New Thoughts (1/23/05-1/29/05)
The Answer (1/24/05)
At first reading, I found John’s answer to the second question he was asked to be no answer at all. They asked by what authority he was baptizing, and his answer only says there is another whose greatness far exceeds whatever John may be. This doesn’t feel like an answer to the question, yet it is. To recognize the whole answer that John has given, though, both parts of his answer need to be seen together. “I am the voice in the wilderness of which Isaiah spoke. I am the Forerunner, and the LORD Whom I announce is in your midst.” That’s the whole of his answer! Granted, I’m putting words in there that he did not speak, but they are words that those asking the questions ought to have understood as implicit in the answer.
This points up an issue that the examiners had. They wanted a sign to validate John, but they wanted a sign that was in accord with their own understanding of things. They wanted to specify what signs were acceptable. John’s answer did not satisfy them because it held none of the signs they had considered. They held rigidly to their understanding of the prophecies. Therefore, they were at least theoretically prepared to accept one who could lay claim to being the Prophet like Moses. They were theoretically prepared to accept the return of Elijah. They were theoretically prepared for Messiah. The record will show that in reality they were not prepared for any of these things. They waited for these appearances, yet rejected the appearances when they came. Why? Because they had defined what those appearances must look like, and God chose to appear rather different than their expectations.
The fact is that John’s first answer, declaring himself the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy should have registered with them. Even if they were not absolutely certain of the significance, they ought to have found it sufficient cause to go examine the Scriptures and find out. Instead, they only heard that he was not one of the three they would accept.
Now, come to part two of John’s answer. There is One among you whose sandal I am not even fit to loose. Here, again, John’s words must be understood with the understanding of the time. He was declaring himself unfit to fill even the role of household slave to this One. The priests had spoken of three figures, three great figures in the history of Israel and of God’s work. They spoke of the prophet like Moses. They spoke of Elijah. These two were great, and they were – both in their life and in their prophetic fulfillment – anointed of God for their purpose. Yet, in the end they were men, men just like us, as James would remind his readers (Jas 5:17-18). As great as they were, they were not so great that John would make such a statement in regard to them. This left one authority on the priestly list: Messiah. One wonders if the priests and Levites had fallen into the same trap as so many others, and expected only a king to take control of the nation once again. They expected no more than a great hero for Israel. If that is the case, then even their conception of Messiah could not justify John’s declaration. Even a great king must have household servants, and a man could aspire to at least that much. But, John declares that this One is so much greater than himself that he cannot even aspire to that lowly duty.
What is left implied in John’s answer is that this is the authority by which he is working. What is most telling is that he makes this declaration, and says that the authority that he works under is one that they do not know. Here, John is using the word eido. They do not acknowledge His authority. They have not experienced His authority. Clearly, John is speaking of Messiah, and Messiah, as was seen, is on the priestly list of reasonable authorities. And here I see that their concept of Messiah is misguided. They recognize a messiah, but they don’t grasp or acknowledge the full extent of His authority. They knew there would come a redeemer, but it’s not clear that they realized He would be God Incarnate.
There are many other aspects to that word eido. It speaks of perception, of paying attention, of examining. It speaks of seeing, noticing. They would certainly notice Jesus, would certainly be seeing Him repeatedly in the coming years. In time, they would even examine Him. However, they would never perceive the Truth that is He, they would never pay real attention to Who He Is. They would never really know Him. They would not experience Messiah, and indeed, when things came to a head, it would be shown that the three authorities they sought they would not in reality accept. They would ask Messiah to make His claim, and when He had done so, they would declare Him a heretic, a blasphemer, worthy only of death. Truth be told, they were not ready for anything, for they understood nothing.
The Place (1/24/05-1/25/05)
I next want to consider the location that is noted here. Much is made in skeptical circles of the fact that there is no place on record as this Bethany beyond the Jordan. They will look at Bethabara as being an attempted gloss, an attempt to retrofit the account to the realities. They are inclined to discount this alternate reading on the basis of more numerous manuscripts supporting the Bethany text. They make their claim of nonexistence for that town on the basis of Roman records of taxation.
Well, that’s all well and good. However, our records of the Roman Empire, as extensive as they are is shown to have gaps, our knowledge of the Empire is shown to be incomplete. It happened before when the skeptics challenged Luke’s assertions regarding Quirinius. Oh! They howled! No records of such a one, the text must be a lie! No. As it turned out, the records were simply incomplete, and the evidence eventually turned up that Quirinius had indeed served in the office Luke appointed. What is truly amazing is that these supposedly rational sorts will come with data that is plainly incomplete and declare it more valid than the testimony of an eye-witness to the events! What’s amazing is that these armchair witnesses think their version can possibly be more accurate than the records of one who was there on the scene. I think we can safely discount the argument of the tax-records.
What remains is the question of Bethany-beyond-Jordan versus Bethabara. Now, there are some who will suggest that both names are actually quite correct that the town had perhaps existed under one name, and been shifted to another. That’s certainly a possibility. It is equally possible that the town was known by both names. I can think of examples from my own youth where towns were known to have a particular name by the locals, yet anybody from farther away than perhaps twenty miles would not be likely to know that. They would have known the town only as part of the larger town into which it had been incorporated. There are many such in the area, just as there are here where I live now. The towns that are known today are made up of many little villages whose names are lost upon all but the locals. Isn’t it just possible that John might be aware of the town as the place one went to for dates (Bethany), even though its greater significance was that it was the place at which one might cross the Jordan (Bethabara)?
It’s equally possible that some of the manuscripts, even most of them, garbled the name in the course of copying the text. Bethany, after all, is a place name that crops up repeatedly in the Gospel story, whereas this Bethabara is a relative unknown. It is actually more commonly found in the Old Testament records, and there, the references would suggest it was a place not too far north of the Dead Sea, rather near to Jericho, perhaps twenty miles outside Jerusalem. I’ll also note that the existence of the town under that name in so ancient a time rather belies the likelihood that the references were to a town renamed Bethabara. Such a theory would actually work much better in the reverse, but it seems a trifle unlikely that two towns would take on the same name in such close proximity.
