnate Christ was in the furnace with them. The three men are spared and show no signs of ever being in the furnace at all. Perhaps the greatest part of the story is not their safety but their insistence that they will not bow down. They tell Nebuchadnezzar that God is able to save them, but if he chooses not to, they will still never bow to him. May we have such commitment! In response to this miracle, Nebuchadnezzar has a moment of lucidity and praises the one, true God. He then has a second dream. He sees a massive tree that grows from earth to heaven that is chopped down at the command of an angel. It’s clear that this tree is Nebuchadnezzar, because in 4:15 the stump of the tree is called “him”. This stump of a man will wander and roam without his mental faculties for 7 periods of time. Daniel rightly interprets the dream for him. One year later, as he is talking to himself about his greatness, a voice from heaven sends him into the field to lose his mind. It is a humbling time for him. At the end of this judgment, he praises God for his authority and power. Belshazzar was Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson who has become king. As he throws a feast one evening, a human hand appears out of the air and writes on a wall a phrase that means “numbered, numbered, weighed, divided”. Daniel is know by this time to interpret dreams, so he is called upon to interpret this mysterious message. It means that God has determined the number of days for the Babylonian empire. King Belshazzar is not a fit king. His kingdom will be divided between the empires of the Medes and Persians. Just a few hours later, Belshazzar is killed and Darius the Mede takes his kingdom. Darius must have quickly learned about Daniel’s high standing, because he is appointed as one of three officials/governors over Darius’ kingdom. About 80 people (1/3 of 120 satraps) report directly to Daniel. God blesses Daniel with success, even in exile. Darius wants to promote Daniel to be in charge of everyone, second only to Darius. Daniel is a type of Joseph, one who is promoted to second even in exile. There are many such ties with the story of Joseph, which helps us to see the return from exile as a type of new exodus. The other officials don’t want Daniel in charge, so they devise a scheme to get rid of him. These officials influence Darius to set up a prayer schedule which would require worship of no other god but Darius for thirty days. Daniel is well aware of the scheme and refuses to stop his prayer routine to the Lord. He knows that he is highly visible, and even as much as Darius respects Daniel, he cannot avoid punishment. Darius is forced to send Daniel into the lion’s den. Daniel is miraculously spared the entire night. In an act of retribution, the officials and their families are tossed into the lions’ den, but their bodies do not even make it to the ground before they are torn limb-from-limb. Chapter 7 begins a series of visions. It jumps back in time to the reign of King Belshazzar (the story of the writing on the wall). Daniel sees four beasts rising out of the sea. The first beast is like a man; the second beast is commanded to destroy people; the third beast is given earthly dominion; the fourth beast is worse than the first three, and its power is used to devour and destroy. This beast has ten horns. An eleventh horn with eyes and a mouth upsets and removes three of the other horns. However, not all is lost. Daniel sees the Ancient of Days (God, of course), with pure white hair and clothing, sitting on a throne of fire. A stream of fire goes out from him. He is served by myriads of angels. Books of judgment were opened. The fourth beast continues to speak blasphemous things, but he is destroyed. The other beasts struggle along for a short time. After the beast’s destruction, one like a son of man ascends to the Ancient of Days and is given his own kingdom from all the people of the earth. This kingdom will never be destroyed, which ties this vision to chapter 2. Daniel is given an interpretation of this vision. There will be four kings who vie for power, but the kingdom of God will prevail. But Daniel is curious about the fourth beast whose power was much greater. This beast is a king who will blaspheme against God, persecute God’s people, will change the law to suit himself, and he will have this authority for 3.5 years (a time, times, and half a time, which is a way of communicating satanic rule). But this blaspheming beast will be no match for the God of heaven. In the end, all the nations of the earth will be given to God’s people. Daniel sees another vision in chapter 8 of a ram and a goat. Daniel sees a ram with two large horns, one higher than the other. This ram destroys all other beasts that stand in its way. A male goat appears with only one horn between its eyes and flying across the entire earth. This goat is able to break both the horns of the ram. The ram is cast down and destroyed. As the goat grew in power, his horn was broken, but four new horns grew in its place. Out of one of those horns grew a smaller horn. That horn grew strong enough to throw down stars to the earth. The interpretation of this vision is shown to be a sign of the end, but the end of what? If the ram and goat are the kings of Media and Persia together with Greece, then the end of the world must not be in view, at least directly. This is referring to the end of these kingdoms, not the world. The point is that all of this is predetermined and fixed by God. Saying that it refers to many days from now does not necessarily mean our future. We get a glimpse of the canon of the Old Testament in Daniel 9. We don’t know exactly what was known to be authoritative Scripture beyond the books of Moses by Daniel’s day, but he does clearly list the book of Jeremiah. As he is reading Jeremiah, he comes across the prophecy of 70 years of exile in Jeremiah 25. Daniel prays and confesses his sin and the sin of his people, knowing that repentance will lead to restoration. As he is praying, the angel Gabriel comes to Daniel and offers him confirmation that God has heard his prayer and will give him a prophecy—the prophecy of the seventy weeks. During these seventy weeks, six things will be accomplished (9:24). The first seven weeks will consist of an order to rebuild the city of Jerusalem to the arrival of a messiah. The next sixty-two weeks of the vision will consist of a general period of unrest in Jerusalem. Notice that there is no reason to assume that there is any span of time between the first week and the next sixty-two. After that period of sixty-two weeks, the messiah will be cut off, referring to Christ’s crucifixion. Then the people of the prince will destroy the city. There is controversy over whether this is referring to the same prince of verse 25 or a future antichrist. I see no reason to interpret this as the antichrist since Daniel has already been told of a prince. The people of the prince is the Jews. The rebuilt city and temple both will be destroyed, which took place between AD 66-70 in the Jewish War against Rome, mentioned in the same verse. “He” of verse 27 is the same prince of verse 26, who is the same prince of versed 25. After this war comes the seventieth week. Those who hold to a “dispensational” interpretation of the last days insist that the seventieth week is detached from the first sixty-nine. The reasons they make that claim is because they insist the seventieth week and the great tribulation are the same, and they insist the rapture takes place before the great tribulation. Therefore, though the text itself makes no such claim, it simply must be that the seventieth week is still in the future. I will concede that a pre-tribulation rapture is a possible interpretation from other texts, but it is not in any sense taught in this passage whatsoever. At best, a pre-tribulation rapture is circumstantial. There is no reason in the text itself to separate the seventieth week from the first sixty-nine. It is pure imaginative speculation, and it has been popularized in books and movies such as the Left Behind series. The seventieth week is the time of the new covenant, which put an end to sacrifice and offering because of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice. The only reference to the desecration of the temple by the Romans at the end of the Jewish War is the last half of verse 27. I believe the point of the seventy weeks is to play off of to the seventy years of Jeremiah cited immediately prior to the prophecy. 1 John 4-5 There are many false prophets and antichrists in the world. All of them want to destroy the work of God. But you will know that a person truly believes and has repented of their sins confesses that Jesus is God. Whoever is born of God listens to those he has sent, namely, Christ and his apostles. Stay in the word of God! Another test of genuine faith is love in action for fellow believers. God is love (and justice, and mercy, and wrath…), and so we are born of God will love those he has redeemed alongside us. Love is perfected by being tested in action. John reiterates that it is only possible to confess that Jesus is Lord by the Spirit’s indwelling power. Confessing that is not a natural state for man living in rebellion against God. Not only does confessing Christ is God and loving others give us assurance of faith, but so does our obedience to God’s law. Confessing, works, and obedience work together to give evidence of our belief. The testimony of Jesus was made clear at both his baptism (the water) and his crucifixion (the blood). At his baptism, the Father spoke his blessing on the Son, and the Spirit descended on the Son. At his crucifixion, he fulfilled the Father’s plan of redemption that would culminate in the sending of the Spirit at Pentecost. Therefore, to reject the Son’s testify is to reject him and continue to reject eternal life. Given everything that John as said in the previous paragraphs, “the sin that leads to death” must be the rejection of the testimony of Jesus Christ. That is not an accidental sin or one you are not aware you have committed. It is a “high-handed” sin. So when John says that those born of God do not continue to sin, it makes perfect sense if you understand the sin that leads to death as the sin of spurning the testimony of Christ, or the gospel. 2 John The sum of the law is this—love one another. It has always been the commandment, and it will never change. Those who are set out to deceive the church are those who do not confess the incarnation of Christ. Everything we do is about Christ. We should not give any quarter to those with such darkness in them. 3 John John has received word that the church led (seemingly) by an elder/pastor named Gaius is healthy. John must have planted this church since he calls the people their his children. There have been some of the believers going out as missionaries that these people have supported faithfully, and John is thankful for their sacrifice. There is some opposition, however, in a man named Diotrephes. We’re not clear exactly what is going on, but it has something to do with slander against John. On the other hand, Demetrius has proven faithful (though we’re not told much more than that). Jude The book of Jude is a grand warning against apostasy, or falling away from a grace you claimed to have experienced. Jude spoke harshly, but that’s how you speak against those who speak falsely. The faith for which Jude expects his readers to contend is the faith handed down by the apostles. To contend earnestly is to do so with determination. You will not back down. Jude’s point is that those who turn from the faith never shared in the faith. He uses three examples to bolster his argument: Israel in the wilderness, fallen angels, and Sodom and Gomorroah. Jude argues for humility in our knowledge. While we don’t have an extended account of the argument between Michael and Satan, we know that Michael did not confront Satan on his own authority but on God’s. Some more examples of selfish ambition are Cain, who did not offer a sacrificial sacrifice; Balaam, who was motivated by money; and Korah, who rebelled against Moses. Jude says that if we don’t build up our faith, then others will tear it down. We start by keeping ourselves close to God in his unmerited love and mercy toward us. Revelation 1-2 Revelation is often said to be cloaked in mystery. However, that’s not how God communicates. You can understand Revelation if you realize it comes at the end of God’s written revelation and is the culmination of biblical prophecy. Therefore, we need a familiarity with biblical prophecy to understand Revelation. That’s where many of us fall short. I’ll try to show how often John is using the types and shadows of Old Testament prophecy to show how they were looking forward to the same things as him. There are many debated issues within the book. One such issue is the placement of the events of the book in the grander scheme of the last days. Is the church present during the events after the first few chapters? Is everything a sequence of events, or is John retelling the same events from different perspectives? There are four ways of reading Revelation:
