Judges 2-3, Thorns in the Side, and Experience and Providence

Several years ago when I was referencing a sermon series in 2 Corinthians and the Apostle Paul’s thorn in the flesh, a blog reader here noted the word study and Old Testament references to “thorns,” which gives indication that when Paul used this term he was referring to the Judaizers who were causing such agitation for him; they were his “thorn in the flesh.”

One of these mentions of “thorns in the side” comes from Judges 2:3, the Lord’s pronouncement to the people of Israel, who had broken the covenant with Him.  Therefore, the Lord would no longer drive out the inhabitants of the land; rather, they (the peoples dwelling among them) shall be thorns in your side.  

As I continue through the book of Judges, chapters 2 and 3 mention the people being tested — a theme referenced elsewhere such as in Deuteronomy 8 and 13 — to know whether the people would be true to the Lord, to walk in His ways, to keep His commands.  Here, Judges 2:22: “so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not,”  and again in Judges 3:1 and 3:4 — the surrounding nations were left to test Israel.  So, the nations were left as a “thorn in the side,” as something that could snare them, and then described also as a test, to see if the people would keep the ways of the Lord, or not.  

Then another reason is mentioned for this new providence from God:  for later generations to know military discipline and war.  The surface level explanation brings to mind the idea of military tactics and actual battles of war.  Yet, as George Bush’s commentary points out, this text includes a deeper level of meaning, beyond this first idea that he describes as an inadequate view. 

The term ‘to know,’ must in fairness be interpreted according to its usual Scriptural import, which is to have not merely an intellectual, but an experimental knowledge of any thing. By those therefore who ‘had not known all the wars of Canaan,’ we understand those who had not with confiding faith, with lively zeal, and from a prompt and grateful spirit of obedience, entered into and persevered in those conflicts with the Canaanites which God had enjoined.

As they had grossly failed in their duty in this respect, and had not ‘known’ these wars as they should have done, their children, according to the righteous economy of Providence, were appointed to reap the bitter fruits of their neglect. They were to know to their cost, to be taught by sad experience, the trouble, vexation, and annoyance that should come upon the successive generations descended from those who, by their culpable remissness, had so righteously incurred this afflictive judgment.

(From George Bush, “Notes, Critical and Practical, on the Book of Judges: Designed as a General Help to Biblical Reading and Instruction.”)

Such a great point made here, and a fuller explanation of this text. Indeed, Judges 3:4 notes that the testing’s purpose was to know “whether they would obey the commandments of the Lord” — commandments (to their fathers by the hand of Moses) which clearly encompassed a lot more than just battle tactics used by Joshua and those immediately after Joshua. We can see the application to our own spiritual warfare–and our great failures, with the bitter consequences of past neglects. So true it is, that we must often learn this way, through sad experience of our failures. God chastens and disciplines His children. (Ref. Hebrews 12:5-6.) Yet, praise God, He does not leave us there. In the book of Judges, the people sometimes were oppressed for many years (in one example in Judges 3, for 18 years), but when they learned to cry out to God, to seek Him earnestly, God again brought deliverance. We learn from these examples (ref. 1 Corinthians 10:11), and likewise seek God, knowing that He will answer us when we call upon Him, in true repentance, as we seek Him earnestly.

Study: The Book of Judges, and Othniel as a Type of Christ

I’ve started a study on the book of Judges.  A local church Bible group is doing a study of it, and though it didn’t work out to attend that one, the book of Judges is a good study topic, a book not often thought of for Bible study yet, as always with God’s word, quite appropriate and relevant for our day.  

Dr. Alan Cairns (see previous post) did a 23-part series in the book of Judges (1989-1990)– not covering every chapter and verse but on quite a few passages, starting with Judges 1 and 3 in a look at the life of Othniel, the first judge.  For more detailed study of all 21 chapters, verse by verse, a good commentary I found, from an author recommended by Charles Spurgeon, is “Notes, Practical and Expository, on the Book of Judges,”  by 19th century scholar George Bush  — a distant relative/ancestor of the recent U.S. Presidents.

Judges is a book relevant for our time, an age of apostasy, as Dr. Cairns noted in his first sermon.  The particular apostasy he noted was the influence of Roman Catholicism and surveys showing the lack of doctrinal knowledge by Protestants (who by their answers to questions appeared to believe Roman Catholicism instead of Protestant theology).  The apostasy is much more pronounced now, a generation later. 

Othniel was the first of the twelve Judges in the Book of Judges — along with a 13th, Abimelech.  From the references to him in Judges 1:13, and again in Judges 3:9-11, here are some interesting observations about Othniel, including ways that he can be considered a type of Christ.  

First, Othniel’s name means “Lion of God,” and our Lord is referred to also as a Lion, the “Lion of the Tribe of Judah.”  Like Christ, Othniel was called by God, raised up for conflicts and for conquest.  Othniel delivered the people from their bondage (Judges 3:9).  Othniel purchased his bride (Judges 1:13), again a type/illustration of what Christ accomplished for His people. 

From Bush’s commentary on Judges chapter 1, another interesting observation:  life for the Israelites during this era was not always one of conflict and falling away.  This book highlights the times when the people were disobedient, and the continual cycle of disobedience, punishment, and deliverance — through a judge brought to the scene, to deliver the people and bring them back to the Lord. Yet peaceful times, many years at a time, are mentioned in brief sentences, years we are told almost nothing about.  In Othniel’s day, for instance, after the war and conquest by Othniel we are told that the land had rest for 40 years (Judges 3:11). 

