Sermons

Speaking to God

February 11, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

Introduction

One of the key doctrines recovered in the Reformation was that of the priesthood of all believers. What that resulted in was an increased fervor for piety. Calvin’s original (very catchy) title of the 1536 edition of The Institutes was: The Institutes of Christian Religion, Containing almost the Whole Sum of Piety and Whatever It is Necessary to Know in the Doctrine of Salvation. A Work Very Well Worth Reading by All Persons Zealous for Piety, and Lately Published. The Reformation restored a biblical understanding of fellowship with God to the individual believer, and thus recovered true fellowship between believers as well. God wants to speak to us, in His Word by His Son (Heb. 1:1-3), and God wants us to speak to Him. In other words, God wants to be with us.

The Text

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Luke 18:1-8

Summary of the Text

Zoom out of this passage, and I want to highlight something about Luke’s narrative. One of his focal points is the activity of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of Jesus (Lk. 1:35, 41; 2:25-26; 3:16; 4:1, 18; 11:9-13; 12:8-12; 24:49). Think of Luke as volume one, and Acts as volume two of the same work. Along with this comes a frequent emphasis on prayer, which we know from elsewhere in Scripture is closely linked with the ministry of the Spirit. So Luke shows how Christ’s ministry, teaching, and example was marked by prayer (Cf. Lk. 6:12, 9:18, 28, 11:1, 22:44).

Unlike most parables, this one comes with an answer key, this parable is an exhortation to prayer, the sort of prayer that isn’t feeble or fainthearted (v1). The sort of persistence we are to have in prayer is exemplified by the picture of the relationship between a hard-hearted judge (v2), and a widow (v3). Her request is to be avenged, but the judge refuses to take her cause (v4a); but because of her persistence he agrees to take up the cause of avenging her lest he wear out (v5).

Jesus tells us the takeaway from this story of the unjust judge (v6). That is, even the most corrupt judge will finally give way due to persistent petition. This is a “how much more” argument (similar to Lk 11:13). If the unjust judge will finally hear the persistent petitions of the needy widow, how much more will God avenge His chosen people (v7)? His tarrying is not evidence of His not hearing their prayers, it is a means whereby their faith is tested and proved (v8). God has promised His people that He will avenge them. So, they must not relinquish faith that He will perform His promise.

The Importunate Church

Why does God wait to answer our prayers? The Evangelical church has been praying for close to fifty years that the abomination of Roe v. Wade would be overturned. The Chinese church has been praying for deliverance from communist persecution for close to a hundred years. The Reformers were persecuted for well over two hundred years before they enjoyed the peace of deliverance.

It might be easy to think that God’s delay is because He must be like the unjust judge. He must have a lot on His plate; or He wants to “teach us a lesson”; or He only begrudgingly answers our prayers. But this runs antithetical not only to this text, but to the whole of Scriptural revelation as to God’s character. He is a Father. He delights to answer our requests. And this text highlights the speed with which He will avenge His beloved.

One reason is that His tarrying demands that our prayers continue in faith, which implies that we are all too likely to treat Him like Santa Claus. This makes man out to be the cause of the effect of answered prayer, rather than the believer being part of God’s means whereby He effects His answers to prayer. Another reason is that waiting for His answer to come results in us coming to see that the Giver is better than the gift, the Answerer is superior to the answer. Finally, we must not overlook the fact that He is not “time-bound.” He answers in accordance with His sovereign will. All our prayers, even if the answer comes long after we are dead and gone, result in great glory for God and the building up of the faith of the Church. The church has been asking “Thy Kingdom come” for millennia, and God assures us that it will come, and when it does the whole church will say, “Amen.”

Pray Like a Psalmist

Pray big prayers. Pray specific prayers. Pray tireless prayers. Pray that Your enemies might be undone (either in conversion or in judgement). Pray that God might be glorified. Pray in faith. Pray, pray, pray.

And just as importantly, expect God to answer your prayers. Jesus commands us to ask the Father for whatsoever, and accompanies that command with a promise that the Father will answer: “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full (Jhn. 16:23-24).” In other words, pray like God told you to pray. Pray like a psalmist.

Where Faith Shall Be Sight

Our Lord taught us to pray that God’s will would be done on earth as it was it heaven. We pray by faith, awaiting the unseen answer. But God does answer our prayers. Faith asks, faith waits, and faith keeps its eyes open for the answer.

Prayer need not be eloquent. In fact, grunts and groans are acceptable forms of prayer (Rom. 8:26). Lengthy times in the prayer closet don’t expedite the answer. But God invites you to ask. He wants to hear you. He wants to answer your prayers. He wants to answer them with nothing other than Himself.

We pray together throughout our service each Lord’s Day. But this should not replace frequent converse with the Lord both as families, individuals, and friends. Paul commands us to do everything by prayer (Phi. 4:6); Tozer pointed out that the church’s temptation is to do everything by committee, rather than by prayer and supplication.

So, pray without ceasing. After all, you are in Christ, Christ brings you to the Father, and the Spirit grants you power to ask with boldness what God delights to answer: that in all things He might receive all glory, honor, and praise. This is true piety. The sort of piety that isn’t lost in the la-la-land of introspection. This is the sort of piety that reads the Bible to hear from God and obey what He says, and then talk continually to God as His own child requesting what He’s promised to give. This is the fellowship with the Father which Christ purchased for you, which the Spirit seals to you.

