God’s will: Victory only?
When watching or listening to the popular Christian media, it would seem that God only acts in the life of the Christian by granting blessings of wealth, position, and victory. “God’s will” is made out to be that he desires to grant Christians an easy life, big houses, luxury cars, private jets, and of course, no problems or trials. Tangible victory and success are seen to be evidence of God’s blessing and the lack of them is seen as a failure to believe or take hold of what God wills to give. If one faces a bump in the road, much less a major tragedy, then that person must have severely failed to believe or must have some great secret sin hidden in their lives for which they are being punished. A theology where we earn blessing from God by our belief, positive thinking, or any other work is set up, and trials, tragedy, or suffering are made the results of failure in one’s Christian life.[1] Giving to money to their ministries is promised to bring a return of the money many times over, and poverty is attributed as a failure to give to religious organizations and believe for the financial return promised.[2] God’s will in this theology is to work synergistically with the believer to grant financial returns to the giver in exchange for that believer’s obedience and giving.
God’s will: Purely Punishment?
On the other end of the spectrum, opposite the theology where God only works through victorious circumstances is another error. There is a tendency in many to follow our soul’s natural inclination toward the law and focus solely on God’s judgment. Natural disasters and personal tragedies are seen as God’s merciless divine punishment for actions which have offended him. This can be seen in the reaction of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson to the September 11 terrorist attacks. They credit God for this destruction and claim as his reason the “secularization of America,” homosexuality, abortion, and the like.[3] Similarly, many blamed the devastation Hurricane Katrina brought on New Orleans on abortion, homosexuality, and that city’s reputation for wild partying such as Girls Gone Wild and Mardi Gras.[4] One of the most extreme examples of this is Westboro Baptist Church, and its pastor, Fred Phelps. He travels with his followers around the country to protest funerals of US soldiers killed in the Middle-east because, according to him, God killed them because they defended a nation which harbors homosexuals.[5] Phelps is slightly different from the others in that he seems to have abandoned all reason in his endeavors, as he lists even the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod as a “fag church” and lists president Dean Wenthe as an enemy of God.[6]
God’s Will in Lutheranism: Salvation
As opposed to those who see God’s will only one-sidedly as either purely to grant victorious circumstances or purely to punish the wicked, we as Lutherans, in keeping with the scriptures see God’s will differently. We understand that God’s will is that people would hear the Gospel and be saved from sin, death, and the devil. In bringing about this will, God my bring either victory or tragedy into our path as is needed to carry out His will. In our synod’s explanation to the Luther’s Small Catechism, the question “What is the good and gracious will of God?” is answered with, “It is God’s will that His name be kept holy and that His kingdom come, that is, that His Word be taught correctly and that sinners be brought to faith in Christ and lead holy lives.”[7] John 6:40 “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." (ESV) and 1 Tim. 2:4 “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, [4] who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (ESV) are cited as support for this conclusion.
When discussing the will of God, Pieper also centers the will of God on salvation. His entire discussion of the will of God in the doctrine of God in volume 1 speaks about justification. Whether he is speaking about God’s primary and secondary will, the resistibility or irresistibility of of God’s will, God’s mediate and immediate will, or God’s revealed and hidden will, the entire subject revolves around salvation.[8] Luther makes the distinction between God’s revealed and hidden will. God’s hidden will, we cannot know, but we do know that His revealed will is to save all men.
"Scripture has clearly revealed this fact. According to Scripture, God does not approach men with a two-fold will, that is, with a will to show His love and mercy to a part of mankind, and with a will to demonstrate His wrath and avenging justice to the other part, as Calvinists wrongly teach; but, according to Scripture, God wills to magnify His grace in all men, for God 'sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.'"[9]
The reason behind tragic events is certainly part of God’s hidden will, but if we look at these events in light of God’s revealed will to save all men, we can have confidence that the God who controls all things is working always for the salvation of mankind. When discussing the goodness of God’s will, Pieper characterizes tragic events in the world in this way:
"The repeated occurrence of great catastrophes, such as earthquakes, floods, wars, panics, is viewed by some as denying God’s goodness. But these ravages are employed by God in the interest of His saving goodness. They are a call to repentance for all men (Luke 13:3,5)."[10]
Pieper references Jesus Words “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” as evidence for this purpose of tragic events. Jesus answer to the disciples question as to whose sin caused the man to be born blind in John 9 also contribute to this understanding of tragedy and suffering. “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3) Tragedies and suffering do not come upon God’s people as vengeance for sin or as a result of a lack of faith. They occur to call God’s people to repentance and so that God can use the events of our lives to further His will that people come to faith in Christ.
An older edition of the Missouri Synod’s explanation to the small catechism, while not stating salvation as the definition of the will of God in the same way as the previously quoted explanation, adds a helpful point to the question of the role of tragic events. In response to the question, “What does the good and gracious will of God include?” the third point, after God’s will that we be saved and follow the commandments, is “everything that God wants us to suffer patiently according to His good pleasure.”[11] In concluding this, they refer to Acts 14:22 “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” (ESV) and Hebrews 12:6, 11 “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives…For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (ESV)
God’s Will acted out through Old Testament Events
Based on this knowledge that the will of God, as we look back at the Old Testament, we can safely conclude, in harmony with the New Testament statement, ”all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) that through the events of the Old Testament, whether victorious or tragic, God was working for the salvation of the world. Since the salvation of the world comes specifically through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it follows that the ultimate focal point of all events of the Old Testament lies in Him, and God’s actions in the Old Testament are for the purpose of carrying out His will of saving the world, which ultimately is done by preserving a line of people faithful to God’s promise who will give birth to God’s Son, the Messiah.
Knowing the outcome that Jesus was born, died for the sins of the world, and rose again proclaiming his victory over death, we can see throughout the Old Testament that God’s was working His will of salvation throughout all of the unfolding of its events. From the patriarchs through the birth of Jesus, it can be seen, looking back, the way in which God worked to preserve and discipline His chosen people so that He would ultimately save the world through His Son born of their human lineage. It can be seen in the victories that God gives His people over their neighboring nations who seek to destroy them, but it can also be seen in the tragedies that come upon His people when they fall into the spiritual adultery of idolatry. It can even be seen through the role that personal and family tragedies eventually play their own roles in forming the human genealogy of Jesus. Throughout the events of the Old Testament, God is at all times working to bring about the salvation of the world, whether by victory, by tragedy, or even by turning around the results of sinful actions of His children to work His will within the plan of bringing about His Son’s incarnation.
God’s dealings with the people of Israel in the Old Testament differ fundamentally with his dealings with the other nations. When God deals with His own people, he is seeking to return them by repentance to faith in Him. This may require that he place some serious challenges in their path and that they endure great suffering, but all is centered around making or keeping them faithful to Him and the promise he has given to them. When we see tragedy fall upon the nations who war with Israel and oppose God, it is understandable why they are faced with total defeat and destruction. Some might ask how a God who “wants all to be saved” could destroy or place suffering on anyone, but that is not the topic here. When viewed through the knowledge that God must preserve Israel as a nation and keep them faithful to Him, the defeat of other nations is necessary for the preservation of God’s People.
At other times, we see these nations prevailing over God’s people. This is when we see God disciplining Israel for their idolatry when they turned from faith in Him. In Leviticus 26, we see both the threat of this judgment against God’s people for their discipline as well as the purpose behind that judgment, which is to bring the people back to faith in God. After promising all the blessings that God intends to give the people who are faithful to Him in Leviticus 26:3-13, He then lays out the suffering that will fall upon Israel if they turn away from faith in Him. The plentiful harvests, safety from predators and enemies, and abundant offspring promised to the faithful in the first verses are reversed in verses 14-39 into sickness, famine, defeat, and cannibalism of one’s own children for those who forsake faith in God.