Here I recall a “Chronicles of Narnia” scene in which C.S. Lewis depicted this idea, that there are times of peace during which little appears to happen, punctuated by great dramatic times of conflict and conquest:  the children entering Narnia had only visited at the major, important times of crisis in the land’s history, but the Narnians recalled living through the ordinary, routine years of peace.  So with the book of Judges, we do see a lot of conflict, and a lot of apostasy throughout, but (by God’s grace) there were respites, times of peace for the Israelites.  Of these years, though, we are only told the consequence, in the terrible reality of human sin and depravity:  those years of peace only brought about complacency and worldliness, for the people to forget about God and to quit serving Him.  Then another era of oppression, also lasting several years at a time, would come, before God would again send another judge to deliver His people.

The first chapter of Judges has a few other positive lessons, from the good things that occurred before the disappointments:  Judah and Simeon worked together as a team (Judges 1:3-5).  One group was stronger and the leader (Judah), and Simeon assisted.  Commentator George Bush notes the lessons: 

Judah therefore must lead in this perilous enterprise; for God not only appoints service according to the strength and ability he has given, but ‘would also have the burden of honor and the burden of labor go together.’ Those who have the precedency in rank, reputation, or influence, should always be disposed to go before others in every good work, undismayed by danger, difficulty, or obloquy, that they may encourage others by their example. … [Regarding Simeon]: ‘Observe here that the strongest should not despise but desire the assistance even of those that are weaker. It becomes Israelites to help one another against Canaanites; and all Christians, even those of different tribes, to strengthen one another’s hands against the common interests of Satan’s kingdom.’ Henry.

Another commentary I’ll be referencing along the way is the well-known Matthew Henry commentary, a standard go-to commentary for most books of the Bible for his insights and applications in the details of these texts. (As seen in the above excerpt from Bush, he also included selections from Matthew Henry in his commentary.)  All three of these — the two commentaries, and Alan Cairns’ sermons series, are good study helps as I continue this study, past the first chapter and through the rest of the book.

Daniel’s Prophecy, and Revisiting B.W. Newton

Recently I read (at least most of it) a book co-authored by two well-known Reformed Theology authors, a  short book that had been a Logos monthly free offer.  Much of the content was decent, general thoughts about Christ, and exalting Him and our giving Him thanks.  Then I came to a part where they took an eschatological passage, Daniel 7:13, and turned it completely around — to fit into their theology about Christ’s intercession and ‘reigning now’ — to say that the scene of the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven was not at all about His Second Coming, but a reference to the Ascension:  Christ coming to His Father (First Coming) after the Resurrection. 

In all this discourse, nothing was mentioned about the very next verse — the Son of Man receiving a kingdom.  They also omitted the many other later references to this particular passage.

• Jesus’ own reference to the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven in Matthew 24:30
• Christ’s words to Caiphas, that Caiphas would see the Son of Man coming, an indication of judgement
• and Revelation 1:7, which also describes this as future, and that every eye will see Him

Such writing — which sounds very spiritual and God-honoring — shows that even the best of Christian teachers can have blind spots, completely missing the real point of a text in order to advance their own idea of amillennialism (Christ is now reigning) and their desire to fully praise God for all the great, present blessings that we now have in Christ.

It also shows that teachers can be correct and solid in some areas of doctrine, and helpful for some areas of overall Reformed theology.  Yet, there comes a time — after having studied Reformed theology to get a good grasp of covenant theology, the moral law and the Sabbath, and the important doctrines taught in the Reformed confessions — to return to the writings of the classic Historic Premillennialists, and particularly to what they said regarding the prophetic passages of Scripture.  

It’s been several years since I first discovered B.W. Newton, George Mueller, and S.P. Tregelles, and read a few of their works such as Newton’s “Thoughts on the Apocalypse,” (previous post).   So I recently read the online PDF of Newton’s “Babylon: Its Revival and Final Desolation” (part 2 in his series on Prophetic Enquiry).

The historical detail is interesting in itself, but I find Newton’s commentary quite interesting and, yes, prophetic, as he described the world state of his day, over 170 years ago, and considered characteristics of government and economies in the future days of the last events.  Remarking on Zechariah 5 and the significance of the ephah, Newton noted the commercial interests of his day, and a then-recent trend, of the commercial wealth, the businesses of society, becoming the controllers of morality:

Few, I suppose, will question that in this country at least, commercial wealth is becoming the great controlling centre of society. The producing power of manufacture, the distributing skill of the merchange, the controlling power of those who trade in money and command the circulating medium of commerce–these, and similar interests, when combined, are able to speak with a voice which no government can refuse to hear. Their will is potent. Legislation and government accommodate themselves to their demands.

Sure enough, this trend has developed, far beyond what Newton saw in his day.  We’re familiar with the 1984 Orwellian idea of government being the one censoring and restricting people; and yet Newton, 170 years ago, saw the implications of Zechariah 5 along with the early development of commercial power, and recognized the real power of such censorship.  We now see the advance of “big tech” and its “censorship” of contrary ideas.  One clear example from a few months ago: a best-seller book that had been out a few years suddenly, one day, completely disappeared from Amazon’s site; and when that company has over 80% of all book sales in the country, it indeed has a powerful influence over which books will be published, and power to suppress the morality that it objects to.

This is just one of several books on prophecy from B.W. Newton, and soon I plan to read the other volumes of his “Aids to Prophetic Enquiry.”  At the moment I’m reading S.P. Tregelles’  “Remarks on The Prophetic Visions in the Book of Daniel, another of these great works with plenty of insights, along with observations on the value of studying the Prophetic Word.

