Not Only What, But Also Why

Dinner time discussion in Christian homes should be rich and upbuilding. One important way for this to come to pass is for the head, the man, to lead in discussions intentionally. Give direction. Oftentimes we Christians will discuss, as we live in the world, the things wrong with the world. We are very good at describing the what that's out there. But we're not as good at describing the why of what's out there.

So try this, men: when you are discussing what is wrong in the world, ask the why question. Why is it that way? Why do unbelievers do this or that? Why does he or she believe this, or why do they practice that? Try it. You're digging deeper: you're asking worldview and worship questions; you're discerning doctrinal and religious commitments. You're thinking Christianly.

The God of the Thunderbolt

Expounding Psalm 29, C. H. Spurgeon speaks sanely of God's wondrous works in the world:

"Natural causes, as men call them, are God in action, and we must not ascribe power to them, but to the infinite Invisible who is the true source of all."

And,

"Thunder is in truth no mere electric phenomenon, but is caused by the interposition of God himself. Even the old heathen spake of Jupiter Tonans; but our modern wise men will have us believe in laws and forces, and anything or nothing so that they may be rid of God."

—C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, vol. 1, part 2, pp. 29-30. 


We need to see more of what Spurgeon saw in this glorious theater, which we call the universe, and we need to give glory to the God who governs all things after the counsel of his will, no exceptions whatever. Our God, Father, Son, and Spirit, he reigns. Our God is the God of the thunderbolt.

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 35

We read in 1 Chronicles 29 of the freewill offerings of the people of Israel for the temple project. Apparently, they gave rather wonderfully. For David blessed the LORD (1 Chr. 29:10) that the people offered so freely with a whole heart (1 Chr. 29:9). It seems that David blessed YHWH for the riches and strength of the people who offered, for YHWH rules over all (v. 12).

David then seems to be more explicit about why the people offered freely. He is certainly acknowledging that the wealth they offered was from YHWH's hand (v. 16). But he seems to be saying more than this in v. 14: "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own we have given you." Is David saying that the LORD put this in their hearts? It surely seems so. Included in the "all things" is their willingness to give generously. And it seems to be a separate point than that their treasures are from YHWH, for he says "and of your own we have given you" (1 Chr. 29:14). Moreover, he goes on to pray that YHWH would "keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you" (v. 18). If he keeps such there, in their hearts, presumably YHWH put such there, in their hearts, in the first place! Bless the LORD! Do it again, LORD! To us! For your name's sake!

So again we see that YHWH is sovereign over the hearts of men. And when we do good, it is his doing, and so we ought to thank and praise and bless him for it. "Not unto to us, O LORD, not unto us, but to your name give glory" (Ps. 115:1).

Edwards' Trinitarianism

Here is a good summary of Jonathan Edwards' trinitarianism from his Discourse on the Trinity (Works, vol. 21, Yale, 131):

This I suppose to be that blessed Trinity that we read of in the holy Scriptures. The Father is the Deity subsisting in the prime, unoriginated and most absolute manner, or the Deity in its direct existence. The Son is the Deity generated by God's understanding, or having an idea of himself, and subsisting in that idea. The Holy Ghost is the Deity subsisting in act, or the divine essence flowing out and breathed forth, in God's infinite love to and delight in himself. And I believe the whole divine essence does truly and distinctly subsist both in the divine idea and divine love, and that therefore each of them are properly distinct persons.

I think that there are more biblical foundations in Edwards' understanding of the Trinity than is sometimes supposed. I wonder if he's not be heard as he ought regarding certain angles on the Trinity in Scripture that have not been noted enough. I'm less sure about Edwards' philosophical foundations, although even here it seems to me that he always attempts to think within the conceptual world of the Scriptures. His brief Discourse on the Trinity is certainly worth reading and pondering. At the very least, one comes away appreciating texts that are plainly trinitarian but perhaps too often overlooked.

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 34

A striking recounting of Saul's death is retold in 1 Chronicles 10. Striking, because we're told two truths side by side: that Saul killed himself (1 Chr. 10:4); and that YHWH took his life (1 Chr. 10:13-14). Saul's breach of faith with the LORD ultimately ends in suicide—a suicide wherein YHWH is said to have put Saul to death! That's what the text says! Read it carefully, and again I say, Behold your God! And again I say, Bow low in worship before him! He is Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all.