Because there are components of the various “sevens” that we can see all around us, I typically hold to a view that is partly idealist, partly futurist. Very few people would fall into only one of these camps. I think you can clearly see that in one sense, these things define church history, and yet some passages will more clearly say that these things are yet to come. Revelation 1:19, “Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those are to take place after this.” Past, present, and future are all accounted for in Revelation. God is described “him who is and who was and who is to come” (1:4). The seven spirits of God is a stylized way of saying the Holy Spirit (1:4). “Sevens” typically infer completion. Jesus is described as “the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth” (1:5). These identifiers, especially of Jesus, will be important at the end of the book, as well. John doesn’t say precisely why he is on Patmos, but because he mentions tribulation and endurance, we believe his presence to be because of exile. As he is worshiping, presumably with the church, on the Lord’s Day (Sunday), he is shown the vision that will become Revelation. The voice he hears commissions him to write what he is about to see and send it to the seven churches. That means the entire book is for the church, not just the seven letters. There is a belief that the church does not appear in the book after the seven letters, but that is built upon the cold, stewy leftovers of a dispensational view of the last days. It should be discarded. The same view that holds the church doesn’t appear in Revelation after the seven letters also says that the sermon on the mount is not for the church but for the Jews during the millennial kingdom (as are most components of the gospels). But most people do not hold to both of those statements even though they presuppose each other. John sees one like a son of man standing among seven golden lamp stands. Jesus is standing among the churches. Instead of seeing a single lampstand like Zechariah did to represent Israel, John sees seven lamp stands to represent the seven churches. The son of man is a clear reference to Daniel 7 when Daniel saw the son of man ascend to the Ancient of Days. Jesus is wearing the clothes of a high priest. The whiteness of his hair ties him to the Ancient of Days. God the Father and God the Son are one. Eyes like fire show his omniscience, which comes up again in the letter to Thyatira. His feet are purified and strong, and his voice is mighty. Jesus holds the churches near to himself, even in his hand. Jesus speaks the word of God, which is a double-edged sword, cutting to the marrow (Heb. 4:12). The shining face represents his glory, similar to Moses. John can’t help but fall down. Jesus again commands him to write what he’s about to see, and he explains the meaning of the lampstands. The church at Ephesus has endured tribulation, but they have gone soft in their love for Christ. They must repent and return to him. The church as Smyrna has also gone through tribulation, and Jesus commends them for how they will suffer in the coming days. The church at Pergamum is commended for staying faithful even when Satan has a hold on their city. But there are some who have practiced sexual immorality without repenting. Jesus calls them to repent and be faithful. The church at Thyatira has shown faithful endurance, but they are giving an inch to sexual morality and idolatry. Jesus calls them to conquer and send away those who practice such things. Note: Several months I typed in the wrong week number and have been off ever since. So this week is really and truly week 48.
Ezekiel 35-46 God gives prophecies against Edom and Israel. In order for the people to come to their senses and recognize the God is the one true God, he will devastate their land. God says he hates the bloodshed perpetrated by the Edomites, so why does he have them die? Because the Edomites killed senselessly and selfishly. God is just in what he does. The earth is his, and what matters is the righteousness and holiness of his name. The vision of the valley of dry bones is a vision confirming that God will restore Israel, almost through the power of resurrection. If the Jews didn’t believe in a future resurrection, this vision would lose its potency. God shows Ezekiel a graveyard. Ezekiel will tell the breath of life to fill the dead bones and return them to life. There is less talk of resurrection in the Old Testament, but it is definitely present. This vision asserts the God will bring Israel back to the land and put his Spirit within them, which also hints toward the new covenant. Ezekiel then prophecies that the divided nation will be reunited by two different sticks and joining them together. But the point of the vision is that there will be ruler over them both, not just that they’ll reconcile. God will give his people one shepherd, his servant David. Who could that be? The prophecy of Gog and Magog is a vision of God’s sovereignty even amidst Israel’s rebellion. The difficult part is that there is no land or nation called Magog or king called Gog. Since there are no time hacks given in this vision, the traditional interpretation sees this as a future invasion. This check out, because the apostle John picks up on this prophecy and places it at the end of the millennial reign in Revelation 20. The reference to “the latter years” of 37:8 seems to place this at least in Ezekiel’s far future, as well. Ezekiel 40-48 is one coherent vision. It is the vision of the restoration of the land. The vision of chapters 33-37 are about life after the destruction of the land, chapters 38-39 comes comes between destruction and restoration, and chapters 40-48 promise the restoration. The question then becomes, is this the second temple built after the exile, or is this referring to some temple further out in time? Is it even referring to a literal temple? It’s a legitimate question, because we have already seen outrageous visions, such as the valley of dry bones, which don’t seem to refer to a woodenly literal moment in time. In the beginning chapters of Ezekiel, God’s glory left the temple and it was destroyed. Several abominations were rehearsed in the temple. Chapters 40-48 see the undoing of all that destruction and rebellion. That’s why there are so many details. The temple is being rebuilt. Instead of seeing God’s glory leave the temple, he will see it restored. Ezekiel gets a tour of the temple already rebuilt, the glory of God returns, then God tells Ezekiel how the people should then worship him. The vision ends with water flowing out of the temple and bringing life to the entire world. There is then a new city, which is open to all. This sounds remarkably like the new city of Revelation 21 and the river of life of Revelation 22. I’m of the opinion that the new city and temple of Ezekiel 40-48 is referring to the new age, not a rebuilt brick-and-mortar temple in the millennium. John, the author of revelation, places the fulfillment of this vision after the battle of Gog and Magog, which takes place at the end of the millennium, not during. 1 Peter 5 Peter concludes his first letter by encouraging the elders and pastors of his church to be faithful. Peter also refers to himself as a fellow elder; he does not elevate himself above them. The idea that Peter was the first pope does not hold much clout. Elders/overseers/bishops/pastors are the administrators, teachers, and primary example-setters of the congregation. Faithful pastors will receive the crown of glory at the end of the age. While elders should be honored, they must stay humble. Because God blesses the humble, all his people should practice humility. It is God who exalts us, not ourselves. Part of that humility is resisting the temptations of Satan. Instead of fearing Satan, Christians need only resist him. We must remember 1 Peter 1:5, which tells us we are “being guarded through faith” for a future. 2 Peter 1-3 Some have argued that Peter is not the author of this letter. But he claims to have written the letter in 1:1 and then claimed to have seen Christ’s majesty, which is a reference to the transfiguration. If Peter was not the author, this letter is an act of deceit, which the early church would not have accepted. The themes of the letter are common ones: false teachers and living righteously. Peter begins by addressing righteous living. God calls his people to live a certain way because he has pulled us out of the kingdom of corruption and brought them into his. Our faith does require effort even if our salvation does not. Faith is sustained through virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. What does it mean to grow in faith? Practice those things and find out. We are firmly established in the truth, and therefore, we know to practice those qualities. Peter knows that eternal life does not negate physical death, and his departure is in the offing. Therefore, he wants the church to continue to be strong after he is gone. Peter grounds his message in being an eyewitness to the transfiguration and knowledge of Christ’s baptism in the Jordan. And because no one living today witnessed those things, we also need to ground our faith in something. Peter says that this is Scripture, “the prophetic word more fully confirmed” (1:19). The church remembers Christ’s life and the evidence of his divinity not through experience but through knowledge and understanding of Scripture. False teachers are a perennial threat. They are greedy and exploitative toward their followers. They are blasphemous, stupid animals. But while it may appear as though they have a measure of worldly success, their end is condemnation. In the same way God did not spare sinful angels, Noah’s contemporaries, or Sodom and Gomorrah, neither will he spare false teachers. God is just and holy. Christ is returning, and that should spur us on to faithfulness. From the prophets of old to the apostles of Christ, we have been warned of childish scoffers in the last days. Christ has not yet returned, so they mock God by doubting he will. But it is God’s patience that gives scoffers opportunity for repentance. What does it mean that God does not wish any should perish but that all would repent? God does not delight in the death of the wicked. But he will hand us over to our evil desires if we turn from him. And yet, though God’s patience is what holds back the end of the age, we still eagerly anticipate his return. 