"... since what we teach in catechism is the Scriptures and the confessions, that should properly be considered the official teaching ministry of the church of Jesus Christ. Parents entrusted with the spiritual education of their children fulfill their responsibility under the care and guidance of the church's elders.
. . .
'Two parties,' said Matthew Henry, 'parents in their families and... ministers in more public assembles, are necessary, and do mutually assist each other, and neither will excuse the want of the other.'
We have to take care that the elders do not usurp the role of parents. In God's covenantal structuring of the church he has never set elders or catechism teachers between parents and children or in place of parents. Elders, therefore, may not shove parents aside, nor may parents vacate their position in favor of elders. Instead, by administering a good catechism program, the elders fulfill their role by insisting and ensuring that the parents of the church obey God's command to instruct their children in his ways (Dt. 6:6-9, Eph. 6:4)."
-Donald Van Dyken, Rediscoving Catechism, 91, 101.
Monday, February 07, 2011
Parents and Elders
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Anathema
In the Septuagint, "anathema/cursed" is used to describe those cities/people/objects which are wholly devoted to the Lord. And frequently, they are devoted to complete destruction (e.g. Num. 21:3, Dt. 7:26, 13:16, 20:17, Josh. 6:17-18, 7:1-13).
Paul uses this word when he says that he wishes he could be "cursed" from Christ for the sake of the Jews (Rom. 9:3) and then later with regard to those who do not love the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 16:22, cf. 1 Cor. 12:3). The only other use of the word seems to be in Galatians 1 where Paul is describing those who preach another gospel (Gal. 1:8-9).
SHAQAT
The Hebrew verb "SHAQAT" is rather fascinating.
It makes it's OT debut in Genesis 6 describing the earth which has become corrupt (Gen. 6:11-12). And then God immediately uses it to describe what He is going to do to the world. He's going to "destroy" all flesh (6:13, 17). And eventually, He vows never to "destroy" all flesh again (Gen. 9:11, 15).
Later, it is used eight times, to describe the destroying of Sodom and Gomorrah, both in Abraham's discussion with Yahweh and in the events that follow (Gen. 18-19).
It is used to describe Onan's insolent behavior toward his brother's wife, Tamar. Literally, he "destroys" his seed on the ground so that his brother has no offspring (Gen. 38:9). And for this wickedness, the Lord killed him (38:10).
While the plague of frogs is said to have "destroyed" the land of Egypt (Ex. 8:20), it is this same word that describes the "Destroyer" who comes on the night of Passover as the tenth plague on Egypt, to kill the firstborn (12:23).
When Israel turns to idolatry at the foot of Sinai, God tells Moses to go back down to the people because they have "destroyed" themselves (Ex. 32:7, cf. Dt. 9:12). Of course it is typically translated "corrupted," but this word seems to call for stronger language. We brush off corruption as a purely 'spiritual' or 'ceremonial' infelicity. But God says that Israel is doing to themselves what He has previously done to the whole world in the flood and what he did to Sodom and Gomorrah.
This is consistent with Deuteronomy's description of idolatry as well: making carved images is an act of suicide, self destruction (Dt. 4:16, 25, 9:12, 31:29). And this continues in Judges as well where Israel's wickedness is described as "corruption/destruction" (Jdg. 2:19). The Midianites come in such great numbers they "destroy" the land (Jdg. 6:4-5), and ultimately the civil waring between the tribes of Israel brings great "destruction" (Jdg. 20:21, 25, 35, 42).
The nearer relative to Ruth who decides not to marry Ruth and redeem her land does not do it because he would "destroy" his own inheritance (Ruth. 4:6). He is an Onan refusing his obligation to his brother.
In Hebrew poetry, SHAQAT becomes a noun which is frequently translated as "the pit" which is a euphemism for death/hades/the place of destruction.
Much of this indicates that God's destruction of people is frequently merely finishing off what they started themselves. Their acts of evil and idolatry are acts of suicide, self-destruction, and when God brings destruction, it is merely more of the same.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Returning to Egypt
In Deuteronomy 28, Moses warns Israel that if they do not keep covenant with Yahweh, He will bring the curses of the covenant upon them.