We read of the same sort of thing again in the case of Judas. He went out and hung himself after betraying the Son of God (Mt. 27:5). For the Scriptures had predicted this, and the Scriptures must be fulfilled (Jn. 13:18-19, 25-27; cf. Acts 1:16). This all happened that we might know that Jesus is YHWH (Jn. 13:19; see the Greek), and YHWH is the uncontested Lord who alone rules human history.

The Threefold Office of the Holy Spirit

How might one summarize succinctly the work of the Holy Spirit? In his Discourse on the Trinity, Jonathan Edwards does well, I believe. He says that the office, or work, of the Holy Spirit is threefold: "to quicken, enliven, and beautify all things; to sanctify intelligent creatures; and to comfort and delight them."

First, "He quickens and beautifies all things. So we read that 'the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters' (Gen. 1:2).

Second, the Spirit "sanctifies created spirits, that is, he gives them divine love: for the Scripture teaches us that all holiness and true grace and virtue is resolvable into that, as its universal spring and principle. . . . It is the office of the person that is God's love to communicate divine love to the creature. In so doing, God's Spirit or love doth but communicate of himself." Here Edwards cites 1 Jn. 4:12-13; Jn. 14:16-18; 17:26;  2 Cor. 6:6; Rom. 5:5; 8:9-10; 15:30; Phil. 2:1; Gal. 5:13-16; Col. 1:8.

Third, the last office of the Holy Spirit "is to comfort and delight the souls of God's people." Here Edwards cites Acts 9:31; 13:52; Rom. 14:7; 1 Thess. 1:6.

—Jonathan Edwards, "Discourse on the Trinity," Works, vol. 21, pp. 123-126. 

Holy Sonnet X

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

—John Donne (1572-1631)

God's Holiness: God's Infinite Love To Himself

Q: What is God's holiness?

A: God's holiness consists in "God's infinite love to himself. . . . As all creature holiness is to be resolved into love, as the Scripture teaches us, so doth the holiness of God himself consist in infinite love to himself. God's holiness is the infinite beauty and excellency of his nature. And God's holiness consists in his love to himself. . . ."

—Jonathan Edwards, "Discourse on the Trinity," Works, vol. 21, p. 123.

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 33

A strong statement of God's sovereignty and of free human agency comes to us in 1 Chr. 6:15: "YHWH sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar." YHWH does the sending. Clearly. But Nebuchadnezzer's hand is involved. Clearly. So who is responsible for the exile? Answer: YHWH (as primary agent) and Nebuchadnezzar (as secondary agent). YHWH uses Nebuchadnezzar as a tool. But there's a difference between using a tool as a tool and using a person as a tool. And so this metaphor breaks down at certain points. All metaphors do. Nebuchadnezzer is a tool in YHWH's hands, but he's not exacly like a tool since he's personal. And persons make free choices. We see this everywhere in the Bible.

And maybe we shouldn't even use the tool metaphor (although Scripture itself does), since we're given a metaphor in the text that points up the point. It is "by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar" that YHWH sends his people into exile. Who has control of that hand? Well, all of us would say, the body and head to which the hand is attached. Right? Right. But. But God. God rules over that hand. So says the text.

So Nebuchadnezzar freely chose to oppress Judah; he felt no constraint whatsoever in doing this. However, ultimately God was behind it. How he was behind it, let no one pretend otherwise, is shrouded in mystery. And so we're left with tension. But we're not left doubting that God rules over men's decisions and actions. And we're also not left wondering why God would use a wicked king to take his people into a foreign land: for "Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their breach of faith" (1 Chr. 9:1).

A Submissive Woman in the White House?

Pastor Doug Wilson's post addressing Michelle Bachmann's flubbing the questions coming her way regarding submission ought to be read widely. We need to think like Christians regarding these issues, and we need to respond with backbone and shrewdness. Bachmann, for all her talk about having a titanium spine, rather leaves us doubting whether she can stand firm. And many of us are wondering about her husband's spine, too. If any is to vote for Bachmann, her husband needs to be taken into account. And what kind of man is he?

