Silence in the Gates?

Amos is one of the lesser known prophets. He does not have the same stature among Christians as Isaiah, Jeremiah or even Hosea. Yet Amos is a fascinating book for 21st century Christians because of the intersection in the book between worship, money, politics, and the church.

Amos preached to the Northern Kingdom prior to her destruction by Assyria in 722 B.C. He is the only prophet who preached exclusively to the Northern Kingdom, also known as Israel. Amos begins his book by denouncing the sins of the nations surrounding Israel (Amos 1:1-2:5).  Of course, if you were in the North at the time this would have been wonderful news. Edom, Gaza, Moab, and even your brother to the South, Judah, were directly in the path of God's wrath. Lots of amens from the pews for this part of the sermon. But then Amos turns his guns on the Northern Kingdom (Amos 2:6-16) and folks begin to fidget, look away, and hope the clock moves faster. Not only does Amos rebuke Israel for her sins, she gets the longest and most scathing rebuke of all. The rest of Amos from 2:6 until 9:10 is devoted to the condemnation of the Northern Kingdom and the coming judgment for her sins.

Amos focuses on several sins he sees in Israel. First, he condemns idolatry. Bethel is mentioned seven times in Amos. What was special about Bethel? That is where Jeroboam had set up one of his two golden calves for the Northern Kingdom to worship (I Kings 12:25-29). Throughout the book Amos condemns Israel's idolatry (Amos 2:6-8, 3:13-14, 4:4-5, 5:4-5, 21-23, 7:9, 8:13-14). Israel has bent her knee to the gods of this world, not to Yahweh. Her worship is a mockery. It is not according to God's Word. It is not sincere (Amos 8:5-6). No matter how much pomp and show there is, God hates it (Amos 5:21).

The second sin is greed, which leads to bribes, theft, oppression of the poor, luxurious living, and crooked business practices (Amos 3:10, 15, 4:1, 5:11-12, 6:4-6, 8:5-6, 10).  There is a close connection between idol worship and economic injustice in Amos.

The third sin is that of rejecting God's Word, in particular the word of the prophet. We see in this in Amos 3:7-8 where Amos defends his ministry. We see it in Amos 7:10-17 where Amaziah the priest, on orders from Jeroboam the king, orders Amos to go prophesy somewhere else. We see it in the promise that God will remove his word because of Israel's sins (Amos 8:11-12). We read it in the repeated use of the word "hear" (Amos 3:1, 13, 4:1, 5:1, 7:16, 8:4).

 And we see it in Amos 5:10-15. Here is the text:

They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth. Therefore because you trample on the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and turn aside the needy in the gate. Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time. Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. 

I find this text interesting because it shows how wicked men are not tolerant. They do not want equal voice for all. Wicked men hate righteous men who rebuke them in the gates. Amos is not mentioned by name, but the implication is clear, especially in light of 7:10-13. Israel does not want his public condemnation of her sins. The prophet is told to quiet down and stop creating such a fuss. Israel doesn't want or need his speeches on the steps of capital. They don't like his sermons that mention the sin by name and hints at those who might be engaged in it. They don't like the letter to the editor from the local pastor or the minister who shows up at a city council meeting. The prudent are silent. They know which way the wind is blowing. Those who strive to be righteous are afflicted. The people don't want to hear God's anointed messenger. Amos has got to go. Therefore God will send a famine of his word. Men will wander seeking God's word, but will not find it (Amos 8:11-12).

Justice is mentioned 4 times in Amos all between 5:7 and 6:12 (5:7, 15, 24, 6:12). In 5:7, 24 and 6:12 it is coupled with righteousness. God expects there to be justice and righteousness in the gates (c.f. Isaiah 5:7). The gate was where public business was conducted (See Genesis 23:10, 18, 34:20, Deut. 21:19, 22:15, 24, 25:7, Ruth 4:1, 10, 11, II Samuel 15:2).  In other words, God expects Israel to obey him in all spheres, including the civic one. Israel is not free to ignore Amos and his preaching. God expects his word to be honored in the courtroom, the business office, the legislative office, and city hall. Amos tells Israel that justice is not a private matter reserved for dinner table and sanctuary. It is not enough to have God's word in the pulpit and with coffee in the morning. God's word must take up residence in the public square.