Far more interesting than the controversy over the two names, though, is the location that we are talking about here. Let me run with the thought that both names were fitting for this place. It was a place where one could cross the Jordan (apparently by a ferry), and it was also a place where one might expect to find date palms growing. When I look at the maps, I see that there is a desert region north of the Dead Sea, passing upwards beyond Jericho. Across from Jericho, I see that there is a tributary, and the sides of it, as well as the east side of the Jordan to the north of it show the green of growth. This would seem to fit the nature of the place. I would suggest perhaps a location not too far north of where this tributary joins, for the tributary would bring with it a degree of turbulence not conducive to ferry work. But, just to the north, there would likely be waters calm enough for a crossing, and the terrain looks like that which might support a growth of date palms.
Now, this location also fits with some other thoughts that have been catching my attention as I studied this section, and that is the connection of this place with Elijah. Consider: God called Elijah to a brook east of the Jordan when he had need to hide from Ahab (1Ki 17:2-7). This would certainly qualify as such a place, although there are others. Even more interesting, though, is the narrative surrounding the taking up of Elijah (2Ki 2:1-8). There, we are told that Elisha and Elijah went from Gilgal, through Bethel and Jericho, and then across the Jordan. Frankly, this is a very odd route, by what I can see on the map, for Gilgal is almost directly next to Jericho, while Bethel is across the mountains to the west, some fifteen miles or more away. So, Elijah and Elisha were being led on a bit of a circle route, as Elisha’s faithfulness was being tested. Let us suppose, though, that at the end of this loop, they have proceeded fairly directly to the Jordan. That would place them pretty much at the exact location of this scene of John’s ministry.
It seems to be one of those locations where God has repeatedly found cause to work, if these suppositions are accurate. It was the place God chose to bring Elijah home, and to anoint his first successor, Elisha. Would it not be fitting then, that this was also the place where Elijah’s second successor, the one who came in the spirit and the power of Elijah should begin his ministry? Nor was He done with this place. As we shall see in the next section of study, this is also the place where the ministry of His own Son began, the place in which Messiah was first declared to the nation. And, at a later date, it would also be the place Jesus returned to for a time of rest and safety when the authorities in Jerusalem sought to stone Him as a blasphemer (Jn 10:40). Apparently, this had more to do with the extent of Jerusalem’s authority than with hiding, for “many came to Him there” (Jn 10:41). One wonders: is He done with that place yet?
There are more general applications to be had from this. There are indeed places that God seems to choose for His work repeatedly. There are others that He uses for a time, but later abandons. Let me consider first what makes the difference. What I have seen over and over again is that when the people of God begin to make too much of the place of God’s choosing, it inevitably leads to their trust being more in the place than in God. It is at those times that God, in order to remind His people what it is that matters, will remove the place. Shiloh, Gilgal, Jerusalem: all of these places suffered from this issue. They all became idols to the people. It began with a holy fear because God was there in that place. It ended with God all but forgotten, the place made holy in their minds, and presumption setting in. “We will be safe no matter what we do, because we are in Jerusalem, the place God chose.” God can always choose to move on. It was easier to recognize that when the pillar of His presence was there in the camp, and there was little question about remaining where He was, rather than insisting that He remain where He had been.
With God in the tabernacle, and the tabernacle at an established location, it was more difficult. The people had declared their fear of seeing Him quite so directly, so He was hid away in the Holy of Holies, away from the eyes of sinful man. While this alleviated the fears of sinful man, it also left him blinded to God’s departures. When God left the Temple, it was not evident to most of Israel. Only the prophets recognized what had happened and wailed. For the rest, nothing was understood until that place where God had been was destroyed. It took the shattering of those idols, though the idols be cities, to shake the people from slumber. Eventually, it took the shattering of the nation to wake them up. Later still, it would take the shattering of the people.
We, too, live in a time of shattering. We are seeing the leadership of many branches of Christianity being shattered. Will the people wake up? We are seeing denominations being torn apart as some leaders decide they can do what they want, can take the Church in directions it ought never to go, and fear no consequence, while the wiser among their parishioners are determined to stay the course of righteousness. The denominations have become idols, and the time of shattering will come. God will not tolerate idols in His house. The shattering will come. Will the people wake up?
What of the charismatic movement? Here, too, there is a widespread willingness to accept anything and everything as being right and worshipful. Too many charlatans are tolerated in the ranks even of leadership! The gifts themselves have become idols for many, and even moreso those who can make a display of the gifts, or the appearance of gifts. Truth is not a concern, only the tingling flesh as we witness the display. It’s rather like the fourth of July fireworks compared with the reality of war. We want the thrill of the explosions, the beautiful starbursts, but we want them at a safe distance. We want nothing of the realities. We’re not willing to die. The shattering will come if we continue on this path. Wherever we allow our trappings to become more important than God, the shattering will come. Whether it be our displays of power, our displays of worship, our beautiful buildings, our preachers and teachers – whatever it is we place above Him, it will not be tolerated. The shattering will come. Will we wake up?
Lord God, as I look out upon what is happening in the larger body of Your Church, I see that shattering happening. Help me not to be fooled by pride, thinking that it won’t happen to us. Let me look not at those being shattered into wakefulness, but look to myself. Let me hear the call to wake up. Bring to me an honest assessment of my own condition. What have I placed above You? What am I holding in higher esteem than my Jesus? Let it be cast away like poison! Let every good thing that I have perverted by my excess of esteem be restored to its proper place in my thoughts. If I have made more of this building to which You have brought us than I ought, correct my thoughts, and let Your glory continue in that house. If I have made more of this local body than I ought, correct my thoughts. Let me never be so foolish as to think we are beyond making mistakes. If I have raised my pastor further than I ought in my esteem, correct my thoughts. While he is first among equals in our house, he remains but a man like unto myself, as capable of sin and of error, and as desperately in need of Your company, Your strength, Your daily redemptive work. Cut away anything I have foolishly placed before You in my thoughts, and let me be fully awake to all that You are, all that You do, and all that You desire of me.
