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Natural Revelation, Music Related to God’s Providence, and the Debate about the Morality of Music without Words

January 12, 2013

Whether music without words is moral or not is a question that is widely debated today among believers. This post treats biblical teaching about natural revelation and music related to God’s providence to answer this question.

Natural Revelation

Psalm 19:1-6 provides clear teaching about natural revelation:

Psa 19:1 <To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.> The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

² Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

³ There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

⁴ Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

⁵ Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

⁶ His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

David teaches that God is continuously providing worldwide revelation of His glory and handiwork.

Paul corroborates his statements and further teaches that all are without excuse because they are suppressing God’s infallible communication of moral truth through His creation:

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

¹⁹ Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

²⁰ For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.

Scripture thus makes clear that God is continuously infallibly communicating moral truth to every person through natural revelation that involves no words. Wordless communication of moral truth, therefore, is a pervasive worldwide reality that every human being experiences on a nonstop basis.

Music Related to God’s Providence

Building on the foundation of God’s communication of moral truth through wordless natural revelation, related teaching about God’s providence provides additional relevant information. Psalm 104 highlights God’s creating and sustaining His Creation. In that context, the Psalmist provides an important statement about music related to His providence:

Psa 104:10 He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills.

¹¹ They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst.

¹² By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.

¹³ He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.

The Psalmist makes known that God provides water to every animal to satisfy its thirst. In that context, he speaks of birds that sing among the branches of trees located by the springs that God sends.[1]

Statements that God satisfies His creation (Ps. 104:11, 13) on both sides of the statement about the singing of the birds show that it is not an incidental “filler” statement. Rather, the clear implication is that the birds sing in grateful response to God’s satisfying them by providing water and habitation (cf. Ps. 104:16-18 and the command for the flying fowl to praise the Lord [Ps. 148:7, 10]).[2]

Furthermore, no humans taught the birds to sing—we thus rightly infer that they continue to do what God created them from the beginning to do. What’s more, He created them (Gen. 1:20) before He created man (Gen. 1:26-27). Because God said that His creation of the birds was good (Gen. 1:21), we rightly deduce that their singing at that time was good, as was also everything else taking place in God’s universe at that time.

Moreover, after He had created man (Gen. 1:26-29), God pronounced that everything that He had made was “very good” (Gen. 1:31). We infer correctly, therefore, that the singing of birds that took place after man was created—but before he fell—was also very good.

Both before man was created and after he was created but before he fell, birds thus sang wordless moral music to the praise of their Creator! Furthermore, even after he fell, Scripture provides revelation about birds (Ps. 104:12) that points to their communicating a wordless moral message through music.

In addition, the clear teaching treated earlier about God’s present-day worldwide communication of wordless moral truth through natural revelation provides a supportive universal backdrop for interpreting the present-day singing of birds as still communicating a moral message without words.

The Debate about the Morality of Music without Words

God is continuously providing infallible moral truth wordlessly to every human being through the heavens and the firmament that He created (Ps. 19:1-4). He is also providing moral truth wordlessly through the singing of the birds that He created (Gen. 1:20) to praise Him (cf. Ps. 148:7, 10) for His providential care for them (Ps. 104:12).

Scriptural teaching about natural revelation and music related to God’s providence thus establishes that the default Scriptural position is that music without words is moral.[3] Christians who hold the position that music without words is amoral thus have the burden of proof to demonstrate the validity of their view from Scripture.

[1] Because the Hebrew here does not use a specific word for singing (cf. “Heb ‘among the thick foliage they give a sound’” [NET Bible translation note on Psalm 104:12]), some hold that this verse does not establish that birds sing music. The context, however, makes clear that singing is in view. Furthermore, Zephaniah 2:14 explicitly uses a Hebrew verb to speak of the singing of birds. See also my post Do Birds Sing Music or Merely Make Sounds for additional explanation of why the position that birds do not sing music is not tenable. Moreover, numerous videos available on the Internet abundantly attest to the fact that birds sing songs with multiple pitches, rhythm, rests, etc.