The Holy Spirit Series: 37 Topics for Further Meditation and Study

As mentioned in a recent post, I’m now listening to Alan Cairns sermons, and appreciating the teaching.  One series of particular interest: 37 sermons in all, about the person and work of the Holy Spirit.  The sermons were preached in 1986-87, and overall still very relevant now, over 30 years later.  I’m now listening to the 19th in the series, so about halfway through.  

As noted early in this series, and I think still true today, this tends to be a neglected teaching in modern Protestantism / evangelicalism, with relatively few sermon series — and none I’ve found that are of this length, exploring so many aspects of the Holy Spirit.  The 37 lessons are described by Cairns as ‘introductions,’ each of which could be a springboard to further study and meditation. These include a broad range of Old and New Testament scriptures, with teaching on the ‘first mention’ as well as a few interesting word study topics along the way.  The earlier sermons start with the basic, general activities and operations of the Holy Spirit — such as the personality of the Holy Spirit, inspiration of scripture, regeneration, indwelling, sanctification, the fruit of the Spirit, and move on to additional specifics such as Adoption, the Earnest of the Spirit, Assurance in the witness of the Spirit, and later topics such as the Leading of the Holy Spirit.

Among some of the highlights:  

• Genesis 1:1-5 is the First Mention of the Holy Spirit.  A.W. Pink taught the importance of the first mention, the last mention, and the main mention. Accordingly, the very last in this series, is on the Final Mention of the Holy Spirit.

• On the leading of the Spirit:  Those who are led by the Spirit must first be indwelled, filled by the Holy Spirit.  In our day (in 1986 and still true), so many people talk about how they want “the Spirit’s leading,” but they are living carnal lives, not walking in the Spirit, not focused on the things of God.  

  Here, Dr. Cairns noted the sequence of Jesus’ ministry.  FIRST, Christ was given the full measure of the Spirit, the public    event of His baptism and the appearance in the form of a dove.  THEN, He was Led by the Spirit — and the leading was into the wilderness, into hardship and physical suffering.

• Seven Symbols of the Holy Spirit
  • Dove — Ref. Genesis 8.
  • Wind — Speaks to God’s Sovereignty.  Ref. John 3:  the wind blows; we cannot control it
  • Breath — vitality.  Adam’s body that was created, before the breath put into it, can be likened to churches and schools that are without the Spirit
  • Fire — potency.  The baptism of the Holy Spirit with fire — reference Acts 2, Pentecost. 
  • Water — outpouring of the Spirit .  The Spirit overflowing and spontaneous, here especially, what makes Christians useful in service to others.  Reference John chapters 3, 4 and 7, Isaiah 44:3; and Ezekiel 47,  the water that becomes deeper and deeper
  • Oil — anointing oil, authority in service; unity; and necessity of the oil—virgins with oil in their lamps
  • Fury of the Spirit — reference Revelation 4:5, the seven torches of fire; fury of the Spirit.  Old Testament references include the torches of Gideon.

• Sanctification:  Galatians 5:22-23 lists nine fruits of the Spirit, and we can think of these in three categories of three each.  The first three relate to God:  love, joy, peace; the next three deal with our relationships with others: patience, kindness, and goodness; and the last three have respect to our circumstances of life:  faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

It’s an interesting and helpful study, with many more topics, and each generally a stand-alone topic, yet all within the overall, encompassing truths regarding the Holy Spirit, to help understand more about the role of the Third Person of the Triune God.

The ‘Failures’ of the Reformation

From my listening to various messages from Alan Cairns, here is an interesting one, from a 2004 ‘Reformation’ conference:  The Failures of the Reformation. Informative, and not quite what I had expected, Cairns here first addressed many supposed ideas that modern folks have, about the failures of the Reformation–in terms of the leaders and their actions and behaviors, judging from our 20th and 21st century cultural sensibilities.  These include the doctrine of infant baptism, their views of the State and the Church, and criticisms regarding the Reformers’ treatment of heretics.  After addressing these ‘supposed failures,’ with the details of the historical situation and the nuances often lost today, Cairns mentioned what he actually considered the failures:  the failed Reformation in France, as well as the failure of the Reformation in Poland.  More on that later in this post, after the supposed failures.

Of note, he does not address the more-recent ‘failure idea’ introduced by John MacArthur in 2007 (three years after this message), that the Reformers failed to reform their millennial view and just imported it from Roman Catholicism.  In light of what Cairns did say regarding these other supposed errors, my observation here would be that the Reformers did not ‘import it’ from Roman Catholicism, as they certainly had no great love for the Pope; more to the point, I would say, they continued it from the later views of Augustine.  And it is also noteworthy that premillennialism, or chiliasm, was already making a ‘comeback’ by the early 17th century (for example, Joseph Mede)–so not in the initial Reformation but soon after, and before the English Puritan era began.

Regarding all the supposed failures of the Reformation, Cairns provided the historical background and the nuances often lost today.  The Reformers’ view of infant baptism did not come from Roman Catholicism but their overall understanding of the continuity of scripture, Old and New Testament, regarding the covenants of scripture, and the continuation of the Lord’s working in household as He did in Genesis, and again in Acts (ref. Acts 2:39).  Cairns said this as a credo-baptist, in a Free Presbyterian Church.  (That’s another topic, that the FPC denomination does not emphasize the baptism method distinction, allowing for both, and that most of their preachers are actually credo-baptist — Michael Barrett as one notable actual paedobaptist, who was in the FPC in years past.  The credo-baptist preachers in the FPC hold to the Westminster Confession construction of covenant theology, a view that I see as what scripture teaches, as opposed to the 1689 Federalism view of the covenants.)

