Scripture Studies - Vol. VI; No. 5 - June/July 1999 =================================================== In this issue: Old Testament Study - The Post-Exilic Prophets A Classic Study - Navigation Spiritualized, pt. 16, by John Flavel New Testament Study - Matthew 7:1-11 A Study for Young Christians - On the Awareness of Lifešs Frailty A Study of Wisdom - Ecclesiastes 3:12-22 Bibliography - Suggested Reading Postscript - Godšs Mysterious Ways Footnotes ---------------------------------------------------- "Scripture Studies" is edited by Scott Sperling and published ten times a year by Scripture Studies, Inc., a non-profit organization. It is distributed all over the world by postal mail and via the internet free of charge. If you would like to financially support the publication and distribution of "Scripture Studies", send contributions to: Scripture Studies Inc. 20 Pastora Foothill Ranch, CA 92610 USA Contributions are tax deductible in the United States. 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May God bless you as you study His Word. ====================================================================== Old Testament Study - The Post-Exilic Prophets ============================================== Introduction and Background --------------------------- With this article, we begin a study in the writings of the (so-called) post-exilic prophets: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. They are called "post-exilic" prophets because they ministered in Israel after the Israelites returned to the promised land from their Babylonian exile. In this article, we will review the historical background for the time that the first two of these prophets (Haggai and Zechariah) wrote. In doing so, we will quote extensively from the book of Ezra, which chronicles the history of the returning exiles. Shortly after the death of Solomon, the kingdom of Israel split into two kingdoms (see I Kings 12). The southern kingdom, also known as "Judah", was ruled by Solomon's son Rehoboam, and consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, as well as most of the Levite priests. The northern kingdom was ruled by Jeroboam, one of Solomon's former officials. The northern kingdom has been variously known as "Israel" (as it is mainly called in the books of Kings and Chronicles), "Ephraim" (because Jeroboam was an Ephraimite), and "Samaria" (for northern Israel is known as Samaria). Since the priests of God, the tribe of Levi, remained loyal to the southern kingdom, the northern kingdom quickly fell into idolatry. Jeroboam appointed his own pagan priests to be the spiritual leaders (see I Kings 12:25-33). Except for a relatively brief revival under the leadership of Jehu and Joash (see I Kings 9-12), the northern kingdom remained in idolatry and in disobedience to God. Because of their disobedience, God allowed Assyria to conquer the northern kingdom and, in 722 B.C., the Israelites were removed from Samaria and exiled to Assyria (see II Kings 17:22-23). To replace the Israelites, the king of Assyria brought people from other conquered kingdoms (Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim) to live in Samaria (see II Kings 17:24). The king of Assyria also sent back priests from Israel to teach these new inhabitants how to worship the Lord. Although these new inhabitants worshipped the Lord, they also continued to worship their own false gods from their own lands (see II Kings 17:27-34). These people became known as the Samaritans. They considered themselves to be worshippers of the True and Living God, but their religion also consisted of idolatrous practices. Thus, when later the true people of God returned from exile in Babylon, they did not allow the Samaritans to help rebuild the temple. This caused strife and opposition to the effort to rebuild the temple, as we shall see. The southern kingdom fared better than the northern kingdom, but not that much better. They went through a series of kings, some of whom were good and some of whom evil. But alas, the evil kings did more damage than the good kings did good. In the end, because of their disobedience to Him, God allowed Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (which had freed itself from Assyrian rule in 626 B.C.) to conquer the southern kingdom. In 586 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and carried away the inhabitants of the southern kingdom to exile in Babylon (see II Kings 25). Micah had prophesied that Israel and Judah would be conquered (see Micah 1), and Jeremiah had prophesied that the people of God would be exiled (see Jeremiah 25:1-10), but Jeremiah also prophesied that the exile would only last seventy years (see Jer. 25:11-12; Jer. 29:10). Furthermore, and quite astoundingly, the Lord spoke through Isaiah (who prophesied in Israel 100 years before the exile) that a man named Cyrus would conquer Babylon and allow the people of God to return to the promised land to rebuild the temple: This is what the LORD says--your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: "I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of His servants and fulfils the predictions of His messengers, who says of Jerusalem, `It shall be inhabited,' of the towns of Judah, `They shall be built,' and of their ruins, `I will restore them,' who says to the watery deep, `Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,' who says of Cyrus, `He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Let its foundations be laid."'" This is what the LORD says to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: "I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. "I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things" (Isaiah 44:24-45:7). And indeed, just as God had said it would be more than a hundred years before it happened, so it was. Darius the Mede, under Cyrus the ruler of the Medes and Persians, conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. just after the famous "writing on the wall" incident (see Dan. 5). And also, just as the Lord said through Isaiah, Cyrus allowed the people of God to return to their homeland to rebuild the temple. Ezra records: In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfil the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: `The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build a temple for Him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of His people among you--may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.'" Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites--everyone whose heart God had moved--prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-5). In 538 B.C., Zerubbabel led some 50,000 people back to the promised land (see Ezra 2). When they arrived, they enthusiastically began their work of rebuilding the Temple of God and the city of Jerusalem: When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem. Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices. Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day. After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred feasts of the LORD, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the LORD. On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, though the foundation of the LORD'S temple had not yet been laid. Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia. In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak and the rest of their brothers (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work, appointing Levites twenty years of age and older to supervise the building of the house of the LORD. Jeshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers--all Levites--joined together in supervising those working on the house of God. When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel. With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD: `He is good; His love to Israel endures forever.' And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away (Ezra 3:1-13). However, as all servants of the Lord embarking on a great work of God have experienced, they ran into opposition. The Samaritans who were living in the promised land at that time wanted to join in the work. When Zerubbabel would not let them, they stirred up trouble: When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, "Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here." But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, "You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us." Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They hired counsellors to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia (Ezra 4:1-5). Because of this sedition and intimidation, construction on the Temple languished in 530 B.C. for ten years. Then (in 520 B.C.), God raised up two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to exhort and encourage the people of God to resume work on the Temple, and finish the great work that started (see Ezra 5:1). In the book of Haggai, a brief two chapters long, we have a taste of this exhortation and encouragement. In the first chapter, Haggai exhorts the people with a strong call to rouse the people up and resume the building of the temple. In the second chapter, Haggai encourages the people in their work by telling them of the blessings and glories that God has in store for His people. In the next issue, we will study the first chapter of Haggai in detail. ====================================================================== A Classic Study - Navigation Spiritualized, pt. 16, by John Flavel ================================================================== A Classic Study by John Flavel (1628-1691) ------------------------------------------ [Here, we continue our reprint of excerpts from John Flavel's book *Navigation Spiritualized*. John Flavel was a 17th Century minister in the seaside town of Dartmouth, England. A good many of his parishioners made their living on the sea, and so Mr. Flavel wrote *Navigation Spiritualized*, a book which draws parallels between things of the sea and spiritual things.]*--Ed.* God's Word as a Compass in Life ------------------------------- *To sea without a compass none dare go:* *Our course without the Word is even so.* OBSERVATION. Of how great use and necessity is the compass to seamen! Though they can coast a little way by the shore, yet they dare not venture far into the ocean without it: it is their guide, and directs and shapes their course for them. And if by the violence of wind and weather, they are driven beside their due course, yet by the help of this they are reduced and brought to rights again. It is wonderful to consider how, by the help of this guide, they can run in a direct line many hundred leagues, and at last, fall right with the smallest island, which is in the ocean comparatively, but as the head of a small pin upon a table. APPLICATION. What the compass and all other mathematical instruments are to the navigator, that and much more is the Word of God to us in our course to heaven. This is our compass to steer our course by, and it is truly touched: he that orders his conversation by it shall safely arrive in heaven at last. "As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them and mercy" (Gal. 4:16). This Word is as necessary to us in our way to glory, as a lamp or lantern is in a dark