The Valley of Hinnom

The Valley of Hinnom (Josh. 15:8; 18:16; II Kgs. 23:10; II Chr. 28:3; 33:6; Neh. 11:30; Jer. 7:31-32; 19:2, 6; 32:35) was a valley outside of Jerusalem, in which all manner of abominations were committed by the children of Israel prior to the Babylonian captivity. In the days of Jeremiah it was later termed The Valley of Slaughter (Jer. 7:32; 19:6).  The Valley of Hinnom, also called The Valley of the Son of Hinnom is an expression from which comes the Greek word Gehenna, the place of eternal torment. 

The following verse recounting the acts of King Manasseh provides a summary of many of the abominations that were committed in this valley.  "And he (Manasseh) caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger" (II Chr. 33:6).  --Editor
"Words are the building blocks of communication. Some words evoke feelings of warmth, comfort, compassion, and love. Some words can mollify the gashes of the soul. Hell is not one of those words. It is the antithesis of good cheer. Christ, using the word, employed an image all too familiar to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He compared hell to a dreadful valley they could travel to, with little inconvenience." --Neal Pollard

 

彼はまたベンヒンノムの谷でその子供を火に焼いて供え物とし、占いをし、魔法をつかい、まじないを行い、口寄せと、占い師を任用するなど、主の前に多くの悪を行って、その怒りをひき起した。(II Chr. 33:6).

 Он же проводил сыновей своих чрез огонь в долине сына Енномова, и гадал, и ворожил, и чародействовал, и учредил вызывателей мертвецов и волшебников; много делал он неугодного в очах Господа, к прогневлению Его.

 Und er ließ seine Söhne durchs Feuer gehen im Tale des Sohnes Hinnoms, und er trieb Zauberei und Wahrsagerei und Beschwörung, und bestellte Totenbeschwörer und Wahrsager: er tat viel Böses in den Augen Jahwes, um ihn zu reizen.

Il fit passer ses fils par le feu dans la vallée des fils de Hinnom; il observait les nuages et les serpents pour en tirer des pronostics, il s'adonnait à la magie, et il établit des gens qui évoquaient les esprits et qui prédisaient l'avenir. Il fit de plus en plus ce qui est mal aux yeux de l'Éternel, afin de l'irriter.

 I przewodził synów swych przez ogień w dolinie synów Hennomowych; nadto czasów przestrzegał, i bawił się wieszczbą i czarnoksięstwem, a ustawił czarnoksiężników i guślarzy, i bardzo wiele złego czynił przed oczyma Pańskiemi, draźniąc go.

És fiait átvitte a tûzön a Hinnom fiának völgyében; és az idõnek forgására ügyelt, jövendõmondásokat, varázslásokat és szemfényvesztéseket ûzött, ördöngösöket és jövendõmondókat szerzett, és sok gonoszságot cselekedett az Úr szemei elõtt, hogy õt haragra indítaná.

 Hann lét og sonu sína ganga gegnum eldinn í Hinnomssonardal, fór með spár og fjölkynngi og töfra og skipaði særingamenn og spásagna. Hann aðhafðist margt það, sem illt var í augum Drottins og egndi hann til reiði.

Han lot sine sønner gå gjennem ilden i Hinnoms sønns dal og gav sig av med å spå av skyene og tyde varsler og drive trolldom, og han fikk sig dødningemanere og sannsigere; han gjorde meget som var ondt i Herrens øine, så han vakte hans harme.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Deafening Power of Sin

The Deafening Power of Sin

". . . as the Holy Ghost saith. Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts" (Heb. 3:7-8). In verse 13, the hardening of the heart is attributed to "the deceitfulness of sin". The love of sin causes people to steel themselves against God, who is exactly opposite to sin. Thus, sin may be said to have a distinctly deafening effect with respect to one's hearing of God's voice. Sometimes our text is quoted as, "Today, if ye hear His voice, harden not your hearts"; but that is not what is said, or meant. The exhortation, rather, is for one not to harden his heart by indulgence in sin, that, unhardened by sin, he may hear the Divine voice. Not only do men hinder the truth by unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18), but they drown out the voice of God. The voice of God calls to holiness, and it is only as we are vitally interested in attaining thereto that we can hear and heed it.


荒野における試錬の日に、神にそむいた時のように、あなたがたの心を、かたくなにしてはいけない (Heb. 3:8)

Christ's Reign and Enthronement

                                

"The hard, objective reality of the enthronement and reign of the Lord Jesus Christ from the heavenly place to which He has been exalted by the Father is a cardinal assertion and doctrine of holy Scripture. He, from the perspective of the present, is not going to be coronated and enter upon His rule; He has already been made "both Lord and Christ," having assumed that dominion (Acts 2:36). This is everywhere the representation and insistence of the living Oracles when rightly divided and related to time. The proclamation of Messiah’s reign as a present fact was made on the first Pentecost following His resurrection and ascension to Heaven. That reign, it is stressed by Prophets and Apostles, will continue until all the objectives of the mediatorial kingdom have been accomplished (Acts 3:19-26; I Cor. 15:24-28). Pending that certain and glad eventuation, “all authority in heaven and on earth" is vested in Him (Matt. 28:18, RSV), the Father only, who is the Source of the investment, being excepted." --Fred O. Blakely

"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36).