Several points flow from this. I assuming that while the specific application might have changed from Old Testament to New Testament, God still desires righteousness and justice in the gates just as he did in Amos' day.

• The link between idolatry and economic injustice is often overlooked. The frequent mention of Bethel in Amos points to Israel's idol worship as the center of her decay. Therefore our worship must be according the God's Word.  When our worship becomes encrusted with man-made traditions we are risking judgment. We know this. But what we don't realize is that a community, church, denomination, or country that worships idols will be a greedy culture that tramples on the poor and cares little about economic justice. Theft, from both private and public sectors will become rampant. People will begin to rob God of the tithe due to him. Like vultures the rich will strip the poor. You can be sure that where idols are worshiped money will be as well. Too many Christians want to fix economics without fixing worship. That is impossible. If we worship God as he ought to be worshiped then our economic problems will begin to heal. Without right worship economic justice is a vapor. 

• The world expects, indeed demands, that the church is silent about wickedness in the public square. Evil men, whether in the church, government, media, the academy, or Hollywood do not like being called out publicly. Therefore any Christian who speaks to the public sins of our age, such as sodomy, fornication, adultery, abortion, corrupt business practices, politicians who can be bought, denying that Scripture is God's Word, or female ministers, and rebukes the men and women who commit such sins can expect kickback. They will be told to never again prophesy here (Amos 7:13).

• A pastor is not identical to an Old Testament prophet, but there are connections between the two. One of the tasks of a minister, just like the Old Testament prophet, is to confront the sins in his church and in society. He is not to be silent in the face of evil and wickedness.  This does not mean every sermon must be fire and brimstone or a political screed. But his head should be up and his eyes open for what is happening out there and in here. If the sins in his congregation or the sins of the culture are never addressed with clarity and calls to repent then what exactly is he doing up there? If no one ever says to him, "Sit down and shut up. We are sick of hearing about our sin" then perhaps he is not doing his job.

• Despite some clamor that God has no place in politics and ignoring some unhelpful ideas about Christian political engagement, Amos does teach us that God expects holiness in the civic realm. The courts, the laws, the rules about businesses, how money should impact elections, and care for the weak and poor among us are all legitimate concerns for Christians, including Christian ministers. All our questions will not be answered by simply saying we need to seek Biblical justice and righteousness in the city gates. Nor am I saying Christian ministers should develop economic policies. But just admitting that God expects holiness in the civic realm is a good start. Too many Christians, jaded perhaps by past failures or influenced by bad theology, believe that politics, economics, law, and similar subjects are unworthy of our attention. Amos, and indeed all the prophets, tell us this cannot be. Christians must work for justice and righteousness in the gates.

• Finally, looking at Amos 7:10-13 we can see that sometimes prophetic preaching will also be treasonous. Amos is preaching to Israel not America. America does not stand in the same relationship with God as Israel did. Nonetheless, every country has its idols. Israel's was a calf at Bethel. America does not set up golden calves, but she does have idols. When Amos preached to the idols in Israel he was accused of conspiring against the king (Amos 7:10). When a pastor attacks the idols in his land he can expect to not just be accused of religious intolerance, but also of conspiring against political powers. He is not just religiously out of touch, but also a traitor. We can see this unfolding already with the issue of sodomy. 

John the Revival Preacher

In a blog post from October Dr. Leithart, quoting from Kimberly Belcher says Augustine taught that infants are the perfect subjects of baptism. Here are the last three paragraphs of the post. Emphasis mine. Quote marks and page numbers mean the quote is from Belcher's book

How can an infant be an ideal subject of baptism when the infant cannot believe? To this, Augustine's answer was that the infant can in fact believer [sic]: “Augustine calls unbaptized infants ‘unbelievers,' but infants who have been baptized are ‘believing.' Infant ‘faith,' according to this, is accessible to outside analysis and decisively determined by ritual initiation” (83).