night (see Ps. 119:105), that is a light shining in a dark place, till the day, dawn, and the day-star arise in our hearts (see II Pet. 1:19). If any that profess to know it and own it as a rule, miss heaven at last, let them not blame the Word for misguiding them, but their own negligent and deceitful hearts, that shuffle in and out, and shape not their course and conversation according to its prescriptions. What blame can you lay upon the compass, if you steer not exactly by it? How many are there that, neglecting this rule, will coast in to heaven by their own reason? No wonder such fall short and perish in the way. This is a faithful guide, and brings all that follow it to a blessed end: "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory" (Ps. 73:24). The whole hundred and nineteenth psalm is spent in commendation of its transcendent excellency and usefulness. Luther professed that he prized it so highly, that he would not take the whole world in exchange for one leaf of it. Lay but this rule before you, and walk accurately by it, and you cannot be out of your way to heaven: "I have chosen the way of truth, (or the true way); thy judgment have I laid before me" (Ps. 119:30). Some indeed have opened their detracting blasphemous mouths against it; as Julian, that vile apostate, who feared not to say, there was as good matter in Phocillides as in Solomon, in Pindarus's odes, as in David's psalms. [There are many who] generally slight it, making it a lame, imperfect rule; yea, making their own traditions the touchstone of doctrines, and foundation of faith. Montanus tells us that, although the apostle would have sermons and service celebrated in a known tongue, yet the church, for very good cause, hath otherwise ordered it. Gilford called it the mother of heresies. Bonner's chaplain judged it worthy to be burnt as a strange doctrine. They set up their inventions above it, and frequently come in with a *non obstante* against Christ's institutions. And thus do they make it void, or, as it says in Matt. 15:6, unlord it, and take away its authority as a rule. But those that have thus slighted it, and followed the by-paths unto which their corrupt hearts have led them, they take not hold of the paths of life, and are now in the depths of hell. All other lights to which men pretend, in the neglect of this, are but false fires that will lead men into the pits and bogs of destruction at last. REFLECTION. And is Thy Word a compass, to direct my course to glory? O where am I then like to arrive at last, that my course have neglected it, and steered according to the counsel of my own heart! Lord, I have not made Thy Word the man of my council, but consulted with flesh and blood; I have not enquired at this oracle, nor studied it, and made it the guide of my way, but walked after the sight of my eyes, and the lust of my heart. Whither, Lord! can I come at last, but to hell, after this way of reckoning? Some have slighted Thy Word professedly, and I have slighted it practically. I have a poor soul embarked for eternity; it is now floating on a dangerous ocean, rocks and sands on every side, and I go a-drift before every wind of temptation, and know not where I am. Ah, Lord! Convince me of the danger of this condition. O convince me of my ignorance in Thy Word, and the fatal consequence and issue thereof. Lord, let me now resolve to study, prize, and obey it; hide it in my heart, that I may not sin against it. Open my understanding, that I may understand the Scriptures; open my heart to entertain it in love. O Thou that hast been so gracious to give a perfect rule, give me also a perfect heart to walk by that rule to glory! ====================================================================== New Testament Study - Matthew 7:1-11 ==================================== A Judgmental Attitude --------------------- 1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, `Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." --------------- Jesus continues His teachings to His disciples with another warning: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (vss. 1-2). Here Jesus is continuing where He left off in Matt. 6:18, with another common example of hypocrisy: some have a judgmental attitude concerning others, when they themselves need to get their own houses in order. We must be careful to understand these verses in context. They are often misunderstood and misapplied. These verses are favorites of unbelievers, who are quick to throw them in the face of believers who defend the law of God. "Obviously men make false use of this [teaching] when they would make it a pretext to remove from the scene all discrimination between good and evil."[1] Jesus is not saying that it is wrong, under any circumstances, to form an unfavorable opinion on the behavior of others. Such a statement would contradict many other parts of the Bible. For instance, in I Cor. 5:2, Paul scolds the Corinthian church for not putting out of their fellowship a brother who is in sexual sin. Paul himself makes very strong judgments concerning the teachings of others (see Gal. 1:8-9; Phil. 3:2,18-19). In fact, as if to prevent such a misreading of this passage, Jesus follows this teaching in verse 6 (as we shall see) with a command to use our judgment in deciding whom to preach the Gospel to. Then also, later in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives a procedure we are to follow when we have been wronged by a brother, a procedure that requires making judgments: "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that `every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector" (Matt. 18:15-17). Such