Regarding the Reformers’ church-state view, Cairns brings out the point that people today typically take a view (at least what comes out in practice, if not consciously realized) of the church and state being at enmity with each other.  Yet this is not a biblical view, and the Reformers saw these two entities as complementary, not opposed.  As to the Anabaptists, Cairns points out that the Anabaptist movement was very diverse and hard to define, embracing many different ideas and many differing types of people — similar to the rather neboulous ‘New Covenant Theology’ movement today.  He notes that it took historical researchers many years to fully document all of what was included in the Anabaptist umbrella, the many different beliefs and activities; and if it took that long for this to be understood, we can certainly understand that the Reformers had far less information.  The movement included extreme pacifists, a problem in a society that did not have a regular army, with its military defense as all able-bodied men who lived in the Swiss canton; the Anabaptist pacifists would not do their part in the defense of their own canton, when it came time to defend against the Roman Catholic army.  The movement also included dangerous, violent insurrectionists, and heretics.

Now, to some real ‘failures’ — of course these were not failures in the context of God’s Sovereign plan and providence, His decretive will.  Yet, from the human perspective of history, these could be considered failures:  the failure of the Reformation in France, as well as in Poland.  The story of France is better known, as one that started good, but was later suppressed by the French government, with the Huguenots fleeing France and dispersed over other European countries as well as the New World French and English colonies, and others martyred or force-converted to Roman Catholicism.  I was not familiar with the 16th century Reformation in Poland.  Here are a few links that give more details, regarding the Reformation movement that began well, but then fizzled and came to nothing: 

• Wikipedia full article in Polish (select option to translate to English)
• Reformations In Eastern Europe: Protestant, Catholic, And Orthodox

The historical reasons for these failures included the effects of weak leadership, and also a lack of unity among the branches of the Reformation.  In Poland, particularly, the Reformation movement occurred only at the higher social class, within a certain group of people and never reached the masses.  Cairns here reflected on the overall Reformation’s lack of unity, citing the well-known incident of Martin Luther dividing with Zwingli over the nature of “this is my body” and even refusing to shake hands with Zwingli afterward, and provided general application to the current-day believer’s life, from his own experience in different Christian “camps” such as the Fundamentalists who rejected him as “not fundamentalist enough” and the other extreme of people who would no longer listen to Dr. Cairns because of his association with Bob Jones University, that he would not “condemn” the BJU teachers.

It’s an interesting and informative message, beyond the usual content of “Reformation theme” messages.

Dr. Alan Cairns, Historic Premillennialist

A great resource I’ve recently become aware of, a Covenantal Historic Premillennialist, is the late Dr. Alan Cairns.  I had heard the name a few times, in connection with the Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony (SGAT), and from online links and recommendations from a few others.  Dr. Cairns preached for 25 years at Faith Free Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC, before retiring in 2007, and then continued speaking at some annual conference events until as late as 2018.  

SermonAudio has a catalog of 6,390 sermons from Alan Cairns, content which is also available from the radio program / podcast ‘Let the Bible Speak Radio.’  

I’ve listened to a handful of messages from a few different series so far, and appreciate these sermons.  For premillennialism, this 5 part ‘The End Times’ series from an October 2011 conference is interesting.  Each SermonAudio page also includes a PDF file with outline notes of the content, such as this one in reference to the first lecture.  Cairns makes great points regarding many topics, looking at scripture texts including Daniel, Hosea, and other relevant scriptures, taking a futurist view regarding the unfulfilled prophecies and referencing some of the well-known SGAT resources such as B.W. Newton and S.P. Tregelles. 

• Prophetic History of the Gentile World
• The Rejection and Restoration of Israel
• Antichrist and the Great Tribulation
• The Coming of the King
• The Millennium

In ‘The Millennium’ he briefly mentions his own view of Ezekiel 40-48, a particular sub-topic that has brought forth many different opinions even within historic premillennialism.  Some of the 19th century classic covenantal premillennialists saw these chapters as describing a future millennial church worship structure, such as Charles Spurgeon’s view — and I am here addressing only the issue of the temple structure itself, and not the question of the described animal sacrifices). However, Cairns took the idea I’ve heard from some amillennialists, that the temple was a description of what could be provided, conditionally upon Israel’s repentance; but that repentance did not happen, thus this temple was never built.  Personally, I do not find that idea satisfactory; but the overall material from Cairns is helpful and interesting.

Another series of interest is Millennial Milestones: six messages from the year 2000, with history highlights from the last thousand years, starting with an interesting history lesson from 11th century England, on down through the recent centuries.  In this series Cairns provided summary themes for these eras of time, such as describing the 17th century, with reference to the activities and events of the Pilgrims and the Puritans, both in the American colonies and in Britain, as “The Quest for Purity and Liberty.”  The lesson on the 20th century, Back to Babel, has a good summary of the modern ecumenical movement in its various forms, what Cairns saw — and this was over 20 years ago — as the boldest attempt yet to reverse God’s curse: the return to Babel, the great development of the ‘one world’ church movement with headship of the Roman Catholic Church.  “Watch the Jew” and “Watch Europe” are some key takeaways.