This reveals a radical difference between pre- and modern understanding of “faith”: “The modern assumption is that faith is an ephemeral disposition perceptible only by the subject. Faith can only be affirmed by the person himself or herself, and he or she may deceive others. Moreover, faith is defined within a cognitively centered definition of the self. . . . Since infants' cognitive ability does not allow them to affirm propositions, infant faith is not well defined. Within this context., an adult's affirmation of faith ‘on behalf of' an infant catechumen, since the adult has no knowledge of the infant's inner state, is understandably interpreted as a pious falsehood or as only a promise of future development” (82).

This is simply not what Augustine means by “faith.” It is not for him a cognitive state known only to the subject. Like truth, it is something that can be marked on the body, something into which one can be initiated without knowledge or consent. As Belcher puts it, “Baptism should immerse the intiand into a new way of being, not begin an intellectual conversion. The truth of the profession of faith transforms human capacities, rather than expressing the initiand's assent to an objective truth. The church's certainty guarantees the objectivity of the proclamation, but the ritual affirmation changes the initiand's subjective world and his or her way of being in that world” (84). For Augustine, one becomes a believer by being initiated into the faith, rather than by having an intellectual conversion or a conversion of will. [Emphasis mine.]

Does Leithart agree with this? It is hard to tell. He often quotes authors without giving his take on the quote. But given his past writings one could guess that he, at the very least, finds this a helpful way of saying things. But is it good to talk about faith like this? Should we say that one becomes a believer by baptism or that faith comes via baptism? Is this the way the Bible talks about faith and salvation? Are evangelicals wrong to call people to believe in Jesus? Should we instead call them "into the faith" via baptism? Are believing in Jesus and coming into the faith synonymous? Is faith active, such as resting, grasping, believing in Christ? Or is it passive such a being baptized, being brought into the church, or being marked out from the world? Are both biblical options? And if so, are they synonymous? If being in the faith makes one a believer, what happens to the subjective, internal side of the faith? Does it become superfluous, automatic, or irrelevant?

I want to examine these questions by looking at how the New Testament uses the term faith beginning with the Gospel of John. I will look at other New Testament books in the future.  In particular, I am going to focus on whether the New Testament presents faith as active or passive. In other words, can someone become a believer without their knowledge or consent through baptism? And if the answer is yes, in what sense can they be called believers? Should we call the baptized to repent and believe? In this post I am focused solely on John. I am aware of how passages in the New Testament could support Augustine's point. I will address those as I move through this series. So don't say, "Well what about that passage in Acts?" I will get there, but not yet.

For my non Greek readers, faith and believe both come from the same Greek word.  Thus you could substitute "believe" for "having faith in" and "faith" for "belief." John's gospel contains around 41% of the total uses of the verb "believe" in the New Testament (c. 98 out of 241). Thus it is a good place to start in understanding how faith is used in the New Testament, though we will see it used in a variety of ways in other New Testament books. It is interesting that John does not use the noun "faith" at all with the possible exception of John 20:27.

Of all the books I have looked at so far, John's was the easiest to determine whether or not faith is active or passive. The word "believe" is used almost exclusively by John to mean believe in Jesus, believe something about him that indicates you understand he is the Christ, or believe His words. It could be paraphrased three ways: Believe in me, believe me, believe what someone/something has said about me. The key point for my purpose is that the word believe in John's gospel is active, not passive. Here a few examples:

John 3:14-16

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 

John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned.
John 3:35 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.
John 4:39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him.
John 6:29 This is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent.
John 6:35 Whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
John 6:69 We have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.
John 9:35-38

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you." He said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him. 

John 10:42 And many believed in him there.
John 11:35 Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.
John 11:45 Many Jews therefore,who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believe in him.
John 14:1   Believe in God; believe also in me.
John 17:20 I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.
John 20:31 But these things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

Here are ten other uses of the word believe in John: John 1:7, 1:50, 2:11, 2:22, 5:24, 5:38, 7:39, 12:38, 14:12, 19:35.

