Tag: spirituality

The Battle of Jericho & the Christian Life: All They Had to Do Was Trust and Obey

~ Bob Hayton ~ 4 Comments

I have often found encouragement in the account of the battle of Jericho. The Hebrew people were faced with an obstacle to their possession of God’s promised good land. A fortress city stood in their way. What were they to do? All they had to do was trust and obey God’s direction. It wasn’t by their effort that they would inherit the promised land, it was a matter of God’s grace.

Similarly, in our Christian life, we walk by faith and depend on God’s promise and His action on our behalf. We take Him at His word. We trust and obey. The promised land of sanctification and God’s blessing in our life, comes through His effort not ours. I made this case previously in a post called “Thoughts on the Battle of Jericho.”

Here is a visual depiction of this same important lesson. It comes from an adaptation of The Jesus Storybook Bible, one of our favorite kid’s Bible story books. Tim Keller referred to this book as “a storybook for preachers” and I quite agree. It communicates the heart of the Bible stories powerfully, and highlights the fact that all the stories in the Bible unfold the wonder of Jesus and His love. It has brought tears to my eyes at times, and if you don’t have this book, you really should get it!

Watch the animated story below of the battle of Jericho, and I pray that you and I both will grow in our trust of Jesus Christ, our true Warrior Leader.

For more on The Jesus Storybook Bible visit JesusStorybookBible.com or preview/purchase the book at the following online retailers: Westminster Bookstore, Monergism Books, Christianbook.com, Amazon, Barnes&Noble, or direct from Zondervan.

Reformation Gems 4: Wolfgang Musculus on Salvation, Past and Present

~ Bob Hayton

Reformation Gems are excerpts from selections contained in the Reformation Commentary on Scripture, a new commentary series from IVP which gathers the best Reformation-era comments on the text together all in one set. The volumes in this commentary series resurrect long-forgotten voices from the Reformation age and in so doing they recover the piety and vivacity of that era. I hope that by sharing some excerpts from this series, I will edify my readers and promote this important commentary series.
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Today’s selection comes from the Reformation Commentary on Scripture: Volume X (Galatians, Ephesians). I looked through the comments on Ephesians 2:8 and found a gem. Wolfgang Musculus, a reformer contemporary with John Calvin, made the point that there is a sense in which we are both presently saved, and still waiting for our future salvation. This distinction on different perspectives to the concept of salvation is very important. I have been helped in coming to realize there are three tenses or viewpoints of salvation: a sense in which we are presently “being saved,” another sense in which we have already been saved, and yet from another angle, we are not yet totally saved. These past, present and future perspectives on salvation shape how we live as Christians. Accepting the Gospel one time in the past doesn’t mean that we don’t need to depend on a present and future appropriation of the Gospel to help us live the Christian life now. We must be pressing on day by day toward our future and fully consummate salvation.

Here is the excerpt from Musculus’s work originally published in 1561:

We Are Saved Because We Are No Longer Condemned.

Wolfgang Musculus: Our salvation has two sides to it. One of them relates to its beginning and the other to its completion. The beginning is when we receive the forgiveness of our sins in Christ and are set free from slavery to them and to Satan, as well as from condemnation, and are received into the adoption of children and regenerated by the Spirit of God. Of this aspect, Paul says, “By grace you have been saved,” even though sin is still present in our flesh like a poison and we cannot obtain perfect salvation until we are set free from that. Nevertheless, by the grace of Christ we have already reached a point where there is no longer any imputation or condemnation of our sins in the presence of God, and the remains of the evil by which we were originally lost no longer have the power to kill us, so that we are no longer considered to be lost, sinners and children of wrath, but rather saved, righteous, reconciled and children of grace. because of these basic principles of our salvation and the unfailing grace of God that never ceases to preserve us until we are fully saved, the apostle is right to say that we have been saved by grace.