The other aspect of this matter of place is that, when we can manage not to corrupt what is happening by our own foolishness, there really are those places where God is pleased to move repeatedly. This place next to the Jordan appears to be one such place. Mount Horeb was such a place. Jerusalem is such a place. Yet, these places are far from us, and as much as they may tug at our emotions as we learn what God has done there, they don’t really have a very direct impact on us. What of places closer to home? What of New England? What, more especially, of Massachusetts? There have been significant moves of God through this region in the past. We can begin with the Pilgrims and the Puritans coming to these shores. Whatever the modern, popular conception of these people, and the attempts to minimize the religious nature of this early colonization, the facts remain unchanged by those concepts. There were overarching religious concerns in those settlements, whether or not there were commercial aspects as well. The records of the towns established as the colony grew show that the worship of God was central to the lives of those settling the colony. Towns were established on a covenantal basis, and the church was at the center of it.
The religious fervor of the colonies admittedly waxed and waned over the years, but God was pleased to restore the fire of faith when the coals became cold. Witness the Great Awakening! Into the chill hearts of the hardened intellectuals, and into the hearts of the coarsest of laborers came the Word of God preached by men chosen for the time. Jonathan Edwards, a man of great intellect himself, begins preaching in a small town in western Massachusetts and before long the entire town is being turned on its head, people falling in the aisles as repentance sweeps through. Now, from what I have been told, Jonathan was not a terribly charismatic orator, rather stiff in his reading of the sermons he prepared. But, it wasn’t the man that mattered. It was God, speaking through him. Others came, and disrupted the status quo of church life, often in the face of stiff persecution. But, the flames of God’s restoring power would not be squelched by such actions.
In later years, there would be another resurgence of faith, which would come to be known as the Second Great Awakening. Again the chill coals of what had become a religion of mind and rite, but no heart or soul were fanned to vibrant life. Again the people were brought to an awareness of what had been lost, and they returned to the God of their salvation.
It’s been many long years since such a fire blazed in this region. In truth, it’s been many long years since such a fire blazed anywhere in this nation. There have been occasions, but not, I think, in the last century or so. Oh, there have been events. There have been these things we like to call revivals, but by and large they’ve been more entertainments than real revivals. They’ve been excitements to the flesh that left the spirit largely unchanged. Yet, it’s not impossible that God should choose once more to move upon this land. It’s not impossible, and it is certainly desirable.
Oh! That You would come once more and truly stir up the hearts of this nation! Oh! That You would once more come with the power that was evident in those years of awakening! Oh! That it might come in my day! God! Move on this nation once more in undeniable power! Awaken us once more to Your glory! Let us cast aside our presumption and seek You in earnest. Let us set aside our foolish trust in presidents and armies, in constitutions and judges, in every fabrication of man, and restore our trust in You. Our money proclaims that we trust in You, but for the most part it’s become just empty words. Fill those words once more with Your Word, God! Remind us of our history! Let us remember who we were in the days of our nation’s youth! Come, and restore us yet once more, Holy Father, to be servants of the God under Whom this nation stands.
It’s not impossible, but if we allow ourselves to make that same mistake of presumption, of thinking our nation indestructible because of its founding, because once upon a time God was here, then we can expect only the shattering that must come. We dare not presume that God will remain no matter what we do. We dare not make that mistake! However strong the nation may appear, however secure, it is as nothing if God has left us. Oh, may we never find ourselves in that place of discovering that God has long since left the building, and we hadn’t noticed! May we never awake to find destruction at our door, and all hope of reprieve gone and over! One wonders: is He done with this place yet?
The Office and its Authority (1/26/05)
John was the Forerunner. He stood in the line of prophets, indeed stood as the last prophet of the Old Covenant. As such, he stood in a fearsome place. The office of the prophet was never, from what the records show, an easy or pleasant office to fill. The very institution of that position made clear just how perilous it could be. One wanted to be very certain of God’s voice before he would claim to be speaking for God! The penalty, after all, for making false claim to that office was death (Dt 18:20). Consider that the proof of one’s calling to the prophetic office was that one had indeed spoken out God’s word, and those words had been vindicated by their fulfillment.
The test of the prophet is the accuracy of his prophecy. This is precisely why you find the prophets diligent to record those things they prophesied that had come to pass. These were the only acceptable credentials for a prophet. Where have we lost that concern? When is the last time you heard a prophet of the modern form offering such credentials? When is the last time you saw a prophet of the modern form showing the least concern for the penalty of false claims?
There’s another aspect to the institution of the prophetic office that I think worth talking about. Moses, in explaining the test of the prophet, continues by saying that when a prophet is shown false, you have no reason to fear him. Hear something left unsaid in that: if the prophet has been shown true, you do have something to fear. Indeed, when the Old Covenant prophet came calling at your house, it was rarely a reason for excitement and rejoicing. It was a cause for concern. True, the prophetic message always contained words of hope, but it is equally true that the prophetic message always brought words of correction. The prophetic message stripped away the pretense and subterfuge of those who heard it, exposed their hidden sins to be dealt with. Such exposure offered an immediate validation of their office.
Prophecies concerning the course of nations or cities might take years to come to fruition, and during that time, the prophetic authority must remain in a state of limbo, given the Mosaic test. But, when that prophet comes to you personally, speaks to you about your own hidden sin, that thing you would never tell to any man, that no man could know about; well, who can doubt the authority of his office then? Isn’t this exactly what occurred with the woman by the well? She heard Jesus reveal her most hidden condition, the things He could not possibly know about her as a stranger just come to town. “I know You are a prophet,” she declared in reaction to this. With their access to the hidden things of the heart, a real prophet was something to fear. Their words were something to pay heed to, and the correctives they required were best put into action swiftly, lest the harder edge of their prophecy sever one from the hope of life.
There are two primary characteristics to the prophet of God. The first is that he hears God’s words – hears them with understanding. Now, all men hear God in some degree, even the worst unbeliever, but the majority hear with limited understanding, or with utter refusal to understand. The prophet hears clearly, fathoms the significance of what he hears. The prophet may hear God’s message without words. The meaning of God’s message may come from visions, from the sights and sounds of current events around him, from the motions of nature. The meaning may also come more directly, from dreams and visions, from direct speaking of Spirit to spirit. Whatever the means of communication, there is only one means of comprehension, and that is intimacy with God. There can be no prophetic office without intimacy. There can be no understanding without intimacy. We can neither lay hold of God’s Word for ourselves, nor speak His word into the lives of those around us without intimacy with God. “You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free” (Jn 8:32). You shall be intimate with Him who said “I AM the Truth.”