Hearing from God

February 5, 2020 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

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Introduction

A child can be disobedient in one of two ways. First, he can outright rebel. He can insist on his own way, marching to his own drum, being his own boss. The other way is bit harder to notice, but just as dangerous. He can never grow up. A child is taught obedience not so that he might always be a child, nor so that he can become an entirely independent entity. Rather, so that he might become his own man, but a man in fellowship (cf. 1 Jn. 1:3). Willful immaturity and rebellious autonomy are both sinful, and are a hinderance to true fellowship with our Father, and our brothers.

The Text

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Hebrews 1:1-3

Summary of the Text

These opening lines of Hebrews were written to believing Jews who were bracing for looming persecution. They are told that whereas God had spoken in times past through prophets (Heb. 1:1), He had now spoken by His Son, who is the appointed heir of the whole kit and caboodle. Not only that, but the Son was eternally with the Father in the act of Creation (Heb. 1:2). The long and short of it is that the God who had spoken creation into being, is the very same God who now spoke by the Son. This demands precise and faithful adherence to the Son’s kingship (Heb. 2:1). The Triune God spoke creation into being, and the Triune God has now spoken a new creation into being. We know this because God became a man, purged our sins, and became King of the world (Heb. 1:3). This was all a warning to them to not return to the incomplete word of Moses, but to hear the fulfillment of what God spoke through Moses and the prophets by His Son (Mt. 17:5). The better Word had been spoken, and with blood red finality.

How God Speaks

The Scriptures begin with a crucial assertion about God: He speaks (Gen. 1:3). He speaks clearly, and He speaks directly. He commands light and it comes into being. His Word creates and commands and upholds. He gives Adam clear orders and injunctions. After the fall, God comes to talk with the patriarchs. On Mount Sinai, God reveals Himself to the entire nation via Word: “ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.” Later, the Holy of holies came to be known as the Oracle (debiyr דביר).

The gods are never quiet. There is no culture in history which does not have priests claiming to speak on behalf of the gods. Replace God with Science, and you begin to see how religious the so-called rationalists actually are. We are repeatedly confronted with claims that “The science is settled.” Which is just another way of saying, “Thus saith the Lord.” Look at our American religious landscape where every person is a priest of a god in their own likeness. When people say things like, “Well to me, God is…” they are claiming to speak for God. So, the unbelieving objectivism of pseudo-science, and the unbelieving subjectivism of feel-good religion are both at odds with reality.

Man is always looking for ways to plug his ears to God’s voice, in order to hear his own voice. This unbelieving way of thinking often creeps into the church. Various types of Christians claim to have “words from the Lord”. Some believers with tender-consciences want to truly honor the Lord and follow His guidance and thus have become confused about how to hear the Lord’s voice; because of mankind’s hunger to hear from God, others have seen a grand opportunity to be God’s mouthpiece. The first type hear “God” saying an awful lot of murky and/or wishy-washy sentimentalism, while the second type hear an awful lot about sending donations to the number at the bottom of the screen.

The question before each man is this, will he listen to the subjective voice of man, or to the objective Voice of God in Nature and in inspired Scripture. The Protestant position is that God has two books which He speaks to us. The book of the World (general revelation), and the book of His Word (special revelation). Creation says enough to leave man without an excuse for not seeking, finding, and following the God he knows is there. The Word tells man that God has made a way to save man from His rebellion. The final Word which God has spoken is that Jesus who suffered for lost mankind, is now King of mankind. Which means man must hear and obey.

What God Hath Said?

Now, where this gets real sticky is when you try to figure out what God is saying to you. It is easy to try to get your own way by looking to a subjective “inner voice” and pretending it was God speaking to you, but He always seems to say what you wanted to hear anyway. The other error is that of the liberal who treats the Bible as a novelty shop of nice aphorisms of by-gone “God-followers” who show us that every person’s journey to God is unique. On one hand you undermine the work of the Spirit, on the other you undermine the thunder of God’s voice in the Bible.

God’s definitive Word has been spoken, the Spirit opens our ears and grants us wisdom to apply it in our circumstances. Christ is King, the Spirit dwells in You, and the Bible makes your marching orders plain. So, look at your current circumstances. Do you really believe what the Bible says about them? God has ordered your steps.

So, what has God told you to do? Believe upon the Lord Jesus (Rom. 10:9). Honor your parents (Ex. 20:12). Love your wife (Col. 3:19). Submit to Your husband (Col. 3:18). Don’t lie (Ex. 20:16). Take a nap on Sunday afternoons (Mk. 2:27). Go to church (Heb. 10:25). Unfollow some Instagram accounts ASAP (2 Tim. 2:22). With a big smile, give a big fat check to the Lord’s work (1 Cor. 16:2, 2 Cor. 9:7). Work yourself ragged six days a week (Col. 3:23). Host a big feast on a regular basis (Rom. 12:13). Obey your rulers, and resist tyrants (Rom. 13; 1 Sam. 22:2). If that’s not enough to go on, look at all the “one another” passages in the New Testament. Love one another. Receive one another. Forgive and forbear with one another. Serve one another. Admonish one another. Comfort one another with Scripture. Provoke one another to good works.

