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Three Things Americans Get Wrong about Conversion

This summer I lived for a few weeks near the largest park in San Jose, Costa Rica. There was a well-marked dirt path for joggers, but we were a mile from the starting line, so I always started at the halfway point. As I jogged the loop from middle to finish, and then from the starting line back to halfway, I reflected several times on the order of events in the prodigal son’s journey. His story did not begin at the pig troughs; it began and ended at home. So when the prodigal son repented “came to himself,” this was not the beginning, but the middle of his story. We must not skip to the climax.

When a person turns to God for the first time, they are, in a sense, already halfway home. They have come to the dead end of the prodigal road, and turned around disappointed. C. S. Lewis wrote The Pilgrim’s Regress to explain salvation not just as a journey, but as a return home. He wrote in a letter at the beginning of his Christian journey, “it is emphatically coming home.” [1]

As we remember stories, we tend to throw the details overboard until we only have the vaguest highlights; if we remember only one thing, it is the climax, or the high-point of the story’s arc. In reflecting on conversion stories, we usually get the milestones, but we jettison the beginning, end, and supporting characters. So here are some reflections that may help us to see conversion in a better light, so that we can be less shocked when they do not happen the way we plan.

1. Conversion is a beginning, but it is not the beginning.

Conversion is the beginning of a new life, but it is not the beginning of the story for God, who sees all. For God it is a culmination. A mother knows what it took to bring a baby into the world; everyone else rejoices at the results. So God alone knows the lengths and depths of his work of salvation. As always, we gaze and rejoice at results; God and intercessors live in the process.

Some would argue that God broke into Saul/Paul’s life like a sudden light, when God knocked him off his ass in Acts 9. His is the most unanticipated conversion in the Bible. The problem, though, is that Luke carefully sets the scene of prevenient grace in Saul’s life before he is ever called Paul. He mentions Saul twice: first, he holds the clothes of the stone-throwers at Stephen’s honor killing. Then we are told that Saul, though he avoided the dirty work, “approved of his execution.” (Acts 7:58-8:1).

Stephen’s last words were “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Stephen’s prayer was honored when Jesus appeared to Saul and turned his hostility into humility. It was not anticipated by Saul, but it was anticipated by God. Prayer and prevenient grace were working in tandem.

Predestination, prevenient grace, and prayer are the preparation for salvation that we are never fully aware of in our own story. As an outsider Luke could note Stephen’s prayer for Saul as Stephen joined in God’s purposes. But only God could imagine the alchemy that would turn Saul into Paul. God had set his hook in Saul long before anyone had prayed. We must remind ourselves of God’s perspective: conversion is the beginning of the true Christian life, but it is never the beginning of the work of God in our lives.

2. Conversion is individual, but never personal. 

When the lost son returned in Jesus’ parable, the father ordered the fatted calf to be slain. This meant a huge party which would involve the entire village coming to rejoice with the returned son. Culturally, the son had greatly shamed the father, but the father absorbed all this shame and returned for it public honor. Conversion normally has public effects.

Paul in Galatians 6 makes two statements that explain a Christian’s basic responsibility. He starts with shared responsibility: “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Then he gives us individual responsibility: “each will have to bear his own load.” These two concepts always balance each other.

In America we have all but forgotten shared responsibility. Not very long ago, the custom of Western Christians involved family worship, which meant a daily time of corporate prayer, Bible reading, and perhaps a hymn. Today we read the Bible alone, we pray alone, and we choose our own church—sometimes separate from our spouse. All the while we subjugate the music and preaching to our personal standards. In many cultures, all of these are corporate decisions made for the good of both the family, and the family of God.

Biblically, conversion is individual. The door is only wide enough for one to enter at a time. Christ’s Kingdom can divide families, and requires that we spurn parents and siblings in comparison to our love for God.[2] We cannot fly to heaven on anyone else’s coattails.

However, the New Testament authors understood salvation as something that also influenced the destiny of a person’s household. So Jesus told Zacchaeus, “Today salvation has come to this house.” (Luke 19:9) The nobleman with the dying son believed, along with all his household. (John 4:53) Luke and Paul mention salvation in a corporate, family context five more times in the New Testament.[3] In the case of the jailer in Acts 16, he and his family are saved (v. 31), baptized (v. 33), and believe (v. 34) as one. Granted, the Scriptures balance the group and the individual—yet corporate responsibility is a concept that is practically absent in the American church and family life. My life with God (or my life apart from God) affects everyone around me. I am my brother’s keeper.

3. Conversion is rarely instantaneous.

For years C. S. Lewis was having discussions with J. R. R. Tolkien, questioning the logic of his atheism. They were meeting several times a week, often talking past midnight on all kinds of topics, when finally, reluctantly, Lewis turned to God. He was a theist for over a year before he turned to Christ. (He was 32 at the time.) When God began changing his heart, this very learned man described his conversion in the most imaginative terms; he said it felt like shedding a coat of armor that he had worn all his life, or opening a door that he had kept permanently locked. And we all thank God that he stirred this great mind to repentance after many years of pride and unbelief.

Most of us require many years of God’s kindness to lead us to repentance, yet we are discouraged when a friend isn’t radically converted after visiting one or two church meetings. Boreham has a great essay in which compares seeking true conversion to whaling, in which the stakes are higher, and more patience is required:

Only the cheap prizes are cheaply won; the really precious things of life come to us through blood and agony and tears. [4]

God prepared for thousands of years to send his son. Missionaries have only been making organized and intelligent forays into the entrenched world of Islam for  a century or two. We have not tried all we can. Let’s remind ourselves: he is not slow as we count slowness—but patient.