"So wisse nun das ganze Haus Israel gewiß, daß Gott diesen Jesus, den ihr gekreuzigt habt, zu einem HERRN und Christus gemacht hat."

"Итак твердо знай, весь дом Израилев, что Бог соделал Господом и Христом Сего Иисуса, Которого вы распяли."  

"Que toute la maison d'Israël sache donc avec certitude que Dieu a fait Seigneur et Christ ce Jésus que vous avez crucifié."

"Så skal da hele Israels hus vite for visst at Gud har gjort ham både til Herre og til Messias, denne Jesus som I korsfestet."

"Niechajże tedy wie zapewne wszystek dom Izraelski, że go Bóg i Panem, i Chrystusem uczynił, tego Jezusa, któregoście wy ukrzyżowali."

God's Severity about Positive Law

God's Severity about Positive Law

By Fred O. Blakely

Because positive divine law is set before people as a demonstrable test of their submission to God, its ignorement or disobedience evokes the utmost severity from Him. At the very threshold of acceptance with the Father is the matter of absolute surrender to His will. In the positive commandments applicable to them, as distinguished from the moral ones, all are presented with the opportunity to render this unreserved and complete obedience. They will spend the rest of their time in the flesh earnestly devoting themselves to the moral demands made upon them. In the positive requirements, however, they have something that they can do perfectly, and in so doing show the love for and devotion to God which they profess. Thus, to withhold such obedience constitutes the height of effrontery, and is so regarded by the heavenly Monarch.  

Its Demonstration Against Adam and Eve. That God takes this view of the situation is clearly evidenced by the severity with which He through the centuries has dealt with disregard of His positive ordinances. The awful curse, as viewed from the flesh, laid on Adam and Eve was the first display of this severity. It was a positive command— “ye shall not eat of it” (Gen. 3:3) — which they disobeyed. And for that one act of rebellion against God, they incurred the penalty of sin for themselves and their posterity, which penalty is suffering and death.   

Its Display in Succeeding Generations. Succeeding generations continued to taste of the divine wrath because of light regard for legalistic demands of God upon them. Nadab and Abihu, the eldest sons of Aaron the high priest, "died before the Lord" because they presumed to offer "strange fire" before Him (Lev. 10:1-3), which was clearly forbidden in the Law.  

Moses and Aaron were banned from entrance into the promised land as a result of their having disobeyed one specific commandment (Deut. 32:49-51). Achan and his sons and daughters were summarily stoned to death for infraction of a positive ordinance (Josh. 7:1-26). The kingdom was rent from King Saul and given to David, his neighbor, for Saul's disobedience in offering sacrifices to God and in disregarding His command for the slaughter of the Amalekites (I Sam. 13:8-14; 15:3, 9-23). 

It was similar with the men of Bethshemesh. Because, in defiance of the law against such an act (Num. 4:20), they "looked into the ark of the Lord," which had been returned by the Philistines, God "smote" them, and they died (I Sam. 6:19). In tragic sequence of this frightful outpouring of divine wrath, Uzzah later was cut down for disregard of the legal instructions for handling of the ark. "God smote him" for his "error" when he "put forth his hand to the ark" to steady it under the shaking by the oxen which drew it (II Sam. 6:1-7). Despite the otherwise good reign over Judah, King Uzziah likewise transgressed in the matter of the positive ordinance. He attempted to bum incense in the temple, which it was unlawful for any but the priests to do, and was instantly smitten by God with leprosy, and remained "a leper unto the day of his death" (II Chron. 26:16-21).  

Its Application under the New Covenant. In this day when a great surge of "formless" religion is sweeping the land, these considerations are especially relevant. Under the new covenant there are some positive commandments to be obeyed, as well as under the old one. The command to believe in the Father and the Son is itself such a requirement—certainly it is not a moral exaction (Mk. 11:22; Jn. 14:1; Acts 16:31). Whatever people may do about an external morality, they stand condemned "before" God until they have met this first and inexorable demand from Him (Jn. 3:18). Confession of Christ with the mouth is also a positive requirement (Rom. 10:9-10). A mere grunt of assent or the affirmative nodding of the head in response to a question concerning one's faith clearly does not meet this demand. The eunuch, it will be recalled, opened his mouth and declared, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God" (Acts 8:37).  

Baptism climaxes the positive demands of God upon those who would flee to Jesus for refuge from "the wrath to come" (Matt. 3:7; Heb. 6:18). Those who make great claims of faith in and love for God and Christ and either defer their baptism or refuse to submit to the ordinance are on extremely dangerous ground. God is still the same. Certainly, He feels no less strongly about His positive ordinances under His Son than He did of those under His servant Moses. The weekly communion of the body and blood of Christ which He enjoined upon His people is the family ordinance falling into the category of the positive. A casual or negligent attitude toward it cannot but provoke in God the same kind of wrathful attitude which He has so often demonstrated with regard to such disdainment.  With regard to the church at Corinth Paul associates a thoughtless observance of the Lord’s supper with the sickening and death of some of the brethren there (cf. I Cor. 11:20-34). 