These curses include at least three explicit reference to Egypt (28:27, 60, 68), but a closer reading suggests that many if not most of the curses are implicit references to life in Egypt.
If Israel disobeys, their kneading bowls will be cursed (Dt. 28:5), like the Egyptian kneading bowls swarming with frogs (Ex. 7:28).
If Israel disobeys, they will be cursed in the fruit of their own bodies, the produce of the land, the increase of their cattle and the offspring of the flocks (Dt. 28:18), like the Egyptians whose produce was struck by hail and locusts (Ex. 9:25, 10:14-15), and the firstborn of man and beast struck by the Destroyer (12:29-30).
If Israel disobeys, the "plague" will cling to Israel until God has consumed them from the land (Dt. 28:21), much like Egypt was struck with "plagues" (e.g. Ex. 5:3, 9:3, 15).
If Israel disobeys, the heavens of their heads will be cursed and rain will come down on the land like powder and dust until everything is destroyed (Dt. 28:24), just as Yahweh turned the rain into large hail stones that came down upon the land and destroyed crops and killed animals and men (Ex. 9:23-25).
If Israel disobeys, their carcasses will be food for the beasts of the earth (Dt. 28:26), just as the carcasses of Egyptian firstborn became food for the dogs (Ex. 11:5-7).
If Israel disobeys, Yahweh will strike them with the boils of Egypt (Dt. 28:27), just as (surprise!) God struck Egypt with boils (Ex. 9:8-12).
If Israel disobeys, they will stumble like blind men and at noonday, they will grope around in deep darkness (Dt. 28:28-29), just as the Egyptians were struck with a deep darkness which could be felt (Ex. 10:21ff).
If Israel disobeys, severe boils will cover their bodies and locusts will eat up their crops (Dt. 28:35, 38, 42), just as Yahweh struck Egypt with boils and locusts covered the earth and consumed their crops (Ex. 9:8ff, 10:4ff).
If Israel disobeys, aliens will rise higher and higher above them (Dt. 28:43), just as the Hebrews became prominent in Egypt and Moses became a great man in all the land (Ex. 11:3).
If Israel disobeys, Yahweh will send all these curses on Israel, "signs and wonders," until they are destroyed (Dt. 28:45-46), just as Yahweh performed His "signs and wonders" against Egypt until they were destroyed (Ex. 7:3).
Finally, the entire curse-warning is summarized by the threat that if they do not keep covenant Yahweh will bring upon them "extraordinary plagues - great and prolonged plagues... He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you..." (Dt. 28:59-60) All of this will culminate in Yahweh sending Israel back to Egypt in ships: "And the Lord will take you back to Egypt in ships... And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you" (Dt. 28:68).
It is not merely that one of the curses of the covenant is reminiscent of Egypt, rather many of the curses are reminiscent of Egypt, and all of them mean Egypt. Breaking covenant with Yahweh is synonymous with going back to Egypt. Yahweh has so identified Himself with the Exodus event, bringing Israel out of Egypt, that to reject Yahweh and to break covenant with Him is by definition a rejection of the Exodus and a return to Egypt. And if Israel "returns to Egypt" by breaking covenant with the God who delivered them from Egypt, they are sure to find themselves under attack, pursued by the same God of the Exodus.
Yahweh God is so identified with the Exodus that He remains committed to the division between Egyptian and Israelite. And those who live like Egyptians will die like Egyptians.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Remembering the Magic
Just back a little while ago from giving a talk at Logos School as part of the culmination of their Knights Festival. Today they finish with an enormous feast, plays, and lots of fun. Here are my notes from the talk below.
What is feasting for?
Genesis 1-2 opens with the creation of the world and lots of food. All of the food was “yes,” and only the fruit from one tree was “no.” And we all know what happened. But this establishes a pattern throughout the Bible that repeatedly reveals food and eating and feasting as test.