Paul instructed the Corinthians that their desire ought be to prophesy (1Co 14:1), above all else. Why? Because, for one to prophesy, one must be intimate with God, and intimacy with God ought be the greatest desire of every believer!
Intimacy with God is what declared Moses to be not just a prophet, but the Prophet. It was his intimacy with God that set him apart from all those who would come after him in that office. You won’t find another in the line of prophets whose face glowed with the intimacy shared. You will, however, find in every true prophet a consistent intimacy, an intimacy that put God in charge not only of their public words, but their private lives. It was intimacy with God that led Elijah to pursue the course that God laid out for him. He went where God directed, stopped when God directed, continued when God directed in the way God directed. His life belonged to his intimate Lord. If God said ‘Go speak,’ Elijah was under way. If God said ‘stop and rest,’ Elijah was parked right where he was. He understood that his life was in God’s hands. The prophets all understood this. They had to. The events of their lives, the negative reactions that were so likely given the messages they must bear, required them to understand.
Now, come to John the Baptist, the final spokesman under the Old Covenant. He comes to his ministry in the spirit of Elijah, and the power of Elijah, but he is not Elijah, and he knows it. He comes in the power of the prophetic office, but he is not the Prophet, and he knows it. He comes with a specific message, and specific instructions on the delivering of that message. He is well aware that his primary mission is to prepare for and declare the Messiah. The cry of repentance is preparation of Messiah’s path. He knows, quite frankly, who Messiah is. He’s known it since before his birth. He’s been declaring it since before his birth. But, he has his instructions. There is a sign that must come, a sign God has prescribed by which John may know that it’s time to proclaim that the King is come.
Here, John excels even Moses! Moses was refused the blessing of coming into the Promised Land with those he had labored so hard to shepherd through the Exodus journey. Why did this great man, so intimate with God, come up short? Because in his intimacy, he became presumptuous. He decided he knew how to do what God wanted, and he missed it when God changed the instructions. He stopped listening. He took God for granted. Anybody in a relationship with another person knows that the intimacy of that relationship has been broken the minute one takes the other for granted. It’s no different with God. But, John was not going to make the same mistake. He could have told the people Who was their King at any time. But, there was a required sign, required because the Father had declared it required. First must come the dove, the Holy Spirit, then can come the declaration. John would not presume to do otherwise. He would wait for that confirming sign before he testified God’s testimony.
What of me? Have I been willing to wait on God’s timing, to do things only and exactly as God directs? Sometimes. There have been those things I wanted to rush, because I wanted the outcome, and couldn’t wait. There have been those things I procrastinated on, because quite frankly I was rather afraid of the outcome, or was simply unwilling to undergo the confrontation that must come of it. These things still occur in me. Yet, more often than used to be the case, I have been able to hear and heed, to do what He has told me to do when He has told me to do it in the way He has required. What blessings there are in that obedience! Yes, it’s a fearsome thing to bear the word of the Lord to man. How could it not be? But when the mission has been accomplished, and the fruit begins to appear; when we begin to grasp how much larger the matter was than in its application to ourselves; how we marvel at the ways of our incredible God!
Lord, I thank You for the improvements You have made in me, and I pray Your continued patient working on those places where I still blow it. Yes, I know I still blow it. You would not leave me ignorant of that simple truth! Oh! But my love for You grows stronger, my trust in You grows more complete, my understanding of Your voice, Your leading becomes clearer every day. Yes, and You have shown me that even the hard message can be delivered with rejoicing when I will pursue it with You. Help me then, my King, to be more instant yet in my obedience. Even in those messages I dread to deliver, help me to be instant in obedience. Even when those messages are for me, help me to be receptive and obedient, that You might accomplish all Your will in me.
Understanding (1/27/05)
One must be careful with prophecy. It is a rare prophecy indeed that can be fully understood. The prophets were given a glimpse of the future, not a detailed report. When we look at the prophetic message, we must be careful not to establish concrete determinations of its meaning. It is this sort of mistake that led Israel astray in the day of their visitation. Consider what was going on in this scene between the priests and John. What was their question? “Are you Elijah?” Where would they even get such an idea? They got it from the prophets.
Malachi wrote several hundred years prior to the events John relates to us that Elijah the prophet would come once more before the day of the LORD (Mal 4:5). The priests and Levites, having had all those years to study this passage, had become convinced that Malachi was speaking of a literal return of Elijah.
One might note, here, that with that in mind, we can be clear that those sent to interview John were indeed from the Pharisees. The Sadducees would never have held to such an opinion, given their rejection of resurrection and of any realm of the spirit. This tends to argue in favor of the accuracy of the text, does it not?
At any rate, they were looking for a literal return of Elijah, and that is what their question reflects. They had already determined what the fulfillment of this prophecy must look like, and therefore were incapable of recognizing the fulfillment when it was happening right before their eyes. Indeed, so set were they on their interpretation of prophecy that they seem to have completely missed what John did say of himself. He told them he wasn’t Elijah, and in this he spoke truly. He was neither a reincarnation, nor a resurrection of a hero out of Israel’s past. He was himself, and he was a prophet, and a fulfillment of prophecy. But, his interviewers appear to have tuned out after he failed to fulfill their interpretation of prophecy.
Now, here’s an interesting thing. If one goes back into the story of Elijah, he is faced with that occasion when Elijah returned to the public eye. Ahaziah had sent to foreign gods to discern his fate, but Elijah was sent to provide the answer for him. The messenger sent to Ekron did not know Elijah by sight, but came back to Ahaziah describing a hairy man wearing a leather girdle. That, and the message this wild man bore, were sufficient. Ahaziah knew who he was dealing with (2Ki 1:1-8).
Here, the scene is largely replayed before the officials of the Temple. They, too, had been sending to foreign gods to discern their fate. The Sadducees were perhaps more blatant in this regard as they curried the favor of Rome to uphold their power, but the Pharisees were no less guilty. The tradition they served was a foreign god, for it was not God’s command they served, but their own. In this they thought to discern their righteousness, but God would not have it. He sent his messenger to intercept these emissaries to gods that are not. He, too, appeared as a hairy man wearing a leather girdle. He, too, spoke things that they did not want to hear. He told them that their wealth, their political favor, their form of ritualistic righteousness would only lead to their death. He was recognizable as the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy, but he was not Elijah. He was one serving in the spirit and power of Elijah. And the self-declared godly ones missed it.