Its Proper Ministry for Us. Seeing that we have these revelations of God, it is incumbent upon us to walk becomingly of them. Let us, as did the Apostle Paul, hasten to immediately do that which we can in obedience to God (Acts 26:19). It should rejoice our hearts, not burden them, that in this way we are able to wholly obey our Master and so please Him. With our commitment to Him thus publicly demonstrated, we are in a good way to begin and continue the advance in grace that will be necessary to comply with those strict moral requirements which He makes of us. (So long as men remain in the flesh they will be called upon to mortify the deeds of the body, and to bring it into subjection to the will of God.) In disregard of the positive laws, however, we are publicly committed as rebels against God. And the whole of divine revelation warns awesomely of the wrath that will fall from heaven upon those who continue in such a state.

 

 

 

The Gospel Described

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Rom. 1:16).  The gospel tells men that they are ungodly. It tells them that God is just, infinitely and undeviatingly just. It brings these two truths plainly before the mind, and then calls upon it to admire and adore the wisdom and goodness which could reunite them, and make them harmonize together. It tells, in short, of Jesus Christ--of Him who came to preach good tidings to the meek, who was sent to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison door to them that are bound.


わたしは福音を恥としない。それは、ユダヤ人をはじめ、ギリシヤ人にも、すべて信じる者に、救を得させる神の力である (Rom. 1:16).

The Irrelevance of Positivism.

The Irrelevance of Positivism

Preachers obsessed with the popular positivism of the day need to heed a vital consideration. Their lopsided devotion renders their ministry irrelevant to a crucial area of their constituents' lives. The brethren are constantly confronted with pressing issues, both moral and religious, that cannot with impunity be ignored. If the preacher or teacher is to give help here, he must clearly and emphatically apply Gods truth to these issues, exposing and reproving the error and setting forth the right way of God. This the Prophets, the Lord Jesus, and the Apostles did with vigor. One cannot legitimately dissociate himself from the contemporary arena by taking refuge in mere biblical lore, or a never-failing affirmative and brightsome attitude. It may create an attractive image (for some) for the preacher to be always positive, and pleasant, but it can be a distinct disservice to those who hear him. --Fred O. Blakely

SURELY HE HATH BORNE OUR GRIEFS, AND CARRIED OUR SORROWS

SURELY HE HATH BORNE OUR GRIEFS, AND CARRIED OUR SORROWS

By Al Stoner

Part 1

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” (Isa. 53:4).

  Other Translations.  (AMP) “Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment]”, (BBE) “But it was our pain he took, and our diseases were put on him”, (CEV) “He suffered and endured great pain for us”, (CJB) “In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered;”, (GNB) “But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne”, (GW) “He certainly has taken upon himself our suffering and carried our sorrows”.

 

Surely. (ACV, AKJV, AMP, ASV, CLV, Darby, IAV, JPS, KJV, LITV, MKJV, NASB, RSV, RV, YLT) “Surely”, (CJB) “In fact”, (ERV) “The fact is”, (GW) “certainly”, (MSTC) “so despisable . . . truly”, (RSV).  Almost all of the translations begin with this affirmation of assuredness.  Though Isaiah prophesied some 700 years before the sufferings of Christ, yet he spoke as an eyewitness with understanding speaks.  In the times of the kings and holy Prophets, those who prophesied were called “seers” (II Kgs. 17:13; II Chr. 33:18-19; Isa. 30:10).  They spoke that which God had given them to see, and oftentimes it is evident that they were greatly affected by what they saw. 

Such is the case with Isaiah in the passage before us.  Isaiah was not merely conveying information, nor merely recording facts.  His was certainly a faithful representation of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, but it was much more than this.   His words reflect a solemn awareness of what was transpiring when the Savior laid down His life a ransom for many.  Even more specifically, what he was given to see imparted to him an overwhelming persuasion that SURELY THIS MAN WAS BEARING OUR GRIEFS AND CARRYING OUR SORROW.  The Prophet was given to see God’s holy and righteous Servant, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He was made to bear sufferings that were incomprehensible.  He also beheld the sinners and transgressors that were all about Him, and they were not suffering.  And as Isaiah considered these things, he was brought to the breathtaking conclusion that surely this holy and righteous One was bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows.    Most assuredly this was the case for it is evident that Christ had none of His own to bear.  And because of the righteousness and greatness of this Man, He was prepared of God to be the “Fit Man” (Lev. 16:21) to take away the sin of the world.

The Crucifixion Scene as Recorded in Mark’s Gospel. We include here a portion of Mark’s gospel that contains the record of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus.  Our purpose here is to show that, though the gospel writers were given see and record much of the specific details of the crucifixion, yet Isaiah was given to see the implications of those sufferings: what they were accomplishing, and how God regarded them.  “And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? And they cried out again, Crucify him. Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.”

 “And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors. And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, Save thyself, and come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.  And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem” (Mk. 15:12-41).

The Message of the Gospel.  The proclamation of the gospel involves effectually bringing before the minds and hearts of men THE SUFFERINGS OF THE CHRIST, AND THE GLORY which has followed; the announcement and significance of both the sufferings and the Sufferer, and of the glory that has followed.   It is a declaration of Christ, the Righteous One, suffering in the behalf of the ones who were guilty and worthy of suffering.  Whenever the gospel is preached believing men and women are effectually brought to consider anew these solemn realities, which have become unto the believing ones “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16).  With the Ethiopian eunuch they are again brought face to face with the earnest consideration “of whom speaketh the Prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?” (Acts 8:34).  Faith concludes once again that it was “the other Man”, even “the Man Christ Jesus” (I Tim. 2:5), who suffered, yea, who suffered in our stead.