Even when the word "believe" is used without the preposition "in", such as in John 8:45-46, the meaning is the same. Jesus is saying in John 8:45-46  believe that I am the Son of God (see also John 6:30-36, 10:25-26, 11:42, 16:31, 20:29). It is not hard to see how this is equivalent to "believe in me."

Believe in John's gospel is active. We believe in Jesus. We believe in His name. We believe He came from the Father. We believe the Father's witness to Him. We believe that his works testify to who he is. We believe the Apostles who speak of him. At the end John exhorts us to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.  In fact, throughout the book John sounds like a revival preacher calling on all who read to trust in the name of Jesus.

There is no indication in John's gospel that we are brought into the faith via baptism or some other external rite. Faith is trust in Jesus Christ that leads to everlasting life including being resurrected to glory (John 6:40). In John, faith is an internal and subjective act with outward results including confession that Jesus is the Christ, obedience to him, etc. That does not mean there are no allusions to baptism or the Lord's Supper in John's gospel. Nor does it mean that baptism is based on something subjective thus undercutting paedo-baptism or that baptism fails to do something objective. But it does mean that in John's gospel one does not have faith by being baptized, through a rite, or by being in the church. For John a believer is someone who had a conversion of the will by God's grace (John 10:29) and a conversion of the intellect by understanding who Jesus is (John 11:27, 13:19, 20:25-27). A believer is someone who has put his trust in Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Related Posts
John 6, the Lord's Supper, and Belief in Christ
Two Types of Preaching

Distress Drives Prayer

David was anointed king of Israel in I Samuel 16. David was not given the throne until II Samuel 5-6. During the intervening period he had spears thrown at him, was chased around the wilderness by a deranged King Saul, was forced to flee from his best friend who ended up dying in battle, had one of his cities overrun by the Amalekites, and had to pretend to be mad to escape Achish King of Gath. Why did the Lord put David through all of this? Why didn't God move him from the hills of Bethlehem straight to the throne in Jerusalem? The answer is found in II Samuel 22:5-7.

II Samuel 22 is David's song of victory after God had delivered him from all his enemies, including King Saul. Here are verses 5-6

For the waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. 

The question we all ask when bad things happen to us is why. Why does God allow the waves of death to encompass David? Why does God allow Saul to pursue him all over the Israel countryside? Why did my child get cancer? Why did I lose my job? Why did that relationship collapse? Why does my boss hate me? Why does God allow bad things to happen to us?

There are many reasons, but the primary reason bad things happen is to drive us to God. The reason God brought David through verses 5-6 is so that David would end up at verse 7:

In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I called. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears. 

The Lord wanted David to trust him and cry out to him. We are such self-sufficient creatures and so easily distracted from God that he has to use affliction, pain, grief, hardship, and misery to drive us to him. Without hardship would we ever pray with the zeal and fervor that God demands and deserves? I doubt it. Do we feel our weakness when life is easy and comfortable? No. Does our trust and dependence upon the Lord grow in times of ease? Rarely.

Moses warns of this in Deuteronomy 8. Israel is about to enter the promise land. For forty years they have depended upon God day by day (Deut. 8:1-5). He provided them with manna, kept them safe, made sure their clothes did not wear out, and gave them quail and water. Now they are about to enter a land flowing with milk and honey. A land with houses they did not build and wells they did not dig where they will eat bread without scarcity (Deut. 8:7-10) This sounds like a paradise, which it was. But paradise came with a warning:

Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.' 

When all is well we stop trusting in the Lord. Our hearts become proud. We forget we are creatures dependent on Him for daily bread. We start trusting in ourselves and believing that our own hand delivered us. God sent David around the wilderness so David would trust Him and cry out to him.