1 John 1-3 John the Evangelist is traditionally considered the author of this letter (we often have to deal with authorship because some letters are technically anonymous since the author’s name is not mentioned in the writing). This particular writing carries more marks of a sermon than a traditional Greek letter. When the Jews were kicked out of Rome around AD 65, John went to Ephesus and pastored there. This letter may have been a circulated sermon or one he gave on more than one occasion. This letter (or sermon) even begins much like John’s gospel. Both are emphatic that Christ was present before time began. The author even claims to be an eyewitness to Christ, which lends credence to the authorship of John the Evangelist. John calls us to walk in the light, which sounds remarkably like John 1. Jesus’s blood continues to cleanse us from our sin. When Christ entered the heavenly places, he carried his blood with him. Its power is so great that it continues to save us today. Christ is currently on the throne in heaven, interceding for his people. “He is the propitiation for our sins” is present tense. Christ’s blood continues to be the only necessary sacrifice to cancel our debt of sin. To “keep” God’s word is to cultivate it in your heart. It’s a similar idea to Adam keeping the garden and the priests keeping the temple. We keep God’s word by burying it in our hearts and minds, not unlike listening to a song on repeat. At some point, the song is stuck in our heart forever. You could wake up from a 50-year coma and still hum the tune. That should be the kind of place Scripture has in our hearts and minds. John cares deeply that we have confidence in God and Christ’s sacrifice. His letter serves to give us assurance. Our sins are forgiven for the sake of God’s name, that he might be known as just, righteous, and primarily holy. Therefore, there should be great confidence that if God’s concern is his name, then our sins are no impediment. The church has always been looking for the antichrist. But John tells us that many antichrists have already come into the world. An antichrist is anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This both affirms that there is yet one antichrist at the end of the age who will supersede all other antichrists, and that it is likely the antichrist will actually come out of the church. John says that the antichrists that have already appeared have left the church, and so will the final, end-of-the-age antichrist. For this reason I think the church will be on the earth at the end of the age and will recognize the antichrist. But John writes these things to guard us against the deceit of the antichrists. They are here, so be alert to their lies. God has turned his enemies into his family. We are his children. While we suffer and are persecuted now, when Christ returns, we will be made like him—holy and indestructible. And so, we live in such a way now that reflects our blessed hope. To confess Jesus is Lord and then to live as though I am lord is to repudiate my confession. We cannot keep on sinning (which means without repentance and godly grief) and think our confession holds any water. No one “born of God” (which is the same phrase used in John 1; again, more weight that John wrote both letters) will enjoy their sin in such a way that we defend it. Instead, those born of God will love one another. That is the example Christ set out for us—his own life was laid down for ours. His innocence did not merit his suffering, but he took it on himself out of love for us and obedience to the Father. To have your heart condemn you is to have a prick of the conscience. That is a sure sign that you know the love of God. But God is greater than our hearts! Even when my conscience is burdened with my sin, I am reminded that God forgave me long before I was conscious of my sin. Ezekiel 23-34
God sends a prophetic word to Ezekiel that compares the northern and southern kingdom to two women of ill repute. In the same way that a wild woman whores herself (Ezekiel’s word!) with any willing partner, so too have God’s people played the whore with foreign nations, seeking safety and security the arms of another. The names given to these women, Oholah and Oholibah, mean something like “her tent” and “my tent”, signifying that the northern kingdom had made their own temple or place of worship even while God still have his true temple in Jerusalem. The prophetic word is full of sexual imagery, which shows how graphic of a sin idolatry is. It might be off-putting to us, but consider how “off-putting”, to say the least, our sin is to the Almighty. The penalty of Ezekiel 23 is defined is Ezekiel 24—Jerusalem will fall. In another prophetic act, Ezekiel’s wife will die. But in a twist, he will be kept from mourning for her. The point is to show the people that in the same way God took what Ezekiel prized the most, he will also take their city and temple. What follow are a series of prophecies against various nation-states. What concerns us most in this section is Ezekiel 28, which is often used to portray the fall of Satan. While there may be some truth to the idea that Ezekiel 28 portrays the fall of Satan by way of allegory, it certainly does not mean that primarily. To begin with, God tells Ezekiel to actually address the prince of Tyre, who was a real person, not a prophetic figure of Satan. Verses 2-10 are a prophecy about the death of the prince of Tyre. To say that he made his heart like the heart of a god or that he says he is a god is not unusual for a pagan king. Kings truly believed they were deity. We should not assume that Ezekiel is speaking about the fall of an angel that took place before Genesis 3 out of nowhere. This is interpretation by free association. Context, context, context! Most of the support for this passage being about the fall of Satan comes in verses 11-19. The only reason that people think Satan used to be the most beautiful angel is because of verse 12. There is no other reference to the beauty of Satan in all of Scripture. It does mention that the king of Tyre was in Eden, which does require some interpretation (but I would argue far less interpretation than arguing this is about Satan). What does it say the man in Eden was doing? This being in Eden is covered with the stones that covered the breastplate of the priests. Where does it say that Satan served any priestly function? But let’s remember that the garden of Eden was in fact intended to be God’s temple. God would live and walk in the garden with Adam. And Adam would “guard” and “keep” the garden, which are the same two words used for the job that the priests would do in the temple. This more clearly aligns with the king of Tyre being a type of Adam than of Satan. The language and books that follow Genesis are clearly meant to present Adam as a king-priest in the temple of God. This type of Adam is even said to be an anointed guardian cherub. Cherubs always have a guardian function, and Satan does not. He is the accuser, not a guardian. God placed Adam in the garden, not Satan. Have you ever wondered why Satan was allowed in the garden to begin with? It was Adam’s sin of failing to guard the garden that allowed Satan into the garden. Because of Adam’s sin, he was cast from God’s holy mountain when “unrighteousness was found” in him. This passage is one of many prophecies or laments against pagan kings. There is no reason to isolate this one as secretly referring to the fall of Satan. Ezekiel is simply comparing the king of Tyre, with all his power and might, was like Adam—he was a great man on the earth, but his sin and rebellion will cause him to fall. A couple of early church fathers argued that Jesus saying he saw Satan fall like lighting in Luke 10:18 is referring back to Isaiah 14. But in Luke 10, context shows that Jesus is referring specifically to the casting out of demons that he just sent his apostles out to do. And since this passage in Ezekiel somewhat resembles Isaiah 14, some have argued that they are both referring to the same moment in time. But careful reading suggests otherwise. The people have been warned repeatedly not to run to Egypt for safety. If God has ordained judgment, there is nowhere to flee. Because of the sin of the people and of Egypt’s own sin, Pharaoh will die. Read carefully and you will find other references to Eden, equating Assyria to a tree planted in God’s garden. But no one argues that the king of Assyria is Satan! God sends Ezekiel as a watchman on the wall of a city. If God sends a warning and Ezekiel fails to spread the word, then the blood of the people are on him. But if he is faithful to the word, the blood of the people are on their own hands. A man’ will die for his own sins. As Jerusalem falls, Ezekiel prophecies against her shepherds. The religious and political leaders utterly failed in their responsibilities to teach and protect the people of Israel. But God is the good shepherd, and he will seek out his people. He will gather his sheep for whom he will provide in abundance. James 3-5 When we think of the human body, we think of the dangerous parts as the fists. But James says the most dangerous part is the tongue. Our words have a significant power which we often neglect. It’s such a great evil that no one can tame it. Because it is so destructive, only God can tame it. We must seek to only speak what builds up and edifies, not that which destroys and tears down. We must seek wisdom, which God gives in abundance. The tongue is not the only danger the church faces. One of the other great threats is worldliness infecting the church, whether it be in worship, discipleship, or in missions. We must not think pragmatically about these things. Sometimes it’s scary how powerful the words “We’ve never done it like that” can be. It’s as if that statement overrides the word of God. If Scripture is the highest authority, then it must decide these things for us. We cannot seriously think we are doing God’s will if we are not starting with Scripture and not our own thoughts and traditions. Part of worldliness is the temptation to presume upon tomorrow. If the church is rightly to live in anticipation of Christ’s return, it is theologically presumptuous to treat tomorrow as if it is a certainty. Other worldly concerns are those such as money. Finances has such a stranglehold on many of us. To prioritize luxury over worship, discipleship, and missions is to speak one way and live another. Finally, while the world strives to safety, the church must be ready for and anticipate persecution and suffering. While we never hope for it, we recognize that as the world hated the Lord, so will they hate us. So, we live in a pattern of prayer, which is powerful for changing us. 1 Peter 1-4 Peter clearly claims to be the author of the letter while using a secretary to do the writing (Silvanus; 1 Peter 5:12). He open with a highly Trinitarian prayer, attributing foreknowledge to God the Father, sanctifying power to God the Spirit, and sacrificial obedience to God the Son. Peter refers to Jesus as our living hope. The resurrection of Jesus proved his claims to divinity, and now he ministers in heaven. Even under the trials of this world, the object of our hope is so great and powerful that it overshadows any suffering we experience now. Even the prophets of the Old Testament looked forward to the hope we have see with our own eyes. They placed their faith in the same promises we do, but we have the benefit of looking back at the finished work of Christ while they had to look forward in faith. The Christian life is a call to holiness. We are no longer slaves to the old man but are a new creation. So, we must conform to who we are, not stay in bondage to who we were. Peter says that we were “ransomed” with the blood of Christ. There was an insurmountable debt we owed to God himself we could never repay. Christ ransomed us from that wrath we so rightly incurred. But now that we are purified by his blood, we have been born again to an unending life. God’s word must be preached! As a new creation, we are also forming a new spiritual house. Under the old covenant, there was a temple in which the presence of God dwelt. But now, he dwells in his own people. The church, the people of God, is his temple now. The same attributes of Israel are now said to be true of the church—a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people possessed for and by God. Any theology that wants to make too much separation between Israel and the church is to be disregarded. Our great hope also has ramifications for our time on this earth. We should respect those in authority over us, because God has placed them there; they are God’s agents to reward the righteous and punish the wicked. Do governments do this perfectly? No. Do they often actively work against this mandate? Yes. But the principle of submission to godly governments stands. The church does not establish a theocracy like Israel, but neither do we submit to ungodly laws. We must obey God and not men. When governments resist God and legislate like a nation that hates God, the church follows the teachings of Scripture over against wicked mandates. Peter moves to the local level and addresses husbands and wives. Wives should submit to their husbands and be respectful to them. One reason given is that it exhibits Christlike conduct and might be key to husbands being won to Christ. This is one way the Christian family stands out. Another way is by the way the women of the family dress themselves. They would focus on the beauty of the inner woman instead of outer appearances. It is not a call to not take care of yourself but a call to pay attention to the heart and mind over above the quality of ones clothes. One example of this done well is Sarah, Abraham’s wife. Husbands should not act as tyrants but should be understanding and accommodating. Husbands do not submit to their wives. Women are not to be treated as less-than; but because of