Grief. Let us consider here the word grief as it is used in Scripture with the intent of clarifying to our hearts the grief that the Savior bore in our behalf.  The two Hittite wives that Esau took were “A GRIEF OF MIND to Isaac and Rebekah” (Gen. 26:35).  The things which cause grief to men are oftentimes an index to their character and person. They often point to a purpose and cause which, for the time at least, has been lost or aborted. Such was the case with Isaac and Rebekah.  Esau taking wives from the Hittite nation, and later from the Hivites (Gen. 36:2), became a grievous wound in the hearts of Isaac and Rebekah, because these were nations that would be dispossessed according to the promise spoken by God to Abraham (Gen. 15:18-21).  Only eternity would be able to deliver from this grief.

Job lamented to his three comforters, “Oh that my grief were THROUGHLY WEIGHED” (Job 6:2).  From the perspective of eternity Job’s afflictions were “light afflictions”, as expressed by Paul, and amounted to “heaviness through manifold temptations” in the diction of Peter.  The weighing of Job’s grief has been a comfort and consolation to many this this present world.  But THE WEIGHING OF JESUS’ GRIEFS that He bore is the wellspring of justification and acceptance before the Holy One, and shall be a source of comfort and consolation to redeemed personalities throughout the ages to come.  Who can thoroughly weigh the griefs that He bore in our behalf?

The Church, an Environment of Exhortation

The Church, an Environment of Exhortation

By Al Stoner 

The church of the living God is to be an environment of exhortation while it is yet in this world. When brothers and sisters in Christ come together in the weekly gatherings, prophets are to preach, exhorters are to exhort, teachers are to teach, and ministers of various spiritual gifts are all to minister them according to the measure of the gift of Christ, so that all may be edified and all may be profited.  As Paul declared, “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.  If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.  For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.  And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets” (I Cor. 14:28-30). 

In his epistle to the Romans Paul expressed it this way: “So we, by our union [with and] in Christ, many though we are, form but one body, and individually we are related one to another as its parts.  Since our gifts differ in accordance with the particular charge entrusted to us, if our gift is to preach, let our preaching correspond to our faith; If it is to minister to others, let us devote ourselves to our ministry; the teacher to his teaching, The speaker to his exhortation. Let the man who gives in charity do so with a generous heart; let him who is in authority exercise due diligence; let him who shows kindness do so in a cheerful spirit.  Let your love be sincere. Hate the wrong; cling to the right” (Rom. 12:5-9, TCNT). 

In this environment, all the benefits are flowing to the individual members by joints and bands from the Head, even Jesus, “from Whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4:16).  Every member of the body has a vital part to fulfill in the edification of the other members of the body.  Showing mercy and compassion, the giving of  thanks, sharing an insight received from the Word of God, being kindly affectioned one toward another are but some avenues of expression given by Christ to the church for the building up of the other members of the body in the faith.  In Romans 12 Paul makes mention of a wide range of complimentary enablements for the edifying of the church. Every member of the body can find themselves somewhere in one or more of these expressions. As they live and walk by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ they are made aware of particular enablements that Christ is working in and through them. The ability to edify fellow brethren by the means of spiritual gifts given to men is a stewardship given to them by the Savior. Let us all see that we are good stewards of the manifold grace of God!  

The benefits proceeding from our exalted Head are wonderfully substantive in nature (cf. Heb. 11:1), and when received, they are perceived to be desperately necessary unto life and godliness, and unto gaining the prize of life eternal.  These benefits are also greatly utilitarian, making for increase unto edification.  This is an increase, on the part of every member, both in the ability and capacity to edify the church, which is Christ’s body.  These gifts are beneficial by virtue of their making for ever-increasing familiarity with, and knowledge of, both the Father and the Son.  And in all these things God is glorified through Jesus Christ. 

In light of these considerations, it ought to be a matter of wonder, marvel, and even alarm, that the greater part of that which calls itself the church today is a total stranger to this environment of exhortation! It should be evident that something very strange and very grievous has transpired in “the church”. The so-called “clergy-laity” system has essentially usurped and displaced the operation of the Spirit of God among men and women who are making a profession of faith in Christ. Fulfilling a religious obligation has now, in all too many instances, usurped the place of giving oneself to the appointed work of edifying the body of Christ.  There now exists a great chasm between what “is written” about the church in the Word of God, and what actually parades as the church in our generation.  “An enemy hath done this,” is certainly an accurate way that one can summarize the state of affairs that has now come upon the professed church today: yea, the enemy of God and of men’s souls. Under this usurpation God is not receiving glory and men’s souls are being further enslaved, rather than being built up in the most holy faith. --Editor

 

Freedom in Christ

"Christ has presently made us free in these areas: free from sin, free from the bondage of the law, free from the fear of death, and free from the bondage of a defiled conscience." These are but gladsome foretastes of the long-awaited deliverance "from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. 8:21). —Fred O. Blakely


"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Gal. 5:1).

"Итак стойте в свободе, которую даровал нам Христос, и не подвергайтесь опять игу рабства."