Throughout all the verses describing God’s punishment, however, God does not portray himself as wrathful for the sake of being wrathful or over the offense of being forsaken by His people. Instead, he shows that he is a God who seeks to restore His people to Himself. He introduces the punishments upon Israel with such phrases as “And if by this discipline you are not turned to me” and “But if in spite of this you will not listen to me”. The punishments are not intended as revenge against Israel for their sin, but are for the purpose of bringing Israel to repentance for their faithlessness and to return them to faith in God. The chapter closes by revealing the outcome if the discipline has its intended outcome in verses 40-45. God promises that if they confess their sins God will restore them, and even while they are exiled in a foreign land and under discipline, God still has not forgotten them. The remain his people in spite of their sins, and God is still preserving them, even if through means that seem as if he is destroying them.
Throughout the History of Israel, God often did have to discipline his people with military defeat in this way. Because of their faithlessness in Him, God deserted or fought against His people. The defeat of a King or an army of Israel or Judah is often directly attributed to God for bringing the army against them. [12] The victory of these other nations is not for their benefit, though, but for the correction of Israel. When defeat for Israel is foretold by the prophets, it is as if God was using the other nation as a tool for His will to return His people to Himself.
When an empire appears in our historical field of vision…God who is at work in the background seems shadowy and uncertain. For us to define God’s relationship to and activity with this world power and its activity taxes our sense perception with insuperable difficulties. Just the opposite is true of the prophets! That empire beyond the Euphrates is nothing at all; it is a borrowed razor, nothing more. It exists as though it had no will of it its own, no power of self-motivation; all activity proceeds toward God.[13]
"But God’s sovereignty in history is hidden; it mocks the most clever and profound human criteria and confronts man with impenetrable riddles. But in that which seems senseless to man, like an agnonizing round of affairs, God is mobilizing history for his great future."[14]
Even though God fights against his people using the armies of the nations, he still does not seek to destroy them, but to return them to Him. “For Israel, the warfare of Yahweh against His own people was never to destroy utterly, but to chasten and restore.”[15] We can see these results, even in the most tragic of the defeats of God’s people in the Exile. Jerusalem is destroyed, many are exiled to Babylon, but when they are permitted to return to the land, their first act is to begin rebuilding the temple for the worship of God. Even though events may appear to be tragic failures, God is still working his plan through them to save the world.
Looking at the pattern of the Kings of Judah in the Chronicles, we can see evidence of this purpose behind God’s inflicting tragedy upon His people. David commits idolatry with Bathsheba and causes the death of her husband, but even though he must face the death of his son because of the sin, he lives out his years as a faithful king. Reheboam, Jehoshaphat, and Manasseh all turn away from faith in God at some time in their reign, but after facing tragedy by defeat or personal pain, they are returned to God and end their lives as faithful kings. Twelve other kings in the Chronicles, on the other hand, do not return even though God attempts to correct them by defeat or suffering. For them, God preserves His people by bringing death upon them and replacing them with another. In some cases, the next king is a faithful king. In others, it takes 2 or 3 generations where kings are defeated by God to be replaced by a faithful king, but through all these events, God preserves his people for Himself by defeating or correcting their kings up to the point of the exile, where the faithlessness has progressed to a point where, following the pattern of Leviticus 26, he must bring even more devastation upon them to bring them back to Himself.
Tragic Family Circumstances in the Genealogy of Messiah
Many of the kings in this line are members of the Genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1). Looking elsewhere through the Old Testament ancestors of Jesus, we can see God working through tragic events of a more personal or family nature or even men’s sins to bring about the birth of His Son to save the world. In the family of Jacob, who himself received his father’s blessing by trickery, Joseph, his favorite son, is sold into slavery by His own brothers. Years later a famine in their land forces them to seek out food in Egypt, where they find their brother as an official of Pharaoh. The tragedy of selling their brother into slavery is turned around by God’s guidance of circumstances so that the same brother now saves his family, including Judah, ancestor of Jesus, from death by famine.
Judah himself becomes part of the next event of this type. After the death of his sons, he is tricked by his daughter-in-law into fathering twin sons. Even through Judah’s sinful act of seeking out a prostitute and his unknown sin of committing incest with his daughter in-law God sees fit to preserve the genealogical line from which His Son will be born. In the book of Ruth, first, a famine drives a man and his wife away to Moab. Then the man and his sons all die, leaving 3 women as widows. This circumstance leads Naomi to return to her own land and Ruth to follow her, meeting a man named Boaz who eventually takes her to marry him. Their great grandson is then David, and Messiah’s line is preserved even through the tragedies of famine and death. David himself takes part in this same pattern as mentioned earlier through His tragic sins of adultery and murder, and after the death of his first son, Solomon becomes the king who rules over Israel’s greatest era and the ancestor of Jesus. Matthew highlights four of these events in his genealogy of Matthew by naming the women who bore the children (the only times he does so), namely Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and “Uriah’s wife” or Bathsheba.[16]
These serve to merely touch the surface of the events where God can be seen working throughout the Old Testament through even the most tragic of events to accomplish His will of saving the world through bringing about His Son’s incarnation. One could point to any of a number of other events in Israel’s history to further demonstrate this activity of God. For further evidence of God working his will of bringing repentance or strengthening faith through personal tragedies, one could look to Samson, Job or many other accounts. The way the prophets often speak shows God as the actor in bringing these tragedies upon Israel and that their goal is the discipline of the nation toward repentance rather than blind vengeance or its destruction.[17] These examples could be explored further but this paper seeks to focus on events which closely influence the Messianic line.
Through these events and many others in the Old Testament, we can see the pattern at work where God brings about His will to bring His Son to this world as a man. This is the event through which all of the Old Testament is viewed for us as Christians, and it is the ultimate goal of all the history leading up to its occurrence. Through all things, regardless of how they appear to God’s will is being done.
For that reason we can never read and understand all these statements and this enormous history without thinking of our Lord Jesus Christ, for they are all concerned only with him and his appearance in the world, and with the light that falls on our world with his coming. [18]
In saving mankind from their sins, God does not exempt even himself from suffering through tragedy. This can be seen mostly clearly in the Old Testament through Isaiah’s prophesy of the suffering servant (Isaiah 52:13-53:12 ESV). This prophesy of Jesus shows him as the one who would suffer pain and sorrow and experience a most tragic end. His appearance was “marred beyond human semblance” and he was “despised and rejected by men” and “a man of sorrows acquainted with grief.” By doing this, he “bore our griefs and carried our sorrows.” He “was wounded for our transgressions” and “crushed for our iniquities.” Jesus, God made flesh, suffered the greatest suffering which a person can experience—being forsaken by God—during His death on the cross. By His suffering at His crucifixion, He won freedom from eternal suffering. His death, which appeared to human eyes to be a tragic failure of a wise teacher, was, in reality, the act that won the victory over sin, death, and the devil for all people.
The events of Old Testament history repeatedly drive home the point that God works through events of all kinds to work His will in the world. Sometimes the Christian will see after the fact, even if years later, what end the sorrows in their lives and the tragedies of their nations play in working God’s will of saving mankind. Other times, the part these played will remain a mystery to all human minds, being known only to God Himself. Even then, this repeated pattern of God’s working in Old Testament events, and similarly through the crucifixion of Jesus demonstrates that in all things, regardless of appearances to the contrary, God is working to save mankind. In the events listed here, it is seen through the contribution of tragic events of all scopes toward bringing about the incarnation of Jesus Christ. While we cannot know what the hidden will of God is, knowing that the revealed will of God is to save all men, we can have faith that all events which occur in the world are guided by the all-powerful Triune God toward the good of the souls of His children, whether to bring them to faith or to keep them in the one true faith.