a procedure--to "show him his fault", and in the end, to "treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector"--requires that a judgment be made. So, to reconcile the teaching here in Matthew 7 with the other teachings in the Bible, we must look very carefully at the context of the teachings here. And we don't have to look very far. If we read the entire passage (verses 1 through 5), we see clearly that Jesus is not commanding against judgment in any and all circumstances, but rather, He is warning against hypocritical judgment. His warning is that "in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged" (vs. 2). And so, if you are quick to magnify the trifling offenses of others, if you are in the habit making rash and hasty judgments with few facts to support them, if you condemn behavior of others that is not condemned in the Bible, God will see to it that these same standards of judgment be applied to you. Great care should be taken when passing judgment upon others. Jesus is telling us to look at our own lives first: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, `Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye" (vss. 3-5). As Spurgeon comments: "The judging faculty is best employed at home."[2] Jesus here expresses the importance of clearness of vision when judging others. If there is a plank in your own eye, you may very well be mis-seeing the speck in your brother's. "Casting out the [plank] will make us more clear-sighted, more sympathetic, and more skillful, in casting out the [speck]."[3] And, note well, that Jesus does not say to ignore the speck in your brother's eye. He says "first" take the plank out of your own eye, "then" you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. "The would-be helper's first priority must be to remove the obstacle to clearsightedness from his own eye. That done, he is equipped to bring aid to his brother. We should not overlook the point that the speck is to be removed... It is not unimportant that even this small defect be rectified."[4] Discernment ----------- 6 "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces." --------------- Jesus next warns: "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces" (vs. 6). To understand more clearly what Jesus is saying here, we must understand how people of that time thought of "dogs" and "pigs": "The `pigs' are not only unclean animals but wild and vicious, capable of savage action against a person. `Dogs' must not be thought of as household pets: in the Scriptures they are normally wild, associated with what is unclean... The two animals serve together as a picture of what is vicious, unclean, and abominable."[5] In general, of course, it is a godly and admirable thing to speak of the "sacred" and share the gospel. But there are times when it is inappropriate, and counterproductive. "Everything is beautiful in its place and season. Our zeal is to be tempered by a prudent consideration of times, places, and persons."[6] There are those who would use your sharing of the gospel as an opportunity to "trample it under their feet", to vilify the glorious Gospel, and to mock our Lord. It would be unwise to speak of holy things to such people in the presence of others who may be influenced by the rantings of the unholy. "Some persons do harm by expressing, in mixed society, those intimate feelings of personal Christian experience with which only the devout can sympathize."[7] Then again, there are some who react with violence to things sacred, who "turn and tear you to pieces." We are informed here, mercifully, that the Lord does not call us to endure their abuse over and over. And yet, we should ever look for openings, ever look for the times when the "pigs" or "dogs" turn tame. A "dog" may come with a thorn in his foot, and need a word of comfort; a "pig" may come spiritually hungry, in need of food that feeds the soul. "There is a time for everything... [God] has made everything beautiful in its time" (Eccl. 3:1,11). In the matter of speaking of godly things, and spreading the gospel, it is far better to err on the side of zeal than of caution. "Let your light shine before men" (Matt. 5:16). A wise strategy is to "make the trial, and then continue our labors or not according to the results and prospects."[8] Our Lord later taught His disciples such a strategy when he sent them out to spread the gospel: "Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town" (Matt. 10:11-14). And later, Paul and Barnabas used such a strategy: "On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying. Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: `We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles'" (Acts 13:44-46). Prayer ------ 7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!" --------------- Given the difficulty of the teachings in verses 1 through 6, the teaching here in verses 7 through 11 concerning prayer is very timely: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (vs. 7). More beautiful words than these do not exist in all of literature. Of course, much of their beauty lie in the fact that these words come from our Lord, who is speaking God's truth concerning the efficacy of prayer. What a gracious, loving God we have! Why do we skimp on our prayer life? We have a God who is willing and eager to answer our prayers. Here, our Lord Jesus is practically begging us to pray! "What pains the Savior takes to make us pray! And His word is crowded with gracious invitations and precious promises, such as ought to conquer all our unbelief, and fill us with joyful trust in coming to God."