The point is, often when we are wrestling with making a big decision, trying to determine God’s will for our life, we stall out. If you want to know God’s will for your particular circumstances, you should get started by doing what He’s clearly and plainly told you to do.

And remember, Biblical decision making includes tossing a coin. “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD (Pro 16:33).” Make a decision. If things go haywire, give thanks in all circumstances, and learn the lesson Your Father has sent to you. This all demands that you learn to read the Bible, and think like the Bible teaches you to think, and in the manner which the Bible would have you think. The whole book of Proverbs is an instruction manual for life, but only those who seek wisdom understand how to apply that wisdom to their unique circumstance. Oftentimes, wanting God to give you a script is just a cunning way to avoid the clear stage directions he has already given you.

The Scottish pastor, M’Cheyne, once put it so beautifully, “One gem from that ocean [of Scripture] is worth all the pebbles from earthly streams. […] Unfathomable oceans of grace are in Christ for you. Dive and dive again, you will never come to the bottom of these depths. How many millions of dazzling pearls and gems are at this moment hid in the deep recesses of the ocean caves.”

In short, God wants to speak to you. And do you know what He wants to tell you about? Jesus first. Jesus last. Jesus between.

Gratitude in the Lowlands

November 23, 2019 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

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Introduction

C.S. Lewis once made a vivid observation that grumblers are on a path to becoming just a grumble: “[Hell] begins with a grumbling mood and yourself still distinct from it: perhaps criticizing it. And yourself, in a dark hour, may will that mood, embrace it. Ye can repent and come out of it again. But there may come a day when you can do that no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood, just the grumble itself going on forever like a machine.”

The Text

I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: I said in my haste, All men are liars. What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people, In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.
Psalm 116

Summary of the Text

This is a passover Psalm, likely composed by David, and was a regular fixture of that celebration. It opens with a declaration of love, firm footing for any expression of praise to the Lord. But this ain’t vague sentimentality. Rather, He loves God because God heard him (v1). His statement “I will call upon the Lord (cf. vs. 2b, 4a, 13b, 17b)” forms the spine of this hymn. God’s past kindness in inclining His ear to David stirs him up to make calling upon God his continual habit (v2). He had faced a recent trouble––death hunting him down (v3)––and we see his response: calling unto God for deliverance (v4). God’s grace and righteousness is the basis for David’s confidence in this request (v5), along with the reality that God doesn’t deliver on the grounds of the recipient’s merit, social status, or book-smarts (v6).

This reality brings rest, because God has blessed him bountifully in this undeserved deliverance from death (vs 7-8); but it also compels him to “walk before the Lord” (v9). Faith isn’t an anesthetic to his emotion; rather it allowed him to look affliction in the face, and call it what it is (v10). This also helps him see his temptations to sin against his neighbor (v11).

All this leads to a question of how to properly thank the Lord (v12). What should I give Him? I should take from Him. The cup of salvation is received, and God is once more called upon (v13). Furthermore, reviewing God’s deliverance elicits a response of tangible gratitude. The thanksgiving overflows in obedient execution of vows (v14, 18), humbly recognizing that being spared death was a precious gift from the Lord (v15). In other words, salvation compels service; deliverance from bondage binds us to obedience (v16). The sacrifice which a loving, faith-filled heart gives is thanksgiving––public obedience––in the midst of God’s people (vs17-19).

Black Swan Deliverance

While this is a very “first person” psalm, it isn’t a psalm of individualism. Remember that this is a passover hymn. The psalmist sees in that mighty, miraculous deliverance of God’s people a source of hope for his present difficulty. David draws hope from God’s past faithfulness to His people, to buoy his hope that God would perform another miraculous exodus for him. In essence, he sings about his present trial, while putting himself in remembrance of God’s mighty works of old.

God’s deliverance is always undeserved, and we see this in a few spots in this passage. First, as Spurgeon observed, God’s grace and mercy are a bejeweled sheath for the blade of justice (cf. vs5). Secondly, David had seen many perish, and knew that God sparing his life was a precious gift, not to be taken for granted.

Third, we also see that the Lord’s preservation of the simple is not the way corrupt systems of human justice works. There often seems to be one law for D.C. elites and Hollywood stars, and another set of laws for us simple folk. But God isn’t a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), and he delivers whom He will regardless of their wealth, influence, power, prestige, or IQ. As David says in another Psalm, “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. (Ps. 34:6).” God saves those who call to Him in faith. And He continues to save them through “many dangers, toils, and snares.”

Gratitude and Duty

But deliverance is intended to lead us to love and thanksgiving. The sacrifices of Israel were always supposed to elicit gratitude from God’s people. They were both an expression and a reminder of the sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise which we owe to God. The peace offering reminded the saint that the throat which should be slit was theirs, but instead, God graciously accepted the lamb in their stead. But this gratitude and faithful thanksgiving, wasn’t to be empty words. It is dutiful work. Notice the order of this psalm: love leading to loyalty, faith catalyzing good works.

How do you repay God for His salvation? You receive once more from Him a heart of thanksgiving, regardless of your circumstances. What does God want from you? He wants you to get more of Him and from Him. He wants you to overflow with praise. Praise for His blessings: life itself, rest, bounty, and all the other blessings. But also praise in the pit. Thanksgiving in all circumstances, for all circumstances.

