Discovering Christ in All the Scriptures
Don Fortner, 1950-2020
Isaiah through Malachi
Chapter 23
ISAIAH
"He shall not fail."
I am endeavoring to give a survey of the Scriptures. But I want to give you more than a factual survey of the Bible. There are several good surveys of that kind available. I want to show you the message of the Book. Specifically, I want to clearly demonstrate the fact that the message of each Book in the Book of God is Christ and him crucified. I want you to see that Christ himself is "all the counsel of God."
We now begin looking at the prophetic books. We will, of course, begin with Isaiah's prophecy. As with other Books of Holy Scripture, the prophetic Books of the Old Testament are not arranged in chronological order. Sixteen "holy men of God" were chosen to write "as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21). Their writings come at intervals covering a period of nearly 500 years.
Isaiah's name means "salvation of the Lord" or "the Lord will save." His prophecy is prominently placed at the beginning of the prophetic books. He is often called the prophet of redemption. Isaiah's message might be summarized by the word of the Lord given in the fourth verse of chapter forty-two. After calling upon us to behold his Servant, the Lord God declares by the prophet, "He shall not fail." The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as Jehovah's righteous Servant, shall not fail to fully and perfectly accomplish the work he came to do.He shall not fail to completely save all his people (Matthew 1:21).
The prophecies of Isaiah were delivered during the reigns of four kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (Isaiah 1:1). He spoke primarily to Judah prior to their exile. In the opening verse he stated that he was about to relate a vision he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem; that is to say, concerning the church and kingdom of God, represented by Judah and Jerusalem.
A Prophet
A prophet is one who receives a message from God and delivers it. The prophecy is God's revelation of his purpose to his people. As we read the prophetic Books, we must understand them in three ways.
1. The prophet's message was God's message to his people in their day.
2. The prophets of the Old Testament declared, infallibly, things God would do in time to come.
3. The prophet's message is intended for God's people in this day (in every age and place).
Isaiah's Vision
Let's begin this survey of Isaiah in chapter 6.
"In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me." (Isaiah 6:18)
With those words the prophet of God explains his own experience of grace and ours. When Christ is revealed in a sinner's heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, the very first thing experienced is a deep sense and heartfelt confession of his own depravity, sin, and helplessness. Then the sin-atoning blood of Christ is effectually applied to the heart by the power and grace of the Spirit through the preaching of the gospel, assuring the trembling, believing soul that his iniquity is purged and his sin is taken away by the blood of Christ.
Throughout this prophecy, Isaiah speaks as a man who has seen Christ in all the fullness of his redemptive, saving glory and grace. These sixty-six chapters are full of Christ. I cannot show you every picture of Christ in the Book of Isaiah in this brief study; but I do want to show you enough that every time you read these pages in the future, I want you to see Christ leaping through every line
The Preface
The first four chapters are really introductory. They might be looked upon as the preface to the book.
Chapter 1 shows us our need of a redeemer to make us holy and acceptable to God. Isaiah begins his prophecy with a declaration of our utter depravity and corruption and the total impossibility of self salvation (verses 217). In the ninth verse, he declares that there is an elect remnant who must and shall be saved. In verse eighteen sinners are called to the obedience of faith in Christ. Then we are assured of the certainty and efficacy of Christ's redeeming, saving work in verses 2527."Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness."
In chapter 2 Isaiah tells us that the church and kingdom of God shall be established according to God's decree and that the word of grace would go out of Zion into all the world, calling God's elect out of every nation.
Chapter 3 gives us this blessed word of promise and assurance, "Say you to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings" (verse 10).
Chapter 4 declares that the result of all this shall be the exaltation and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and the everlasting perfection and righteousness of God's elect.
"In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and lovely for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that he who is left in Zion, and he who remains in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning." (Isaiah 4:24)
Now, let's look at some of the delightful, instructive pictures and descriptions God the Holy Spirit gives us by the pen of his servant Isaiah.
Pictures of Christ
The prophet calls our dear Savior, the Beloved, the Well-beloved."Now will I sing to my Well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My Well-beloved has a vineyard in a very fruitful hill" (5:1). What a suitable title for the Son of God. He is indeed our Well-beloved! Our beloved Savior is the Lord, sitting upon his throne, high and lifted up (6:1; John 12:3741).
In the seventh chapter the prophet of God describes our Savior as the virgin born incarnate God."Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (7:14).The incarnate Savior is described more fully in chapter nine."For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this" (9:67).
He who is the sanctuary of salvation to all who believe was long ago declared to be a Stone of Stumbling and a Rock of Offense to the self-righteous and unbelieving."And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken" (8:1415).
Isaiah declared Christ to be the Light of the world. He is the Light that shines in darkness, the Light of life, the One who is the Light of the glory of God. The only light there is in this dark, dark world is our Lord Jesus Christ."The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined" (9:2)."And he said, It is a light thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation unto the end of the earth" (49:6).
In chapter eleven our Lord is portrayed as the Root and Branch of David, the ensign to whom chosen sinners must be gathered, and that one by whom we have both the Spirit of God and the glorious rest of faith and salvation."And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth" (11:12, 10, 12).
Then we read that the Lord Jesus Christ is both our God and our Salvation, the Holy One of Israel in the midst of us."Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation Cry out and shout, you inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of you" (12:2, 6).
As I said before, I cannot possibly go over all the pictures of Christ given by Isaiah. In chapters 1321 our Redeemer is set before us as the Breaker of Babylonthe Lord of Luciferthe Master of Moabthe Destroyer of Damascusthe Executioner of Egypt, andthe Watchman's Judge.
Let's move on to chapter 22. Still we can only pick up the highlights as we move along. Here the prophet of God describes Christ as the sovereign King of the universe. His rule and dominion, to those who know him, is as a nail in a sure place. Because he has earned and fully deserves it, he has all the glory of his Father's house."And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons" (22:2224).
The Lord Jesus is the Crown of Glory and the everlasting Beauty of his people."In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people" (28:5). Again in chapter 28, the prophet declares that our Savior is the Foundation Stone laid in Zion (28:1418). He is a tried Foundation, a precious Foundation, and a sure Foundation. He who believes on the Son of God, he who is built upon this Foundation shall not make haste, be in confusion, be confounded, or be put to shame.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the only safe Refuge and sure Hiding Place for our souls."Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land" (32:12).
Christ is the Giver of all grace. He is that one in whom chosen, redeemed sinners are made to see and experience the glory and excellence of our God (35:47). He is the way, the only way to God."And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (35:810). Christ is the high way, the holy way, the safe way, the way of the redeemed, the joyful way, and the only way (John 14:6).
Christ is the Good Shepherd who rules and disposes of the world for the salvation of his sheep."He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young" (40:11).
The Son of God is our great Redeemer. He says, "Fear not, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel; I will help you, says the LORD, and your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel" (41:14). Our Redeemer is Jehovah's Servant, chosen to be our Savior, a Servant who "shall not fail!""Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, until he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law" (42:14). He is that Servant of whom the law of the bond slave (Exodus 21:16) was typical and by whom it was fulfilled (Isaiah 50:57). He who is Jehovah's unfailing, successful Servant, our Redeemer, is also our ever-present Lord Protector (43:15).
Jesus Christ is the just God, our Savior, to whom alone we must look for salvation."Tell you, and bring them near; yes, let them take counsel together: who has declared this from ancient time? who has told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be you saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else" (45:2122).
The Son of God is our great sin-atoning Substitute, by whose stripes we are healed (53:411).
Our Lord Jesus Christ is that one who makes all things new."For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying" (65:1719).
He began making all things new when he accomplished redemption and poured out his Spirit upon all flesh (Isaiah 43:1821). He is presently making all things new for poor sinners by his grace (2 Corinthians 5:17). Soon, he shall come again to complete his new creation (Revelation 21:17; 2 Peter 3:914).
Chapter 24
JEREMIAH
"Israel has not been forsaken of his God."
Suppose some preacher today stood in his pulpit week after week and asserted relentlessly that God had set his face against the United States of America, that he was raising up an army in a foreign land, under the command of a barbaric dictator, to conquer this great nation and make us servants to a massive empire. Suppose the preacher asserted boldly that our Constitution and our nation were an abomination to God, that everything we value and uphold as a society is offensive to him.
Then, suppose that preacher were to go from place to place and publicly urge all Americans not to resist the will of the enemy, but to renounce the homeland and willingly move into that foreign land and bow as servants to that cruel tyrant! It would be surprising to none to see that preacher publicly humiliated, ridiculed, spit upon, and even imprisoned.Would it? But he is one of those crack-pots who just will not shut up. While in prison, shut-up in the hole in solitary confinement, he not only refuses to retract a word, but also manages to find a way to write his message in a book and have the book read in every church in the land.
If you can imagine such a thing, you will have a pretty good idea what the Book of Jeremiah is about. Only, Jeremiah was no crack-pot preacher. He was the prophet of God in the land of Israel in his day, the voice of God to the nation. He was, in my opinion, the boldest, most courageous, most valiant man for truth in history. No preacher ever faced more opposition and discouragement, with less to give him encouragement, than God's prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah
Jeremiah began preaching as a very young man during the days of Josiah. He was God's spokesman, God's prophet to the nation, through the reigns of four more kings, until the Jews were carried away into Babylon by the will of God. He faithfully served the Lord our God and his generation by the will of God for more than forty years; and he did so in the face of relentless and almost universal opposition.
He wept much. His heart was in constant, great heaviness because of the iniquity and relentless rebellion of his people, and because of the impending judgment of God upon the nation he loved. Yet, he never flinched from his duty. He never failed to declare the Word God put into his mouth. Imprisoned repeatedly, put into stocks (20:2), lowered by ropes into a miry dungeon (38:6), mocked, derided (20:7), a man of strife and contention to the whole world (25:10), accused of treachery to his country (38:4), opposed by false prophets (23, 28), confronted by angry mobs of religious people (prophets and priests included) who wanted to kill him (26), carried against his will into Egypt (43:7), under all these circumstances Jeremiah was relentless in obedience, seeking the glory of God, delivering the Word of God, serving the people of God from the day of his calling until the day of his death.
He faithfully exposed Israel's sins, called them to repentance, and warned them of judgment, asserting that the wrath coming upon them was fully deserved. Yet, he never ceased declaring the goodness and mercy of God. Even as he denounced Israel's wickedness and prophesied of the nation's utter destruction, he declared the immutable faithfulness of God to his people. He even declared that the very judgment of God upon the nation was for the specific purpose of saving his own elect within the nation (51:45; 50:3334).
The Times
We cannot appreciate the labor or faithfulness of any man unless we understand the times in which that man lived and served the Lord. Never was apostasy pursued more eagerly and fully by men and women who professed to worship the Lord our God than in Jeremiah's day.
Manasseh, Josiah's wicked grandfather, led the nation into such vile idolatry that they never really recovered from it. Josiah's reforms were little more than a band-aid covering a deep cancer. They only touched the surface and were but for a brief time. After Josiah's death, the nation sank back into the worst forms of idolatry and into every kind of iniquity. The whole nation was on the downward spiral of apostasy. Jeremiah's mission was to call the people back to God. But judgment was at hand.
God raised up Nebuchadnezzar to execute his wrath upon Judah. He gave him universal dominion. He even called him, "My servant" (25:9; 27:6; 43:10). Nebuchadnezzar was the unwitting servant of the sovereign Lord God in all that he did. It was because God revealed this to Jeremiah that we find him advocating submission to Nebuchadnezzar, and it was for this that his people accused him of treachery. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah was given his choice, whether he would go to Babylon or remain with the remnant that were left in the land. He chose the latter. Days of darkness followed. Jeremiah exhorted his people to obey the voice of the Lord and remain in the land, and not flee into Egypt. But they refused to obey, and they carried Jeremiah with them into Egypt, where, tradition says, he was stoned to death.
Jeremiah's Message
That is the story of this Book; but what is its message? What does God the Holy Spirit intend for you and me to learn from this Book as we read it? How does this ancient word of prophecy apply to us? Obviously, I cannot, in one brief summary, set forth everything that Jeremiah prophesied in forty years. But there are some things that are crystal clear.
Christ
Jeremiah's message was not gloom and doom, as most seem to think. His message was mercy and grace, salvation by God's free grace, through the sacrifice of his dear Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jeremiah himself was a type of Christ. This fact is so obvious that some mistook Christ, the Man of Sorrows, for Jeremiah the weeping, broken-hearted prophet (Matthew 16:14). He wept over his people as Christ wept over them (9:1). His faithfulness brought him reproach, rejection, sorrow, and suffering as it did our Lord. He compares himself to a lamb or an ox brought to the slaughter (11:19).
Throughout this Book we see glimpses of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ:As the Fountain of Living Waters (2:13)As the Great Physician (8:22)As the Good Shepherd (31:10, 23:4)As the Righteous Branch (23:5)As David the King (30:9)As our Redeemer (50:34)And as the Lord our Righteousness (23:6).
At the very time that David's throne appeared to be on the brink of destruction, and justice and equity were gone, the prophet announced the coming of a King of the House of David, a righteous Branch, who should reign and prosper, and execute judgment and justice in the earth. "In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." In this majestic name (JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU) the Godhead of our Savior is declared, and, as a descendant of David, his humanity.
In chapter 31 the prophet of God even speaks of the incarnation of Christ for the everlasting blessedness of his people (31:2026). With the coming of our incarnate God, the Lord declares that he will establish and fulfill a new covenant, a covenant of pure, free grace (31:3134).
This new covenant is called "new" because it is newly revealed and because it is ever new. But the covenant is the everlasting covenant of grace made with Christ as our Surety, ordered in all things and sure from eternity (2 Samuel 23:15; Hebrews 8, 10). In this covenant the absolute forgiveness, everlasting righteousness, and complete salvation of God's elect (the Israel of God) was secured from eternity (Romans 8:2830; Ephesians 1:36; 2 Timothy 1:910). This covenant was made for us because of God's everlasting love for his people (Jeremiah 31:3). And in this covenant even the absolute security and perseverance of God's elect in grace is secured (Jeremiah 32:3741).
Still, all the blessings of grace promised in the covenant could never come to fruition except the Lord Jesus Christ perform his great work of redemption for us as our divinely appointed Kinsman-Redeemer. In chapter 32 (verses 615) Jeremiah typified Christ as our Kinsman Redeemer, exercising the right of redemption to buy back the field his uncle had lost; thereby displaying his confidence that that which God had promised his people would not and could not be lost, though the nation itself would be destroyed and carried away to Babylon.
A Prophet
Christ is the message of Jeremiah. The prophet of God is declaring the absolute certainty of grace and salvation to a chosen nation, the royal priesthood, the church of God's elect, through the Lord our Righteousness. And there is much to learn in this message.
In chapter 1 we see how a man becomes a prophet and what a prophet is (verses 59, 179). No man can be a spokesman for God who has not been set apart by God himself for the work. The Lord God puts his words in the mouth of his servant, sends him forth with his message, emboldened by the fact that God who sends him will take care of him.
Judgment
Chapters 225 show us the cause of divine judgment. Judgment is never an arbitrary thing. It is always the just response of God to man's rebellion and sin. Blame goes first to the people who rebelled against the Lord. But they were led in rebellion by their kings. And the people and the kings were taught to rebel by their pastors, prophets, and priests.
Living In Babylon
Here is how we are to live in this world, in this generation under the wrath of God."Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; Build you houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Take you wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall you have peace" (29:47).
Here is the hope God sets before his elect remnant."For thus says the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall you call upon me, and you shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And you shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, says the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive" (29:1014).
Providence
The mystery of God's providence is unfolded in chapters 3033. God has not forsaken his people. He is saving them (30:16). He is fulfilling his covenant (chapters 3133)."Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name with which she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness" (33:1416).
The Nations
Chapters 3449 describe the Lord's dealing with the nations that despise him, to consume them in his wrath. In chapters 5052 we see the mystery of Babylon unraveled wondrously. The nations of this world rise and fall exactly according to the purpose of God. Though they may appear terrifying, there is no cause for alarm. They will only serve God's purpose, the salvation of his elect. That which is true of the nations of the world is also true of the religion of the nations. Babylon, the great whore of the earth (Babylon represents all antichrist religion all free will, works religion.) shall only harm the nations deceived by her. She, too, shall fall before Zion, the church and kingdom of our God (Revelation 18:2024). It may, at times, appear that God has forsaken his elect, that he has forgotten to be gracious, but that is never the case."For Israel has not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel" (51:5).
Gospel Doctrine
There are tremendous points of gospel doctrine clearly presented in the Book of Jeremiah. The only thing in which we can and must trust is the Lord our God himself. He alone must be our glory, our confidence, and our hope (9:2324)."Blessed is the man that trusts in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is" (17:7). Yet, because all men are, by nature, totally depraved, wicked at the very core of their beings (17:9), no one ever can or will know and trust the Lord God except God himself make himself known to them and do a work of grace in them, turning them unto himself in faith by omnipotent grace. Therefore, the prophet teaches us to pray, "Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved." All who find him gracious will glory in him, gladly confessing, "You are my praise" (17:14). Yes, all saved sinners delight to acknowledge that, "Salvation is of the LORD!" All to whom the Lord God grants repentance readily confess, "Surely, after that I was turned, I repented, and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth" (31:19).
In Jeremiah 50:20 we are given a marvelous declaration of the absolute, full, and everlasting forgiveness of our sin by our God."In those days, and in that time, says the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve." Let every believing sinner rejoice! God himself, who charged our sins to his Son and punished him in our room and stead to the full satisfaction of justice, will never charge our sins to us.
Why has God chosen to be gracious to some and not others? Why does God save some and pass by others? The answer can only be found in one placeHis own sovereign will and good pleasure. He has mercy on whom he will have mercy. He has compassion on whom he will have compassion. And whom he will he hardens. This is precisely the interpretation God the Holy Spirit gives (Romans 9:1524) to God's instruction to Jeremiah in the potter's house (18:117).
Chapter 25
LAMENTATIONS
God's Strange Work Explained
When I was a nineteen year old boy, the Lord graciously caused a faithful gospel preacher to cross my path, who became a lifelong friend and a man of tremendous influence in my life. Bro. Harry Graham was already a fairly old man when I met him. He had pastored a small church in Ashboro, NC for most of his adult life. My wife, Shelby, and I spent many evenings in his home, with his wife, Nola, in sweet fellowship. I was never in Bro. Graham's company that I did not learn something that helped me. How much I learned from that faithful man! What a blessing he was, and continues to be, to my life.
One night, as I sat at his feet on his hearth, just before leaving, Harry made this statement to me, "When God deals with a sinner in mercy, he takes him to Hell first."
That is a pretty good summary of the Book of Lamentations. In this little Book of masterful poetry, the Lord God explains to us, in a vivid picture, why he sends judgment upon men, specifically why he afflicts his own elect. It is because of his everlasting, unfailing compassion upon them and the multitude of his mercies toward them (Lamentations 3:3133).
Overview
As I just stated, this short Book of five chapters is a masterful piece of poetry. It is written almost entirely in an acrostic, like Psalm 119. Chapters 1, 2, and 4 each contain 22 verses. Each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, going through the entire alphabet. Chapter 3 contains 66 verses. In that chapter, every third verse begins with a letter from the Hebrew alphabet, going through the entire alphabet.
As the title (Lamentations) indicates, this is a book full of grief and sorrow, grief and sorrow caused by God's judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem. The judgment Jeremiah had faithfully warned the nation of had now come to pass. The Babylonians had invaded the land, destroyed Jerusalem, and carried Israel away into captivity.
There was only a small remnant left in the city of Jerusalem. Jeremiah was among that remnant. The Book opens with the weeping prophet weeping over the city and people he dearly loved, for whom he had labored faithfully all his life, as he beheld the ruins of the city. The Book begins with a burst of anguish and sorrow (1:13).
"How does the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! She weeps sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she has none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies. Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwells among the heathen, she finds no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits."
Jeremiah seems to have been on one of the hills overlooking the city. There he sat down and wept, and lamented over Jerusalem, mourning the fall of his country and the city. The desolation of the city by the Babylonian army is described by Jeremiah in his Book of Lamentations with all the vividness of an eye-witness.
Christ
Six hundred years later we see that Prophet of whom all the prophets spoke, the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, upon the slopes of the Mount of Olives. The sight of that proud, rebellious city, doomed by their own obstinate rebellion brought such a mighty rush of compassion to the soul of our Savior that he wept aloud. The Man of Sorrows cried, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets, and stone them which are sent unto you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate" (Matthew 23:3738).
It is obvious, then, at the outset, that the weeping prophet was a type of our weeping Savior. There are pictures of Christ scattered throughout these five chapters. Both Jeremiah in his sorrow and Jerusalem under the wrath of God portray our Redeemer.
"Is it nothing to you, all you that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, with which the LORD has afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger" (1:12). These words cannot be applied in their fullest meaning to anyone except our great Savior when he hung upon the cursed tree, suffering all the horror of God's offended justice because of our sins imputed to him.
"All that pass by clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth? All your enemies have opened their mouth against you: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it." (2:1516). Certainly, this describes the affliction Jerusalem endured. But Jerusalem's sorrows were typical of Immanuel's sorrows (Matthew 27:39).
"Also when I cry and shout, he shuts out my prayer" (3:8) When we read those words, do they not immediately cause us to think of our Savior crying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46), as he endured the wrath of God for us?
"I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day" (3:14 cf Psalm 69:12). "He has filled me with bitterness, he has made me drunken with wormwood Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall" (3:15, 19 cf Psalm 69:21).
"He gives his cheek to him that smites him: he is filled full with reproach" (3:30 cf Psalm 69:20). These verses clearly speak of our Savior. The language reminds us of Isaiah's prophetic words, "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting" (Isaiah 50:6). This was prophetic of the soldiers beating our Redeemer when he was brought before Pilate for judgment.
So this little book of Lamentations captures the agony and sorrow that was so much a part of our Lord's ministry throughout his life, particularly when he was made to be sin for us and suffered all the horror of God's infinite wrath as our Substitute at Calvary. Our Redeemer earned the title"A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Is. 53:3).
Substitution
If you read these chapters with care, you cannot avoid seeing that Jeremiah assumed the sins of his people as his own sins and spoke of God's judgment as that which had fallen upon him for sin. As it was with Jeremiah in the typical picture, it was with our Savior in reality. Our all-glorious Christ, as our sin-atoning Substitute, was made to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was cursed that we might be blessed (Galatians 3:13). He died for us, the Just for the unjust, that we might be made just and live forever.
Divine Judgment
Throughout these five chapters, we are taught that judgment is the work of God, the righteous retribution of God upon men because of willful rebellion and sin. And we are taught that all for whom the Lord God has reserved mercy are made to acknowledge that God's righteous judgments are just thatrighteous and just.
Chapter 1In the first part of chapter 1 Jeremiah speaks of Jerusalem as a woman bereft of her husband and children. In the second part Zion speaks, and bewails her misery, identifying himself with the people, their sins, and the judgment they had earned. She acknowledges that her punishment is from the Lord, and confesses, "The Lord is righteous; I have rebelled" (1:18).
Chapter 2In chapter 2 the prophet gives a remarkable description of Jerusalem's ruin. No less than 48 times in these 22 verses, Jeremiah declares that all the things Judah suffered was God's work.
Chapter 3In chapter 3 Jeremiah again ascribes the judgments that befell the city as the work of God. Twenty-two times he asserts that fact. Again, he makes the miseries of the people his own. Out of the midst of the misery he stays himself upon the Lord's faithfulness and his unfailing compassion, and asserts unhesitatingly that, "He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men" (3:33).
Chapter 4In the fourth chapter God's fearful judgments are again described. "The Lord has accomplished his fury" (4:11)
Chapter 5In the fifth chapter it is not the prophet who speaks, not the substitute, but the people. Here we see what happens when the Lord God brings sinners to repentance. He brings his elect down to Hell that he might cause them to cry to him for mercy, confessing their guilt and sin, before the holy, sovereign Lord God (5:1, 1517, 19, 2122).
The Message
The message of this Book is given in chapter 3. Remember, the judgments described here did not fall upon the Philistines, the Ammonites, or the Moabites. The people here severely afflicted and brought into terrible bondage were the children of Israel, God's covenant people. They were brought down that they might be brought up. They were abased that they might be exalted. They were laid low that they might be lifted up. In all things that physical nation, the physical seed of Abraham, was representative and typical of God's elect, the spiritual seed of Abraham, the Israel of God.