I’ve listened to a few other messages, such as a few on particular Psalms (including some of his series on Psalm 138), and a few messages on the later chapters in Luke’s gospel — part of his Life of Christ series, which included teaching on some but not all texts from Luke and the other gospels. From what I’ve listened to so far, I also appreciate Cairns for his depth of subject matter, including the experimental (he noted his dislike of the term ‘experiential,’ preferring “experimental”) focus of the Christian life, and his descriptions such as in his sermon about Jesus’ temptation, in the Garden of Gethsemane, by the devil, and the reality of demonic activity that affects believers.

So, as others have recommended Alan Cairns, I now add my recommendation as well, for this great resource for sermon listening.

Reflections on the Pandemic, and Signs of the Last Days

What a year this has been.  It was a year ago, March 17, that I and co-workers first started working from home due to the pandemic lockdown, and we are still working from home for the foreseeable future.  As I reflect back on all the events of the last year, I frequently think of the term “apocalypse” in its broader, general meaning — as a “revealing,” and the revealing of the hearts and minds of people as a result of particular trials and afflictions, such as what the events of the last year have revealed.  

The people of Israel in Exodus 4:31 heard from Aaron and Moses, and believed them.  Yet one chapter later, in Exodus 5:21, the same people (a group within the overall group from Exodus 4:31) declared that the LORD should judge Moses and Aaron, for putting a sword in the Egyptians to kill them.  The different circumstance brought out a very different response. Likewise, in our day, the unusual events of the last year have been a revealing of people’s hearts under afflictions and difficulties.

A recent Wall Street journal article has considered how the pandemic has affected people — and the comments section at the Facebook posting also reveals the divide in the country and the experiences of many more.  A recent report from the Business Insider tells of at least a few cases where church pastors have left their congregations, due to radicalized conspiracy followers, and notes the high percentage of professing church-goers who hold to conspiracy ideas such as QAnon.  When fewer people returned to church services last summer and fall, it was speculated by those who were still attending (often at churches that considered face coverings optional) that the people at home viewing online would decide they preferred that instead of meeting in person.  Yet as noted in a recent survey, and observed locally, the vast majority, over 90%, do plan to return and already are returning to in person, now that a medical treatment, a vaccine, has become available.

A resource I’ve read from time to time over the last several years, the SGAT — the Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony — has published a booklet, based on a set of sermons delivered on January 3, 2021, called “Where Are We In God’s Calendar?”  The booklet can be ordered online (I received it in the postal mail along with the latest two newsletters), and the original sermons, with some of the same content are online here, part 1 and part 2.  From the booklet comes this observation, regarding the signs of the times, and Christ’s Return:

Creeping Awareness

Is there not a creeping, growing awareness of things prophetic amongst a remnant?  …  Is there not a growing consciousness amongst true believers of the deepening apostasy, the universal rejection of God’s Word amongst those nations privileged for centuries to hear it proclaimed, and a recognising that, as never before, men are embracing everything that is unholy and ungodly?
There was a slow awakening to the wickedness of the World Council of Churches amongst evangelicals and likewise to the wicked departures of Billy Graham but light did finally dawn!
The darkness reigning over the nations is seen in that nothing seems to have been brought home to the multitude by this ‘Coronavirus’ plague.
Only a few have noted the ‘spirit’ of this day!
In the midst of the pandemic, the deaths and sicknesses, there has been little or no public reference to God.  Political leaders have purposely avoided any mention of Him altogether while the so-called ‘church leaders’ in the mainline churches have made such scant and irrelevant mention of Him, silence on their part would have been more beneficial!
Pulpits in evangelical assemblies are also largely silent on the matter, many with contempt dismissing the Covid virus as a mere ‘flu!
I believe that the events that are revealed by the opening of the first seal indicate the great need of this hour–a revealing of the approach of the Saviour’s return.
It is something for which we ought to be praying!  I will not be dogmatic about this but I think that what I say is worthy of some consideration.  If I am correct in suggesting that we are near to the opening of the first seal and the revealing and emphasising afresh to God’s people the great doctrine of the Saviour’s return in glory, then soon there will follow the events shown us here under the likeness of the opening of the pages of a book.  

God’s word tells us we should not be surprised, when we see ever deepening and widening apostasy, as we continue in these general “last days” and as we approach the days just before Christ’s return.  Just as the Jews of Jesus’ day were more focused on Christ’s Second Coming, His coming to rule and reign, so the NT church has focused mostly on His First Coming.  In Luke 18 Jesus observed, ‘when the Son of Man comes [His Return], will he find faith on earth?’  As I’ve been studying through the gospel of Luke, it is refreshing to read J.C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Luke, which has many great observations concerning our attitude toward Christ’s Return, and how we should be living, in light of this great truth. 

 

As indicated in texts such as Luke 18, also other accounts that describe even the people of God as “sleeping” and unaware and not looking for Christ’s Return, as the time lengthens and He has been gone for a long time — so it has unfolded in church history, that most are not looking to Christ’s Return in glory, nor thinking about the things that must take place before then.  It is said that dispensationalism has an imminent return of Christ, that He could return at any time, nothing has to take place before the ‘rapture of the church;’ the dispensationalist has some awareness of end times things that must occur, such as Israel back in the land — but tends to think that he/she will not be around to see all of these things that will take place.  The post-millennialists (a rare group nowadays, unlike the pre-World War I era) are looking for the world population to come to Christ, to become a Christianized world, a ‘golden age’ before Christ returns.  The amillennialist, and particularly the common form of preterist amillennialist, is the one with a strong “imminent” any-moment return of Christ, since in this view most of the “prophetic texts” have already happened, in the first century, and — in an odd way they have this much in common with dispensationalist — Christ can return at any moment: and even more so for them, no reason to look for the “general season” of things that will occur shortly before the Second Advent. 