[2] Many commentators concur with this interpretation: “The birds, also, in their nests among the branches are able to pour forth their melodious notes as the result of the God-directed valley-springs. Singing among the branches should inspire us to sing where we dwell—even if it be like Paul and Silas in a prison cell. . . . Said Izaak Walton, great lover of birds, especially the nightingale, ‘Lord, what music hast thou provided for the saints in heaven, when thou affordest bad men such music on earth?’” (Herbert Lockyer, Sr., Psalms: A Devotional Commentary, 409).

“Among them the fowls of the air dwell. That is, among the trees which spring up by the fountains and water-courses. The whole picture is full of animation and beauty. . . . Which sing among the branches. Marg. as in Heb., give a voice. Their voice is heard—their sweet music—in the foliage of the trees which grow on the margin of the streams and by the fountains” (Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament: Explanatory and Practical, 9:85).

“’Everything lives whithersoever water cometh,’ as Easterners know. Therefore round the drinking-places in the vales thirsty creatures gather, birds flit and sing; up among the cedars are peaceful nests, and inaccessible cliffs have their sure-footed inhabitants. All depend on water, and water is God’s gift. The psalmist’s view of Nature is characteristic in the direct ascription of all the processes to God” (Alexander MacLaren, The Psalms, 3:116).

“How refreshing are these words! What happy memories they arouse of plashing waterfalls and entangled boughs, where the merry din of the falling and rushing water forms a solid background of music, and the sweet tuneful notes of the birds are the brighter and more flashing lights in harmony. Pretty birdies, sing on! What better can ye do, and who can do it better? When we too drink of the river of God, and eat of the fruit of the tree of life, it well becomes us to ‘sing among the branches.’ Where ye dwell ye sing; and shall not we rejoice in the Lord, who has been our dwelling-place in all generations. As ye fly from bough to bough, ye warble forth your notes, and so will we as we flit through time into eternity. It is not meet that birds of Paradise should be outdone by birds of the earth” (Charles Spurgeon, Treasury of David, 2:305).

“The music of the birds was the first song of thanksgiving which was offered from the earth, before man was formed” (John Wesley; cited in Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings on 104:12 in Treasury of David, 2:319).

“They sing, according to their capacity, to the honour of their Creator and benefactor, and their singing may shame our silence” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, 893).

[3] See also my post David’s Instrumental Music Was Not Amoral for further Scriptural teaching that establishes this point.

In CCM, Exposition, Music, Theology

Let Us Sorrow Not without Hope!

December 29, 2012

In a small Midwestern town, a fierce ice storm raged. The howling of the frigid winds was suddenly joined by the piercing ringing of a telephone. In the wee hours of the morning, the phone call informed a family that they needed to come to the hospital immediately.

Because their car was not working, a police car took them to the hospital. As they walked into the hospital room, a far greater storm began to rage in their souls. Lying there on the hospital bed was my dad dead of an apparent heart attack. Seeing him dead, our world suddenly fell apart.

The immense sorrow of that time was accompanied by times of longing and dreaming that somehow, someday, I would see my dad again. But, our sorrow was without hope because none of us were believers at that time.

As I did for many years after my dad died in 1982, many in this world sorrow without hope for their dead loved ones. Praise God that He does not want believers to sorrow without hope for their believing loved ones who have died:

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

¹⁵ For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

¹⁶ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

¹⁷ Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

¹⁸ Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

This passages teaches us that in order for us to sorrow not without hope for our loved ones who have died, four things must be true.

1. We must believe that Jesus died and rose again (1 Thess. 4:14a).

2. Our loved ones must believe that Jesus died and rose again, so that when they die, they will be asleep in Jesus (1 Thess. 4:14b; cf. Acts 7:60; 1 Cor. 15:6, 18, 51).

3. We as believers must not be ignorant concerning those who are asleep in Jesus (1 Thess. 4:13a).

4. We as believers must comfort one another concerning the dead in Christ so that we will not sorrow for them without hope (1 Thess. 4:18).

Brethren, let us sorrow not without hope for our loves ones who sleep in Jesus!

In Exhortation, Exposition, Testimony

The Exceeding Preciousness of Every Unborn Child

December 6, 2012

Through David, God intends to teach every willing recipient of Psalm 139 that every unborn child is exceedingly precious to Him. At a time when ungodly people are pushing their false views about abortion upon people in an unprecedented way, we who prize the Bible should immerse ourselves with a renewed fervor in its infallible teaching about this vital subject.