[9] Note well Jesus' next words: "For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened" (vs. 8). Note that He said "everyone". God won't turn anyone away. He will answer the prayers of "everyone". Yet, though Jesus makes no qualifications based on person, He does make the following qualification concerning answers to prayer: God is a loving Father, so He will not give you what is harmful: "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!" (vs. 9-11). Since God is a loving Father, if we as His children unwittingly ask for what looks to us is a loaf of "bread", but is really a "stone", God will not give us the stone. And if we ask for what looks to us is a "fish", but really is a "snake", God will not give us that. No loving father would do such a thing. We, even in our fallen nature, know this. "Bad as our fallen nature is, the *father* in us is not extinguished."[10] ====================================================================== A Study for Young Christians - On the Awareness of Lifešs Frailty ================================================================= A Classic Study by Richard Baxter (1615-1691) --------------------------------------------- [Here we continue our reprint of Chapter 2 from Richard Baxter's classic tome *A Christian Directory*.11 This chapter consists of twenty directions to (as Mr. Baxter says) "young Christians or beginners in religion, for their establishment and safe proceeding." Though these studies were written specifically for "young" Christians, I think that you will find (as I have), there is much in here worthy of meditation also for those who have been walking with God for many years.]--*Ed.* Direction XIX - On the Awareness of Life's Frailty -------------------------------------------------- Promise not yourselves long life, or prosperity and great matters in the world, lest it entangle your hearts with transitory things, and engage you in ambitious or covetous designs, and steal away your hearts from God, and destroy all your serious apprehensions of eternity. Our own experience, and the alterations which the approach of death makes upon the most, doth sensibly prove that the expectation of a speedy change, and reckoning upon a short life, doth greatly help us in all our preparation, and in all the work of holiness through our lives. Come to a man that lieth on his death-bed, or a prisoner that is to die tomorrow, and try him with discourse of riches, or honours, temptations to lust, or drunkenness, or excess, and he will think you are mad, or very impertinent to tell him of such things. If he be but a man of common reason, you shall see that he will more easily vilify such temptations than any religion persons will do in their prosperity and health. Oh how serious are we in repenting and perusing our former lives, and casting up our accounts, and asking what we shall do to be saved, when we see that death is indeed at hand and time is at an end, and we must away! Every sentence of Scripture hath then some life and power in it; every word of exhortation is savoury to us; every reproof of our negligence and sin is then well taken; every thought of sin, or Christ, or grace, or eternity, goes then to the quick. Then time seems precious; and if you ask a man whether it be better spent in cards and dice, and plays and feastings, and needless recreations and idleness, or in prayer, and holy conference, and reading and meditating on the word of God and the life to come, and the holy use of our lawful labours: how easily will he be satisfied of the truth, and confute the cavils of voluptuous time-wasters! Then his judgment will more easily be in the right, than learning or arguments before could make it. In a word, the expectation of the speedy approach of the soul into the presence of the eternal God, and of our entering into an unchangeable, endless life of joy or torment, hath so much in it to awaken all the powers of the soul, that if ever we will be serious, it will make us serious in every thought, and speech, and duty. And therefore, as it is a great mercy of God that this life, which is so short, should be as uncertain, and that frequent dangers and sicknesses call to us to look about us and be ready for our change, so usually the sickly, that look for death, are most considerate; and it is a great part of the duty of those that are in youth and health to consider their frailty, and the shortness and uncertainty of their lives, and always live as those that wait for the coming of their Lord. And we have great reason for it when we are certain it will be ere long; and when we have so many perils and weaknesses to warn us, and when we are never sure to see another hour, and when time is so swift, so quickly gone, so unrecoverable, and nothing when it is past. Common reason requireth such to live in a constant readiness to die. But if youth or health do once make you reckon of living long, and make you put away the day of your departure as if it were far off, this will do much to deceive and dull the best, and take away the power of every truth, and the life of every good thought and duty, and all will be apt to dwindle into customariness and form. You will hardly keep the faculties of the soul awake, if you do not still think of death and judgment as near at hand. The greatest certainty of the greatest change, and the greatest joy or misery forever, will not keep our stupid hearts awake, unless we look at all as near, as well as certain. This is plain in the common difference that we find among all men, between their thoughts of death in health, and when they see indeed that they must presently die. They that in health could think and talk of death with laughter, or lightly, without