Ben Zornes

A Famine of the Word

October 24, 2019 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Introduction

Thirst without water to quench it is a painful experience. Hunger without a meal in sight is a torture. Think of how miserable that dryness of mouth is, or how the gnawing stomach-ache makes you feel. Now, imagine that right in front of you is water that you refuse to drink, and a feast you refuse to eat. What should we call someone like that? An insufferable fool.

The Text

Amos 8:4-14

Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

Summary of the Text

The Israelites have come to view the festivals and Sabbath feasts as a burden (8:5); they wanted to get back to exploiting the poor and trampling the needy (8:4, 6). The judgement for this injustice and indifferent impiety? Lights out for Israel (vs. 7-9). The jubilant feasts which God had blessed them with––which they begrudged––were going to turn from joyful blessings to bitter curses, from gladness to sorrow, from feasts to funerals (8:10).

Moreover, the feasts and Sabbaths which they begrudged were to be replaced by a famine of not hearing the Word of the Lord (8:11). The Word they had been made to hear through the covenant––i.e. “Hear, O Israel (Deut. 6:4),”––would no longer be heard. Though it would be sought for, it wouldn’t be found (8:12). This is a weighty implication. God is annulling the covenant promise of Deuteronomy 4:29: “But if from thence (the exile/scattering of Deut. 4:26-27) thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” Amos is saying that because Israel has broken the covenant, God is no longer obliged to fulfill the promises of the covenant.

A further result is that young men and fair virgins would be weak and faint (8:13), which is precisely the opposite of the attendant blessings which were to be poured out upon a faithful Israel (cf. Psa. 144:12-13). In other words, the blessings of God’s feast––which Israel had grown indifferent to––were going to be turned “inside out”, and quite the opposite would take place. Scattering. Deafness. Frail offspring. Spiritual famine.

The final verse of the chapter is telling: idolatry is really at the root of their indifference and injustice (8:14). God swore (in Deut. 4:31) to not forget the covenant he had made with Israel’s fathers. But Israel has now sworn by the gods of the nations, and worshipped the two golden calves in Dan and Bethel––which Jeroboam had set up at the founding of the northern kingdom (1 Kings 12:28-29). God’s message to His people through Amos was that the people of God would soon enter into a famine of hearing the words of the Lord, and as a result they would fall never to rise!

Unbelieving Israel

Amos was a shepherd and his prophecies are full of agricultural, rustic language. This passage is no different. For a herdsman, a famine is bad news. Your very livelihood is built around your herds having plenty to eat. If your crops die, your flocks will eventually die, which means in due course you will die too. Amos uses this rustic picture of a famine to depict the horrendous judgement that was looming.

Elijah had prayed and the heavens had dried up for three-and-a-half years (cf. 1 Ki. 17; Jas. 5:17). So the average Israelite might be tempted to yawn at Amos’ prophecy of a coming famine as “been there, done that.” However, Amos puts a twist on the impending famine. This famine would not affect their crops or herds. Rather, it would devastate the flock of Israel. The spiritual not the physical condition of the people would be impacted by this famine. They were about to find that the covenant they had broken was now a barren covenant.

Whereas being without bread and water would be a dreadful thing for any nation, being without the word of the Lord is a thousand times worse. By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and now, God’s chosen people, who were called out by His very voice, would no longer hear that life-giving Voice. They would no longer rejoice in His word “as one that findeth great spoil (Ps. 119:162).” Job once said: “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food (Job 23:12b).” So this judgement of never hearing the words of the Lord, for the Israelite, was far worse than a famine of mere bread and water. God’s Word was life-giving food, and now it was going to be forever withheld from Israel. No wonder the young men and fair virgins would faint and fall.

At Christ’s trial, after Jesus declares Himself to be the divine Son of God (sitting in judgement over the Jews), the High Priest tore his robes (Mk. 14:63), which was expressly forbidden for him to do (Lev. 21:10). At the trial of Stephen (the first martyr), the Jews “stopped their ears (Acts 7:57).” In these two examples we see that when the Messiah (the Word made flesh) came, the Jews not only rejected Him, but they did so in such a way as to make it clear that their ears had indeed become deaf to the voice of their Lord. They spurned to hear the Word of God made flesh, and so for the last two-and-a-half millennia they have had a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

As one insightful commentary put its, “The fulfillment of these threats commenced with the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, and the carrying away of the ten tribes into exile in Assyria, and continues to this day in the case of that portion of the Israelitish nation which is still looking for the Messiah, the prophet promised by Moses, and looking in vain, because they will not hearken to the preaching of the gospel concerning the Messiah, who appeared as Jesus.”