Consider the Promised Land where great bounty and increase were heaped up for Israel, but in this great blessing there was a great test: how would Israel receive the blessing? Moses knew then and we know now that the people very quickly forgot where all the abundance came from (Dt. 8:7-20).
God is a faithful Father who tests his children with both scarcity and abundance. What is God testing? God is not out to get us, but He does love us and is jealous for our love and fellowship.
So what does God want us to remember when we have tables overflowing and laughter on our lips? He wants us to remember that this world is magic. This food and abundance does not come from pure efficiency, scientific progress, industrial machinery, or even middle class moms and dads who pay for these gifts. If we explain to satisfaction where all the abundance came from, then we fail the test. Of course we see little bits of the puzzle, but most of it should be shocking, strange, miraculous.
Every meal, every feast is like the five loaves and two fish. You can see the fish and the loaves (mom, dad, the grocery store, famers, etc.). But then it turns into a table laden with joy, overflowing with gladness. It turns into tastes which combine magically in our mouths. And smells dance overhead happily with or without us.
We don’t get this wealth, this food, this abundance with our own power and might. It’s the Lord who does this for us and in us and through us.
But faith is a lot like imagination. The movie Hook has a grand scene where the old, stodgy, grown-up Peter Pan is sitting down at a meal with all the lost boys, and they all dig in excitedly, but Peter can’t see or taste or smell any of the food. It looks like a table full of empty plates and empty serving dishes. He has to learn to use his imagination in order to see and smell and taste the food. And he finally sees the food when a food fight erupts. He sees the food when he needs it, when he wants it.
What does it mean that food is magic? It means that if food basically is one of God’s most favorite miracles that we have to live like this is true. God provides for His people. He provides for them in the wilderness, and He provides for them in the Promised Land. This means that feasting should always make us more generous.
Throughout the Old Testament, feasting always includes the poor, the orphans, the widows, and the strangers and foreigners. God commanded three annual feasts for the Israelites, and a weekly Sabbath feast, and the Scriptures go out of their way to remind the Israelites again and again to make sure they invite the poor, the orphans, the widows, the strangers.
But we like to guard good things. We get protective. Of course good stewardship is a Biblical principle. And dumping your piggy bank in the lake is not generosity. But we frequently use “stewardship” as a cover for being stingy. My son, like most boys, is pretty competitive, and loves games and competitions. But I noticed a while ago a pattern: as soon as a good game has been discovered without fail the next thing that will be suggested is a rule. And the rule is meant to protect the game and usually to his advantage. And people never really grow out of that. Special interest groups are basically five year olds trying to get congress to pass rules for their games.
But we do this in all sorts of ways. We have a good thing going with a friend, and we’re a little worried to invite someone else into the group. We have a good thing going at Church, and new faces and new people can bring change. Even schools have to guard against this. We find something that works, that’s really good, and then we start putting fences up, to protect it.
And God asks us, where did that food come from? Where’d that house come from, that city, that school, that fountain, those herds and flocks? Magically out of the ground. And you’re worried about what?
Feasting is a test, but the only way to pass this test is by living this thankfulness everywhere. You can’t go through life grumbling and then come to a feast and suddenly become thankful. If the feast reminds you to be thankful, all well and good, but ordinarily the feast just brings out your heart. If your heart is greedy, then you will be greedy at the feast. If your heart is bitter, then the food will not taste as good. But if you are practicing faith everywhere else, when you get to the table, you’ll see and taste the magic.
Feasting is a test particularly for schools and learning communities. You ought to measure your learning and teaching by your feasting. The food in the garden was the lure for Adam to explore and love the world. Genesis 1 and 2 is basically a treasure map. The test is: do you believe that? Do you believe that world is full of the treasures of God? And I don’t mean vague Sunday School things. You do realize that iPhones are part of treasure that God hid in the world? And Bach sonatas and video games and Shakespeare and lasagna with pepperoni in it. The world is full of wonderful gifts from a wonderful Giver. If we can’t see the food at the table, we won’t be able to see the feast in every class.