creation order, there is a family order. Peter makes that clear by saying that husbands should honor their wives. Women being the “weaker vessel” is likely nothing more than a reference to the general stature of a man over a woman. Feminism despises anything less than artificial equality, but Christianity loves and thrives under the created order. Returning to the theme of suffering, Peter encourages his readers to not seek vengeance. If the church receives the blessing of Abraham, then like Abraham, we are to be a blessing to the world, even those who persecute us. If we seek the good of society, there will be those who hate us, but there will be those who listen. Seeking the good of society means speaking biblical truth into the public square, not pandering to the zeitgeist. Because of a generation’s worth of hard work and seeking the public good, the wickedness of Roe v. Wade was overturned. Part of that success was because the church was zealous for what was good, others came to share the perspective of the dignity of all human life. Chapter 3 carries a couple of interpretive difficulties. When Peter says that Christ proclaimed to the spirits in prison, I believe the best contextual clues point to the understanding that as Noah was a herald (or preacher) of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5), he preached repentance toward God’s promises, which would be fulfilled in Christ. Because of their continued rebellion, those spirits are now in prison, having died in the flood. Christ was even proclaimed to them, which fits with the one message of salvation for all time. The second difficulty is tied to the first. While comparing our salvation to the days of Noah, Peter compares baptism to the flood. He also says that this baptism saves us. All that Peter is saying is that we are brought through the waters of judgment in the same way that Noah was. Peter is not advocating a salvific view of baptism, meaning that baptism actually brings about salvation. He knows no true Christian who rejects baptism. It is the contemporary church who has belittled baptism. Therefore, to be a Christian is to be baptized. Our baptism does not reflect a clean body but rather a clean conscience before God. While still writing about suffering, Peter writes that when we are willing to suffer, sin suffers. Sin loses its power over us. So, we should not seek to turn away from suffering as a good and natural part of the Christian life. Didn’t Christ suffer far more than we have and will? Besides, Peter writes, the end of the age is approaching. Our suffering is a temporary station. Don’t suffer for stupid reasons which you bring on yourself. But when you suffer for doing good, take peace in the fact that the time is near. Ezekiel 10-22
Catastrophe strikes—God’s presence leaves the temple. In a terrifying vision, Ezekiel sees angels, wheels, fire, and eyes leaving the holy of holies. God is withdrawing from his temple. God’s presence is typically a sign of his blessing. So when God withdraws his presence, he is withdrawing his blessing from Israel. Yet, in his mercy, God will both be the sanctuary for his people in the absence of a temple and will eventually bring them back to the the land of Israel from exile. In another prophetic performance, Ezekiel is to pack his bags. Not only that, but he will dig a hole through the wall and crawl through it with his luggage. He will become filthy as he crawls on his belly, just like how Israel has become filthy in their rebellion. Ezekiel is to be anxious as he prepares the people for exile. Exile is a certainty, and the people must simply wait for it with a fearful expectation. A host of false prophets (and later, some elders, as well) are going around declaring that everything is fine. “Peace, peace” when there is no peace. God has declared judgment, and others are trying to temper that expectation. But God will not be mocked. Ezekiel condemns those false prophets. God will send his wrath on them. The Israel within Israel, the true remnant, will be always be spared from God’s wrath, even if they are in the midst of it. Jerusalem, the center of God’s presence because of the temple, is called a “useless vine”. What good is a broken twig except to be as fuel for a fire? Jerusalem will indeed burn. Jerusalem is also as a faithless bride. She is a harlot, breaking her covenant with her husband, the Lord. Marriage is likely the most common illustration of the relationship between God and his people, and Jesus makes the same illustration between himself and his church. Ezekiel is then given a parable to tell. The cedars of Lebanon were famous for their size and strength. In the parable, a beautiful eagle perches on a beautiful tree. The eagle plants a seed form the twig of that great tree. Another great eagle sees the freshly grown vine. The parable is the story of Jerusalem (the twig) being sacked by Babylon (the first eagle) and seeking safety from Egypt (the second eagle). God told Israel to seek help from him, not other nations. And because they sought help from Egypt, they will suffer the consequences. What God requires, and has always required, is purity. Therefore, the one who sins shall die. A man is not judged by the sins of another; a man dies for his own. This is to show the complete unfairness of un-earned righteousness, which will take place in the work of Christ. Ezekiel recounts several of the Old Testament laws to which the people were accountable. However, they had been unfaithful in every area. In the first of many laments against princes and powers, Ezekiel laments against the kings of Israel. The monarchy has become as weak and rebellious as the rest of the people. The king has led the people astray as the primary covenant-keeper. God again promises to pour out his wrath on his own people. There is a popular theology that says God never pours out his wrath on his own people, which has led many to believe in a position that at the end of the age, the church will not be on the earth for the final acts of judgment. However, based on the fact of God’s wrath being poured out throughout the ages on his own people while preserving the remnant, we cannot say that this is necessarily true. After judgment comes restoration. In this passage, God again promises to restore Israel after his wrath is poured out. God gives Ezekiel the image of God drawing his sword against Israel. Not only does God draw his sword, but it is polished and clean. This is an image of judgment. He will cut off both righteous and wicked. All of Israel is the covenant community, and all of Israel will face the consequences of rebellion. HIs sword is bright like lightening, flashing as he brings down the reprobate. But this is true not only for Israel but for the Ammonites, as well. God will judge those who have performed atrocities upon Israel. But Israel will receive the brunt of the judgment. God calls Jerusalem “the bloody city” (22:2). Israel has become a violent place and full of idolatry. As God lists their sins, it becomes impossible to deny that God is just in sending judgment upon them. Hebrews 11-13 The final section of Hebrews deal with how God’s people persevere in faith. We are given plenty of examples of what faith looks like so that we are able to emulate the great cloud of witnesses. In faith, Cain gave a better offering, Enoch never died, Noah built an ark before it rained, and Abraham left everything behind, which resulted in nearly offering up his own son as a sacrifice. Isaac and Jacob both blessed the irregular son. Joseph believed God would deliver his people to the promised land even before slavery. Moses stayed with the Hebrews rather than live in the luxury of the Egyptians. Israel crossed the Red Sea on dry and and destroyed Jericho. Rehab kept a promise to spies she just met. All of this is to serve as an example of an active faith accompanied by works. You see all the people who had a rough go of it but still made it to the end. Let those examples push you through the rest of the day and into tomorrow. Then, let them encourage you tomorrow. Perseverance comes from the joy ahead of us, our hope of redemption, the promises of God, a new city, eternal life, friendship with God. These are the same things that made Jesus persevere. Endurance or perseverance is looking to Jesus yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Because he is unchanging, I will continue to trust him. It’s not as if you’re holding a priceless glass ornament, and if you drop it, you face the death penalty. It’s that Jesus is holding you, and if you persevere in your faith in him throughout your life, it’s the evidence that he is holding you. Things are not as bad as they could be. Even if they get there, you won’t have been the first and probably won’t be the last to endure horrible, wicked people because they hate God and you love him. Suffering is not evidence of a lack of faith. In the fiery furnace, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.’”. Image of a body being healed and restored to health and strength. People go to the gym to strengthen the weak parts of your body. A life of consistent faith grows stronger through the bad days and shines in the good days. Be a part of a church. See perseverance in Scripture; see perseverance in action. It’s not saying that your pastors have everything down to a science; it’s saying that we need to see perseverance at work in the life of believers today. Paul said in his letters, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). Only imitate me in so far as I imitate Christ, not the ways that I don’t. We endure because we know that what is to come is far superior than any experience we have today. James 1-2 If you struggle with understanding and living out the relationship of faith and works, or if you struggle to see how you could still be saved even when your best is still imperfect, the book of James is for you. James begins by shining a light on the sovereignty of God in suffering. Suffering and trials is a cause for joy, because God is at work. That takes wisdom, and we should seek wisdom only from God. Wisdom will lead to humility, which will lend itself to being unmovable in suffering. Suffering can lead to contempt an danger, but the anger of man is not the anger of God. It does not bear righteous fruit. We keep anger in its rightful place by putting into action the words of Scripture. To not practice these things at all is like looking in a mirror and forgetting what you look like. We cannot read the words on the page and retain nothing. We will not be perfect this side of eternity, but we will put the law of Christ, the law of liberty, into practice. Partiality is the sin of elevating some to a higher status because of superficial trappings and lowering others to a lower status for the same reason. This is especially horrific in worship, which is apparently what was going on in the church who first received James’ letter. The connection to the previous section is this: it is impossible to obey the law of liberty while simultaneously judging people by the world’s standards. The world is partial; the church is not. The most contentious section of the book of James comes at the end of chapter 2 where he deals with the relationship between faith and works. Even going back to the time of Martin Luther in the early 1500s, this was considered a difficult passage. Luther even wanted to remove the book of James from the Bible; he considered it to be a gospel of straw. But by the end of his life, he was more than willing to see that both Paul and James shared the same theology of faith and works. The issue was that at first glance, without any discernment, it can seem that James is saying that works are a necessary component of salvation. If that is true, it stands in direction contradiction to Paul who teaches that salvation is by faith alone; the righteous shall live by faith, not by faith and works.. However, once we see that James uses the word “justified” to reflect a demonstration of faith rather a declaration of faith, then it all comes together. Paul was writing to a group who said you had to add works to faith to be justified. Jame was writing to a group who said they had faith but whose works implied otherwise. Paul used “justified” to refer to the declaration of God’s imputing Christ’s righteousness to you. James use “justified” to refer to the demonstration of good works as a result of God’s grace to us. Both authors use Genesis 15:6 (Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.) to make their case. If God’s word does not contradict itself, then they’re simply using the same passage to draw out two different “significances” that are really there. There are two ways of applying the same passage. In Romans 4:3, Paul is looking at how a person begins their right-standing with God. In James 2:21-23, Jame is looking at how a person fulfills their right-standing with God. The events of Genesis 15:6 took place between 30 and 40 years before Abraham placed Isaac on the altar. Clearly James is not using “justified” in the exact same sense that Paul is. It is similar to vindication or proof of a previous declaration. “I’ve been saying this all along!” James is simply saying that Abraham’s and Rahab’s faith was genuine. Sacrificing Isaac and protecting the spies came after they had come to saving faith. The book of Hebrews says that it was in faith that Abraham left his homeland and offered up his son (Hebrews 11:8,17). That is what people of faith did, not what they did to receive faith. James’ point is that real, abiding faith causes both interior and exterior changes. Week 46, November 7-11