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 32

Now we find ourselves in Chronicles in this series of posts on "Calvinism Everywhere." And I want to point to two answered prayers and two military moves in the opening genealogical lists.

First, there is the now famous (made famous infamously) prayer of Jabez (1 Chr. 4:9-10). We're not told much about Jabez. But we are told that he "was more honorable than his brothers" (v. 9). Presumably this is because he "called upon the God of Israel" (v. 10). He seems to have prayed for three things: the blessing of an enlarged border; that God's hand might be with him; and that God would protect him from evil. And the text tells us: "And God granted what he asked" (v. 10). Now consider what sort of God the Lord must be to grant these requests. We often don't dwell on such; but doing so should open our eyes. If he's not the Lord of all history, he could grant none of these.

The same is true for the second prayer, this time found in chapter five in a brief section on the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh (1 Chr. 5:18ff). These tribes, we're told (v. 18), had valiant men who were warriors, carrying shield and sword, drawing the bow, expert in war. They waged war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab (v. 19). They "prevailed over them" as YHWH gave them "into their hands" (v. 20). Why? "For they cried out to God in the battle, and he granted their urgent plea because they trusted in him." Again, I ask, what sort of God must YHWH be to be able to grant such urgent pleas? If he were not sovereign of all, he could grant no such thing. And so "many fell, because the war was of God" (v. 22). And this "war of God" is the first of what I mentioned above as "military moves." God's military moves.

The second "military move" came when Manasseh "broke faith with the God of their fathers, and whored after the gods of the peoples of the land . . ." (1 Chr. 5:25). The divine reaction to this idolatry: "So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of Tiglath-pilesar king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh . . ." (1 Chr. 5:26).

Here it is again. We've seen this before. The God of the spirits of all flesh moves man in military might against a rebellious people. Is this divine coercion? Are the determinists right after all? Of course not. We've got a whole canon to keep us from such conclusions. God is utterly sovereign everywhere at all times; and man is completely responsible for his free choices. Scripture makes these tandem realities crystal clear. Let's live with the mystery, live with the tensions, live without full comprehension. But, for the glory of God, for the display of his excellencies, for the worship of his name, let's never, under any circumstances, deny his absolute dominion over all, in all, and through all.

God is Love

Commenting on 1 Jn. 4:16, Jonathan Edwards says this of the Spirit:

The Apostle tells us that 'God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.' Which confirms not only that the divine nature subsists in love, but also that this love is the Spirit: for it is the Spirit of God by which God dwells in his saints, as the Apostle had observed in the thirteenth verse, and as we are abundantly taught in the New Testament. 

—Jonathan Edwards, "Discourse on the Trinity," Works, vol. 21, pp. 109-144.

Bibline Blood

Charles Spurgeon:

Oh, that you and I might get into the very heart of the Word of God, and get that Word into ourselves! As I have seen the silkworm eat into the leaf, and consume it, so ought we to do with the Word of the Lord—not crawl over its surface, but eat right into it till we have taken it into our inmost parts. It is idle merely to let the eye glance over the words, or to recollect the poetical expressions, or the historic facts; but it is blessed to eat into the very soul of the Bible until, at last, you come to talk in Scriptural language, and your very style is fashioned upon Scripture models, and, what is better still, your spirit is flavored with the words of the Lord.

I would quote John Bunyan as an instance of what I mean. Read anything of his, and you will see that it is almost like the reading the Bible itself. He had read it till his very soul was saturated with Scripture; and, though his writings are charmingly full of poetry, yet he cannot give us his Pilgrim’s Progress—that sweetest of all prose poems — without continually making us feel and say, “Why, this man is a living Bible!” Prick him anywhere—his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his very soul is full of the Word of God. I commend his example to you, beloved.

—”Mr. Spurgeon as a Literary Man,” in The Autobiography of Charles H. Spurgeon, Compiled from His Letters, Diaries, and Records by His Wife and Private Secretary, vol. 4, 1878-1892 (Curtis & Jennings, 1900), p. 268.