Pushing it the other direction, feasting is training for learning. Every class, every period, every year should be seen as a feast. Your teachers are the cooks, and they invite you into their kitchens every day to sample some of the finest tastes they have found in the world. We’re all treasure hunters, and we bring the spoils we have unearthed to class and we share them with you. And this is a good reminder to teachers to serve up the meals well. Learning is feasting. Learning is an act of love, loving creation, loving the world God made, and ultimately loving the God who made it all.
And because God loves us, he invites to the feast, but He’s watching us, testing, making sure we’re still amazed at the magic, making sure we’re giving it away and sharing, proving that we know Him, proving that we know the God who does this magic all around us all the time.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Fourth Sunday in Lent: Exodus XX.20: Dt. 26:12-19
Opening Prayer: Almighty and gracious Lord, we love your law. We rejoice in your commands. They are better than much money; they are more satisfying than the most satisfying dinner. Therefore we come to you to be taught; teach us that we might live. Teach us that we might have life abundantly. Through Jesus Christ who is our Life, Amen!
Introduction
We come at last to the conclusion of our series on the Ten Commandments. We considered last week the fact that the tenth commandment is fundamentally concerned with gratitude and rejoicing in the gifts of God. It is concerned with our heart: God requires us to believe that he is giving us the world in Jesus Christ, and we are the firstfruits of this new creation.
The Holy Tithe
In Moses’ closing comments on the tenth commandment, he reminds Israel about their duty of tithing (Dt. 26:12). It is necessary to point out that the tithe is something which God still requires of his people in the New Covenant. This is the case because Jesus did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it (Mt. 5:17), and he explicitly requires our righteousness to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees (Mt. 5:20) which includes tithing (Mt. 23:23). The tithe is also part of Hebrews’ argument that Melchizedek was the original type of Christ (Heb. 7:1-10). Finally, Paul assumes that Christian ministers ought to be supported by offerings of the congregation (1 Cor. 16:1, 1 Tim. 5:18). The biblical standard for such offerings was always at least ten percent. And incidentally, this principle is one of the reasons why taxation equal to or beyond 10% should normally be considered tyranny (1 Sam. 8:15-17, but cf. Gen. 41:46ff). Moses says that the Israelite is required to confess that the tithe is “holy” (Dt. 26:13, cf. Lev. 27:30-32). Removing the holy tithe was to be a sign that the Israelite has kept all the commands of God and not forgotten them (Dt. 26:13). This tithe also included the confession that it is in fact a full tithe; nothing has been kept back (26:14). The tithe is also a prayer that God would look down and bless Israel and the land he has given (26:15). Here, Moses pays particular attention to the tithe that is most likely to be neglected. While it appears that normally the tithe had to be taken down to the central sanctuary (Dt. 12:17, 14:22-25) for the support of the priests and Levites (Num. 18:22), in the third year, the tithe was supposed to support local needs (Dt. 14:28-29). Moses addresses the particular as a principle for the general. He says that refusing to tithe is coveting that which is holy, and that is not only idolatry, it can bring judgment on God’s people (e.g. Josh. 6-7).
With All Your Heart
Christians sometimes speak as though the Old Testament was only concerned about externals while the New Covenant is about the heart and God doesn’t care about externals. This is false. Throughout the giving of the law Moses exhorts Israel to serve God from the heart (Dt. 26:16, 4:9, 29, 5:29, 6:5, 10:12, 11:13, 18, 30:2, Josh. 22:5). Moses calls upon Israel to circumcise their hearts (Dt. 10:16, 30:6). Covetousness is a sin of the heart, and Jesus says that out of the heart come all kinds of wickedness (Mt. 15:19-20). Another element of this principle is that breaking one law is in fact breaking the entire law (Js. 2:10). This is true in principle (ie. we are lawbreakers), but this is also true in reality. For example, the one who covets commits idolatry, worships an image, profanes God holy name, does not remember and rest in God’s salvation, does not honor authorities, hates his brother in his heart, is not loyal to the gifts of God, and steals and lies in the process. Thus, all of the laws interconnect and are mutually dependent. Recognizing this fact reminds us of our need to confess our sins regularly, fully, and to recognize that we have many secret faults (Ps. 19:12). But God made covenant with Israel, a sinful people, and we have been given a far greater covenant. When we gather to renew covenant in worship, we are declaring that Yahweh is our God, and that we will walk in all of his ways (Dt. 26:17). Likewise, God proclaims that we are his special people and exhorts us to keep his law (26:18). Finally, he promises to give us glory and dominion over all nations as his holy ones, his saints (26:19).