Jeremiah 52 The Jews are finally going to be exiled. Their sin has grown to such an extent that God’s anger is fully kindled. Babylon has surrounded the city and has nearly destroyed it. The king is captured, the sons of the priest Zedekiah are killed, Zedekiah is blinded, and the officials are slaughtered. The temple is burned to the ground. Most people are taken as captives, but the poorest are left behind to care for the land. The exile is the judgment of God on a rebellious people. But his mercy is as plentiful as his judgment. This exile will last nearly 70 years, or just a single lifetime. God’s mercy is reinstate them in the land for a time. When the people kill the Son of God hundreds of years later, they will face judgment again by being cast out of the land and the temple again being destroyed in AD 70. Lamentations 1-5 The book might be technically anonymous, but tradition holds that Jeremiah wrote both the book of Jeremiah and Lamentations, which is why they are usually kept together. Lamentations is a series of poems about God’s judgment on the land and the people, which are usually called “laments”. Jeremiah wrote many laments in his book of prophecy, and he was present for the actual beginning of the exile. The laments tell the story of the exile while praying to God to forgive the people and restore them to their land. It may sound as though the entire book is a practice in sadness, and in a sense, it is. Is there another appropriate response to sin and rebellion? But in all that grief, we also read of God’s mercy. In the middle of the book, we read the section of Scripture that was the inspiration for the hymn, “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” We read, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him’” (Lamentations 3:22-24). Amidst our great wickedness and rebellion, God’s mercy shines even brighter. The Lamentations are a great reminder if we weren’t such a great sinners, we wouldn’t need such a great Savior. Ezekiel 1-9 Ezekiel begins already in the earliest days of exile, even before all of the Jews are removed from the land. We also find out quickly that Ezekiel is a priest. The book of Ezekiel is a series of awesome, horrifying visions. Ezekiel’s first vision is of God’s glory. There are four gruesome-looking creatures. There is a corresponding wheel for each the creatures, and each wheel is full of eyes. Above the creatures and the wheel is an expanse or sky. Above that expanse is a throne. The one on the throne looks like a man, but he is not. Below his waist is fire, and above his waist is iron. All around him is the brightness of a rainbow. If that wasn’t enough, the one on the throne begins to speak. He commissions Ezekiel as a prophet to go to the people in exile. The one on the throne open a scroll before Ezekiel. On both sides of the scroll he reads words of suffering. Ezekiel is commanded to eat this scroll, and even with the words of lament, it tastes as sweet as honey. After judgment will come mercy. Ezekiel then experiences a miraculous event. He is supernaturally moved from one place to another. He is to stay there for seven days. Ezekiel’s prophetic ministry is one like a watchmen set to cover a wall. If the watchmen sees something dangerous and says nothing, then whatever happens to the innocent people inside the wall is on his hands. For Ezekiel, if he does not call the people to repentance, their judgment will be on his hands. God will send Ezekiel to a certain house to be bound with cords and made unable to speak. Then at the appropriate time, God will loosen his cords and his tongue to draw the attention of the people. Ezekiel’s first prophetic act is to create a scene out of bricks and iron and dirt to give a vision of what will happen to Israel. In addition to the scene, he will be required to lay on his left side for 390 days and then on his right side for 40 days for Judah. During those days, he will make bread to eat, but he will use human excrement (but God permits him to use that of a cow) as fuel to bake it. It is a sign that the people will eat unclean food in the nations where God will send them. An astute reader will see those numbers add up to 430, which is also the number of years that the young nation of Israel was in slavery in Egypt before the exodus. Ezekiel’s sign is of another exodus, already determined by God, that will be like the first exodus. Ezekiel’s next prophetic act has him cutting off all of his hair and beard. He is to divide the hair into thirds to represent three different fates for various groups of Jews during the time of the exile: sword, famine, and pestilence. Not everyone will face a horrific fate. There is yet a remnant that God will guard and protect to build up the nation once God has purified the people himself. Even while the “abominations are in your midst”, God will pour out his wrath on his own people and on his own land. Does it seem to go against what we think of God, him pouring out his wrath on his own people? Aren’t God’s people spared from his wrath? This is a crucial distinction to make. Even while God pours out his wrath, his people are guarded from it. Think of Noah and the ark. Noah was in the midst of the flood while he was spared from God’s wrath in the boat. He had a front-row seat to all of the devastation going on around him for an extended period of time. And yet, we can rightly say that he and his family was spared from God’s wrath. Paul tells us that “not all Israel is Israel” (Romans 9:6). Therefore, even if God pours out his wrath on Israel, the faithful (or the remnant) will be spared. This will hold true at the end of the age when the tribulation comes. Ezekiel again sees the figure of the one who has fire below his waist and gleaming metal, or iron, above his waist. In another supernatural act, this figure takes Ezekiel to the temple to show him the abominations going on. Every time the great figure tells Ezekiel to shift his gaze in another direction, he sees even greater abominations. As they get nearer to the center of the temple where the sacrifices were made, Ezekiel is finally shown that there are men in the temple worshiping not the one true God but the sun. The figure calls for executioners to slaughter the idolaters. Six executioners arrive. There is also a seventh figure who carries all the items necessary for record keeping. This man is sent to mark the remnant in Israel, or those who have not taken part in the abominations Ezekiel has witnessed. This kind of imagery is picked up later by John in Revelation. God has elected the remnant to salvation, and they are marked out. By contrast, those who do not bear the mark of God will bear the mark of the beast. Hebrews 4-10 In chapter 3, we are shown how Jesus is greater than Moses. Israel is in Egypt because God was protecting his people. God had sent Joseph ahead of his family to rise up in power and guard against an upcoming famine. Generations of Israelites were born in Egypt, which led to them being enslaved by Pharaoh who commands all Israelite women to murder their male children. Moses is born, but his mother trusted that God would act on her son’s behalf instead of obeying a wicked command to kill him. There are times to reject authority, but only when it clearly goes against God’s word. God ensures the right person finds the boy Moses. God knew Pharaoh’s daughter would have compassion on an innocent child. Moses’s sister keeps an eye on the basket to see where it lands. She approaches Pharaoh’s daughter and offers help nurse the child. Not only does his mother get to save her son’s life, but she will get paid to do what mother’s do anyway. This was all in God’s good providence. Only when he is brought back to Pharaoh’s daughter is he named Moses. Being adopted into Pharaoh’s family meant a high level of education and living. Life is good for Moses in Pharaoh’s house. Education, food, luxury, servants—everything he wanted. But he had compassion on his own people and hated that they were being forced into labor. When Moses saw an Egyptian murder a Hebrew, he acted in vengeance. He later sees two of his fellow men arguing, and he realizes they know what he’s done. Pharaoh finds out that a Hebrew, even Moses, has killed an Egyptian. He can’t stand for that, so Moses flees to Midian. He starts a family and spends forty years as a shepherd. God listens to his people and takes mercy on them and will send Moses to help. God used Moses to set up a series of events that led to the release of the Hebrews slaves. From that point on, Moses was seen as a deliverer. They cross the Red Sea on dry land. On their way to Mt. Sinai, they have to fight other people groups. But God protects them on their journey. They arrive at Sinai about three months later. Moses goes up the mountain to hear from God. On this mountain, God will give the Ten Commandments and the law to Moses so he can give it to the people. Remember how angels delivered the covenant to Moses? This is that point in history. The book of Hebrews connects all of this for us. Moses is sent by God, is born from God’s chosen people, rescues God’s chosen people, and he ascends God’s mountain to both speak to God on behalf of the people and then reveal what God said to the people. But Moses will fail again and again, never fully living up to the righteous standard of God. He will eventually die and be buried without ever getting to enter the promised land. Moses himself believes that God will one day send a prophet like himself (Deuteronomy 18:15). Moses was a deliverer, and he expected an even greater deliverance. We can see how the Bible used Moses’ life to prepare us for the coming of Jesus. The apostle Peter preaches in the temple in Acts 3. His point is that the Jews had met this prophet that Moses told about and rejected him. They didn’t listen to him, to their own destruction. Not just Moses, but all the prophets who came after Moses spoke about and pointed to this greater prophet, one who would do the things that Moses did but at even greater level. All the prophets proclaimed the days when the Jews would kill Jesus Christ, the prophet better than Moses. Jews considered Moses to be the greatest prophet who ever lived. He delivered them from slavery; he led them through the wilderness; he gave them the law of God; we can understand their devotion to Moses. Hebrews makes the case that one greater than Moses has come, if you can believe it. Hebrews calls Jesus an apostle and high priest while talking about him as if he’s better than Moses. Why’s that? An apostle is a special messenger, and a priest speaks to God on our behalf. Didn’t Moses do those things? Moses faithfully delivered the law. Even when the people built a golden calf while he was receiving the law, Moses received it a second time for them. Moses didn’t change anything God said (hard parts, easy parts, left it all in). So Jesus was also faithful in all he was called to do. The Father appointed the Son to give his life as a sacrifice for sin. Describe the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus recognizes his appointment, but the pain grieved him. But still, faithfulness to God was more important than how he felt. Jesus would deny himself if it meant glorifying God. Moses sinned all throughout his life. He murdered an Egyptian. He disobeyed God many times while leading the Hebrews through the wilderness. His disobedience was the reason God didn’t permit him to enter the promised land with the rest