Indifference, Injustice, Idolatry

Why? Why such a severe judgment?All because of their indifference towards God’s covenant blessings and curses, their injustice towards the poor and needy, and their idolatry. These three sins––indifference, injustice, and idolatry––are seen in Amos’ prophetic warning, and they are inextricably linked. If we grow indifferent to the covenant obligations of God’s Word, it is because idols have captured our attention, and the practical effect of this will be injustice towards the poor.

When you treat God’s promised blessings with indifference it is the fruit of covenant unfaithfulness. You’ve been ogling false gods. You’ve been trusting idols to be there for you. You’ve been singing their praise, thinking that in them is life. But idols always fail. They always betray you. Notice that out of the root of idolatry grows the fruit of lovelessness towards God and neighbor. You begin to take God’s mercies for granted, and you begin to abuse Your neighbor.

God’s Word to You

Our nation has fallen into idolatry. We worship money, sex, power. And it shows up in our indifference to the blessings which God has given, and in the way in which we treat the poorest amongst us. This culture-wide backsliding shows up at every level. So, look in the mirror. Is there an idolater there? If so, it is likely that you’ve grown indifferent to God’s commanded blessings, and you’re beginning to abuse your neighbors.

God’s blessings are a two-edged sword. For those who receive them by faith, they lift you up to heaven with exceeding joy. For those who receive it with unbelieving indifference, eager to get back to using and abusing their neighbor, the blessing of God’s Word is an anvil which will sink you into the depths of damnation. The food of God’s Word is a feast to the faithful, but it is a famine to the unfaithful.

Today, God’s Word is being proclaimed to you in sermon and in sacrament. Christ is held up as a refuge for wayward sinners. So, as the Gospel writers might put it, if you have ears, hear. God is speaking His Word to you, and His Word is now a Man, Jesus the Christ.

The False Gospel of Feminism

October 18, 2019 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

The False Gospel of Feminism / Ben Zornes
The False Gospel of Feminsim / Ben Zornes
Posted by CRF – Collegiate Reformed Fellowship on Monday, October 21, 2019

Introduction

Spoiler warning: Men and women are different, with different glories. As some wit once said, “Women are like fine wine, they get better with age. Men––well––men are like milk…” But the glory of both masculinity and femininity have been ruined by the fall. False gospels promise shortcuts to the restoration of glory. Feminism is one such false gospel. It isn’t good news. It feigns to value women. But instead of restoring feminine glory, it turns that glory from a treasure into trash. Rather than liberation, it gives chains. The breast of feminism is filled with the rebellious poison of autonomy, and an entire generation has been suckled by that cruel and envious mother.

The Text

Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
1Peter 3:1-6

Summary of the Text

Peter’s epistle is full of instructions to “pilgrims/strangers”. He gives instructions to citizens in regards to their relationship to their governors (1 Pt. 2:13-17). He gives instructions to servants in regards to their relationship to their masters (1 Pt. 2:18), and all of this in light of Christ’s submission to His Father’s will (1 Pt. 2:19-25).

As chapter 3 begins, instruction is given to wives in particular not women in general. Christian wives are to be in subjection to their own husbands, and this is part of their Christian witness (3:1). Their disposition is to be one of chastity married with godly fear/respect (3:2); outward adornment is to take a back seat to internal virtue (3:3-4), particularly the virtues of meekness and composure of spirit. God counts this as precious. This is how all faithful women have been and should be. They trust in God and the demonstration of this is subjection to their own husbands (3:5). Sarah is the perennial example of this godly femininity, and her daughters ought to do the same: see their husband as their earthly lord (3:6).

Two things are worth remarking on in this text. First, the term “subjection” is of course the biggest bone of contention which the slobbering jowls of feminists delight to gnaw on. “See, Christianity treats women as second class citizens!” But the term is a military one. The general has a greater responsibility than the foot-soldier, but both have the same job: win the war. What is the war? It is that God might be glorified, in the restoration of man and woman to their rightful glory through faith in Jesus. This “subjection” is in order that women might be cobelligerents in the battle against sin, the devil, the world; and in this conquest, they become truly glorious.

