Reformers and Puritans

Josh May 2nd, 2007

Though I’ve read particular Old Testament (OT) books many times over, I can probably count on one hand the times I’ve read consecutively from Genesis to Malachi. In the few years since God so graciously moved me to the theology of the Reformers and Puritans of old I must say that reading the Old Testament has been, in fact, new. In retrospect of my pre-Reforming days I confess shock and shame at the apparent flippancy and carelessness with which I read and interpreted the OT Scriptures.

I’m certain that most of my spurious OT reading habits and hermeneutic were a product of the semi-Dispensational lens through which I viewed God’s Word. I say semi because I was never much exposed to the term Dispensationalism, much less did I know what it meant in the scheme of hermeneutics and systematic theology. like most growing up in the typical, inconsistent-Arminian (Only holding to the “P” in T.U.L.I.P.) Southern Baptist environment, it was my understanding that to be a Bible-believing, conservative Christian was to believe that ethnic Jews were God’s Chosen People, but because of their rejection of Christ as Messiah, they’ve been put temporarily on hold (as a Nation, that is). Someday though, I believed and was taught to believe, God is going to go back and make His people (as a Nation) right again.

Flowing from this idea, then, there has to be a distinction made between Israel and the Church. Thus, necessitating a secret rapture in which the Church is taken out of this world, follwed by a time of great tribulation for those who’ve been left behind. This will result in the conversion of the Jews back to God, but in a proper sense where they now recognize Jesus as Messiah. While the rest of the world, including saved Gentiles and Jews, suffers this time of seemingly unbearable tribulation, the Church, having been raptured, is already in paradise, enjoying all the good tastes of eternity.

Now, this post is not intended to be a synopsis of the Dispensational hermeneutic. It’s not really even to give a direct critique thereof. I just wanted to briefly mention it to show how my past interpretation of God’s Word, particularly the Old Testament, was colored and determined by the the whole fallacious Church/Israel distinction as set forth by the Dispensational ideology. With this erroneous understanding came a failure to see and appreciate the continuity and parallels between the Old and New Testaments. Because of this, quite a bit of richness and instruction for my very own sanctifiation were glossd over. If all of Scripture points to Christ (and it does!), then more than I care to admit was missed in my earlier readings of God’s Word.

I’m unable to pinpoint a time, but I’d say I’ve believed in the Doctrines of Grace (T.U.L.I.P.) for about five years now. I’ve been rid of my semi-dispensationalism for close to three and a half years. This process, I’d say, has immensely transformed the grid through which I now read the OT Scriptures or, for that matter, the whole Bible. In my non reforming days, little emphasis was placed on the types and shadows of the OT which pointed to Christ. Sure, there were lots of moral stories that could be identified and applied from the recounts of David and Goliath, Joseph, Moses and the Children of Israel; but there was little understanding as to what in these books were pointing the overarching Object of Faith in all of Scripture: the Lord Jesus Christ.

This year, I’ve been going through the M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan, and I heartily recommend it. It’s invaluable to have a consistent reading plan by which one can get the bigger picture of Scripture. That’s not to say you can’t read the Scriptures in other ways. Anyway, it is a hermeneutical epiphany when one first reads through the OT from the Reformed Worldview. Considering Adam, the Fall, and the promise made in Genesis 3:15 takes on such a richer and more meaningful role. It is in this first preaching of the Gospel that we see God’s plan is from beginning to end, and is not due for interruption. All of the situations and circumstances which appear to be quirks, are really just the intricate works of God’s decree being executed. All that to say this: I am thankful for God’s Word. I am thankful that God has one plan, and it’s the one He’s carrying out. It’s the one that will not fail. It’s the one that has no hiccups, interruptions, and that cannot, nor will not be thwarted. Read your Bible.

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Josh April 19th, 2007

Psalm 30:4-5

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. 
For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

Most of the time, this generation of American “Churches” want to de-emphasize certain concepts derived from Holy Scripture. It’s not that they do this in a vindictively active sense. It’s not that they want to actively hide certain aspects of God’s character. What is it? They can’t quite grasp some of the so-called “harsher” aspects of God’s character; thus, they skip over or avoid them altogether. The problem, though, is that it emasculates Scripture’s teaching on the wholeness of God’s character.