 

Historic premillennialism, the view I hold to, affirms a non-imminent return, that certain things must take place before Christ’s Return:  at first, such things as Peter’s death prophesied, and the gospel going forth to other lands, and time to allow for prophecies indicating wars and rumors of wars; then, other “stage-setting” events that are implied in the descriptions of texts about the Lord’s return:  Israel regathered in unbelief, and a world with great technology such as we now see for our own eyes.

 

Among the prophetic texts are some lesser known passages that describe things that, if taken in their normal, plain language sense, could very reasonably occur in our day, with our 21st century technology.  For example, Revelation 11’s description of the two witnesses laying dead for 3 1/2 days and their bodies observed by people from all over the world, and the people of the world rejoicing and exchanging gifts with each other, all in the space of 3 1/2 days, could very well occur in today’s instant worldwide communication, a literal fulfillment that Horatius Bonar thought, based on 19th century technology, could not really mean 3 1/2 days.  Likewise, Revelation 13’s description of technology that limits people’s ability to transact business, is already occurring in some form, for some types of transactions, in China and possibly other totalitarian government countries.  It’s also interesting that at least some evangelical leaders are also realizing at least this much — such as a clear statement from Al Mohler in a podcast interview last fall, stating his belief that the technology exists today for the literal fulfillment of the biblical prophecies.

 

Another interesting thing I’ve observed recently in the overall culture:  people who do not even recognize and acknowledge anything of the providence of God, of “acts of God” events — such as weather storms or the spread of new diseases around the world.  As one example, the recent winter storm here in the American South, of a severity not seen in a lifetime, was actually considered by some TikTok users a “fake” storm perpetrated by the “powerful left” who somehow created something that looked like but wasn’t really snow.  The fact that some people actually ascribe such powers over the weather, or at least the ability to create a “fake” snowstorm — to mere man, rather than recognize what society has always understood as an “act of God,” is telling.  It appears that, more and more, our technological age has brought about what has been called the “social imaginary,” to the point where some are denying the reality of actual events that have occurred — a pandemic that has caused soaring hospitalization rates and higher than normal levels of death, and even severe winter storms — instead ascribing these to “fake” events caused by mere human political actors.

 

These are just some thoughts to consider, regarding the times we now live in.  In closing, a few selections from J.C. Ryle, from his Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Luke:

The disciples and all the Jews of our Lord’s time appear to have seen only one personal coming of the Messiah. They expected a Messiah who would come to reign, but not one who would come to suffer.

The majority of Christians, in like manner, appear to see only one personal coming. They believe that Christ came the first time to suffer. But they seem unable to understand that Christ is coming a second time to reign. Both parties have got hold of some of the truth, but neither, unfortunately, has embraced the whole truth. Both are more or less in error, and the Christian’s error is only second in importance to that of the Jew.

Also

It is well to know that He lived for us, and died for us, and rose again for us, and intercedes for us. But it is also well to know that He is soon coming again for us! … The course of this world shall not always go on as it does now. Disorder, confusion, false profession, and unpunished sin shall not always cover the face of the earth. … Let us wait patiently when we see wickedness triumphing in the earth. The time is short. There is One who sees and notes down all that the ungodly are doing!   

. . .

When the Lord Jesus left the world, He ascended up into heaven as a conqueror leading captivity captive. He is there sitting at the right hand of God, doing the work of the High Priest for His believing people, and ever making intercession for them. But He will not sit there always. He will come forth from the holy of holies to bless His people. He will come again with power and glory to put down every enemy under His feet, and to set up His universal kingdom on earth.

. . .

Jesus’ coming in person the first time to suffer, and Jesus coming in person the second time to reign are two landmarks of which we should never lose sight. We stand between the two. Let us believe that both are real and true.

Commentary on Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress

Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress has retained its popularity down through the ages, and even inspired a few commentary volumes (from Charles Spurgeon and others), illustrations, teaching series for adults and children, and even several movies. I recently read through all of Pilgrim’s Progress (both parts), along with an interesting commentary book, Lectures on the Pilgrim’s Progress and on the Life and Times of John Bunyan, a 19th century work by George B. Cheever.  I read the full Pilgrim’s Progress once, over 20 years ago as part of a Sunday evening church class series (on the first part), and had listened to Librivox’s free audio recording (again, of part 1) a few times, but this was the first time in many years to read the full book in print — and now, along with a full commentary.  Cheever’s book includes a section, almost half of the book, on John Bunyan’s life, a commentary on Bunyan’s autobiography Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners.  Then Cheever continues with commentary on sections of Pilgrim’s Progress, in chronological sequence through part I, followed by one lecture on part II.