Here is our hope."This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, says my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeks him" (3:2125).
Here is God's counsel."It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He sits alone and keeps silence, because he has borne it upon him. He puts his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. He gives his cheek to him that smites him: he is filled full with reproach" (3:2630).
Here is the explanation of God's strange work.Has the Lord God brought you down to Hell? Has he set his holy wrath in your heart? Has he made you to see that you are a child of wrath, deserving eternal damnation in Hell? Has he convinced you that if you should right now fall into everlasting torment, that is exactly what you deserve? If so, hear what God's prophet says in Lamentations 3:3133. This was written in the Book of God for you."For the Lord will not cast off forever: But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men."
Salvation is obtained by simple, childlike faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But any faith that does not arise from a felt need of Christ and is not accompanied by a genuine conviction of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment is not true faith (John 16:811). Where there is no conviction, there is no conversion. Where there is no misery, there is no mercy. Where there is no grief, there is no grace.
All who know the Lord God in the experience of his saving operations of grace freely acknowledge and frankly confess that God is strictly righteous in the exercise of his grace and truly gracious in his righteous judgments (Psalm 32:14; 51:15). These are the things that Jeremiah learned by deep, painful experience and recorded in this third chapter of Lamentations for our learning and comfort. Before God shows mercy, he causes grief; and both works of grace, the grief that precedes it and the mercy that follows, are according to God's sovereign, eternal purpose.
Grief
"Though he cause grief"That may seem strange; but Jeremiah declares that it is the Lord God who causes grief. He acknowledged the fact that the Lord our God is the first cause of all things. He performs all things for his people. He works all things together for good to his elect. The doctrine of God's universal providence is not some secret doctrine, hidden in the obscure pages of one of the Minor Prophets. It is a doctrine taught and illustrated throughout the Bible. It is obvious in the history of every child of grace and the confession of every sinner who is taught of God.
When you read this third chapter of Lamentations, you understand that Jeremiah was a man who had experienced terrible grief in his soul; but, being a man of God-given faith, he understood and acknowledged that the cause of all his grief was the Lord his God"Though he cause grief."
The prophet of God acknowledged God in all his ways and owned him as the origin of all things. Twenty-two times, referring to his woes in verses 117, he said, "God did it." When he was afflicted, he said it was by the rod of God's wrath (verse 1). When his soul was brought into bondage, he said God had hedged him about and put a chain upon him (verse 7). When he was overwhelmed with grief, he said, He "has pulled me in pieces" (verses 819). When he was, by these things brought to utter hopelessness in himself, he found hope in the Lord God (verses 2131).
Blessed are those sinners who have been brought down to utter hopelessness in themselves that they might find hope in the Lord God. The basis of hope is the Lord God himself (verses 2125)His abundant merciesHis unfailing compassionsHis great faithfulnessHis infinite fullness (verse 24)His saving goodness. The only thing an utterly helpless, hopeless sinner can do for God's salvation is wait (verse 26). The place where a sinner ought to wait and must wait for God's salvation is in the dust of repentance before the throne of grace (verses 2731). We must bear the yoke of guilt in conviction (verse 27), personally doing business with the Almighty (verse 28). In repentance, we make our headquarters in the dust (verse 29), justifying God in our own condemnation (verse 30), looking to God in Christ for mercy (verse 31), crying like the publican in the parable, "God, be merciful to me the sinner!"
This is what Jeremiah is teaching us. It cannot be explained to people who have not experienced it. But this is the experience of every Heaven born soul. There is a felt darkness and confusion in the soul when God convinces a sinner of his personal vileness and hell-worthiness. This is the grief Jeremiah is talking about. It is a spiritual grief caused in the soul by God himself.
We recognize that every event of providence that brings grief is God's work. He brings the cloud over the earth as well as the sunshine. If we never saw a cloud in the sky, we could never see the bow of his covenant (Genesis 9:14). He makes peace and creates evil in the earth (Isaiah 45:7).
The eye of faith also sees that spiritual grief and sorrow are the works of God's hands. God's holy displeasure with sin is seen everywhere. It must be experienced and acknowledged. When Adam sinned in the garden, God made him feel his hot displeasure (Genesis 3:1719). When God gave his law at Sinai, the thunder and the darkness, and the trembling made known his displeasure with sin in a way that Israel felt it and heard it. And when God comes to a sinner in saving operations of grace, the very first thing he does is make that sinner know his displeasure. God will never give grace where he does not cause grief (John 16:812). As Thomas Bradbury put it, "When sin is not felt and hated, salvation will never be enjoyed. Where wrath has not been dreaded, love will not be experienced. The heart that is a stranger to misery must be a foreigner to mercy." That is what the Lord used Bro. Harry Graham to teach me."When God deals with a sinner in mercy, he takes him to Hell first."
This is God's strange work. He causes grief so that he may bestow grace. He created "the waster to destroy" (Isaiah 54:16) all earthly, creature comfort to bring us down to Hell (Psalm 107), so that we might look to the crucified Christ and find all comfort for our souls in him alone. As Eliphaz said to Job, "Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects: therefore despise not you the chastening of the Almighty: For he makes sore, and binds up: he wounds, and his hands make whole" (Job 5:1718). Those who are grieved by God, God alone can gladden. Do what it will, the world cannot comfort when God convicts. "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."
Compassion
"Though he cause grief, yet, will he have compassion." How sweet! How blessed! "Though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion!" He who wounds us will heal us. God, who makes us to know and feel our ruin, will also make us to know his remedy for our ruin in Christ. "He will have compassion!"
What is compassion? It is co-passion. It is sympathy with the sufferings and sorrows of others. It is exhibited in making one's self a companion with sufferers and mourners. The unfailing compassions of the Triune God are made known to sinners in the gospel (Ephesians 1:314). The Father's election, the Son's redemption, and the Spirit's operations of grace reveal our God's compassion upon his people.
When Hell gaped for me as its coveted prey, when Satan roared against my soul until my very heart quaked and trembled, God almighty in sovereign grace interposed himself. He stepped in between my soul and Hell. And, instead of pouring out upon me the wrath that I know I fully deserved, he showed me that he had spent his wrath against me upon his dear Son, and embraced me in the arms of his everlasting love! (Ephesians 2:14).
Nothing moves God to compassion but his own purpose of grace and the sovereign inclination of his own love (Psalm 86:15; Romans 9:1118). Because of his own, everlasting, sovereign love towards chosen sinners, the Lord God sends his messengers of compassion to them (2 Chronicles 36:15). He sent his Son to reveal it (1 John 3:16; 4:10). He sends his servants to proclaim it (Isaiah 40:12). And he sends his Spirit to convince us of it (John 16:8).
Who can read the inspired biographies of the earthly life of the incarnate God, and doubt his compassion toward sinful men? He had compassion upon fainting souls (Matthew 9:3536). He was moved to compassion when he saw the hungry multitude (Matthew 15:32). The blind eyes of poor sinners brought forth his compassion (Matthew 20:34). The cry of a poor leper brought forth the display of his compassion (Mark 1:4041). The sight of the widow of Nain going to bury her son brought out the compassion of God's Son for the sons of men (Luke 13:15). He is the Good Samaritan who has compassion upon poor sinners (Luke 10:3035). Our great God is full of compassion toward his sinning people (Psalm 78:38). Our great Savior is a compassionate High Priest (Hebrews 5:2). The Holy Spirit of grace is a Spirit of compassion. We know this because we are urged not to grieve him (Ephesians 4:30). For him to be grieved by us, he must have compassion upon us.
Mercies
He causes grief that he might have compassion "according to the multitude of his mercies." Did you ever notice how those words "according to" are used in the Scriptures to explain God's works of grace for and in his people? Divine predestination (Ephesians 1:11), all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:34), redemption and forgiveness (Ephesians 1:67), the supply of all our needs (Philippians 4:19), the grace to help (Ephesians 4:7), and all the work of God's good providence (Romans 8:28) are according to his designs of mercy. Everything God does or allows to be done is by design. He says, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isaiah 46:10). He purposes. He performs. He perfects. Hell itself and all its influences do no more than serve his purpose.
"Great is the mystery, truly great
That hell's designs should Hell defeat.
But here eternal wisdom shines,
For Satan works what God designs!"
That misery of sin that God brings by conviction is the forerunner of mercy, which God purposed to perform in eternity. Felt misery for sins we have committed is a hopeful sign that the mercy is near which God predestined.
Lot called God's mercy "magnified mercy" (Genesis 19:19). Nehemiah called it "manifold mercies" (Nehemiah 9:27). There is mercy in our God, mercy in which he delights, for sinners of every kind and climate. Jeremiah here calls it "multitudinous mercy." What a bountiful treasure of mercy there is in God! He is "rich in mercy" (Ephesians 2:4). "He delights in mercy" (Mic. 7:18). His mercies are eternal. His mercies are sure. His mercies are free. His mercies are daily renewed upon us. His mercies bring unfailing forgiveness. God's multiplied mercies remove our multiplied miseries. God's mercies are all in his Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter 26
EZEKIEL
"Waters To Swim In"
Ezekiel tells us in the opening verse of his prophecy, "the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God." He then proceeds to tell us how he saw visions of God and his glory. When he gets to the final section of his prophecy (chapter 43), a Man stood by him, whom he heard speaking out of the house of God, as the glory of God filled the house, the place of his throne. His voice was as the voice of many waters; and Ezekiel said, "the visions were like the vision I that saw by the river Chebar, and I fell upon my face" (43:3). Between the first vision and the last, he had seen visions of God in all his works. When he comes to the end of his prophecy and beholds the glory awaiting us, looking back over all God's wondrous works, he declares that the love of God for us in Christ is like "waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over" (47:15).
God's elect shall never pass over the river of his immutable, everlasting love. It is as immutable as it is free. It is as unquenchable as it is unpurchasable. God's elect cannot perish. Redeemed sinners cannot be damned. Once called by omnipotent mercy, saved sinners cannot be lost again. Every chosen, redeemed sinner, every sinner saved by God's almighty grace shall forever swim in the infinite length, infinite breadth, infinite depth and infinite height of the waters of his love!
God's Son
Any vision we have of God begins with the vision of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We can never see the glory of God anywhere until we have seen the glory of God in the face of Christ. That is where John's vision in Revelation began. That is where Ezekiel's vision begins (chapter 1). And that is where our vision must begin. We do not have to read far until we see this. First, the prophet tells us he saw "a great cloud and a fire infolding itself" (1:4). Then he saw our Lord personified in four living creatures (verses 514).
These living creatures (the same that Isaiah saw in Isaiah 6 and John saw in Revelation 4) are clearly representative of gospel preachers. But there is in them a beautiful, instructive, clear picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, too. Ezekiel saw the cherubim who "had the likeness of a man" (verse 5). Each had four faces: the face of a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle. Wherever cherubim are mentioned in the Bible, they are either guarding or declaring the holiness of God. And where but in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ is the holiness of God more fully displayed and declared?
He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the King who has the right to reign (Genesis 49:10). Like the beast of service, the ox, he is the Servant of Jehovah. He said that he did not come to be ministered to, but to serve, and to "give His life a ransom for many" (Mat 20:28). He is a Man, the Word made flesh, dwelling among us (John 1:14). He is, therefore, the perfect man.
Beyond that, He soars higher than any other, and like the eagle, He looks directly into the face of God with unblinking eye. This is because He is more than perfect man.He is God manifest in the flesh. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).
Ezekiel's vision of the Lord prepared him for his ministry, as a living creature sent to proclaim God's Word to perishing sinners. Throughout the Book, this phrase appears repeatedly, "the word of the Lord came unto me." This was his authority, and its recurrence may form the divisions of the book. Another phrase that occurs frequently is, "they shall know that I am Jehovah."
Then, he saw Christ on his throne, the exalted King of kings and Lord of lords, ruling over all things, just as Isaiah did before him and as John did after him. The "Man" upon the throne (1:26) can be none other than the only-begotten Son, the representative of the invisible God. We recognize in this vision the prophetic announcement of our Lord's incarnation. The details of the vision seen by the captive on the banks of the Chebar correspond minutely with the details of the vision of the captive in the isle called Patmos.
Over eighty points of similarity may be found between the two books of Ezekiel and Revelation. As there is no doubt who is designated by John, we cannot but recognize in the vision of Ezekiel the glory of God in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Both Ezekiel and John saw "a throne set in Heaven, and One sat on the throne" (1:26; 4:2).
They both saw the rainbow, the token of the covenant. They both saw the "terrible crystal" of the purity of God's presence, which nothing can evade. To Ezekiel it appeared as a firmament; to John as a sea of glass (1:22; Revelation 4:6).
They both had a vision of burning lamps of the fire of God's Spirit, and of the four living creatures, whose sound was as the sound of many waters (1:24; Revelation 19:46).
To both was given, by the One encircled by the rainbow, the roll of a book, which he was commanded to eat, and then go and prophesy (Ezekiel 1:28; 2:1, 810, 3:14; Revelation 10:1, 2, 811).
"This," said Ezekiel, "was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD" (1:28). When we read of the "glory of the Lord" in this Book, we see in it the manifested presence of God as revealed in the eternal Son, who, in the fullness of time, "became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father."
The sight of Christ upon the cross, satisfying the justice of God as our Substitute, and Christ on the throne, as the sovereign Lord accepted in Heaven, that brings us salvation. Then it was, Ezekiel says, that the Spirit entered into him, and that then he heard him that spoke unto him.
Ezekiel himself portrayed and typified our Savior. In chapter 4 the Lord God gave Ezekiel his message. He sent his prophet to the nation to warn them of wrath and impending judgment. But, in the midst of the warning, he gave a picture of hope.Ezekiel was required to lie on his side, first on his left for 390 days and then on his right for 40 days. Each of the 390 days represent the 390 years of Israel's open rebellion and turning to idolatry in setting up the calves at Dan and Bethel. The 40 days on his right side represent the 40 years of idolatry under Manasseh's wicked, idolatrous reign in Judah.Ezekiel was required to lie on his side as one man bearing the sins of many, and bearing them to the full extent of their just punishment (verse 4). That is exactly what the Lord Jesus did for his people (2 Corinthians 5:21).
In chapters 4, 5, and 6 the prophet declares that God must and will punish sin. Sin must be punished, either in you, or in a Substitute, in a suitable man whom God himself shall send. When we get to the 8th verse of chapter six, the Lord in wrath remembers mercy and promises that some shall indeed escape his wrath through the sacrifice of that Substitute.
V. 8A remnant shall escape.
V. 9They shall remember me.
V. 9They shall acknowledge their sin.
V. 9They shall loathe themselves.
V. 10"They shall know that I am the LORD!"
These promises find their ultimate accomplishment in the salvation of God's elect by Christ Jesus, the Lord.
God's Providence
When Ezekiel saw the glory of God upon the mercy-seat, (in the face of Christin his Sacrifice) he saw that the God of Glory is a God of absolute, unalterable purpose. In chapters 110 he describes the vision of wheels the Lord gave him, which was a vision of God's marvelous works of providence. God's providence is like a great piece of machinery, wheels within a wheel (1:1525). It appears to have many parts, but it is really one (1:16). It always moves in a straight line, according to God's unalterable, eternal purpose of grace in predestination (Romans 8:2830). It is the work of God's throne, and that Man who sits upon it, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior (1:26), according to the covenant made on behalf of chosen sinners before the world began (1:28). Ezekiel was overwhelmed by his vision. He says, "This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD! And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one that spoke" (verse 28). He was utterly withered before the glory of God and fell as one dead!
God's Grace
In chapter 2 the prophet seems to be describing his own experience of grace. He was raised, as it were, from the dead."And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon your feet, and I will speak unto you. And the spirit entered into me when he spoke unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spoke unto me" (verses 12).
Then, the Lord God made him a prophet and sent him to a rebellious people (verses 310). He saw a hand (verse 9), the same hand John saw (Revelation 5), the hand of the Lamb of God, the Man sitting on the throne:a hand to help hima hand to guide hima hand to protect himan omnipotent handa pierced hand.
He saw a book (verse 10), the same one John saw, the book of God's eternal purpose! But God is not done teaching him yet. Look at chapter 3. God required him to eat the book (verses 13). God demands reconciliation. He demands that we bow to his purpose. But we never will. So he did not just tell Ezekiel to eat the bookHe made him eat it (verse 2). And when he had eaten it, it was as sweet as honey (verse 3).Here's a prophet.He is a man made strong by God (verse 8).He is a man who receives all God's Word into his heart (verse 10).He is a man moved, motivated by and consumed with the glory of God (verse 12).He is a man with a burdened, broken heart (verses 1415).He is a man God has made to be a watchman over the souls of men (verse 16).He is a man shut up to the will and glory of the Lord his God (verses 2227).
This same grace is portrayed in the pictures drawn of the deserted, castaway, polluted infant in chapter 16 and the valley of dry bones in chapter 37.
God's Judgment
In chapters 7 and 8 the Lord God showed his prophet the end of the matter, the judgment that must come. That which is here spoken to Israel and Judah reaches beyond those rebellious people. It reaches to all the world. The judgment here described speaks of the end of all things, the end of the world. Read the chapters (710) carefully. Here four unmistakable facts about the judgment of God are obvious.
1. The judgment of God is always just.God swore to pour out his wrath upon this people because they went a-whoring after other godsworshiped Tammuz and the sun in the house of God (8:1718). No one goes to Hell for what Adam did in the garden. "The soul that sins, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18). Men and women go to Hell because they have personally earned the everlasting wrath of God by their own treasonous rebellion against the King of Glory. Eternal damnation, the judgment of God is that which men and women have willfully brought upon themselves.This will be the very Hell of Hell. The damned will know that they fully deserve all that they suffer. They will never be reconciled to it. But they will know that they deserve his just and holy wrath.
2. Judgment is preceded by a great separation of grace (verses 36).A man clothed with white linen (Christ), with an inkhorn in his hand, was sent to put a mark upon the foreheads of God's chosen remnant. He commands his angels to hurt not the earth until the 144,000 (God's elect) have been sealed in their foreheads (Revelation 7; 2 Peter 3:9). Noah must be in the ark before the rain falls. Lot must be in Zoar before Sodom is burned. God's elect must be called before judgment falls upon the earth.
3. Judgment will begin at the house of God."Begin at my sanctuary" (9:6)."Judgment must begin at the house of God!" Judgment begins with and is most furious against those who profess to believe God, but live in rebellion against him.
4. Judgment shall be executed by the hands of the Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, so obstinately despised by men (10:47).Up to this point Christ is seen upon the mercy-seat. He is the mercy-seat. But now, he is taken up from between the cherubs. In that great and terrible day, when God no longer deals with sinners in mercy, there will be no mercy!Hope is gone forever."The Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son!"Then shall men cry, "Hide us from the face of the Lamb!"
God's Covenant
All God's works, both in the judgment passed upon the nations and in the grace bestowed upon his elect, is but the outworking of his covenant of grace made for us with Christ our Surety before the world began (chapters 20 and 36). In saving us, in bringing us to Christ in faith, he brings us into the bond of the covenant (20:3334). When his work is completely finished, he will have saved us from all our impurity, exactly as he swore in covenant love before the world began for the glory of his own great name (36:2338).
God's Presence
When the Lord God has finished his work, when his house is complete, when all the tribes of the Israel of God are saved, when resurrection glory has commenced, then we will swim in the waters of his everlasting love, in his glorious presence forever. That is the scene in chapters 4048. The river flows out of the sanctuary. It was from the south side of the altar, pointing to the place of sacrifice as the source of blessing,"a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb," "a Lamb as it had been slain." The river rises to the ankles, to the knees, and to the loins here. There it becomes "waters to swim in, a river that I could not pass over." Our Savior came that we might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly. Here it is!
Christ the Giver of Life
Throughout the Book of Ezekiel we see Christ as the Giver of Life. The cherubim, in the vision of the first chapter, were illustrations of the abundant life of his redeemed. The Man clothed in linen, who is the Angel of the covenant, our Great High Priest, sets the mark of life upon God's faithful ones, that their lives should be spared in the destruction of the city (9:2). His first word to the out-cast infant, which represented you and me, who became "perfect through his loveliness" which he had put upon it, was, "Live" (16:6). His word through the watchman was, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked turn you, turn you, why will you die, O house of Israel?" (33:11). His care as a Shepherd is over the life of his sheep (34). He answered his own question, "Can these dry bones live?" with the words, "Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live" (37:3, 5). Finally, his promise is, "Everything shall live where the river comes."
"Son of Man"
Throughout the Book, God addresses Ezekiel as the "Son of man." It is part of his wondrous grace that he has chosen man to be his messenger to his fellow men, instead of choosing angels. The greatest exhibition of this grace is the fact that the Son of God became the son of Man to fit him to be God's messenger to us."For truly he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham," in all things made like unto his brethren, that he might be able to help and to save us.
The book closes with the promise of God's continual presence."The name of the city from that day shall be Jehovah-shammah, The Lord is there" (48:35). When God is with us and we are with him forever in that New Temple in the New Jerusalem, walking in the light of the City Foursquare, then God's work is done and both he and we shall enjoy his glory forever!
Chapter 27
DANIEL
God Rules
In the 4th chapter of Daniel we read of Nebuchadnezzar's troubling dream and the interpretation of it by God's servant, Daniel.
"This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king: That they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet you with the dew of Heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whoever he will. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; your kingdom shall be sure unto you, after that you shall have known that the heavens do rule" (4:2426).
Sooner or latter all men will learn what God taught Nebuchadnezzar."The Most High rules The heavens do rule." That is the message of the Book of DanielGod rules. In fact, that is what the name Daniel means"God rules." The sooner we learn that fact and the more fully we are convinced of it, the better.
What does the Lord God mean for us to understand by this? What does the Bible mean when it declares that God rules? It means exactly what Nebuchadnezzar confessed once he was converted (Daniel 4:3437).
"And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto Heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that lives forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he does according to his will in the army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What do you? At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me; and my counselors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of Heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase."
Once a person learns that "the Most High rules," he will gladly extol, honor, and worship him, as Nebuchadnezzar did. No one worships except those who worship at the feet of the Lord God almighty, the Most High, who rules the universe absolutely, always, in all places, in all things, exactly as he will. What could be more comforting to our souls?More cheering?More inspiring?More encouraging?
God Most High, who rules the universe, is God who can sustain his people in the midst of horribly evil times, as we see in Daniel 1:121. Our great God, from his lofty throne, gives kingdoms to men and takes them away at his pleasure, as he will, for the good of his own elect (2:37; 4:2833; 5:131). The God of glory, in whom we trust, intervenes in and sovereignly manipulates all the affairs of all creatures, according to his wise, unalterable purpose, for the salvation of his elect and the glory of his own great name. Providence is but the unfolding of his purpose by a constant succession of miracles. "He works signs and wonders in Heaven and in earth" (6:27).He causes pagan kings to dream dreams and uses pagan witch-doctors to fetch his prophet to the king.He uses a fiery furnace to establish his servants in the place where he is pleased to put them.He uses a den of lions to exalt his servant.
Daniel's Message
Yes, our great God shall establish his kingdom in this world, a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, using all the kingdoms of this world that seek to destroy his kingdom to establish it. And in the end his kingdom shall be the instrument in his hands by which the kingdoms of this world shall be crushed to pieces and annihilated. The book of Daniel is all about the establishing of his kingdom in this world upon the foundation of his own Son's blood atonement and the everlasting triumph and glory of Christ his Son in and by his kingdom of grace.
It is true that both the book of Daniel and its New Testament companion, the book of Revelation, speak about future things. These two books are remarkable in their symmetry and harmony. The book of Revelation explains the book of Daniel. The book of Daniel lays the foundation for the book of Revelation. It is also true that the book of Daniel is perfectly precise in its prophetic predictions. History has verified that fact indisputably. The seventy-weeks of Daniel 9, about which everyone has heard so much and understands so little, marked the exact time when our Savior would manifest himself in the world.
But this is much, much more than a book of prophecy. The Lord God raised up Daniel during the Babylonian captivity for a specific purpose, to fulfill a specific need, and to do a specific work. God raised up Daniel to turn the hearts of his people away from their woes to their Savior. He raised up Daniel to show them that he was still on his throne, that his kingdom was safe, and that no real harm would ever befall them. Daniel was inspired to give a prophetic picture of redemption by Christ, setting the exact time in which it would be accomplished. He showed that God's purpose of grace included chosen sinners from among the Gentiles; that his kingdom is a spiritual kingdom reaching throughout the world; a kingdom built upon the sin-atoning sacrifice, death, and resurrection glory of the Messiah, the Christ. He declared that the ultimate accomplishment of God's purpose (the destruction of his enemies, the salvation of his people, and the everlasting glory of his Son) would, in the very last day of time, be the resurrection of the dead (Daniel 12:13).