When God revealed himself to Moses, he said that he was longsuffering. Have we forgotten how longsuffering he was for us? Have we forgotten how patient he was? Did we forget that the new birth also comes with birth pains? Or has conversion become to us a momentous result of a momentary effort? Let us take patience so that we can watch and pray with God’s lonely work of salvation, as his kindness leads many to repentance.

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[1] Quoted by Colin Duriez, Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship.

[2] For instance, Jesus said, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father… Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:34-37)

[3] Cornelius the centurion (Acts 11:14), Lydia (Acts 16:15), the Philippine jailer (Acts 16:31-34), Crispus (Acts 18:8), and Stephanas (1 Corinthians 1:16).

[4] F. W. Boreham, “The Whaler.” The Uttermost Star, Part I, ch. VI.

Precarious Places

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“So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.” (1 Samuel 24:2, NIV)

A young man exiled from his own kingdom, hiding out on a cliff face. He remembers how his brothers had lorded over him, claiming that he was not their brother. They had sent him out with the sheep and a kind of lyre, and he had spent his younger years singing to heaven, roaming for the best grazing land. He remembers how he could not always keep the sheep from danger, but he could keep them from harm.

Then one day a prophet had given him great news, like something out of a fairy tale. David was to be king. But he would have to bide his time; such promises do not always spring fruit like magic; they have to be watered, nurtured, and awaited.

Now our exiled king is alone at the end of the world, sitting under the shady side of a rock. He holds his little instrument in his hand. He is looking now down the road for the man who hunts him, and now up the rock at a wild goat who walks the same crags.

He slinks down when he sees a silhouette moving towards the cliff. Too short to be a human. The distinctive jaunt gives the animal away: it is a lone hyena. He crouches lower and watches to see what the mountain goat will do. But it doesn’t seem to care about the hyena. The graceful animal turns towards him calmly. The hyena reaches the face, and the goat leaps straight up, the height of a man, and perches on a tiny outcropping in the rock. David is awestruck at this amazing animal.

The goat doesn’t even deem the danger worthy of looking down. He is in no danger; the hyena cannot navigate the cliff-face. And so the poet-king plucks a string on his lyre and conjures a tune:

For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God?
It is God who girds me with strength, and makes my way perfect.
He makes my feet like the feet of a mountain goat, and sets me in high places.
He enlarges my steps, so that my feet won’t slip.

_____

Hinds’ Feet in High Places

We were rock climbing with a group of tourists recently. Some of them had never seen rock climbing equipment like special shoes and harnesses. One asked me if the shoes actually helped. I explained that the rough material allows you to grab the rock, and the pointed toe allows you to wedge your foot onto very small footholds.

After a few hours of hot and dusty climbing, we were on the bus ride home. Most of us were knackered from the climb. As we ascended out of the hot valley, I looked to the left and saw a short cliff face, steeper and slicker than any I had climbed. At the top, a group of goats were poking around the cliff for grass. Further up the road I saw a goat-herder or two, common in this part of the world. Then, with a shock, I remembered that word from Habakkuk:

“God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.” (Hab. 3:19, ESV)

Now animal names in ancient Hebrew are not always precise. English versions use “deer” or “hind”; but Habakkuk was certainly paraphrasing the older words of King David, who lived among the mountain goats.1 I found that the word involved still means mountain goat in Arabic, and it must be the more ancient of the two meanings.

Amazingly, three thousand years later, the nature show Planet Earth shows the Nubian ibex, a type of wild goat, in Ein Gedi National Park in Israel—the very same oasis where David hid from Saul (1 Samuel 24:1). This leaves no doubt as to where David got his inspiration.

Mountain goats are found all over the world with awe-inspiring abilities. Many nature articles have been written about their unique feet, which have properties very similar to rock climbers’ shoes: rough pads for friction, and pointed toes for grabbing. Another key to rock climbing is having multiple points of contact. One wildlife biologist points out that North American mountain goats have toes that actually spread as they climb, giving them not four, but eight points of contact with the rock.2

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Habakkuk and David: Living Precariously

If Habakkuk was walking in a precarious place spiritually and financially, David was living for years in great physical danger and persecution. Saul, the anointed king, who had been rejected by God, was committed to killing David. But David couldn’t just kill the king. He had to return kindness to him, since God had also chosen him as king. David humbly trusted that God would change the situation in his own timing. At the time, though, the situation was very dim. Though God had spoken to David as a child, he was for a time disinherited, living in caves, with no earthly guarantee that he would ever be king.

“So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.” (1 Samuel 24:2, NIV)

David was a shepherd himself, so he knew sheep and domestic goats. As he was driven into the wilderness by Saul, he must have seen the ibex, or wild goat, and received this goat as a parable and a promise from God. His Creator God, who had equipped these goats to straddle cliffs which no man can climb, would enable David to make his home in the most precarious of places—a narrow ledge between a king’s death wish, and God’s anointing. God did equip him, and his song was part and parcel of this equipping. God birthed in him a desire to worship his Creator in the most perilous of places.

The Safest Place

Mountain goats have many predators, but their chief protection is to live in precarious places. Steep ascents keep these magnificent animals from their earth-bound enemies. Their strategy reminds me of Pippin’s words in The Two Towersmovie:

The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm.

If we want safety for our children, our disciples, our friends, and our congregations, the safest thing that we can do is involve them in the mission of God. It is the mission of God to reconcile that keeps us from withering into a religion that is merely “personal business.” It is the mission of God that keeps us exercising our faith on behalf of a fallen world, testing the might of our prayers for our neighbors, joined in the work that astonishes angels. The mission of God is the high cliff that no mocking enemy can reach.