Based on God’s amazing knowledge of all of David’s ways (Ps. 139:1-5), including even what he would say before he would say it (Ps. 139:4), he acknowledged that God’s knowledge of him was far beyond any possibility of his understanding it (Ps. 139:6). He further remarked that his escaping God’s presence was impossible regardless of wherever he might seek to go (Ps. 139:7-12) and whenever he might seek to go there (in the daytime or at nighttime [Ps. 139:11-12]).

Using the word for (Ps. 139:13) to begin his teaching in the rest of the psalm, David then explains his previous teaching in a way that many of its readers overlook. In fact, I had done so until God illumined me to the importance of that truth this morning.

He explains that he could not escape God’s presence because God was the One who formed him in the womb (Ps. 139:13-16), a dark place in which there is no light (cf. Ps. 139:11-12). In that secret place, God formed his body in a fearful, wonderful, and marvelous work of God about which David’s soul knew very well (Ps. 139:13-14)! He thus testified that he had no question about the truth of God’s having created him so magnificently in the womb.

David then testified that his frame was not hidden from God when He skillfully created him (Ps. 139:15). God saw his substance when it was yet unformed (Ps. 139:16a). Moreover, God had written down in His book all the days that he would live even before he existed (Ps. 139:16b).

Beyond speaking both of God’s marvelously creating Him and of God’s preordaining all the days that he would live, he extolled the preciousness of His doing these things: “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!” (Ps. 139:17). The word also in this statement and David’s use of how to modify precious show that David regarded God’s forming him in the womb, His ordaining exactly how long he would live, and His thoughts toward him (Ps. 139:17-18) all to be exceedingly precious.

We learn from David’s teaching in Psalm 139 that he knew very well that he was an exceedingly precious creation of God from the very time that God created him in the womb. What was true of him is also true of every unborn child because God is the One who forms every child in the womb.[1]

Rejecting all the counsel of the ungodly, we who know the Bible must unwaveringly believe what God says about the exceeding preciousness of every unborn child!

[1] See Psalm 94:9; 127:3; Jeremiah 1:5; and Matthew 1:20.

In Exposition

The Vital Importance of Psalm 31:23 for Every Christian

December 3, 2012

Jesus taught that the first and greatest commandment was to love God with all one’s being (Matt. 22:37-38). Because He made known that loving God properly is the greatest priority of all, believers must focus foremost on loving God in their lives.

In keeping with that supreme priority and based on much Scriptural teaching, contemporary theology, preaching, teaching, and music all highly stress loving God because of what He has done and is doing to provide salvation for sinners through the work of His Son, Jesus Christ. Similarly, believers today highly emphasize loving God for His care for His own.

Although appreciation for God’s providing salvation for sinners and for His caring for His own are both certainly reasons that we should love God, they are not the only reasons we should do so. To understand why, we must consider a key command that David gave to all believers:

O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer” (Ps. 31:23).

David here does command all believers to love God because He preserves the faithful (31:23a-b). He, however, does not stop there; he adds that all believers must love God also because He plentifully rewards the proud doer (31:23c).

To understand further this teaching from God, we must consider a closely related statement in the Psalms:

Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud (94:2).

Psalm 94:2 makes clear that God is the Judge who rewards the proud by judging them.[1] Based on the teaching, therefore, of Psalms 31:23 and 94:2, every believer must love God for His work as the Judge who fully repays proud doers!

Psalm 31:23 thus provides us with a vital insight into an essential aspect of our loving God. Because God gives us this truth in His inspired hymnbook, the Psalms, we must adjust our music so that we teach believers this truth through our singing.

Our theology, preaching, and teaching must also be adjusted so that we properly instruct all believers that loving God properly involves loving Him both for caring for His own and for judging the proud (cf. Paul’s love for the appearing of the Lord, the righteous Judge [2 Tim. 4:8]). Doing so, we will help disciple them fully to be the saints that Jesus wants them to be (Matt. 28:18-20).

Let us all love God properly by loving Him because He is the Judge who plentifully rewards the proud doer.