Daniel's message is a message of hope, encouragement, and consolation. Though wickedness ever increases, though opposition to our God, his Son, his gospel and his people grows with unabated rage, all is well. Our God is on his throne."The Most High rules The heavens do rule!" Our Savior is always triumphant, and we who are more than conquerors in him shall triumph at last over all things. The kingdom of our God cannot be destroyed. His church shall prevail. The gates of Hell shall never prevail over the bulwarks of Zion.
Christ and Antichrist
The Book of Daniel, as I have indicated, deals with nations and wars, specifically identifying the rise and fall of kings and kingdoms, all opposing our God, all opposing Christ and his kingdom, the church of God. But these nations and their kings shall fall before Christ our King. Daniel declares, as does the Book of Revelation, the sure and certain triumph of Christ over antichrist, the sure and certain triumph of God's church over Babylon, the full redemption and salvation of God's elect, and the everlasting glory of Christ.
In chapter 2 Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. In his dream Nebuchadnezzar saw the image of a man. The head was made of gold, the chest and arms of silver, the stomach and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet and toes of iron mixed with clay. As Nebuchadnezzar looked, a rock was cut out, not by human hands, and thrown at the image, striking its feet. This rock then grew into a huge mountain that filled the earth. The meaning of this vision is given in verse 44."And in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." There must be a series of kingdoms in the earth, ruled according to man's ways, idolatrous and ungodly. But, ultimately, God's kingdom shall reduce them all to dust and fill the whole earth. The kingdoms of this world must crumble; but the kingdom of God shall endure forever (Revelation 11:15).
The Other Visions
I do not want to over simplify the Book, but all the rest of the visions in Daniel elaborate on this. Two rulers and two kingdoms are constantly presented. There is a lawful Ruler, the Lord Jesus Christ our Mediator, to whom God himself has given and is giving authority, glory, and the kingdom (7:914).
"I beheld until the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke: I beheld even until the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of Heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."
The Ancient of Days is our God. The Son of Man is our all-glorious Christ, to whom he has given all dominion and glory. Daniel refers to Christ as the Prince of princes (8:25), the Anointed One (9:25), and Michael (12:1).
Then Daniel tells us of another ruler who must rise, a rebel ruler, who rises in the time of the end in vehement opposition to Christ (8:2325). This is the antichrist described in Revelation 13, not a single man, but the whole system of false religion represented by four different beasts. These beasts represent antichrist religion, all freewill, works religion, Satan masquerading as Jesus Christ.
"And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand."
God's elect, the heirs of his kingdom, bow to the rule of Christ (7:27). They will not accept the mark of the beast. They will not worship at Satan's altar. They will not worship at the altar of man's free will. They will not attempt to approach God upon an altar of works (Exodus 20:2526). All the rest of the world follows the beasts and are in league with Hell against Christ and his kingdom (8:23; 9:26). Sometimes they use peaceful, flattering words (11:21, 32, 34); but their opposition is undaunted.
References to the rebel ruler include the little horn that comes from the direction of the north (8:9), the stern-faced king (8:23), the "ruler who will come" (9:26), the ruler who sets up the abomination that causes desolation (9:27), the king of the north (11:31), and the king who exalts himself (11:36).
The conflict between these two rulers comes to a head in the time of the end, when the world as a whole passes the point of no return in its rebellion against the Son of God (8:23), causing great devastation. Perhaps this refers to that age when Satan is loosed for a little season (Revelation 20) to again deceive the nations. It certainly refers to this day in which we live.
"And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people" (8:2324).
The "daily sacrifice," or continual ministry of Christ and the perpetual efficacy of his atonement and intercession, by which the world is now preserved from judgment (Revelation 7:13), is taken away (8:1112; 11:31; 12:11). It is taken away by preachers, ministers of Satan, who transform themselves into the messengers of Christ and angels of light (2 Corinthians 11:1314). In its place is set up the abomination that causes desolation (9:27). Instead of preaching salvation by the righteousness of Christ, they preach salvation by a righteousness that men produce (2 Corinthians 11:15). In the time of the end, the saints of God will be severely persecuted, even to the point of death, and their power will be broken (8:24; 11:33; 12:7). That is to say, the religion of the beast shall be dominant in the earth for a divinely appointed time (2 Thessalonians 2:1112).
Antichrist takes his stand against Christ (8:25). But our Savior and King, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall rise to destroy the antichrist and his kingdom (Babylon shall fall!) and deliver the saints (8:25; 9:27; 12:1). All is well. When the Lord God, our Savior and King, has finished all things, God's elect shall forever triumph over Babylon (Revelation 19:16).
Christ in the Book of Daniel
The Lord Jesus Christ shines forth brilliantly in these twelve chapters. He is the Smiting Stone of Daniel 2:44, 45. God's Son is the One who shall come to destroy antichrist's dominion. It is He whose kingdom "shall stand forever."
Nebuchadnezzar looked into the fiery furnace and saw one like unto the Son of God (3:25). He did not know of whom he spoke; but this was, no doubt, a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus.
In chapter 6 the great dilemma which perplexed Darius is a beautiful illustration of the gospel. How could Darius both keep his law and deliver Daniel? Daniel must be cast into the lion's den, or the king's throne becomes meaningless. Yet, Daniel was delivered.How can God be just and the Justifier? The only way God can both maintain his absolute justice in punishing sin and yet justify his elect is by the substitutionary sacrifice of his own dear Son in the room and stead of his people (Romans 3:2426). In Christ, just as Daniel suffered the king's wrath, God's elect suffered all the wrath of God to the full satisfaction of justice, and are thereby delivered from it.
What a majestic scene in chapter 7! The Ancient of days, God the Father, is seated upon his throne. The time setting is immediately before the return of Christ. We read, "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of Heaven, and came to the Ancient of days " (7:13). The verses that follow are paralleled by the description of Christ in Revelation 5:17."And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (Dan 7:14, 15).
Daniel 9 foretells the death of Christ and the accomplishments of it."Seventy weeks are determined upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy" (9:24). Our blessed Savior has fulfilled the prophecy. He finished the transgression. He made an end of sins. He made reconciliation for iniquity. He brought in everlasting righteousness. He sealed up (fulfilled) the vision and prophecy. He is anointed of God, the most Holy.
Chapter 9 also gives us, by Daniel's example, a tremendous word of instruction about prayer. As we read Daniel's prayer, we learn how to pray. Prayer involves the confession of sin. It celebrates God's perfections. True prayer is based upon God's righteousness and seeks God's mercy. Like Daniel's, our supplications are answered before we make them (9:23). The answer is found in Christ, always in Christ, and in the revelation of God's grace and glory in him (9:2427).
A Question
The question might be asked, "Why does God put his people through such heavy, heavy trials?" One answer to that question is found in chapter 11 (verse 35). It is "to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.""For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you" (1 Cor 11:19). Our trials will do us no harm. (The fiery furnace only consumed the cords that bound Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.) Our trials are for a set time. Our trials will only make us better and Heaven more glorious (2 Corinthians 4:17; 1 Peter 1:7).
Chapter 28
HOSEA
"I will love them freely."
Hosea was a prophet contemporary with Isaiah, Amos, and Micah. He was a faithful prophet of God for 6570 years. He was God's messenger to the northern kingdom of Israel, only mentioning Judah (the southern kingdom) incidentally. This is important. You will remember that from the time that the kingdom was divided the northern kingdom was engulfed in idolatry (1 Kings 12:133). The practice of idolatry, as it always does, brought Israel into a state of utter decadence morally.
Hosea addresses Israel sometimes as Samaria, sometimes as Jacob, and sometimes as Ephraim, deliberately choosing names connected with failure, sin, rebellion, idolatry, and corruptions, calling for wrath and judgment. And Hosea speaks plainly about the wrath and judgment of God we deserve. But the message of Hosea is a message of immutable grace, unfailing mercy, and indestructible love. This is seen clearly in Hosea 14:4. Here the Lord God declares his purpose of grace toward his chosen, a purpose from which he cannot and will not be turned."I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him." We have a blessed portrayal of God's immutable love to chosen sinners in chapter 11.
"And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him. How shall I give you up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver you, Israel? how shall I make you as Admah? how shall I set you as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of you: and I will not enter into the city" (verses 79).
A Portrait of Grace
The Book of Hosea begins with the story of Hosea and Gomer. It describes Hosea's love for Gomer, her infidelity, her despising Gomer's love and goodness toward her, and the gracious triumph of his love over her. This sets the background for and tells us the meaning of the rest of the Book. What we have in the first three chapters of this Book is a tremendous, blessed portrait of God's free and sovereign grace toward chosen sinners in Christ.
Hosea, whose name means "savior," is presented in this story as a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was commanded of God to go down to the red light district and take a wife from among the harlots."The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto you a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land has committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD" (1:2).
He chose Gomer, whose name means "consumption." That is a picture of God's elect by nature, consumed with sin and consumed by sin. Gomer was the daughter of Diblaim, whose name means "dried" or "dead." Like Gomer, we are the dead children of a dead father. But Gomer also means "consummation." That pictures us, too. As Gomer was the consummation of all Hosea's purposes and work, the consummation of his great love, so God's elect are in their ultimate end the consummation of all God's purposes, works, and great love.
The Lord gave Hosea and Gomer three children who also represent us. Jezreel means "seed of God."Loruhamah means "no mercy."Loammi means "not mine, or not my people." We who were not his people and had not obtained mercy are now his people and have obtained mercy in Christ. That is exactly how the Holy Spirit interprets this story for us in the Book of Romans (Romans 9:2526).
Hosea came home one day, and Gomer was gone. She had gone back to her lovers. Chapter 2 tells us about Gomer's great fall and Hosea's purpose of love and grace concerning her. Chapter three tells us how Hosea's love and grace prevailed; and he fetched Gomer home again. Read the first three verses of chapter three.
"Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: And I said unto her, You shall abide for me many days; you shall not play the harlot, and you shall not be for another man: so will I also be for you."
"God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.
You fearful saints fresh courage take,
The clouds you so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessing on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace,
Behind the frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan His work in vain:
God is His own Interpreter,
And He will make it plain."
(William Cowper)
Once Gomer had proved herself unfaithful, abandoning her husband and going after her lovers, though she proved herself "a wife of whoredoms," Hosea did not cease to love her. Instead, he slipped away into the haunts of shame and ill repute. There he found the object of his love, found her in the arms of her lovers. What did he do? He did not have her stoned to death, executing the just sentence of the law. He did not force her to return to him, though he might have done so. He did not leave her there, though most would have done so. What did he do? He loved her! As chapter 2 describes Gomer's horrible sin, it also describes Hosea's incomparable, indestructible love for her.
But, as I have already indicated, there is more to this story than the love of Hosea for Gomer. This is a picture of the love of Christ for us.Just as Hosea took Gomer for his wife and married a woman altogether beneath him, unworthy of him, and totally without regard for him, so the Lord God our Savior is married to his elect.Just as Gomer forsook her loving husband and went after her lovers, you and I went astray from our God as soon as we were born. Just as Gomer's pursuit of her lovers brought her into bondage, slavery, and utter ruin, so we have ruined ourselves, walking after the lusts of our own flesh. Just as Hosea hedged up Gomer's ways to force her into his arms again (2:67), so our God and Savior hedged up our ways to graciously force us, to force our hearts, to return to him (Psalm 65:4; 110:3).Just as Hosea secretly provided for and took care of Gomer, though she ran after her lovers (2:8), so our great God graciously took care of and provided for us throughout the days of our rebellion (Jude 1; Hebrews 1:14).Just as Hosea, in order to save Gomer, came to where she was and walked through the haunts of iniquity, so the Son of God, in order to save us, came into this world and walked in this land of darkness.Just as Hosea redeemed Gomer with a legal ransom price, our Lord Jesus Christ redeemed us by the price of his own precious blood.Just as Hosea made Gomer his faithful wife and was faithful to her, so the Lord Jesus, by his omnipotent mercy, irresistible love, and almighty grace, makes the objects of his love his faithful bride (3:3; Jer 32:3840).Just as Hosea did all that he did for Gomer, in obedience to the will of God because of a covenant of love, so the Lord Jesus Christ does all that he does for us in obedience to the will of God as our Surety because of his covenant love for us (2:1820).Just as Hosea conquered Gomer's whorish heart by his love for her, so the Lord Jesus Christ conquers the hearts of chosen, redeemed sinners in the time of love (2:917).
Hosea's Message
The rest of the Book of Hosea describes the sins and sinfulness, the utter debauchery of God's people, the horrible evil Israel brought upon itself, the horrible evil we bring upon ourselves by rebellion and sin, and our God's matchless, unalterable purpose of grace and love, his determination to save his elect. This is not an over-simplification of Hosea's message, but precisely the message Hosea was inspired of God to convey. In chapters 46 we see that Ephraim, Israel, and Judah fully deserved and constantly courted God's wrath. They would not forsake their idols (4:17). They dealt treacherously with the Lord God, often pretending in time of fear to turn to him, but clinging still to their own devices (5:46:6). But the pretended repentance, which comes as a result of fear and judgment, is only another mockery of God (6:46)
Yet, in spite of all their iniquity, in spite of all the wrath they heaped upon themselves, the Lord God would not give up his own. He declares, "though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them" (8:10). Why? Because he will not give them up (11:89). Because his love for his elect is free, unconditional, indestructible love (14:4, 79).
Prophecies of Christ
Prophecies of Christ in these fourteen chapters are crystal clear. Both Peter and Paul show us that the prophecy of Hosea 1:10 has been fulfilled in Christ (1 Peter 2:10; Romans 11:2526). The Book of Hosea is not talking about God's love and grace toward Abraham's physical seed. It describes, in prophetic type, God's mercy, love, and grace toward his elect in every nation, Abraham's spiritual seed, the Israel of God.
After giving us the tremendous picture of his mercy, love, and grace by which we are saved (1:13:3), Hosea declares the meaning of the picture, assuring us that God will save his people (3:45).
Hosea 6:2 speaks of the resurrection of Christ; and our resurrection in him could not be more plainly foretold. The prophet expressly mentions two days, after which life should be given, and a third day, on which the resurrection should take place. Christ will come again as "the Day-spring from on high," coming forth from the grave on the resurrection morning, and it is written of him that he shall "come down like showers upon the mown grass."
Hosea 11:1 had its fulfillment in Matthew 2:15. Who can read Hosea 11:34 and not hear the Lord Jesus Christ speaking of his great, gracious method of grace to our poor souls?"I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them."
In chapter 13 (verse 4) our great God and Savior declares his singularity as God and his gracious determination to make us know it (Isaiah 45:22; Matthew 1:21). Verse 14 speaks again of our resurrection by Christ in the last day."I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be your plagues; O grave, I will be your destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." The word translated "ransom," means "rescue by the payment of a price." The word "redeem," speaks of Christ's work as our Kinsman Redeemer. Our risen Redeemer sings triumphantly, "O death, I will be your plagues; O grave, I will be they destruction!" Soon, we shall sing the same song (1 Corinthians 15:5158).
Chapter 29
JOEL
Jehovah is God
We all like to know the reason for things. Perhaps because we are naturally inquisitive, perhaps because we want someone or something to blame for things we don't like; but we all want to know the reason for things. Through the ages, men have endeavored to discover the principle upon which history turns. Since the dawn of history, philosophers and those who think they are philosophers have continually debated what controls destiny.Is it fate or free will?Is it man, or nature, or some higher power?
Aristotle and the ancient Greek philosophers (those wise fools Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 1) determined that history moves in cycles, like the planets orbit the sun. Thomas Jefferson and many of our nation's founding fathers were convinced that the history of the world was determined by the political direction of nations, by human government. In the late 1800s Karl Marx dipped his pen in acid and taught in his "Communist Manifesto" that the controlling force of history is economic, what he called "dialectical materialism."
Multitudes today follow the thinking of men like H. G. Wells, and are convinced that evolution is the controlling force of the universe. These "brilliant" minds, burying their heads in the sand, are convinced that man is constantly engaged in self-improvement, that man is constantly making himself better physically, mentally, morally and socially, and constantly improving history by the force of human evolution.
Of course, the Word of God reveals that which no man left to himself can ever figure out, that which no man left to himself will ever acknowledge, that which, sooner or later, everyone must acknowledge.God and God alone controls the universe. And that God who controls the universe is Jehovah our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The hinge upon which all history turns is the cross of Christ (John 12:3032). The hand that works the machinery of providence is God's (Romans 8:28; 11:36).
Joel's Message
That is the message of Joel's prophecy.Jehovah is God. As the Book of Hosea reveals the heart of God in redemption, the Book of Joel reveals the hand of God ruling the universe to save his people. The opening verses of this short prophecy tell us plainly that the prophet's message was intended for both the people to whom he spoke and to the people of future generations (1:13).
We know nothing at all about when Joel lived and prophesied. We know nothing of the historic circumstances of his prophecy. All we know is that his name was Joel, which means "Jehovah is God," and that his father's name was Pethuel, which means "the open-heartedness or sincerity of God."
The Theme
One of the most meaningful statements ever written, and one of the most terrifying, is found in Genesis 6:3. There the Lord God declares, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man." The Book of Joel, in my opinion, drives that fact home and hammers it out more forcefully than any of the other prophetic books. The theme of this prophecy is "the Day of the Lord." Joel speaks of "the Day of the Lord" five times in these three short chapters. Joel tells us that history is moving constantly to an appointed end called "the Day of the Lord" (1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14).
If you read these three chapters at one setting, you will see that Joel does not use this phrase, "the Day of the Lord", to refer to a specific, single day or time. In chapter 1 (verse 15) "the Day of the Lord" is immediate. It referred to the day in which the judgment of God was seen in the land. In chapter 2 (verses 1, 11, 31) "the Day of the Lord" is imminent, referring to judgment that may come at any time. In chapter 3 (verse 14) "the Day of the Lord" is future, referring to the final, consummate end of all things.
It is important that we observe this. As it is used by Joel, "the Day of the Lord" refers to any day in which the Lord God displays his sovereignty as God. In other words, yesterday was "the Day of the Lord." Today is "the Day of the Lord." And tomorrow shall be "the Day of the Lord." And there is a day coming when all creation shall acknowledge, this is "the Day of the Lord." Joel declares that the Lord who is God shall accomplish his purpose.
Day of Warning
First, Joel tells us that "the Day of the Lord" is a day of warning, a day when the Lord God sends judgment to warn us of judgment."Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come" (1:15).
The Lord God sent a plague of locusts upon the land of Judah because of their sin. With this plague of locusts the Lord called his people to repentance. These locusts describe an army far, far worse than any army of locusts or of men. These locusts not only destroyed the vegetation of the land, they cut off and took away the sacrifice from the house of God (1:9). Joel lived in a day much like our day, a day when God's manifest judgment had fallen upon a people who were called by his name because they had forsaken his name (1 Peter 4:1718).
When the Lord God visits a nation, a people, a generation, or an individual in providential judgment, it is a warning of judgment to come and a merciful call to repentance (1:1316, 19). He is saying, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man.""Blow you the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD comes, for it is near at hand" (2:1). Before this army of locusts came, the land was like the Garden of Eden. They left behind them a desolate, barren wilderness (2:39). A.M. Hodgkin wrote
"An army of locusts is incredible to those who have not watched it. They fill the air, and darken the sun like an eclipse (2:2), and spread for miles over the land. The advance columns will attack all that is green and succulent; in half an hour every leaf and blade is destroyed (1:11, 12). Others coming on in succession will strip the bark from the trees (1:6, 7). A land so devastated takes years to recover (1:1720). The noise of their wings can be heard for miles, and the noise of the browsing is like a fire (2:5), and the land over which they have passed has the appearance of being fire-swept (2:3). Having stripped the country, they scale the walls of the cities, in serried ranks like mailed horsemen and chariots, and marching into the houses consume everything which can be consumed in their resistless onslaught (2:4, 79)."
Like an army of locusts, false religion devours everything and gives nothing. It eclipses the Sun of Righteousness and takes away the sacrifice. It destroys the souls of men. And it comes as the judgment of God upon a people who refuse to worship him (2 Thessalonians 2:1112). And this horrible army is God's army (verse 11; 2 Thessalonians 2:1112).
Hope Given
At the close of verse 11 in chapter 2, the question is raised"Who can abide the day of God's wrath?" (See Nahum 1:26.) Yes, the Lord God will punish sin, he must. Judgment is sure. Hell is real. Eternity is forever. But "he delights in mercy!" Even now, in the face of such horrible judgment, there is hope. In wrath, he does remember mercy. We know this because the Lord God calls us to repentance, declaring himself to be "gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness" (2:1214).
In verses 1517, God's prophet pleads with his people, fathers, ministers, priests, all his people to heed the Lord's call, and plead for his mercy, as Moses' did, for the glory of his own great name.
Grace Promised
Then, in the last part of chapter 2, he promises us that as surely as we seek his mercy, he will grant it. (See Hebrews 4:16.)
"Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. Yes, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he has given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And you shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that has dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed" (verses 18, 19, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27).
This promise of grace clearly involved the promise of Christ's great, accomplished redemption as our Mediator. Whether Joel understood this or not, I cannot say. But the Apostle Peter certainly did (2:2832; Acts 2:1636; Galatians 3:1314).
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call" (2:2832).
Deliverance Promised
In chapter 3 the Lord God promises that he will save, that he will deliver all the hosts of his elect from the nations into which he has scattered them. The battle that takes place "in the valley of decision" (verses 2, 14) is never in doubt. That battle is not yours, but the Lord's (2 Chronicles 20:17, 20). Though they have forsaken him, he will never forsake them. But, before the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come, he will bring again the captivity of Jerusalem. The Lord will roar out of Zion and gather his people, his heritage, his Israel out of the nations of the world. Then, his Spirit will cease to strive with man, and all Israel shall be saved."So shall you know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion!"
Chapter 30
AMOS
A Prophet in Overalls
750 years before our Lord's incarnation the nation of Israel was a rich, thriving, prosperous kingdom. During the reign of Jeroboam II, the nation was peaceful, stable, strong, and very, very religious (Amos 3:12, 15; 4:1, 4; 5:5, 2123; 6:46; 8:310). Many enjoyed such wealth that they had winter houses and summer houses. Others were even more wealthy, living in ivory houses on great estates.
But all was not well in Israel. The nation was morally degenerate. The land was filled with greed and corruption. The poor and weak were mercilessly oppressed by the rich and powerful (2:6; 5:11). Immorality was rampant (2:7). Rebellion, disdain of and contempt for authority, was widespread (5:1112). Religion flourished. Religious ceremonies and activities were faithfully observed (5:21), and observed in the name of Jehovah. But the land was altogether given over to idolatry. Bethel, the house of God, had become Bethel, the house of transgression (4:4).
Into this great, proud, prosperous, religious, secure society the Lord God almighty dropped a bombshell by the name of Amos, a prophet wearing overalls (1:12). Amos was a farmer, a herdsman; one who took care of sheep, and cattle, and fig trees. He was what folks today would disdainfully call "a redneck," "a hayseed," "a country bumpkin." Amos was a farm-boy, a farm boy from Tekoa, which was just a few miles south of Jerusalem in the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
The Lord sent this poor, uneducated, farm boy, bibbed overalls and all, up North with his Word. Amos came storming into Samaria with a message of divine judgment, a message of impending wrath upon a people who had abandoned God and his worship, crying, "Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!" He spoke of drought, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes. Judgment had already begun; but it had no effect upon the hearts of the people. It would, therefore, increase and continue to increase until the nation was altogether destroyed. The Lord God swore by his prophet that because they repented not when he sent famine to their bodies, he would send a far worse, far more destructive famine, a famine of spiritual food (8:1112)."Behold, the days come, says the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it."
Amos' name means, "Burden-bearer," and he bore in his soul "the burden of the Word of the Lord" to a people who could not have cared less.
Divine Judgment
The Book of Amos declares that God almighty "will by no means clear the guilty." He must and shall punish sin. Because he is righteous, his rule over all the earth is righteous and just. Sin cannot be tolerated by him. It must be punished. When people sin as a social group, as a nation, the nation is punished accordingly (Proverbs 14:34). When individuals sin, they are punished accordingly as individuals (2 Corinthians 5:1011).