Faith-filled hearts of gratitude don’t just thank God for keeping us safe during the flood, it thanks Him for the flood. Because the flood is what gave us another opportunity to call upon Him, look unto Him, and trust ourselves to Him alone.

Grumble or Gratitude

The grumbler wants to mutter and whine about everything, as he plods down the path to hell. He thinks he knows what his circumstances should be. He thinks a nice, comfortable life is his by right. He wants to pour his own cup, with his own choice of wine.

But the grateful heart knows that whether in blessed or burdensome times, whether on the mountain or in the low-lands, God delivers His people from all their troubles (cf. Ps. 34:6). The grateful pray to God about their problems. The grumbler prays to himself. And so his prayers for deliverance go unanswered.

Drink the cup which God set before you. Christ has already drunk the cup of God’s wrath, emptied it, and filled it up with the wine of God’s blessing. So don’t fear your trials, even the final trial of death. God’s deliverance is always a resurrection from the dead. For in Christ, even death has lost its sting (1 Cor. 15:55).

A Famine of the Word

October 24, 2019 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

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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.

A Song for Exiles

August 4, 2019 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

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Introduction

We live in what some have termed a “post-Christian America.” We’ve rapidly abandoned our Christian heritage as a nation. Sincere Christians across the West might feel like exiles. But like the Jewish exiles in this Psalm, we have no one but ourselves to blame for the calamities that have befallen us. There are many symptoms that show that we are sick: addiction to debt ($38k), killing our unwanted babies, squishy self-help sermonettes in our churches, prominent seminaries publicly proclaiming that God is trans, queer, non-binary. The only way of return from such an exile is the faith displayed in this Psalm.

The Text

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
Psalm 137

Summary of the Text

Jeremiah likely authored this Psalm, and sent it to the exiles to comfort them and stir them up to hope in God’s justice (Lam. 2:20, Jer. 51:24-26). This Psalm begins in an idyllic setting, but ends with a grisly scene. The first number in this “musical” is a scene of weeping exiles in the canal gardens of Babylon; weeping because of the fond memory of Mount Zion, the city of God, the mountain of praise (v1). The instruments of praise are on the shelf (v2). Their Babylonian captors make a jeering request for a Jewish folk song; and they want it sung with a smile (v3). The Jews reply that singing the Lord’s song in a foreign land is a bridge too far (v4). It would be like the person who murdered a beloved friend asking you to sing that friend’s favorite song. The memory of Jerusalem invokes grief for all that had been lost. Thus, they call down curses upon their playing hands and singing voices should they forget Jerusalem’s joys and glories (vs.5-6).

Then we come to the crescendo. The bass drum of retribution begins. First, Edom is imprecated; for they had egged on the Babylonians during the destruction of the holy city (cf. Oba. 1:15). Then Babylon herself is brought into the crosshairs of holy justice. The white-hot heat of holy anger is aimed at that wicked nation (vs. 7-9).

Sighing and Crying

The Jews were exiled because of their repeated idolatries. The prophets had warned them––time without number––to turn from this wickedness, lest all the Deuteronomic curses come upon them (Dt. 28:53-57). The prophets had echoed the horrific warnings: “Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished (Isa. 13:16)….And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them (Jer. 19:9).”

These Exiles are in the nuclear wasteland of all those warnings coming true. Now what? What should God’s people do when they see Jerusalem in ruins because of their own stubbornness, rebellion, and pride? To top it off, how should they respond when the Babylonians want a toe-tapper?

When saints––through their own sin––find themselves in calamity, three options arise. You could simply become Babylonian. Or, you could appease the world’s mocking invitation to sing little ditties of false joy. Or you could weep. Sigh and cry over the abominations that precipitated your downfall (Ez. 9:4). Weep over your sin, your family’s sin, your nation’s sin. Weep over the consequences of the sin. Then…remember.

Remember to Sing of God’s Goodness

Jerusalem was a praiseworthy city (cf. Ps. 48). The Psalms frequently rehearse the joys of praising God in His holy temple, “I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness (Ps. 84:10).” But here they are in the tents of wickedness.

When you find yourself in exile you must not forget the goodness of God. In Zion is hope for salvation, forgiveness for sin, communion with God. But many people––when faced by calamity––forsake the church. If you find yourself in the wasteland of the consequences of your sin, despair often whispers, “Don’t go to church, you’d be a hypocrite, and besides, you’re not worthy of Zion’s joys.” But that’s the point. None of us deserve to enjoy God’s goodness. But in His church we find the Lord Jesus: proclaimed in Word and Sacrament.

True grief over sin never puts the instrument into the case. Notice that the exiles had hung their harps up, but then they call down curses upon their hands and voices if they failed to remember the songs of praise for the Holy City. After the Deuteronomic blessings and curses are pronounced, God promised a gracious deliverance for repentant exiles (Deut. 30:1-6) Faith runs to the Promise giver, to cry out for His promised mercy. Godly sorrow rushes back to the songs of comfort, songs of hope, songs of vengeance. Wait, vengeance?

Remember to Sing of God’s Justice

Some exegetes bend over backwards with red-faced embarrassment at the imprecatory portions of this Psalm. These are perhaps the most vivid and shocking verses in the entire Psalter. We can either try to sandpaper the text, or delete it, or we can sing it without flinching. Part and parcel of repentance is learning to love what God loves and hate what God hates. The Babylonians wanted a happy-clappy song, and they got one.