Countless times I’ve heard the second portion of Psalm 30:5 quoted at the expense of the first part! Let’s face it, we don’t like to think about God’s anger. If anyone has a legitimate claim to anger, then it’s the Almighty. It’s His law we’ve broken. It’s His law we’ve mocked. It’s His law we’ve spurned. In fact, only God may be righteously angry about sin…because he’s not guilty of it. And considering that, we know His anger is both justified and deadly. So, we don’t mind the second part of Psalm 30:5 where it talks about weeping and joy…but there’s just something uncomfortable about God’s anger.

You see, though, before joy can be fully experienced we must have the time of weeping! Before we understand the privilege and need of salvation, we must experience the debts to which are depravity has cast us! I tell you before we can truly rest in God’s favor, we must be sobered by and dreadful of God’s anger…His justified, righteous, and holy anger.

I remember a “Christian” bookstore from my youth that had a sign out side which read, “Try Jesus”, as if He were just a commodity to be tried. If ya like Him, keep Him. If not, return Him. But that’s just not how things work, folks. You don’t “try” Jesus. You beg for Him. You become aware of your absolute need of Him and you seek Him with everything that is within you. Having come to the end of yourself, you understand, know, and believe that He is your only hope. And such a truth of God’s eternal favor cannot be fathomed or understood, until you first consider His righteous and justified anger. Blessed is the man whose evil ways are made known unto him.

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Josh April 12th, 2007

It’s been said, “But that’s Old Testament. We’re not under law, but under grace.” O, the ignorance in which that statement is so commonly made! Certainly we’re not under the law as a means of justification…neither was the ”Old Testament” Church. Salvation has always been by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. But here’s what folks usually mean when they make that statement. “We no longer need the law. That’s Old Testament. We’re under grace, which is life. The law brings only death. Jesus brought a new law…a better one. The perfect law of freedom.” And that’s what we call scary theology. Consider with me if you will the Psalmist’s words from the 19th chapter:

7 The law of the Lord is perfect…

Now, from my short-lived experience and my understanding of the term perfect, I’ve found that such a word means flawless, without error, cannot be improved upon, is lacking nothing good or right, complete, inerrant, infallible, sure, etc. Thus, if the Psalmist, who is inspired by God the Holy Spirit, writes that God’s Law is perfect, I’m pretty confident that we may rest in knowing that all of Scripture, both Old and New Testament is applicable to our lives. Particularly we’re speaking now of the Law.

This does not mean we are justified by the Law, but it is a means to sanctification. In the sermon on the mount Jesus was not bringing new law. He was correcting the Pharisees’ misinterpretation thereof! If God’s Law is perfect (and it is, as the Psalmist has said), it is in no need of improvement. God is the author of it, and He doesn’t author error. So those Who’d say that Christ has brought a new law are sorely decieved and misguided in their thinking. Such a conclusion leads to belief that there’s something wrong or incomplete about God’s Law as revealed in the Old Testament. May it never be so!

Jesus has said elsewhere in the gospels, “Your [God's] Word is truth.” Paul told Timothy that all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. Now, at the time Paul’s writing Timothy the Canon of Holy Scripture was not yet complete. So, what was Paul speaking of? That’s right! The Old Testament. Sort of shoots a hole right in the theory of Jesus bringing a new or better law.

God forgive us for not loving all of Your Word.

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Josh March 30th, 2007

We have to be aware of the so-called “little foxes”, lest they ruin our vineyard. If we are to be proactive in our sanctification and the mortification of sin, we must also hate each and every sin with such disdain that we are ever mindful of our own wicked frailties.