Conclusions & Applications
First, since we are required to hate covetousness, we must begin by not coveting what belongs to God. The tithe is holy to God; it belongs to him. It is not optional, and we must not begrudge it. Giving grudgingly is covetousness. If you do not believe you can tithe because of your financial situation, you should talk to the elders and ask for counsel.
Second, covetousness is not only one single sin that plagues the heart, it reminds us that all of the law hangs together as one and we are guilty of it all. Thus, the law of God is either grace and blessing and joy to us; or it is ugly and overbearing and damning. The difference is whether or not you are under condemnation (Rom. 8:1). If there is no longer condemnation for you, then the law is your glory, your beauty, and your righteousness. If the law condemns you, then it and the gospel smell like death (2 Cor. 2:15-16). Therefore, as a minister of the gospel, I call upon you to circumcise your hearts. You cannot keep the law unless you are forgiven. Do you believe that God is giving us this world in Jesus Christ? Do you believe that there is no condemnation for those in Christ?
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!
Closing Prayer: Gracious Father, we give you thanks for sending your Son in the likeness of sinful flesh in order that sin might be utterly condemned and that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in Him. We thank you for pouring out the Spirit of life in our hearts that the law might be for us freedom and righteousness and life.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Remaking the World in the Backyard
On Sunday we considered the theme of "firstfruits" as found in passages like Dt. 26. The fact that the word tied to the original creation as it is the same word for "beginning" as found in Gen. 1:1 suggests that the firstfruits offering has a lot to do with re-creation. If God spoke the world "in the beginning" and formed this universe then the Israelite action of taking their "beginnings" every year and bringing it to Yahweh is an imitation of God's original creation. As this is tied to the Promised Land, surely part of the point is that the Promised Land is the beginning of God's intention to remake the whole world. Each year the Israelites bring a portion of their "beginnings" to the Tabernacle, they are confessing that God has begun to remake the world in their own backyard.
Third Sunday in Lent: Exodus XX.19: Dt. 26:1-11
Opening Prayer: Gracious Father, we thank you for calling us into your presence. We thank you that you are pleased with us because of Jesus, and that because you have poured out your Spirit in our hearts, we may call you our Father. Therefore we ask that you would teach us now to forsake all covetousness and to cultivate grateful hearts.
Introduction
As we have noted throughout this series, the Ten Commandments are the fountain head of a culture of freedom. They are not mere prohibitions; they include a multitude of positive commands which are instructions for being God’s free sons. And the foundational difference between all liberty and slavery is faith and unbelief.
Rejoicing versus Covetousness
Covetousness is a sin of greed and evil desires. And again, we are called not only to turn away from coveting anything that belongs to our neighbor, but we are required to pursue the opposite. God’s people must not covet their neighbors’ belongings, but instead they must rejoice in what they have been given. Here, Moses reminds the people that they are getting ready to take possession of the land (26:1). This was the fulfillment of many years of God faithfully keeping his promises and granting Israel this great inheritance, and therefore it is to be marked with a great confession of faith (26:5-10), worship (26:10-11), and offering (26:2-4, 10). The purpose of this rite is for each Israelite to “rejoice in every good thing which the Lord” has given them and their house. The opposite of covetousness is rejoicing in what God has given. But the central act of gratitude for what God has given is an act of worship at the tabernacle (26:2, 10). This is why Paul says that covetousness is idolatry (Col. 3:5). If you aren’t giving thanks to God for what he has given then you are somewhere else, worshipping at some other shrine.