Amos began his message to Israel in a strange way. In chapters 1 and 2 Amos describes the judgments the Lord would bring upon the nations around Israel. These were the Gentiles among whom the children of Israel lived. If you look at a map of the area you will see that Amos goes around the whole nation of Israel, declaring the judgment of God upon those nations, because of their transgressions.
He begins with Damascus (1:35), way up in the northeast section of the map above Israel. He tells Israel that Damascus must be judged because of its cruelty.
Then he speaks of Gaza (the ancient land of Philistia) (1:68), in the opposite direction, way down on the southwest side of Israel. He tells Israel that God will destroy Gaza because they had enslaved Edom and because they were idolaters.
Then, in verses 910 he moves back up the coast to the land of Tyre, on the northwest side of Israel, and points out how God had judged this country because the people had broken their covenants and treated their fellow men, not as brethren, but as enemies.
Next (1:1112), he moves on down to the far south of Israel to the land of Edom, the ancient country of Esau, and declares that God's judgment fell upon that nation because of their implacable hatred of Israel.
Then, in verses 1315 Amos moves back up the east side of Israel to the land of Ammon. (It is called Jordan today. Its capital, Amman, was the capital of ancient Ammon.) They were punished because of their barbaric cruelty, greed, and lust for power.
Moab, on the southwest side of Israel, was to be judged because of its hatred of Israel (2:13).
Then, he mentions the Southern nation of Judah (2:45), and declares that Judah must be judged because it had despised God's law.
At the end of chapter 2 (verses 616), he speaks to Israel, the Northern Kingdom, and declares that God will judge them for their corruption and for injustice, corruption and injustice greater than any of the other nations. The Lord God was pressed under them, as an over-loaded cart is pressed with its load (2:13).
As we read Amos' message, it is obvious that the people of Israel were totally undisturbed, absolutely complacent, as long as he was talking about the other nations. They seem to have been thinking, "Well, they got what was coming to them." But when the prophet zeroed in on them, they were enraged. They said, "Why don't you go away and preach somewhere else? We don't want to hear what you have to say."
From verse 1 of chapter 3, Amos deals with these people exclusively, driving his message home to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He begins by pointing out to them that they were a people who had a special, privileged position before God (3:12). That is exactly what they wanted to hear. You can picture them swelling with pride and arrogance. "We are God's elect, his chosen, favored, special people. We have a great history and a great heritage." Then, the prophet hits them right between the eyes with a sledge-hammer."Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities."
Privilege and Responsibility
You see that which was their great pride was the very reason for their great judgment. Light despised brings great wrath. Privilege creates responsibility. And the greater our privileges are, the greater our responsibilities are. The nation of Israel had been given the greatest revelation, the greatest privileges of any nation. But they turned from them to walk in utter darkness and idolatry. Israel was the very house of God. But they had turned the house of God into a house of iniquity.
They had the gospel revealed to them.The PassoverThe FeastsThe SacrificesThe PriesthoodThe TempleThe AltarThe Mercy-Seat. But they willfully rejected God's revelation. Therefore, they were sentenced to the outpouring of God's wrath. This is exactly what Peter means when he says, "Judgment must begin at the house of God" (1 Peter 4:17). It always begins there. God always starts with his professed people, and then he moves out to those round about them. They walked with God. They talked with God. But they despised him and his Word. For this reason, the prophet says, "God is going to send judgment" (3:38).
The Golden Calves
Do you remember the two golden calves that were erected by the first King Jeroboam in the cities of Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:28)? Israel was sent to worship there and the people called those calves Jehovah. And they worshiped and bowed down before those golden images. Those two calves represented three basic evils in Israel, for which God was set in judgment against them, evils for which the judgment of God is manifest today.
Those golden calves, in that they were made of gold, represented the hunger of this people for material gain, the love of wealth, materialismthe God of gold. And because they were calves, or young bullocks, they were representative of powerthe God of superiority. They were also symbolic of pagan fertility gods of the nations round about them who worshiped the bull as a sign of fertility or sexual potency. So those golden calves represented Israel's enslavement to their own sensual lusts. The calves symbolized material greed, shameless pride, and sensuality. One might conclude (and rightfully so) that the Holy Spirit intended Amos' prophecy for our own generation.
For these things the nation of Assyria was being raised up by God to come sweeping down from the north to carry Israel away into captivity. This word of coming wrath was given almost two hundred years before that took place. God gave Israel space to repent. But they refused. That is the message of chapter 4. The lesson here is very clear.Judgment never produces repentance. Time after time the Lord sent judgment that should have awakened the people (4:611); but they were only hardened by it.
Call to Repentance
Yet, God ever remembers mercy, even in the midst of providential wrath and judgment. So Amos delivers a message of mercy. As God's ambassador, he calls Israel to repentance. He calls for them to turn from their idols to God. The sinner's only hope is reconciliation to God (5:48). But Israel continued to harden their hearts, taking refuge in their refuge of lies (5:18; 6:1). There were among them two groups, just as there are today, who took refuge in two ways, hiding from God: the self-righteous and the presumptuous.
The self-righteous are described in chapter 5, verse 18."Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light." These self-righteous religionists went about crying, "Oh, isn't this a terrible day. I remember the good days when people were better, more thoughtful, more spiritual, and more devoted. But things are different now. Times are so hard. Things are so bad." They were wringing their hands, appearing to be mourning, and going through all kinds of rituals and religious ceremonies and saying, "Oh, there is no hope for anything. Oh, if the Lord would only come! Oh, would that the day of the Lord would come. Would that we could go home to be in Heaven." Do you ever hear people talk like that? Then the prophet thunders, "Woe to you that desire the day of the Lord." He says, "Don't you know what that day will be like? Do you have any idea what you are saying? That day will be a day of darkness and doom for you" (5:1827).
God sees through us. He sees through our religion and our rituals. He sees our hearts. He demands truth in the inward parts, in the center of life, in the core of our being, not mere outward conformity to religious codes. God sees through all the sham and pretense, without the slightest difficulty. He is not impressed with the "bodily exercise" of religion. He requires "godliness.""You desire truth in the inward part" (Psalm 51:6).
In chapter 6, verse 1, Amos exposes the presumptuous, the carnally secure."Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria." These people cried, "We are not concerned about these things. Let's eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. Let's have as good a time as we can and make the most of life; let's enjoy it to the full while we can." And the prophet says, "Woe to those who are at ease in Zion."
The ease spoken of by God's prophet Amos is a carnal ease, a fleshly security. It is not the confidence of a person who is pardoned, but the ease of a hardened wretch who has learned to despise the death chamber. It is not the assurance of one who is on the rock, but the ease of a senseless drunk, whose house is crumbling in an earthquake, falling from its sandy foundations; but he is in such a stupor that he does not know and does not care what is happening. As C. H. Spurgeon put it
"This is not the calm of a soul at peace with God, but the ease of a madman, who, because he has hidden his sin from his own eyes, thinks he has concealed it from God. It is the ease and peace of one who has grown callous, hardened, brutalized, stupid, sullen, and careless, who has begun a sleep which God grant may soon be broken, or else it will surely bring him where he shall make his bed in Hell."
A Prophet Indeed
In chapter 7 Amos shows himself to be a true prophet. His heart was for the people to whom he spoke. Even as he pronounced God's wrath and judgment upon the people, knowing that they fully deserved it, he interceded with God on their behalf (verses 26), as Moses before him (Exodus 32:3032) and Paul after him (Romans 9:13). Then, when he was accused by Amaziah of being a false prophet, he acknowledged that he had no credentials or credibility as a prophet, except the call and commission of God (verses 1017)."The LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophecy unto my people Israel."
Five Visions
In chapters 79 Amos describes five visions the Lord gave him concerning Israel. The first was of a plague of locusts coming to devour the land. When he saw the terrible destruction this would bring, he asked the Lord to forgive his people and withhold the plague; and the Lord granted his petition (7:13).
The second vision was of a devouring fire. Again, Amos sought God's mercy to spare Israel; and the Lord again repented for this and spared the people (7:46).
In the third vision Amos saw the Lord standing beside a wall holding a plumbline in his hand. This was a symbol of the judgment of Israel by God's righteous law. The Lord told him plainly that he was determined to execute judgment, and that Israel would not be spared."I will not again pass by them any more." Amos humbly bows to God's revelation, and makes no intercession (7:79).
It is at this time that Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a false report to the king concerning Amos, accusing him of conspiracy against the nation. With the king's authority behind him, Amaziah ordered Amos to leave the country. In response to Amaziah Amos stated that he had not chosen to be a prophet, but God had called him to the work, and that he had no choice but to deliver the message God had given him. The chapter ends with a bold prophecy of divine judgment against Amaziah and his family because of his obstinate opposition, and a reaffirmation of judgment upon Israel (7:1017).
In the fourth vision (chapter 8) the Lord showed Amos a basket of summer fruit. The nation was described as overripe and ready for judgment."The end is come upon my people." It is in connection with this vision that Amos speaks of the worst of all judgments God can send among a people this side of Hell (8:1112). When God shuts Heaven and refuses to send his Word to a people, they have no hope.
In the fifth vision (9:110) Amos "saw the LORD standing upon the altar," not in mercy but in wrath to destroy the nation. Nothing would stop him.
Mercy Promised
Immediately following this last vision, as in the other prophets, the final scene declares the ultimate salvation of God's elect (9:1115). Read verses 1112."In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, says the LORD that does this." These verses are quoted by James (Acts 15:1517) as referring to the fact that God's building again the tabernacle of David was not to be a reversion to Judaism, but rather the gathering of his elect from among the Gentiles by the preaching of the gospel. What a declaration of God's saving grace Amos gives at the close of his prophecy! He declares that the Lord God will raise up the fallen, that he will raise up the ruins of his people, raise up that which we have ruined, that he will deliver his captives, that he will save his elect remnant, and that he will do all his wondrous works of grace for such undeserving sinners as we are because of his covenant promises, symbolized in the promises made to Israel of possessing the land of Canaan.
Chapter 31
OBADIAH
"Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."
The book of Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament, just 21 verses. It is read in just a few minutes. At first glance, it appears to be nothing but a prophecy of doom against the ancient nation of Edom, which has long ago disappeared from history. Edom is a nation buried in the dust of the past. Yet, the fact that this little book finds its place in the Book of God, and that fact alone, tells us that its message is for us (Romans 15:4).
There are thirteen men in the Old Testament named Obadiah, but there is no indication that this Obadiah is the same as any of the others. His name means "servant of the Lord," or "worshiper of the Lord." Like a true servant and worshiper of God, Obadiah keeps himself in the background in utter obscurity. He tells us absolutely nothing about himself. He simply steps onto the stage of history, delivers God's message, and steps down. In fact, it may be that Obadiah, rather than being his name, was simply a pen-name, a pseudonym used to deliberately conceal anything at all about himself. His only purpose and intent as God's prophet was to deliver God's message. What a noble example his is to all who are responsible to speak to eternity bound sinners as God's messengers!
Outline
The outline of these 23 verses is very easy to follow.In verses 19 Obadiah declares God's judgment upon Edom. Though proud, thinking themselves secure and invincible, Edom was the object of God's determined wrath and must be destroyed.Verses 1014 display the justice of that judgment. Edom was destroyed because of their proud and cruel treatment of God's people, Israel.In verses 15 and 16 we see the result of God's judgment upon the proud nation. The Edomites were crushed by Nebuchadnezzar and later by Cyrus, who slaughtered them by the thousands, and finally brought into oblivion by the Maccabees. By the time the Romans conquered Jerusalem, Edom was nothing but a name in history.Then, in verses 1721 the prophet of God speaks to Edom (the house of Esau) of the sure and certain salvation of Israel ("the house of Jacob").
Obadiah's Message
But what is Obadiah's message to us? What is the meaning of this prophecy? What does the Spirit of God here teach us? Read a few passages from the Inspired Volume, and it will become clear (Genesis 3:15; Malachi 1:25; Romans 9:1118). Remember, Edom is the whole house of Esau and Israel is the whole house of Jacob, his younger brother, the object of God's everlasting love, mercy, and grace.
Here is Obadiah's message.May God give us grace to learn it, rely upon it, and expect its fulfillment. Though the seed of the serpent hates, persecutes, and constantly bruises the heel of the woman's Seed, the Seed of the woman (Christ and his body the Church of God's elect), shall ultimately crush the serpent's head and his seed. Let me show you seven things clearly set before us in this magnificent prophecy of Obadiah.
1. First, learn this and rejoiceThe purpose of our God cannot be hindered, thwarted, or frustrated.
Before ever they were born, the Lord God declared that Esau must ever serve Jacob, that the elder must serve the younger. And so it shall be until time is no more. As Moses declared that Ham must serve Shem and Japheth, God's Word regarding Jacob and Esau is but a declaration of God's purpose to assure the hearts of chosen, redeemed sinners that the reprobate of this world can do us no harm. They only serve the interests of our souls. Jannes and Jambres gave Moses a fit, withstanding him to the face at every turn; but they could proceed no further (Exodus 7:11; 2 Timothy 3:89). And those who oppose God's people in this world, those who abuse, mistreat, and persecute God's elect in this world, cannot hurt them. They only serve us.
2. Second, we see in the Edomites and their history that the enmity of the seed of the serpent toward the Seed of the woman shall never cease so long as time stands.
The enmity of Edom toward Israel, the enmity of Esau against his brother Jacob began long before Obadiah came on the scene. It began while the two boys were still in their mother's womb. It is an enmity manifest throughout history. It is the enmity Cain had for Abel, the enmity of Babylon against Israel, the enmity of Herod against the incarnate Son of God, the enmity of the Judaizers against Paul, the enmity of the religious world against the Kingdom of God. It is a never ceasing, unabated, ever-increasing enmity. It is the enmity of the dragon of Hell against the Woman of God's choice (Revelation 12).
What is that enmity? It is the vile, base, deep-seated hatred of all who proudly presume that they can be saved by their own works, saved without God, against all who are saved by free grace alone, trusting Christ alone, looking to him alone for redemption, righteousness and everlasting salvation. If anyone thinks this enmity is imaginary, let him read a page or two of history, or of the morning newspaper!
3. Third, learn thisThat which destroys all who perish under the wrath of God is the self-deceiving pride of their own hearts.
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jer 17:9) Obadiah declares, "The pride of your heart has deceived you, you that dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that says in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though you exalt yourself as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, thence will I bring you down, says the LORD" (1:34).
Edom represents all those vain men and women who, like Esau, despising Christ presume that they can go it alone, that they can ascend to Heaven by their own will, their own works, and their own goodness. They hide themselves in what they think is an impregnable rock of morality, on a high hill of experience, and say, "All is well. I am secure. Who shall bring me down?"
4. Fourth, let us be reminded once more of the far reaching influence of evil.
Edom, the whole nation, followed the example of their father Esau. The whole nation followed their father straight to Hell! None are ever saved by the examples of others; but multitudes perish forever by the examples of others. What a horrible scene I have in my mind's eye of the torments of the damned in Hell, as the lost child looks into the eyes of his lost parents, as the lost multitudes look into the eyes of lost preachers, and curse them forever for their evil, damning influence!
5. Fifth, Obadiah goes to great lengths in these few verses of Inspiration to show us that all who suffer the wrath and judgment of God perish under the just judgment of the Almighty because of their own sins (verses 1017).
I cannot state emphatically enough that all things are exactly according to God's purpose. The whole world is ruled and disposed of according to God's everlasting love for Jacob and hatred of Esau (Romans 9:1124). Vessels of mercy are vessels of mercy and shall never be vessels of wrath. Vessels of wrath are vessels of wrath and shall never be vessels of mercy. Is that clear enough?
But I state this with equal forceNo one goes to Hell because of God's purpose. Vessels of mercy are prepared by grace for glory. Vessels of wrath fit themselves for destruction. Men and women go to Hell because of their own obstinate, willful rebellion and unbelief. Esau is in Hell today because he despised Christ, because he preferred the world to the Son of God, because he preferred a bowl of beans to gratify his flesh for a moment to God's eternal inheritance of grace. Edom perished for exactly the same reason. That nation perished because of its hated of God and his people, as displayed in their conduct.
6. Now, let's read verses 1721 and rejoice to see once more that the everlasting salvation of God's elect is a matter of absolute certainty.
"But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD has spoken it. And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. And saviors shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S."
Here, Obadiah, by the Spirit of prophecy, looks beyond the range of time to that last great day when Christ shall come again in his glory. In that day holiness shall be seen everywhere. The whole house of Jacob shall possess their God-given, divinely purchased, rightful possessions. Jacob shall be a fire and Esau shall be stubble before him (Psalm 137). The kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God (Revelation 11:15).
7. Seventh, the only hope for proud sinners is him who is Jacob's Portion forever, the Lord Jesus Christ.
What is your choice? Will you follow Esau to Hell, choosing that which gratifies the flesh, or will you follow Jacob, choosing Christ for your everlasting portion?
Chapter 32
JONAH
"Salvation is of the LORD!"
The Book of Jonah, though it is found in the minor prophets, is not really a prophecy at all. It is an inspired autobiographical sketch of a specific period in the life of Jonah. It is a book written by Jonah as he was directed by God the Holy Spirit. The purpose of the book is to show God's providence and grace in the life of his servant Jonah, and to give us a vivid picture of our Savior's death, burial, and resurrection.
This man Jonah was the insignificant son of an insignificant man in an insignificant place. He was the son of Amittai of Gath-hepher (2 Kings 14:25) in Galilee. Gath-hepher was a city that belonged to the tribe of Zebulon in a remote corner of Israel. But God chose Jonah as an object of his grace and ordained him to be a prophet in Israel of great usefulness.
The life of Jonah, as it is recorded in this book, is a marvelous and instructive picture of God's providence and grace in the lives of his people.
As the Book of Jonah opens, Jonah is already a prophet of God, a man of faith, a servant of the Lord. But he had much to learn. Look at verses 1 and 2."Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me." Why Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh, we are not specifically told until we get to chapter 4. It appears that this man of God did not want to go to Nineveh because of his racial prejudice against the Assyrians who lived there. He did not want God to have mercy upon Nineveh (4:2).
So, we read in verse 3, "Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord." This is where Jonah's troubles began. And this is where our story begins. When Jonah made up his mind to rebel against the revealed will of God, he went down to Joppa and very conveniently, (He probably convinced himself that it was an act of God's providence to lead him in the path he had chosen!), "He found a ship going to Tarshish." But read the next line. "So he paid the fare thereof!" If you choose the rebel's path, be warned. When you get on that ship, like it or not, you have to pay the fare thereof. What a great price it is!
No doubt, some of you here are just like Jonah. God has spoken to you. He has revealed to you what you must do. Perhaps he has spoken to you by the gospel, calling you to follow Christ. Perhaps he has called you to a specific area of service in his kingdom. Perhaps he has called you to a specific task or responsibility for the glory of his name. But you have thus far refused to hear his voice. You are now fleeing from the Lord. And God may let you flee for a while. But you will have to pay the fare thereof.
A Great Wind
First, we read in chapter 1 verse 4 that "the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea." No sooner had the ship set sail for Tarshish than a storm arose, nearly destroying the ship. Everyone was panic-stricken. The captain and the sailors all got very religious in the face of death and began to call on their gods (verse 5). But there was one man on the ship who knew what was happening. Jonah knew that this great storm had arisen for his sake (verse 12).
Be sure you learn this lesson: Everything that comes to pass in this world comes to pass by the hand of God, and comes to pass for the sake of God's elect (1 Corinthians 3:21; 2 Corinthians 4:15; 5:18).
Though Jonah was determined to forsake God, God determined that he would not allow him to forsake him."The foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, the Lord knows them that are his." And, though many times it is true of us as it was of Jonah, we turn from him in unbelief, yet, it is a faithful saying, "If we believe not, he abides faithful!" (2 Timothy 2:19, 13).
Though Jonah sought to flee from his responsibilities as a believer, the Lord graciously forced him to confess his faith before an unbelieving mob (verses 812). He confessed, "I am an Hebrew," a child of God's election. He told these men, "I fear God," the one true and living God; but "I have rebelled against my Lord." He also told them something about the mission of mercy the Lord had sent him upon, his absolute sovereignty, and his justice. In verse ten we are told that he told them what he had done. And in verse fourteen we see that they knew something about who God is.
Before the day was over, God was glorified before all who were in the ship (verses 1316). So great is our God that even the wrath of man praises him. He so sovereignly rules all things that even the shameful deeds of his disobedient children shall ultimately cause men to praise his holy name, both for his faithfulness and for his sovereignty.
A Willing Substitute
"Behold, a greater than Jonah is here!"The Lord Jesus tells us plainly that Jonah was a type of himself. It is Christ himself who gives us the true, full meaning and significance of Jonah's experiences. Jonah, he tells us, was a sign both to the Ninevites and to all future generations (Luke 11:2930). And in this first chapter of Jonah, we see a very clear, instructive picture of our all-glorious Christ and his great sacrifice for us.
There was a mighty, tempestuous storm raging against these mariners, threatening them with immediate death (verses 4 and 11), typical of God's wrath. When they cast lots, to determine who must be sacrificed, the lot fell on Jonah (verse 7; Proverbs 16:33; Acts 2:2324). The Lord Jesus Christ was delivered to death by the hands of men, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. When Jonah saw that these men were about to be slain in the storm of God's wrath, he voluntarily offered himself as a substitute sacrifice to die in their stead, to suffer the wrath of God in their stead, just as our Savior volunteered to sacrifice himself for us (verse 12; John 10:1718). As soon as Jonah was cast into the raging sea of God's wrath and judgment, "the sea ceased from her raging" (verse 15). And as soon as the Lord Jesus had suffered all the wrath of God as our Substitute, the fury of God against us was removed forever (Romans 8:1; Galatians 3:13). In verse 16 we see that all for whom Jonah gave his life were saved from death and worshiped God.
A Great Fish
Second, we read in chapter 1 verse 17 that "the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah." God first prepared a storm. Then he prepared a fish. We do not know what kind of fish it was. Here it is called "a great fish." In the New Testament it is called "a whale" (Matthew 12:40). The word used in both places refers not to specific species, but to a huge sea creature, or sea monster (a dragon). It may have been a great whale, a great shark, or a sea creature specifically prepared by God to swallow Jonah whole without killing him, a fish in which Jonah could live for three days and three nights, and a fish that would spit him out at the appointed time.
Jonah's experience in this passage is a typical representation of the accomplishment of our redemption by Christ (Matthew 12:40). Our Lord Jesus, when he was made to be sin for us, was swallowed up in the sea of God's wrath and slain as our Substitute. As a dead man, his body was cast into the heart of the earth, the tomb of death. But three days later, the Son of God, our Redeemer, arose from the tomb victorious over death, Hell, and the grave. His resurrection is the proof that he has, by the sacrifice of himself as our Substitute, put away all the sins of his people, which were imputed to him. As Jonah appeared to the Ninevites as one brought back from the dead to bring them repentance and forgiveness, so the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed in the hearts of chosen sinners as One raised from the dead to give repentance and the forgiveness of sins by the merits of his sacrifice (Acts 5:3031; Romans 1:16).
Jonah's deliverance from the belly of this great fish is a picture of every believer's experience of grace (2:110). Again, "a greater than Jonah is here." The Lord Jesus is obviously portrayed here. None but the incarnate God could suffer the eternity of God's wrath in a single day. He is described as suffering the very things recorded here (Psalm 69:14). He cried unto the Lord, just as Jonah did here (Psalm 22). He promised, in the midst of his anguish, to praise God in the congregation (Psalm 22:25). None but Christ could pay what he vowed to the Lord (Psalm 22:25). He declared the very thing Jonah did, "Salvation is of the LORD" (Psalm 22:28; 37:39).
Still, these verses portray every believer's experience of grace. There is much debate these days about when a person is saved. In my opinion the debate is nothing but useless strife. The question, "When were you saved?" was never raised by any apostle of Christ and never addressed to any of his saints. But this is certain, whenever a sinner is saved by the grace of God, he is taught of God. And when a man is taught of God, there are some things he experiences.
A person is saved when, with the awareness of God's just wrath upon him, he calls upon God for mercy (2:12). (See Psalm 107.) A person is saved when, from the depths of his corruption, he looks to Christ in faith (verses 37). A person is saved when he comes to know the One true and living God (verse 8; John 17:3). A person is saved when God lifts him up from the miry pit of corruption by his almighty grace (verse 6). A person is saved when from the depths of his inmost soul he acknowledges and confesses that, "Salvation is of the LORD!" (verse 9).