Faith is a muscle that must be flexed and stretched regularly, or it will atrophy. David may have retreated from the physical battle with Saul, but he was advancing against his spiritual enemies. We either retreat into danger, or we advance into safety. And in the heat of battle, we always find that God has set a table for us, a place to recline and receive nourishment from our Savior.

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1 The Hebrew word in Psalm 18:33 is the feminine plural of אַיָּל, ayal (H355). Gesenius allows that this word could refer to deer, a large she-goat, or a gazelle; but David’s location as well as his analogies about strong footing make it seem likely that the אילוֹת (hinds) of Psalm 18 are identical with the יעלים (wild goats) in 1 Samuel 24:2. There is also a poetic parallel in Job 39:1. See Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, H352 (ram) and H355 (hind). Public domain.

2 Douglas Chadwick spent seven years studying mountain goats in the Rocky Mountains. See Douglas H. Chadwick, A Beast the Color of Winter: The Mountain Goat Observed. pp. 50-52.

Jonah: God’s Heart for the Nations

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JONAH
is a story about
MISSIONS
in which God is
MERCIFUL.

God’s Mercy: The Theme of Jonah’s Book

Missions is but one manifestation of God’s mercy. God shows his mercy in Jonah’s book by sending Jonah and saving the sailors (ch. 1), in saving Jonah from the storm (ch. 2), in using Jonah’s message and saving Nineveh (ch. 3), and in soothing Jonah (ch. 4). The entire book is a manifestation of God’s mercy.

Jonah’s book is unique among the Prophets because his story includes both the prophecy and the response. Only a small portion of his book is strictly prophetic, and that is his message to Nineveh.

“There’s a wideness in God’s mercy” begins a hymn by F. W. Faber. Jonah is set up as a foil (or a contrast) to God’s perfect mercy—towards the sailors, towards Nineveh, and towards the prophet himself. “The selfish unbelief and vindictiveness of man is contrasted with the gracious patience and benevolence of God.”1

The humor of the book is a large part of its appeal. The sailors and Ninevites receive God’s message eagerly, but God’s ordained prophet gives it reluctantly. He is the most self-effacing prophet of the Old Testament, and he accomplishes the bare minimum of righteousness. Yet Jonah uses humor to deal with serious needs that are universal to Christian life.

Jonah’s Flight

Comparing Jonah with John the Baptist (John 1:6), S. D. Gordon writes, “All men are sent. But they don’t all come, some go. There was a man sent from God whose name was Jonah. But he didn’t come. He went.”2

The reason for Jonah’s flight to Tarshish is explained by G. Campbell Morgan: “The book of Jonah is a prophetic story indicating the inclusiveness of the Divine government for Nineveh as well as Israel; and rebuking the exclusiveness of the Hebrew nation as manifested in the prophet himself.”3 Even today ethnocentrism is one of the largest barriers to missions. We are often glad to see someone else go, but feel in our hearts that we would never do so ourselves because we do not love other nations, and do not desire their salvation.

Jonah’s Song of Repentance

As always, the believer who flees from the Lord then seeks God “out of his distress” (2:2). “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried” (2:2). Thus Jonah compares his underwater hideaway to the grave itself. By taking him to the depths of death, God chose to make Jonah a sign of resurrection.

His song concludes: “Salvation belongs to the LORD!” (2:9) Then the sea-creature spits him out. By this God-wrought salvation, Jonah proclaimed death and resurrection(Matthew 12:39-40), both to Nineveh and to future generations.

Jonah’s Sermon of Repentance

Alexander Whyte summarizes thus: “The prophet Jonah was both the elder son and the unmerciful servant of the Old Testament.”4 The key is that he did not rejoice at the mercy received by others; as Christians, we should rejoice when God pours mercy on any other nation. We should never have any nation written off in our mind, as if God could not or would not grant mercy to those people, or they would not receive it.

Jesus gave credit to the Ninevites, saying that Jonah’s generation of Nineveh would rise in judgment against Jesus’ generation of Jews that had rejected him (Matthew 12:41). In this way, Jesus asserted that Jews could live stubbornly unrepentant while Gentiles could be righteous with God by faith.

Jonah’s Depression

Finally, after all the lessons that God has taught him, Jonah still shows resentment, in spite of his correct view of God! (4:2) However, Whyte writes that Jonah must have repented and written the book “in sackcloth and ashes”5 as he learned that God’s mercy was not to be hoarded. Through the repeated dealings of God, he must have learned God’s intended lesson, for no one else could have shared the story. May God teach us this same great truth.

The book ends with God’s glorious expression of mercy. “And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” (4:11)

Study Recommendations

Many books and Bible studies show that God’s plan has always included all nations. A few that come to mind are Eternity in Their Hearts by Don Richardson, Missions in the Age of the Spirit by John York and Mission in the Old Testament by Walter Kaiser.

1 Herbert Lockyer. All the Books and Chapters of the Bible, pp. 203-4. Zondervan, 1966.

2 S. D. Gordon. Quiet Talks on John’s Gospel, Locations 585-586. Kindle Edition.

3 G. Campbell Morgan. Voices of Twelve Hebrew Prophets, p. 12.

4 Alexander Whyte. Concise Bible Characters, p. 301. AMG Publishers.

5 Ibid.

“I Am the Lord” in Ezekiel’s Prophecy

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When Will We Know That He is Lord?

– God tells us over and over that he is the LORD (YHWH), and he tells us when we will know that he is the LORD. This revelation of God’s character is a constant theme in Ezekiel, whether this revelation comes through judgment or mercy.