The completion of our salvation, however, is something that we are still hoping and waiting for. It will come when we have been set free from death and corruption and attain eternal life, not only in the spiritual sense but also in our glorified bodies, so that we shall no longer be subject to any miseries, whether corporal or spiritual. We are waiting for this perect salvation in hope; the apostle says in Romans 8:24 that we have been saved by hope. The health of a person who is mortally ill is thus restored and completed in two stages. In the first stage, the mortal illness is overcome and broken by the power of the medicine and the diligence of the doctor, under the overall guidance of God, so that the illness is no longer lethal, nor does it stop the sick person from gradually starting to eat, drink, rest, get up and walk again. Once that stage has been completed, the sick person is said to be well again and restored, even though there is still great weakness in his body and incapacity in his members, pallor and thinness in his face and other lingering signs of the illness that has been overcome. In the second stage full and complete health is gradually restored so that there is nothing left of the former illness, but the whole body, both inside and out, is restored to its natural wholeness and health. Exactly the same thing is true of the salvation that is made available through Christ, our heavenly doctor, to those who believe in him. (pg. 286-287)

About the Reformation-era author: Wolfgang Musculus (1497-1563). Viennese pastor, reformer and theologian. Musculus was an advocate and writer for the cause of reform, producing translations, biblical commentaries and an influential theological text, Loci communes sacrae theologiae (Commonplaces of Sacred Theology), outlining a Zwinglian theology. Musculus began to study theology while at a Benedictine monastery; he departed in 1527 and became secretary to Martin Bucer in Strausbourg. He was later installed as a pastor in Augsburg, eventually performing the first evangelical liturgy in the city’s cathedral. Though Musculus was active in the pursuit of the reform agenda, he was also concerned for ecumenism, participating in both the Wittenburg Concord (1536) and discussions between Lutherans and Catholics. (pg. 429-430)

Learn more about this commentary series at the Reformation Commentary page at IVPress.com, or check out this sampler (PDF). You can pick up a copy of Reformation Commentary on Scripture: Volume X (Galatians, Ephesians) at any of the following online retailers: Westminster Bookstore, Monergism Books, Christianbook.com, Amazon, Barnes&Noble or direct from IVP. You may want to consider becoming a member with IVP and getting the entire series on a subscription discount of more than 40% per volume.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by IVP. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

Commentary Roundup: “1-2 Chronicles (Cornerstone Biblical Commentary Series)” by Mark Boda

~ Bob Hayton

Commentary Roundup posts are a series of short reviews or overviews of Bible commentaries. I’m working my way through a variety of commentaries, new and old, and hope to highlight helpful resources for my readers.

Book Details:
• Author: Mark J. Boda
• Series Editor: Philip W. Comfort
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers (2010)
• Format: hardback
• Page Count: 442
• ISBN#: 9780842334310
• List Price: $29.99
• Rating: Recommended

Series Description:
The Cornerstone Biblical Commentary provides students, pastors, and laypeople with up-to-date, evangelical scholarship on the Old and New Testaments. It’s designed to equip pastors and Christian leaders with exegetical and theological knowledge to better understand and apply God’s word by presenting the message of each passage as well as an overview of other issues surrounding the text.

Structure:
The Cornerstone Biblical Commentary brings together a wealth of scholarship in a clearly presented and highly accessible format. Each larger section of text gets its own introductory section. Then each textual unit, usually of a chapter or two in length, gets its own separate treatment. The full text from the New Living Translation opens the section, then footnotes to the text, and detailed notes follow. The commentary section is next and covers sources used by the Chronicler, the structure and content of the section – which is where the primary exegesis happens, and then a concluding section titled “significance” where the author brings home the main themes from the text.

Features:
A detailed introduction to the books of Chronicles opens the work, and enumerates the setting, author, date, and audience. The canonicity and textual history of Chronicles are detailed, and literary and theological concerns are addressed. Space is also devoted to the major themes of the books of Chronicles, of which the author finds covenant relationship, an emphasis on renewing the present through remembering the past, and the prophetic office as key. And while the Chronicler emphasizes Judah’s history, he repeatedly refers to “all Israel,” Boda sees in this a concern for the fulfillment of a truly united Israel “comprised of inhabitants from both north and south united around the Temple, King, and Jerusalem” (p. 18). And intriguingly, he argues that “The omission of the history of the northern kingdom throughout the account is not intended as a slight against these tribes, but rather is used to play down the schism and to include them in ‘all Israel'” (p. 18). The introduction also includes a detailed outline of the books of Chronicles.