Once the Lord caused the great fish to spit Jonah out, the word of the Lord came to him the second time. And Jonah hit the ground running to go to Nineveh and preach the preaching that God told him to preach (2:103:10). He made the three day trip to Nineveh in one day. It is written, "Your people shall be willing in the day of your power" (Psalm 110:3).
Jonah proclaimed God's message. (When God intends to be gracious to sinners he sends his Word to heal them.) The whole city of Nineveh, a city with 120,000 infants (4:11) repented, reasoning like any condemned sinner should, "Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?" (3:9).
When sinners hear God's Word and turn to him in repentance, they obtain mercy."And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not." (3:10). It was not that God saw their outward works of putting on sackcloth and ashes and fasting, but their inward works, their faith in him, and repentance towards him. These inward works of repentance and faith are the fruit of his grace. They were wrought in them by God and were attended with fruits and works meet for repentance in that they forsook their former idolatry and their idolatrous course of life and refrained from it. The repentance of these men is spoken of with commendation by Christ, and as that which would rise up in judgment and condemn the men of his own earthly generation (Matthew 12:41).
Then, in chapter four we read that Jonah got mad at God for his mercy upon Nineveh and went out to pout (4:15).
"But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray you, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repent you of the evil. Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. Then said the LORD, Do you well to be angry? So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, until he might see what would become of the city."
A Gourd
Here is the third thing God did for Jonah."The LORD God prepared a gourd and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief." Here is a pouting, peevish prophet. But he is the servant of a merciful and gracious God. This gourd (palmcrist) was prepared by God for the comfort of his servant, Jonah. As we see the hand of God in grace, let us to see the hand of God in all the daily comforts of life. Every good thing we enjoy in this world, no matter how great or small it may be, comes from the hand of our God.
There is much to be learned from this comfort, this gourd that God prepared for Jonah. God sent this comfort to his servant when he was totally undeserving of comfort. The comfort God gave, though it was only a gourd, was exactly what his child needed. The Lord sent the gourd to Jonah at the right time. God's purpose in sending the gourd was to comfort and protect his beloved servant. And God's purpose was perfectly fulfilled, "Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd." But all earthly comforts are only temporary. We must not get too attached to them! Read verse 7!
A Worm
Here is the fourth thing God did for Jonah."God prepared a worm, and it smote the gourd that it withered" (4:7). As we see the hand of God in our comforts, let us also see the hand of God in our sorrows, bereavements, and losses.
" Tis God that lifts our comforts high,
Or sinks them to the grave;
He gives, and blessed be His name!
He takes but what He gave."
The Sun and Wind
Here is the fifth thing."It came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind: and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah" (4:8). If we are wise, we will see the hand of God in our heaviest trials. Our greatest trials sometimes come in connection with the most insignificant things:A gourd!A worm. Trials often come one on the heels of another. A worm appears. The gourd withers. The sun burns. The hot east wind beats upon Jonah's head. Our troubles sometimes appear to be downright brutal. The trials that are hardest to bear are those in which, like this trial of Jonah, there appears to be no benefit. Our heaviest trials usually come when we, as Jonah did sitting under his gourd, think we are most secure. Our trials reveal what is in us. Jonah's trial revealed his anger against God (verse 9).
A Useful Servant
God did all of these things for his servant Jonah, so that he might prepare Jonah to be an instrument of usefulness in his kingdom. What God did for Nineveh, he was also to do for Israel, an even more undeserving people. And the prophet who would carry the message was Jonah (2 Kings 14:2327).
"Then said the LORD, You have had pity on the gourd, for the which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?" (4:1011)
The Lord God taught Jonah his mercy and taught him to be merciful. And this man, knowing God's mercy and being merciful, was used of God as an instrument of mercy for the deliverance of many. If ever we learn to be merciful, maybe God will use us!
Lessons
If you choose to run from God, you are running a race you cannot win. His grace is irresistible. His will is irresistible. His teaching is irresistible. The Book of Jonah prefigures the fact that it is God's purpose to bring the blessings of his grace and mercy to chosen sinners throughout the world by his Righteous Servant, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this little book stands as a declaration of our unceasing responsibility to proclaim the gospel of his grace to all people.
A Question
The Book of Jonah ends with a question (4:1011). We are not told how Jonah answered the Lord, or if he answered him. Perhaps the Book of Jonah ends with this question so that we might be forced to answer it for ourselves.Is it right for me to ever question what God does?Is it ever right for me to be angry with my God?Is it ever right for me to prefer my own comfort, ease, and pleasure to the souls of perishing men?Is it right for me to weep over my withered, worthless gourds, while immortal souls perish without Christ? I leave it to you to answer for yourself. For my part, my heart is smitten. I pray that the Lord God will give me grace that I may be conformed to his Son, who wept not for himself but for eternity bound sinners (Luke 19:4142; Matthew 23:37).
Chapter 33
MICAH
"Who is a God like unto You?"
Micah, whose name means, "who is like God," was raised up by God to be a prophet to Israel during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. He was contemporary with Isaiah and Hosea. His prophecy deals with two subjects. It is a lamentation of the woeful condition of Israel and a celebration of God's abundant mercy.
The people of God were, in Micah's time, passing through a very painful trial. The nation of Israel was plagued with the incurable wound of empty, meaningless religious ritualism. The political leaders of the people were men who devised iniquity and worked evil. The priests were men of hire. And the prophets prophesied for personal profit. Yet, all that they did was done in the name of the Lord.
Religious hucksters were in the majority and the people followed them eagerly. With confidence, they said, "Is not the Lord among us? None evil can come upon us" (3:11). The Word of the Lord was precious in those days. There were only a few who truly spoke as prophets of God. And very few heard them. When the Lord did send a faithful prophet to them, the vast majority of the people said, "prophesy you not" (2:6).
All this caused Micah great pain and much sorrow. But he was a man who knew the Lord. He had a vision of God's majesty and mercy. He had received a word from the Lord. And with confident joy he spoke of the latter day glory of this gospel age, when the majesty of God and the mercy of God would be revealed in Christ the Messiah (7:79).
"Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness."
Outline
We have an excellent outline of Micah's prophesy by the chapter divisions of the Book.In chapter 1 the Lord God gives his witness against the nations, particularly against Samaria, the capital of Israel, the ten Northern Tribes. Because of "the sins of the house of Israel" (1:5). doom was a matter of certainty. The Lord God declares that he will disinherit the nation, because "her wound is incurable" (1:9, 15). Let us be warned (Romans 11:2122).
In chapter 2, God's prophet tells the people plainly that the cause of the wrath coming upon them is their own sin. They rose up as enemies against God. "Therefore, thus says the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which you shall not remove your necks" (verse 3).
In the 3rd chapter the Lord God exposes the self-serving princes, hireling prophets, and covetous priests as the men who had led Israel into apostasy and doom. They abhorred righteousness and perverted equity, in the name of God, and brought the people they claimed to serve under the sentence of doom (verses 912).
"Hear this, I pray you, you heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest."
But Micah, being a faithful man, caring as he did for the souls of men, moves rapidly from announcing God's wrath upon his enemies to the proclamation of grace and salvation to chosen sinners.In the 4th chapter, he speaks of a better Prince, a better Prophet, a better Priest and a better Kingdom. The fourth chapter speaks of the coming of Christ and the establishing of his spiritual kingdom, Mt. Zion, the Church of the living God, and the gathering of sinners out of every nation into his kingdom. "The Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even forever" (7). This kingdom shall triumph and prevail over all her enemies (verse 13). The gates of Hell can never prevail against it!
Chapter 5 begins with an announcement of our Redeemer's death at the hands of his enemies, as if to indicate that his death would be the means of Israel's deliverance and the cause of his own exaltation and glory. He who was to be born at Bethlehem (The House of Bread), who must be smitten by his enemies, shall stand in glory. "And this man shall be the Peace" (verse 5). He will both gather and save his sheep, who have been scattered "among the flocks of goats" (margin v. 8).
In chapter 6 the Lord God pleads with us to remember his goodness, his wondrous works of grace, "that you may know the righteousness of the LORD" (verse 5), teaching us that God looks on the heart (verses 68), and calls us to repentance (verses 916).
In the midst of the Lord's rebuke and indignation, Micah cries, "Woe is me!" (7:1). But the hope of the Christ's coming shines like a bright star in the dark sky in the 7th chapter. The prophecy closes with great joy and with eager anticipation of that day when God will cast Israel's sins into the depths of the sea.
"Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me According to the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt will I show unto him marvelous things. The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of you. Who is a God like unto you, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retains not his anger forever, because he delights in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. You will perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn unto our fathers from the days of old." (7:7, 1520).
Prophecies of Christ
None of the Old Testament prophets spoke more clearly than Micah of our blessed Savior. When we read Micah's prophecy, we must not fail to see that this is a prophecy of Christ our Savior and God's great salvation in him. Pull out a few of these jewels, hold them up in the light, and gaze upon them with wonder.
Our Savior is spoken of in Micah 2:13 as "the Breaker.""The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them." Without question, this text of Scripture has specific reference, historically, to the nation of Israel. If you read chapters one and two, you will see that the Lord threatened severe, but just punishment upon them because of their relentless ungodliness, idolatry, and eagerness to follow false prophets rather than those men sent of God who spoke the Word of God plainly.
Yet, in wrath our God remembers mercy. He promised those disobedient Jews deliverance, undeserved, merciful deliverance, miraculous deliverance, deliverance which had the unmistakable stamp of divinity upon it. The entire story is a clear picture of God's free grace in Christ to his elect, the true Israel of God. Like the Jews of old, we have turned aside from our God, his Word, his way, and his worship, and went whoring after other gods, according to our own lusts. The Lord God, in his Word, has threatened a severe, but just and everlasting punishment to be executed upon us for our sin. Yet, in wrath, our God remembers mercy. He has promised that he shall save some of Adam's fallen race by his almighty, free grace in Christ. That One who is our Savior and Deliverer, God's dear Son, our all glorious Christ, is here called "The Breaker". Christ is the Breaker and all who are saved by him are described as "the broken up." Blessed are those who are broken by him in mercy, because he is determined not to crush them in his wrath!
The fourth chapter of Micah describes the kingdom of Christ. The destruction of Israel does not mean that God cast off his people, whom he foreordained unto everlasting salvation (Romans 11:2). Not at all! In fact, the destruction of the physical nation of Israel and of that physical kingdom made way for Christ's more glorious spiritual and everlasting kingdom, his church. This kingdom of grace is "established in the top of the mountains exalted above all hills," in heave itself (verse 1). This kingdom is made up of God's elect from many nations. It is in this place, Mt. Zion, where our God teaches us and guides us (verse 2). The church and kingdom of God is a kingdom of peace and security. Here, and here alone, men and women live together in peace, as one, because we walk together in the name of "the LORD our God" (verses 35). This is a kingdom of poor, halting sinners, gathered by Christ, healed by Christ, and ruled by Christ, a tower for sheep, a strong hold for the daughter of Zion, the place built by our God and Savior for his redeemed ones, who he has delivered (verses 610). Though all the nations of the earth are perpetually gathered against the church and kingdom of our God, the kingdom of our God, the church of his elect, shall prevail over Babylon. Indeed, our God has consecrated all the substance of Babylon and the whole earth to the glory of Christ our King (verses 1113).
In chapter 5, verse 1, Micah speaks of Christ's humiliation and suffering (5:1). Our blessed Savior came here to be smitten by the rod of his enemies, and smitten by the sword of justice as our Substitute, that he might give to us such a kingdom of grace and glory, of righteousness and everlasting salvation as is described in chapter four.
Micah 5:2 declares our Savior's Incarnation. Here the exact place of his birth is named.Bethlehem. His eternal pre-existence is declared in the words, "He shall come forth." He could not come forth if he did not already exist. Here is the Deity of this man Micah has been describing as the man of peace, our Savior. He is the eternal God, "Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
Then, Micah speaks of the majesty of Christ in his glorious exaltation (5:4)."And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth."
God's Distinguishing Greatness
Though the people were turned aside unto vanity, Micah's heart was fixed upon God's promised Deliverer. He said, "Therefore I will look unto the Lord: I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me" (7:7). With the eye of faith fixed upon Christ, believing the promises of God, Micah's heart began to swell with joy, gratitude, praise, and expectation. Unable to contain himself, the prophet of God raises his voice in exultation, closing his prophecy with a declaration of our God's distinctive greatness as God. What is it that distinguishes the true and living God from all the imaginary god's of men? Read Micah 7:1820, and see.
"Who is a God like unto you, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retains not his anger forever, because he delights in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. You will perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn unto our fathers from the days of old."
Here is the thing that distinguishes our God as God"He delights in mercy!" Clap your hands and rejoice before him, with joy unspeakable and full of glory. This good news is pure gospel truth. It should raise a universal shout of "Hallelujah!" The God of Heaven, the God whom we have offended, the God in whose hands we are, is a God who delights in mercy! "Who is a God like unto you," O Lord? Micah not only declares that God is merciful, but that he delights in mercy.
Certainly, every attribute of God gives him pleasure in its exercise. But, here, mercy is singled out by Inspiration as his favorite. And though all the divine attributes are eternal, mercy was the last to be revealed. His wisdom and power are seen in the creation of the world. His wrath is seen in the damnation of Satan and the angels who fell. His justice is seen in the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden when his law was broken. But in mercy he spared their lives, in mercy he promised a Redeemer, in mercy he provided a sacrifice.
C. H. Spurgeon wrote, "You might say that, mercy is God's Benjamin, and he delights most of all in it. It is the son of his right hand. But it might also be called the son of his sorrow, for the mercy of God came to be revealed in the sorrow and death of God's well-beloved Son."
Who is a God like unto You, O LORD? He is gloriously sovereign. He is infinitely just. He is perfectly holy. He is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, incomprehensible, and eternal. And "he delights in mercy." It is the glory of God and the pleasure of God to show mercy to sinners for Christ's. In Christ, for his sake, God delights in mercy. It is his glory and pleasure to be merciful. And God's mercy is active, operative, and effectual. God's mercy in Christ is gloriously effectual. Take notice of what Micah says God will do for sinners, because "he delights in mercy."
1. He will pardon iniquity, because "he delights in mercy." This word "pardons" means that he lifts up sin and takes it away. He lifts sin up off of us and lays it upon Christ, the true scapegoat who takes it away.
2. The Lord God passes by the transgression of his remnant, because "he delights in mercy." Having put away sin by the sacrifice of his Son, God passes by it, taking no notice of it, as if he did not see it. He will not impute sin to his people nor call them to account for it (Romans 4:8). Through the blood of Christ it is covered, atoned, and washed away. "Our sins are so effectually removed," wrote Spurgeon, "that we shall not ultimately suffer any loss or damage through having sinned." Because "he delights in mercy" God positively, absolutely, freely and irreversibly forgives sin through the sin-atoning sacrifice of his dear Son.
3. God will not retain his just anger against his people, because "he delights in mercy" (Isaiah 12:12). God's anger, wrath, and justice, being fully satisfied in the sufferings and death of Christ, are turned away from his people.
4. God almighty will turn toward us in compassion, because "he delights in mercy" (1920). He will subdue our iniquities by the blood of Christ and by power of his Spirit. He will cast all our sins into the depth of the sea. He will perform his covenant of mercy and truth toward us (Jeremiah 31:3134).
"God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved)." God, who delights in mercy, is willing to be merciful, even to all who call upon him (Ezekiel 18:3132; 33:11). The place to obtain mercy, the only place, is at the throne of mercy, at the feet of King Jesus, the Son of God.
Here is a lesson for gospel preachersIf God delights in mercy, let his servants proclaim his mercy. Let every word of human merit be accounted as blasphemy; and let the pulpit ring with mercy. Here is a lesson for all who profess faith in ChristIf God delights in mercy, see to it that you delight in mercy too (Matthew 6:12, 1415; Ephesians 4:325:1). Here is a lesson for you who need mercyIf God delights in mercy, you have no reason to fear seeking his mercy. There is not one hard, forbidding word in all the Bible to a sinner coming to Christ for mercy. The door is open. The invitation is free. Come to Christ for mercy. Are you willing to have his mercy? If you are, you may! Come, then; sinner, come and welcome to Jesus.
Lord, You have won, at length I yield,
My heart by mighty grace compelled.
Surrenders all to You.
Against Your terrors long I strove,
But who can stand against Your love?
Love conquers even me.
If You had bid Your thunders roll,
And lightening flash to blast my soul,
I still had stubborn been.
But mercy has my heart subdued,
A bleeding Savior I have viewed,
And now I hate my sin.
Chapter 34
NAHUM
"The LORD is good."
The mercy, love, grace, and goodness of God cannot be proclaimed too fully, believed too firmly, or extolled to highly. I rejoice to declare to men and women everywhere that, "The LORD is good.""The goodness of God endures continually" (Psalm 52:1)."I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13)."The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD" (Psalm 33:5)."The goodness of God leads you to repentance" (Romans 2:4)."Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for them that fear you; which you have wrought for them that trust in you before the sons of men!" (Psalm 31:19).
We rejoice in the knowledge of God's infinite, matchless, goodness. But, the church of this age has a terribly perverted sense of God's goodness. There is a sense of God's goodness in the church, and in the world today that is totally unbiblical. In fact, it borders upon idolatry. It is a sense of goodness that robs the Almighty of majesty. It is a concept of divine love that denies God's veracity. It is an idea of mercy that totally denies the justice of God. The modern notion of God's goodness totally denies his holiness.
Those who have the idea that God is so loving, gracious, and good that he will not punish sin have no real idea of who God is. As Charles Spurgeon once said, "He who does not believe that God will punish sin will not believe that he will pardon it through the blood of his Son." If we would worship God, we must be captured by a sense and awareness of the majesty, glory, and power of the omnipotent God in his glorious holiness.
If ever there was a generation that needed to hear the message of Nahum, it is this generation. In the opening verses of Nahum's prophecy (1:17) we are confronted with a striking, bold declaration of God's character. Here is that one true and living God, before whom sinners are compelled to bow, recognizing his awesome, infinite majesty. This great God is "a consuming fire!"
Nahum
Nahum's name means "comfort" or "consolation." We know nothing more about him than that. We do not know who Nahum was, what kind of man he was, who his parents were, how long he lived, where he died, who his descendants were, or even if he had any descendants. All we know about this man, Nahum, is that he was a prophet of God who carried in his heart the burden of the Word of the Lord and faithfully proclaimed the message God gave him to his generation. Nahum was one of those men who faithfully served the Lord God in obscurity, without fame or recognition in this world. He was a faithful man who served a faithful God. For him that was enough. God tells us virtually nothing about Nahum; but Nahum tells us much about God.
A Message of Judgment
Nahum's message was a declaration of God's determined judgment upon Nineveh. He announces it immediately (1:1, 8). About 100 years earlier the Lord had sent his prophet Jonah to this wicked city, warning them of wrath and judgment. Upon hearing Jonah's message, the city repented, turned from their idols and the ungodly ways of idolatry to the Lord God, and worshiped him, and God who delights in mercy stayed his wrath. The city was spared. But, in the years that followed, the Ninevites forsook the Lord and turned again to their idols and to the ways of cruelty and lasciviousness that idolatry always produces.
Now "the burden of Nineveh" was laid upon Nahum's heart by God. His prophecy graphically foretells the complete desolation of that people who violently persecuted God's people. The destruction came 100 years later when God in his holiness, justice, and truth rewarded the sin of Nineveh with indescribable wrath.
In chapter 1 the judgment determined upon Nineveh is announced.
In chapter 2 the sentence upon Nineveh is described. God was determined to utterly and permanently destroy the great, renowned city."Behold, I am against you, says the LORD of hosts" (2:13)."If God be for us, who can be against us?" But when God turns against us, who can be for us?
In chapter 3 the prophet describes the execution of God's wrath upon the city. It would not come to pass for another 100 years; but it would come to pass. The Lord God had bruised the city with an irrevocable stroke of justice. He declares, "There is no healing of your bruise; your wound is grievous" (3:19).
Let all be warned. To despise God's mercy is to court his wrath. The Lord God had sent Jonah to Nineveh. He had displayed his grace to that wicked city, sparing them in his mercy. But they willfully turned aside from the revelation of his goodness. Now, the reprobate city was under the irrevocable sentence of his wrath.
Nahum's prophecy describes the utter destruction of Nineveh; and the city was so utterly destroyed that every trace of its existence was covered until 1841, when some archeologists discovered it buried beneath the earth. The Ninevites thought they were impregnable. But the Almighty has his way in the whirlwind and in the sea, in the mountains and in the hills, in Heaven and in earth. When the appointed time of wrath came, the Lord God raised up a pagan army to invade and destroy the city and caused it to be buried by the overflowing of the Tigris river, which had long served as its protector.
A Message Of Consolation
Nahum's message to Nineveh was a message of wrath and judgment, wrath and judgment fully deserved. But that is not all there is to his message. Remember, Nahum means "Comfort" or "consolation," and his message to God's elect is a message of comfort and consolation, a message full of instruction. Go back to chapter 1 and observe how fully Nahum describes the great, glorious character of our God.
Nahum began his prophecy with a declaration of God's attributes. He does not declare all the attributes of God's Being. No man could do that. But he does give us six distinct attributes of deity, six things which are essential to and descriptive of God's holy character. Who is God? What is he like? Nahum tells us that
1. "God is jealous."
With God jealousy is not a fault, but an attribute. It is right for God to be jealous, because he is perfect. Any assault upon his person, resistance to his will, rebellion against his rule, or objection to his work is evil. God is jealous for his Son.Ask those who crucified him! God is jealous for his own honor and glory.Ask Moses! God is jealous for his worship and ordinances.Ask Uzza! God is jealous for his people.Ask Pharaoh! God will avenge his own elect. He will avenge the honor of his name. He will avenge himself upon his enemies."God is jealous, and the LORD revenges; the LORD revenges, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserves wrath for his enemies" (verse 2).
Today men talk about God's love as though his love is a fluctuating passion, like ours, and altogether isolated from his other glorious attributes. The fact that "God is love" does not in anyway diminish the fact that "God is jealous." In fact, it is God's love that makes him jealous, so jealous that he is "furious" and "reserves wrath for his enemies."
2. "The LORD is slow to anger."
In other words, this great and terrible God whose jealousy makes him furious is also patient, forgiving, and longsuffering. God is not in a hurry to punish sinners and execute judgment upon his enemies. Judgment is his strange work. And he always defers it, giving sinners space for repentance. This is mercy. God is willing to be gracious. God now affords his enemies opportunity to repent and commands them to do so (Acts 17:30; 2 Peter 3:9).
3. "The LORD is great in power."
He is the omnipotent, almighty God. He has all power, and can do all that he is pleased to do. Our God is a great God, because he is "great in power." A weak, frustrated, defeated God is as useless as a bucket without a bottom, or a well without water. What is omnipotence? Omnipotence does not mean that God can do anything. Omnipotence means he has the power and ability to do everything he has purposed to do. It is the ability and power of God to do all his pleasure (Isaiah 46:913), to perform all his Word (Isaiah 55:11), to accomplish all his purpose (Romans 8:2830), and to save all his people (Romans 9:1318). A weak God is a frustration to those who worship him, because a weak God is always frustrated. The almighty, omnipotent Jehovah is the comfort and stay of those who trust him.
4. "The LORD will not at all acquit the wicked."
That is to say, God is just. Justice and truth are the habitation of his throne. Though he is longsuffering and patient, he will punish every transgressor. God's forbearance is not an indication that he lacks either the will or the ability to punish his enemies. He is great in power. And he is just. Therefore, "the soul that sins, it shall die." God will not clear the guilty. A just God cannot clear the guilty.
"The LORD will not at all acquit the wicked."The mysteries of Calvary are bound up in this short sentence. When a known criminal is pardoned, something is desperately wrong, either with the law that condemned him or the administration of it. For God to acquit the wicked would indicate the same flaw, either in him or in his law, unless he can do so upon the grounds of justice satisfied.
How can he be just, and yet be the Justifier of sinners? If God is just and must punish sin, how can any sinner ever be saved? Will God lay aside his justice that he might be merciful? No. He cannot. Justice is essential to his character. How then can he save us? There is only one waySubstitution (Job 33:24; Proverbs 16:6; Romans 3:2426).