Jesus testified that John actually was Elijah (Mt 11:14). Doesn’t this conflict with what John said of himself? Here, he has told us he wasn’t Elijah, so how can it be that Jesus says he was? Notice what Jesus says in that passage: John is Elijah, who was to come. What Jesus is declaring is that Malachi’s prophecy has been fulfilled. This combines with what Jesus had to say after the event of His transfiguration. There on the mountaintop, those of His innermost circle of disciples had seen both Elijah and Moses standing with their Lord. Interesting, is it not, that all three of those the interrogators of this passage were expecting stood together in the nation of Israel in that moment! However, for the moment I’m more interested in what transpired immediately following.
Jesus and his followers had returned from the mount, and the question arose as to why the scribes were so insistent that Elijah must come before Messiah (Mt 17:10, Mk 9:11). Notice this about the question: It wasn’t ‘why does Scripture say’, it was ‘why do the scribes say’. Now, the scribes were right in saying Elijah must come first. What they missed was that misinterpretation we see in this passage: they expected a literal return of Elijah himself. Jesus, in answering His disciples, made the matter clear. “Elijah is coming to restore things as they ought to be. Indeed, he already came, but they didn’t recognize him” (Mt 17:11-12). Indeed, had they listened to the words of their own fellow priest Zacharias, they would have been fully prepared for what came: one going before the Lord as the forerunner prophesied by Isaiah, one who went in the spirit and the power of Elijah, restoring the people to an attitude of righteousness (Lk 1:17). Listen! These words were straight from Gabriel, from the very throne of God, spoken in His house! Now, Zacharias had made quite a scene, emerging as he did with his tongue silenced. It is impossible that his fellow priests did not question this one they recognized as having had a vision, and I think it is equally impossible that he did not relate what Gabriel had said.
Malachi’s prophecy had been clarified and refined by the angelic word, but nobody appears to have recognized it. There it was in simple terms. He was gone before the Lord to prepare the way. These students of the Scriptures ought easily to recognize the reference to Isaiah’s prophecy in this. The purpose of John’s ministry was being clearly laid out – prepare the way for the Lord. The imminence of Messiah’s arrival ought also to have been clearly recognized in that message. Then, there is this added: he comes in the spirit and the power of Elijah. Here was correction to their misunderstanding. Elijah’s not going to show up in person. His work was done a long time ago! No, another comes, but he comes with the recognizable signs of Elijah’s ministry. He comes showing the same strength of character Elijah displayed, with the same concern for the spiritual condition of God’s people.
Here was another very recognizable sign that John was truly serving in the spirit and power of Elijah. The encounter with Azahiah’s messenger didn’t stop with the messenger sent back to declare Azahiah’s doom. Azahiah wasn’t really likely to let it stop there. He sent to bring Elijah in by force, but twice those sent to apprehend Elijah were apprehended by God, consumed by His holy fire. The third time, God informed Elijah that he ought to go with these men, and he went. Facing the king, the pinnacle of human authority in Israel, Elijah’s message did not change in the least. He was fiercely devoted to the Truth, and would speak only what God had declared.
John shared that same character and devotion. What he said as he taught by the Jordan is what he said to the authorities of Israel in person. Here, we see emissaries of the Temple authorities sent to question. They doubtless heard the call to repentance while they waited to interrogate this hairy man from the deserts. They quite likely heard some harsh words spoken against the hypocrisy of those they represented. We have, also, the account of those Pharisees and Sadducees coming in person to see what John was all about. His message didn’t change. If anything, it was more clear. Appearances aren’t going to cut it. It’s not about looking good, it’s about really being righteous, and you all are as far, if not farther from the mark than these commoners you so despise.
He would show that same spirit of Elijah once more when Herod sent to have him arrested. He had the audacity to declare the governor of Galilee a sinner, and to declare his sins publicly, not that Herod was terribly concerned about being thought righteous. Not at all. He was only concerned about his own power, and his ability to rule the region to Rome’s satisfaction. Having his name dragged in the dirt publicly was not conducive to his desires, so he had John arrested and brought to him. Face to face with this one who held John’s mortal life in his hands, John did not change the message one bit. He spoke the Truth, even knowing what the consequences were likely to be. Here was a man with the spirit and the power of Elijah!
Can I say this about that? When we think of Elijah, we have a tendency to focus on the miraculous deeds he performed. We think of the widow fed, the child restored to life, the three years of drought. We think of the altar consumed on Mount Horeb, and of this aging man on foot outrunning the chariots of a king. We look at these things and think that in them we are witnessing the power of Elijah. We are wrong. John makes clear that we are wrong. The testimony of heaven, through Gabriel and Jesus both, is that John was the one who came in Elijah’s power. Yet, we are told that John performed no sign (Jn 10:41). The closest there was to a sign in John’s ministry was this: Everything he said about Jesus was true.
This is the power of Elijah: an absolute, unswerving, unbending devotion to the Truth. The power of Elijah was in his character, unwilling to change the message of Truth even at risk of his own death. This is the power John displayed. The spirit of Elijah was the very Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth giving him words to speak, directing his actions, informing every aspect of his being. That same Holy Spirit filled John’s life and ministry.
Truly, one must be careful in their understanding of prophecy! John was not the only thing that the priests and Levites missed. Indeed, missing him was as nothing compared with the mistake they were embarked upon. For, they had determined not only what Elijah’s return must look like, but also what Messiah’s arrival must look like. They had divided the word, true enough, but they had not rightly divided it. They had studied it, but had cast aside vast swaths of the prophetic message to reach their own version of things, a version that satisfied their own particular hopes. They would have a Messiah who came as King, ready to throw off the yoke of foreign oppression. But, they had absolutely no use for a Messiah who came as the Humble Servant. They could not see the prophecy fulfilled in Him because they had already decided what the fulfillment of prophecy must look like, and could accept no other interpretation. And the hope of life passed from them as they contributed to the death of their King.