The Babylonians had mercilessly executed their conquests with savage vehemence. They had dashed babies upon the rocks, ripped open pregnant women, and ruthlessly razed cities to rubble. The wickedness which they had sown was soon to be reaped. When Darius besieged the Babylon, the Babylonians “winnowed” the city by strangling women and young children to make provisions last. The imprecation of Psalm 137:9 was fulfilled by the very ones upon whom it was pronounced. Spurgeon notes, “It came to pass that the man who had destroyed his own children thought himself happy to be rid of them that he might maintain the fight.”

So while the Babylonians had fulfilled this Psalm’s imprecation in one sense, it is God Himself Who fulfills it another sense. God is the avenger of the righteous. God will bring justice upon the heads of all evildoers (cf. Dt. 30:7). The curses which come upon God’s people because of their disobedience, will––if they repent––come upon their persecutors.

Blessed be the Lord God who through His sovereign hand rules history and avenges His elect speedily (Lk. 18:7-8). “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord (Rom 12:19).” This Psalm is an example of mature faith. Here is faith that can handle the power tools of imprecatory prayers for vindication.

You Must Sing

The world wants you to join in their song. If you refuse that, they want you to sing the Lord’s praise for the sake of their amusement. But worship is warfare. Singing is our sword. Sing we must, else the true saint will burst.

So, when in exile, will you sing of God’s goodness and His justice? Will you cling to His promise of returning to every man according his works (cf. Ps. 62:12)? Or will you faint in that season, and join in the discordant merriment of wicked men? Or settle for singing God’s songs with triteness? The irony of this Psalm is that the exiles at first refuse to sing, but the Psalm itself is to be sung!

God’s people must learn to weep over the consequences of their sin; but this must incite them to rush back to all the joy and goodness which God offers to the repentant. Then, they must learn to sing with these exiles and the martyrs under the throne: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth (Rev. 6:10)?” In other words, whether in exile or not, you must learn to sing of the cross: God’s mercy given to repentant sinners, His justice satisfied.

Within The Ranges

April 29, 2019 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

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Introduction

The Apostle Paul commanded the Corinthians to: “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong (1 Cor. 16:13).” The greek word there is a wonderful one: andrizomai. It means, “be a man.” God commands the bride of Christ to “man up.” We are to be watchful, vigilant, courageous, and strong. This is one way of saying the Christian life isn’t for pansies or pushovers.

Even in the love song of Solomon the groom describes his bride in military language: “[You are] fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners (Sg. 6:10).” Christ calls His church to be valiant, to fight against sin, to fight for their faith, and to do so manfully.

The Text

2 Kings 11 –– And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons which were slain; and they hid him, [even] him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land. [ . . . ]

Summary of The Text

King Jehoram of Judah killed all his brothers (2 Chron. 21:4); he was married to Athaliah, daughter of Ahab & Jezebel (2 Ki. 8:18); all of Jehoram’s sons were killed in a raid by the Arabians, except Ahaziah, the youngest (2 Chron. 22:1). Elijah had prophesied of the downfall of Ahab’s kingdom and line (1 Ki. 21:21-29). Several years later, Elisha anointed Jehu king of Israel, then tasked him with wiping out Ahab’s line, in accordance with Elijah’s prophecy. When Jehu hunted down King Joram––Ahab’s son, and current king of Israel––Ahaziah happened to be chumming around with Joram (his brother-in-law); so Jehu assassinated both of them (2 Ki. 9:23-27).

Athaliah’s reign is introduced in such a way as to make the reader feel like everything is all out of whack. It doesn’t follow the expected pattern for the introduction of a new ruler for Israel or Judah. After her son’s death, the annihilation of her father’s dynasty, and the execution of her extended family she asserts herself as ruler of Judah, likely an attempt to preserve her father’s legacy. Her power grab begins by destroying all the royal seed (11:1). David’s line was in grave danger and would have been destroyed had not Jehosheba––the wife of Jehoiada the high priest––stolen the youngest son of Ahaziah, Joash, and raised him in the temple for six years (11:2-3).

When Joash was seven, Jehoiada hatches a plan to restore the rightful king to David’s throne. He conscripts a band of trustworthy leaders, swears them to secrecy, and then shows them the king’s son (11:4). His plan to protect young King Joash while overthrowing the usurping Athaliah involved forming a barricade of bodyguards to surround the temple on a Sabbath day (11:5-8). This scheme was put into action; David’s weaponry was brought out of the treasury; Jehoiada crowned Joash, gave him a copy of the covenant, anointed him, and they all made a noticeable ruckus (11:9-12). Athaliah hears the cries of “God save the king,” rushes to the scene (unfortunately for her, without any bodyguards), sees her grandson, rends her clothes, and cries, “Treason (11:13-14)!” Jehoiada commanded she be executed (outside the temple), along with any that tried to defend her, and his orders were followed (11:15-16). Then a covenant renewal ceremony takes place between the Lord, the king, and the people, followed by a purge of all the Baal paraphernalia (11:17-18). Joash is then seated on David’s throne, and the people rejoice (11:19-20). The narrative then returns to the expected way of introducing a new ruler (11:21).