He does the same for us.  God brings distress into our lives to drive us to Him.We look at hardships, even little ones like flat tires and broken arms, as annoyances and irritations. We just need to get through them. They are like a parenthesis in our lives or a bad commercial that we endure until we get to the main show. But suffering and hardship are central to our walk with God.  In many ways, they are the main show. They are not extras or irritations, but blessings sent by God to drive us to our knees. Suffering breaks our illusion that we are strong and in control.  Without distress our prayer lives would be cliche and cold.  Without hardship we would miss God himself because we would be too self-centered to run to him.

My exhortation is simple.  The Lord wants us on our knees trusting Him because that is the best place for us to be. Without suffering we would never get there. We must learn to see difficulties, hardship, pain, distress, and suffering no matter how big or small as God's gift to us so that we might learn to cry out to Him.

Are You Embarrassed?

In Judges 4 Deborah, Barak, and Jael defeat Jabin King of Canaan and his military leader Sisera. Judges 5 is a song celebrating the great victory Israel had over her enemies. Judges 5:1-23 describes the need for deliverance (vs. 6-8) and the rounding up of various tribes to fight (13-23).  So far so good. But then we get to Judges 5:24-31 and God goes off script. First, he says the Jael will be blessed among all the tent dwelling women. Why? She is good with a hammer:

He [Sisera] asked for water and she gave him milk;
she brought him curds in a noble's bowl.
She sent her hand to the tent peg and
her right hand to the workmen's mallet;
she struck Sisera
she crushed his head
she shattered and pierced his temple.
Between her feet he sank,
he fell,
he lay still
between her feet he sank,
he fell
where he sank,
there he fell—dead.

Judges 5:1-23 is a quick paced narrative describing the gathering of troops and the battle. In 24-27 everything slows down. God wants us to stop, bend over, look inside the tent, and see the details. Jael's husband, Heber the Kenite, had a peace treaty with Sisera and Jabin (Judges 4:17). Sisera had probably been in Jael's house many times over the 20 years of oppression (Judges 4:3). But the times of easy money from the Israelites was over. God had raised up a savior. Jabin and Sisera were soundly defeated by Barak and his army (Judges 4:15-16). Sisera fled the battlefield and went to a place of safety: Heber's house. Jael even invites him in and gives him a blanket (Judges 4:18). He was thirsty and needed water. Jael gives him milk. She gives him milk in a noble's bowl (maybe to stroke his ego). She reaches out her hand to the tent peg. In the Middle East women set up tents. Jael was no waif super-model nor a Victorian shrinking violet. My guess is she was bulky and strong. She quietly reaches out to pick up a stray tent peg. Then she gets a mallet. Then she strikes, crushes, shatters, pierces his temple. He dies (understatement?). But before he dies he sinks, falls, lays still, sinks between her feet and falls. Sisera's place of safety became his grave. Jael stands over him in triumph. God wants us to glory in the gruesome death of this general at the hands of a housewife. But do we? Aren't we a little embarrassed by all of this fuss? Did God really need to tell us twice that Jael killed Sisera with a mallet and a tent peg (Judges 4:21, 5:24-27)? Yes, we know Jael is blessed. But do we really accept our blood spattered heroine as an instrument in God's hand?

However, the song, given by the Spirit, does not end there. If it did we could perhaps we could handle it. But the song gets worse. It goes on to mock Sisera's grieving mother.

Out of the window she peered, the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice: 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?' Her wisest princesses answer, indeed, she answers herself, 'Have they not found and divided the spoil?— A womb or two for every man; spoil of dyed materials for Sisera, spoil of dyed materials embroidered, two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?' 

Sisera's mother wonders why her son is taking so long to return from the battle. She sits on the balcony watching the horizon for the dust of his chariot (Judges 4:3). "What keeps him?" she asks. We know. He has been nailed to the ground. His head was struck, crushed, shattered, and pierced. He is not coming home. Her maidens answer her concerns with words of encouragement. "Oh, don't worry," they say, "His victory has been so great that he needs days to divide the spoil. No doubt right now he is raping (a womb or two) various Israelite women. He is going to bring home riches beyond measure." But this is false hope and empty words. How long did she wait? When did this mother find out that Sisera was dead? When did she find out that he did not die heroically by an arrow or spear on the battlefield? A woman, an Israelite woman, killed him with tent peg and a mallet. God does not want us to feel sorry for Sisera's mother. We are not to grieve with her. He wants us to rejoice at her grief. He want us to sing a song mocking her.