Other features of the commentary include a proprietary numbering system from Tyndale for the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek words – similar to Strong’s numbers, but coded to other reference works from Tyndale. Some numbers are also provided that key to Zondervan resources as well. A detailed list is also provided of key textual witnesses to 1 and 2 Chronicles, and the Old and New Testaments as a whole. Also included is an extensive explanation of the transliteration and numbering system employed in the commentary. Throughout the volume, charts, maps, chiastic structures, and timelines are provided, but all in black and white. The commentary makes thorough use of end notes after every section and introduction, as well. This allows it to remain highly technical but also more accessible to the average reader.

Excerpt:
The books of Chronicles are full of lists and genealogies, and the technical bent of this commentary proves helpful in catpuring what is being communicated theologically by the Chronicler. The following excerpt captures well the attention to detail shown by the author of this commentary. It also illustrates how helpful this commentary is for exegesis.

David’s Commission of the Military (27:1-15). With chapter 27 the Chronicler leaves behind the enumeration of the Levitical families, moving to the “secular” leadership of his kingdom. He begins with the military (27:1-15), then moves to the tribes (27:16-22), and finally, after a short note on the census, concludes with the property managers (27:25-31) and royal advisers (27:32-34).

Because this chapter, as part of the unit of chapters 23-27, stands out as the only one unconcerned with sacred personnel, some have suggested it was a later addition. However, although the Chronicler’s focus has been on the commissioning and organization of the sacred orders due to his concern for the Temple, the royal secular infrastructure of the kingdom is also important for sustaining the Temple worship. In addition, in the discussion of 23:1-2 it is noted that the term “summoned” (‘asap [TH622, ZH665]) in 23:2 is a literary signal from the Chronicler that summarizes the content of chapters 23-27. There David is depicted as assembling “all the leaders of Israel” (kol-sare yisra’el), a term that is distinguished in the list from “the priests and Levites.” Thus, it is now in chapter 27 that the Chronicler presents the “leaders” of Israel, with the term “leader” (sar [TH8269, ZH8569]) used seven times in the chapter (27:1, 2, 5, 8, 22, 31, 34). Finally, the national assembly that David convenes in chapters 28-29 is comprised of the very groups introduced in chapter 27. Thus, chapter 27 is not only appropriate in a work focused on the Temple but is expected both by the introduction to chapters 23-27 and also the introduction to chapters 28-29.

The first section of chapter 27 focuses on the organization of the army. The term “list” here (mispar [TH4557, ZH5031]) is the one used regularly throughout chapters 23-27 for “numbering” (23:3, 24, 27, 31; 25:1, 7; 27:1). It is also the term used in 21:5 when Joab presents the results of the census to David, an event reflected in 27:23-24, where again the term appears twice. The initial list of personnel in 27:1 appears to reflect organization of groups through a chain of command, moving from the Israelites to “heads of the fathers” (not reflected in NLT) to generals and captains (lit., “[the leaders of] thousands and hundreds”) to their officers. The role of this chain of command was to supervise the army divisions, and they did this under the authority of the king. This is an important development in the sociology of Israel, signaling that the army was no longer linked to tribal chieftains and tribal authority but rather to a centralized royal figure and that military affairs would no longer be conducted ad hoc but would be directed by a standing army.