– The quote “I am the LORD” is God’s self-identification that began with Moses in the book of Exodus. In Exodus, as here, God identifies himself primarily by his activity. The verbal revelation clarifies an action which could otherwise be misinterpreted (e.g. Ex. 20:2, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt”). This revelation does not change or develop who he is, but it does develop our understanding of him, and that is a goal worth mentioning around 80-90 times in Ezekiel’s book (listed below).

– Exodus 6:7 introduces two promises: “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”
The first part, “you will be my people, and I will be your God”, is repeated six times by Ezekiel (11:20, 14:11, 34:30, 36:28b, 37:23, 37:26-28). It is also found in Jer. 24:7, 30:22, 31:1, 31:33, 32:38, and Rev. 21:3.
The second part, “you will know that I am the Lord”, is repeated by Ezekiel about 70 times.
While “knowing that he is the Lord” involves revelation, owning up to him as “your God” and us as his people involves commitment—or, in biblical language, covenant. In both cases, the wealth of repetition gives a sense of the idea’s importance.

– Here, in particular, I am looking at the second part of the promise. When does Ezekiel say that we will “know that he is the Lord”?

– Note that Ezekiel’s final passage of this kind, 39:28, is somewhat summative. Both the negative results—Babylonian captivity—and positive results—promised restoration—for Israel were part and parcel of God’s self-revelatory activity.

– These are not the only verses in Ezekiel that display God revealing himself, and many others could be named; but this list shows how important and well-developed this single motif is in Ezekiel’s book.

List of Occurrences in Ezekiel

– This list includes every time that God says “I am the LORD” in Ezekiel’s prophecy. Verses in italics are simply God stating, “I am the LORD.” Verses in normal font include reasons leading up to knowing that he is “the LORD.”

Unqualified statements: “I am the LORD”: 19 times*
Judgment/scattering of Israel/Judah: 25 times
Judgment on Gentiles: 21 times
Regathering/New Covenant of Israel: 15 times
Mixed/other (explanation in parentheses): 12 times
Total: 92 times

*See end note.

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The “Antihero” in Judges

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Unwilling Leaders: No One Wants to Go First
“Who shall go up first…?” (1:1)
Barak tells Deborah that he will only go into battle if she goes with him. (4:4-10)
In ch. 5, the song of Deborah and Barak celebrates willing fighters like Jael (v. 2, 9, 24)  but curses draft-dodgers like Meroz (v. 23).
Jotham’s parable: righteous leaders are unwilling, so the wicked take the reins. (9:7-15)
“Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” (10:18)
“Come and be our leader” (11:6)
“There was no king” (17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25)
“There were no rulers in the land who might put them to shame” (18:7, NKJV)
“Who shall go up first for us to fight…?” (20:18)

Unlikely Heroes
Ehud’s left-handedness, considered a bad omen in many cultures, was also the reason he could sneak a weapon into the king’s chamber (see 3:16).
Barak requests the help of Deborah, a prophetess and judge. Then another woman, Jael, defeats the enemy commander (ch. 4)
An unnamed prophet reminds Israel of the Exodus while they are oppressed by Midian. (6:1-10)
Gideon fears Midian (6:11), fears his neighbors (6:27), doubts his own valor (6:12), doubts his pedigree (6:15), and requires several assurances from God (6:17, 6:36-40).
“Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute.” (11:1) He is a tragic figure, rejected by his half-brothers. Like David at Adullam, “worthless fellows collected around Jephthah” (11:3). He  delivers Israel, but ends up killing his own daughter to fulfill a vow. (In his culture this was more honorable than breaking his vow.) (11:29-40)
Four obscure judges from small towns. We know almost nothing about them.
Tola from Shamir, judge for 23 years. (10:1-2)
Ibzan of Bethlehem, judge for 7 years. (12:8-10)
Elon of Aijalon, judge for 10 years. (12:11-12)
Abdon from Pirathon, judge for 8 years. (12:13-15)
Samson is a strange and angry man, whose wife marries his best friend (14:20). Among other aberrant behaviors, he poses riddles and kills animals bare-handed.  He is eventually entrapped by his girlfriend; the reader thinks he would have seen it coming. (ch. 16)

Unorthodox Methods
Left-handed Ehud subverts the king’s guards and kills him in his own palace. (3:15-30)
Shamgar saves Israel and wields an ox-goad. (3:31)
Jael lulls Sisera to sleep with milk, and afterwards kills him with a tent stake. (ch. 4)
Gideon thins his fighting forces instead of expanding them. Even his methods for choosing men are strange. (ch. 7)
Gideon gives his warriors trumpets and lanterns, using innovative smoke-and-mirror techniques against Midian. (ch. 7)
“A certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head…” (10:53)
Jephthah commits linguistic genocide by killing everyone with an Ephraimite accent. (12:1-6)
Samson ties torches to foxes’ tails to destroy Philistine crops. (15:4-5)
Samson uses a donkey’s jawbone to kill 1000 Philistines. (15:14-17)
Samson pulls down two load-bearing columns, destroying many Philistines and himself with them. (ch. 16)
Benjamin’s army includes 700 left-handed stone-slingers (20:16).

“The Seed of the Woman” in Genesis

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“And the Lord God said unto the serpent … I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
Genesis 3:14-15 (KJV)

What does seed of the woman mean?

This very ancient promise refers to a descendant of Eve who would defeat the serpent, or Satan. The unique part of the promise is that seed in Hebrew is normally equivalent with semen, which a man contributes toward a pregnancy. A woman does not have a seed, but an egg; she is the one in whom the seed grows. So the seed of the woman refers to a person born without the help of a man, i.e., a virgin birth.

Who is the seed of the woman?