Secondly, in God’s sight, a meek and quiet spirit in a woman is precious. This is the glory with which God has endowed women: she is the crowning jewel of His creation. As Milton put it, she’s “Heaven’s last best gift”. Do you know what else is called precious in Peter’s epistle? Christ. “To You who believe He is precious (1 Pt. 2:7).” How does God treat things that are precious? He keeps them, protects them, and yet will also break them in order to bring about a greater glory.

The Gospel of Christ

So, what is the Gospel? It is this: Christ died on the cross, and rose from the grave in order to forgive your sins and give you everlasting life. Your sin deserved death, so Jesus died for you. You were cut off from God, so Jesus rose again to bring you to God. When God made the world, it was all good…with one thing excepted. Adam was alone. Adam was a lonely king. That wasn’t good. From his side she was fashioned. In beholding her, mankind’s first uttered words were poetic praise for feminine glory. All that glory was dashed to smithereens when Adam and Eve disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit. But the story of the Gospel is that in Christ, we are being restored to that glorious arrangement. Men who are good kings of creation with a radiant queen beside him to lend a helping hand in the mandate to fill the world with worship unto the Most High.

Creation tells us that there is order. And Scripture tells us there is glory in that order (Gen. 1:3-31). Adam’s origin wasn’t in an autonomous void. Nor was Eve. Adam was made in relation to his Creator. Eve was made in relation to the man. To be human is to hold an office: creature of the Living God. To be man, or to be woman, is to be given a post.

The False Gospel of Feminism

Feminism has a Gospel: “The future is female.” It wants equality at all cost. But the equality which feminism has in mind is an equality where sopranos are forced to sing bass, while the basses are mocked out of the choir for even presuming to sing. Feminism says that in order to be saved we must reject masculine authority. A further tenet feminist orthodoxy is that women and men are interchangeable. The Feminist Catechism might run: Q: Do all women have a uterus? A: No. Q: Do some women have testicles? A: Yes.

In other words, feminism is an attack on the imago dei––the image of God in us. We were not made of play-dough which we get to endlessly fashion to our own ever-changing fancies.

Feminism is Satanism wrapped in the bitter rags of feminine jealousies, lusts, and fears. It wants equality and autonomy. But your body is NOT your own. Your womb is not “yours.” It was a gift. Your very existence is dependent on Another. That Other is a Father. But there is a father of lies, who would love for Eve’s daughters to once again lay hold upon the forbidden fruit of equality and autonomy, thinking that the created order can be overthrown.

Help Take Over the World

While the birthrate in the West has been plummeting, fundamentalist feminism has convinced young women to make “abstinence vows” of childlessness in order to combat climate change and smash the patriarchy. This environmental nunnery is branded as “empowering.” But Ladies…your body makes humans. How is that not the most marvelous and empowering gift to be endowed with?

You want to be a queen? It won’t be by giving your best years to a career or a corporation or to civil service. Let me present you with a scenario of how you can make a remarkable impact:

If you have 4 kids and they have 4 kids, and so on…Your great grandkids living in 2060 would represent a town like Placerville, ID. Your great, great grandkids living in 2080 would be as big as Bloomington, ID (pop. 209). Your great, great, great grandkids living in 2100 would be as big as Moyie Springs, ID. Six or so generation from now, your descendants living in 2120 would be as big as Bonners Ferry, ID, and the next generation would be as many as the residents of the fine town of Star, ID (9,940). The eight generation would be as large as Post Falls, ID and the ninth a bit larger than Meridian. By the tenth generation, sometime in the 2200s, your descendants would be twice the size of Boise.

You want to make a disproportionate impact? Do you want to battle the evil which has corrupted both masculinity and femininity? Then get married and have lots of kids. Raise your sons to wear your instruction like swag around their neck (Pro. 1:8-9); raise your daughters to be mighty women of industry (Pro. 31); and raise them all to love and fear the Lord. And if the skull of an evildoer happens into your path, get out your tent-peg or your millstone and crush it (Judges 4:21 & 9:53).