The song ends with a cry for all of God's enemies to perish just like Sisera:

So may all your enemies perish [like Sisera], O LORD! But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might. 

Sisera is not a one time event, a strange anomaly in the history of God's work. He is a model for all those who attack God's people and reject God. They will be judged. God's flaming sword will come down and wreak vengeance on those who do not trust Him (II Thess. 1:7-10). The Holy Spirit want us to pray for the enemies of God to be destroyed like Sisera.

In our age of ease, comfort, and tolerance it is easy to be embarrassed by God's Word, especially passages like this. We love Psalm 23, John 3:16 and Galatians 3:28, but our effeminate age is not so fond of passages like Exodus 15:3, II Kings 9:30-37, Mark 9:48, Revelation 2:16 and Judges 5:24-31. God is a God of vengeance and bloodshed. He is not all peace, love, hot chocolate, and marshmallows.  We want a soft God. We want a God who will never threaten us or anyone else. We want a God who does not get angry and kill people. We want a God who has been sanitized and sprayed with Lysol and whose instruments are clean, not covered in blood. We want a tame Lion who is safe, easy to talk about, and will not get us in trouble.

But that is not the God of the Bible. That is not the Jesus of the Bible either. The God of Scripture is the one who signed off on drowning millions of people, including women and children (Genesis 7:21-23).  God killed Saul (I Chron. 10:14).  God wanted a queen to be eaten by dogs and she was (I Kings 21:23 and II Kings 9:36). God cursed Israel with a siege and famine for her disobedience (II Kings 25:2-3). God killed a couple for lying about money and church members for corrupting of the Lord's Supper (Acts 5:10, I Cor. 11:30). God delivers people over to Satan (I Tim. 1:20). Jesus promises to come and kill a modern day Jezebel and her children (Revelation 2:22-23).  God created the lake of burning fire and Jesus will send people there.

God wanted his people to sing this song. He wants us to lift our voices in praise for the tent peg, the hammer, and the grieving mother. Moses loved this God. Joshua served this God. Deborah sang about this God. David delighted in this God. Isaiah saw this God. Paul preached this God. Jesus was the exact representation of this God (Hebrews 1:3). When we get done with Judges 5 what does God want from us? He wants us to worship Him, to glorify His great name, and to love Him more. Do we? Do we love, sing, delight in, and preach the God of Jael, the God who kills men with a tent peg and then writes a song about it?  Do we worship the God of Genesis 7, Judges 5, and Revelation 2? Or are we just embarrassed by Him?

Justice and Righteousness in Isaiah

Final paragraph updated at 1:30 pm on 12-8-15.

Isaiah, like many of the prophets, is bringing charges against Israel. Israel has gone back on her word. She promised faithfulness and now she has become like a harlot. She made vows, but she broke those vows. Isaiah's main charge against Israel is that she fails to uphold justice and righteousness. In Isaiah 1:21-23 he says this:

How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water. Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow's cause does not come to them.

In Isaiah 5:7 he says this:

For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! 

Here is a longer passage from Isaiah 59:1-14:

Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear...The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made their roads crooked; no one who treads on them knows peace. Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom...For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities: transgressing, and denying the LORD, and turning back from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words. Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. 

One of the promises seen throughout Isaiah is that God will send One who will establish justice and righteousness. The coming of Jesus means that justice and righteousness will now be found among his people. This begins in Isaiah 1:24-27 where the Lord says:

Therefore the Lord declares, the LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: "Ah, I will get relief from my enemies and avenge myself on my foes. I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy. And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city." Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness. 