The seed of a woman could hardly refer to anything except the virgin birth of Jesus, in which he was not born of a man’s seed. The most famous verse of the Bible in English is John 3:16: “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that he who believes in him would not perish, but have everlasting life.” The phrase “only begotten” is somewhat confusing for at least two reasons:

1. Christian orthodoxy has always held that Jesus existed before he was born as a human, and birth was not the beginning of existence for him. (John 8:58) This aspect is especially confusing to Muslims.

2. John says that Jesus grants us the right to be born as “children of God” (John 1:12-13). If we become sons and daughters of God through the new birth, then Jesus is not God’s only son.

The Greek word is a unique compound word, monogenes, which many interpret to mean “uniquely begotten” or “singly born”—a probable reference to the virgin birth.

How does this promise figure in the rest of the Book of Genesis?

When Cain was born, it is quite possible that Eve thought that he was the promised seed of the woman. After all, she was the only woman around, and she had brought him forth “from the LORD” (4:1, KJV). When Seth was born Eve celebrated that God had “appointed another seed” for her (4:25). If Eve indeed thought that either Cain or Seth was her promised seed, then, as is the pattern in human life, she had misestimated God’s timetable for bringing his promises to pass.

Genealogies became important because there is a promised seed that would come forth in a specific way, and repeated promises in Genesis indicate that this “seed” will come from a specific lineage (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob). Many cultures have very high views of genealogy, and many Middle Eastern cultures still relate their tribes back to the book of Genesis without interruption.

Noah also was a man of promise, since his father prophesied that he would comfort them concerning the work of their hands (Gen. 5:29). Mankind was preserved through him, but it would be many more generations before the promised seed of the woman would come.

Abraham is commanded to count the stars because “thus will his seed be.”⁠1  Although the meaning could refer to the number of Abraham’s descendants, Paul points out “Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16, NIV) The seed of Abraham and the seed of the woman are one and the same.

Isaac, more than anyone else in the book of Genesis, bears the weight of the coming seed. Abraham is given more seed promises than anyone else in the Bible, and the most immediate application would be his son. Since Ishmael is excluded from the promise, now we understand the significance of God’s request that Abraham sacrifice his son. His son was the only means he had of fulfilling God’s promise, and God asked him to sacrifice him. When he goes alone with Isaac, Abraham says, “we will go, and we will return.” The writer of Hebrews says that Abraham showed his faith in the resurrection from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19).

The purpose of election continues as God decides that Jacob and not Esau will be the source of the promised seed. Paul writes to the Romans about these twins, saying that God used them to make it obvious that God does not choose the best, brightest, or holiest to join him in his plan, so “that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth” (Romans 9:11). Election here means choice, and God’s choice is key to following both the narratives and the genealogies of the book of Genesis. All of these are tending towards the fulfillment of the promise that was spoken at the beginning.

Even Joseph’s story, centers around the preservation of this covenant people and the “seed of the woman.” Even though the scepter fell to Judah, Joseph preserved the family through whom salvation would be revealed. He received riches and wealth in the story, but he tells his family that the express purpose of God was to preserve his family through the crisis (Gen. 45:4-8, 50:15-21, Ps. 105:16-17).

Summary

In the first half of Genesis, God speaks, promises, and explains himself over and over. He appears to Abraham twice in chapter 12, and once in almost every chapter from there until Abraham’s death.

In the second half of Genesis, there is much more action and much less of God’s voice. From chapter 36 to chapter 45, there is no mention of the seed of the woman or the promise of the land. Jacob and Joseph only see in retrospect that God’s redemptive purposes were at hand. So Jacob says that God has “redeemed” him from all trouble (48:16), and reminds himself and his family of all the promises that God had spoken so many years before (48:3-4, 48:21).

After Genesis, the story of the seed of the woman does not advance significantly until God begins sharing the promise with David in the book of 1 Samuel. However, this promise becomes a background to understanding the promise of the land, the Exodus, the conquest of Joshua, and the rejection of God as king in 1 Samuel. The entire Old Testament leads us toward the victory and resurrection of Eve’s seed, our virgin-born Messiah.

1 Although the view is eccentric, E. W. Bullinger believed that God had spoken to Abraham using the constellations as a pre-biblical revelation of Jesus, “the seed of the woman.”

Ezekiel: A Prophecy of God’s Glory

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EZEKIEL
is a book about
GLORY
in which God is
GOD.

“God is God, and I am not”
– Winkie Pratney says that the above statement can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars of theological education.
– This summarizes Ezekiel’s preaching and prophecy, as well as the reason for his evident hope in the midst of judgment; the statement “I am the LORD” is repeated in his prophecy some 92 times by my count!
– While God is always God, we don’t always know it or act like it; thus, in Ezekiel the objective of God’s activity is that people would “know that I am the LORD.” (5:13, etc.) A change must take place in us, and God must take His place as glorified Lord in our lives.

Ezekiel: Prophet of Holiness
– Holiness is Ezekiel’s concern as both priest and prophet. More than other prophets, his book focuses on ritual holiness that Israel lacked.
– In ch. 1, Ezekiel has the vision of God’s glory that leads seamlessly to his great responsibility as prophet (ch. 2-3, 33, also cf. Isaiah 6.)
– As A.W. Pink said, “God is sovereign, and man is responsible”; these twin ideas exemplify Ezekiel’s focus on both God’s holiness and man’s obligation. The two ideas are constantly and completely connected.

Israel: A Holy Nation,
– Ez. 2 to 24 focuses on prophecies of judgment against Israel. God’s anger is placed in the context of his choice of Israel and Jerusalem as the epicenter of His self-revelation (5:5-8), and the weight of such a rejection (16:47).
– The Jewish captivity (ch. 3) and the fall of Jerusalem in 588/587 BC (see 33:21) provide the historical backdrop against which God spoke through Ezekiel in judgment of the nation that had forgotten him.