Book Review: “Poems” by C.S. Lewis

October 17, 2019 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Poems by C.S. Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lewis always aspired to be a poet. This was really his first literary love, and although he is far more well-known for his prose works, his passion for poetry shaped the way in which he wrote everything he did.

In this collection of his poems you get a first hand taste of his labors to master the skill of poetry. At points he shines with skill, at others he doesn’t scan as masterfully. Sometimes he selects a wonderful theme to gloss upon, and other themes should have simply been passed over. Poetry really is a lost joy in modern society. Sitting for a spell to look at something through the eyes of poetry is really a great blessing. It is worth the trouble and patience of reading a more archaic mode of communication. And of course, it is Lewis, so even when he’s at his worst, he’s still so good.

Other Book Reviews

Thirteen Ways to Cultivate Godly Manhood

October 15, 2019 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Get up early. Read the scripture. Pray for your wife, children, extended family, work problems, government, etc.
Don’t leave for work without kissing your wife.
Work hard. Don’t mail in your work. Break a sweat (figuratively if you have a desk job).
Come home for lunch, if possible. Especially while the kids are young. Your wife will appreciate the adult interaction/conversation.
When you get home from work, greet your children with a big smile. Make sure they know you delight in them. Tickle them. Tell them how excited you are to see them.
Once you get home in the evening, put your phone away. Spend time with your wife and children, undistracted by texts, social media, work emails, or sports scores.
Rally the troops to help their mom to get dinner on the table. Eat dinner together. Pray before the meal. Read a scripture verse afterwards, or a catechism question. Explain and discuss.
Read books to your children. Play a board game with them. Help with their homework, and/or discuss what they’ve been learning in school and help them comprehend the concepts. If the weather is good, go for a walk, toss a football, scoop up some ice cream for the whole family.
Be involved in the bedtime routine. Get the bubble bath ready. Brush the teeth of the little ones. Wrestle with the older ones. Make up stories to tell them. Tell them a story about when you were a child. Pray aloud for each child by name. At some point in the evening, you may (very likely) need to discipline them. Give them spankings, restore them to familial fellowship, and let the good times rolls.
Once the kids are in bed, spend time with your wife. Read a book with her. Watch a good show/movie. Make love. Ask about her thoughts on some text of Scripture, cultural event, theological issue and discuss.
Before you drift off to sleep, talk with your wife about the cute/funny things the kids did that day or recently. Laugh with her. Rejoice in the fruit of your union with her. Kiss her. Pray with her.
Ask God to bless your home before you go to sleep. Kiss your wife again.
Go to sleep at a reasonable hour, get a good night’s sleep. That way you can get up on time the next day, and do it all over again.

God the Warrior

October 1, 2019 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Our God is a warrior. When the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, the Lord went to battle against His––and their––enemies. The ten plagues are ordered in such a way as to demonstrate that the God of the Hebrews was more powerful than any & all of the Egyptians’ most revered gods. Their gods could not keep what God had determined to deliver.

Each battle shows that what the Egyptians worshipped as a deity, was in fact no god at all. The god of the Nile, defeated. The goddess of fertility––represented as a woman with a frog’s head––defeated. The god of the earth & the goddess of the sky, defeated. And so on, until utter darkness descended on Egypt for three days, mocking their second highest god, Ra. The Lord embarrassed all their idols; He turned what they had honored as deities into the very things that brought ruination upon their land. God went to battle against His enemies, and wiped the floor with them. This contest wasn’t even close.

The final battle, the tenth plague, takes aim at Pharaoh himself. He was the embodiment of the Egyptians’ entire religious system, he was the highest of the gods. For this final showdown, the Lord commands His people to hold a feast, while He brings their captor to utter ruin.

All this should assure us of a glorious truth: God fights for us. Our enemies are defeated. Sin, the devil, the world, defeated. But they are not defeated by you or me. We feast while He fights. He conquers for us, while we enjoy the peace He wins for us. He delivers us, while we partake of the bread of His body and the wine of His blood. We remember in this meal that God delivers His people, in order to commune with His people. This is a victory feast, where we taste the spoils of the great war our King has won.

So come in faith, and welcome to Jesus…

Content in Sunshine and Shadows

September 30, 2019 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Are you content? Does your current life arrangement gnaw away at you as you’re drifting off to sleep? Maybe you’re single and you want to be married. Maybe you’re childless and want to have children. Maybe you’re in an unpleasant job and you want something that’s a better environment and pays better. Maybe you’re sick and you want to be whole again.