Here’s one last interesting parallel between Elijah and John, tenuous though it may be. Three times Ahaziah sent for Elijah, and twice was rebuffed. It strikes me that we see this played out in its way in John’s ministry as well. The Temple first sent the priests and Levites as emissaries, doubtless with a thought to putting an end to this unauthorized ministry. They were rebuffed. Then, we hear of the Sadducees and Pharisees coming out in person to confront John. Instead they found themselves confronted. Were they ready to trade their appearance of holiness for the real thing? Again, the authorities were rebuffed, and John’s ministry continued. Finally, Herod’s troops come for John, and this time, I have no doubt that John had heard that he was to accompany them. I have no doubt that he knew what awaited him there. God does not leave His prophets uninformed. The third time, he went.
Elijah the Type (1/28/05-1/29/05)
Elijah’s story is truly amazing. The connections seen between his work and the nation’s history both past and future are astounding. Consider just a few of these. Elijah was a Tishbite in Gilead, a stranger, a sojourner in the land. In this one hears the echoes of Abraham, who sojourned in Canaan. In this one hears the foreshadows of the Christian life on earth. We are all pilgrims, sojourners in the life of the world. We walk in the same lands as do the children of darkness, but this world is not our home. Wherever we may pass this life, whatever nations we may find ourselves among, we remain citizens of heaven. Remember this when the cry goes forth for patriots. Our commitment to the nations of the earth can never be greater than our commitment to the kingdom of God, for He is sovereign over all and we are first and foremost His ambassadors.
I think also of that climactic tale of Elijah facing off against the priests of Baal on Mount Horeb. There is so much to consider there! To begin with, the high places – the mountaintops were places of worship to the Canaanites, and for that matter, to any number of religions. One thinks of Psalm 121, with that opening salvo of “I will lift my eyes to the mountains; Where will my help come from?” The mountains were the places where men sought communion with their gods, where they sought to draw closer to the heavens their gods populated. They were, therefore, largely places dedicated to false worship. Over and over again Israel would be convicted by God because of the idols that were set up in ‘every high place.’
Jerusalem, the city of the great King, lay in the midst of many mountains. One could not approach the House of God without passing by all these altars to the enemy. Hear, in that context, the words of the psalmist approaching the Temple. “Yes, I see these mountaintops. Yes, I know what goes on up there, the many gods that are petitioned there. But where shall I find help? Those places are not for me.” Now, comes a word of exultation. “My help comes from the LORD, the one who made those mountains, and not only that but also made the heavens to which these idolaters seek to draw close!”
In spite of the association of the mountains with idolatry, the mountains were as closely related to the true God as to the idols. This ought not to surprise, because the lies of the enemy, of which idolatries are a primary example, ever seek to fool by clinging to a grain of truth. God, the true God, is in heaven, therefore these pretenders claimed the same for themselves. God met with His people on a mountain. Therefore, these pretenders trained their deluded followers to do likewise. The lie is ever a twisted copy of the true.
So, we find Elijah involved in a face-off. The True God will meet with these pretenders on the mountaintop. Elijah invites them to meet him on Mount Horeb. One wonders that among the priests of Baal, and those of Israel who had gone over to them, there was not one who recalled that Mount Horeb was the Mountain of God! Here, again, Elijah’s ministry echoes the past history of Israel. Here was the very mountain where God had come down in fire and clouds to meet with the children of Israel. Here, their forefathers had come as close to meeting God face to face as any ever would. That event has shown up already in this study, for it was that event Moses reminded the people of when he brought them God’s promise of the Prophet like himself. He reminded the people how great their fear had been on seeing the fire of God’s pure presence on that mountain, how they had cried out never to be quite so close to Him again. God was pleased with their respect.
Now, they have forgotten. They come back to the mountain upon which God met them once before, but this time, there is no respect for Him at all, no fear, no belief. They’ve come to witness a spectacle. They’ve come to be entertained. Besides, both God and Baal are being represented here tonight. Whoever comes out ahead, they can back that one. It’s a win-win situation for the nation. But, they have forgotten with Whom they have to deal. They won’t forget for much longer! The false ones perform their empty ritual for hours on end. They do themselves harm in hopes of pleasing their vile god, but to no avail.
Then comes Elijah. Having given them every advantage, he now puts himself at even more severe disadvantage, as the eyes of man see it. He builds the altar as God had declared the altar ought to be built. He puts the wood in place, and lays out the sacrifice upon it. But, then he does a most amazing thing. He calls for water to be poured upon the preparations, not once, not twice, but in total he calls for twelve pitchers of water to be poured out. Now, don’t think that these were pitchers such as one sees a waiter carrying about the restaurant. These are large vessels, bearing much water. Indeed, so much water is poured out that not only are sacrifice and wood drenched, but water pours off the altar, filling the trench Elijah has dug around the altar.
Before I think about the results of this preparation, I want to look backwards just a bit. Consider first that there were twelve pitchers poured out, one for each tribe of Israel. Consider that water, as with John’s baptism, was a symbol of purification. It was by submersion in water that Elisha would insist that Naaman seek his healing. It was by submersion in water that John would seal the repentance of those who heard his message with understanding. It is by submersion in water that we declare our allegiance to the Risen Christ, we having died and so washed away the body of death which is sin and risen to a new life of purity by His purification. The twelve pitchers poured out were, I think, symbolic of each tribe of Israel being purified of their attraction to the local idols by what God was about to do.
Consider also that this profligate expenditure of water was happening in a land that had been suffering drought for three long years, and that by the power of God displayed through Elijah – Elijah who now called for this water to be thrown on the ground! Even Ahab was aware that there was a connection between Elijah and the drought, indeed blamed Elijah for it. So severe had the drought become that he had sent his servants out looking for the least vestiges of moisture that they might round up some feed for the animals to save them from slaughter. Yet, that precious water was being poured out in this display. How must this have struck those who had no heart for God? What an outrage, to require this waste for what will doubtless fail as surely as the priests of Baal had failed! This was a display of faith on Elijah’s part, in that he knew that God could and would come consume the sacrifice in spite of it all. It demanded faith of any believers in that crowd. It demanded recognition that God was God, that there was no trickery, no slight of hand involved in what would transpire. Indeed, it would result in faith for those who remained undecided as they watched the spectacle unfold.