Psalm 119:13~Bible Shaped Speech

The psalmist has memorized God’s Word (Psalm 119:11) and he prays to God to teach him the word (Psalm 119:12). But he is not content with memorization and understanding. He must declare the law of God (Psalm 119:13).  One commentator thinks this refers to speaking to himself God's Word. Most commentators think this refers to telling others the judgments of God. Either way, the Word of God does not remain in his heart, but overflows into his speech.  Jesus says that our speech reveals our hearts (Matthew 15:18-19). God’s Word has filled up the psalmist’s heart. He has stockpiled God's Word.  So God’s Word is what comes out of his mouth.

The psalmist is not declaring his opinion or his idea, but the very words of God.  Our own thoughts are of little consequence. The question at the bottom of all questions is what does God think? That is why the declaration of God’s Word to those around us is essential.  Our words are to reflect God’s statutes. His interpretation of events, actions, emotions, and thoughts is to be our interpretation of them. Too often we see things through our eyes instead of through God’s Word. 

The world is often what shapes our words instead of God’s Word. The movies we watch and the songs we listen to mold our hearts so that we think and feel as the world does. If we find ourselves unable to converse easily about things like sin, salvation, redemption, Christ, the Church, grace, etc. then we should go back to verses 11-12 and begin internalizing God’s Word. If the language of the Bible is foreign to you then it has not taken root in your heart yet. 

But often we know God’s Word and still refuse to declare it.  We might refuse to declare God’s Word because we are cowards. We keep God’s Word in our hearts so no one will think the less of us or make fun of us. We want to be thought of as respectable and cool. Therefore we are quiet and God's Word is left at our desk and never brought into the workplace, the dining room, the living room, the park, or the family reunion. We might refuse to declare God’s Word because we do not want to look “holier than thou.” This is a legitimate problem. But God does not give us the option of being silent. We must learn to declare God’s Word without being pompous or proud. There are probably other reasons we do not talk about God’s Word as we ought to.

Our speech reflects our hearts. If God’s Word is not on our tongue then it might be because it is not in our hearts. Or it might be in there, but instead of glorying in it we are ashamed of it.

Other Posts on Psalm 119
Psalm 119:2-4
Psalm 119:7
Psalm 119:9
Psalm 119:11

Ten Quotes: God Rest Ye Merry by Douglas Wilson

Just in time for Advent and Christmas here are ten quotes from Douglas Wilson's book God Rest Ye Merry. 

Bethlehem was the opening gambit in the last campaign of a long war. 

Our good God, our overflowing God, our God of yes and amen, has always been able to promise far more than we are able to believe. I am not here speaking of unbelief, or of hard hearts, which is another problem. I am speaking here of true and sincere faith, a God-given faith, but one which is still infinite, and which God loves to bury under an avalanche of promises. We serve and worship the God who overwhelms, who delights to overwhelm. 

The one who took the position of a servant was given authority over all.

Mary overcame in the way women are called to conquer-by giving birth to conquerors, or by giving birth to daughters who will give birth to conquerors. And this explains how the Magnificat [Luke 1:46-55] can have been composed by a woman and still be so gloriously militant. Godly child-bearing is militant. 

Man in his sinful condition does not want to be saved. That is part of what it means to be a sinner. This means that man wants, by various strategies, to put himself out of God's reach.

We are told to clothe ourselves with humility and tender mercies. When Jesus told His disciples to follow Him, the cross is certainly in view. But we do not just follow him to the cross-we must also follow Him to the manger. We must become little children. 

There is a vast difference between narrow partisanship and a broad political worldview. Many Christians in their attempts to keep the former out of their spiritual lives, have also found themselves excluding the latter. This is a drastic mistake. In doing this, they have found themselves without a consistent biblical worldview at all--because all worldviews are inescapably political. If you are resolved to be apolitical, you are resolved to abandon the world, to write it off.

The sun has risen. Christ has come. He is the king. The light covers the world. A return to heathen midnight is an impossibility. Those who walk in darkness now are doing so in a world diffused with light. This is hard to do--you have to remain blind, or hide in root cellars. There are ways to stay out of the sunlight, but they are difficult to accomplish.  

We should strive over time to have our celebration of Easter far surpass the glory of Christmas...and we shouldn't try to fix this by reducing what we do at Christmas.