Cheever’s style takes some getting used to, but the content gets interesting after a while, particularly his discourse on each part of the story.  Pilgrim’s Progress is a book that ‘grows on you,’ with its depth of characters and depictions, the ‘layers’ of meaning, that I appreciate far more now than in my early Christian years.  After having been through more life difficulties myself, I appreciated the different characters, particularly identifying with some characters more so than others — a great gift from John Bunyan, why this book retains its popularity down through the ages, that every reader can find some characters they relate to.  For example, in part I Faithful tells Christian of his encounter with Shame [Christian himself met others but had not met Shame], a great passage with instruction on how to respond to shame’s temptations:

Faith. What? why, he [Shame] objected against religion itself. He said it was a pitiful, low, sneaking business for a man to mind religion. He said that a tender conscience was an unmanly thing; and that for a man to watch over his words and ways, so as to tie up himself from that liberty that the brave spirits of the times accustom themselves unto, would make him the ridicule of all the people in our time. He objected also, that but a few of the mighty, rich, or wise were ever of my opinion; nor any of them neither, before they were persuaded to be fools, to venture the loss of all for nobody else knows what. He, moreover, objected the base and low estate and condition of those that were chiefly the pilgrims of the times in which they lived; also their ignorance, and want of understanding in all worldly knowledge.  … … . But at last I began to consider that that which is highly esteemed among men is had in abomination with God. And I thought again, This Shame tells me what men are, but it tells me nothing what God, or the Word of God is. And I thought, moreover, that at the day of doom we shall not be doomed to death or life according to the spirits of the world, but according to the wisdom and law of the Highest. Therefore, thought I, what God says is best—is best, though all the men in the world are against it. Seeing, then, that God prefers His religion; seeing God prefers a tender conscience; seeing they that make themselves fools for the kingdom of heaven are wisest, and that the poor man that loves Christ is richer than the greatest man in the world that hates Him; Shame, depart! thou art an enemy to my salvation. Shall I listen to thee against my sovereign Lord? how, then, shall I look Him in the face at His coming? Should I now be ashamed of His way and servants how can I expect the blessing? 

It’s a commentary on many topics, from Christian’s experiences and other characters encountered.  Spiritual growth over time, one lesson brought out in scenes from Part 1, includes this insight from Cheever, about ‘Hill Difficulty’:

We see plainly that as a clear-sighted Christian looks back upon his own experience he sees himself in many aspects, and through the prism of his own nature he sees a thousand others; he sees through and through the motives, thoughts, feelings, veils, and hiding-places of every possible variety of the children of this world, because he has been one of them.  He sees some stopping with their characters in perfection at one stage of his own experience, and some at other stages; some more advanced towards the point where he himself really set out to be a Christian, and some less; but many he sees, through the perfect knowledge he has of his own past refuges of lies, evidently trusting in the same refuges; refuges where he himself would have stopped and died as a pretended Christian had not God had mercy on him.  On the other hand, a man of the world, a wicked man, an unconverted man cannot see beyond the line of his own experience; the things of the Christian are hidden from him, for he has never gone into them; it is a world unknown, a world hidden by a veil that he has never lifted, a region of blessedness, knowledge, and glory, where his feet have never wandered; a region of sweet fields and living streams and vast prospects, of which he knows nothing and can conceive nothing.  It is all like the unseen future to him.

Pilgrim’s Progress Part II is quite different, and tends to be neglected in comparison to the well-known first part.  Cheever’s lecture points out that the second part can be understood as the journey of many ordinary believers, as contrasted with that of the spiritual giants, the famous Christian teachers such as Bunyan himself.  At times, part II seemed harder for me to relate to,  as it portrays the women and children having a relatively easy life, and with good counsel and guidance all through their journey. Christiana’s four boys even grow up and all marry godly Christian women, the characters are doing works of charity, and all is pleasant with no great challenges.  As the commentary points out, this was Bunyan’s interest in affirming God’s positive purpose for marriage (in the Lord) and the local church.  As such, it reflects the experience of those who are given these blessings from God, strong marriages with godly partners, and solid local churches that rightly teach God’s word and have healthy leadership and communication.  Bunyan’s church era instead faced great persecution, which included his 12 years in prison, and possibly the churches of that era, the late 17th century, did not experience, or at least to as great an extent, the problems we are familiar with:  churches where great error is taught, and/or abuse of authority from the leadership. 

In the women and children characters, Pilgrim’s Progress Part II also describes the every-day believers that have been given more common grace including calm temperaments, and personalities and social skills within the normal range.  They are naturally more easy-going and more humble, such that the famous places where Christian had extreme difficulties (the Valley of Humiliation, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, for instance) are much easier for them.  Here I am reminded also of an observation from Joni Eareckson Tada, in The God I Love: A Lifetime of Walking with Jesus: in her ministry work, she had observed two children who had lost their legs in an accident and would never walk again, yet their attitude was much more accepting and positive, than her own very negative reaction and struggle with God about what had happened to her.

Then again, part two includes many other characters (Cheever likens the variety of pilgrims to that of The Canterbury Tales) and describes other personality types, or parts of our personalities.  One such example is Mr. Fearing, a great contrast from the superficial characters such as Talkative, Ignorance, and Self-Will.  The actual description from Bunyan is quite detailed, and then Cheever spends two full pages of commentary, pointing out the problems taken to excess with Mr. Fearing, as well as his strengths.  In response to the simplistic attitude that would exhort believers, ‘Don’t be a Mr. Fearing’, it is worth noting that Bunyan included this reason, as to why such a believer should go about in the dark all his life:  the wise God will have it so; some must pipe, and some must weep.  The Apostle Paul also described the different types of believers, a verse often referenced in the topic of counseling:   1 Thess. 5:14, “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”

Pilgrim’s Progress and Cheever’s Lectures on the Pilgrim’s Progress are great works for re-reading and reference, with a lot of observations regarding various trials and temptations, and different aspects of the Christian’s personality and experience.