The Lord Has Sworn

Psalm 132:11 promises, “The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.” So, when you read through this soap opera, you might think, “Boy, I hope God has an insurance policy on this promise of His!” Athaliah went about to destroy the seed which God had promised would forever sit upon the throne of David. Further, this threatened the even more ancient promise to Eve. Here was a little baby, about to be slaughtered, upon whom hung Israel’s only hope for the promised Messiah.

Oftentimes, God’s promises feel like they are hanging by a thread. He has promised to forgive our sins and cleanse our conscience; but we still feel the grime of guilt and shame. He has promised to lead us in triumph over our sins (2 Cor. 2:14); but we stumble again to that same temptation. He has promised to give us a Spirit of power (2 Tim. 1:7), but we remain timid and fearful. He has promised to deliver us from our enemies (Ps. 18:3), but anxiety, lust, arrogance, and laziness hound us at every turn.

God promised David that his seed would sit on the throne forever, so when Athaliah comes to power that promise seems like a long shot. It’s precisely at the moment when faith seems most improbable and inadequate that God delights to introduce a new character to the story. Out of nowhere comes the woman, Jehosheba. If Bunyan had been tasked with naming the characters of this story, he couldn’t have done any better; Jehosheba means, “The Lord has sworn.” Faith does not concern itself with circumstances, it concerns itself with the Lord of the covenant. Faith doesn’t look at the bleakness of the situation and conclude, “Well does anyone have directions to the nearest Baal temple?”

What is Your Range?

Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). Christ’s Spirit dwells within you (Rom. 8:11). But sin wants to claim the throne that belongs to Christ, and it wants to kill the rightful king. Sin can attempt this in you as an individual, but also desires to take the throne within communities. In other words, growing in holiness, and fighting against sin is a group project where we’re graded individually. Do not think that you must try grow in godliness on your own, but also do not think that you can get holy just by being around other saints. We must fight alongside each other and labor to see Christ formed in each of us individually and corporately.

Husbands, parents, business owners, pastors, and presidents are to be like a barricade around that which they are called to preserve, while staunchly opposing the entrance of evil. If there’s sin in your marriage, family, business, or country you must scheme to apprehend it at the first opportunity, take it “without the ranges,” and slit its throat. You must not allow sin “within the ranges.” The rebel Queen must be dethroned, the rightful king must be enthroned.

Be Like David’s Son

King David chased down lions, bears, and Goliaths in order to preserve the flock which God gave him (1 Sam. 17:34-37). Christ chased down a dragon, ripped you from its deadly jaws, and restored you to His flock. You are to do the same for the flock you’ve been given. You must be like Jehosheba and Jehoiada, risk everything to preserve the life of the King within the temple, and you must not get queasy when that means the execution of the unlawful tyrant of sin. Andrizomai. Ruthlessly hunt down any sin which vaunts itself against the true king, while trusting in God’s sovereign hand of providence to hover over it all. Notice that while Jehosheba and Jehoiada act courageously, we are led to be reminded of God’s covenantal promise and thus see God’s hand as being the primary actor in these events. You are to grow in godliness in much the same way, you must not be passive, but remember that all your activity to dethrone sin and exalt Christ are ultimately governed by God’s gracious and almighty hand.

This story begins with a covenant that seems to be on the brink of being broken. It ends with that covenant being renewed. Faith is often assaulted, but faith is always vindicated: a covenant king receiving the praise of joy of His covenant people. When Athaliah makes a claim to what is rightfully Christ’s, do not rest, do not cease, do not delay to lay hold of God’s covenant promise. Then watch God bring about an unexpected deliverance. The serpent’s seed will be crushed by the seed of the woman.

Purging Out Evil

October 18, 2018 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

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Introduction

Adam was exiled from Eden. Cain was driven from God’s presence. The flood purged the earth of man’s corruption. Sodom was destroyed by heavenly fire. On the night of Passover, yeast was purged out of Hebrew homes. Nadab and Abihu were burned alive by divine fire for offering strange fire. Achan was stoned then burned for keeping consecrated items. Thirty-one kings were wiped out of the Promised Land. Israel was exiled into Assyria, while Judah was carried off captive into Babylon for their many idolatries. And lest we think this is just the “mean God” of the Old Testament, that same God struck down Ananias and Sapphira, Paul commanded the excommunication of unrepentant brothers, and of course the Bible ends with a marked warning that unbelievers “shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death (Rev. 21:8).” The lesson? God drives out sinners from His presence.

The modern evangelical tendency is to skim over doctrines such as this, and fall all over themselves to emphasize how gracious, merciful, and loving God is. In so doing, we are running frantically around with the cure that no one realizes they need. Edwards’ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, was not a message about how cute and cuddly Jesus is. It wasn’t a “Jesus is my home-boy” message from your average youth pastor. It was a blazing proclamation that God would judge unrepentant sinners. Once, when leaving a Colorado Rockies baseball game, a street preacher was shouting out to the passing crowds, “Jesus Saves.” To which one tipsy smart-aleck replied, “Then where’s my money.”