any awakening of soul, when they come to die are oftentimes as much altered as if they had never heard before that they are mortal. By which it is plain, that to live in the house of mirth is more dangerous than to live in the house of mourning; and that the expectation of long life is a grievous enemy to the operations of grace, and the safety of the soul. And it is one of the greatest strengtheners of your temptations to luxury, ambition, worldliness, and almost every sin. When men think that they shall have many years' leisure to repent, they are apt the more boldly to transgress; when they think that they have yet many years to live, it tempteth them to pass away time in idleness, and to loiter in their race, and trifle in all their work, and to overvalue all the pleasures, and honours, and shadows of felicity that are here below. He that hath his life in his house or land, or hath it for inheritance, will set more by it, and bestow more upon it, than if he thought he must go out of it the next year. To a man that thinks of living many years, the favour of great ones, the raising of his estate, and name, and family, and the accommodations and pleasing of his flesh, will seem great matters to him, and will do much with him, and will make self-denial a very hard work. Therefore, though health be a wonderful great mercy, as enabling him to duty that hath a heart to use it to that end; yet it is by accident a very great danger and snare to the heart itself, to turn it from the way of duty. The best life for the soul is that which least endangereth it by being over pleasing to the body, and in which the flesh hath the smallest interest to set up and plead against the Spirit. Not but that the largest stock must be accepted and used for God, when He trusteth us with it; for when He setteth us the hardest work, we may expect His greatest help. But a dwelling as in tents, in a constant unsettledness, in a movable condition, having little, and needing little, never feeling any thing in the creature to tempt us to say, "Soul, take thy rest", this is to most the safest life, which giveth us the freest advantages for heaven. Take heed therefore, as you love your souls, of falling into the snare of worldly hopes, and laying designs for rising, and riches, and pleasing yourselves in the thoughts and prosecution of these things, for then you are in the readiest way to perdition: even to idolatrous worldliness, and apostasy of heart from God, and opening a door to every sin that seems but necessary to your worldly ends, and to odious hypocrisy for a cloak to all this, and to quiet your guilty minds with something that is like religion. When once you are saying, with worldly security, as he: "I will pull down my barns, and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and goods; and I will say to my soul, `Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry'" (Luke 12:17-19), you are then befooling yourselves, and near being called away as fools by death, (see Luke 12:20, 21). And when, without a sense of the uncertainty of your lives, you are saying, as those in James 4:13,14: "Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain, whereas you know not what will be on the morrow," you forget what your lives are, that they are "vapour appearing a little while, and then vanishing away," (James 4:14). "Boast not thyself therefore of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth," (Prov. 27:1). ====================================================================== A Study of Wisdom - Ecclesiastes 3:12-22 ======================================== The Limits of Human Wisdom -------------------------- 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere Him. 15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account. 16 And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment--wickedness was there; in the place of justice--wickedness was there. 17 I thought in my heart, "God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed." 18 I also thought, "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" 22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him? --------------- In the previous study, Eccl. 3:1-11, Solomon enumerated the events and activities of life, each of which has its time and season under heaven. At the end, Solomon contrasted the human viewpoint with the heavenly point of view concerning the activities of life. From the viewpoint of human wisdom, Solomon asked, as he had earlier in the book, "What does the worker gain from his toil?", and then noted, "I have seen the burden God has laid on men" (Eccl. 3:9-10). But then, from the heavenly point of view, Solomon noted, as we see at the beginning of the passage above: "He has made everything beautiful in its time." (vs. 11). Solomon goes on: "He has also set eternity in the hearts of men" (vs. 11). God has given men reasoning abilities far beyond those of any other creature on earth. Man has the ability to look beyond the drudgery of individual activities in life, and to deduce that there is an overriding purpose to what goes on. This "eternity in [his] heart" gives man "a deep seated desire, a compulsive drive (because man is made in the image of God) to appreciate the beauty of creation (on an aesthetic level); to know the character, composition, and meaning of the world (on an academic and philosophical level); and to discern its purpose and destiny (on a theological level)... Man has an inborn inquisitiveness and capacity to learn how everything in his experience can be integrated to make a whole."