Finally, in regards to the water poured out, I find it of interest that Elijah had traveled forty days and forty nights to come to Mount Horeb. The connections to Noah that this suggests are striking. There are the forty days and nights of travel. There is the pervasiveness of sin which has brought things to a head, although God remains faithful to His promise to Noah – there has come no second flood. Indeed, there has come quite the opposite, severe drought. There is this connection: As with Noah, Elijah has made the entire journey with only that sustenance that was given him on the first day. Noah, too, could do nothing to augment his food throughout those forty days and nights. What was in the belly of the ark must suffice and did. What was in the belly of Elijah as he ran to Mount Horeb must suffice and did.
Notice this as well. When the ark was finally opened, and Noah emerged onto dry ground once more on that mountaintop, his first act was to build an altar and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God for bringing the remnant through. Elijah, too, has arrived at a mountaintop to build an altar and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God for bringing the remnant through. Three years the drought had continued to shatter the unbelief of Israel, but the remnant – of whom Elijah was as yet unaware – were sustained through it all by God’s providence.
With all the parallels to Noah that are laced into this account, I can’t help but wonder: was it upon Mount Horeb that the ark came to rest? I know, modern theorists tend to place that landing on Mount Ararat, and indeed, there are those who claim to have seen it and even visited its remains. However, I am brought to mind once more of God’s habit of revisiting certain places. There are, as my pastor likes to remind us, “certain places.” Mount Horeb seems clearly to be one such place. God met His people there at least once before in the days of Moses, and as we are about to see, He came to meet them again in these events. Wouldn’t it be just like God to have used this place in the case of Noah, as well?
OK. Let me finish the story at hand. Elijah has completed his preparations, and now offers a simple prayer to God. No fancy rituals, no torrent of petitions, just a simple prayer that God move in such a way that belief will be established in doubting Israel. God is pleased to answer, and to answer in power! Not only does fire alight on the altar without human intervention, but such a fire! Fire consumes the sacrifice. Nothing too unusual about that, once there is fire. Fire consumes the wood. Again, one would expect that of a fire. But, the fire is so intense it even consumes that flood of water that had been poured out. Can I just say here that, where the animal on the altar was a sin offering, the water that was poured out was a faith offering. Such an offering you won’t find described in Mosaic Law, but that’s what this was. It was an offering that expressed absolute confidence in God’s Provision, and He was pleased to consume that offering. Still, that fire of sufficient intensity would consume water is not all that shocking to us. There remains the mystery of the fire’s appearance in the first place, but the results of that fire have not yet exceeded what one expects a fire might do. But, the fire doesn’t stop there.
Look carefully! The record shows that the fire even consumed the altar itself! So intense were the flames that came from heaven that the very rocks from which the altar was made were consumed! Not just cracked, as can happen when one builds the fire too strong, but consumed, vaporized, to be found no more! This has gone beyond any possible expectation. This has now left, in yet another way, what is comprehensible.
This has also moved from connection with the past to a foreshadowing of the future. Peter saw it. There will yet come that great day of God, in which the heavens themselves will be destroyed by burning, “and the elements will melt with intense heat” (2Pe 3:12). So many have thought to explain this by nuclear war. I begin to think that perhaps they’ve fallen into the trap that caught out the Temple authorities, insisting on an explicable – however tenuously – fulfillment of prophecy. God needs no nuclear devices to accomplish His purpose. He’s done it before on a smaller scale. Already, He has displayed fire that will consume the rocks!
What an amazing set of connections. The people once feared to see God up close and personal for fear of the all-consuming fire of His Presence. Of course, Moses had seen that same fire not consume anything. The power of God is God’s to control. How the people had fallen, though, that they returned to this place in this time with no fear at all, ready to witness to conflict of the gods with no concern for their own wretched condition.
What of the church today? Do we still have a proper respect for our God? Do we still understand the fear that filled the people of Israel when God came down to the mountain? I wonder. We all like to sing songs about God sending His glory. We all pray that we might see His glory. We really don’t want to hear it when somebody reminds us of the awful weight of that glory we keep looking for. Perhaps we need to hear that question Jesus asked the people. “What did you go out to see?” When we went looking for the glory, what did we go out to see? Were we looking for that glory that descended on Mount Horeb in clouds and thunder? Are we really looking for that glory that is so great that we cannot bear its presence? No, I don’t think so. Seeing what we accept as His glory, it seems fairly clear that we’re happy to settle for something that feels good, that makes our senses tingle. We don’t necessarily want God’s glory. We want that sensation of having been part of something bigger than us, something beyond us. We want the Hollywood sensation, not the awful reality. We want a glory we can still stand up in, and I fear we will one day find ourselves watching the prophet in amusement, I fear we will one day find God’s visitation so utterly shocking, so utterly different than anything we might have expected.
No, I don’t fear it. I welcome it, although I pray that the circumstances that bring it about are different that we witness in the story of Elijah. I welcome God appearing to His people in a fashion that will wake us up from all our nonsensical misconceptions. I welcome God appearing in a fashion that will turn His followers from the incantations that pass as religion for them to a true faith in the true God. I welcome God appearing in a fashion that will restore His church to a reality of faith and purpose so utterly beyond what the Western Church has become as to be unrecognizable.
Indeed, should the prayers of those who call upon Him to send His glory be heard in heaven, should He deign to answer those prayers, what a shaking there will be! Oh! The incredible weight of His glory! Oh! The sorrow that must come upon us if we ever catch a glimpse of it! For shall any one of us really think ourselves better than Isaiah when brought face to face with the holiness of our God? Is there really a one among us who would not cry out, “I’m undone!”?
Father, I do pray that I might see Your glory, and I pray knowing that it is a most terrible request. I know it must be the death of this flesh to see You in Your fullness, and I pray that one day it may be that I will so see You. I pray that You would restore to us, Your Church, a true sense of who You are – Your glory, Your holiness, Your utter goodness when we are such as we are. Oh! That we would stop seeking excitement for our flesh, and start seeking to live the life You have purchased for us, the life You have created us for! God! Empower me to live as You command, to walk as You direct, to serve as You require. Let me be one, Holy Father, who will stop playing games of religion and start pursuing Your heart.