The Text

Deuteronomy 13:5

And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

Summary of the Text

Moses recounts (Dt. 5) how Mt. Sinai burned with divine fire when the Law was given. Jehovah was a holy God. Though He was covenanting with Israel, He was still a God who would not endure sin. The Law not only restrained evil-doers and reflected back to man his sinfulness, but also graciously revealed the means for man to enjoy fellowship with God through the sacrifices.

Deuteronomy is basically Moses’ sermon series on the Ten Commandments. Throughout this book Moses clarifies which violations of the Law could be punished with death, and more importantly, why. Deuteronomy 13:1-5 covers the first through third commandments regarding false gods and idolatry. Deuteronomy 21:21 & 22:21 deals with the fifth commandment of dishonoring father & mother. Additionally, murder (Deut. 19:13, 21:9), adultery (Deut. 22:22-24), bearing false witness (Deut. 17:6-7 & 19:19), along with theft, slave-trading, and kidnapping (Deut. 24:7) are all to be punished––potentially––with execution. His customary concluding phrase “thus shall thou put away the evil from the midst of thee” gives the underlying reason for the execution.

Not Only the “What” but the “Why”

God is not merely giving capricious dictates to His people. His dictates are accompanied by doctrine. He doesn’t give them the “what” without quickly adding the “why”. Another example of this is in Leviticus, where we find the frequently used summary phrase: “Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy (Lev. 19:2).”

Deuteronomy’s “why-phrase” means to burn up, consume away, to eat up as with fire, to destroy; which happened whenever a sin offering was made. The animal was consumed by the fire. However, in executing a convicted evil-doer, the Israelite community became means whereby the fire of God’s wrath against such sin consumed away such a sinner. Executing––or exiling (1Ki. 22:46 & 2Ki. 23:24)––evil-doers is to be done in order to remove evil from God’s congregation.

Now For Some Particulars

Moses is quite measured in making it clear that the death penalty was not to be carried out through kangaroo courts, or through vigilante mobs. The provision for conviction demanding two or three witnesses shows that “due process” is a biblical doctrine. Further, this means that God’s Law would rather allow a guilty man to go free than for an innocent man to be unjustly punished. After all, in the light of the law, every individual is revealed to be guilty. Every day of human history, God has let guilty sinners go free. However, in the Law, God commands that innocent animals be sacrificed for the guilty. Ultimately, the most innocent man who ever lived was sacrificed so we who are guilty could go free.

We should never lightly take a life; but there are instances where an evil-doer’s life was forfeit through gross disobedience to God’s Law. God alone has the prerogative to take a life. However, He has put the sword of justice into the civil magistrate’s hand, and He has stipulated what instances are permissible for the civil magistrate to execute wicked men. We must not slip into thinking that this is merely a “vestigial organ” of the Old Testament. Modern attempts, even in Christian circles, to get rid of the death penalty is merely an example of us thinking we know better than God does as to how society should be ordered. An instance of this is that Washington state’s Supreme Court recently “ruled that the death penalty is unconstitutional and converted to life in prison all pending death sentences in the state.”¹https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/washington-death-penalty-unconstitutional_us_5bbf6d7be4b0bd9ed557cb8b This is one of the main points which Paul makes in Romans 13. The civil magistrate is God’s deacon (or servant/minister) of justice, executing God’s wrath upon criminals in order to preserve the peace and holiness of the entire community.

False teachers were sure to arise to entice God’s people from pure worship of the True God. Whether this false teacher was a scintillating prophet with signs and wonders, a near family member, or an entire city, the congregation must not pity false teachers. If anyone endeavored “to turn you away from the LORD your God (Deut. 13:5),” he was to be destroyed.

False witnesses who tried to indict someone on a phony charge, undermine the very foundation of true justice, and thus whatever they sought to have happen to the accused came upon them. Rebellious sons, and unchaste daughters were a danger to covenantal faithfulness and thus were to be executed for the sake of the purity of the whole congregation. Rapists, adulterers, slavers, and murderers were––if found guilty by the mouth of two or three witnesses––to be punished with death. Why? Because Israel was to be a holy nation in which God dwelt; as such, sins which threatened the stability and purity of the whole nation could not be tolerated.

Paul employs this Deuteronomical phrase when telling the Corinthians that they needed to excommunicate the man who had taken his father’s wife, “Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person (1Co. 5:13).” While Corinth was a sexually debauched city, Paul rebukes the Corinthian believers for turning a blind eye to the fornication they could deal with. How could they ever think to conquer Corinth with the Gospel, if the Gospel hadn’t conquered them? They needed moxy to oust the wicked man, but instead had shown temerity. Faithful justice always requires courage.

Mortify Your Flesh

What God commanded to take place for corporate Israel is intended to take place in the individual life. Sinners must die for their sin. Jesus takes these laws, and rather than dialing back the intensity, He turns up the heat of conviction. “Ye have heard it said…but I say (Mt. 5:21-22).” “If your eye causes you to sin…pluck it out (Mt. 5:29).” Look at your heart. A murderer is there. A thief is there. An adulterer is there. A slave-trader is there. An idol is there which looks like the god known as You. You must die. If you’ve broken the law at even its most minuscule point, you are a lawbreaker (Jas. 2:10), and the wages of your sin is death (Rom. 3:23).