自由を得させるために、キリストはわたしたちを解放して下さったのである。だから、堅く立って、二度と奴隷のくびきにつながれてはならない。(Gal. 5:1)

 




   

How Beautiful to be with God

How Beautiful to be with God

How beautiful to be with God, 

When earth is fading like a dream, 

And from the mist-encircled shore 

To launch upon the unknown stream. 

No doubt, no fear, no anxious care, 

But, comforted by staff and rod, 

In the faith-brightened hour of death, 

How beautiful to be with God. 

Beyond the partings and the pains, 

Beyond the sighings and the tears, 

Oh, beautiful to be with God 

Through all the endless, blessed years, 

To see His face, to hear His voice, 

To know Him better day by day, 

And love Him as the flowers love light, 

And serve Him as immortals may.

                  --Author Unknown 

 

 

"Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; Thou shalt make me full of joy with Thy countenance" (Acts 2:28). "Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore"(Ps. 16:11). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Pardon’s Relation to Knowledge

It Opens the Way to Acquaintance with God

Pardon’s Relation to Knowledge  

By Fred O. Blakely

“This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people: and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness [for I will forgive their iniquity (Jer. 31:34)] and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Heb. 8:10-12).

The text sets forth vital contrasts between the old and new covenants, which serve to exhibit the vast superiority of the latter. Prominent among these contrasts is the spiritual knowledge of God made possible under the new dispensation, as opposed to the comparative ignorance of Him that prevailed under the old one. The forgiveness of sins, to which all of the surpassing benefits of the better covenant are ultimately to be attributed, is fundamental to this superiority.
 

Let us consider the text with a view to perceiving something of its engaging representations in this connection. In that discernment, we shall more fully appreciate our favored status as those upon whom the grace foreseen and predicted by the Prophets of old time has now come (Heb. 11:39-40; I Pet. 1:10-12), and be better equipped to live and walk becomingly in it.
 

The Contrast with the Old Covenant

Although there was a revelation of God under the old covenant, because of the provisional, or tentative, way in which sin was dealt with (Heb. 10:1-4; cf. chs. 8:7-8; 9:8-10), and the resultant unregenerated nature of the people (Rom. 8:3), the covenant was weak and unprofitable to invest the “comers thereunto” with the spiritual knowledge of God (Heb. 7:18-19; cf. chs. 8:7: 9:8-9). Hence, the first covenant served only for “the time then present” as a beginning of approach to God by alienated man (Heb. 9:9), until “the time of reformation,” when full propitiation for sin would be accomplished by Christ (v. 10), and the “better covenant” and “better hope, by which we draw nigh unto God,” was brought in (chs. 7:19; 8:6-7).

 

The Provisions of the Old. The faultiness of the old covenant, as compared to the new one, is evident in its provisions. As we have said, the sin-offerings were inefficacious to cleanse the conscience and thus perfect its subjects (Heb. 9:9; 10:1-4). The covenant was entered by the fleshly birth, thus assuring ignorance of, and alienation from, God, who is Spirit, and must be known and worshipped in spirit (Gen. 17:7-14; cf. Jn. 4:24). We later read, “They that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8), and all Israel was thus situated, as we fear is likewise the case with much of the nominal church today. (Incidentally, all females of Abraham, through Jacob, were considered to be in the covenant [see Num. 36], though the males were formally inducted into it by the rite of circumcision—without which they were not reckoned as children of the covenant [Gen. 17:14]).
 

“If we except the few Gentile proselytes, who on condition of their being circumcised, were admitted to some of the rights and privileges of the Theocracy, all subjects of the old covenant had to be taught to know the Lord. But not so under the new covenant. No one, ignorant of Jehovah, can possibly become a member of it: ‘for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him’ (Heb. 11:6).”—Robert Milligan
 

The General Ignorance. In accordance with their flesh-and-blood nature, the law given to Israel was written “in tables of stone” (II Cor. 3:3). Thus, it was external to their inward man, and contrary to his very nature (Col. 2:14). What is more, the average Israelite had very little even of the knowledge of God afforded in his time. That was because, until establishment of the synagogues, there was not much public teaching of the people, though they themselves were commanded to study the Scriptures which they had (Deut. 6:4-9).
 

At best, therefore, the average Israelite perceived God only from the natural view-point (as do many churchmen nowadays), and so could not know Him in intimate spiritual discernment.  Men like David, who rose above that plane, were distinctly exceptions rather than the rule in the nation. This general nature of the case under the first covenant must be understood in order to perceive the full force of Jeremiah’s and Paul’s contrast of it in our text with the new one. In the former era, it was necessary for every man to teach his neighbor and brother, saying. “Know the Lord,” simply because that knowledge was not an integral part of covenant membership, as it is with the present dispensation.
 

Trhe Vivid Contrast. “Under the Jewish dispensation, the average Jew had only an exceedingly dim apprehension of religious truth, whether about God or the way to Him, or about holiness and immortality. But, under the new covenant, spiritual truth shall become more widely diffused and more clearly perceived. For now the Holy Spirit is the great Teacher of the church; and He does not impart esoteric instruction to some special caste, but teaches every believer ‘from the least to the greatest.’
 