[1] Many other passages confirm that His doing so is His judging. For examples, see Leviticus 26:19; 1 Samuel 2:3-10; 2 Samuel 22:28; 2 Chronicles 32:25; Psalms 75:7-10; Proverbs 15:25; Isaiah 2:11; Daniel 5:20; and Luke 1:51.

In Exhortation, Exposition, Ministry, Music, Preaching, Theology

An Illustration That Helps Explain the Greatness of Our Sinfulness

December 1, 2012

When queen Vashti refused to heed the commandment of her husband, king Ahasuerus (Esth. 1:12), the king consulted with his wise men about what should be done to her (Esth. 1:13-15). Memucan, one of his princes, remarked that the queen had not only wronged the king by her disobedience to his commandment, but also she had wronged all his princes and all the people in all his provinces (Esth. 1:16). He thus regarded her rebellion against the king as a sin against him and all who were in his kingdom.

Scripture teaches that God is the eternal King of the universe (Ps. 29:10; Dan. 4:34-35; 1 Tim. 1:17). When we sin even once by breaking one of His commandments, we sin not only against God but also against all His subjects throughout His universal kingdom.

Viewed from this perspective, it is clear that all of us are exceedingly great sinners who have sinned against God and His universal dominion countless times. The infinite greatness of our sin required the payment of an infinite penalty if we were to be forgiven.

Praise God that Jesus is “the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2)! Thank you, Lord Jesus, for paying it all!

In Exposition

Counsel from Psalm 62 for People Disheartened by the Recent Elections

November 17, 2012

The outcome of the recent elections has left many dedicated, honest people who love their country greatly disheartened. Psalm 62 provides some biblical counsel for such people.

Assailed by murderous (62:3), lying opponents (62:4), David counseled both himself (62:5) and others (62:8, 10) about who and what to turn to in such times of trouble. His counsel may be summarized in the following points:

1. Wait in silence for God alone to save you (62:1, 5)

David begins the Psalm by declaring that he was waiting in silence for help from God (62:1a) because his salvation was from God (62:1b), who alone was his rock, salvation, and stronghold (62:2a). In light of these realities, he was confident that he would not be greatly shaken (62:2b).

After inquiring of his enemies about how long they intended wickedly to assail him (62:3-4), he challenged himself to do the very thing that he had already been doing—wait silently for God only (62:5a). He understood that he should do so because his hope was in God (62:5b), who alone was his rock, salvation, and stronghold (62:6a). Being mindful of these truths, he assured himself that he would not be shaken (62:6b).

Repeating these truths in the psalm (62:1-2; 5-6), David emphasized their importance. He then added that his salvation and glory were resting on God (62:7a). His refuge, the “rock of his strength,” was in God (62:7b).

Believers should wait confidently and in quite repose for God’s deliverance. Despite the advancement of evil that is taking place, God is on the throne, and He alone is worthy of our hope and trust. In His time and way, He is going to deal righteously with the vicious, lying people who are assailing ordinary, God-fearing people with their media propaganda and pernicious policies.

2. Trust in God at all times (62:8a)

Based on God’s being both David’s refuge (62:7) and a refuge for His people (62:8a), they are to put their trust in Him at all times. Whether we experience political defeat or victory, our trust must be in Him. Now is the time for us to turn to God all the more.

3. Pour out your heart before Him (62:8b)

David conjoined trust in God with praying earnestly to Him with our whole heart. We need now to turn to God in prayer individually and corporately like we never have before. He is our only hope in these dark times.

4. Counsel yourself to think properly about people (62:9)

David reminded himself that both lowly men, who are only vanity, and men of high rank, who are a lie, are ultimately vain beings who are hopelessly underweight on God’s balances; in fact, both individually and corporately, they are lighter than breath (62:9). The recent advancement of many people to positions of power and influence, many of whom sadly will likely prove to be unrighteous public officials, should not deceive us into thinking more of them than is fitting. God is in control, and we should turn our entire focus towards His exaltation over all men, righteous and unrighteous, poor or rich, lowly or powerful.

5. Do not put your trust or hope in any evil means of earthly advancement (62:10)

David warns us not to trust in oppression, robbery, or increasing wealth. Although many oppressors are prospering materially in our day, their earthly advancement through unrighteous means is vain and will not be lasting. In a time when temptations to be unrighteous in our dealings with other people will undoubtedly increase, we must resolve that we will only advance in godly ways that display that our hearts are trusting wholly on God as our hope.