of the Israelites. But he faithfully delivered the covenant and the law to the people. How much more faithfully did Jesus deliver his new covenant? How much more was required of Jesus than Moses? Moses gave the law from God to the people that included the system of animal sacrifices. No person ever had to die. But Jesus’ new covenant did include the sacrifice of a man, and it was himself, his own blood, not an animal’s. Would Moses have been that faithful? Would he have died for the people? Unlikely; besides, he was a sinner like them. His death wouldn’t have done anything for them. But Jesus was innocent and sinless. Not only was he willing to die for his people, but his death actually accomplished something. Moses was God’s servant. Jesus is God’s son. “God’s house” means his family. Moses may have lived in God’s house, but he was a humble servant. He lived in the servant’s quarters, in the basement. Moses simply had a job to do. He received a paycheck for what he did. Servants aren’t usually considered to be children. They’re employees; replaceable. Is that where real children live? No; parents keep their kids with them. They don’t send them to live in the shed/barn/basement/closet, but they keep their children in their house, close to them. Jesus is even faithful over God’s house, meaning he is in charge of it. He’s no employee; he’s a son. Jesus offers a better Sabbath than Moses. One of the laws God gave the people through Moses was the Sabbath, the 4th commandment. Six days and a rest; no work; specific laws prohibiting certain kinds of work. When most people in the ancient world worked 7 days a week, God promised to provide for his people and they would only work 6. It showed the nations around them how trustworthy and kind the one, true God was. Some Sabbath violations even had the death penalty. The Sabbath was Friday evening through Saturday afternoon. So the Sabbath is not Sunday; the church does not keep a Sabbath. The Sabbath was a condition of the old covenant, not the new that Christ gave us. The promised land was a beautiful place where the Hebrews would prosper if they were obedient to God. But even before they got there, they proved to be disobedient, so the whole generation of adults who left Egypt were not allowed to enter the PL. The people led by Moses were kept from entering God’s plan of rest. But the rest that Jesus offers is better. We enter that rest by belief (4:3). In what? In the finished work of Christ. Hebrews is clearly talking about the Sabbath and not just a day off of work (4:4-5). Hebrews warns us not to avoid trusting in Jesus and entering into his Sabbath in the same way that the Hebrews at Sinai avoided trusting in God were not allowed to enter into the rest God had prepared for them in the promised land. But we’re offered that salvation every single day, if we have not yet received it. God offers salvation again today, every day, until Christ returns. Moses of course eventually died, and a man named Joshua took his place as the leader of the Hebrews. Moses couldn’t give them rest, so maybe Joshua could finally bring them to it. Nope! The kind of rest we need couldn’t come through just a man. It would have to come through someone greater. Because Jesus is now our priest, we can actually draw near to God in ways that those under the old covenant could not. Hebrews spells this out for us. Priests did not appoint themselves. The law of Moses spelled out exactly how that worked (Aaronic and Levites). It was inherited, not won in an election or appointed by the government. God appointed the priests and determined their role. The Levitical priesthood could not make anyone perfect. The blood of animals could not cover over human sin. It was a temporary device to teach about the wickedness of sin. The priests never claimed to be messiahs. They had a temporary function until the fullness of time came—until the real, final, eternal priest arrived who could be the only necessary mediator between God and man. His resurrection made Jesus a priest forever. Under the old covenant, priesthood was determined by genealogy. If your father was a priest, you would be a priest. If you weren’t from the tribe of Levi, you would never be a priest. If you were from the tribe of Levi, you had an obligation to be a priest. But Jesus did not inherit the role of of priest. He didn’t appoint himself, but he didn’t inherit it, either. God made him a priest, and Hebrews tells us he was a priest “in the likeness of Melchizedek” (7:15). Why was Jesus appointed to the priesthood? Not because of where he came from, but because of the resurrection, an “indestructible life”. He was perfectly obedient throughout his life, he fulfilled the sacrificial role the Father sent him to accomplish, and because of that he was raised to new life which is indestructible, or eternal. Jesus’s priesthood truly saves all those for whom he died. The Levitical priesthood was good, but its weakness was that it was insufficient. It didn’t forgive sins. It didn’t make anyone sinless. But the sacrifice that the great high priest, Jesus Christ, offered his own body, those who draw near to him are saved permanently. Being saved “to the uttermost” means that nothing is capable of undoing that salvation. Where the old priesthood fell short, the new priesthood saved to the highest possible degree. The old covenant is the Mosaic Covenant, which was given at Sinai. For the whole nation of Israel. It is distinct from Davidic Covenant, which was only for David’s lineage. The Abrahamic covenant preceded Israel but would be fulfilled through Israel, finally in Christ, the true Israelite. The Noahic covenant preceded Israel and was for the whole world. The Old Covenant consisted of obligations, blessings, and curses. Every covenant had these. Obligations were for both parties. For God, he was obligated to give provision. For Israel, they were obligated to obey God’s laws. There were blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Blessings involved children, prosperity, safety. Curses would undo the blessings and eventually lead to exile from the land. The old covenant was temporary. It was a tutor or a guardian. Paul wrote in Galatians 3:24-26, “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” The law was inherently a temporary set of laws. The old covenant could not change the human heart. Laws might bind your actions, but they can’t change your motives. Laws make it so that you have a reason to obey b/c they bring consequences. The law makes it clear what our sin is. Romans 7:9, “What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’” The law can’t change our hearts; it only proves the wickedness of our hearts. The Old Covenant prepared people for the New Covenant. In the same way that Moses said a better prophet than he was going to arrive one day, a new covenant would come along with that better prophet. In Ezekiel 36:26 we read, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Then again in Jeremiah 31:31 we read, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” The old covenant could not satisfy the problem of the human heart; that would require a new covenant with a new law and a new priest. Jesus will bring everything that the law could supply fallen human beings. Old Testament priests served on earth, in the temple. They took turns and rotated every few weeks. The sacrificed every day and often many times a day. They worked double-time on holidays. The “tent” was the temple. The true tent is in heaven. That doesn’t refer a literal building but the truth that Jesus satisfied the demands of heaven. Hundreds of people and billions of dollars built the first temple. God himself built the heavenly tent, and that’s where Jesus has shown the Father his own blood. Read Hebrews 8:4-7. “Copy and shadows” means that they were real but not the main point. The sacrifices, the laws, the priests, the temple were all shadows of the real thing, which is Jesus. Sacrifices were a shadow of the fact that Jesus would shed his own blood for the church. The laws were a shadow of the fact that Jesus would actually be righteous and fulfill the demands of God’s perfection. The priests were a shadow of the fact that Jesus would stand between you and God and pray to him for you. The temple was a shadow of the fact that God is absolutely holy, and only a holy person can approach him. The whole old covenant was a lesson in the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, and the ministry of Jesus. Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34. God promised that once the old covenant had completed its duty, once its demands had been met, he would bring a new covenant. He mentions Israel and Judah. The divided kingdom will be restored to one, meaning all of Abraham’s seed will be in the new covenant. And who is Abraham’s seed? All who believe (Gal. 3:29, “And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.”)! One of the issues with the old covenant was us. We could break it. As soon as the Israelites received the covenant on Sinai, they began to break the various laws and demands. The new covenant won’t be breakable. That’s one of the primary differences. The old covenant laws were written on stone tablets—the ten commandments. The focused on the exterior. The new covenant will be written on our hearts and minds. “Mind and heart” mean the whole person and everything about us. We will actually be changed from the inside out. We will not just be pretending. Does that mean we’ll be perfect and never sin again? No; but it means we hate it when we sin and we mourn offending a righteous an holy God. The new covenant gives us a new desire to please God and live righteous lives, even when we fall short and sin. Part of the new covenant is recognizing sin in ourselves. God says that we will know him and he will know us. That means a closeness we don’t have with God otherwise. Israel knew God as a nation, like how we know our president. The church knows God as a Father, far more closely. Israel needed priests to offer sacrifices on their behalf. Individuals were not permitted to do that. Teaching was one of the most important parts of the priests’ job. In the new covenant, we enter into the presence of God through Jesus Christ and not an earthly priest. It was possible to be a citizen of Israel and not know God. Priests were those who got close to God for the people. In the new covenant, there’s a huge difference. Every truly born-again Christian has direct fellowship with God as his Father. It’s hard for us to even imagine the magnitude of that difference. It wasn’t that Old Testament believers couldn’t pray to God. People like Daniel prayed. We have hundreds of recorded prayers. But the existence of the priesthood proved that there was a massive distance between ordinary, sinful people and an extraordinary, righteous God. The new covenant closes that gap. Jeremiah 39-51
