Jared Longshore's Blog, page 7

The Gym and Piety

It is striking how difficult it can be to order ones loves toward the gymnasium. When it comes to bodily training, it is often feast or famine. One family lives for their boys to play basketball and another family insists that bouncing inflated leather is of no value at all. Paul’s words are helpful and simple enough: “Bodily exercise [γυμνασία] proffteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things” (1 Timothy 4:8). Paul did not mean that all of your sports are meaningless. And he didn’t mean that physical exercise necessarily stands contrary to piety, not at all. But if you do decide to weigh them in a scale, piety simply profits more.

So take an honest look at what you and your children esteem. Young men, if you know every accolade of Lebron, Curry, and Mahomes and nothing of the victories of Abraham, Moses, Gideon, and other heroes of our faith, then be honest about how your loves are ordered. The Lordship of Christ over your sports involves more than doing the same thing pagans do minus cussing. And entire athletic ecosystems have long forgotten what sports are for. So make sure you remember.

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Ship and Tabernacle

Introduction

Isaiah prophesied from around 740 to 687 B.C. during the reign of four kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Ahaz was a wicked king who locked up the doors of the temple in Jerusalem, burned his sons in fire, cut the vessels of the temple to pieces, and made Judah a vassal state of the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser by paying him for protection (2 Kings 16:8, 10). Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah, came to the throne at twenty-five years old and called for a recovery of the Passover festival in Jerusalem. That assembly of joy was so grand the like had not been seen since the days of David and Solomon (2 Chronicles 30:26). But the Assyrian threat was looming. They took Samaria in the sixth year of Hezekiah’s reign. And by the fourteenth year of his rule, the Assyrian king Sennacherib had come against Judah and Jerusalem.

The Text

“Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity” (Isaiah 33:20-24).

Survey of the Text

In the face of the Assyrian threat, Judah must look upon Zion, the city of their festivals. It will be a place of peace, a tabernacle that will not be folded up. Not a single tabernacle peg will be removed; and unlike the cords on the Assyrian war ships, not one of her cords will be snapped (v. 20). The tabernacle of Zion will remain because the LORD Himself will supply it with streams of water that no Assyrian oars will touch (v. 21). The LORD, Judah’s Savior-King, will not permit their ships to come upon His holy habitation (v. 22). Their cords will forsake them, not supporting their mast. Their sail will not be spread to catch the wind. And the result will be that the predator becomes prey. The lame inhabitants of Zion will plunder them (v. 23). Those inhabitants will not say that they are weak because their sin is forgiven (v. 24).

A Place of Streams and Festivals

Jerusalem was a festival city, a place of bread, meat, and drink. And this meat and drink was the very thing Sennacherib threatened to cut off, “Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem? Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst'” (2 Chronicles 32:10-11)?

But these threats fall flat when God feeds His people with bread from heaven, when He satisfies their thirst with water from a Rock. Isaiah’s prophecy was not only that the LORD would give them rivers, but that the LORD would be unto them a place of rivers (v. 21). Sennacherib laid siege, but he could not get to the Rock from which the water flowed. The Gihon Spring has its source in the City of David. Water still flows out of the rock that is Zion.

Stakes and Cords

The stakes and cords of the tabernacle speak to its stability, contrasted with the faulty tacklings of the Assyrian ships. The same Hebrew word [hevel] lies behind the tabernacle’s “chords” in verse 20 and the ship’s “tacklings” in verse 23. Not one of the tabernacle’s hevel will fail but the Assyrians’ hevel will forsake them.

The tabernacle cords tied down the different parts of the tabernacle to the stakes. These cords are a reminder of feminine glory, which has a way of holding things together. It was the wise-hearted women who wove the cords of the tabernacle, “And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen” (Exodus 35:25).

The stakes of the tabernacle were of brass (Exodus 27:19). And those stakes, Isaiah prophesied, would be driven in as sturdily as Jael drove the stake through Sisera into the earth.

Sails in the Wind

Zion’s tabernacle is contrasted with the Assyrian ship. What you want is wind in your sails but the Assyrians would have their sails in the wind. Their sail would not spread. This sail not only served the practical function of moving their ships. It was also a banner or a sign. The word for sail is nēs, which often means sign or banner. When Moses grew tired lifting up his arms at the battle against Amalek, he was assisted by Aaron and Hur. After the victory, Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah-nissi, “The Lord Is Our Banner” (Exodus 17:15). The pole that held up the snake in the wilderness was a nēs. 

But while Moses’ raised hands and the raised snake did not fail, the banner-sail [nēs] of the Assyrians would. And so those who sought to spoil would be spoiled (Isaiah 33:1). The lame plunder the plunder.

The Inhabitant Shall Not Say

The payout of this deliverance is that even the beleaguered inhabitants of Zion will not say, “I am sick,” which includes “I am not wounded. I am not weak. I am not famished and I am not thirsty.” For those inhabitants have their sin forgiven by the King of Zion. He was bound with cords but broke their bonds apart. He was pierced with stakes only to become “a nail in a sure place” upon which all of God’s promises are secured (Isaiah 22:23). For “he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

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The Fundraiser

Let your bounty take a nap. I will awake it anon.