Those who would portray God as working only through victory and prosperity do not understand the will of the God of the New Testament, for he is the same God as that of the Old. That God works all things for the good of those who love Him does not necessarily mean that all things work toward His children’s earthly pleasure or prosperity, but that all things work toward His goal of saving their souls from eternal death, and this is through all events, not only through those which appear beneficial to our human minds.
Those who portray the Christian God as one who blindly executes vengeance upon a city or a nation, believer and unbeliever, pimp, murderer, mother and child alike, out of vengeance over disobeying His law, understand no more about the God they claim than any pagan whose God hands out reward and punishment based solely on human works, without grace. America is not the new Israel and New York or New Orleans are not the enemies of God. America is neither a “fag nation” nor a “Christian nation. Within this nation and those cities are found both believer and unbeliever, saint and sinner alike, and to blame the tragedies that befall them upon them because the sin of the few is parallel to declaring them saved because of the faith of a few. The church exists within this country’s boundaries as it does all over the globe, but this nation is not chosen by God more than any other. The God shown to us in the scriptures works all things in keeping with His will to save mankind and give His gift of forgiveness of sins to all who believe in all places and times.
Knowing that the Lord’s thoughts and ways are indeed higher than our own (Is. 55:9), we can only have faith that He who knows all things is working through all of history to save mankind from its sins, in spite of what appearances may seem to indicate otherwise. Our God who endured in His own body the eternal suffering deserved by mankind may use the suffering of our lives to call us to repentance and strengthen our faith through trials, but in all things he works for the good of our souls and our salvation, so that the sufferings of this world may one day end for us when we enter into eternity with Him in the mansions of the Father’s house.
[1] Representative examples of this theology would include:
Joel Osteen http://www.joelosteen.com
Kenneth Copeland http://www.kcm.org
Jesse DuPlantis http://www.jdm.org
This evaluation of their theology can be confirmed by reading any of a number of sermons on their websites or watching their television broadcasts.
[2] See “Partner Praise” in the right-hand side panel at http://www.jdm.org for one or more examples.
[3] "You Helped This Happen" http://www.beliefnet.com/story/87/story_8770_1.html 700Club Transcript of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson responding to September 11, Dated September 13, 2001
[4] “Hurricane Katrina Destroys New Orleans Days Before ‘Southern Decadence’" http://www.repentamerica.com/pr_hurricanekatrina.html Dated August 31, 2005
[5] http://www.godhatesfags.com
[6] http://www.godhatesfags.com/fliers/jan2005/St_Johns_1-1-2005.pdf
[7] Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO, 1991, p. 181.
[8] Pieper, Francis, Christian Dogmatics, volume I, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO, 1950, pp. 453-456.
[9] Ibid. volume II, p. 40.
[10] Ibid. volume 1, p. 463.
[11] Luther’s Small Catechism, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO, 1943, p. 157.
[12] Gard, Daniel, “The Case for Eschatological Continuity” in Show them no Mercy, ed. Stanley N. Gundry, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 2003, pp. 1120-123
[13] Von Rad, Gerhard, God at Work in Israel, tr. John H. Marks, Abingdon, Nashville, TN, 1974, p. 165.
[14] Ibid, p. 167
[15] Gard, p. 123
[16] Lenski, R.C.H., The Interpretation of St. Matthew’s Gospel, The Wartburg Press, 1943, pp. 28-29.
[17] Sanders, Jim Alvin, Suffering as Divine Discipline in the Old Testament and Post-Biblical Judaism, Rochester, New York, Colgate Rochester Divinity School1955, pp. 83-87.
[18] Von Rad, p. 174.
Monday, March 6, 2006
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Deliverance from Enemies by Grace: Evidence of Divine Monergism in the Pattern of the Kings of Judah (Part 2)
David’s Census
“Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.” (1 Chronicles 21:1 NASB) Throughout his life and rise to power, David had seen God’s grace in action. From the slaying of Goliath to numerous military defeats to David’s sin of adultery, God had given David forgiveness and deliverance from enemies, but now David, at the urging of Satan himself, turns for a moment to lean on human works and power instead of God’s gracious protection. Joab realizes the folly of the act of counting the men even when David fails to do so. He responds to David’s request by saying, “May the Lord add to His people a hundred times as many as they are! But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord seek this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt to Israel?” His comment seems to understand the fact that the number of the men does not matter and even that relying on human might by counting the men would make Israel guilty before God.
David remains a king who trusts in the Lord by faith, as can be seen from his repentance and sacrifice after he has been corrected for his actions, and God does not destroy David or let David destroy himself by his works. Instead, God uses punishment to correct the erring King and preserve him from falling away from faith. We see in David that God acts graciously toward Israel by defeating their enemies, but when their King begins to rely on human might instead of God’s gracious deliverance, that he fails. The text of Chronicles even tells us that Satan himself inspired David’s action. Our enemy, Satan, would surely rather have us trust in our own works and might instead of God’s grace, but the story of David and the kings who follow will show that victory comes only through God’s grace and defeat comes when man trusts in his own power. It seems that David understands this by the end of his life when in his words to his son Solomon he says, “Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished.” (1 Chronicles 28:20 NASB)
The Pattern of David’s Descendants as Kings of Judah
In the Chronicler’s account, the succession of kings is told quickly and succinctly. Because of this, we can see very clearly a pattern develop among the kings of Judah as chapter by chapter each king’s reign is laid out in succession. Chronicles shows a line of kings, some faithful, some unfaithful, but the line of kings is always preserved. Sometimes this occurs by God’s giving of a long reign to a good king. Other times, it occurs when God brings disaster to a faithless king and preserves his people in that way. This pattern goes even back to the beginning of the book. While the genealogies do not tell the story of every person they name, the reader knows that Abraham was called out of his country and made great and given Isaac by God’s grace alone when Abraham and Sarah could not produce a son on their own. They know the events of the famine and God’s saving of Jacob’s family in Egypt, and of God’s deliverance from Egypt and giving of the Promised Land after they were made slaves. The names of Tamar, Ruth and Boaz, and many others mentioned in these genealogies all bring to mind stories in which God’s grace was evident in saving and preserving those who had faith in Him.
Even the Chronicler’s omission of the trials through which David and Solomon passed during their rise to the throne could be seen as drawing the focus more tightly onto God’s gracious acts to preserve those faithful to Him. Also, even though it is not told in Chronicles, we know that Solomon fell into the worship of other gods, but in the Chronicler’s account of His death, he is described as “sleeping with his fathers” and given a proper burial, seemingly indicating that maybe God’s grace even preserved Solomon and returned him to faith after his spiritual adultery to idols.
The Kings after Solomon
Reheboam (2 Chronicles 10-12): Even though Reheboam was unwise in listening to the young men over the old men, and the kingdom became divided, God did not forsake Reheboam. When Israel turned away to false God, the priests and Levites assemble in Jerusalem and Reheboam’s kingdom in Jerusalem prospers. After Reheboam was made strong and established, though, He abandoned the Lord and as a result suffered defeat. The king and officials repent after hearing the word of Shemaiah the prophet and the destruction is cut short. Following the defeat, “conditions were good” again in Judah and Reheboam completes his reign as a faithful king.