“The full forgiveness of sins (Heb. 12). This ‘promise,’ although introduced last, precedes the others in actual bestowment. Sin must be pardoned and cleansed away before the law can be written on the heart, or the mind flooded with spiritual light. None of the Levitical sacrifices could expiate moral guilt; but on the basis of Christ’s atonement God now imparts that forgiveness which is the precedent condition of moral renewal and a holy life (Ps. 130:4).”—C. Jerdan
 

“It was not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. The blood of the new covenant, ‘shed for many for the remission of sins’ (Matt. 26:28), cleanses from all stains, and produces divine peace, looking at forgiveness in the light of God’s Word. It is an invaluable blessing. It releases us from evil thoughts, and excuses which appeared in the words of Adam and Eve, and makes the spirit to be ‘without guile.’” It disarms the power of temptation. It introduces those who are forgiven into the safe and joyful state of justification, with all the blessings which are inseparably connected therewith. It engages the Presence and gracious action of the Spirit of God, who enriches the soul with fruits of righteousness, and creates, by His Presence and power, an earnest of the life to come.” —D. Young 

 

The Way of the New. Since the grace aforetime purposed has now come by Christ the Savior, things are altogether different. Under the reign of that grace, covenant subjects have, not a tentative passing over of sin, but full and complete forgiveness and justification by “the blood of Jesus,” which is wholly efficacious for that purpose (Rom. 3:21-26: 5:9; Heb. 10:5-22). Because of the removal of sin, the way is wide open for both the Father and the Son, by the agency of the Spirit, to indwell covenant subjects, and for the subjects to dwell in Them.

 

This makes possible the spiritual knowledge of and fellowship with God which was not possible under the law given from Sinai. Such knowledge is the preeminent blessing God has for His people, being equated with spiritual life itself (Jn. 17:30). “‘The knowledge of God and of Christ is the sum of all science; this is the only knowledge that can incorporate and mingle with our being; and all other knowledge is real only so far as it is symbolic of this” (Harris).

 

Other Marked Contrasts. A marked contrast with the Sinaitic covenant is evident in the fact that participants in the new covenant become such by rebirth—of water and the Spirit’“ (Jn. 3:3, 5, ASV), not by the natural birth. The approach to Mount Zion is by personal faith and obedience (Heb. 12:22-24), not by the fleshly birth. It is essential that this be understood and acknowledged, if one is to comprehend Paul’s contrast in the text. New-covenant subjects begin life as such by knowing God (Jn. 6:44-45), inasmuch as hearing of Him, believing in Him, obeying Him, and receiving His Spirit are also required and associated with that beginning. Although they are required to increase in that knowledge (I Pet. 2:2-3; cf. Col. 1:9-10; II Pet. 3:18), in the beginning sense they knew Him at birth. We should certainly teach and exhort the brethren of things pertaining to the kingdom, but it is not in order to admonish them to “know the Lord.” We are to assume that they know Him; else, they should not be regarded as brethren.

 

As opposed to the divine law being written “in tables of stone” under the old covenant, it is inscribed “in fleshy tables of the heart” under the new one (II Cor. 3:3). This is that of which the text speaks as the putting of God’s laws in the mind and the writing of them in the heart. In a word, it denotes the reconciliation of covenant subjects to God, or the inclination of their hearts to His law, or Nature. Whereas the ordinary Israelite was inwardly unreconciled to God, all new-covenant participants are reconciled to Him, and, like the only begotten Son, delight to do His will, though they have “another law” within their members—that of sin—against which they must continually strive (Rom. 7:7-24).

 

The Ground for Divine Knowledge

The particular point of stress in the text of Hebrews 8:10-12 is the ground for the distinguishing knowledge of God which the better covenant features. It is expressed by Jeremiah, speaking for God (whom Paul quotes from the Septuagint) in these words: “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:34). Incidentally, it should be noted that His one sufficient offering for sin (which provides the basis for God’s forgiveness of sin) is that upon which Christ, in His enthronement at the Father’s right hand, confidently expects the ultimate subjection of all His enemies (Heb. 10:10-14).

 

The Comprehensive Basis. The forgiveness of sin is, therefore, the ground for all the other three promises of the better covenant: writing of the law in the heart, God and subject relationship, and the resultant knowledge of God (Heb. 8:10-11). Though mentioned last, it is the basis of all four promises. At Christ’s death, or the rending of the “veil” of His flesh (Heb. 10:10), “the way into the holiest of all,” or the actual Presence of God in heaven, was “made manifest,” or thrown wide open to all His people (ch. 9:8). That death has opened for us “a new and living way” through “the curtain,” so that we may now boldly “enter into the holy place” by “the blood of Jesus,” and learn of God and fellowship with Him (ch. 10:19-22, RSV).

 

“The distinguishing characteristics of the new covenant are: (1) God’s laws, not imposed as an external code, but put into the mind and written on the heart; (2) the general knowledge of the Lord by small as well as great, without the former need of continued admonition; and (3) as the originating and inspiring cause of all, the forgiveness, on the Lord’s part, of sins.

 

“It is important to perceive that this last characteristic of the new covenant, though coming last in order, is given as the reason for the other two; for this is a first principle of the gospel.  The sense of forgiveness through Christ, of acceptance in the Beloved, is ever set forth as the inspiring principle of the obedience of Christians [cf. II Pet. 1:9]. ‘We love Him, because He first loved us’ (I Jn. 4:19).