[12] Man realizes that there is more than just "here and now", but that there is an eternal purpose. Yes, God has "set eternity in the hearts of men; yet" (as Solomon continues) "they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end" (vs. 11). Though we have a sense that there is an eternal purpose, we, in our fallen state, "cannot fathom" the workings of God in their entirety: in our fallen state, we cannot take full advantage of the reasoning abilities we have been given. Despite the "eternity in our hearts", we still are not able to comprehend, in their full beauty, the great plans and purposes of God. Though we cannot understand His purposes fully, we can still have faith that He is in control, and that He will bring about His purposes. Such a faith can, and should, lead to contentment in life. Solomon notes: "I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God" (vss. 12-13). Contentment with what God has given us is the key to happiness in life. Paul teaches that "godliness with contentment is great gain" (I Tim. 6:6). Why do we strive for things beyond what God wants us to have? Do we not believe that God is doing what is best for us? And since He does what is best for us, He must at times, for our own good, withhold from us things we desire. There are two ways we can respond to this. We can become angry with God, and cry out, "Why can't I have what I want?" Or, we can accept that God knows what is best in the great scheme of things, accept that we "cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end", and be content with all the great blessings He does give us: "This is the gift of God." To not be content with what God wills for us is foolish, because to fight against God is futile, as Solomon notes: "I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere Him" (vs. 14). In contrast to man's futile labors (see Eccl. 2:17), what God does "will endure forever." This realization should turn us to God. "God does it so that men will revere Him." It only makes sense to seek the favor of the One who is in control. From the complete sovereignty of God, we can infer a complete consistency and determinism of His laws, both physical and moral: "Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account" (vs. 15). "The government of God is not to be changed, and does not change; His creative as well as His moral ordering of the world produces with the same laws the same phenomena."[13] This is the basis of science, the consistency of God's physical laws: "Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before." The same cause produces the same effect. All elements of technology depend on the consistency and determinism of God's physical laws. And just as God's physical laws are consistent and enduring, so His moral laws will not pass away: "...and God will call the past to account." There is a difference, though. Violations of God's physical laws have an immediate consequence: if you jump off a building, you *will* hit the ground. However, because of God's longsufffering mercy, violations of God's moral laws at times go unpunished. But be assured, this situation will not last forever: "God will call the past to account." Solomon notes by observation that the consequences of violating God's moral law are suspended in many cases: "And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment--wickedness was there; in the place of justice--wickedness was there" (vs. 16). Yet because "everything God does will endure forever" (vs. 14), Solomon concludes: "God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed" (vs. 17). God will balance the scales. In the end, God will make things right. "There will be a time" when God's perfect justice will be fulfilled. As mentioned, it is in God's mercy that He forestalls immediate judgment for wrongs committed. If God's judgment was instantaneous, there would be no room for repentance, no place for grace. As for Solomon, he did not see the complete manifestation of God's grace. He lived long before the instrument of God's grace, Jesus Christ, came into the world. And so Solomon concluded that the certain eventuality of the fulfillment of God's justice means doom for man: "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" (vss. 18-21). Solomon assumed that because God's justice will triumph, there is no hope for man. Though created as a superior being to animals, though God had "set eternity in the hearts of men" (vs. 11), man rebelled against God, and brought himself down, through his rebellion, to the level of the animals. So Solomon concluded that "man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both." Solomon desired a better conclusion. He appealed for one. He asked, "Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" Solomon could not find a way that, given the fact that "God will call the past to account", man's fate could be any better than the animals, because, frankly, man deserves no better fate than to "return to dust". But where Solomon failed, God succeeded. God in His great wisdom and mercy devised a way that the spirit of sinful man could "rise upward", yet God's justice be intact. God sent His Son to take the penalty for man's rebellion against God, in order that man may be cleansed of his sins and be reconciled to God. Man's fate is *not* like that of the animals. Through Jesus Christ, the spirit of man "rises upward." ====================================================================== Bibliography - Suggested Reading ================================ Baldwin, Joyce G. *Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi*. Downer's Grove, IL:Inter-Varsity, 1972. Baron, David. *Commentary on Zechariah*. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1989. (Originally published in 1918). Baxter, Richard. *A Christian Directory*. Edmonton, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books. (Originally published in 1673). Boice, James Montgomery. *The Minor Prophets*. 2 Vols. in 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1983. Broadus, John. *Commentary on Matthew*. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1990. (Originally published in 1886). Bridges, Charles. *A Commentary on Ecclesiastes*. Edinbrugh: Banner of Truth, 1992. (Originally published in 1860). Calvin, John. *A Minor Prophets, Vol. V.* Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1986. (Originally published in 1559). Calvin, John. *A Harmony of the Gospels*. 3 Vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdman's, 1972. (Originally published in Latin in 1555). Carson, D. A. "Matthew" from *The Expositor's Bible Commentary*, Vol. VIII, ed. by Frank Gaebelein. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984. Feinberg, Charles L. *The Minor Prophets*. Chicago: Moody Press, 1990. (Originally published 1952). Flavel, John. *Navigation Spiritualized* from *The Works of John Flavel*, Vol. V, pg. 206ff. Reprint Edition. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1968. (Originally published ca. 1670). Hubbard, David. *Mastering the Old Testament: Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon*. Dallas: Word, 1991. Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, A. R.; Brown, David. *A Commentary: Critical, Experimental, and Practical on the Old and New Testaments.* 3 Vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdman's, 1993. (Originally published in 1866). Kaiser, Walter. *Ecclesiastes: Total Life*. Chicago:Moody, 1979. Kaiser, Walter. *Mastering the Old Testament: Micah-Malachi*. Dallas: Word, 1992. Keil, Carl & Delitzsch, Franz. *Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament.* Reprint Edition. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971. (Originally published ca. 1880). Kidner, Derek. *The Message of Ecclesiastes*. Downer's Grove, IL:Inter-Varsity, 1976. Laney, J. Carl. *Zechariah*. Chicago: Moody Press, 1984. Leupold, H. C. *Exposition of Zechariah*. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1965. Nisbet, Alexander. *An Exposition with Practical Observations upon the Book of Ecclesiastes. *Reprint Edition. Edmonton, Alberta: Still Waters Revival Books, 1998. (Originally published in 1694). Morgan, G. Campbell. *The Gospel According to Matthew*. Reprint Edition. Grand Rapids: Revell, 1992. Morris, Leon. *The Gospel According to Matthew.* Grand Rapids: Eerdman's, 1992. Moore, T.V. *A Commentary on Zechariah. *Reprint Edition. Edmonton, Alberta: Still Waters Revival Books, 1998. (Originally published in 1856). Ryle, J. C. * Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew.* Reprint Edition. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1986. Spurgeon, Charles. *The Gospel of Matthew*. Reprint Edition. Grand Rapids: Revell, 1987. Wiersbe, Warren. *Be Satisfied*. Wheaton, IL:Victor Books, 1990. ====================================================================== Postscript - Godšs Mysterious Ways ================================== "God's ways [in carrying out His will] are very remarkable. So far as we can see, He often works without means. Perceiving no causes in operation, we expect no effects. Seeing no disease, we expect no death. Not looking for a casualty, it finds us unprovided with remedies, and we are ready to be swallowed up. As we begin to give up all hope, God steps in and relieves us. When He chooses, He dispenses with all means. He did so when He made the world. He has often done so since...Will God save Rome from pillage? It shall be done by the cackling of geese. Has a man's appointed time upon earth expired? The sting of a bee, the scratch of a pin, a crumb of bread, or a vernal zephyr shall be the means of his death. Will God prolong the life of Hezekiah? A lump of figs shall have healing efficacy. Will He raise up a wonderful nation? It shall be from a man, whose body was dead, he being about an hundred years old, and the womb of his wife dead also (Rom. 4:19). Moreover God often works contrary to means. How much malpractice in medicine does He provide against, and thus restore the patient! How many blunders in His ministers does He overrule for good! Christ would give sight to a blind man. He makes clay, puts it on his eyes as if to make him more blind, but he is healed. A terrible fall dislocates a joint. The bone is not put fairly back into its place. Years of lameness and suffering succeed. A second fall, worse that the first, jars the frame, jeopards life, but restores the bone to its socket, and soon the man walks and leaps and praises God. By death, God destroyed him that had the power of death. God often works contrary to the natural tendency of means." -- William Plumer (1802-1880) ====================================================================== Footnotes: ========== [1] John Calvin, The Harmony of the Gospels, Vol. I, pg. 225. [2] C. H. Spurgeon, The Gospel of Matthew, pg. 78. [3] John Broadus, Commentary on Matthew, pg. 162. [4] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew, pg. 167. [5] D. A. Carson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Vol. VIII, pg. 185. [6] J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, pg. 63. [7] John Broadus, op. cit., pg. 158. [8] Ibid. [9] Ibid. [10] Jamiesson, Fausset, Brown, A Commentary, Vol. V, pg. 47. 11 All Scripture citations in this study are taken from the King James Version. [12] Walter Kaiser, Ecclesiastes: Total Life, pg. 66. [13] Keil & Delitzsch, on Ecclesiastes, pg. 264.