William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

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Life Through Flesh

Jesus taught that the Father has life in Himself and has given to the Son that He also has life in Himself. This sets Christ apart from us. We most certainly do not have life in ourselves. But we access that life, that eternal and abundant life, through this bread and wine.

Jesus said, and indeed it was a hard saying, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood hath eternal life” (John 6:53).

As Calvin once said, “What our mind does not comprehend let faith conceive.” The flesh and blood of Christ feed our souls just as this bread and wine feed our bodies. 

You need this soul food. And it comes to you from the gracious hand of God who is outside of creation through the flesh and blood of His beloved Son. Eat and be satisfied. Drink and rejoice. For Christ says to you, “My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him” (John 6:55-56). Come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ. 

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The New Peace Offering

Both worshipers and priests ate the Old Testament Peace Offering. In this way, the Lord’s Supper fulfills the Peace Offering. The Peace Offering could take two forms: one was the Peace Thanksgiving Offering, which had to be eaten the same day the offering was made, while the other was the Peace Vow Offering, which had to be eaten on the day the offering was made or the following day. In either case, practically speaking, the sacrifice had a shelf life and would spoil.

But as new creatures in a new creation, we come to partake of a sacrifice that has risen from the dead. We do not feed upon a dead Christ, but a resurrected Christ. So as you come to eat and drink, come with thanksgiving and a vow. This New Peace Offering is a Thanksgiving because Christ has been raised from the dead, and we in Him. Additionally, this Peace Offering is a Vow because here we swear to accomplish the kind of good works for God that resurrected people perform. So give thanks and make your vow, knowing this New Peace Offering will feed you today, tomorrow, and every day following. Come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ. 

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No Place for a Soggy Mind

When God raises men out of their graves, He raises the whole man, the mind included. You are to love the Lord your God with all your mind and thanks be to God your mind is no longer dead. It has walked out of the grave with your Lord. Even so, your mind is not yet perfect. It will be prone to wander in this very service. But you must not let it. 

You have climbed Mount Zion and have entered the throne room of heaven. There is no place where your mind should be sharper. There is no place where you should be more dialed in. You offer your songs to God and He requires that you do so knowledgeably. You will hear the Lord of Hosts speak to you and He requires you to pay attention, to stay awake. In the presence of Christ on this Mount of Transfiguration, the Father says to you, “This is my beloved Son. Hear Him.” 

As we are fond of saying, worship is our warfare and the front lines is no place for a soggy mind.

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A Word for the Idolaters in Texas

Not being able to make our values beautiful, we make them huge.

Pliny the Elder

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Union

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Virgin Womb, Virgin Tomb

The sin of all sins is the sin of unbelief. It is is the sin that says dry bones can’t live. Your children can’t flourish like the palm tree. The kingdom of God can’t breathe and the promises of God will flatline. 

The serpent’s lie before Adam’s fall was, “you will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). But his lie afterward, his lie today, is that you and yours will not surely live. You will not eat the fat, drink the sweet, and you will have no portions to send to others. That lie is all the more deceptive because in Adam all die (1 Corinthians 15:22).  

But two thousand years ago, the Creator wedded Himself to creation in the womb of a virgin. In a place of no seed, in a barren and dead place, God came and resurrection with Him. Some three decades later, in a virgin tomb, where no body had previously been laid, resurrection sprouted in history (John 19:41).

So look to the firstfruits of the new creation, which is Christ risen from the dead, and know for certain that you and yours will live. How could you not? You live in a world of resurrection.

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Takes Away and Gives

At this table we are reminded of Job’s faithful saying in reverse order. In Job’s suffering, he testified that the Lord gives and takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. But the statement has a slightly different connotation when the words are reversed. The Lord takes away and gives, blessed be the name of the Lord.

The procedure of the Old Testament sacrifice was striking. The Israelite would bring an offering, identify with the offering by placing their hands on it, and it would be slain. Then, in the case of the peace offering, that sacrifice was turned into food for them. Sin taken away and sustenance given in return. And all of this in the same sacrifice.

So it is with the Lamb slain once for all time. At this feast, we declare that the LORD takes away and gives. By faith, we have laid hold of the Lord and all of our sin has been taken away. And by that same faith, we have laid hold of the Lord and receive Him as bread and wine.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that Christ is half of a sacrifice. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the Great High Priest won’t follow the terms of the covenant sacrifice. He is a Generous Priest. And He is, at the same time, a whole sacrifice.

You have all sorts of needs. And you do not know exactly how the Lord will meet them. But you are promised that He will. And you have seen Him do so time and time again in the past. This sacrament is a gurantee of His provision. If He has given His very self to you as bread, if He has given His very self to you as wine, then surely He will supply you with all that you need. So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ.

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The Water and the Blood

As the water which flowed from Ezekiel’s temple grew deeper and deeper, so it is with the baptism of the world. Every baptism is yet another sign that God’s promises are true and the commission that Christ gave His disciples upon His resurrection will indeed come to pass. All nations will be blessed in the Lion of the tribe of Judah. All nations will take His name upon their heads. All nations will obey His commands. And as that Lion Himself promised, He is with us even now, guaranteeing His salvation by the water and the blood.

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