HT: Justin Taylor

Is Wright Right?

Here's an assertion made by N. T. Wright regarding common readings of the gospels: "Many 'Christian' readings of the gospels have screened out the political overtones of Jesus' proclamation of the kingdom. . ." (The New Testament and the People of God, 149). I believe Wright is right on this one.

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 31

Rounding off the book of Kings, I want to begin with an assertion about the book from Richard Hess: "Foremost in the book of Kings is the reign of the single God of Israel" (Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament, ed. Kevin Vanhoozer, 119). Hess then adds, "The final grand statement of God's sovereignty is that of 2 Kings 17, where the author reflects on the fall of the northern kingdom, attributing it to the worship of other dieties and the abandonment of the one true God of Israel" (120). God reigns, as noted many a time in earlier posts, not only in salvation but also in judgment. And so for her treachery, Israel goes into exile under Assyrian domination (2 Kgs. 15:29; 17:6).

The God who can touch a king and make him a leper (2 Kgs. 15:5) is the God who can call for the reigning superpower to be "the rod of his anger" (Isa. 10:5; 2 Kgs. 17:7-8, 20; 18:11). And then, after Assyria serves the Lord's purposes, she would be punished—repaid for her pride—and become a heap of ruins (Isa. 10:12ff; 2 Kgs. 19:21ff). And this comes both according to God's foreordination (2 Kgs. 19:25) and in response to Hezekiah's prayer (2 Kgs. 19:14-19). Well sure, for YHWH is the sovereign, he alone, over all the kingdoms of the earth; he has made heaven and earth. And he hears prayers "that all kingdoms of the earth may know that [YHWH is] God alone" (2 Kgs. 19:19). We then get a glimpse of his might, as YHWH responds to Hezekiah's plea and strikes "down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians" (2 Kgs. 19:35), effectively protecting Judah. For a time.

But Assyria is not the only instrument wielded by the Lord.

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 30

We've seen in the history of Samuel and Kings that the LORD often saves Israel from foreign superpowers. But I think it's fair to say that he doesn't usually bless his people through a wicked king. Wicked kings usually bring destruction upon a people. Certainly that is in large measure the story of Kings. But because God is compassionate and gracious, and because he keeps his covenant promises, we see in 2 Kings 14 something unusual.

Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria in the fifteenth year of Amaziah, king of Judah (2 Kgs. 14:23). "And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD" (2 Kgs. 14:24). And yet God used him to restore the border of Israel, according to his word through Jonah (2 Kgs. 14:25). Why? "For the LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter; for there was none to help Israel. But the LORD had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash" (2 Kgs. 14:26-27).

Israel could not be blotted out. She was the chosen line, the line of the messianic seed. And so God's purposes would come to pass through a preserved people. His steadfast sovereign love endures forever!

Sonnet CXVI

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
   If this be error and upon me proved,
   I never writ, nor no man ever loved.


—William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 29

In 2 Kgs. 9:1, we read that Elisha has one of the sons of the prophets head for Ramoth-gilead to anoint Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, as king over Israel. The problem here was that there was still a king in Israel, namely, Joram. But after Jehu was doused with oil, he heard this word from one of the sons of the prophets: "I anoint you king over the people of YHWH, over Israel. And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of YHWH" (2 Kgs. 9:6-7). And so it all comes to pass (2 Kgs. 9:24-26, 30-37; 10:6-17). Go ahead and read the sobering, gruesome description of this whole affair. Nothing of the word of YHWH fell to the ground, a word he had spoken concerning the house of Ahab, for YHWH did what he said he'd do by his servant Elijah (2 Kgs. 10:10). And lest we suppose that Jehu acted out of step with God's will in this regard, we have this text: 2 Kgs. 10:30.

Now something sounds all wrong about this to our ears. Jehu is anointed to strike down the house of Ahab his master, and Jezebel and apparently all connected with her were massacred. Yet this was YHWH's vengeance, avenging on Jezebel the blood of YHWH's servants the prophets, and the blood of all YHWH's servants. Indeed God's ways are not our ways, but there they are, his ways in plain view in Scripture. Look at them head on, embrace them in faith, and bow low to worship the Lord who governs all things justly.