These army divisions are identified as those who “went in and went out” (habba’ah wehayyotse’th [TH935/3318, ZH995/3655]; NLT, “on duty”), a phrase related to the ancient “changing of the guard,” which is illustrated in 2 Kings 11:9 and 2 Chronicles 23:8. These latter passages identify the Sabbath as the time of the changing of the Levitical guard; they distinguished between “men reporting for duty that Sabbath” and “those who were going off duty [on the Sabbath],” a process dependent on an act of dismissal (“Jehoiada the priest did not let anyone go home after their shift ended,” 2 Chr 23:8). The specific duties of these troops is not made clear, although it obviously would have entailed battle in times of war, and in times of peace, as Japhet (1993:469) notes, “These reserves would be given the duty of guarding the kindom’s borders, doing police service and maintaining order in conquered territories, manning strongholds and castles, attending to the weapons and equipment–chariots, horses, etc.” For the royal army in chapter 27, the cycle was monthly rather than weekly, a fact reinforced by the list in 27:2-15. Although the list is based on the principle of 12 units, it is interesting that the division is not based on the 12 tribes, further evidence of the social transformation under David’s reign. The number 12, however, also bolsters the Chronicler’s presentation of this perfect kingdom and echoes the earlier divisions in chapters 24-26, which were based on the number 24. However, the fact that it is only half the number may privilege the role and organization of the sacred orders. (pg. 204-205)

Evaluation:
This commentary over and again proves faithful to a high view of Scripture. Yet it is also extremely helpful in sorting out the technical details in the text and catching the underlying theological vision of the Chronicler. Some of my readers may not be aware of how very different the books of Chronicles are from the books of Kings, and this commentary helps underscore and interpret these differences as being loaded with theological import rather than evidence against the divine inspiration of both groups of books. The material is presented in a clear way and remains accessible to a wide variety of readers. I recommend this book for anyone who desires to study the books of Chronicles. I’m confident that it will prove helpful and steer you right.

About the Author:
Mark J. Boda (Ph.D., University of Cambridge) has authored numerous articles and books in addition to editing several collections of scholarly essays on various topics related to the Old Testament and Christian Theology. He taught for nine years at Canadian Theological Seminary before joining McMaster Divinity College in 2003. Mark enjoys mentoring students and teaches with enthusiasm about the Old Testament and its continued relevance to the Christian life today.

Where to Buy:
  • Westminster Bookstore
  • Amazon
  • Christianbook.com
  • Direct from Tyndale

Disclaimer:
This book was provided by Tyndale House Publishers. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

Book Giveaway: “Embracing Obscurity: Becoming Nothing in Light of God’s Everything”

~ Bob Hayton ~ 17 Comments

Broadman & Holman publishers have kindly offered to provide one giveaway copy of Embracing Obscurity: Becoming Nothing in Light of God’s Everything. This new book really packs a punch. I encourage you to check out my review, or watch the book trailer below.

To win a copy of this book, just leave your comment here with the Bible verse that you find most helpful or convicting on the topic of pride. You can get additional entries if you spread word about the contest on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or your blog: just add another comment explaining how and where you’ve also spread the word about the contest. I’ll pick a random winner from all the entries in the comments here, sometime after 9pm Central time on Monday October 15th.

To get your own copy of the book (if you don’t win the contest), try any of the following online retailers: Christianbook.com, Amazon, Barnes&Noble, or direct from Broadman & Holman.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by Brodman & Holman Publishing. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

“Embracing Obscurity: Becoming Nothing in Light of God’s Everything” by Anonymous

~ Bob Hayton ~ 4 Comments

Book Details:
  • Author: Anonymous
  • Category: Christian Living
  • Publisher: Broadman & Holman (2012)
  • Format: softcover
  • Page Count: 224
  • ISBN#: 9781433677816
  • List Price: $14.99
  • Rating: Must Read

Review:
I don’t remember the last time I saw a recently published book with the author’s name given as Anonymous. In Christian circles as much as in your average secular bookstore or website, nothing seems to be as prominent as the author’s name. The more well known the author, the larger space is devoted to his or her name on the book cover. But with a title like Embracing Obscurity: Becoming Nothing in Light of God’s Everything, the absence of an author name seems appropriate. Still, I searched through the book looking for any hint of the author’s identity, half expecting it would be there somewhere. My search was in vain, as the author of this challenging book has embraced its controversial message heart and soul.