Abijah (ch. 13): When Abijah goes to war against Jereboam, his speech demonstrates the source of his strength and victory. Abijah gives credit to God for His promise to David that his offspring would hold the kingdom. He points to Judah’s continuation of the sort of worship God has prescribed. He cites as a charge against Jereboam and Israel and the reason for their coming defeat that they have forsaken the true God and worshipped “what are no gods” In this battle, even though Abijah is outmaneuvered and ambushed from behind by Jereboam, he still is given victory. The credit is given to God that “the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord, the God of their Fathers.” Victory in the battle again comes, not by the might of the army but because of faith in the God who gives victory.
Asa (ch. 14-16): Asa began his reign as a faithful king and was given victory over his enemies. Asa trusted in God for victory, and God defeated an army of a million Ethiopians before Him. Asa tore down idols and idolatrous altars and it is said that “Asa was wholly true in all his days.” Then, even after being given this great victory, Asa begins to trust in works and human power for victory instead of relying on God. When confronted by Israel, Asa not only seeks out the King of Syria for relief instead of the Lord, but he uses the treasures of the Lord’s house to buy off Syria. When Hannai was sent to warn Asa of the danger of this action, Asa became enraged and put him in the stocks. At the end of his life, even when faced with disease, he refused to trust in the Lord for healing, and he died trusting in physicians rather than the Lord.
Jehoshaphat (ch. 17-20): Jehoshaphat begins by “walking in the earlier ways of his father David.” He trusted in the Lord and took down high places and idols from the land, even sending out officials and Levites to teach the people from the Law of the Lord, but Jehoshaphat, even though the Lord had protected him from enemies and enlarged his army, made an alliance with the idolatrous Ahab. Even in spite of this alliance, God saves Jehoshaphat’s life in the battle because Jehoshaphat himself was faithful. After his life was saved and he returned from the battle after Ahab’s death, Jehoshaphat continued his religious reforms in Judah. When a great horde of many nations comes against Jehoshaphat, he acknowledges that it is not he but the Lord who must win the battle, saying, “O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on Thee.” (2 Chronicles 20:12) The Lord did deliver Judah from this horde by making the three allies turn against one another and destroy themselves, and after that “God gave him rest all around.” At the end of His reign, Jehoshaphat again forms an alliance with a wicked king of Israel, but only the fruits of this alliance are destroyed, not Jehoshaphat or his kingdom.
Jehoram and Ahaziah (ch. 21-22): Even though Jehoram did what was evil, God’s promise to David prevented him from destroying Him and his house. Jehoram built up high places instead of tearing them down. Because of this unfaithfulness, God brought a plague and defeat upon Judah and Jehoram and he “departed with no one’s regret” and was not buried with the kings. Ahaziah too did evil as he was taught by his mother and allied with the son of Ahab and was put to death.
Joash (ch. 23-24): Athaliah, mother of Ahaziah killed off the royal family at the death of her son and took the reign over the land for herself, but God preserved Joash, one of the king’s sons and brought down Athaliah and he became king. Joash grew to become king and repaired the temple, but after the death of the priest Jehoida, he turned away from the Lord, would not listen to the prophets, and kills Zechariah the priest who warns the people of their sin in forsaking the Lord. Soon after, Judah is defeated and Joash assassinated, even though the Syrian army “had come with few men.”
Amaziah (ch. 25): Amaziah initially allied with Israel to defend against the Edomites, but when warned by a man of God against this, he sent the hired soldiers away and fought with only his own army. The man of God spoke the promise that the Lord has the power to help or cast down and the Lord can give Amaziah far more than the 100 talents of silver he lost by sending away the hired soldiers. Even after the Lord gave him the victory over the Edomites, Amaziah returns to Judah and begins to worship the gods of those he defeated
Uzziah and Jotham (ch. 26-27): Uzziah began by trusting in the Lord, but when he had been made strong, he became proud in his strength and went in to burn incense before the Lord which was not his place and was struck with leprosy. Because of this, Jotham his son took his place and “became mighty because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God.”
Ahaz (ch. 28): Ahaz committed idolatry and sacrificed to idols and because of this, he suffered defeat both to Syria and Israel and many people were taken captive. When faced with invasions by the Edomites and Philistines, Ahaz still did not turn to the Lord, but instead the king of Assyria, paying him out of the possessions of the Lord’s house, but instead of helping him, the King of Assyria also came against Ahaz. After the defeat, he once again committed idolatry by worshipping the gods of those who had defeated him and stopped the worship of God at the temple.
Hezekiah (ch. 29-32): Hezekiah succeeded Ahaz and cleansed the temple and restored worship there, even celebrating the Passover again. When faced with an overwhelming invasion by Assyria, Hezekiah still trusts in the Lord, saying, “With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” Even when faced with Sennacherib’s blasphemy against the Lord and his boasting of how he would defeat Israel, Hezekiah trusted the Lord and Assyria was defeated by the Lord. In sickness, Hezekiah was proud for a time, but was quickly corrected.
Manasseh and Amon (ch. 33): Manasseh was evil and committed idolatry, even sacrificing his sons to idols, but repented when faced with defeat to Assyria, and was restored. Amon, his son also turned to idols, but did not repent as his father did, and he was put to death by his own servants.
Josiah (ch. 34-35): Josiah destroyed the idols and cleansed the land of Israel from false gods. He set out to repair the house of the Lord and the Book of the Law was found and it was foretold that all the curses written in it would come on the people for their unfaithfulness, but the curses were delayed until after Josiah’s reign because he repented and was faithful. Josiah even celebrated the Passover in Jerusalem, but when faced with battle, he did not hear the word of the Lord from the unlikely source of Neco the Pharaoh and was killed in battle.
The last four kings (ch. 36): Jehoahaz was deposed by Egypt 3 months into his reign, and the three kings who followed him, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, all were evil and idolatrous along with the people. Even after this, God still had compassion and continued to send messengers to correct them, but they would not listen. Jerusalem was then captured and burned, including the temple, and the people taken away into exile.
Divine Monergism in the Pattern of the Kings
In this pattern of the Chronicler’s history of the kings of Judah, we can see in quick succession how God sustains the faithful but destroys the evil. Some kings, such as Abijah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah are portrayed completely as faithful. They trust in the promises God has given them, and they are fulfilled. They follow the worship that God has given them, reform the land and destroy the idols rather than submitting to them. Reheboam is faithful, even if he is unwise in his choice of counsel, but he is corrected and counted as a faithful king. Jehoshaphat is faithful, then stumbles into trusting in human might in two alliances with Israel, but he is corrected and also portrayed as a whole as a faithful king. Two other kings, Uzziah and Josiah, begin as faithful, and fall into a pride, which, while it does not lead to faithlessness and their destruction, prevents the continuation of their reign.
Other kings are purely evil from the beginning, including Jehoram, Ahaziah, Ahaz, Amon, and the kings during the final decline of Judah after Josiah. Three kings begin as faithful but fall into idolatry to other gods or to trust in human might, but in spite of correction do not return. These are Asa, Joash, and Amaziah. One king alone who was evil finds repentance and in his death is counted faithful. This is Manasseh.
The simple way one might explain the relation of works and salvation to a confirmation student can be seen in the events of the kings of Judah. If anyone is saved, it is purely God’s action. If anyone is condemned, it is purely their own fault. Throughout the account of these kings, we constantly see God seeking to preserve His people and bring them and their kings back to faith in Him. Sometimes he accomplishes this by the king’s repentance. Other times the king hardens his heart and God must preserve His people by destroying that king.