The Confession
This recital of the Israelite is a confession of faith. It is the Israelite Creed. In the confession the Israelite calls Jacob (Israel) their father, recites the story of the Exodus from Egypt, the granting of the Promised Land, and finally a profession that the firstfruits are a token of the land that Yahweh has given. The confession of “my father was a Syrian about to perish” also recounts a number of important elements of the story of the patriarchs. The word for “Syrian” is the word “aram” and is sometimes translated “Aramean,” and this is the region where Terah first came with his family from Ur and later died (Haran, Gen. 11:31-32). Abram’s brother Nahor settled there, and thus Isaac and Jacob both took wives from this region (Gen. 24:7, 10, 29:4). The confession is also commonly translated, “my father was a wandering Aramean,” drawing off of a secondary definition of oved and emphasizing the whole story of the patriarchs rather than focusing on Jacob and the famine.
Firstfruits
The word for “firstfruits” is “resheet” which literally means “first” or “beginning.” It first occurs in Gen. 1:1. This is a separate offering from the tithe, and it seems to be tied particularly to the gifts of God: sons, grains, oil, wine, fruit, bread, etc. (e.g. Gen. 49:3, Num. 18:12, ). The annual harvest feast was at least one annual requirement to offer firstfruits (Ex. 23:16, Lev. 23:9), but they could be offered at other times as well (e.g. Neh?). A related word is “b’cor” which means “first born,” and this word is used a number of times interchangeably with resheet. Both words are used together in a few places; Ex. 23:19 is one place where the wording is striking: “The beginning of the firstborn of your ground [lit. Adam] you shall bring…” (cf. Ex. 34:26, Ez. 44:30). It is difficult to ignore the allusion to the creation narrative of Genesis. If we remember that the sanctuary is a new garden, then whenever the Israelites brought these firstfruit offerings, they are symbolically bringing Adam back into the garden-sanctuary. This is why the New Testament writers understand Christians to be the fulfillment of this offering. Paul says that since we have the “aparke” (beginning) of the Spirit, we (with creation) groan for the redemption of our bodies (Rom. 8:23). And since Christ has already been raised from the dead, he is the “firstborn” of many brethren (Rom. 8:29, 1 Cor. 15:20-23, cf. Col. 1:18). But the only other use of this term is with reference to Christians (Rom. 16:5, 1 Cor. 16:15, Js. 1:18, Rev. 14:4).
Conclusion & Applications
If the tenth commandment prohibits coveting all of these particular things of our neighbor, it exhorts us to give thanks and rejoice in all of the particular things that God has bestowed upon us. Giving thanks is recognition for the gifts. Refusing to give thanks is a denial of the gifts. Notice too that this rejoicing starts in worship with your family and flows out to include the strangers in your midst. Ministry should always be an overflow and not a redirecting. In other words, caring for strangers should not create more strangers.
In Christ, you are the firstfruits of creation. This is because the Spirit is bringing Adam back into the garden. Jesus is the new Adam, and in him, we are all being made alive. But if we are the firstfruits of this creation, this means that all that we are is the promised inheritance of King Jesus; all of it is holy to him. You are called to rest in this promise.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!
Closing Prayer: Almighty God, we thank you that in Jesus you sent your Son to be man, to be a new Adam for us. We thank you that in Christ you have made the entire world our promised land and our inheritance because you have given the ends of the earth to Jesus and given him a name that is above every name. Teach us to walk in this faith; to live with gratitude to our king for all that he has bestowed upon us.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
First Sunday in Lent: Exodus XX.17: Ninth Commandment: Dt. 25:1-10
Opening Prayer: Almighty God, we ask that you empower your word now. We know that you stand by your word, and that it is trustworthy and true and righteous. Therefore, give us wisdom by your word, and strengthen your people to love the truth, through Jesus…
Introduction
We come now to the Ninth Commandment. This commandment prohibits bearing false witness and requires that God’s people love truth, honesty, and justice. Here, as with the eighth commandment it is important to emphasize the intense personalism of words. Our words are not bare facts, assertions, ideas, or thoughts; our words are extensions of ourselves. This is because we serve the God of the Incarnate Word.