Proverbs 16:3

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established

In my daily Bible readings over the last few days there have been a few passages dealing with matters which I’ve found applicable to me while in my current circumstance of employment. I must confess, I have sinned. I have not honored God in my job. I’ve allowed supervisors, so-called “policies”, and other workers influence my own work ethic. If the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (and it is), then it follows in all things, whether eating, drinking, or whatever I’m doing, I ought to be doing all to the glory of God. I have failed so miserably in “committing [my] work to the Lord” and I have tried to justify my slackness by citing injustices served to and unrealistic expectations of employees. This is no valid or Biblical excuse. Shame on me.

Philippians 2:14-15

Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless an innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.

There’s no doubt that my work ethic as of late (though comparitively “better” than most of those with whom I work) has served as neither salt nor light to those around me; rather, it has been yet another testimony to the hypocrisy of my own life. And yet, I thank God for His mercies and His new beginnings. Thus, I confess my sin…not only to the Lord, but to those with whom I work daily. I repent of my attitude, grumblings, etc. and I publicly ask God to forgive me for not laboring to the glory of His Name alone by faithfully and thoroughly serving those under whose authority He has put me. I thank God for His provision.

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Josh March 24th, 2007

The hearts of men are deceitful above all things. We’re plagued by sin, inconsistencies, and the struggle to regress back to our old ways. So lest we be like the dog who returns to his vomit, may we consider this Biblical narrative and learn what not to do in such circumstances.

Exodus 32

You know the people, that they are set on evil. (v22b)

Some brief background: The Israelites have been:

-Delivered from Egypt (Ch12)
-Passed safely and dryly through the Red Sea (Ch14)
-Given sweet water from the bitter (Ch15)
-Given mannah to eat (Ch16)
-Given water from a rock (Ch17)
-Victory over the Amalekites despite questionable odds from a human perspective (Ch17)

Keep in mind all these graces have been granted to Israelites by the Almighty…and they weren’t even looking to be delivered from Egypt until God sent Moses and gave them hope. What a gracious God. In preceding chapters we read that they promise to obey the Lord (19:8) and the Ten Commandments are given (Ch20). Now, it’s interesting to show that the 2nd commandment (No Idols) is not only mentioned at the giving of the Decalogue, but is also reemphasized later (20:23). It’s as if the Lord knew the hearts of men and their tendency to pay homage to idols before the one True God (GASP!). In light of these commands given we take interest again in the people’s renewed affirmation of obedience to the Lord and His commands in both 24:3 and 24:7. Thus far in the book of Exodus, then, there’s been repeated emphasis on the grace of God (deliverance from bondage, mannah, water, etc.), God’s commands (in this case the 2nd commandment is explicitly given twice), and the people’s commitment to obey these things.

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 32:1

As for this Moses…we do not know what has become of him. 32:1
The people were focused on the wrong thing. They seemed to have depended too much on the person of Moses and not on the God Who’d covenanted with their father, Abraham.

Make us gods who shall go before us 32:1
They were completely blinded to the rememembrance of all that God had done for them (see the background info above). Instead they seemed to be wanting to replace Moses (their only visible ‘connection’ with God) with idols made of gold and leave the Living God Who actually saved them out of the picture altogether (Despite Ch14:31)! O, the wretchedness of men’s hearts!

The man who brought us up 32:1
Wow. God Himself is to Whom the credit is due not Moses (16:6,19:4, 20:2). We see see again their forgetfulness of past history.

So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 32:2-3

Next, we consider Aaron’s foolishness. What was he thinking? Along with his sons, Moses, and the seventy elders he had actually “beheld God” Himself (24:9-11)! And now would he cave to the pressures of the poeople who hadn’t seen the Lord, and make idols for them to worship? Surely not, right? Wrong. I can picture Moses returning and rebuking Aaron as Jesus rebuked the disciples, “Can I not leave you alone…?”

Aaron acted as a puppet in the hands of the people. He catered to the crowd. Had he so quickly forgotten the magnificent and awesome power of God in which he’d recently basked? Apparently so! Not only did he authorize the people’s idolatries against the known and repeated commands of the Lord, but he wielded the very idol itself! It’s as if he worked for the people and not God Almighty.