God does not deliver the kings and the people because their repentance or faithfulness merits repentance. They are delivered because god is faithful to his promises. They are able to rely on God’s promises because they are reliable. They do not need to turn away to their own works or idolatrous worship to earn the victory because it is already theirs through faith in the Lord.
The truth of Luther’s words from the Heidelberg Disputation can be seen throughout the events of the kings of Judah. When a king believes he can achieve victory through his own works, he is utterly disappointed, but this should not cause despair, but instead should inspire faith in God who does not disappoint. The schizophrenic God who hands out rewards and punishments in the Old Testament but gives Grace in the New is not profitable or necessary in Christian thought. In all times, God saves because he is gracious. Those who rely on Him are given victory, but those who trust their own works are defeated. This is true both for a king in battle or a sinner whose conscience is terrified by the punishment he deserves. The harder one tries to pay for their own sin, the more lost they will become, but like Luther, the one who believes that their gracious God forgives them already has victory over the world, the devil, and their own sinful nature and receives forgiveness, life, and salvation instead.
“Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.” (1 Chronicles 21:1 NASB) Throughout his life and rise to power, David had seen God’s grace in action. From the slaying of Goliath to numerous military defeats to David’s sin of adultery, God had given David forgiveness and deliverance from enemies, but now David, at the urging of Satan himself, turns for a moment to lean on human works and power instead of God’s gracious protection. Joab realizes the folly of the act of counting the men even when David fails to do so. He responds to David’s request by saying, “May the Lord add to His people a hundred times as many as they are! But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord seek this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt to Israel?” His comment seems to understand the fact that the number of the men does not matter and even that relying on human might by counting the men would make Israel guilty before God.
David remains a king who trusts in the Lord by faith, as can be seen from his repentance and sacrifice after he has been corrected for his actions, and God does not destroy David or let David destroy himself by his works. Instead, God uses punishment to correct the erring King and preserve him from falling away from faith. We see in David that God acts graciously toward Israel by defeating their enemies, but when their King begins to rely on human might instead of God’s gracious deliverance, that he fails. The text of Chronicles even tells us that Satan himself inspired David’s action. Our enemy, Satan, would surely rather have us trust in our own works and might instead of God’s grace, but the story of David and the kings who follow will show that victory comes only through God’s grace and defeat comes when man trusts in his own power. It seems that David understands this by the end of his life when in his words to his son Solomon he says, “Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished.” (1 Chronicles 28:20 NASB)
The Pattern of David’s Descendants as Kings of Judah
In the Chronicler’s account, the succession of kings is told quickly and succinctly. Because of this, we can see very clearly a pattern develop among the kings of Judah as chapter by chapter each king’s reign is laid out in succession. Chronicles shows a line of kings, some faithful, some unfaithful, but the line of kings is always preserved. Sometimes this occurs by God’s giving of a long reign to a good king. Other times, it occurs when God brings disaster to a faithless king and preserves his people in that way. This pattern goes even back to the beginning of the book. While the genealogies do not tell the story of every person they name, the reader knows that Abraham was called out of his country and made great and given Isaac by God’s grace alone when Abraham and Sarah could not produce a son on their own. They know the events of the famine and God’s saving of Jacob’s family in Egypt, and of God’s deliverance from Egypt and giving of the Promised Land after they were made slaves. The names of Tamar, Ruth and Boaz, and many others mentioned in these genealogies all bring to mind stories in which God’s grace was evident in saving and preserving those who had faith in Him.
Even the Chronicler’s omission of the trials through which David and Solomon passed during their rise to the throne could be seen as drawing the focus more tightly onto God’s gracious acts to preserve those faithful to Him. Also, even though it is not told in Chronicles, we know that Solomon fell into the worship of other gods, but in the Chronicler’s account of His death, he is described as “sleeping with his fathers” and given a proper burial, seemingly indicating that maybe God’s grace even preserved Solomon and returned him to faith after his spiritual adultery to idols.
The Kings after Solomon
Reheboam (2 Chronicles 10-12): Even though Reheboam was unwise in listening to the young men over the old men, and the kingdom became divided, God did not forsake Reheboam. When Israel turned away to false God, the priests and Levites assemble in Jerusalem and Reheboam’s kingdom in Jerusalem prospers. After Reheboam was made strong and established, though, He abandoned the Lord and as a result suffered defeat. The king and officials repent after hearing the word of Shemaiah the prophet and the destruction is cut short. Following the defeat, “conditions were good” again in Judah and Reheboam completes his reign as a faithful king.
Abijah (ch. 13): When Abijah goes to war against Jereboam, his speech demonstrates the source of his strength and victory. Abijah gives credit to God for His promise to David that his offspring would hold the kingdom. He points to Judah’s continuation of the sort of worship God has prescribed. He cites as a charge against Jereboam and Israel and the reason for their coming defeat that they have forsaken the true God and worshipped “what are no gods” In this battle, even though Abijah is outmaneuvered and ambushed from behind by Jereboam, he still is given victory. The credit is given to God that “the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord, the God of their Fathers.” Victory in the battle again comes, not by the might of the army but because of faith in the God who gives victory.
Asa (ch. 14-16): Asa began his reign as a faithful king and was given victory over his enemies. Asa trusted in God for victory, and God defeated an army of a million Ethiopians before Him. Asa tore down idols and idolatrous altars and it is said that “Asa was wholly true in all his days.” Then, even after being given this great victory, Asa begins to trust in works and human power for victory instead of relying on God. When confronted by Israel, Asa not only seeks out the King of Syria for relief instead of the Lord, but he uses the treasures of the Lord’s house to buy off Syria. When Hannai was sent to warn Asa of the danger of this action, Asa became enraged and put him in the stocks. At the end of his life, even when faced with disease, he refused to trust in the Lord for healing, and he died trusting in physicians rather than the Lord.
Jehoshaphat (ch. 17-20): Jehoshaphat begins by “walking in the earlier ways of his father David.” He trusted in the Lord and took down high places and idols from the land, even sending out officials and Levites to teach the people from the Law of the Lord, but Jehoshaphat, even though the Lord had protected him from enemies and enlarged his army, made an alliance with the idolatrous Ahab. Even in spite of this alliance, God saves Jehoshaphat’s life in the battle because Jehoshaphat himself was faithful. After his life was saved and he returned from the battle after Ahab’s death, Jehoshaphat continued his religious reforms in Judah. When a great horde of many nations comes against Jehoshaphat, he acknowledges that it is not he but the Lord who must win the battle, saying, “O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on Thee.” (2 Chronicles 20:12) The Lord did deliver Judah from this horde by making the three allies turn against one another and destroy themselves, and after that “God gave him rest all around.” At the end of His reign, Jehoshaphat again forms an alliance with a wicked king of Israel, but only the fruits of this alliance are destroyed, not Jehoshaphat or his kingdom.
Jehoram and Ahaziah (ch. 21-22): Even though Jehoram did what was evil, God’s promise to David prevented him from destroying Him and his house. Jehoram built up high places instead of tearing them down. Because of this unfaithfulness, God brought a plague and defeat upon Judah and Jehoram and he “departed with no one’s regret” and was not buried with the kings. Ahaziah too did evil as he was taught by his mother and allied with the son of Ahab and was put to death.