The Remnant and Grace (1/29/05)
Before I leave this section, I want to consider the message of the remnant. The remnant shows up in many aspects in this particular study. There is, of course, that part of Elijah’s story, following close on the defeat of Baal. Jezebel swore his destruction, and he feared for his life. He was convinced that there remained no man of faith apart from himself in all Israel. But God spoke comfort to him, and told him that there were in Israel seven thousand that had never fallen into the idolatry of Baal worship. Now, in part, Elijah must have been relieved to hear that he was not entirely alone after all. On the other hand, this is perhaps the saddest message of Scripture apart from Ezekiel’s witness to the Spirit of God departing the Temple. Yes, there were seven thousand remaining, but that was the whole of it. There was not one more to be found in all Israel, but these seven thousand. Consider the size of the nation when Israel entered the land. Tens of thousands in each tribe, nor had they decreased since their arrival. And out of all those hundreds of thousands of Israelites, only seven thousand could be found who had been faithful to the God who established them in the land. Rather less than one percent of the people that God had established for Himself were found to be His. What a sorrowful testimony.
However, God is pleased to work with that remnant. He still has seed for His harvest. By the time Isaiah was prophesying, the situation had only worsened. Yet, the word he brought from God was not one of outright condemnation. There was the grain of hope, the grain of the remnant: “The remnant shall take root and bear fruit. Life will once more flow forth from Jerusalem” (2Ki 19:30-31). Now, Isaiah makes clear what was not told outright to Elijah: It was nothing special in those seven thousand that had preserved them. Neither was it anything wonderful in the remnant in Isaiah’s day that would cause them to prosper. No. There was one and only one reason for the remnant. “The zeal of the LORD.” Had it not been for the zeal of the Lord, there would have been no seven thousand to tell Elijah about. There would have been no Elijah to tell it to.
We remain a people so utterly sinful that without the zeal of the LORD to perform it, there is no hope of our preservation. Without the zeal of the LORD to perform it, there is no least possibility that any one of us would walk away from our sins. Indeed, it is ever and always in spite of our sins that we have this hope within us. It is ever and always “the zeal of the LORD” that preserves us. When God spoke through Isaiah, declaring the planting of the remnant in Judah, he made it plain. They shall not plant themselves, the zeal of the LORD shall accomplish it. Later, as Paul reflected on that remnant, he would make clear what had been happening in Elijah’s case. The people had not managed to remain righteous by their own effort. God declared, “I have kept them for Myself.” The zeal of the LORD performed this.
The testimony of Scripture is that those who are saved are saved because the zeal of the LORD has saved them. It is by grace, it is a gift from a holy God, a gift of love for His children that He has expressed His zeal in such a way. God is determined that there shall be a remnant throughout the history of man. However dark the darkened mind of man may become, there will always be a remnant, but there is only one reason that the remnant will remain: God has determined in Himself to have it so (Ro 9:27-29).
Are we saved? In that we have nothing in particular to boast of. It’s not like we’ve done anything worth talking about. We have received a gift – a gift above and beyond the gifts God showers down on all mankind. Who has not tasted of His goodness? Even the worst of men has inhaled the air He has given us to breathe. Even the most vile creature has been fed from His bountiful store. How rare, though, to find one who is the least bit grateful for these good gifts. How rare, to find one of His chosen children who really comprehend the wonder of what He has done. How utterly rare to find one who has the least glimmer of understanding the real awesome glory of God!
A Final Thought (1/29/05)
As I finish looking at this passage, I want to return once more to the issue of authority. The priests and Levites held up three whom they felt would have the authority to do what John was doing. They held up the Prophet. In this, they were essentially offering Moses himself as the acceptable authority. They held up Elijah. And, they held up Messiah. These were the acceptable foundations of authority so far as they were concerned. As much as they got things wrong, these three models for authority were indeed well chosen. What they missed was that it was not those three people specifically that constituted authority, it was something about them that gave evidence to the authority that was theirs.
All authority, after all, comes from God. It is in His hands to decide who rules over how much for how long. It is by His Supreme Authority that any authority is to be had at all. So, if the priests had really wanted to establish John’s right to do what he was doing, they ought to have been seeking for God at the root of it. They were, after a fashion, but they didn’t really understand, I don’t think, what it was they were looking for. They wanted John to actually be one of these three. And yet, were this the necessary foundation for authority, what authority was there for the high priest, or for any other, for that matter?
No, it wasn’t the physical presence of these three that would establish authority, it was the something in the character of these three that gave testimony to the authority vested in them. What was it about these three? Was it that they were all prophets? No, although there is a prophetic authority active in those who are truly prophets of God, and one cannot be a prophet of God without this same necessary requisite.
Was it the miracles they performed? No, although in these three one finds the record of most of God’s miraculous interventions. The miracles were not about the men. The miracles were not brought about by these men, but through them. Like the office they held, the miracles were gifts of God’s grace. It was not the men, it was not their authority, it was not their righteousness that made things happen. It was God who was and is all and in all.
The thing that Moses, Elijah, and Messiah held in common, the thing that made all the difference, and made of them examples of righteous authority, was their intimate, direct communion with God. Moses alone among men was declared to be one who talked to God face to face. No other in history could make that claim. Elijah alone among men had been visibly taken up into heaven at the end of his days. Even Enoch could not make that claim. He simply was no more. Messiah alone among men would walk in perfect compliance to all God’s Law. He alone was found righteous among all men of all times. It was one and the same thing that each of these three was empowered by: intimacy with God. That intimacy was as much a gift of His grace as any other thing, but it was the key thing. Intimacy with God is the foundation for righteous authority. Intimacy with God is what made David the great king that he was. Intimacy with God is what preserved the remnant. Intimacy with God is what will keep us until the day of His returning. But, the key message I want to leave us with, here, is that simple fact that intimacy is the foundation of godly authority. All authority is from Him, but what establishes an authority for the good of the people is intimacy with the King of kings, for intimacy with Him can only lead to a deeper honoring of all His ways, a greater desire to please Him in all things, a stronger effort to obey Him for the love of Him.
Oh, that I might have the intimacy to qualify for authority! Whether that authority come or not, Lord, I desire the intimacy. I desire the life fully qualified to serve You, however simple the service may be. Oh, God, this one thing I would seek of You. Let me know You. Let me know You both as Lord and Friend, both as Father and Brother, both as King and Husband. Holy God, let me know Your heart better than I know my own. Let me seek out those things that bring You joy, that my company might be pleasing to You. Draw me ever closer, Lord. Draw me ever closer.