 

“And hence flow the two results denoted in the prophecy: (1) ‘I will put My laws,’ etc.; i.e., there will ensue, through the inspiring Spirit, from the sense of forgiveness in Christ, a hearty service of love and loyalty; no more mechanical observance of an external code. Then, (2) ‘And they shall not teach,” etc.; i.e., those who, thus led by the Spirit, give themselves to such hearty service, will acquire, further, an immediate, and as it were instinctive, ‘knowledge of the Lord,’ not confined to ‘the wise’ or ‘the scribe,’ but the personal privilege of even the ‘little ones’ of Christ (cf. Matt. 11:25; Jn. 6:45; I Thess. 4:9; I Jn. 2:20).”—J. Barmby

 

The new covenant is, thus, one by which we may “draw nigh” to God, since under it sin has been put away and the defiled conscience has been cleansed (which had kept us from the divine Presence) (Heb. 7:19; cf. ch. 9:9; 10:1-4).

 

Interrelation of Knowledge, Forgiveness. In Isaiah’s prophecy of our Lord’s atonement for sin and its consequences for the individual occurs a representation of the interrelation between forgiveness and the knowledge of God. “By the knowledge of Himself shall My righteous Servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities,” it is declared (Isa. 53:11, ASV). The justification, of course, rests upon the Lord’s bearing of our iniquities and putting them away (Heb. 9:26: I Pet. 2:24).

 

But the knowledge of such justification comes from acquaintance with Christ, and perception of the significance for us of what He has done. Hence, Zacharias’ declaration, as he spoke of the ministry of John the Baptist in introducing the Messiah. He was to “give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins” (Lu. 1:77). It is a manifestation of the spiritual obtuseness of the day that very many persons who appear to have obeyed the gospel and to be trusting in Jesus as Savior have not yet come to a lively knowledge of their salvation in Him.

 

The Potential for Continued Increase

The potential for continued increase in the knowledge of God afforded by the forgiveness of sin needs to be perceived and fully exploited. “All shall know Me, from the least to the greatest, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” The sense of sin and condemnation is what keeps people from God. When one becomes spiritually aware that all this has been removed by Christ, and that now nothing at all stands between him and the Most High, he is emboldened to draw near, “in full assurance of faith,” and company with God, which is to come to know Him more and more (Heb. 10:22).

 

The Fruits of Divine Knowledge. We rightly attribute to the holy angels knowledge and wisdom vastly superior to the best of earth. This is because, through the millenniums, they have, with nothing between them and God, learned of Him, and so increased in these qualities. It can be something of the same with us in our measure. Now that we know God on the new-covenant level of awareness and relationship, and are “known of God” (Gal. 4:9), there is every reason why we ought to be daily growing in His grace and knowledge, as we are exhorted to do (II Pet. 3:18).

 

As we thus fellowship with God in the heavenly places through Christ, we, indeed, come to increasingly know Him, with all the blessed fruits of grace and peace, which are multiplied to us through that knowledge (II Pet. 1:2-3). It must be remembered that the “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” are ministered to us “through the knowledge of God” (v. 3). Hence, if we would acceptably walk in the “newness of life unto which we are risen in our baptism (Rom. 6:4), and add that godliness without which we are “barren and unfruitful” (II Pet. 1:6, 8), we must wholly utilize our pardoned state to grow in God’s knowledge.

 

“Observe, lastly, the ideality of the whole view given of the new covenant. It presents to us the purpose, the potentiality, of the new dispensation, rather than results to be fully realized in this world; though still actually realized as far as the ‘glorious light of the gospel’ illuminates the church, and is allowed to ‘shine into’ the human heart.”—J. Barmby

Christ, the great Illuminator of, and Remedy for, Moral Darkness

Christ is the great Illuminator of, and divinely appointed Remedy for, the moral darkness caused by the entrance of sin into the world, both making manifest and dispelling the darkness. As He Himself declared, "I am the Light of the world. He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (Jn. 8:12).

The Portent of the Lord’s Day

The Portent of the Lord’s Day

By Fred O. Blakely

As the institutions and practices under the law foreshadowed those of grace, so the ones in the dispensation of grace appear to prefigure those to be experienced in glory. That is, of course, as would be expected, given the fact that the divine Father is progressively leading His chosen from the far country of alienation by sin to complete restoration to Himself through Christ His Son. A specific instance of the present witness to the things yet to come is that of the Lord’s day, with its gathering of the saints to break bread in remembrance of and in fellowship with Christ.

The Previous Typology. The principle of such foreshadowing in the Mosaic era is well established and generally known. Moses himself, as lawgiver, was a type of Christ, through whom God gave His final message to man. Aaron adumbrated Him who is our great High Priest, now appearing in the presence of God. The animal sacrifices offered in token atonement for sin were typical of the better and efficacious blood of Christ, which alone could put it away. Portending the resurrection of Christ as “the Firstfruits” of all the dead’s rising (I Cor. 15:20) was the offering of the firstfruits of the wheat and barley harvests, and the other firstfruit offerings, under the law.

The sabbath, kept by Israel in commemoration of God’s resting on the seventh day after creation (Exod. 20:8-11) and of the nation’s deliverance from the Egyptian bondage (Deut. 5:12-15), prefigured the rest of faith under Christ (Heb. 4:3, 10) and the eternal rest that remains for God’s people (v. 9). The shewbread of the tabernacle and temple, which has also been called “the loaves of the presence,” foreshadowed “the bread which we break” at the Lord’s table in the weekly communion (I Cor. 10:16).