If God almighty saves a guilty sinner and forgives his sins, three things must be done. First, the sinner must be punished to the full satisfaction of justice. Second, his sins and guilt must be totally removed. Third, he must become perfectly righteous. And these three things can be done only by the substitutionary work of Christ. God punished all the sins of all his elect to the full satisfaction of his justice when Christ died as our Substitute (Galatians 3:13). He removed them from us altogether and put them away by the sacrifice of his dear Son (Hebrews 9:26). And he has imputed to us Christ's perfect righteousness in exactly the same way and to the same degree as he imputed our sins to Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).
5. "The Lord has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm."
What do those words mean? They mean that the Lord our God, who is jealous, longsuffering, omnipotent, and just, is also totally sovereign. He rules all things. "And the clouds are the dust of his feet!" (Psalm 115:3; 135:6). In all things, at all times, with all creatures, and in all places, "The LORD has his way!" In creation, in providence, and in grace, "The LORD has his way!" We rejoice in the glorious sovereignty of our great God, knowing that God always exercises his sovereignty over all things for the redemption and salvation of his people (verses 46; Isaiah 45:7, 22; 50:2; 51:1012).
As we contemplate what the Lord God did in Nineveh, let us be reminded once more that, "Our God is in the heavens: he has done whatever he has pleased" (Psalm 115:3)."Whatever the LORD pleased, that did he in Heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places" (Psalm 135:6). God did not wind up the universe, start it spinning, and then leave it to see what would happen. He is not some far away observer of history. He is the God of history. He makes history. It was God who caused the wind to blow for Jonah one day, and God who picked up the elements of nature and hurled them upon Nineveh another.
Few there are who recognize these things. When some great tragedy occurs in the world, or an epidemic sweeps over the land, or pestilence strikes, no one turns to God in repentance, because no one imagines that God would do such things. But he declares plainly that these things are the works of his hands."I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things" (Isaiah 45:7).
How little we see this. Yet, it should be evident to all. It was but a change in the wind that turned the tide of the battle of Gettysburg and forever altered the course of our nation's history."He commands and raises the stormy wind" (Psalm 107:25). Napoleon once challenged the world and God, saying, "The Lord is on the side of the heaviest artillery." But that proud man with his mighty artillery was stopped in his tracks and defeated by an enormous accumulation of unexpected tiny snowflakes!"Fire and hail; snow and vapor; stormy wind fulfilling his word" (Psalm 148:8). And a century after Nahum's prophecy God turned loose his elements, and Nineveh fell to the armies of the Medes. Judgment is God's work. When we see it, let us be wise and seek his face.
Even as the prophet describes the judgment of God, the fierce anger of his wrath, he raises a question which, when answered, carries a message of hope for sinners."Who can stand before his indignation? And who can abide the fierceness of his anger?" Not me! Not you! God's wrath would consume us like a snowflake in a blast furnace. But the Lord Jesus Christ, our great Substitute, stood before the indignation of almighty God and consumed his wrath for us. Do you see these attributes of God? The Lord is jealous. The Lord is longsuffering. The Lord is omnipotent. The Lord is just. The Lord is sovereign. Now read verse 7. "The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knows them that trust in him."
6. "The LORD is good!"
Our great God is good! Goodness is as essential to God's Being as sovereignty, justice, truth, and holiness. In fact, the very name "God" is an abbreviation of the word "good." Goodness is the character of our God; and the goodness of God gives us hope, comfort, and strength in the midst of our trials and sorrows in this world. Look at what the Holy Spirit here tells us by his servant Nahum about the goodness of our God.
"The LORD is good!"Nahum has been talking about the storm of God's wrath, the terror of his justice, the greatness of his anger, whirlwinds, shaking mountains, melting hills, and burning earth. Then, he comes to a blessed, calm, serene island of rest."The LORD is good."
God is essentially good. Goodness is essential to God. Without it, he would not be God. Goodness is so essentially the character of God that as John Gill has observed, "There is nothing but goodness in God, and nothing but goodness comes from him" (James 1:1314). He permits evil, but overrules it for good (Psalm 76:10). He afflicts his children and brings many evil things upon us; but he makes the evil work for good (Romans 8:28: Proverbs 12:21; Genesis 50:20). God punishes sin with vengeance; but even that punishment of sin is good as a vindication of justice and the protection of his kingdom.
God is singularly good. He is the only good One in the universe (Matthew 19:17). "God's goodness is the root of all goodness. Our goodness, if we have any, springs out of his goodness" (William Tyndale).
God is eternally and immutably good (Malachi 3:6). The goodness of God never varies, changes, or alters. He is good, always good, good in each of his glorious Persons. God the Father is good. God the Son is good. God the Holy Spirit is good. God is good in all his acts of grace (Ephesians 1:314). God is good in all his works of providence (Romans 8:28). In all that he has done, is doing, and shall hereafter do God is good. God is infinitely, incomparably, immeasurably good. Who can measure the goodness of God? To what shall his goodness be compared? He is good beyond our highest estimation of what good is. God is good to his own elect (Psalm 23:6).
"The LORD is good!" That is a sentence worthy of constant meditation. Eternity itself will not tell out the fullness of God's goodness. And all his goodness is directed toward us at all times!
A Stronghold
"The LORD is a stronghold in the day of trouble."The only place of safety in this world is the place we find beneath the shadow of his wings (Proverbs 18:10). The Lord who is good is our stronghold, our place of refuge. He is our refuge in the day of trouble (Hebrews 6:18; 4:16).
We have our days of trouble as long as we live in this world, but notice how Nahum describes them. Everyday of trouble is "the" day of God's appointment. Every day of trouble is temporary,only the "day" of trouble (2 Corinthians 4:1718). Whatever the trouble may be, the Lord is our Stronghold in the midst of the "trouble," every kind of trouble (Hebrews 4:16). A stronghold is a mighty fortress for the protection of citizens against the aggressions of enemies. It is a place of safety, of peace, of residence, and of provision.
"The LORD knows them that trust in him."Do you trust in him? Do you trust his Son, his finished work, his abundant grace, his many promises, his providential rule, his unerring wisdom? Do you trust this great, mighty, good God? If you do, be of good comfort"The Lord knows them that trust in him."
That word "knows" is overflowing with consolation. It means that the Lord has foreordained and predestined them that trust in him (Romans 8:29). He everlastingly loves them that trust in him (Jeremiah 31:3). He loves us without cause, without condition, without beginning, without change, and without end. The Lord is intimately acquainted with them that trust in him (Matthew 10:30). He knows who they are, where they are, and what they need. The Lord graciously approves of and accepts them that trust in him (Ephesians 1:6). The Lord holds loving communion with them that trust in him (John 15:15). The Lord tenderly cares for them that trust in him (Isaiah 43:15). He is with you. He will protect you. He will provide for you. He will help you. He will keep you.
Tamar may disguise herself so that Judah does not know her. Isaac, through dimness of sight, may pass over Esau and bless Jacob. Joseph may forget, or be forgotten by his brethren. Solomon may not be able to tell whose the child is. And Christ may come to his own and not be received. But "the LORD knows them that trust in him." He knows Daniel in the lion's den. He knows Job on the dunghill. He knows Peter in prison. He knows Lazarus at the rich man's gate. He knows Abel falling to the ground by his brother's wrath. He knows me. And he knows you (2 Timothy 2:19).
And the Lord will publicly own them that trust him ((Revelation 3:5). He owns us now before the throne in Heaven (1 John 2:12). He will own us before all worlds in the last day. Let us ever trust the goodness of God, even when we cannot see his goodness. Let us flee to and abide in our mighty Stronghold. Let us ever trust our Savior's loving care. If the Lord who is good knows us, we want nothing else to satisfy us. He knows us eternally. He knows us perfectly. He knows us universally (Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, 31). If he who is good knows us, all is well!
Chapter 35
HABAKKUK
Clinging to Christ
There is an appointed day of wrath and judgment. "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb 9:27). The God who made us has "appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; whereof he has given assurance unto all men, in that he has raised him from the dead" (Acts 17:31).
If you do not live in the conscious awareness of that fact, in the conscious awareness of the fact that you must soon stand before the holy Lord God in judgment, in the conscious anticipation of eternity, you are living in a fantasy of unreality. You are living as a fool, in a dream world, refusing to face the facts of reality. Soon, you and I must stand before that august bar of divine judgment called, "The Great White Throne" (2 Corinthians 5:1011; Revelation 20:1115).
To live in unbelief, to live in contempt of and rebellion against Christ is to store up for yourself wrath against the day of wrath and the righteous judgment of God (Romans 2:5). In that day there will only be two groups of people, the just and the damned, the justified and the unjustified, the righteous and the wicked, those who are eternally saved and those who are eternally damned.
If ever you come to face that fact, if ever you come to grips with reality, you will be forced to ask some questions. You will be compelled to ask, "How can I live before God?" "How can I escape the wrath and judgment of God in that great day when he consumes the world in his holy terror?" "How can I be just with God?" If you are not asking yourself such questions, you live in utter naivety, with your head in the sand. If such questions have become matters of concern to you, if you would know how to escape the righteous judgment of God and the fury of his unmitigated wrath in Hell, read the Book of Habakkuk.
Faith
There is a statement found in Habakkuk 2:4 that is quoted three times in the New Testament."The just shall live by his faith." In Romans 1:17 the emphasis is on righteousness, the righteousness of God that we receive by faith in Christ. In Galatians 3:11 the emphasis is on faith. Paul is declaring that believers do not obtain righteousness by their own works, but by faith in Christ alone. In Hebrews 10:38 the emphasis is on life, on living by faith. The Holy Spirit there declares that those who have been made righteous, receiving the righteousness of God in Christ by faith in Christ, live throughout their days on this earth by that same faith, trusting Christ.
Habakkuk seems to have all three of these ideas in mind. He tells us that sinners obtain righteousness and life by faith in Christ and that, being made righteous, God's people live by faith in Christ. We know that that is Habakkuk's message, because he sings praise to Christ our Savior in the prophetic song of chapter 3. "You went forth for the salvation of your people, even for salvation with your anointed; you wounded the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah" (verse 13; compare Matthew 1:21).
The Message
In a word, Habakkuk's message is this: There is only one way to live. If we would live, if we would escape the wrath and judgment of God, we must live by faith, clinging to Christ. Indeed, Habakkuk's name means "embrace, or cling," and his message is just that. If we would live, we must live by clinging to the Lord.
In chapter 1 the prophet prays for Judah, against whom the Lord God was determined to send the Chaldeans in judgment.
In chapter 2 we see the watchman upon his watchtower, receiving God's answer to his prayer.
In chapter 3 we have Habakkuk's prayer of praise and faith, in the form of a psalm to be sung in the worship of God.
The meaning of the word "Shigionoth" is doubtful. Some suggest that it means "ignorance." Others think it means "stringed instrument." Perhaps it is best to give it both meanings. Certainly, it is best to do so here. Habakkuk is here declaring, "Though I am ignorant before him, I will bow to my God, worship him, and sing praise to him upon my stringed instruments." His song begins with a prayer, ends with a determined contentment of faith, and everything between is praise.
This is the prayer with which Habakkuk begins his song."O LORD, I have heard your speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy" (3:2).
He heard God's pronunciation of wrath, and was afraid, not for himself, but for those the Lord was determined to punish in his holy indignation. God's prophet was not unmoved by the fact that multitudes were to perish forever. He bowed to God's revealed purpose; but he was terrified at the prospect of multitudes under the everlasting fury of the holy Lord God.
Then, he prays for God's church and kingdom.(1.) He prays for the Lord to revive, that is to preserve, his work in the midst of his judgment. Then, (2.) he prays for the Lord to make himself known in the midst of the years of darkness and desolation, in the midst of his judgment. And (3.) he calls for the Lord God, in wrath, to remember mercy.
The Situation
This was Habakkuk's situation. Judah was going to be invaded by the Chaldeans (Babylonians). The invasion took place at the end of the sixth century B.C., when Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. The Lord revealed this to his prophets long before it actually took place. He told them plainly that Judah was going to be punished for her sin, and that the instrument he would use to punish Judah would be Babylon. Unlike Joel, Zephaniah, and Amos, Habakkuk does not mention the possibility that judgment might be averted. He does not call for national repentance. It is too late for repentance. Instead, he declares the inevitable destruction of Judah and, beyond that, the doom of the Chaldeans themselves.
Yet, he declares that the only way to escape the coming wrath and judgment of God is by faith, by believing God. Though judgment is certain, he declares that those who believe shall live. Carrying the heavy, heavy burden the Lord God had put upon him, Habakkuk cries out in 1:24 that Judah is full of violence, strife, and contention, that the nation had utterly cast aside God's holy law. "Therefore," he says, "judgment proceeds."
In verses 511 the prophet faithfully declares the precise method by which the Lord God would destroy the nation. He was raising up the pagan, idolatrous, ungodly, barbarian Chaldeans, a vile, immoral, wretched people, to execute his wrath against a people who professed to be his people and appeared to be far more righteous than those who would destroy them. It was a prophecy so contrary to nature and reason, that when it came to pass the people would deny that God did it, though he had plainly told them he was going to do it (1:5).
Assurance of Life
Now, look at verse 12. Here the prophet of God speaks with absolute confidence, assuring God's true saints, the true believers, among those who professed faith in him, that God's judgment by which he would destroy the rest would not destroy them."Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, you have ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, you have established them for correction."
Questions
In verses 2 and 3 the prophet cried beneath the heavy weight of his burden. "O LORD, how long shall I cry, and you will not hear! Why do you show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance?" Then, at the end of the chapter (1:1317), he asked the Lord to explain himself to him, to explain to him why he would choose to use the Chaldeans to punish Judah? His question is, "How is it you, O Lord, God who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, will execute your wrath upon Judah by a people even worse than they?"
These were not the questions of a rebel, or a reprobate unbeliever, but the questions of a faithful man perplexed by God's providential works. We might not be honest enough to put them into verbal expressions; but they are questions that frequently disturb us too. Are they not? These questions remind us of David's great struggle in Psalm 73.
God's Answer
We must admit that we have struggled with the same questions. The earth is filled with glaring inequity. The wicked do seem to prosper while the righteous suffer. After raising the questions, Habakkuk resolves to wait for God's answer. We would be wise to do the same, and to lay the answer to heart.
In chapter 2 Habakkuk stands upon his watchtower to await God's answer, and the Lord gave it to him in a vision. He does not tell us what he saw, but it must be assumed that the rest of his prophecy is the result of the vision God gave him. I say that because God commanded him to write out the vision and make it plain (Verses 23). And the declaration of God's vision was first and foremost a word of instruction, reproof, and assurance to Habakkuk and to us (verse 4). Let us hear the instruction, bear the reproof, and rejoice in the assurance."The just shall live by his faith."
The first thing we learn is that God is running things right on schedule (2:3). Our time and God's time are not measured by the same clock. Israel offered sacrifices for centuries in anticipation of Christ, the coming Sacrifice by whom sin would be put away. The Jews, in unbelief, fell into idolatry and were cast off by God, because, they refused to live by faith. They stumbled over the Stumbling-Stone. Going about to establish their own righteousness, they refused to submit to the righteousness of God, never realizing that, "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes." "The just shall live by his faith." But they refused to believe and perished.
Yet, "when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law" (Galatians 4:45). You can count on it, not one thing willed, purposed, predestined, and/or promised by God will fail to be accomplished, and accomplished in exactly the way and at the precise time God has ordained. A thousand years are as a day in God's sight. He never gets in a hurry, and he is never late.
This is God's answer to all Habakkuk's questions and his answer to our own questions as well."The just shall live by his faith" (Hab 2:4). As I mentioned at the beginning of this study, this great statement made by God to Habakkuk is repeated three times in the New Testament. Each place describes a specific aspect of Christ's all-sufficient and infallibly effectual work on behalf of his people as our Surety and Substitute.
The first New Testament quotation is found in Romans 1:17. It follows Paul's declaration, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes" (Rom 1:16). Then the says, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith" (Rom 1:17).
In Romans 1 Paul is standing, as it were, upon the threshold of his great Epistle on Justification, in which he shows us how sinners are made righteous and just before God, not by works, but by grace. In the Book of God, we are given an inspired record of his wondrous work of redemption by Christ, a record of redemption accomplished by the righteousness and blood of his darling Son. Faith believes God's witness, says, "Amen," to the testimony of God concerning his Son, and believing the record God has given concerning his Son, believing God, we receive righteousness, free, unconditional, irrevocable and eternal justification. Faith does not make us righteous. Christ did that at Calvary (Romans 4:25). Faith receives the atonement and the righteousness brought in by it (Romans 5:11). Like our brother Abel, believing God, offering God the blood of his own Son, we obtain witness that we are righteous (Hebrews 11:4).
The second quote is in Galatians 3:11."But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident; for, The just shall live by faith." Here, Paul is saying much the same thing as he wrote in Colossians 2:6."As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk you in him." The Galatians were being tempted by false preachers, Judaizing legalists, that, having been saved by grace (justified by grace), they must now keep themselves and make themselves perfect, that they must sanctify themselves by their own works.
Paul is not confusing justification and sanctification, but clarifying them. In the context (3:110) he is clearly addressing the matter of sanctification. He is telling us that both are found in Christ, that both are received by trusting Christ, that both are works of grace received by faith. He is saying, "If you could make yourself perfect by works, you could justify yourself by your works. But that is evidently impossible, "for the just shall live by faith!" '
In Galatians 3:11 Paul is talking about the believer's walk of life in this world. Just as we are saved by faith, we continue in life by faith.
We see Habakkuk's words again in Hebrews 10:38. Here the Holy Spirit is talking about perseverance and the assurance of it (Hebrews 10:39). When the night is darkest, faith pierces the darkness and, seeing the light of God's promise and grace in Christ, refuses to quit. Faith, like Habakkuk's name implies, "embraces and clings to Christ."
Habakkuk tells us that judgment is coming. Every proud rebel shall be destroyed. But, even in the midst of the providential calamities of divine judgment in time, and when the great and final day of wrath shall come, those who live by faith have their eyes on One who is the Anchor of their souls, knowing that he is in his holy temple (2:14, 20)."For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."
Certainly, this is talking about that last day, when judgment is over and God makes all things new. It is equally certain that this is talking about this gospel age, in which the gospel of God's free, sovereign, saving, grace and glory in Christ is spread over all the earth, even as God destroys the nations by the great whore of false religion, Babylon.
Still, there is more. If you have a marginal translation, you will see that the words of verse 14 might be translated, "the earth shall be filled by knowing the glory of the LORD." That is to say, "We who believe God, who live by faith, knowing the glory of God in Christ, see the fullness of God's purpose in all things through all the earth" (Romans 8:2839). This is exactly what our Lord declares to be the case in John 11:40.
Habakkuk's Prayer
The Book of Habakkuk closes with Habakkuk's great prayer of praise and faith. He gives us a great description of God's majesty. He declares the wondrous history of God's dealings with his people in bringing them into Canaan, which portrayed the far greater blessedness that is ours in Christ, as we behold him who is the brightness of the Father's glory (Hebrews 1:3).
Three times in this prayer Habakkuk uses the exclamation, "Selah," a word found nowhere else in the Bible except in the Psalms. This word is a call for us to pause, be silent, and consider. Someone suggested it means, "Listen to the divine illuminating, to the divine light." How we need this silence of soul before the Lord God in these days! Let us pause and listen to the divine light.
As it was upon Mt. Sinai that the whole earth was full of the glory of God (verses 34), so it is now. If only we had eyes to see it, the whole earth is full of God's praise. One day soon, all things shall show forth his praise.
Even when God marches through the earth in wrath, with his glittering sword drawn, he is riding upon his "chariots of salvation" (verse 8), and goes forth for the salvation of his people by Christ, his anointed (verses 1213).
We are justified by faith; we walk by faith; we will be delivered by faith. This is the vision God gave the prophet of old. Habakkuk declares, "God is working out his eternal purpose of grace for the salvation of his people. In wrath, he does remember mercy. He is making himself known. He is preserving his church and kingdom. Blessed be his holy name!"
Habakkuk's Faith
Knowing this, the troubled, heavy-hearted prophet closes his song and his prophecy with a marvelous declaration of determined faith, bowing to the wisdom, goodness and grace of God's adorable providence, even when it appears dark and difficult (verses 1719).
"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments."
Chapter 36
ZEPHANIAH
"Wait you upon me, says the LORD."
There is a word of counsel from our God in the opening sentence of Zephaniah 3:8 that we cannot read, or hear, or think upon too frequently. It is a word of counsel that our God graciously gives us throughout the Volume of Holy Scripture. It is a word of counsel and instruction that summarizes the message of the prophets and apostles. If the Lord God will give us grace to heed it, this word of counsel and instruction will be of immeasurable benefit to our souls as long as we live in this world."Wait you upon me, says the LORD." The Prophet Zephaniah announces both the execution of judgment upon the wicked and the bestowment of mercy upon God's elect, and teaches us to wait upon the Lord to perform his word.
A Prophecy of Judgment
The book of Zephaniah is a prophecy of judgment. The bulk of his prophecy is taken up with identifying the sins for which God would send his wrath upon men, and announcing the horror awaiting every rebel (1:13:8).
Guilt must be exposed before grace can be announced. Sinners must be convinced of their guilt, or they will never seek grace. Therefore, God's prophets pointedly identify our guilt, and convince us of the wrath and judgment of God that we deserve, before declaring God's mercy and grace. Zephaniah follows that pattern. After announcing the certainty of divine judgment, he declares the certainty of God's mercy, love, and grace for his elect, and the absolute certainty of God's salvation of them (3:920).
Idolatry
In Zephaniah's day the professed church and kingdom of God (the nation of Judah) was in a state of unprecedented spiritual darkness. We get some idea of the condition of the land when we read 2 Kings 22:120.
Idolatry was rampant throughout the land. Pagan priests and those men who were supposed to be the Lord's priests (1:4), the priests of Baal and the priests of Jehovah formed a nice, ecumenical ministerial association and worked in perfect harmony with one another to blaspheme God and destroy the souls of men. The people of Judah, for the most part, while professing to worship God, worshiped Moloch in the name of Jehovah (verse 5). There were apostates throughout the land, people who had abandoned the worship of God altogether, and yet continued to profess faith in him, people who wore Jehovah's name when it was convenient, but never inquired after him (1:6).
Moral Decadence
As is ever the case, wherever idolatry rules, moral chaos followed. Whenever men and women abandon the worship of God, ignore his Word, and despise his law, moral degeneracy is the result. It matters not what religion they adopt (And they will adopt some religion.), their religion inevitably brings them into moral degeneracy.
Zephaniah describes his people as a filthy, polluted, and oppressing people (3:1). They were a people, he tells us in verse 2 of chapter 3, who refused to obey God, refused to receive correction, trusted not in the LORD, and would not draw near, would not return to their God.
Corrupt Leaders
After describing the people of the land, the prophet of God faithfully exposes the corruption of Judah's political and spiritual leaders as well. Her political leaders were self-serving men who used their power and position to line their own pockets while oppressing the people (3:3). Judah's judges he describes as "wolves" (3:3). Her prophets were "light and treacherous" (3:4). They gave no thought to the Word of God, the truth of God, or the seriousness of speaking to men in the name of God. They simply gave out their own opinions and claimed to be prophesying in the name of the Lord. That made them treacherous and dangerous men. Judah's priests polluted the house of God and did violence to (perverted) the Word of God (3:4).
Does all of this seem familiar? It should. Zephaniah's prophecy seems to be written by a man who is describing the day in which we live. His words accurately describe the very condition of both the political condition and the professed church of our day throughout the world. That is because this little prophecy was written by divine inspiration. It was written for us as well as for the people of Judah in his day (Romans 15:4).
Call to Repentance
Because of the spiritual and moral chaos that was rampant throughout the land, Zephaniah declares that the Lord God will judge the earth, that he will utterly destroy it in his wrath (1:26). Yet, God says to his prophet and to all who truly worship him, "Hold your peace at the presence of the Lord God" (1:7). He tells us what the Lord will do in the day of his wrath. Then, he tells us not to fret about it or murmur against it, but to hold our peace before him."Wait you upon me, says the LORD." The God of all the earth will do right.
He declares (1:7), "The LORD has prepared a sacrifice." Let us rejoice, the Lord has prepared a Sacrifice, his own darling Son, to atone for the sins of his people. And he has called sinners to be his guests, to receive his Sacrifice and all the benefits of it, all the blessings of grace and salvation by his Sacrifice.