Bible Timeline Chart/Map of History

Here is something interesting, which I recently learned of:  Adams’ Synchronological Chart or Map of History.  It’s available in book fold-out form from book publisher sites such as this one.   A gift from an online friend, this fold-out chart shows all human history, from a biblical timeline perspective starting at creation at 4004 BC, up through 1878, a look at most world history up to the last 140+ years.  At a glance it shows in parallel, a synchronization, of each century in the timeline (with smaller divisions of 10 years within each century), to show major Old Testament events along with all other known secular history events and the rulers of the Gentile nations in the world.  (A major update, to bring it into the 21st century, would be nice, but has not been done as far as I know.)

It’s a fascinating view of world history, sometimes referred to as His Story: the work of God through the years, from creation and antiquity, through to near-modern times.  For instance, the section on the High Middle Ages will show, at a glance, the names of all the different Kings and Queens of Europe at any given time, a helpful addition to my study (several years ago) through English Medieval history.

 

The early pages include the lifespans of the major biblical figures, including Adam, Methuselah, and Noah, and show how their lives spanned across so many years from creation, through the flood, until the first several hundred years after the Flood.  This link includes a photo (sideways on a computer screen) of the full chart. 

Another interesting resource, available also in PDF online, is Floyd Nolen Jones’ The Chronology of the Old Testament: A Return to the Basics.  I’ve only glanced through a few sections so far, but it’s a very detailed look at dating the Old Testament chronology, including the ages of the patriarchs and dates of  Old Testament events, looking at all the evidence and various views.  This work also argues for the creation date of 4004 BC., and (same as Adams’ Synchronological Chart) has the Exodus lasting 215 years; the 400 years of affliction started with Abraham’s seed, before they actually went to Egypt.  A few years ago I first came across this idea (up to that time I’d thought of the 400 years as meaning 400 years actually in Egypt), mentioned in this previous post.  Another section addresses the Genesis texts concerning Jacob’s age, that he was 77 at the time he came to Laban; I recall discovering this several years ago, from basic math on the years of Jacob’s age at various events.

Here are links to a few other of my posts on creation, with the focus on the earliest writings and early history of the nations:

• “After the Flood” review, about the earliest European historical records which affirm biblical history
• The Sabbath Creation Ordinance, and early extra-biblical history

2020 Reading in Review: Reformed Confessions Study

A year ago I reviewed the 2019 books and looked forward to a year long study through the Reformed Confessions. Now I’m nearing the end of this study, which included reading through the Westminster Daily readings, a calendar schedule to read through the Westminster Confession of Faith and its two catechisms, WLC and WSC, along with:

• A.A. Hodge’s Commentary on the Westminster Confession  
• Zacharias Ursinus’ Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism  
• Another helpful resource, Reformation 21’s ‘Through the Westminster Confession’ series   

From my original plan at the end of 2019, I completed Spurgeon’s devotional Faith’s Checkbook as well as Thomas Boston’s Crook in the Lot.  I added Thomas Watson’s Body of Divinity as commentary reading along with some of the questions from the Westminster Shorter Catechism, but found that I could not keep up with the Charnock’s Existence and Attributes of God in addition to the Confession commentaries — so I plan to resume reading that in the near future.  I’ve also heard of Thomas Manton’s work on Psalm 119 as highly recommended, another to start on for 2021.

A few thoughts on these Confession commentaries:  A.A. Hodge’s is a straightforward read, covering the basic doctrine, and understandable, and not too lengthy; the reading can tend to the dry side, just basic academic reading, but at the layperson level.   This commentary includes a section of questions to be answered, at the end of each chapter of the confession — useful for a group study with assignments or discussion, or perhaps for family worship and use with children. 

Ursinus’ 16th century commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism is interesting in that it comes from the main author of this well-known catechism.  It is far lengthier (PDF over 1000 pages), and the writing style and content rather tedious; some of this is of course the older English writing of this edition, the public domain one available from Monergism and elsewhere (as far as I know, this one has not been recently republished in a modernized form).  The content includes statement of each Heidelberg question and answer, followed by an exposition of that question/answer; the exposition frequently includes a number of ‘objections’ and answers to these objections–some of which may be familiar to current-day readers (and many that are not as clear, from long-forgotten objections that Ursinus was familiar with).  Ursinus’ commentary has some good sections in response to, say, antinomians, Anabaptists, and a group called ‘Ubiquitarians’ (which I learned was the 16th century name for what we refer to as Lutheranism), regarding such things as God’s moral law and the Reformed interpretation of the Lord’s Supper (as contrasted with Lutheran / Ubiquitarian Consubstantiation).  The objection responses are phrased in terms of major and minor propositions, with terms such as affirm, deny, and syllogisms, and sometimes these objection-abswer sections are rather lengthy, providing ‘too much information’ for the average 21st century Christian, issues about particular doctrinal points not necessarily relevant to understanding the original Catechism question.  

One off-putting aspect especially of Ursinus’ writing, is his occasional references to eschatology, in which he states amillennial assumptions as though a given, assumptions stated in passing and as though not to be questioned — when a clear exegesis of the text clearly does NOT support that view. As for example, this section, at the beginning of section III. WHAT IS THE RESURRECTION, AND WHAT ARE THE ERRORS WHICH ARE ENTERTAINED CONCERNING IT? (page 513 in the Monergism PDF file)

The word resurrection sometimes signifies in the Scriptures man’s conversion, or his resurrection from sin, as, “This is the first resurrection.” (Rev. 20:5.)

Overall, the reading this year, the Reformed Confessions along with commentaries, has been a good study, covering the many different doctrines in the confessions and commentaries, and thus becoming more acquainted with the documents and the writings of these theologians from previous centuries.