Joash (ch. 23-24): Athaliah, mother of Ahaziah killed off the royal family at the death of her son and took the reign over the land for herself, but God preserved Joash, one of the king’s sons and brought down Athaliah and he became king. Joash grew to become king and repaired the temple, but after the death of the priest Jehoida, he turned away from the Lord, would not listen to the prophets, and kills Zechariah the priest who warns the people of their sin in forsaking the Lord. Soon after, Judah is defeated and Joash assassinated, even though the Syrian army “had come with few men.”
Amaziah (ch. 25): Amaziah initially allied with Israel to defend against the Edomites, but when warned by a man of God against this, he sent the hired soldiers away and fought with only his own army. The man of God spoke the promise that the Lord has the power to help or cast down and the Lord can give Amaziah far more than the 100 talents of silver he lost by sending away the hired soldiers. Even after the Lord gave him the victory over the Edomites, Amaziah returns to Judah and begins to worship the gods of those he defeated
Uzziah and Jotham (ch. 26-27): Uzziah began by trusting in the Lord, but when he had been made strong, he became proud in his strength and went in to burn incense before the Lord which was not his place and was struck with leprosy. Because of this, Jotham his son took his place and “became mighty because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God.”
Ahaz (ch. 28): Ahaz committed idolatry and sacrificed to idols and because of this, he suffered defeat both to Syria and Israel and many people were taken captive. When faced with invasions by the Edomites and Philistines, Ahaz still did not turn to the Lord, but instead the king of Assyria, paying him out of the possessions of the Lord’s house, but instead of helping him, the King of Assyria also came against Ahaz. After the defeat, he once again committed idolatry by worshipping the gods of those who had defeated him and stopped the worship of God at the temple.
Hezekiah (ch. 29-32): Hezekiah succeeded Ahaz and cleansed the temple and restored worship there, even celebrating the Passover again. When faced with an overwhelming invasion by Assyria, Hezekiah still trusts in the Lord, saying, “With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” Even when faced with Sennacherib’s blasphemy against the Lord and his boasting of how he would defeat Israel, Hezekiah trusted the Lord and Assyria was defeated by the Lord. In sickness, Hezekiah was proud for a time, but was quickly corrected.
Manasseh and Amon (ch. 33): Manasseh was evil and committed idolatry, even sacrificing his sons to idols, but repented when faced with defeat to Assyria, and was restored. Amon, his son also turned to idols, but did not repent as his father did, and he was put to death by his own servants.
Josiah (ch. 34-35): Josiah destroyed the idols and cleansed the land of Israel from false gods. He set out to repair the house of the Lord and the Book of the Law was found and it was foretold that all the curses written in it would come on the people for their unfaithfulness, but the curses were delayed until after Josiah’s reign because he repented and was faithful. Josiah even celebrated the Passover in Jerusalem, but when faced with battle, he did not hear the word of the Lord from the unlikely source of Neco the Pharaoh and was killed in battle.
The last four kings (ch. 36): Jehoahaz was deposed by Egypt 3 months into his reign, and the three kings who followed him, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, all were evil and idolatrous along with the people. Even after this, God still had compassion and continued to send messengers to correct them, but they would not listen. Jerusalem was then captured and burned, including the temple, and the people taken away into exile.
Divine Monergism in the Pattern of the Kings
In this pattern of the Chronicler’s history of the kings of Judah, we can see in quick succession how God sustains the faithful but destroys the evil. Some kings, such as Abijah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah are portrayed completely as faithful. They trust in the promises God has given them, and they are fulfilled. They follow the worship that God has given them, reform the land and destroy the idols rather than submitting to them. Reheboam is faithful, even if he is unwise in his choice of counsel, but he is corrected and counted as a faithful king. Jehoshaphat is faithful, then stumbles into trusting in human might in two alliances with Israel, but he is corrected and also portrayed as a whole as a faithful king. Two other kings, Uzziah and Josiah, begin as faithful, and fall into a pride, which, while it does not lead to faithlessness and their destruction, prevents the continuation of their reign.
Other kings are purely evil from the beginning, including Jehoram, Ahaziah, Ahaz, Amon, and the kings during the final decline of Judah after Josiah. Three kings begin as faithful but fall into idolatry to other gods or to trust in human might, but in spite of correction do not return. These are Asa, Joash, and Amaziah. One king alone who was evil finds repentance and in his death is counted faithful. This is Manasseh.
The simple way one might explain the relation of works and salvation to a confirmation student can be seen in the events of the kings of Judah. If anyone is saved, it is purely God’s action. If anyone is condemned, it is purely their own fault. Throughout the account of these kings, we constantly see God seeking to preserve His people and bring them and their kings back to faith in Him. Sometimes he accomplishes this by the king’s repentance. Other times the king hardens his heart and God must preserve His people by destroying that king.
God does not deliver the kings and the people because their repentance or faithfulness merits repentance. They are delivered because god is faithful to his promises. They are able to rely on God’s promises because they are reliable. They do not need to turn away to their own works or idolatrous worship to earn the victory because it is already theirs through faith in the Lord.
The truth of Luther’s words from the Heidelberg Disputation can be seen throughout the events of the kings of Judah. When a king believes he can achieve victory through his own works, he is utterly disappointed, but this should not cause despair, but instead should inspire faith in God who does not disappoint. The schizophrenic God who hands out rewards and punishments in the Old Testament but gives Grace in the New is not profitable or necessary in Christian thought. In all times, God saves because he is gracious. Those who rely on Him are given victory, but those who trust their own works are defeated. This is true both for a king in battle or a sinner whose conscience is terrified by the punishment he deserves. The harder one tries to pay for their own sin, the more lost they will become, but like Luther, the one who believes that their gracious God forgives them already has victory over the world, the devil, and their own sinful nature and receives forgiveness, life, and salvation instead.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Deliverance from Enemies by Grace: Evidence of Divine Monergism in the Pattern of the Kings of Judah (Part 1)
Paul says to the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-10 NASB) If one is not careful, it can be easy to mistakenly fall into the thinking that this is a New Testament innovation—something started after Jesus death, a new idea started by Paul, or a change in God’s way of dealing with man. For many Christians, there is a division in their mind that God saves by Grace in the New Testament and by Works in the Old, or that he forgives sins because of Jesus in the New Testament, but because of sacrifice in the Old. To do this sets up a scenario where we see two radically different Gods, or at least a God with two radically different personalities. This view makes Old Testament a story of a God who hands out rewards and punishments based on human works—a complete Theology of Glory, as if the Theology of the Cross did not exist before the cross itself.
This misunderstanding of God’s nature does not limit itself to the interpretation of the Old Testament. The same people who read the Bible in the way described above also continue this Theology of Glory into their application for the life of the modern Christian. While they might give acceptance on paper in official documents to the teaching that man is saved by grace through faith, they undermine this teaching with the way they apply God’s Word in their preaching, teaching, and writing. Here, they teach that if you just follow these steps, God will bless you, or if our country would just do this thing, God would bless the nation. Contained in the book of Chronicles are the occasions for two prevalent examples of this misapplication of God’s Word that occurs when reading the scriptures from an outlook of the Theology of Glory by those who follow American Popular Christianity.
The Prayer of Jabez
The first of these examples is the Prayer of Jabez. In this work, the author uses 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 to demonstrate what he claims is God’s desire for people to do and for people’s lives to be like. The prayer reads, “Oh that Thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that Thy hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldst keep me from harm, that it may not pain me!” (1 Chronicles 4:10, NASB) If the reader will just repeatedly pray this prayer persistently enough, the author claims that God will have no choice but to give them great earthly blessings. Prayer is used by the Christian to manipulate God in a way more fitting of paganism than Christianity. This prayer is effective, not because of God’s grace or Christ’s work, but because of the earnestness and persistence of the person praying it. Prayer becomes a work by which the one praying earns God’s favor and earthly wealth.[1]
This reflects the Theology of Glory that underlies all of American Popular Christianity. According to the author and most English Bible translations, Jabez is blessed by God because he is “honorable.”[2] In reality, the Hebrew word is a Niphal participle and should be translated passively as “honored,”[3] since the Niphal normally indicates a passive translation. This correct translation would point to God’s grace in favoring Jabez, where the common translation points instead to the character of Jabez, as if anything in him merits the favor God showed to him.