6. Hear what God has repeatedly spoken about His power and lovingkindness to repay every man according to his work (62:11-12)

Repeatedly hearing God’s speaking to him, David was solidly grounded in key ultimate realities: both power and lovingkindness are God’s because He is the Lord who is over all (62:11-12a). Because He righteously repays every man in keeping with his deeds, lovingkindess is His (62:12b).

Although evil men may advance in power, they do so only because God’s power has put them there for His own purposes. He will repay them for all that they do in their exercise of their God-given authority.

Similarly, when the righteous do not advance politically, they can yet be assured that God will repay them for their righteousness in spite of His not advancing them in that sphere. His lovingkindness will not allow them to be ashamed ultimately of their trust in Him.

God’s Counsel for Our Times

In the midst of the increasingly trying circumstances that righteous people will undoubtedly face as a result of the outcome of the recent elections, we must entrust ourselves wholly to the supreme power and lovingkindness of our God. No evil man will ultimately prosper because God the righteous Judge of all will repay him for his evil.

Moreover, no righteous man will ultimately fail to prosper because our Judge’s power and lovingkindness will repay us for our trust and hope in Him. Our God reigns—let us take heart, trust, pray, and do good to all men, especially our brethren, until our Lord comes.

In Exposition, Prayer

Let Us Praise Our Uniquely Transcendent, Humble, and Gracious Lord!

November 3, 2012

Psalm 113 emphatically challenges people to praise the Lord by commanding them four times to do so (113:1 [3x]; 9). The remainder of the psalm fills out our understanding of this command in instructive ways.

EXPOSITION

The psalmist begins with three successive plural imperatives:

“Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD” (113:1).

These imperatives indicate that he is forcefully calling upon God’s servants to praise Him. All of us who are His servants should learn from this teaching that we have a special obligation and privilege to praise God.

The next two verses amplify the teaching of verse one:

“Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’S name is to be praised” (113:2-3).

The psalmist expresses his desire that the name of the Lord would be forever blessed and then declares that His name is to be praised all the day long. Because God’s name is always worthy of praise, we learn that we should diligently praise Him throughout the day on every day.

The final six verses highlight certain aspects of the praiseworthiness of the Lord. First, we learn of His unmatched transcendence:

“The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens” (113:4).

Because our God is gloriously exalted over all His creation, we should praise Him.

Second, through a rhetorical question that answers itself, we learn of His uniqueness:

“Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!” (113:5-6).

Unlike any other exalted beings, whether heavenly or earthly, the Most High God is humble and displays His humility by His attention to the things in the heaven and the earth. Because of His unique person and character, we should praise Him.

Third, the psalmist highlights the praiseworthiness of the Lord by specifying His gracious care for two types of people: (1) the poor and the needy; (2) the barren woman. The Lord exalts the poor and needy in an extraordinary way:

“He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people” (113:7-8).

Because our uniquely transcendent God humbles Himself to care for such abject people who have no hope aside from Him, we should praise Him.

In addition to His glorious exaltation of the poor and needy, our praiseworthy Lord satisfies the intense longing of another group of people who also have no hope aside from Him:

“He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children” (113:9a).

His gracious fulfilling of their yearnings should lead us to praise Him.

In view of all that he has set forth in the psalm, the psalmist then concludes the same way that he began:

“Praise the Lord!” (113:9b).

Blessed be His name!

APPLICATION

Psalm 113 charges God’s servants to praise Him because He is the uniquely transcendent and humble God who graciously cares for people who have no hope but Him! In view of its teaching, all people should respond by doing three things.

First, those who are not God’s servants should become His servants. No matter how poor and needy you may be, by faith you should come to the One who rewards all those who diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6). Whatever your life’s condition may be, He is the only One who will truly satisfy your heart’s deepest longings.

Second, all those who are His servants should diligently praise Him throughout the day on every day. They should praise Him because He is exalted above all, He humbles Himself to attend to His creation, and He graciously exalts the destitute and satisfies those who are longing for blessings that only He can provide.