Jeremiah now describes the fall of Jerusalem. This is the event of 588-586 BC when Babylon completely took down the walls of the city. Babylon had attacked Jerusalem previously in 597 BC, but it was not a complete destruction. The Jews who survived the destruction of the city rebelled against Babylon, as you would expect them to do. Gedaliah is the governor that Babylon placed in Judah, and this is who the Jews are rebelling against. A group of men conspire together and assassinate Gedaliah, which only serves to further infuriate their Babylonian overlords. Lest we think that the Jews have learned their lesson, we read chapter 42. They rightly pray for mercy from God. They seek a word from God through Jeremiah. Whatever God says, they will do. Ten days later, God speaks to Jeremiah. God says that the people must stay in the land. God will rebuild them. God also said that if they flee to Egypt for protection and provision, they will face judgment. In their foolishness, many still fled to Egypt for safety, even with a clear word from God through a trusted prophet. The people will not be spared from their sins; God will now send Babylon to sack Egypt. Jeremiah is now taken to Egypt, as well. God sends a word through Jeremiah to the Jews living in Egypt. He has sent no shortage of prophets, but the people continue in their abominations. None of those who left Judah for Egypt will survive. God will send the armies of Nebuchadnezzar to kill Pharaoh Hophra and destabilize all of Egypt. God then sends Jeremiah a word about the impending judgment on several nations: Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, far out nations, and finally, Babylon. These are nations that were the enemies of Israel and therefore enemies of God. 2 Timothy 3-4 Paul warns Timothy about what he can expect to experience in his ministry. Paul lists a variety of characteristics for Timothy to monitor in the churches. He pulls from an Old Testament example when Moses was opposed, and in the same way, there will be those who oppose Timothy. But “they will not get very far” (3:9). Timothy, however, must be content with a ministry focused on God’s word. Only the Scriptures are sufficient for life and ministry, which contrast with false teachers who would rather teach a pagan philosophy and pass it off as religion. Timothy must spend his days being in the word and preaching that word. Preaching and teaching serves these purposes: reproving, rebuking, and exhortation. To reprove is to gently call out a sin in someone’s life. To rebuke is to criticize a philosophy or worldview that is inimical to Christ. To exhort is to call to faithfulness and endurance. Scripture is the only sufficient and necessary means of fulfilling these important parts of the ministry. Paul finally sends Timothy off with some personal instruction. This primarily has to do with Paul’s travel and his companions in the ministry. He urges charity and compassion on those who are facing difficulty in the complex circumstances of the Christian life. Titus 1-3 Paul’s letter to Titus reads a lot like 1 Timothy, so it’s possible they were written around the same time, which would be the mid-60s. Overall, Paul is here concerned with faith being proved by works. This is another good example of how Paul and James are in complete agreement when it relates to the relationship of faith, works, and justification. Titus is ministering on the island of Crete in churches likely planted by Paul, although that missionary journey is not recorded. After the greeting, Paul moves right into the necessary qualifications for church leaders. Note that most of what Paul says consists of character qualifications and not skillsets. Most of these qualifications are not controversial in any way, save maybe the faithfulness of an elder’s children. How can a father ensure his children will become Christians? Is that not the Spirit’s work? What Paul is likely saying is not that a man can only become an elder if his children are already Christians but that they are being discipled as Christians and not reeling against their father. Paul says something similar in 1 Timothy 3, and there Paul only mentions that the children of an elder/overseer must be well-behaved. This heavily implies that Paul is focused on order in the household, not necessarily conversion. The primary qualification of an elder is sound, biblical character and the ability to “give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (1:9). While there are others want to bring in popular teachings that go far beyond the word of God, Titus must “teach what accords with sound doctrine” (2:1). This looks like encouraging people with the word of God in every stage of life and in every circumstance in life. The gospel moves us to be self-controlled while we wait for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Titus will face plenty of discouragement throughout his ministry, but he must be a strong, devoted man who cares little if any regards him as foolish. Some people are quarrelsome, and Titus is to call it out when he sees it. Christian maturity is not pugnacious. Even amidst disagreement, we must be gentle and respectful to our brothers and sisters. After all, were we not all once at war with God? So Titus must avoid anything quarrelsome. That’s not to say that Titus must avoid controversial issues; but he must direct the church back to the word of God, which is the only means of settling the issue. Some issues are necessarily controversial, and in other cases, there are “foolish” controversies (3:9). Let the word of God decide. If there are those who insist on being quarrelsome over foolish controversies, warn them twice, then remove them from fellowship. It is not worth poisoning the whole church because of one person’s or one group’s hobby horse. Philemon Philemon is the shortest of Paul’s letters. Philemon must have a been a man of some wealth and standing, because he had at least one slave. Slavery in the ancient world is a mixed bag, but it must be said that we should not unthinkingly assume slavery at one time in the same as slavery in another. Chattel-style slavery of early America was the purchase of people as property. The entire framework behind the mid-Atlantic slave trade was that if you paid money, you could treat another human being as if they were a piece of farm equipment. It was wicked, and the good people of that age, primarily Christians, were right to abolish it. There were many forms of slavery in the ancient world. First-century Rome knew of many of them. Some were viewed as property. Some were working off a debt. Some were seeking citizenship. It seems as if the situation that Onesimus finds himself in resembles something between a debt relationship and property. Otherwise, it seems unlikely that Paul would want Philemon to receive Onesimus, a runaway slave, as a brother in Christ. Paul stops short of asking for Onesimus’s freedom. He simply wants Philemon to treat Onesimus as he would any other brother. At some point in the time between Onesimus running away and Paul’s letter to Philemon, Paul had been a player in Onesimus’s conversion to Christ. That new reality necessarily changes the relationship between master and slave. There are too many other passages in Paul’s letters to say that slavery in every form is sinful. It is beyond dispute that many forms of slavery are nothing short of oppression and are therefore evil. But can we say the same for those paying off a debt? What about those who willingly enter into a master-slave relationship for the mutual benefits? When English translators translate the Greek word δοῦλος, or doulos, they have the difficult decision of whether to use the word “slave” with all of its connotations, even though that’s literally what the word means. Most translations select either slave, servant, or bondservant in different contexts. But we cannot move away from the fact that 1 Peter 2:16 calls Christians δοῦλος of Christ, or slaves to Christ. So slavery does carry a theological sense. We are not our own; we were bought at a price. Slavery is a common image of the believer’s relationship to Christ. Marriage is a common image for the relationship between Christ and the church, much like how adoption is a common image for the relationship between God the Father and the believer. We must understand these images as Scripture uses them and not load them down with contemporary weight. Hebrews 1-3 The book of Hebrews is all about how Jesus is better than the angels, Moses, priesthood, and the old covenant. The Jewish people highly valued all of these things, and the author of Hebrews is dedicated to showing how those things actually point to Jesus, which is why he’s better than them. The real thing is better than the substitute. The movie is better than the script. Jesus is better than everything that came before. Jesus has always been the point, but before getting to Jesus, God used other people, places, and events to prepare us for the coming of Jesus. Since before creation, God had a plan to save sinners. The point here is that everything else that came before Jesus was like the trailer for the movie. The Exodus? To show us that God draws us out of wickedness into righteousness. The priests? To show that Jesus talks to God for us. The sacrifices? To show us how evil sin really is. The temple? To show us that worship is based on what God says, not what we say. The kings? To show us that God is our only righteous ruler. All the Old Testament expectations are fulfilled in Christ. This is Hebrews’ point. Paul wrote in Galatians 3:19, “Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.” Paul is saying much more there, but for our purposes the point is that angels delivered the law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Earlier in Galatians, Paul wrote, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the on ewe preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8). Angels are God’s mediators, or servants. They are the go-betweens. And they only serve the purposes of God. In Hebrews 1, we’re given seven reasons why Jesus is better than the angels:
The book of Hebrews does have its interpretive difficulties. One of those is the presence of what have been called the “warning passages”. These passages warn believers about falling away from God’s grace. Some have interpreted these to say that the believer may truly be declared just by God at a point in time, but it is possible to fall away from grace to such a degree to lose that justification. I believe that to be a cursory reading of the warning passages that avoids their overall context. The first of these warnings is Hebrews 2:1-4. The point is that since the message delivered by angels came with curses fore disobedience, what kind of curse must the message delivered by Jesus bring? What the author is not saying is that the believer can ever reject that message. He is simply warning against what happens when people are confronted with that message and then reject it. Even though chapter 3 is a part of this week’s reading plan, we will address chapter 3 next week since the author clearly has Moses as a different section from chapters 1-2. Jeremiah 27-38
Several kings and their armies have laid siege on Jerusalem. God sends Jeremiah out with a prophetic performance. He is to yoke himself like an animal and present himself before the kings. The point is that God will actually make these nations subservient to Babylon, not Judah. God even calls Nebuchadnezzar his servant! This is further evidence of all creation being under God’s sovereign sway. Of course, Nebuchadnezzar is only unwittingly God’s servant, but he is God’s servant nevertheless. These nations will be under the yoke of Babylon. God also promises that the exiles will return in two years, as well as the temple artifacts that were taken when Jerusalem was sacked. Another prophet, Hananiah, then takes the yoke off of Jeremiah to show that God will even break the yoke that Babylon has over Jerusalem by having the Jews return to their land. Jeremiah sends a letter to the exiles still in Babylon. He calls for them to settle down, build businesses, and raise families. They are to seek the good of the city they are in. This would have had to have been a difficult word to hear. How could the people not be overcome with anxiety and bitterness? But Jeremiah also tells them that the exile will last a period of 70 years. The times are in God’s hand; they will be released at the proper time. This prophecy will come true, which is the test of a true prophet. There are many other false prophets sending a very different message than Jeremiah’s. While all of Jeremiah’s prophecies are significant, one does stand out. In chapter 31, the new covenant made in Christ’s blood is specifically foretold. Not only will it be a new covenant, but it will be entirely different. This passage is incredibly significant for the two distinctive facets of Baptist ecclesiology (the doctrine of the church): regenerate church membership and credobaptism (or believer’s baptism). God tells Jeremiah that he will write the law on our hearts and that those in the new covenant will not need to teach anyone about knowing God. That does not mean there is no teaching ministry in the church, otherwise there would not be specific mention of teachers and preachers in the New Testament. What that refers to is the distinction between the redemptive application of the old and new covenants. Under the old covenant, the law had no redemptive power. Not all of Israel was redeemed or regenerated. To be a full-fledged member of Israel, you were bound to keep the law. There were certain laws that if broken required being expelled from the nation. But under the new covenant, God has sealed us already. Every covenant member is truly born again. Yes, there are those who act like Christians without ever being converted. And yes, those people might at times be difficult to pinpoint. But there is a categorical distinction between the lack of redemptive power of the law and the perfect redeeming power of the blood of Christ. When the English Puritans were still seeking reform in the church of England, they did not see how a state-church fit the