Glory: “For My Name’s Sake”
– Jeremiah deals with God’s judgments in terms of what God feels—grief; Ezekiel deals with God’s judgments in terms of what God wants—glory.
– For Ezekiel, judgment contains a revelation of God—often God says that when they are chastised, “they will know that I am the LORD.” Yet even this revelation is not for their sake, but “for [his] name’s sake” (20:9, 36:22, etc.)

Glory: The Importance of God’s Presence
– Ezekiel’s book begins and ends with the glory of the LORD, as does the book of Revelation. The presence and intimacy of God finally cherished among his holy people is the ultimate fulfillment of all biblical prophecy (Ez. 48:35, Rev. 21:11, 21:23, 22:4).
– In the narrative, God’s glory departing (ch. 8-10), and later returning to a new Israel (43-44), form the most central images in the entire narrative.
– Glory (Heb. kabod=weight, honor, importance) in the OT is related to God’s physical manifestation 45 times; Kittel calls it “the force of His self-manifestation,” or “that which makes God impressive to man.”

Pride: Rebelling Against God’s Glory
– Ezekiel deals with Israel’s wicked elders at length (ch. 8, 11, 14, 20), as well as false prophets (13), selfish “shepherds” (34), and laments for Israel’s princes (19). He deals with pride in high places quite extensively.
– Ezekiel also prophesies against wicked Gentile leaders in ch. 29, 32, 38, and 39. This reaches its apex in ch. 28 with the prince of Tyre, a kind of spiritual carbon copy of Satan in his original calling and rebellion. Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 give us the most biblical insight into the independent spirit—which is what made Satan into Satan.

Making Israel Homesick
– In ch. 20, the Lord hearkens to Israel’s history in detail, recounting the story of the exodus. As with Jeremiah and Hosea, broken covenant is the background for both judgment and renewal (Ez. 16 & 23, Dt. 31:16ff).
– God’s covenant with the nation of Israel in Ex. 19 involved a new land, a dwelling-place for God, and a calling to holiness (Ex. 19:3-6, Ez. 20); inasmuch as Israel had persistently violated its calling, God did not want to dwell among them (Ez. 11:23, Dt. 32:30) or keep them in the land he had promised (Lev. 26:15ff, note v. 33).
– For these covenant promises to be renewed, Israel would have to remember the covenant and live holy (Ez. 11:17-25, 36:16-38, Lev 26:40-45).

Millennium: Israel Restored
– Ez. 36-48 especially concerns the restoration of Israel; the regathering of their nation has begun in our time, but it is obvious that the wars (38-39), restored temple (40-42), worship (43-46) and land (47-48) are yet future.
– New Jerusalem has no death (Rev 21:4, cf. Ez. 42:13) and no temple (Rev. 21:22), so this leads most to think that Ezekiel 40-48 was not describing the new heaven and new earth. Rather, comparison with similar passages (Isaiah 66, Rev. 20) bears witness that this is the longest prophecy about the Millennium in the entire Bible.

Book Recommendations:
Two books that I highly recommend on the person and character of God are Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer, The Nature and Character of God by Winkie Pratney. Tozer’s book is devotional, while Pratney’s book is an accessible manual to key concepts about who God is and what he is like.

Winkie Pratney also deals with many themes relevant to the study of Ezekiel in the 21CR Conference, Session 5 (“The Chief End of Man”). For more material specific to Ezekiel, see my general recommendations.

Key Passages:
The (manifest) glory: ch. 1, 8:2-4, 9:3a, 10:4, 10:18, 11:23, 43:2-6, 44:2-4
Covenant renewal: 16:60-62, 37:26
The land of Israel: 20:42, 28:25-26, 37:15-28
Dwelling/sanctuary defiled: 23:38, 36:17
Dwelling/sanctuary cleansed: 37:23,27-28, 48:35
Purpose of judgment: 35:11, 39:21-23
Purpose of the temple vision: 43:6-11, (also 44:6-8, 45:9)
See also separate page on “I am the LORD” in Ezekiel.

Habakkuk: A Book about Faith

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HABAKKUK
is a book about
FAITH
in which God is
FAITHFUL.

Background of Habakkuk

Habakkuk, like Jonah, is a personal narrative; his struggle, though, is internal, and so the story takes the form of a conversation between God and the prophet. Unlike Jonah, Habakkuk grows in his faith in God through the course of the book. The prophet begins by questioning God (1:2), and ends in inexplicable joy and triumphant faith (3:17-19). “The story of Habakkuk is that of a movement from the experience of doubt and questioning, to that of certainty and praise” (Morgan1).

The date of Habakkuk must precede Babylon’s invasion of Jerusalem (612BC), since this is yet future during the book. This means he was probably a near-contemporary of Jeremiah and Zephaniah.

Habakkuk’s Question: How Long, God?

Several Bible books deal with faith and doubt, but the content of Habakkuk’s doubt is unique: God’s justice. “Justice never goes forth2” (1:4). Most prophets view God’s justice as perfect and forthcoming, however distant. (Compare, for example, Nahum.) Even though Habakkuk is a prophet, he lacks understanding about God’s plan for his time. Specifically, he cries out about injustice and violence in Judah (1:2-4). Then, God answers that he will send the Chaldeans as a chastisement against Judah (1:5-11), but Habakkuk finds this even more appalling. He again questions God about using the wicked Chaldeans against wicked (but chosen) Israel (1:12-17). It does not fit in with what he thought he knew about God. After all these questions, the major shift in the book comes when Habakkuk determines to wait for a clear answer from God to resolve his inward debate.