Paul teaches us that godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Tim. 6:6). Knowing Christ as an all-surpassing treasure, makes the Christian able to bear all circumstances with joy and contentment.

If you have plenty, gratitude wells up. If you have little, you rejoice that in Christ You have all things. If your life has taken unexpected––and seemingly unfortunate––turns, you rest at ease in the confidence that God is sovereign over all the details of your story and is working all things, even hard providences, out for your good. If your circumstances are remarkably wonderful––good health, happy family, full tables––you can humbly receive it all from God’s hand as a gracious, undeserved gift.

Godliness is a chest full of eternal treasure. But when augmented by contentment, not only do we find delight in the glorious joys of eternity, but the ebbs and flows, the trials and triumphs of earth become a bank-vault of reasons to praise the Giver of every good and perfect gift.

So, are you faced with hard trials? Thank God for every last inch of that trial. Through it you will taste the sweetness of God’s sanctifying grace. Are you surrounded by blessings? Humbly receive those blessings, and use them to praise God. Then we can truly sing, with godly contentment, the wise words of one old hymn:

And if our dearest comforts fall before his sovereign will,
He never takes away our all – Himself he gives us still.

Hard Truths

September 3, 2019 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

The Lord’s Supper is the most joyous feast this world has ever known. It’s where sinners are welcomed into God’s home, and clothed with white robes of Christ’s righteousness, while a banner of love hovers over the whole festival. Indeed, this is a celebration. And it is not limited in scope to just a certain people group. The nations are invited.

But while the world is invited to the festal celebration, we must remember that joy and reverence preside. Sinful man would love to turn this into a meal where everyone is welcome but there are no rules, no order, no standard, and thus turn it into a feast where appetite presides. Pagan feasts of old often demonstrated this by their debauched and lecherous gluttony.

No. This feast has hard truths which fence it. We’re told in one place that eating this meal without faith, which is eating it unworthily, turns this bread and wine into damnation (1 Cor. 11:29). In another place, we’re told that if someone is living a sinful and unrepentant lifestyle we are not to eat with them (1 Cor. 5:11). When someone is formally cut off from this meal it is known as excommunication. When the church excommunicates someone it’s because they have shown that they prefer the table of sin, and thus unless and until they repent they’re no longer welcomed here.

But these hard truths don’t spoil the meal, any more than a father’s loving discipline and presence ruin a family’s supper. Rather, they ensure that the purity and peace of this celebration remain untainted. These hard truths keep the household in order so that the laughter, songs, and stories around the table might be enjoyed with clear consciences. They serve––not as an impediment––but as a fence around the fellowship of this table. These hard truths ensure that the wine we taste is joy unmingled.

So come in faith, and welcome to Jesus…

Idols Are Cheats

September 2, 2019 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Idolatry is a vicious cycle. The worshipper defies the commandments of God to not have any other gods, and makes a graven image out of wood, gold, or some other material substance. Then there sits their idol. Cold. Lifeless. Powerless. Deaf.

If you look at the second commandment, and then notice the idols, you might quip, “They must not have gotten the memo.” But though the idol itself sits there in deaf defiance of God’s commands, something terrible is occurring to the worshipper. They are becoming just like their idol. They’ve traded the source of all being, life, and pleasure for an impotent, blind, deaf, and stupid block of stuff.

Idols are cheats. They promise joy, pleasure, and blessing. But they demand that you sacrifice your joy, pleasure, and blessings to them. They demand that you shed your blood to make them happy.

Is your idol gold? Does your life revolve around the accumulation of material wealth, such that you sacrifice your family, your peace of mind, your integrity on its altar? Is your idol power? Do you kneel to kiss the toe-ring of upward-mobility, fearing what may occur if you lose your place in the pyramid of society? Is your idol sex? Do you believe the lie that gratification of that desire is yours by right, and thus you partake of the sacrament of consuming others bodies at the price of their shame and your so-called pleasure?

If you continue to worship these idols, you will soon be dead, deaf, and dumb. They cannot offer you life. They will only cheat you out of your joy. So, topple them. Grind them to powder. Burn them to the ground. As Spurgeon once said, “Down with all idols, up with King Jesus.”