Yet, it is this Sacrifice, Christ himself, who shall execute his wrath in the day of his wrath (1:8). The basis of salvation is the Sacrifice; and the basis of judgment is the Sacrifice. It is impossible to think that the judgment Zephaniah describes can find its fulfillment in anything short of that day when Christ comes to take vengeance upon the ungodly and make all things new, that day when it consummates the salvation of his elect in a new heavens and a new earth (Zephaniah 1:1416; Revelation 6; 2 Peter 3:1114). In that day of his wrath, men and women will cry out "to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb" (Revelation 6:16).
"Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless."
(2 Pet 3:1114)
Zephaniah 2 opens with a call to repentance. The faithful prophet tells us that the only way to escape the wrath of God in that great and terrible day of his wrath is to seek the Lord and find our hiding place in him, in the Sacrifice he has prepared, before that day comes (2:13).
"Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you. Seek you the LORD, all you meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be you shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger."
Salvation Promised
Zephaniah's name means, "Jehovah hides," or "Jehovah has hidden," or "Jehovah's watchman." All three meanings are manifest in this prophecy. As Jehovah's faithful watchman, he warns of judgment and wrath, and calls us to flee the wrath to come. He also assures us of the fact that God has his hidden ones in the earth, whose sins he hides and whom he will save by his matchless grace.
He describes the sins of the nations, and exposes the sins of God's people. God's elect deserve his wrath as much as anyone else. We are as guilty as the rest of the world. What evil have other men done that we have not done in thought, if not in deed?
The nature of the reprobate is our nature. His heart is our heart. His thoughts are our thoughts. And his deeds are our deeds. Yet, while God pours out his wrath upon others, he pours out his love, mercy, and grace upon his elect (1 Corinthians 4:7). There is a people who shall serve the Lord God willingly, with one consent (3:9). They will come to him trusting Christ, bringing his offering to him (3:10). They will all confess their sins, being ashamed of their doings (3:11). This is the Lord's remnant, the remnant of Israel, whom he will cause to trust in his name (3:12).
Therefore, the Prophet Zephaniah calls upon redeemed sinners to sing and rejoice, even in the midst of trouble."Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem" (verse 14). He says, "to Jerusalem, Fear you not: and to Zion, Let not your hands be slack" (verse 16). In verses 15 and 17 the Prophet of God gives us nine reasons to rejoice and sing, nine reasons not to fear, nine reasons to be steadfast and immovable in the work of the Lord.
1. "The LORD has taken away your judgments."
The rest of the world, by reason of sin and guilt, is under the wrath of God. But "the Lord has taken away your judgments." That is good news. Zephaniah is not describing what the Lord wants to do, hopes to do, or has tried to do, but about what the Lord has done. "The Lord has taken away your judgments." By the work of his free, almighty, and sovereign grace, the Lord Jesus Christ, our great God and Savior, has taken away our judgments.
In redemption, by the sacrifice of himself, he has taken away our sins, the cause of judgment (Hebrews 9:26; Psalm 103:12; Ephesians 1:7). In the new birth, he has taken away our spiritual death, the consequence of judgment (Colossians 1:1314). Our great God has, by the sacrifice of his own dear Son, taken away the curse of the law, the sentence of judgment (Galatians 3:13; Romans 8:1, 3234).
Redemption was effectually accomplished, fully and completely, for God's elect when Christ died upon the cursed tree (Galatians 3:13; Hebrews 9:12). That redemption, accomplished by Christ as our Substitute, is effectually applied to the redeemed at the appointed time of love, by God the Holy Spirit in regeneration and effectual calling, by the mighty operation of his grace, creating faith in us. Thereby Christ delivered us from the bondage of guilt (Hebrews 9:14).
2. "He has cast out your enemy."
Satan came into the land of man's soul by the door of sin as an invading enemy. But Christ, our mighty Man of War, the Captain of our Salvation, has cast him out. Satan was cast out of Heaven as soon as he began to oppose God's purpose of grace toward us (Ezekiel 28:1417). The Son of God broke Satan's usurped power and dominion over the nations of the world at the cross, and in that sense, cast him out when he died as our Substitute (Genesis 3:15; John 12:31; Revelation 20). Our Savior casts Satan out of the hearts of his people in regeneration by the power of his Spirit, so that we are no longer in bondage to and under the rule of the prince of darkness (Isaiah 49:2425; Matthew 12:2829). And the Lord Jesus Christ will cast Satan into the pit of the damned at the last day (Revelation 20:10).
3. "The king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of you."
The Lord Jesus Christ is the King of Israel, the King of his church. And he is in the midst of us. Can you grasp that? Child of God, the Lord is with you. That ought to fill us with unspeakable joy, peace, and security (Isaiah 41:10; 43:15)."Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice" (Philippians 4:4).
Christ is always near at hand (Philippians 4:4). He is near to support us and to supply our needs. He is near to assist and strengthen us. He is near to protect and defend us. When Zephaniah says, "The Lord is in the midst of you," his meaning is threefold: He is essentially present, because he is the omnipresent God. He is providentially present, because he is determined to do us good. He is graciously present, because he promised never to leave us nor forsake us.
4. "You shall not see evil anymore!"
What a promise this is! "There shall no evil happen to the just" (Proverbs 12:21). "Say you to the righteous, that it shall be well with him" (Isaiah 3:10). The Lord God will not turn away from you to do you good! As Bro. Scott Richardson put it, "There's been no bad news since I got the good news!"
5. "The LORD your God in the midst of you is mighty!"
When Zephaniah was delivering this message, after saying, "The Lord is in the midst of you," it appears that he must have thought to himself, "Oh, I meant to say not only that the LORD is in the midst of you, but also to say, "The LORD your God in the midst of you is mighty." I am glad he was inspired to put that in. He who is in the midst of us is the LORD Jehovah, the Being of beings, the eternal, immutable, all-sufficient God.
He is the LORD your God. He is ours by his own covenant grace. He is ours by his miraculous incarnation"God with us!" And he is ours by his great gift of faith.
And he who is the LORD our God is "mighty." He is the Almighty God, the Omnipotent Creator, and the All-Powerful Mediator and Savior. All power in Heaven and earth has been given to that Man who is our God. Therefore, he is able to save us to the uttermost, deliver us from the hand of every enemy, keep us in the midst of every temptation, sustain us in every trial, and bring us safe into his heavenly kingdom.
6. "He will save!"
The Lord our God is not only able, but also willing to save (Micah 7:1820). He readily undertook to save us in the covenant of grace. He came in the fullness of time to seek and to save that which was lost. He has wrought out salvation for us by his obedience unto death. He sees to it that salvation is applied to every chosen, redeemed sinner. And he will come again to put us in full possession of that salvation he has accomplished for us.
He saves us freely, fully, and everlastingly. He saves from sin, Satan, the law, Hell, and wrath. He will save us from every temporal and every spiritual enemy in time and to eternity. "He will save!" Sooner or later, he will save us from all our troubles (Psalm 25:22; 34:6)."Wait you upon me, says the LORD."
7. "He will rejoice over you with joy!"
Shall God rejoice over us? Indeed he does! He rejoices over his elect with exceeding, great, inexpressible joy. The inspired prophet seems to be searching for words to describe God's joy over his people. As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, the Lord our God, Jesus Christ, rejoices over us his people (Isaiah 62:35; 61:10). And when we stand before him on that great day, he will publicly rejoice over us (Revelation 19:19)."Wait you upon me, says the LORD."
8. "He will rest in his love!"
The Lord Jesus Christ finds great delight, delight, and satisfaction in loving us and in expressing his love to his people. It is pleasing to him to love us He solaces himself in it.
There is not a greater, fuller verbal expression of Christ's love for us in all the Bible than this, "He will rest in his love." He says to us, "You have ravished my heart" (Song of Sol. 4:9). O what infinite, condescending grace! God not only loves us, but he loves to love us! He is pleased that he chose us as the objects of his love! Oh, my heart, be ravished with his love! Christ's love for us is without cause, without beginning, without change, and without end.
This phrase might be translated, "He will be silent because of his love." Our Lord will not upbraid us because of our sins. He will never speak a word of anger or wrath to us. And he will put all of our enemies to silence as well.
As one completely overwhelmed with love for another is often speechless at the sight of the one he loves, when they have been separated for a long, long time, so Christ is speechless because of his love for us.
9. "He will joy over you with singing!"
Again, the prophet seems to be searching for words to describe Christ's love for us. He rejoices over us with joy and joys with singing! He is telling us that God himself is delighted that we are his people, his chosen, redeemed, called ones. We are his Hephzibah, in whom he delights. We are his Beulah, to whom he is married. And he wants no one else. Now, in the light of these things, Zephaniah says to us, the church and children of God, "Be glad and rejoice with all your heart Fear you not Let not your hands be slack" (1 Corinthians 15:58)."Wait you upon me, says the LORD."
"I Will"
Zephaniah concludes his prophecy with six "I will" declarations of God himself (3:1820). Read them, and rejoice.
1. "I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly."
2. "Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict you."
3. "And I will save her that halts, and gather her that was driven out."
4. "And I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame."
5. "At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you."
6. "For I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, says the LORD."
"Wait you upon me, says the LORD!"
Chapter 37
HAGGAI
"The desire of all nations shall come."
Haggai was an exemplary prophet. His name means, "festive" or "festival of the Lord." He was sent of God, along with Zechariah and Malachi, to minister to his people after they returned from the 70 years of Babylonian captivity. As I said, Haggai was exemplary as a prophet of God. He spent no time at all talking about himself. He came as God's messenger to his people. His singular authority was, "Thus says the LORD." His singular desire was the glory of God. The objects of his care were the people of God. He had to rebuke; but his rebuke was full of encouragement. He had to correct; but his correction was full of comfort. He was distinctively sent of God to stir up his people, to rouse their hearts, to inspire in them devotion and consecration to their God, his glory, and his worship.
The Background
The Jews had been captives in Babylon for 70 years, just as Jeremiah had prophesied. What a sad time those seventy years of exile and bondage were for those among the Jews who truly worshiped God. They missed the assembly of God's saints in his house. While in Babylon, they hung their harps upon willows and said, "How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" (Psalm 137:14).
After the 70 years were fulfilled, Daniel, who prophesied in Babylon, tells us that God graciously delivered his people from Babylon and began bringing them back into their land. They came first under Zerubbabel, who is mentioned in the opening verse of Haggai. Zerubbabel was the captain of the remnant that came back from Babylon. He was appointed Governor of Judah. When they came to Jerusalem, they found the city in ruins. The walls were broken down and the temple was utterly destroyed.
The Lord sent them back specifically to rebuild the temple, to rebuild the city, and to re-establish true worship, the worship of God in the land. They began the work immediately. The first order of business was to rebuild the temple, the house of God, in Jerusalem.
At this time, they were still under Babylonian rule. But God had given them favor with the king and they were granted permission to do the work. So they started working. Imagine the enthusiasm with which they must have commenced their work. Soon, the foundation of the temple was laid. It was much smaller than the original temple Solomon had built; but the work went rapidly. In a short time, they had a row or two of stones laid on the foundation. But something happened. They quit working. These Jews who had returned with Ezra, some 50,000 of them, specifically to build the house of God, just quit. They did nothing for more than fifteen years. This is where Haggai comes in. He was sent of God, along with Zechariah and Malachi, to speak for God to his people (Ezra 5:12).
Four Messages
Haggai delivered four messages to Judah. These four messages are specifically dated by him. They cover a period of about eighteen months. But everything Haggai says in these four messages is written for our learning and admonition today (Romans 15:4). His messages call for us to "consider" some things.
He uses that word, "consider," four times. In Haggai 1:5 he says, "Consider your ways," telling Judah and us to give serious thought to the way we live. In verse 7 he repeats that admonition, "Consider your ways." But here he is calling for us to seriously think about our present circumstances in the providence of God, showing clearly that there is a connection between the way we live in reference to God and the things we experience in the providence of God. Then, in chapter 2 (verse 15) the prophet calls for us to consider the house of God (the worship of God) in connection with the great barrenness we have experienced. In verse 18 of chapter 2 he again calls for us to consider the house of God (the worship of God), and the blessedness he promises in connection with it.
Let's look at Haggai's messages to us as they are given in these two chapters, praying that God the Holy Spirit will inscribe upon our hearts the lessons he here teaches us.
Indifference
Haggai's first message (1:115) is a stern word of rebuke regarding indifference to the things of God. The house of God had been left in ruins for 15 years. Of course, the people had a very good, theologically sound reason for doing nothing. The 70 years Jeremiah had spoken of were not quite finished. The predestined date of deliverance and restoration had not yet come, and some of the Jews were still in Babylon. These fine men did not want to interfere with the sovereign purpose of God. I am not stretching things. This is exactly what they said."Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD'S house should be built" (Hag 1:2).
Being the faithful prophet he was, Haggai was not about to let them off the hook. Instead of saying, "Oh, I understand that. I had not thought of that. I see what you're saying; and we certainly do not want anyone to think we are a bunch of Arminians." No. Haggai sticks his finger right on the sore spot and pushes hard."Is it time for you, O you, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?" (verse 4).
In other words, the prophet says, "The real problem here is not that you are waiting on the Lord; but that you have other things that are of such consuming concern to you that you are indifferent to the things of God. Your love of the world has made you lukewarm toward Christ."
He appeals to our sense of shame. God's house was in ruins, while they lived in comfortable homes. They had shamefully neglected the house of the Lord. Our Master addresses this very issue in Matthew 6:33. We ought to blush with shame any time we allow ourselves to be so influenced by concern for earthly, material things, even for what we think are necessary things, that that concern takes priority over the things of God (1 Corinthians 6:1920).
Now, let us learn the lesson.It is impossible to ignore Christ and the interests of his kingdom and glory, it is impossible to live in indifference to the things of God and prosper. We will suffer the consequences of such behavior. Ask Bro. Jonah. The Jews sowed much and reaped little, though they looked for and expected much. They ate, but they were not filled. They drank, but they were not satisfied. They put on clothes, but they were not warm. They received wages for their labor, but they had holes in their pockets. They gathered wood, but God's breath of judgment was upon everything. Everything they did came to nothing, because they were serving themselves, not God (1:6, 11). They made God, his worship, and his glory secondary to their own pleasure, comfort, and earthly concerns. Haggai's message had its desired effect, and the house of God was built (1:14).
Discouragement
A month later, the work stopped again. So Haggai steps up to deliver his second message (2:19). The people had worked hard on the temple and finished it. But the restored temple appeared to be nothing compared to the great edifice Solomon built. Some of the people remembered the former temple, and wept (Ezra 3:12). They said, "This is nice, but it is not nearly as great and glorious as Solomon's temple." They compared the present to the past, and said to themselves, "We cannot reproduce what our fathers did, so let's just do nothing."Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do you see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?" (2:3). Haggai had a four-part message from God for the complainers:
1. The Lord said, "I am with you" (verse 4).
2. Next, the Lord graciously assures his people of his continued presence, because of his steadfast covenant (verse 5).
3. Then the prophet spoke of greater things than their natural eyes could see, promising the coming of Christ and the glory that would fill his house (verses 67, 9).
"For thus says the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, says the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, says the LORD of hosts."
Certainly, this, prophecy was, in measure, fulfilled when Christ came into the temple at Jerusalem as an infant. He who is the embodiment of the very glory of God was brought into the temple at Jerusalem. But the ultimate fulfillment referred not to the physical temple or to our Savior's physical appearance in it, but to the church and temple of God that that temple represented and to the presence and glory of the Lord in it. The glory spoken of here is the glory that shall be revealed and shall be ours in the last day, when we are made partakers of his glory. The Holy Spirit makes this clear in Hebrews 12:2529.
"See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from Heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also Heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire."
In verse 28 the apostle declares that we are presently receiving this kingdom and glory of which Haggai spoke.
Christ is the Desire of all nations.He is that One who alone is the embodiment of all those things every human heart desires (Genesis 49:10; Malachi 3:1). It is only in Christ (crucified, raised from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and accepted) that sinners find righteousness with God, forgiveness of all sin, and that peace of conscience that flows from a well-grounded assurance of eternal life.
Let us never despise the day of small things.The Lord our God has promised that our labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). We can never measure, by carnal means, the success of our labors in the kingdom of our God, and should never try to do so. We should never pine for former days, as if they were more desirable for us than the present. The day in which we live and serve our God and Savior is the very best day for us to do so. We ought to say regarding the day in which the Lord has placed us, "This is the day which the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in if" (Psalm 118:24).
We cannot do what others do, and are not responsible to do what they do. We cannot do what our forefathers did, and are not responsible for that. We can and must do what the Lord our God has given us the means and opportunity to do; and for that we are responsible. As we put our hands to the work, our God will both sustain us in it and enable us to accomplish it.
This fact ought to cheer the hearts of all those men who labor for Christ in obscure places with little apparent success, and those small assemblies of God's saints scattered across the globe who are scorned by the world as meaningless and insignificant. No child of God and no assembly of God's saints, faithfully doing what they can for Christ, ever has reason for discouragement. If, like that redeemed sinner described in Mark 14, we do what we can for him, like her, we shall be honored by him.
4. In verse 8 the Lord God assures us that he has in his hand everything we need to do what he would have us to do."The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts."
Our God owns all things, and rules all things. He is both the Possessor of all things and the omnipotent "LORD of hosts," the Ruler of all things. If only we (both individual believers and local churches) used what the Lord God has put in our hands as stewards in his house (time, talents, possessions, and opportunities) for the furtherance of the gospel, the building of his kingdom, and the glory of his name, rather than for our own gratification, we would never lack the means to do his work.
Impurity
Haggai's third message describes our utter inability to do anything acceptable to God because of our impurity (2:1019). Apparently, many who worked feverishly in restoring the house and worship of God got the idea that they were making themselves holy by their contact with the temple. So Haggai takes us back to the law of Moses to show us that we cannot be accepted of God and cannot serve him acceptably, cannot do anything acceptable in his sight, except we be made clean (2:1114).
In verses 1517 the prophet tells us to consider the temple itself, from its very foundation. Our cleanness and acceptance with God is to be found in the person and work of Christ that was portrayed in all the sacrifices and priesthood connected with the temple. As the building of the temple was God's work alone, so our salvation, our righteousness, is God's work alone.
Again, he calls for us to consider all that was typically symbolized in the temple at Jerusalem, and keep our hearts focused on that, focused on Christ and his glory, and be assured of the blessedness found in and flowing to us from him (2:1819).
There is a time to sow and a time to reap. Here, we are, as it were, just planting the seed. While the seed is in the ground, no one looks for the harvest. The harvest time is future. This is our sowing time. So let us sow. Soon, we shall reap. From that day, the Lord promises his blessing. Eternity shall be for God's elect endless blessedness in the enjoyment of God's glory in the salvation of our souls by Christ.
Coming Blessedness
Haggai's last message was about that coming blessedness that awaits God's people (verses 2023). He spanned the ages of time and speaks of Christ even more fully.
"And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying, Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. In that day, says the LORD of hosts, will I take you, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, says the LORD, and will make you as a signet: for I have chosen you, says the LORD of hosts."
Zerubbabel is set before us here as a great type of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Governor of Judah and the Governor of the universe, ruling all things for his beloved Judah (Isaiah 9:6). He is the One who shakes Heaven and earth. He overthrows and subdues kingdoms. He is Jehovah's Servant. He is the Signet, "the express image" (Hebrews 1:13) of the Father. He is Jehovah's chosen One. He is the One who builds his house.
The words of Psalm 2 and Zechariah 4 are echoed at the conclusion of Haggai's prophecy:
"Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD has said unto me, You are my Son; this day have I begotten you. Ask of me, and I shall give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession" (Psa 2:68).
"Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me unto you For who has despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth" (Zechariah. 4:610).
Chapter 38
ZECHARIAH
God Remembers
It is ever the tendency of preachers, when we think God's people are becoming indifferent to the things of God, careless in ordering their lives, and lax in the service of Christ, to sternly scold them, threaten them with the whip of the law, or bribe them with the promise of blessings. We know that God's saints are no longer under the law, but under grace. We know that the scoldings, threats, and bribes of legality have no effect upon the hearts of men. Yet, when push comes to shove, we are terribly prone to revert to the use of the law.
That ought never be the case. It is Christ crucified, grace experienced, love manifest, and mercy sure that draws our hearts after our God and Savior. Nothing inspires devotion like devotion. Nothing promotes gratitude like grace. Nothing motivates love like love.
God the Holy Spirit taught these things to his prophet Zechariah; and Zechariah used them to inspire Israel during the days of Haggai and Ezra to zealously devote themselves to the building of God's house in Jerusalem. He spoke to Israel about the sure promises of God's grace and mercy, his presence and power, and the glory that God promised would come with Christ the Messiah. In these fourteen chapters Zechariah speaks of Christ's first advent to redeem us with his blood, to put away the iniquity of his people in one day by the sacrifice of himself (3:9), and of his glorious second advent, declaring, "the LORD my God shall come, and all his saints with you" (14:5).
That Day
That is what the book of Zechariah is all about:Christ our God and Savior saving his people. Yes, this prophecy was addressed to the Jews who had returned from Babylonian captivity; but its message is to God's people in this gospel day.
The phrase, "in that day, is used by Zechariah 20 times. He uses this phrase 16 times in the last three chapters. "That day" of which the prophet speaks is this gospel age. It began with our Savior's first advent and extends to the end of the world when Christ comes again. In this day
God pours out the Spirit of grace and supplication upon chosen sinners, granting repentance to whom he will (12:10).
There is a Fountain opened (Christ crucified) for cleansing from sin (13:12).
Though all the world fights against us, God's church and kingdom is perfectly safe and constantly triumphant, under his constant care and protection.
And the purpose of God shall be fully accomplished in the end of the day.God's glory in Christ shall be seen in the final defeat of all his foes and in the complete salvation of all his people (14:1621).
Can we be sure of these things? Indeed, we can, because the whole work is his work, the work of Christ our Savior and our God, typified in mighty Zerubbabel (4:67, 9)."The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me unto you."
Divisions
Zechariah's prophecy really has just two divisions.
Zechariah 1:18:23 describe the circumstances of the people during the building of the temple at Jerusalem, the present circumstances of Judah and Israel.
Chapters 914 speak about the future, the things God would do once the temple was finished.
Visions
The book of Zechariah begins by reminding the people that it was the sin, rebellion and unbelief of their fathers that brought them into Babylon. Wrath is the response of God's justice to sin. It is never arbitrary. Yet, in wrath our God remembers mercy. Look at the third verse of chapter 1. This is a word of grace and assurance the Lord God told his prophet to tell the people."Therefore say you unto them, Thus says the LORD of hosts; Turn you unto me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, says the LORD of hosts." What a word of grace this is from God in Heaven to sinners upon the earth! He promises that he will turn to every sinner who turns to him.
After calling the people to repentance, the Lord gave his prophet eight visions to set before his people, visions full of comfort and encouragement.
1. Four horsemen among the myrtle trees depict Israel (God's elect) scattered among the nations, but not forgotten (1:711).Zechariah's name means, "God remembers;" and he reminds us that our God ever remembers his own.
2. Four horns are used to portray the nations and their power; but along with these four horns the prophet describes four carpenters (skilled craftsmen) as God's agents of deliverance by whom the powers of the nations (the world) shall be broken and subdued (1:1821). Can these represent anyone other than gospel preachers, the instruments by which he sends his word of deliverance to his people (Ephesians 4:1116)?
3. Then Zechariah speaks of a man with a measuring line (2:113) measuring Jerusalem, the City of God (his church), assuring God's people of prosperity and glory beyond measure. This is similar to what Ezekiel describes in Ezekiel 40, and to what John describes in Revelation 11.The presence of the Lord as a wall of fire round about his people makes walls unnecessary and the vastness of the City makes them impossible.
4. Then we see Joshua the high priest cleansed, clothed, and crowned (3:15), as the angel of the Lord stood by.
5. In chapter 4 Zechariah describes Christ, the Light of the World, as he is displayed in his church, portrayed in the vision of the golden candlestick.
6. The flying scroll (5:14) is the Word of God by which he both rules and judges the world.
7. The woman with a basket ("an ephah") describes both the full measure of wickedness for which God shall judge the earth, and the limitation of it by God's decree and power (5:511).
8. In chapter 6 (verses 18) the prophet describes four chariots and the men riding in them as four spirits of the heavens, sent from the presence of the Lord to continually patrol the earth and punish evil.