Habakkuk’s Watch: Waiting on God

The solution for Habakkuk is to wait; “I will take my stand at my watchpost … and look out to see what he will say to me” (2:1). God’s response (2:2-20) is summarized in one shining assurance: “the righteous shall live by his faith.” (2:4) The righteous will live; that is, they have eternal life, but the proud will not. They will live by faith; trust in God is what enables them to receive eternal life. Despite Habakkuk’s doubt, God leads him to this assurance of God’s future justice, which will outlast any injustice in his day. God has never lied, and the vision that he has given

The rest of this oracle speaks of coming judgment against idol worshippers. God reassures Habakkuk that, even though he will use Babylon (or Chaldea) against Judah, he will also hold Babylon to account. Although “destruction and violence” are present realities (1:3), there is a time coming when “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (2:14). A. W. Tozer says it this way: “the resurrection and the judgment will demonstrate before all worlds who won and who lost. We can wait.3”

The oracle ends with yet another encouragement to wait and trust: “But the LORDis in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him” (2:20). A modern re-statement of this is “God’s still on his throne.” Habakkuk had to recognize and trust the government of God not in history, but in his own lifetime.

Habakkuk’s Worship: “Yet I Will Rejoice”

With the prophet’s doubt clearly resolved, the third chapter is a song of Habakkuk’s faith. Habakkuk recites, in song, a past victory that God brought for Israel as a basis for faith in future victory: “I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD… In the midst of the years revive it” (3:2). The specifics of the song—plague (v. 5), water miracles (v. 15), and geographical details—all point to the Exodus and the birth of Israel as the story which Habakkuk is celebrating in psalm. Likewise God’s unfulfilled promises are known to be certain by his perfect record; the past gives us faith for the future.

The conclusion of the book is exultant praise, rising “to heights of faith which even David did not attain with all his music4.” Job refuses to curse God; but Habakkuk declares boldly that he will rejoice in the Lord even if all his livelihood and material possessions are taken away. This is the highest faith in the lowest depth. Chambers5points out, “faith is trust in a God Whose ways I do not know, but Whose character I do know.”

Book Recommendations

Andrew Murray has a devotional book called Waiting on God, emphasizing the importance of waiting in all aspects of Christian life.

If you are doubting God’s work in the world or your life, Christian biographies such as Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot can restore a right view of God’s timing and his triumphant use of tragedy.

Compare themes with: Job, Lamentations.

Contemporaries include: Jeremiah, Zephaniah.
_________

1 Morgan, G. Campbell. Living Messages. “Habakkuk.”

2 All Scriptures quoted are ESV.

3 Tozer, A. W.  Born After Midnight.

4 Parker, Joseph. The People’s Bible, vol. 17: Hosea to Malachi. p. 332.

5 Chambers, Oswald. Shade of His Hand.

Micah: A Prophecy of God as Ruler

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MICAH
is a book about
TRUE AND FALSE AUTHORITY
in which God is
RULER.

The God of Micah

Micah’s book opens by describing a terrible theophany. But this God is not an unconcerned Sovereign; he is Israel’s Leader (2:13), Judge (4:3), Ruler (4:7, 5:2) and Shepherd (7:14, cf. 2:12). He is the sender of true leaders and prophets (6:4-5, Jeremiah 26:5). False leadership is condemned throughout Micah’s prophecy, but the final death-knell on oppression awaits the coming of the true Ruler (ch. 4-5).

Sin in High Places (ch. 1-2)

Micah came from the village of Moresheth (1:1). He prophesied against numerous cities in Israel, calling them by name. He mocks them using numerous puns and wordplays in 1:10-15.

Captivity is no coincidence, but a result of sin and idolatry (1:16). The people are called upon to interpret current events through the character of God. The subjugation of Israel by pagan nations was no coincidence, but was promised in Leviticus for breaking God’s covenant of obedience (Lev. 26:17, 33, 38-39). The prophet Jeremiah cites Micah as preceding him and possibly saving his life (Jer. 26).

Throughout Micah, the places of false leadership and influence are condemned (3:9). Joseph Parker comments that Jesus Christ “differs from all modern teachers in that he finds the wickedness of society in its high places.”1 Rather than associating crime with poverty, the Bible tends to do the opposite: over and over God casts his judgment over the rich, the educated, the religious, and the affluent.

Abuse of Authority (ch. 3)

What does Micah mean that they “build with blood” (3:10)? He is talking about money made through hidden crimes. Prostitution was used to fund pagan temples in Micah’s day (1:7). Micah condemns bribery among officials, and simony among spiritual leaders (3:11, 7:3). Named after Simon the sorcerer in Acts, the sin of simony means performing acts of ministry in exchange for money. In the Middle Ages, corruption of priests was rampant; John Wycliffe of England and John Hus of Bohemia were martyred in part for speaking against it. The prophet Micah likewise risked much by speaking against those who were propping up such a corrupt system.

G. Campbell Morgan writes: “The message of Micah centered on the subject of authority. The prophet arraigns and condemns the authority of those who had departed from the true standards of government, whether the princes, prophets, or priests; and foretold the coming of the true Ruler, under whom all false confidences would be destroyed and the true order restored.”2

Deliverance and the Deliverer (ch. 4-5)

Micah 4 and 5 concern “the last days” (4:1). In Morgan’s notes on Micah, he says that chapter 4 concerns the deliverance to come, but chapter 5 concerns the Deliverer.3 Micah 4 presents a vision of “the mountain of the house of the LORD.” War will be ended on Earth (5:4).