In comes the Gospel mandate: the flesh must be “purged out”. The old man must be crucified (Rom. 6:6). You must mortify your flesh (Rom. 8:13). You must put off uncleanness (Col. 3:5, 8). How? The only way to deal with yourself is by faith in the Lord Jesus. He was driven outside the camp, burned up, hung on a tree as a curse, in order that every lying, murderous, adulterous, conniving, scheming sinner might find their death in His death.

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Calvary’s Law

September 5, 2018 By Ben Zornes Leave a Comment

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Introduction

Most parents, at some point, experience giving clear instructions to their children, and then, as soon as they’ve left the room, hearing the children misbehave. The apparent absence of the parent revealed the rascals for who they are. Whatever is in a tea bag comes out only when it’s put in boiling water. The hot water revealed what had always been there.

The Text

Deuteronomy 5:22-33

These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it. And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! Go say to them, Get you into your tents again. But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it. Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.

Summary of the Text

The “second giving” of the Law took place in territory east of the Jordan river; this land had previously been inhabited by the giant kings: Og & Sihon (Deut. 4:44-49). Moses summons the congregation to not only hear the Law, but in hearing it, be compelled to obey it (5:1). The covenant the Lord made with them applied equally to this generation (5:2-3); Moses reminds them that the Lord made this covenant “face-to-face” with them, and they requested that Moses function as their mediator (Deut. 5:4-5). He then repeats the Ten Commandments (5:6-21).

Moses then returns to an expanded narration of how the Lord spoke personally to the congregation at Horeb, and how this elicited their request for a mediator. Moses describes the awful scene of darkness & fire descending on Sinai when God wrote the Ten Commandments, and spoke them to the elders of the people (5:22-23). After hearing the Lord’s voice, the congregation declared their reverence for the glory of the Lord (5:24); but, fearing for their lives, they request that Moses become a mediator for them, promising to listen & obey what God spoke to them through him (5:25-27). The Lord says they have spoken well, and expresses––in human terminology––a longing that they would live with such reverence at all times (5:28-29).

God grants their request, sending the people back to their tents; but Moses is commanded to stand by God to hear His commandments, in order to then instruct the people (5:30-31). Moses then comes to the application part of his sermon: obey the Lord––no veering to the right or left––and thus enjoy the blessing of life which God promised (5:32-33).

The Fear of the Lord

You’ll never find a section of the local Christian bookstore devoted to the fear of the Lord. But Solomon tells his son, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom & instruction (Pro. 1:7).” The reason foolishness abounds in the modern church is that we have minimized the holy terror which God’s Law is intended to strike within us. Spurgeon points out that “If the giving of the law, while it was yet unbroken, was attended with such a display of awe-inspiring power, what will that day be when the Lord shall, with flaming fire, take vengeance on those who have willfully broken His law?”

The Israelites beheld the mere outskirts of the Lord’s infinite holiness, and they feared for their lives. Modern believers can often drift into a sort of chumminess with God, never reflecting on the great power, grandeur, holiness, and sheer “otherliness” of the Lord. If we would be wise we must learn the lesson which thunders from Sinai: fear God.

This is what the Law is intended to teach us. First, the Law is a restraint on evil; in this way the Law functions as God’s border patrol for mankind. Secondly, the bright holiness of the Law functions to reflect back to mankind his deadness & depravity; it is like a mirror which shows us the truth about ourselves.

Reverence in Lip & Life

God approves of the Israelite’s request for a mediator. But He goes on to express in visceral terms, that He longs for the people to have such a heart at all times. We know that while Moses is on Mt. Sinai for forty days––fulfilling the mediatorial role the people requested––they turn to worship a golden calf (Cf. Ex. 32). The reverence they expressed with their lips was entirely disconnected from reverence in their life.

Jesus once rebuked the Pharisees for exactly the same inconsistency, “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me (Mk. 7:6).” The requirement of worshipping God with reverence is not somehow “lifted” in the New Testament; it is heightened! We are receiving an unshakeable & eternal kingdom, and we are adjured to “have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:28-29, Cf. Heb. 4:1).”

The Mediator of a Better Covenant

The outer rind of the Law is, in one sense, passive; it simply is intended to restrain evildoers. The inner shell is a hard husk which reveals our unrighteousness; it’s supposed to make you feel miserable. But the pith of the Law is that it reveals the life found in Christ.

The glory displayed on Sinai preceded the Israelites’ cry for a mediator. Indeed, we all shall one day stand naked before the pure light of God. All of our excuses, justifications, and lies we told ourselves and others laid bare. The horror of seeing the dingy gray of your sinfulness in light of the white holiness of God should compel you to cry out for a Mediator. As John Newton’s hymn puts it:

Let us love and sing and wonder. Let us praise the Saviors name.
He has hushed the Law’s loud thunder, He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame.
He has washed us with His blood. He has brought us nigh to God

The Law was always about giving life to dead sinners (Lev. 18:5). But God intends to give you that life, not through your paltry attempts to fulfill His Law, but all on the basis of a perfect Mediator. One who stands in your stead, and when He speaks to God the Father it is this, “This one is mine.” Moses mediated a temporal covenant which was a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ, who would fulfill all the righteous demands of the Law, and offer justification on the basis of His obedience. The Law threatens, “Obey or die.” The Gospel replies, “Believe and live.” Sinai’s Law was glorious indeed; it showed the depth of your infinite need. Calvary’s Law is simply this: by grace you are saved through faith.