"Penitential" seasons can be put to a genuinely good use if they are a time when serious, once-for-all mortification of particular sins occurs-if real sins and real bad habits are uprooted from your life.  

And One:

From the very start, from the very beginning, the life of Jesus presented a potent threat to the status quo. This threat was not the result of Herod's paranoia--Herod knew what many Christians do not. The birth of this child meant that the old way of ruling mankind was doomed. The transition from the old way of rule to the new way of rule was not going to be simple or easy, but it was going to happen.

Quotes From Other Books
The New Pastor's Handbook by Jason Helopoulos
On Being a Pastor by Derek Prime and Alistair Begg
How to Exasperate Your Wife by Douglas Wilson
The Things of Earth by Joe Rigney
A Son for Glory by Toby Sumpter 
Escape from Reason by Francis Schaeffer
Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung
Making Gay Okay by Robert Reilly 
Christ Crucified by Donald Macleod
Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God by John Calvin

Vaccines and Trusting God

This is an amended email I sent out to my congregation following a talk on vaccines that many of us attended at a local doctor's office. At our church we have both anti-vaccine folks and pro-vaccine folks and that is how it should be.  I have personal opinions about vaccines, anti-vacciners, pro-vacciners, scientific studies, fear mongering, the CDC, government mandates, big pharma, and alternative medicine. But the focus here is not on pro or anti vaccines, but rather how we should approach the issue as Christians. 

First, vaccines are way down the list of things that matter for Christians. Do not let it become too important. Take some time. Research it. Calmly make a decision and move on. Do not make this a "cause" you are promoting. If your church ever became known as the "anti-vaccine" church it would be a grievous blight on Christ's name. Both pro and anti vaccine people should feel at home in your church body. If vaccines, pro or con, become a "gospel" issue for you then that is a blight on Christ's name. Vaccines can be discussed, but they must not divide. 

Second, don't make it a spiritual issue. You are not more holy if you do or if you don't (I Cor. 8:7-8). We must not judge someone's holiness or sanctification based on this issue. If you find yourself thinking someone is not as righteous as you because they vaccinate or don't vaccinate then there is a big problem. 

Third, do not make decisions out of fear and anxiety. Both the pro and anti vaccine talking heads feed our fears. "Don't vaccinate because your kid might die." "Do vaccinate or your kid might die." But we do not trust in men. We trust in God. So whatever decision you make, make it from a heart that trusts in God, not because someone is feeding your heart-fires of anxiety (Philippians 4:6-7).

Fourth, you will never know enough to make the perfect decision. There are thousands and thousands of pages written on this. You can read about it for months (which I would not recommend by the way!). As a culture we trust in "data." If we just had another study or more proof. Or "Look at this study. It says..." But it will never be enough. You are not and never will be God. There is always a lot you don't know and will never know than you know. Do a little research. Make a decision, trust God, and move on. 

Fifth, you are not in control. God is. Both the pro and anti vaccine crowd have a God-complex at times. They believe if we just do enough we can control the future. If I just do this then that horrible thing will never happen to me. If I don't vaccinate my children, they eat right, and exercise they will not get cancer. If we vaccinate our kids they will not get disease x. If I just get regular mammograms then they will catch the cancer in time. If I eat natural then I will live a long and happy life. As Christians, we must reject this type of thinking. We try to make good decisions. But we know that God runs show. Your time is in His hands. You do not control the future. He does. Don't ever forget that great truth. It will calm a lot of your fears. 

Finally, remember the soul matters a lot more than the body (Matthew 10:28).  Raising our children to love Jesus, love His Word, and love His people is way more important than whether or not we vaccinate. For every article you read on vaccines, read five (ten?) on the Christian life. Keep things in perspective. Don't let your heart and mind be consumed by this or any other of the hundreds of minor issues in the Christian life. Keep the main things the main things.

We all have to make decisions about things like this throughout our life. With vaccines, I would encourage you to be calm, do some research, make the choice you think is best for your family, trust God, and then move on. And make sure your decision does not become the one that everyone else must make.