Christ
There are more direct prophecies of Christ in the book of Zechariah than in any other Old Testament book, except Isaiah. Zechariah speaks of our Savior both directly and typically.
1. Christ is the Man who measures his church (2:15). He is the only man who can. He alone knows the number of God's elect. And he is "unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her" (verse 5; Isaiah 26:1; 9:8; Isaiah 60:19; Revelation 21:23).
2. Christ is the Angel of the Lord who commands the salvation of his people (3:15; Revelation 10).
3. Christ is the Servant of God whom he shall bring forth (3:8; Mark 10:45).
4. Christ is called "the BRANCH" (3:8; 6:12; Luke 1:78).
5. It is our great Redeemer who is the all-seeing Foundation Stone upon which God's church and kingdom is built (3:9; 1 Corinthians 3:1011; 1 Peter 2:68).
6. It is our all-glorious God and Savior of whom the prophet speaks, when we read in verse 9 of chapter 3, "I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day."
7. Christ our Savior is typified in Zerubbabel (4:69).
8. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Priest upon his Throne, our Priest and King, who builds his temple, bears the glory of it, and maintains the counsel of peace for us (6:13; Hebrews 6:207:1).
9. Christ is that King who came in humility, riding upon an ass's colt (9:912; Matthew 21:45; John 12:1416). He is just, having salvation. He speaks peace to the heathen. His dominion is from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth an everlasting dominion (John 17:2). It is by the blood of his covenant that the prisoners of hope go forth from their prison. He renders to his own double for all their sins (Isaiah 40:2).
10. He is the Lord our God who shall save his flock and make us stones in the crown of his glory (9:16).
11. It is Christ who was betrayed by his own friend (11:1213; Matthew 27:9).
12. His hands were pierced in the house of his friends (12:10; John 19:37).
13. Christ is the Fountain opened for cleansing (13:1; Revelation 1:5).
14. Zechariah even presents our Savior in his dual nature as the God-man. In 6:12 he is called the Man. In 13:7 he is called Jehovah's fellow, slain by the sword of justice in our place.
15. Zechariah saw Christ as the Good Shepherd whose life was given for the sheep whom he came to save (13:7).
16. Then (14:49) God's prophet speaks of our Savior's glorious second advent.
Grace
Zechariah's prophecy is full of Christ and, being full of Christ, it is full of pictures of God's saving grace in Christ.
Zechariah 3:15 gives us a tremendous picture of God's grace displayed in the experience of conversion. Joshua the high priest of Israel stands before us in these verses as a picture of every sinner who is chosen, redeemed, called, and converted by the grace of God in Christ. And the Angel of the LORD standing by is our all-glorious Savior and Advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Obviously, our Savior is not one of the angelic hosts that he created. He is called "the Angel of the LORD," because he is Jehovah's Messenger, the Angel of the covenant. This One who is called, "the Angel of the LORD" in verse 1, is Jehovah himself. We know that because he is called, "the LORD" (Jehovah) in verse 2. This Man who is God, the Angel of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, is our almighty Advocate and effectual Intercessor (Hebrews 7:2427; 1 John 2:12).
In chapter 8 (verses 713) we see a prophecy regarding the sure salvation of God's elect. The Lord God declares, "Behold, I will save my people;" and save them he will. He promises to make himself the God of his chosen "in truth and in righteousness"in accordance with the truthfulness of his own covenant, oath, promise and character, and in perfect righteousness by the sacrifice of Christ. He promises to make his people prosperous and to make his elect remnant possessors of all things (1 Corinthians 3:2123), and to make them who were "a curse among the heathen a blessing."
In Zechariah 9:1216 the Lord's promise of salvation to his elect is expanded. He promises his "prisoners of hope" that he will give them "double" (verse 12). I take that to mean the same thing promised in the gospel message in Isaiah 40:12.God in Christ gives believing sinners "double" for all their sins. He gives pardon and forgiveness; and he gives justification and righteousness. Then, he makes worthless sinners saved by almighty grace instruments of great usefulness in his hands, each one "as the sword of a mighty man" (verse 13; 1 Corinthians 1:2629), and promises that they shall be stones in the crown of his glory (verse 16; Isaiah 62:3; Ephesians 2:7).
In the 10th chapter (verses 68) Zechariah's prophecy speaks of God's saving grace as the effectual, irresistible operation of his omnipotence. The Lord promises not only to "hiss" for them, but also to "gather them." Grace is not merely the hissing for, but also the gathering of God's elect. Every redeemed sinner shall be gathered into the fold of mercy.
Chapter 12 (verse 10) tells us how it is that lost, dead, helpless sinners who will not and cannot look to Christ in faith of their own accord are made to believe by the operation of God's grace. God pours out his Spirit upon his elect, as "the Spirit of grace and supplications." When he does, Christ is revealed and the sinner looks to him in repentance and faith.
God's Church
Zechariah describes the church and kingdom of God in chapters 2 (verses 1113), 4 (verse 2), and 8 (verse 3). Many commentators go to great lengths to try to prove their imagined theory that God's church is not to be found in the Old Testament. Precisely for that reason, it is important to point out what should be obvious. It is certainly true that the Old Testament prophets did not clearly see the full meaning of all that they wrote by inspiration (1 Peter 1:1012). However, Zechariah, like many others, gives an unmistakable prophetic picture of God's church, family, and kingdom being made of chosen sinners from many nations in the midst of whom the Lord dwells. These blessed people, a multitude that no man can number, out of every nation, kindred, tribe and tongue are the Lord's own peculiar portion in the earth (2:1113).
God's church is his candlestick in this dark world (Zechariah 4:2). It is the church of God that is the instrument by which he upholds and from which he causes to shine the Light of the world. His church is his candlestick in the earth (Revelation 1:13). Particularly, each local assembly of blood-bought sinners, saved by his omnipotent grace, is the means by which the Lord our God maintains the light of the gospel in the world from one generation to another until the end of time (1 Timothy 3:15). His holy mountain, the mountain of the Lord of hosts, that Jerusalem which is "a city of truth" (8:3), is "the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
Anti-Christ
Zechariah 11:1612:9 speak of God sending an idol shepherd, the man of sin, anti-Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:8), and of the opposition of all the world against his church in that great battle that shall rage until our King comes again (Armageddon). But the Lord God declares, "I will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem" (12:8).
Hell
In Zechariah 14:1213 we learn something about the everlasting torments of the damned, those who have opposed our God, his Christ, his gospel, and his people.
"And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor."
Oh, what a place of darkness, woe, and agony beyond description that must be in which there is nothing but everlasting, constantly increasing hatred of men and women for one another, each blaming the other for his torment!
The Feast of Tabernacles
In 14:1621 the Lord God tells us a little bit about the glory that shall be ours when Christ comes again, and the Feast of Tabernacles (The Feast of Faith in Christ) is ours forever.
"And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoever will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, with which the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD'S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts."
God required that the feast of tabernacles be kept by the Jews in the Old Testament in remembrance of their wilderness journey, when they dwelt in tents. It typified of Christ's incarnation, who was made flesh, and tabernacled among us. Spiritually, we keep this feast by faith, by trusting Christ, by believing that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (1 John 5:1). We keep the feast now; but in heavenly glory we shall keep it perfectly, ever feeding upon our Savior, ever rejoicing in him. When the tabernacle of God is with men, when the beast is destroyed, when Babylon is fallen, when at last we are triumphant forever over the world, the flesh, and the devil, we shall worship the King, the LORD of hosts with our brethren out of all the nations of the earth, and "keep the feast of tabernacles!"
Child of God, read the promises of God your Savior, and begin now to enjoy the glory that soon shall be yours in perfect fullness. This 14th chapter tells us of heaven's glory and blessedness by telling us some things that shall not be there. When Christ comes and glory begins, there shall be no more darkness (verses 67), or winter (verse 8), or thirst (verse 8), or unbelief. We will worship and keep the feast (verse 16). There will be no more sin. In that great day, every pot, every gift, every service, even the bells on the horses will say, "HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD!" And "there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts" (14:21). There will be no enemy to disturb us, no foe to plot against us, no evil to drive away, and no part of the land of God's promise unpossessed!
Chapter 39
MALACHI
My Messenger
Malachi was another of those prophets sent of God to speak in his name, as his voice, to the children of Israel after they returned from the long years of Babylonian captivity. The rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem was complete, the sacrifices had resumed, and the ordinances of divine worship had, to all outward appearance, been restored.
Indifference
But things were not as they seemed on the surface. Malachi spoke for God in that period following the days of Haggai and Zechariah. It was an era that corresponded in many ways with the day in which we live. Among those who wore the name of the Lord and professed to be his people, men and women who were actively involved in religion, there was a terrible coldness and indifference toward the Lord God. Unbelief was evident. The Word of God was read in his house with regularity. The form of religion was maintained. But no one, neither the priests nor the people, seemed to believe God. They maintained a form of religion, but denied the power of God (2 Timothy 3:5). Religion with these people was nothing but a ritual, an outward exercise. And the way they performed their religious duties demonstrated that they were a people who drew near to the Lord with their lips, but their hearts were far from him. In Malachi's day, as in the religious world today, for the most part the people who professed to be worshipers of God were "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power of it" (2 Timothy 3:45).
God's Messenger
Malachi was just the man for the hour. He steps in at just the right time as God's messenger. In fact, that is what his name means; and that is what he wasGod's messenger. We know nothing else about him. He was a man sent of God with God's message for his people in his day.
Unique Book
The book of Malachi is unique in three specific ways. First, Malachi brings the Old Testament to a conclusion. His was God's last word to his people for four hundred years. For more than four hundred years the heavens would be silent until John the Baptist appeared as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, "prepare you the way of the Lord." God's last word in the Old Testament was a call to repentance; and his first word in the New Testament was the same."Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand."
Second, unlike other prophets, Malachi's message was delivered as a dialogue. Malachi was not like the dialogue preachers of our day. His dialogue was not a dialogue between himself and those who heard him. God's prophets are never sent to carry on a dialogue with men. They are sent to deliver a message from God to men. Malachi simply presents his message in the powerful, authoritative form of a dialogue. He asked a series of questions, and he answered them. Twelve times in the first three chapters of his prophecy, he says, "You say," and shows how that what the people said was in direct contrast with what God says in his Word.
The third unique quality of this prophecy is the fact that almost the entire prophecy is written as the direct word of God. Gareth Crossley points out, "Of the fifty-five verses in this book, forty-seven are spoken by Godthe highest portion of all the prophets."
Distinguishing Love
Malachi's prophecy begins with a declaration of God's distinguishing love and grace to his elect, as it is set forth in the scriptures (Malachi 1:15). Yes, God's love is special, distinct, distinguishing love. He loves his elect, his Jacob. Everything he does is for his elect, for their eternal salvation and everlasting good. Esau exists only because of God's love for Jacob. The reprobate exist only to serve God's purpose of grace toward his elect. That is exactly the meaning the Holy Spirit gives to this passage in Romans 9:1126. Let every redeemed sinner ever remember that we owe everything we have and shall have in Christ to God's distinguishing mercy, love, and grace bestowed upon us in Christ from eternity (Jeremiah 31:3; Romans 9:1518; 1 Corinthians 4:7).
The prophecy of Malachi was given shortly after the time of Nehemiah. Read the book of Nehemiah and you will find the setting of this prophecy and this threefold description of the corruption in Israel:
1. The priesthood was defiled (Nehemiah 13:79, 29; Malachi 3:8).
2. The children of Israel had formed an idolatrous alliance with the heathen nations around them (Nehemiah 13:2327; Malachi 2:1016), which resulted in mixed marriages, a mixed language, and a disregard for God's law.
3. The support of the house of God was neglected (Nehemiah 13:1012; Malachi 3:10).
The Levites who served in the house of God were not given their inheritance in Israel as God required. These men and their families were to be supported by the offerings and tithes of the people, so that they could give themselves to the service of the house of God. But they were working in the fields to provide for themselves, and the service of God's house was neglected.
"Even so has the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel" (1 Cor 9:14). One of the great reasons why those who preach the gospel are to live by the gospel, being supported in their livelihood by the generosity of God's people, is that the Word of God and the preaching of the gospel be not neglected. When those who are responsible for the ministry of the gospel neglect prayer and study, those to whom they preach suffer.
It was at this time in these deplorable conditions that God raised up Malachi. He was not a tea-sipping socializer. Malachi was a prophet, God's messenger. Everyone thought the prophet was old-fashioned, out-of-step with the times, and a troublemaker. And they were right. Prophets are always old-fashioned, out-of-step with the times, and troublemakers for those who despise God and his Word. But the faithful servant of God, like Malachi, cannot be silenced. He will, like Malachi, stick his finger directly in the middle of the sore spot in the hearts of men and press hard, forcing those who hear him to know their sin.
Seven Questions
Perhaps the saddest part of the story of Malachi is that the people were not aware of their awful condition. They were insulted by Malachi's message. This is demonstrated by seven points of dialogue between the Lord God and those who claimed to be his people.
1. "Wherein have you loved us?" (1:2)
Israel's insolence in asking this question is shocking, until we are forced to acknowledge that we who are the objects of God's great love often think of our God's love with the same insolence (Psalm 73:23, 1314). Sometimes we are so blind that we fail to see the tokens of God's amazing grace and special love for us.
"I have loved you, says the LORD. Yet you say, Wherein have you loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? says the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. Whereas Edom says, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus says the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD has indignation forever. And your eyes shall see, and you shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel" (Malachi 1:25).
Oh, what a great lover our God is to us! The Lord God has, throughout history, protected, cared for, and provided for us, destroying our enemies on ever side, because he is determined to magnify himself from upon the border of Israel, and determined to make us see and know his glory in saving us.
2. "Wherein have we despised your name?" (1:6)
Next, the Lord reminded Israel that a son honors his father and a servant honors his master, but they had no fear of him in their hearts. Is that not the case with many today? Is it true of you?Of me? Let's be honest. We profess that we belong to Christ, that we believe God, but where is his honor?
As I read Malachi 1:714, I blush with shame. How often I offer to God my Savior that which is polluted, and lame, and sick, and worthless! David said, "I will not sacrifice to the Lord that which does cost me nothing." But we have polluted our God by our demonstrative irreverence and indifference toward him. Have we not? Does that sting? Perhaps you ask, "Wherein have we polluted you?" That is exactly what these people did. Look at verse 7."You offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and you say, Wherein have we polluted you? In that you say, The table of the LORD is contemptible."
3. "Wherein have we polluted you?"
They offered animals that were lame and sick and blind for sacrifice. They offered the most contemptible things to God and called it sacrificing, worshiping, and honoring God! No earthly ruler would tolerate such action. Men would not even treat their employer like Israel treated God, like we treat him. How often I offer to God my Savior that which is polluted, and lame, and sick, and worthless! How much better he deserves than I give! I'm tired of giving God my leftovers! Aren't you? I know thisHe's tired of it; and he refuses to accept such "sacrifices!" May he graciously teach us to give him our best, the best of our time, the best of our labor, the best of our talents, and the best of our gifts. Let us determine with David, "I will not sacrifice to the Lord that which does cost me nothing." I say with Malachi (1:9), "I pray you, beseech God that he may be gracious unto us."
Now, read chapter 2, verse 17."You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, Wherein have we wearied him? When you say, Every one that does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?"
4. "Wherein have we wearied him?"
Note the context of this question. The priests, who were supposed to keep knowledge, seek the word of God at his mouth, and serve as messengers of the Lord of hosts, departed out of the way, caused the people to stumble at God's law, corrupted his covenant, and led the people to deal treacherously with the Lord (verses 711).
Remember, Malachi was a prophet, God's messenger. He did not speak in vague terms that might be interpreted in any way men might choose. There was no misunderstanding this man. He specifically identifies the evil into which Israel's religious leaders led them.
First, the priests led the people to profane God's holiness, that he loves, by wedding themselves to the daughters of strange gods (verse 11). They profaned God's altar, the place where his holiness was displayed in the sacrifices he required. By wedding themselves to the daughters of strange gods, they said, "The satisfaction of justice is not really necessary. Christ's substitutionary atonement is not the only way sinners can come to God. Grace is good; but grace is not essential. As long as you are sincere, come to God any way you want to, and he will receive you." The priests led the people in the way of Cain, ran greedily after the error of Balaam, and the gainsaying of Korah.
Second, the worship of God had become noting more than superstitious froth, sentimentalism, and emotionalism."And this have you done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regards not the offering any more, or receives it with good will at your hand" (verse 13).
Malachi's third charge proved that these people were mere hypocrites, pretending to worship God, while living according to their own brute lusts. They utterly disregarded the word of God and their moral responsibilities before him, as was manifest in their disregard for marriage (verses 1416).
Marriage
I know that some who read these words are divorced, and some are divorced and remarried. For some, your circumstances are not of your choosing, but what another forced upon you. For some, the whole thing took place before God saved you. For others, it was a matter of utter disregard for the glory of God on your part.
I preface my next comments with this word. It needs to be understood by all.That which is past is past. Leave it there. You cannot correct the past. If Christ has forgiven your sin, it is forgiven. The people of God ought not hold it over your head.
Be sure you understand this, too.There is no such thing as a biblical divorce. Marriage is for life. And there is no such thing as a divorce that is "best" for all involved, or "best" for the children. Hear what God says.
"Yet you say, Wherefore? Because the LORD has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously: yet is she your companion, and the wife of your covenant. And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the LORD, the God of Israel, says that he hates putting away: for one covers violence with his garment, says the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that you deal not treacherously" (Mal 2:1416).
The marriage vow I took 35 years ago was not simply a nice phrase repeated before men, but a vow made before my God. The covenant I entered into on that day was not just a marriage covenant with my wife, but a covenant made with my God. Anyone who takes such things lightly is a fool. I hear people offer many excuses abandoning their families. They are all just excuses for rebellion and irresponsibility.
Some say, "I'm just not happy any more." The fact is our happiness has absolutely nothing to do with our responsibility. Others seek to excuse their behavior by declaring, "I just don't love him (or her) any more." Most of the time that means, "I have found someone else to love." But, even if that is not the case, the excuse is lame. It is a man's responsibility to love his wife and a woman's responsibility to reverence her husband. Frequently, people try to lay the blame for their own behavior on their husband or wife, saying, "He (or she) is not the kind of husband (or wife) he (or she) ought to be." Again, the excuse is lame. My responsibility as a husband to my wife has nothing to do with the kind of wife she is. My wife's responsibility as my wife has nothing to do with the kind of husband I am. Multitudes obtain divorces upon the grounds of "incompatibility," declaring, "We are not compatible with one another." That may be true, but it is far better to live incompatibly with a man or woman than to live incompatibly with God!
I repeat, "Marriage is for life." Malachi declares that God made Adam "one," that is one wife, and "he hates putting away." The Lord God made Adam one wife, made Adam and Eve one before him, and instituted the union of one man and one woman in marriage for the moral preservation of humanity (1 Corinthians 7:14). For any to dissolve that union is to "deal treacherously" with their husband or wife, to "deal treacherously" with their children, to "deal treacherously" with society, and (above all) to "deal treacherously with the Lord our God.
In verse 17, the faithful prophet declares that the religion of such people is nothing but lip service, and that it is a weariness to God."You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, Wherein have we wearied him? When you say, Every one that does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?" When men and women abandon the authority of God, despise his law, and disregard his Word, there is no standard by which to live. When everyone does that which is right in his own eyes, they call evil good and good evil, and justice is gone.
Christ
But blessed be our God, he will never abandon his own. Look at chapter 3. Here we see our Savior, in whom alone we have hope, by whose grace we are saved and kept. Christ is our all-glorious Substitute, in whom God has established his covenant, and in whom he delights (Malachi 3:1). He sits as a refiner and purifier, and he will purify all his own (Malachi 3:23). Our sacrifices are made acceptable and pleasant to our God in and by our Substitute (Malachi 3:4; 1 Peter 2:5). He is the Lord our God who changes not; and "he hates putting away." Therefore we are not consumed (Malachi 3:6).
5. "Wherein shall we return?" (3:7)
"Even from the days of your fathers you are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, says the LORD of hosts. But you said, Wherein shall we return?" Their attitude suggests that they did not even know they had strayed from the Lord. They actually thought they were doing God a service.
6. "Wherein have we robbed you?" (3:8).
"Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings." "Will a man rob God?" It is almost as if they respond, "Preposterous! A man will not even rob a fellow man." But God said, "You have robbed me" in tithes and offerings.
In Malachi's day the people of Israel robbed God of his honor as God in their half-hearted worship. Therefore, it is not surprising to learn that they robbed him in tithes and offerings. The tithe was one tenth of a person's income. It was devoted to God, to his worship and service, by the requirement of the law in the Old Testament for the maintenance of the tabernacle and temple and for the livelihood of the priestly families (Leviticus 27:3032; Deuteronomy 14:2226; Numbers 18:2132). Even before the law was given requiring it, Abraham and Jacob voluntarily tithed as a response to God's goodness, acknowledging that they belonged to him and owed all to him (Genesis 14:20; 28:22).
As a display of repentance, the Lord calls for Israel to bring their tithes into the storehouse (the temple), and promises to pour out his blessing upon those who honored him in such an act of worship (Malachi 3:912). It is his promise that he will honor those who honor him (1 Samuel 2:30; Proverbs 3:910).
The tithe is mentioned only eight times in the New Testament (Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42; 18:12; Hebrews 7:5, 6, 8, 9). In each place the passage refers to the Old Testament practice. In the New Testament that law is never applied to believers in this gospel age, not even once, because we are not under the law but under grace, and grace has nothing to do with the law. The gospel teaches believers to give, give generously and willingly, both for the support of the poor (particularly poor brethren) and for the support to the gospel ministry ((Acts 2:4445; 4:3237; 2 Corinthians 9:68).
The example we are to follow for such free generosity is Christ himself. As he proved the sincerity of his love for us by freely giving himself to redeem us, we prove the sincerity of our love for him by giving in his name (2 Corinthians 8:79).
The Old Testament tithe was, in principle, an act of faith. The tithe was given as the first fruits. As such, it declared that the tither trusted God for the full harvest. The gift of the tithe asserted that the tither acknowledged that he and all he possessed was God's property. Our gifts in this gospel age express the same thing. By honoring God with our gifts, we express the same faith, acknowledging that all we are belongs to our God and that all we possess we possess as stewards, into whose hands our Master has entrusted that which he would have us use for his glory, his people, and his gospel. Let us be faithful stewards, honor God, our Master and Savior in all things (1 Corinthians 16:13; 2 Corinthians 8:19:15).
The promise is still true, "Them that honor me I will honor" (1 Samuel 2:30; Galatians 6:610). A. M. Hodgkin wrote, "The tithe was the outward recognition that everything belonged to God. We are to bring him our whole selves, body, soul and spirit, all that we have and all that we are, all that we know about in our lives, and all that we do not know about yet. If we thus honestly keep nothing back from him, we may be certain that he will accept us and will open the windows of Heaven, and pour us out such a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it, but it shall flow out to all around. All nations shall call you blessed, for you shall be a delightsome land, says the Lord of hosts.' "
7. "What have we spoken so much against you?" (3:13)
(Mal 3:1314) "Your words have been stout against me, says the LORD. Yet you say, What have we spoken so much against you? (14) You have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?"
The context in verse 14 indicates that they had spoken against the Lord in both word and action. Though they had kept up their religious ceremonies, they did not worship God in their hearts. All the while, they were bringing torn, lame animals for sacrifice. And they were trying to outdo each other in making money, procuring divorces, and indulging their lusts.
The Faithful Remnant
In the midst of all these people with an empty profession of faith there was a faithful remnant that feared God. They "spoke often one to another; and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name" (Malachi 3:16).
Then Malachi leaped the centuries and saw the time when men shall be rewarded. A remnant of Israel, the "hidden treasure" of Matthew 13, God's elect, will experience the fulfillment of Jehovah's words: "And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him" (Mal 3:17).
The Day
Chapter 4 of Malachi speaks of that day of Christ's coming when the proud and the wicked shall be like stubble. But to those who fear his name, the appearing of Christ will be the "Sun of righteousness" (verse 2), arising with healing in his wings.
Thus the Old Testament canon is brought to a close. In every book, the person and work of the Lord Jesus is spoken of, pointing forward to his incarnation, his righteous life, his sacrificial death for our sins, his victorious resurrection, and his glorious return to defeat Satan, to purge the world of evil. We have seen that One of whom it is written, "It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell" (Colossians 1:19). In these thirty-nine books of inspiration "We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." (John 1:45).