2 Chronicles 7:14
The second example of this misapplication of scripture in the practice of American Popular Christianity is the frequent usage of 2 Chronicles 7:14 applied to the United States of America as a political nation. ”[If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” This passage may be one of the most familiar and often cited verses of Chronicles,[4] and is unique to the Chronicler along with the surrounding verses. This verse can be seen displayed regularly on T-shirts and bumper stickers as an exhortation to the general public around the one displaying it that America had better get its act together and how it should be done. Type the reference into Google along with terms like “devotion,” “sermon,” or “and an abundance of websites will be found which expound on this verse. Sermons have such titles as “God's Recipe for Power in His Church”, and devotional responses include such comments as “It tells us that we personally (and as a Nation) must turn to God, change our ways, and take a stand in our land to continue to enjoy the Lord's protection.”[5] and “It tells the steps one must take (humble yourself and pray and seek God) to walk closely with God.”[6]
The abuse of this verse shows most clearly the works-righteous theology of Glory in American Popular Christianity, which seeks to have the favor and punishment of God rely on the merits of men. They transform a passage in which God is giving a divine promise and comfort into a command where God requires men to seek him and humble themselves in order to receive healing and forgiveness. One commentator sees this verse in Chronicles as a key verse in explaining the remainder of the book because it shows the Chronicler’s “theology of immediate retribution.” He claims “’Seeking God’ becomes a touchstone for weal or woe; similarly ‘humbling oneself’ or the failure to do so determines the divine response. Prayer and ‘turning’ occur at critical junctures in the narrative.”[7] He continues by saying “God does indeed bless or judge each generation in terms of its own response to his commands…Acts of piety and obedience are rewarded with success and prosperity…Conversely, disobedience and infidelity bring military defeat, the dissatisfaction of the population, and illness.”[8]
Those who use this verse as a kind of give and take relationship between God and man where man does some work to merit God’s forgiving response could better interpret this verse if it were not removed from its surroundings. Reading from verse 12, we find that God is speaking here to announce to Solomon that he has chosen the temple as a place to dwell. God then promises in verses 13-14 that even though Israel will fall into wicked ways and need correction, that when the correction has worked repentance in the hearts of the people, that he will heal the land. God is the active one here, not man. God chooses, God corrects, and God forgives. In verse 15-16, God promises that the temple will be his dwelling. This applies both to Solomon’s Temple, and encourages the Chronicler’s readers that the rebuilt temple is God’s dwelling place as well. Much like we have the sure promise that God comes to us through the Word and the Sacraments, this promise assures Israel that the temple is the place where God will come to them.
This verse is spoken by God for Israel as a promise, but many would recast it as spoken to America as law. Teachers who still look to Israel for the fulfillment of eschatology take a promise spoken to Israel and inconsistent with their own teachings, apply it to America instead. Additionally, why do the translations render the Niphal verb in verse 14 reflexively as “humble themselves” instead of passively as “be humbled”? It seems this would reflect better the truth that even when man repents, even that repentance is a gift of God as well as being the simpler and more common translation of the verb.
These two passages, used by many in separation from their context, serve as perfect examples of the misapplication of Scripture by American Popular Christianity. Both the story of Jabez and God’s promise to Solomon regarding the temple are packaged and marketed to law-loving Americans who consider themselves Evangelical Christians. This is our inclination as humans to run to the law. We seek to find what we can do, how we can earn right standing with God. We cannot accept that it is as simple as Grace, so we search for something to return the focus to ourselves instead of God and thus satisfy our selfish sinful hearts.
Luther on these Two Theologies
Martin Luther writes to admonish the Church against this tendency in his Heidelberg Disputation, which is the place where he begins to speak of the Theology of the Cross and the Theology of Glory. He demonstrates that salvation does not and cannot come by works of the law, but only by the Grace of God.
16. The person who believes that he can obtain grace by doing what is in him adds sin to sin so that he becomes doubly guilty.
17. Nor does speaking in this manner give cause for despair, but for arousing the desire to humble oneself and seek the grace of Christ.
18. It is certain that man must utterly despair of his own ability before he is prepared to receive the grace of Christ.[9]
and
25. He is not righteous who does much, but he who, without work, believes much in Christ.
26. The law says, ‘do this,’ and it is never done. Grace says, ‘believe in this,’ and everything is already done.[10]
Luther’s language here in 17 regarding “humbling oneself” is more closely related to what God speaks to Solomon about in 2 Chronicles 7:14. To humble oneself is not to do some work to appease God. It is not to “decide to follow Jesus.” It is to despair in one’s own works which can earn nothing toward salvation, but know that God is gracious and forgives the sins of those who trust him.
According to the Theology of Glory, humans merit rewards and punishments by their actions. God rewards good behavior and punishes bad. When God’s grace in introduced, it is in the sense of a synergism where “I do my best and God will do the rest,” and Jesus death is only to make up the difference. On the other hand, the Theology of the Cross trusts completely in Jesus merits and God’s grace for salvation. In the Theology of the Cross, not only do good works merit nothing, placing any trust at all in works increases one’s guilt before God and separates the person from God’s grace.
This is the pattern we see played out in the story of the kings of Judah in Chronicles. A faithful king who trusts in God has long life and a prosperous reign, not because he merits it by believing, but because he knows God’s grace and is given His gifts. A king who is spiritually adulterous and seeks after other gods is corrected or destroyed and brings danger and difficulty to God’s people. A king who relies on his own works instead of depending on God for victory finds himself defeated, even though he has the superior army, but the king whose forces are outmatched by the enemy is given victory because God fights on their behalf.
[1] Wilkinson, Bruce; The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking through to the Blessed Life; Multnomah, 2000.
[2] Gard, Daniel, “The Prayer of Jabez”, Class Handout.
[3] Lange, John Peter; Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, vol. 4, tr. Philip Schaff; Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 1960, pp. 54-55.
[4] Dillard, Raymond B. Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 15, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN, 1987, p. 58.
[5] http://www.apibs.org/serm/s359.htm
[6]http://www.mydevotion.com/logos/bibleverse.asp?book=2Chronicles&chap=7&hashno=14
[7] Dillard, Raymond B. and Tremper Longman III, An Introduction to the Old Testament, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 1994, p. 176.
[8] Ibid. p. 177.
[9] Lull, Timothy, Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, Fortress Press, Minneapolis, MN, 1989, p. 31.
[10] Ibid. p. 32.
This misunderstanding of God’s nature does not limit itself to the interpretation of the Old Testament. The same people who read the Bible in the way described above also continue this Theology of Glory into their application for the life of the modern Christian. While they might give acceptance on paper in official documents to the teaching that man is saved by grace through faith, they undermine this teaching with the way they apply God’s Word in their preaching, teaching, and writing. Here, they teach that if you just follow these steps, God will bless you, or if our country would just do this thing, God would bless the nation. Contained in the book of Chronicles are the occasions for two prevalent examples of this misapplication of God’s Word that occurs when reading the scriptures from an outlook of the Theology of Glory by those who follow American Popular Christianity.