The final deliverance of Israel will not be easily brought about. Micah prophesies that it will involve labor pains (4:9, 5:3), a metaphor that Jesus continues to use to describe the end times. False leadership always uses kind words, but has a mean end in mind (2:6); the God of the Bible forewarns us of coming trouble, but he always has good in mind (4:7, 7:20).

The Deliverer is described in Micah 5. Like Micah, he will come from a little-known village. Final justice means an end to all false worship. Jesus “shall be great to the ends of the earth” (5:4).

What Does God Require? (ch. 6)

Micah reminds Israel of God’s past actions: he had redeemed them from Egypt (6:4); he had sent righteous leadership (6:4); he had refused to repudiate them despite Balak’s efforts (6:5). “From Shittim to Gilgal” (6:5) is especially significant: Shittim was a place where Israel joined in idolatry (Num. 25:1), and Gilgal was where God renewed his covenant with them by circumcision (Joshua 5). This points to the renewal that God would bring Israel if they would repent.

Micah 6 is the crux of the book and perhaps the best explanation of idolatry in the Old Testament. Idolatry involves not only an incorrect view of God, but an ineffective way of approaching him. The God of the Bible is the only god that cannot be bought. No sacrifice is enough to secure his favor (6:6-7).

Instead, God asks for the repentance and faith. “He has shown us what is good: to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (6:8). God does not ask what is easy: to bring material goods or sacrifices. He asks what is hard: the surrender of self. “The surrendered life is the foundation of surrendered possessions. Ourselves first, then our offerings.”4

Conclusion (ch. 7)

Micah concludes as it began, with a vision of God: “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance?” (7:18) This vision of God’s character is Micah’s reason for believing in the forgiveness of sin as well as the deliverance from captivity that will come.

There is no higher conclusion than this simple appeal to who God is. A right vision of God will bring right worship of God, and a right approach to God. He has not only told us what is good; he has shown us what is good, and we should imitate the open and generous ways of our King and Shepherd.

________

1 Joseph Parker. The Minor Prophets (vol. 21 of The People’s Bible). Kindle edition. Locations 3915-3916.

2 G. Campbell Morgan. Exposition of the Whole Bible. Accessed on studylight.org, Oct. 12, 2015. http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gcm/view.cgi?bk=32&ch=5

3 Ibid.

4 Herbert Lockyer, The Christ of Christmas. Kindle edition. Location 604.

Ezra: A Story about Revival

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EZRA
is a book about
REVIVAL
in which God is
RESTORER.

God the Restorer
– Centering in Ezra and Nehemiah, the Jews experience a restoration of almost every aspect of life you can name: their temple, worship, godly marriage—in Nehemiah, their capital—and in more recent history, their nation and language. It is God who “makes all things new.” (Rev. 21:5)
– In fulfillment of a prophetic word, “the LORD stirred” first Cyrus the pagan king, and then many others who would return and rebuild the temple. The temple is the center of Ezra’s story and represents a rebuilding from nothing of the religious life of an entire nation.

Ezra the Scribe: No Revival Without Reformation
– Since Ezra was a scholar of God’s law, he makes many references to other Old Testament books, including forgotten commandments that were beginning to be followed again (e.g., 7:10).
– “It is the rediscovery of these cardinal doctrines that has led to revival.” (Lloyd-Jones)

Ezra the Scribe: Starting Small
– Almost every chapter of Ezra contains a list, letter, or numerical account, since he was a scribe.
– Fundamental to revival is the worth of the individual to God; Francis Schaeffer put it this way: “there are no little people; there are no little places.”

Praying Big
– All of the Scriptural stories of revival, including Ezra’s, involve national awakenings with global implications.
– The vision of any revival should always be bigger than the revival itself.

Responding to Opposition
– In 4:16, the enemies of this revival show that they see its weighty implications.
– Opposition should encourage us that we are doing something powerful.

Return to Unity & Worship
– Uncommon unity (3:1, 10:12) and uncommon prayer (8:23) are the two activities that Pratney says always mark revival.
– Ezra’s repentance and confession (chs. 9 and 10) on behalf of his nation brought them face to face with their sin against a holy God.

Revival is Newfound Obedience
– Finney’s definition of revival is “newfound obedience to God.”
– The key idea in revival is that we begin to take responsibility for both our walk with God and those around us.
“Arise, for this… is your responsibility… Be of good courage, and do it.” (10:4)

Book Recommendations:
While there is a wealth of material on the history of revival in general, I recommend starting with Winkie Pratney’s book Revival.
On the inner workings of revival, I recommend Finney’s Lectures on Revival as well as his autobiography.

References in Ezra:
Jeremiah (Ezra 1:1)
Moses (3:2, 6:8)
David (3:10)
Haggai (5:1, 6:14)
Zechariah (5:1, 6:14)

Revival Language in Ezra (NKJV):
“…the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia…” 1:1
“Then…with all whose spirits God had moved…” 1:5
“Then the heads of the fathers’ houses…arose to go up and build…” 1:5
“Now these are the people…who returned to Jerusalem…” 2:1
“Then Jeshua…and Zerubbabel…arose and built the altar…” 3:2
“Now…Zerubbabel…and the rest…began work…” 3:8
“So Zerubbabel…and Jeshua…rose up and began to build the house of God…” 5:2
“And the descendants…kept the Passover…” 6:19
“And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread…” 6:22
“…for the LORD… turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them…” 6:22
“Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it” 7:10
“Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it diligently be done…” 7:23
“So I was encouraged…” 7:28
“…grace has been [shown] from the LORD…that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.” 9:8
“…Yet our God…extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to reviveus, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.” 9:9
“…and let it be done according to the law.” 10:3
“Now therefore, make confession to the LORD… and do His will…” 10:11