The Lord’s Day Witness. It is against the background of this Divine procedure of prefigurement that we perceive the witness of the Lord’s day to something of the glory reserved in Heaven for the faithful. Refreshing it is, of a truth, to the spirit and sustaining to the soul, in the struggles of the faith life, to contemplate that testimony.

On the Lord’s day, as we gather at His table, we come “in the Spirit,” not merely in the flesh, since it is only in the Spirit that we can meet with God (Phil. 3:3; Rev. 1:10). In that capacity, we dissociate ourselves from the flesh with its infirmities, and corporately meet with Christ in the presence of God, the holy angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect. To the extent that we do this, we have a genuine foretaste of the heavenly life.

Even the outward circumstances associated with the assembly tend to corroborate the inward reality that attends it. The brethren are clad in their “Sunday best,” or ought to be. Everyone is on his very choicest behavior, and the prevailing spirit is one of good cheer and warm congeniality. (At least, that is the way it should be). Clearly, this is an earthly prefigurement of the way that it will be in Heaven. There, perfected saints will mingle in glorified society, with nothing at all to mar or disrupt their fellowship. The Lord’s day assembly, thus portends that blessed experience.

The witness of the first day of the week, commemorating the resurrection of Christ, Head of the new and abiding creation, is also evident. Although, on the individual level, the brethren constantly experience the communion of the Holy Spirit, living in the fellowship of the Godhead, once every seven days they gather for the group experience as the body of Christ. Hence, once each week the individual pilgrims in the hostile world rally before God to corporately taste of His good Word and of the heavenly gift, partake of the Holy Spirit and of the powers of the world to come (cf. Heb. 6:4-5). So to they nourish and sustain their spirits for another week in the body of their humiliation, and in the world, by partaking, as it were, beforehand of the con- summate joys that await them at their journey’s end.

The Compelling Prospect. It is in this view of the Lord’s day assembly that Paul’s related appeal in the Thessalonian letter can be best appreciated. After describing Christ’s coming and our being “caught up” with the resurrected saints to meet Him “in the air,” he adds a word of great comfort and delight: “So shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thess. 4:16-18). If we entered more into the intended spirit of the Lord’s day assembly, we, having had a foretaste of that experience, would more eagerly desire and anticipate its full realization.

In the Second Thessalonian epistle, the Apostle makes the same appeal to the coming glory. Adjuring the church to stead- fastness in the faith, he says, “We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him” (2:1). Ah, that is fullness of glory held before us by both Christ and the Apostles---”our gathering together unto Him!” “Wherever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together” (Lk. 17:37).

As we gather weekly at the table of the Lord, let us recognize the occasion as the antepast of the coming fullness of joy and glory. So shall the assembly of the church have the ministry for its participants that is intended by God, and glorify the Son and Himself as it should. So also shall we be able to accord to the day, with the spirit and understanding, John Newton’s words of praise:

“Day of all the week the best,

Emblem of eternal rest."

The Way to Spiritual Enlightenment

The Way to Spiritual Enlightenment

 

By Fred O. Blakely

The way to spiritual enlightenment lies not so much in lexicology—devotion to the signification and application of words—as at another point. That is genuine devotion of heart and life to God, accompanied by diligent attention to His Word. Ordinarily, any standard version of the English Bible—for English-speaking people—will suffice as the text, with a few wisely-selected helps for reference. The principal requirement for His knowledge is readiness to hear and heed what God, in the Scriptures, has to say to one. 

 

There are numerous texts of the Scriptures that proclaim this fundamental situation. It is but a commentary on the perverseness and self-exaltive bent of men that they quite generally ignore this circumstance, and seek to study God in personal dissociation from and contrariety to Him.

The declarations of Jesus Himself set forth the essentiality of humility and submission to the knowledge of God. "If any man willeth to do His [God's] will," He declared, "he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself" (Jn. 7:17, ASV). To him who has and keeps His commandments, Christ promised that He would come (Jn. 14:15-18, 20-23), and would indwell one and expound God and His kingdom to him (ch. 16:25; cf. vv. 12-15). 

 

The Holy Spirit, as Peter declared, is given to them that obey God (Acts 5:32; cf. ch. 2:38). One of His functions is to make known "the things of God" (I Cor. 2:11-16). Thus, John wrote, "Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye [have the wherewithal to] know all things [necessary for life and 

godliness]" (I Jn. 2:20). "The anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you," he continued, "and ye need not that any man teach you" since the anointing "teacheth you all things, and is truth, and is no lie" (v. 27).

 

Even under the old covenant, the principle of illumination by obedience to God was operative, though not to the vastly expanded extent that it now is. "Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of His servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light?" asks Isaiah. "Let him trust in the Lord, and stay upon his God" (Isa. 50:10). "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him," declared David; "and He will show them His covenant" (Ps. 25:14).
 

Thus, as Solomon observed, ' The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Prov. 1:7). Without that fear and due reverence, there can be no spiritual acquaintance with the Most High, and so no walk or fellowship with Him. God has promised, however, to have respect to and abide with him who is of 'a contrite and humble spirit." And in that indwelling He will make known to him the manner of the kingdom and the ways of God (Isa. 57:15; cf. ch. 66:1-2). --Fred O. Blakely