Justifying the Righteous
Understanding Moses’ teaching on the ninth commandment becomes more clear when we recognize the connection between the ninth and the third commandments. “Bearing witness” is a legal description of our words and is the principle upon which all honesty is required. In other words, in some sense all of our words are oaths. All of our words are sworn. This is why absolute honesty and integrity are required of God’s people. When God “bears witness” he swears by himself, by his own Name (Heb. 6:13). This is why honesty is tied to a person’s name. If a person is known for being trustworthy and faithful, he or she is said to have a good name (Pr. 22:1, Ecc. 7:1). God’s word is true because He is his Word, and his Word is Truth (Jn. 1:1, 14:16). And in the New Covenant God’s Word, the Lord Jesus, is his Name (Acts 4:12). This means that truth has hands and legs. Truth walks and talks and decides. Therefore, honesty and truthfulness demands upholding justice, and Moses says that judges must justify the righteous and condemn the wicked (Dt. 25:1). At the same time, punishments must be carried out with equity (Dt. 25:2-3). A reputation for justice is a reputation for loving the truth.
Justice and Levirate Marriage
The custom of Levirate marriage is strange and foreign to modern ears. This law provided that a brother in-law ought to raise up an heir for his brother’s widow in order to preserve his brother’s name and inheritance (Dt. 25:5-7). The ninth commandment requires that we love and defend the good name of our family, neighbors, and friends. Because the promises of God were tied to the promise of the inheritance of the land, it was necessary for God’s people to defend and protect God’s Word by protecting and defending the name and inheritance of their families, even at great cost or loss to themselves (cf. Ruth 4:6). Refusing to raise up an heir was a refusal to defend the name of a brother, and further, it was tantamount to making God a liar which is itself a lie. This is a cause of great shame, and the one who refuses to defend his brother’s name is given a name of shame (Dt. 25:10).
Conclusions & Applications
If bearing false witness is wickedness, bearing false witness in the name of God is a great wickedness and profanation (Lev. 19:12). This is why we must take our oaths seriously (Is. 48:1). This is also why James says that we should not swear by heaven or earth but simply let our ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and our ‘no’ be ‘no’ (Js. 5:12). This is not an exhaustive prohibition of oaths, but rather an exhortation to avoid truth inflation and to weigh our words carefully. Oaths that God expects us take seriously are: baptismal vows, marriage vows, our corporate “Amen!” is a vow unworthy of mumbling or mindlessness, and the confession of the Creed is a symbol of loyalty to our God. These oaths are sworn testimony before the God of heaven.
Jeremiah warns that lying and deception is one of the sins that God does not tolerate in his people. People who lie and then come and stand before God in worship are inviting his judgment (Jer. 7:9ff). Your words are you; you are your words. Therefore love the truth, defend and promote the reputation of your neighbor, and do justice. And do all of this recognizing that this is what God has first done for you.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!
Closing Prayer: Gracious Father, you have sent to us your Son, the light of the world, the very Truth in flesh. You sent the Truth to us in order that we might know the Truth and the Truth might set us free. Give us the courage and humility to follow the Truth, to follow Christ wherever he might lead that we might walk in freedom and liberty.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Third Sunday in Advent: Exodus XX.12: Sixth Commandment
Opening Prayer: Almighty God, as we consider the sixth commandment this morning we ask that you would empower your word by the Holy Spirit. And wherever we have made any peace with sin and death, grant us the strength and courage to take up the fight. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen!
Introduction
We consider the Sixth Commandment again this Lord’s Day, and in particular its application to warfare and unsolved murders. As we celebrate Advent, it is necessary to consider the Lord Jesus as the warrior who comes to destroy death.