These are your gods 32:4
After Aaron took the initiative to have the people bring gold and actually make the idol himself, the people blaspheme by engaging in denial of the One God of Israel-affirming, instead, a host of gods. Like a puppet on a string he fashioned an altar and tried to mix the worship of baal with the worship of the One True God, as if darkness and light could fellowship one with another.

Who brought you out 32:4
Amazing! They can’t make up their minds of who has brought them out of Egypt. First, they seemed to rightly recognize that it was the Lord God (14:30-31). Then they confused themselves by applying this role to Moses (32:1). Finally, they digress by designating the work to gods fashioned out of gold that didn’t even exist at the time of the exodus! O, how wretched hearts of men are deluded and deceived, suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. Sin makes us stupid!

They are set on evil 32:22
Moses puts the responsibility on Aaron and Aaron passes the buck. His response to Moses is so laughable. Come on, Moses…it’s not my fault. The devil made us do it. You know these people…they’re wicked…only doing evil continually. What did you expect to happen having been gone so long? I had to do something to calm their rage…something to meet their felt needs. They had the right intentions. In fact their intentions were shown by their desire to worship. They meant well. Besides, today we had a feast to the Lord on this altar I built.

Out came this calf 32:24
Next-seeing that Moses wasn’t buying Aaron’s blame-game routine-Aaron tries the passivity route. Well, I mean, I don’t really know all the particulars, Moses. You see, all the people just gave me their gold, I threw into the fire and BAM…out comes this idol. It was quite incredible, actually. But the telling verse here is that Moses doesn’t fall for that either (v.25). Notice particularly that Aaron fails to mention his active part in the formation of the idol (v.6).

Kill his brother 32:27
God will not be mocked. He has already told the Israelites that He is holy and that He has also set them apart to be the same. Thus, for this very public sin there had to be very public and harsh punishment. Moses summons the sons of Levi, who weren’t complicit in the idolatry (other than their head, Aaron, which we’ll consider below). He then commands them to kill those whom they knew were the leaders of this idolatrous rebellion, no matter if they were brother, neighbor, or friend. As God will tell them in the future-I will be sanctified.

What did this people do to you? 32:21
As previously mentioned, Aaron acted as a puppet of the people. The reason as to why we’re not certain, but obviously there was an excuse. Otherwise, Moses would not have asked what the people had done to Aaron to pressure him to do such a heinous act. From this can be gathered multiple thoughts, but for the sake of brevity we will simply look at a few:

1. Moses knew, without Aaron having said anything, that the people must have done something to sucker Aaron into this idolatry-thus, it follows that Aaron must have otherwise been a godly, pious and faithful man.

2. I believe that Aaron was spared the sword because of Moses’ intercession on his behalf, God’s grace and purpose, and God’s appointment for Aaron to be the leader of the Levitical priesthood. God uses even our sin to further His plan. Our sins may be used to keep us from being puffed up and rather in a greater dependence on the mercies and graces of God. Before coming into the prominent role of leadership in the early church, Peter was humbled and kept in check by his own role in denying Jesus publicly. I’m sure that every remembrance of this kept him humble, grateful, and dependent upon God to do the work only He could do while in the office of God’s appointment. I think the same sentiment stands for Aaron’s future role as Priest.

3. God’s sparing of Aaron is a testimony to God’s sovereign choice in saving some while leaving others to their just condemnation. God can save and sanctify the uttermos heinous of transgressors.

Proverbs 26:11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.

Like a slave who sees no hope in his independence and returns to his shackles because they hold familiarity, the Israelites whom God had freed lost faith in God’s provision and returned to worshipping the gods of Egypt. They were unsure of their future and found comfort in looking back to the familiarities of their stay in Egypt. They were rife with discontent, despite God’s years of protection and provision.

Christians, let us not return to living as if we’re still under sin’s dominion. God will not be mocked. A man reaps what he sews. Let this be a solemn and sobering reminder of God’s holiness and also a memento to the glorious truth that God gives grace freely to the utterly undeserving. Blessed be His Name!

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