Third, as the psalmist does in Psalm 113, we should exhort others to praise His name and instruct them to do so by setting before them the Lord’s unique transcendence, humility, and graciousness.

Let us all praise our uniquely transcendent, humble, and gracious Lord! May His name be blessed forevermore.

In Exhortation, Exposition

Divine Wisdom about Human Oppression

October 10, 2012

Psalm 10 provides much wisdom from God concerning human oppression. First, using many different terms, we learn who the people are that are typically oppressed by other people: “the poor” (10:2; 8; 9 [2x]; 10; 14); “the innocent” (10:8); “the humble” (10:12, 17); “the fatherless” (10:14, 18); and, “the oppressed” (10:18).

Second, we learn the root causes of the oppression that they experience. Proud wicked people who do not seek God (10:4) and do not have God in their thoughts (10:4) persecute them (10:2). These evil oppressors vainly assure themselves that they will never be moved and be in adversity (10:6).

They misinform themselves continually by telling themselves that God has forgotten, has hidden His face, and will never see (10:11). What’s more, they contemn God and say in their hearts that He will not requite them for their wickedness (10:13).

Third, the Psalm instructs us that the only true solution for all such oppression is prayer (10:12, 15) to the Lord, the eternal King of all (10:16). He has seen and has known all the wicked thoughts, schemes, and deeds of every oppressor (10:14). He will most certainly ultimately requite all who oppress others (10:14).

He has heard the prayers of the oppressed (10:17), and they must persevere in praying to Him that He would arise to judge on their behalf so that they may no longer be oppressed (10:18). Turning to God in absolute trust in Him is the one true hope for all the oppressed.

Fourth, we must learn to fear God ourselves and treat all others properly, knowing that He will one day “judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to [Paul’s] gospel” (Rom. 2:16). We must not allow ourselves to oppress others because we do not keep God in our thoughts and do not speak the truth in our hearts about His knowledge of our evil deeds and about the certainty of His requiting all oppressors.

Fifth, based on the teaching of this Psalm, we should teach others about the true causes of all human oppression and what is the true solution for it. Our world, which is filled with so much horrific oppression, desperately needs a believing acceptance of this divine wisdom concerning human oppression.

In Interpretation, Theology

The Remarkable Teaching of Judges 2:1

September 1, 2012

The failure of the Israelites to drive out fully the Canaanites from the Promised Land (Judges 1:19; 21; 28; 29; 30; 31; 32; 33; cf. 34-35) led to their being judged by God:

2:1 And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

² And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

³ Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

⁴ And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.

⁵ And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD.

In this passage, the author of Judges records a statement by the Angel of the Lord that reveals a remarkable truth about God’s dealings with the nation of Israel.

A Remarkable Statement by the Angel of the Lord

The Angel of the Lord declared, “I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers” (2:1a-c). Saying this, He revealed that He was the One who had sworn to their fathers to give them the Promised Land.

Moreover, the Angel of the Lord added that He had promised that He would never break “His covenant” with them (2:1d). To understand the full significance of these statements, we need to look closely at the preceding Scriptural record of God’s covenanting to give the land to the fathers.

The Preceding Scriptural Record about God’s Promising the Land to the Fathers

God covenanted with Abraham to give to him and to his seed the Promised Land (Gen. 15:18-21; 17:8; 24:7) and reiterated that promise to Isaac (26:3-5). Later, He promised the Land to Jacob and his seed (28:13-15; 35:12; cf. 48:4).

Joseph said that God swore to give the Land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (50:24). God rehearsed with Moses how He had appeared to and covenanted with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give them the Land (Exod. 6:2-8).

Moses is the first one to say explicitly that God swore to give the Land to the “fathers” of the Israelites (13:5). The same truth is communicated 23 more times (Exod. 13:11; Num. 14:23; Deut. 1:8, 35; 4:31; 6:10, 18, 23; 7:12, 13; 8:1, 18; 9:5; 10:11; 11:9, 21; 26:3; 28:11; 30:20; 31:20; Jos. 1:6; 5:6; 21:43) before the statement in Judges 2:1, including four explicit references to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the fathers to whom God made the promise (Deut. 1:8; 6:10; 9:5; 30:20).