The back cover of the book encapsulates its message well with these words: “I hate to break it to you, but you’re not one in a million. In fact, you’re more like one in nearly seven billion. Just one. One life, lived in relative obscurity.” The next line is even more challenging: “Are you okay with that?” Everything about the American dream with its make-your-own-man, you-can-be-anything, do-it-yourself “gospel,” screams the opposite. You are special. One of a kind! And even Christian leaders and authors trumpet the self-esteem, “be your best self now” message. I imagine many who are reading this right now aren’t so sure Mr. Anonymous is making any sense. Doesn’t the Bible teach that we are all God’s special and unique creations?

Anonymous is aiming at the pride and self-reliance which lurks just under the surface of our outwardly Christian lives. The author points out the role that “sub-titles” play in our lives: you know, the extra details we use to fill in someone’s understanding of us when we introduce ourselves. “Hi, I’m Bob, a well-known Christian blogger and father of six.” Such sub-titles function as a way to: “[M]ake others think I’m a somebody. That I matter. That I’m going places. I’m itching for admiration, respect, and yes, jealousy” (pg. 21). The point is not to eschew any titles but rather to not let worldly pursuits define you, or pride rule you.

The book hammers away at Philippians 2:5-11 and the example that our humble King set for us, in the way of humility. And it calls us to find our true significance not in what we can do, but in who we are by grace. Our significance is in being able to make much of Jesus as his creation, his joint-heir, his bride, etc.

The world’s attitude to success contrasts sharply with a Biblical view of true prosperity. Yet too often, worldly standards shape us and even shape the church. Anonymous explains:

I don’t think we realize how far we’ve come in imitating the world’s tenets of success or just how dangerous that is. I’m shocked at how easily my friends, family, church, and I have swallowed the lie–hook, line, and sinker–that true fulfillment will greet them on the other side of a PhD and a six-figure income, through a romantic comedy-esque love story, or even through leading a prominent ministry. I’m alarmed at how pride and self-promotion are permeating Christian leadership and how it seems to be seeping down the ranks: to you, to me, to our kids, and throughout our congregations. (pg. 75-76)

He moves on to focus on how servanthood should characterize us as Christians. And how very unpopular this is even among Christian ministries today. He brings up what he calls “the Joseph principle” too, when it comes to suffering. This is the idea that God is using suffering to prepare me for something mind-blowingly big. God has something better for me. But while Romans 8:28 (“All things work together for the good of those who love God…”) is true, the notion that God has something tangibly good in a worldly sense for our future isn’t necessarily the case. Anonymous asks “Will you still trust God if your ‘good’ is to go on embracing obscurity–living in simplicity and devotion to Him–your entire life?… Would you mind if your ‘good’ is only a greater understanding of the suffering Jesus went through on your behalf and mine?” (pg. 118-119).

He goes on to talk about embracing the “mystery.” Our lives and choices should seem crazy to unbelievers. “Is my life mysterious?” the author asks. “Or do I live, love and lust like the rest of the world?” (pg. 129). He brings up the example of NFL running back Glen Coffee who walked away from football after one season, because he wanted to follow God’s call on his life. Is that mysterious or what?

The book ends with a look at how to use public notoriety for Christ, when it comes unexpectedly. And how our embracing of obscurity really earns for us an eternal weight of glory in the age to come.

This book packs a punch but is written in a conversational, easy-to-read tone. It is chuck full of down-to-earth illustrations and personal vignettes. The stories of numerous individuals give meat to the skeletal principles discussed, and flesh out what it means to embrace obscurity. The book is not overly long, but the message isn’t light and trivial, so taking one’s time reading and praying through the book would be ideal. Discussion questions are included for each chapter making this perfectly suited for a small group or Sunday school.

As a Christian blogger, this book is especially convicting. I need to focus more on why I do what I do, and need to also look for the pride which so easily hides behind anything we do. I highly recommend this book and trust it will have a wide influence. The message is radical but the problem is real. Embracing Obscurity calls us to reexamine what it means to live life as strangers and pilgrims, just passing through this world on our way home.

Where to Buy:
  • Christianbook.com
  • Amazon
  • direct from Broadman & Holman.

Disclaimer:
Disclaimer: This book was provided by Brodman & Holman Publishing. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.