biblical model of the church. They read passages like Jeremiah 31 and saw that only the regenerate were truly members of Christ’s church. No one was born in to the church by virtue of having Christian parents or especially by virtue of being born in a Christian nation. It was their ecclesiology that led to them to consider credobaptism. The New Testament witness of repentance and baptism leading to church membership should be normative, not the other way around. So, these English Puritans were derogatorily called “baptists” because of their high view of baptism. God then has Jeremiah buy land in Judah even though it is under seige. The point again is that the land will be returned to the Jews, and this serves as a sign and a promise. This prophecy is interesting because Jeremiah doesn’t understand the point of it. But God kindly answers Jeremiah, reminding them that the authority to do to the land what he wishes is his right. Since the people have abandoned the covenant, he will turn them over to foreign powers for a time of discipline and judgment. But God will restore their fortunes in jealousy for his own name and love for his own people. God will restore joy to the people. The land will no longer be a wasteland but will be full of people and animals. The eternal covenant made with David will be fulfilled in the coming of a righteous branch, Christ Jesus. God continues to restore his people. Then Jeremiah sends Baruch, his assistant, to the temple to read a prophecy. The people hear him and tell Jeremiah and Baruch to hide. King Jehoiakim is furious that anyone would prophecy against him and against Israel, so he burns the scroll. Baruch records Jeremiah’s words again, plus many more, and gives it again to Jehoiakim. Jeremiah is later arrested on charges of desertion. He claims his innocence, but he is imprisoned anyway. King Zedekiah asks to hear from Jeremiah, if he has a word from the Lord. Jeremiah does in fact, and he assures Zedekiah that he will be spared from Babylon. Zedekiah keeps Jeremiah safe and feeds him. But Jeremiah is still prophesying the worst is yet to come. The people simply won’t stand for it, and he is thrown into a cistern. Zedekiah turns from his word and does nothing to keep Jeremiah safe. A eunuch who worked for the king saves Jeremiah. He tells Zedekiah what has happened to Jeremiah, and he is given thirty men to help. Jeremiah doesn’t really trust Zedekiah anymore, but Zedekiah wants another word from the Lord. Jeremiah insists that Zedekiah promise to protect him if he tells him. Jeremiah tells Zedekiah that if Zedekiah gives himself over to Babylon upon the invasion, his life will be spared. 2 Thessalonians 3 Paul warns the Thessalonians about idleness. It’s not explicit, but there does seem to be some logic in that many were confused about the end of this age and therefore decided that work and production was futile. Any eschatology that understands the Christian life as kicking back and waiting for the end is not biblical. Regardless of your particular views on the various components of the end-times, Jesus gives plenty of parables in Matthew 25 about staying sober and ready for his return. It is not in dispute. What Paul does here is take that to its logical conclusion and affirm that Christians must still seek the welfare of the city in which they find themselves. 1 Timothy 1-6 Some have argued that since 1-2 Timothy and Titus focus heavily on church order rather than the Holy Spirit leading the church that Paul did not write these letters. But that just indicates a lack of reading comprehension. Even back in Acts 20, Paul addresses church elders. The church has had leadership since its inception, beginning with the apostles. The Jerusalem council is a council of men giving direction to the early church. This book highlights in short form the similarities between Paul and James. Both of them use the term “justification” differently, which has led some to believe that they disagree on the place of works in the Christian life. But context makes clear that Paul is focused on the how of justification in books like Romans and Galatians, and James is focused on the end of justification. Paul speaks about justification as God declaring us to be righteous. James speaks of justification as our demonstration of that righteousness. In 1 Timothy, Paul somewhat bridges that gap in our understanding. He focuses on how the gospel leads to godliness. He opens with a traditional greeting and quickly moves to a warning against false teachers. He mentions “myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculate rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith” (1 Tim. 1:3). In the early church, one of the ways that pseudo-Christian groups went off the rails was by using the apocryphal books and Old Testament genealogies as means of special knowledge not found in Scripture. Paul says that those things do not belong in Christian teaching and doctrine. Stick to the word that’s more fully confirmed, not the speculative nonsense that’s so ready available. Stick to the word “in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God” (1 Tim. 1:11), which is that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of which I am the foremost” (1 Tim. 1:15). The gospel has implications for daily living and how the church governs herself. The Christian prays for everyone. We do not back down from engaging the world, and we primarily do it by praying that God would intervene. He goes to say that the way the church orders herself in worship is a sign of how we will live in the world. Is worship orderly and reverent, or do we focus on fun and entertainment? Paul clearly articulates the need for order and reverence in worship when he calls for the proper way of praying and modesty. This is the context for Paul calling for wives to learn quietly. Paul roots this command (“I do not permit…”) in creation, not competency. Women are not trophies to be kept clean and quiet on a shelf. The basis for this command is that Adam was formed first and that Eve was deceived first. This command is still binding today because Paul does not root it in cultural situations or something education levels. Church order, like marriage, is a living parable of Christ and the church. The Greek words for “man” and “woman” can sometimes mean “husband” and “wife” in the right context. But since Paul is speaking about the church and not marriage, “man” and “woman” are what he has in mind. The mention of women being saved through childbearing is difficult, no doubt. Paul never teaches that women attain salvation by having a child. Otherwise, barren women are damned from the outset. The Greek sozo, or “saved”, is used multiple ways, depending on context. Here, in the context of church order, Paul must not be referring to how a person is saved, since they are already in the church; that is always by grace through faith. Sozo can also refer to the progressive sanctification of the Christian life (IE, was saved, am being saved, will be saved, as in Philippians 2:12-13). Only in the modern age have we said that a women’s role as a child-bearer and a mother is a second-class station in life. That is the fruit of wicked ideology that seeks to undermine the family. While we should not make the other extreme error and worship mothers, in no way, shape, or form does motherhood ruin a woman’s life. Paul then lists the qualifications for those in church leadership, those of elders and of deacons. You’ll notice that they are primarily character qualifications. The only significant difference between elders and deacons mentioned here is the requirement that elders be teachers (3:2). And no matter how charismatic or gifted a person is, there is no substitute for time as a believer (3:6). “Recent” might be determined in the local church context since no specific time in mentioned here. It’s noteworthy that both elders and deacons must be leaders in their homes. Since women are not to teach or have authority over a man, and since Paul mentions the elder must be the husband of one wife, it stands that the office of elder is reserved for men. Again, it’s not because of competency but because of creation. For deacons, however, the issue of women serving in that office is less obvious. Some translations include the word “their” in 3:11, implying that “their wives” refers to the wives of the deacons, meaning that deacons must be qualified men. However, “their” is not in the text, and “wives” can also mean “women”, depending on the context. It is not out of bounds to suggest that what Paul is saying is that women serving as deacons “must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things” (3:11). Then verse 12 indicates that male deacons should not have multiple wives, which was not unheard of in that day. Women did not have multiple husbands at one time, so there was no need to mention it. This is somewhat circumstantial, I must admit. But in sticking to the words of text, I believe firmly but charitably, Paul does permit women to serve as deacons but never as elders, especially since deacons are not called to be leaders or teachers as elders clearly are. So can women teach at all? There are other passages that clearly commend the teaching of women to children and other women (2 Tim. 1:5, Titus 2:4). But what about other areas, such as Bible studies? What about Sunday school? What if other adults are in the room? Where is the line dividing faithfulness and disobedience? Colossians 3:16 calls all believers to be teachers. In Acts 18, a husband and wife, Aquila and Priscilla, take a teacher, Apollo, aside to give him a correction in his teaching. Priscilla is mentioned explicitly as contributing to that scenario. Paul mentions women praying and prophesying in 1 Corinthians 11. So clearly, there is not a full-blown barrier to women teaching in mixed contexts. I believe wisdom calls for case-by-case decisions. For instance, at Mt. Pisgah, Sunday school curriculum is determined by the pastors. Can a woman teach it? We believe the answer is yes. Is it gathered worship? No. Can a woman teach a mixed-group Bible study? Is she usurping the pastors on central Christian doctrines? If no, then yes, she can instruct a group of men and women. Women, by definition, cannot fulfill the office and function of elder. But then again, neither can unqualified men. Paul goes on to say that if the church focuses on spiritual maturity, order, and reverence, that some will abandon the church because of it. By sticking to the gospel of Christ crucified and biblical church order, we will offend some. But let them be offended by the truth instead of God being offended by substandard worship. Paul ends with some general, final instructions. Take care of widows and orphans. Let young windows remarry with a clear conscience. Respect your church elders. Let servants respect their masters. Excommunicate false teachers. Pursue righteousness. Guard the deposit of faith. 2 Timothy 1-2 This letter was likely written during a Roman imprisonment after the end of the book of Acts, making this Paul’s final letter. The purpose of this letter is to call Timothy, and us by extension, to greater faithfulness even in the midst of suffering. Don’t let suffering make you think that God’s plan has been undone. You are exactly where he wants you. After a traditional greeting, Paul remarks that Timothy shows fruit of real faith. He was faithfully taught by his mother and grandmother, as well as Paul. So he should guard that with all his might. When this world mocks you and hates, don’t be ashamed of the one who died for you. There are many who have done just that—they have abandoned both Paul and the faith. But Paul calls Timothy to be a good soldier. Stick to the teaching of the gospel. Say the same things over and over. Persevere through difficulty and mockery. Soldiers focus on the one who enlisted them, not on their own gain. What awaits for us, what was earned for us by Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice, doesn’t begin to compare to what we’re going through now. Rightly handle the word of God. Irreverent babble, or disrespectful and foolish teaching, marks much of contemporary teaching. But we must stick to the Scriptures and nothing else. Timothy is much younger than Paul, so Paul warns him about youthful passions. They are strong, but the gospel is stronger. When we’re young, we’re prone to the latest controversies. The same was true in Timothy’s day. Paul encourages him to move beyond that. Don’t be quarrelsome, but stick to the Scriptures. |