Scripture thus provides us with at least 32 statements prior to Judges 2:1 about God’s swearing to give the Promised Land to the fathers of the Israelites whom the Angel of the Lord addressed (Judg. 2:1).

The Significance of No Preceding Revelation before Judges 2:1 about the Angel’s Promising the Land

Remarkably, however, not one of these prior statements specifically mentions that it was actually the Angel of the Lord who had sworn to the fathers to do so! Judges 2:1 thus supports our understanding that in every instance of the Lord’s appearing to or speaking to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to make that promise, it was the Angel of the Lord who appeared to them or spoke to them.

Although the Angel of the Lord, therefore, was God’s Agent in all those occasions, we are informed of that truth explicitly only in Judges 2:1. The comparison of Judges 2:1 with all the preceding Scriptural revelation about the same truth thus underscores the importance of the agency of the Angel of the Lord in a remarkable way by pointing out to us that His agency goes far beyond explicit statements of His appearing, speaking, or acting.

On how many other occasions in Scripture that we read of the Lord’s appearing to or talking with people or performing some other actions are we, therefore, supposed to understand similarly that it was actually the Angel of the Lord as God’s Agent who did so?

In Interpretation, Theology

Learning from David's Last Words

August 18, 2012

Second Samuel 23 begins with a poem that informs us about the heart of David in a special way: “Now these be the last words of David” (23:1a). In his last words, David highlights a number of important truths that instruct us in various ways about our own lives.

First, he testifies to God’s exalting him to be a man of unique importance in two ways: (a) he was chosen to be God’s anointed one (“the anointed of the God of Jacob” [23:1b]); and (b) he became a special singer among God’s people (“the sweet psalmist of Israel” [23:1c]). In his last words, David thus first highlights his ministry of music among God’s people as a chosen agent of God.

As God’s people, we must esteem highly those whom God chooses to be His special ministers of music to us. Moreover, those of us whom God calls to be such ministers must highlight that calling in our minds throughout our lives.

Second, David makes known that he was an agent of God through whom the Spirit of God spoke verbally to communicate vital truths pertaining to a second key aspect of his being God’s anointed one:

The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God (23:2-3).

In this teaching, David underscores the importance of the just character that he had to have in his role as God’s chosen ruler over His people and of the necessity for him to fear God as he rules.

These words instruct and challenge us that we must emphasize justness in the exercise of any and all authority that God entrusts us with among His people. We will only be such authorities by our fearing God properly.

Third, he speaks strikingly of the immense value of a just ruler who fears God:

And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain (23:4).

MacArthur helpfully explains verses 3-4:

These words begin the record of direct speech from God, whose ideal king must exercise His authority with justice, in complete submission to divine sovereignty. Such a king is like the helpful rays of sun at dawn and the life-giving showers which nourish the earth. This ideal king was identified in the OT as the coming Messiah (cf. Is. 9:6, 7).—The MacArthur Study Bible [MSB], 462

Our dark world desperately needs governmental authorities who are just and exercise their authority in the fear of God. In our political perspectives and activities, we must maintain foremost that the righteous character of leaders, and not their economic success, prowess, and policies, is the chief indispensable qualification that they must have in order to be fit to be put in governmental authority over us.

Fourth, David communicates his trust in the special covenant that God had made with him:

Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow (23:5).

From this teaching, we learn that we should put all our hope throughout our days until the end in the covenants that God has made with us. Our only hope of ultimate salvation is the surety of God’s faithfulness to keep His word to us with whom He has entered into a special covenantal relationship.

Fifth and perhaps most strikingly considering that these words are “David’s final literary legacy to Israel” (MSB, 462), he concludes his final testimony with teaching about the fearful fate of wicked men:

But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands: But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place (23:6-7).

He thus had in mind this solemn reality and testified of it to others. Moreover, he did so as a Spirit-inspired special agent of God’s revelation.

David’s ending his last words with a statement about the fiery utter destruction of the wicked should challenge us to keep this reality as an important part of our lifelong consciousness of the world in which we live. What’s more, we need to remind ourselves continually that testifying to this truth is a vital obligation that we have throughout our lifetimes as witnesses for God.

In Interpretation

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