The Priority of Living
Moses says that the prohibition against murder does not preclude lawful warfare (Dt.20:1). Not only will this warfare be permissible, but Yahweh will go with them into battle. This means that Israel may not be afraid because Yahweh will fight for his people and save them (20:2-4). Because this is the case, God does not need every able man. Men may return who have not yet dedicated their homes (21:5), eaten of newly planted vineyards (21:6), are betrothed and not yet married (21:7), or even fearful (21:8). This also implies the fact that warfare is for the establishment of peace and life (21:10). Those who have not tasted of those elements of life are sent home to enjoy them. Likewise a proclamation of peace is made to those cities which Israel goes to war with. These guidelines also make the significant distinction between combatants and non-combatants (20:13-14). There is also a distinction made here between the typological holy war that Israel engaged in to conquer the Promised Land and those cities that are far off which are more normative for us today (20:15). The priority of life is even revealed here in that the “utter destruction” of the nations of Canaan is required so that Israel may not learn their abominations and sin against Yahweh and fall under his condemnation (20:18). This protection of life is to extend to the rest of creation as well: Israel was not to destroy food-bearing trees during military campaigns and sieges (20:19-20).
Putting Away Innocent Blood
This love of and protection of life even extends to someone who has been found “slain” and it is not known who “killed him” (21:1). The atonement for this guilt is provided by the elders of the city nearest to the event (21:3). Moses says that when murder occurs it brings guilt not only on the one who performed the act but also on the whole land and the people (21:8-9). This is surely why Abel’s blood cried out from the ground to the Lord (Gen. 4:10). This establishes the fact that God has designed the world with more than one kind of gravity. This is the gravity of guilt. Guilt demands blood; and when humans do not accept the blood that God provides, they seek out other blood instead. A new heifer’s neck is broken by the elders in “living water” while they take an oath before the priests declaring their innocence of the matter (21:4-7). This oath includes the prayer that God would not “set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people” (21:8). This is at least one reason why Christians ought to be busy erecting a witness against various forms of legalized murder; we plead with God not to place the guilt in our midst.
Conclusions & Applications
As we celebrate Advent, we celebrate the coming of the Living One, the One who came to destroy sin and death. We celebrate the fact that our God has come with us into our warfare. Yahweh has come with us into battle, but notice that instead of only sending a few of us home, he has sent us all home to live. He has gone into battle alone in order that we may build homes, plant vineyards, and love our wives. When sin and the flesh and the devil were laying siege to our lives, our hopes, our world, Christ our King came as our champion, our hero to fight for us and send us home to live and rejoice in life. He came to chase away darkness and death. This is the gift of salvation.
But since God has won this gift of life for us, since Advent celebrates the gift of God’s life breaking into history, we need to remember what this life is for. Remember that Yahweh brought his people out of Egypt in order for them to worship him. Life is for worship. The Psalmist says “ I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord,” and “Will the dust praise you? Will it declare your truth? (Ps. 118:17, 30:9). Or, “all my bones shall say, “Lord, who is like you…?” (Ps. 35:10). Murder fundamentally robs God of worship that he rightfully deserves. And when we refuse to worship, we are refusing to fully live, we are at war with life.
In an ultimate sense, Jesus our Champion sends us home to build His house, the Church, to rejoice in the produce of His vineyard, with wine at his table, and to rejoice in our families, in His family. In the midst of the sin and death and darkness that surrounds us, worship itself is an act of war. But ultimately it is a kind of defiance against war itself. Because God has come and fought for us, our warfare has ended. He sends us home to live, to rejoice in the gifts of life because he has removed the guilt of our sins. He has provided the blood, and therefore our guilt has been atoned for. God has not allowed the guilt of our sins to remain in our midst. Your sins are forgiven. Therefore go home and live and rejoice.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!
Closing Prayer: Almighty God, you sent your Son to destroy the darkness of death and sin. You sent your light into the world in order that we may live. You have redeemed us and given us life. You are our champion, our defender, and our king, and therefore we declare your praise. We worship you, and we glory in your wisdom.
Posts