The Prayer of Jabez
The first of these examples is the Prayer of Jabez. In this work, the author uses 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 to demonstrate what he claims is God’s desire for people to do and for people’s lives to be like. The prayer reads, “Oh that Thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that Thy hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldst keep me from harm, that it may not pain me!” (1 Chronicles 4:10, NASB) If the reader will just repeatedly pray this prayer persistently enough, the author claims that God will have no choice but to give them great earthly blessings. Prayer is used by the Christian to manipulate God in a way more fitting of paganism than Christianity. This prayer is effective, not because of God’s grace or Christ’s work, but because of the earnestness and persistence of the person praying it. Prayer becomes a work by which the one praying earns God’s favor and earthly wealth.[1]
This reflects the Theology of Glory that underlies all of American Popular Christianity. According to the author and most English Bible translations, Jabez is blessed by God because he is “honorable.”[2] In reality, the Hebrew word is a Niphal participle and should be translated passively as “honored,”[3] since the Niphal normally indicates a passive translation. This correct translation would point to God’s grace in favoring Jabez, where the common translation points instead to the character of Jabez, as if anything in him merits the favor God showed to him.
2 Chronicles 7:14
The second example of this misapplication of scripture in the practice of American Popular Christianity is the frequent usage of 2 Chronicles 7:14 applied to the United States of America as a political nation. ”[If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” This passage may be one of the most familiar and often cited verses of Chronicles,[4] and is unique to the Chronicler along with the surrounding verses. This verse can be seen displayed regularly on T-shirts and bumper stickers as an exhortation to the general public around the one displaying it that America had better get its act together and how it should be done. Type the reference into Google along with terms like “devotion,” “sermon,” or “and an abundance of websites will be found which expound on this verse. Sermons have such titles as “God's Recipe for Power in His Church”, and devotional responses include such comments as “It tells us that we personally (and as a Nation) must turn to God, change our ways, and take a stand in our land to continue to enjoy the Lord's protection.”[5] and “It tells the steps one must take (humble yourself and pray and seek God) to walk closely with God.”[6]
The abuse of this verse shows most clearly the works-righteous theology of Glory in American Popular Christianity, which seeks to have the favor and punishment of God rely on the merits of men. They transform a passage in which God is giving a divine promise and comfort into a command where God requires men to seek him and humble themselves in order to receive healing and forgiveness. One commentator sees this verse in Chronicles as a key verse in explaining the remainder of the book because it shows the Chronicler’s “theology of immediate retribution.” He claims “’Seeking God’ becomes a touchstone for weal or woe; similarly ‘humbling oneself’ or the failure to do so determines the divine response. Prayer and ‘turning’ occur at critical junctures in the narrative.”[7] He continues by saying “God does indeed bless or judge each generation in terms of its own response to his commands…Acts of piety and obedience are rewarded with success and prosperity…Conversely, disobedience and infidelity bring military defeat, the dissatisfaction of the population, and illness.”[8]
Those who use this verse as a kind of give and take relationship between God and man where man does some work to merit God’s forgiving response could better interpret this verse if it were not removed from its surroundings. Reading from verse 12, we find that God is speaking here to announce to Solomon that he has chosen the temple as a place to dwell. God then promises in verses 13-14 that even though Israel will fall into wicked ways and need correction, that when the correction has worked repentance in the hearts of the people, that he will heal the land. God is the active one here, not man. God chooses, God corrects, and God forgives. In verse 15-16, God promises that the temple will be his dwelling. This applies both to Solomon’s Temple, and encourages the Chronicler’s readers that the rebuilt temple is God’s dwelling place as well. Much like we have the sure promise that God comes to us through the Word and the Sacraments, this promise assures Israel that the temple is the place where God will come to them.
This verse is spoken by God for Israel as a promise, but many would recast it as spoken to America as law. Teachers who still look to Israel for the fulfillment of eschatology take a promise spoken to Israel and inconsistent with their own teachings, apply it to America instead. Additionally, why do the translations render the Niphal verb in verse 14 reflexively as “humble themselves” instead of passively as “be humbled”? It seems this would reflect better the truth that even when man repents, even that repentance is a gift of God as well as being the simpler and more common translation of the verb.
These two passages, used by many in separation from their context, serve as perfect examples of the misapplication of Scripture by American Popular Christianity. Both the story of Jabez and God’s promise to Solomon regarding the temple are packaged and marketed to law-loving Americans who consider themselves Evangelical Christians. This is our inclination as humans to run to the law. We seek to find what we can do, how we can earn right standing with God. We cannot accept that it is as simple as Grace, so we search for something to return the focus to ourselves instead of God and thus satisfy our selfish sinful hearts.
Luther on these Two Theologies
Martin Luther writes to admonish the Church against this tendency in his Heidelberg Disputation, which is the place where he begins to speak of the Theology of the Cross and the Theology of Glory. He demonstrates that salvation does not and cannot come by works of the law, but only by the Grace of God.
16. The person who believes that he can obtain grace by doing what is in him adds sin to sin so that he becomes doubly guilty.
17. Nor does speaking in this manner give cause for despair, but for arousing the desire to humble oneself and seek the grace of Christ.
18. It is certain that man must utterly despair of his own ability before he is prepared to receive the grace of Christ.[9]
and
25. He is not righteous who does much, but he who, without work, believes much in Christ.
26. The law says, ‘do this,’ and it is never done. Grace says, ‘believe in this,’ and everything is already done.[10]
Luther’s language here in 17 regarding “humbling oneself” is more closely related to what God speaks to Solomon about in 2 Chronicles 7:14. To humble oneself is not to do some work to appease God. It is not to “decide to follow Jesus.” It is to despair in one’s own works which can earn nothing toward salvation, but know that God is gracious and forgives the sins of those who trust him.
According to the Theology of Glory, humans merit rewards and punishments by their actions. God rewards good behavior and punishes bad. When God’s grace in introduced, it is in the sense of a synergism where “I do my best and God will do the rest,” and Jesus death is only to make up the difference. On the other hand, the Theology of the Cross trusts completely in Jesus merits and God’s grace for salvation. In the Theology of the Cross, not only do good works merit nothing, placing any trust at all in works increases one’s guilt before God and separates the person from God’s grace.
This is the pattern we see played out in the story of the kings of Judah in Chronicles. A faithful king who trusts in God has long life and a prosperous reign, not because he merits it by believing, but because he knows God’s grace and is given His gifts. A king who is spiritually adulterous and seeks after other gods is corrected or destroyed and brings danger and difficulty to God’s people. A king who relies on his own works instead of depending on God for victory finds himself defeated, even though he has the superior army, but the king whose forces are outmatched by the enemy is given victory because God fights on their behalf.
[1] Wilkinson, Bruce; The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking through to the Blessed Life; Multnomah, 2000.
[2] Gard, Daniel, “The Prayer of Jabez”, Class Handout.
[3] Lange, John Peter; Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, vol. 4, tr. Philip Schaff; Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 1960, pp. 54-55.
[4] Dillard, Raymond B. Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 15, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN, 1987, p. 58.
[5] http://www.apibs.org/serm/s359.htm
[6]http://www.mydevotion.com/logos/bibleverse.asp?book=2Chronicles&chap=7&hashno=14
[7] Dillard, Raymond B. and Tremper Longman III, An Introduction to the Old Testament, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 1994, p. 176.
[8] Ibid. p. 177.
[9] Lull, Timothy, Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, Fortress Press, Minneapolis, MN, 1989, p. 31.
[10] Ibid. p. 32.
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