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 28

As I move into 2 Kings for this series on "Calvinism Everywhere," I'm going to turn a corner and back away from trying to include as many statements as I readily see about God's absolute dominion. There's just so much there, on every page really. And a lot of this material is repetitive, including elements of God's reign already pointed up in Judges through 1 Kings (e.g., a king dies "according to the word of the LORD," 2 Kgs. 1:17; or an army is given victory from the LORD, 2 Kgs. 5:1; or YHWH calls for a famine, 2 Kgs. 8:1). Not that going over these things is unprofitable. It would be. But I simply want to focus on texts that angle in on the subject in certain ways. So I'm going to highlight certain passages only, those that are particularly striking or relevant or insightful for us, as I see things.

One thing to be duly reckoned with is how God's spokesmen (in this case, first Elijah, then Elisha) say that something will come to pass, and then it does (e.g., 2 Kgs. 4:16-17, where the Shunammite woman bears a son to her husband in his old age according to the word of Elisha; cf. 2 Kgs. 4:42-44). The prophetic word and God's will are one.

Another thing to take note of is how a man of God prays that God will do something remarkable and unusual, and he does it (e.g., 2 Kgs. 4:32-37, where Elisha asks YHWH to raise the Shunammite's son from the dead, and he is raised; or 2 Kgs. 6:18, when Elisha asks YHWH to strike the Syrians with blindness, and he does so).

Next, there's the divine sending of a deluding influence to cause the Syrians to flee before Israel: "the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, 'Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites  and the kings of Egypt to come against us.' So they fled away . . ." (2 Kgs. 7:6-7).

And then there's the divine prophetic prediction of Elisha that Ben-hadad king of Syria would die and Hazael would take his place and work great evil (2 Kgs. 8:7-15). For YHWH had shown this to Elisha (2 Kgs. 8:14; cf. 2 Kgs. 10:32). There's also the predication of the man of God from way back in 1 Kgs. 13:1-2 that Josiah would throw down idolatry in his zeal for the law of God, which came to pass (2 Kgs. 23:13-16). And this prediction comes 300 years before its fulfillment! (Never mind the incredulous scholars who scoff; what else would we expect from their unbelief?)

Where, please tell me, can anyone legitimately perceive a second or an inch or an action where the God and Father of the Lord Jesus does not reign by his almighty Spirit? I confess (willingly and freely, choosing my words advisedly, without any coercion) that I perceive none. This God—the God of the Bible—he reigns among the nations! And there is no other!

Calvinism Everywhere, Part 27

Moving forward through Kings, 1 Kings 22 relates Micaiah's prophecy against Ahab. Really all one needs to do is read it, meditate upon it, and push away all saccharine notions of a sweetie nice deity that flood in with this or that philosophical objection. So here it is (1 Kgs. 22:19-23):

And Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; and the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said one thing, and another said another. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying, 'I will entice him.' And the LORD said to him, 'By what means?' And he said, 'I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.' Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the LORD has declared disaster for you.

What follows is predictable, for it was predicted (even Ahab heard it!). Ahab is struck in battle by a certain man who "drew his bow at random" (1 Kgs. 22:34). Random ha! The phrase "at random" is the ESV's effort to get across the Hebrew idiom "in his innocence/integrity" (so also the NIV, NAB, and NASB). The Holman Christian Standard Bible translates the phrase "without taking special aim." Those who've read the prophesy know for certain that this all, "random" arrows included, came to pass "according to the word of the LORD" (1 Kgs. 22:38). That is, Ahab believed the prophecy from the lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets (1 Kgs. 22:12, 22), rushed off into battle at Ramoth-gilead (1 Kgs. 22:29), and died (1 Kgs. 22:37), according to the word of the LORD.


The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, YHWH is his memorial name, this God, he is the God of bows drawn at random, bows that strike kings according to the prophetic word, which prophetic word revealed that YHWH's "declared disaster" (1 Kgs. 22:23) against a certain king included the means of a lying spirit in the mouth of the king's prophets.