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.
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