Taking Thoughts Captive

The little book of Amos is one of my favorites among the Old Testament prophets. Though written over 2,700 years ago, many of the themes Amos takes up and many of the warnings he levies against Israel are just as pertinent to the Church today. It is an amazing book, worthy of our prayerful, detailed study. When studying Amos, it is easy to see how the first six chapters are perpetually-relevant (Who can fail to find application to those famous words, “Let justice roll down like water”?), but then we come to the last three chapter and sometimes wonder what to do with them…especially the final chapter.

Having proclaimed very clearly that Israel would be carted off into captivity by the Assyrians (Amos 9.4) and destroyed from the face of the earth (Amos 9.8), God then promises, “Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob.” As is always true of the prophets, God’s threat (promise) of judgment is accompanied by his promise of restoration. The book ends with the following, grace-filled proclamation:

On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old; That they may possess the remnant of Edom, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” Says the LORD who does this thing.

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it. I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,” Says the LORD your God.

– Amos 9.11-15 (NKJV)

In the last hundred years, many people have seen this promise fulfilled, at least in part, in the 1917 Balfour Declaration or the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Here, they say, God is making good on his promise to ‘bring back the captives’ of Israel in their rightful territory.

What should we make of this interpretation? Does it rightly understand this prophecy and properly interpret God’s promises?

In a word, no. In stronger words, absolutely not!

There are some areas of the Old Testament that are difficult to interpret and some that have consistently been interpreted in multiple ways through the millennia, but this is NOT one of them. This passage is plainly interpreted and explained in the New Testament book of Acts, and where Scripture interprets itself, there should be no confusion.

Looking at Acts 15, after Barnabas and Paul describe God’s work through them among the Gentiles, the Apostle James takes advantage of the stunned silence, likely as these Jewish Christians realize God has made a great turning point in his salvific work by including Gentiles. James speaks to the Jerusalem Council about Peter’s missionary work. He quotes Amos 9.11-12 about rebuilding the tabernacle of David and points out that God has fulfilled this promise.

In other words, David’s tabernacle has been rebuilt, past tense. God has fulfilled this promise, says Peter under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

How? David’s dynasty was restored in Jesus Christ, at which point Gentiles started in earnest to seek the Lord, as evidenced by the reports from Barnabas, Paul, and Peter.

We need not look for some future work of God to rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem. Such an idea has no place in redemptive history, according to the plain testimony of Scripture. Why not? Because it has already been accomplished in the life and work of Jesus Christ, through whose grace Jews and Gentiles are ‘saved in the same manner’ (Acts 15.11).

Thanks be to God!

#theology

In today's world, the art of listening seems to be under threat. Social media has trained us to believe that what matters most is what we have to say. We're talking more than ever, broadcasting our thoughts to the world with every post, tweet, and status update. But in this cacophony of voices, it often seems like nobody is truly hearing each other.

We've become so focused on crafting our next response, our next witty comment, that we've forgotten how to listen. We skim, we scan, we scroll, but we rarely stop to absorb and consider what others are saying. We're more connected than ever, yet in many ways, we're more isolated, trapped in echo chambers of our own making.

This is why the skill of listening—real, active, engaged listening—is more crucial than ever. It's a skill that can set you apart in a world where everyone is clamoring to be heard. It's a skill that can open doors, build relationships, and lead to insights and opportunities that you might otherwise miss.

-George Raveling, What You're Made For: Powerful Life Lessons from My Career in Sports (H/T: A Layman's Blog)

#quotes #culture

There is no neutrality between gratitude and ingratitude. Those who are not grateful soon begin to complain of everything.

— Thomas Merton, Thoughts on Solitude

#quotes #culture #theology

According to Pew Research:

Those 60 and older – a group increasingly populated by aging Baby Boomers – now spend more than half of their daily leisure time, four hours and 16 minutes, in front of screens, mostly watching TV or videos.

For the love of all things true, good, and beautiful (and for your own edification), put down that blasted phone and be rebellious...

Take a walk.

Pick up a book.

Do a crossword puzzle.

Write a real letter, on paper.

Listen to a record or CD.

Pet an animal.

Work in your garden.

Daydream.

Be bored.

Do something real.

...and enjoy it.

#life

On the Destructive Nature of the Left and the Proper Response of the Right

I read an article today that described the fundamental nature of the Left as 'negative,' i.e. opposed to things, typically the historic status quo. I think I would go further than that and say that the Left is fundamentally destructive / de-constructive and characterized by the desire to create disorder (more quickly than entropy disorders things in a fallen world). Over time, the immediate causes will change and adjust, according to the soft spots or easy gains that present themselves to this philosophy. This explains why the cause of the day has shifted from sexual and reproductive 'freedom' to political correctness to LGBTQ-alphabet soup to wokeness to antisemitism to...whatever will come next.

This is very negative, I admit; however, I am not especially charitable about my understanding of the Right as it is currently understood and exemplified.

The Right, it seems to me, is also characteristically 'negative' but in a different way. Instead of being focused on the destruction of the current state of things, the Right generally defines itself by being against the Left. It seems very rare to me, indeed, that anyone on the Right actually puts forth a genuinely positive position that is not a reaction to something the Left has already tried to destroy (e.g. being 'pro-life').

Understood this way, it is clear that the general, 'big picture,' macro drift of a society will NEVER be anything but to the Left. It will always drift leftward over time if the Right is not genuinely FOR ideas but reacts only against the destruction attempted by the Left. The Right, in this paradigm, is also fundamentally negative. Both sides work together to move a society, at greater or lesser speeds over time, toward self-destruction and societal suicide.

This is Satanic and demonic, full stop. If you don't believe me, think back on the just the last two hundred years of world history.

That this view is correct is self-evident if we pause and reflect on the positions currently held by the Right in the United States that are FAR left of positions held by the Left even less than a century ago. Contrast the views of Donald Trump on abortion or same sex marriage with Bill Clinton—who is more to the Left? Compare the theological views of 'conservative' churches today on female clergy or premarital sex with mainline churches of 50 years ago—who is more to the Left?

The Right, as it operates today, is a retardant to leftward motion rather than a genuinely creative or positive agent acting in society. To recover a truly positive influence, the Right must define itself by what it supports and not by what it is against, AND it must stop repeatedly conceding ground and drifting left itself.

Said positively, the Right (i.e. “Conservatives”) must stop trying to conserve things and start trying to recreate and restore them according to the Word of God and His intention for individuals and society.

Instead of the Right being 'conservative' it must be 'restorational.'

We ought not be trying to simply slow down society's movement to the left but restoring God's intended order, beliefs, and practice.

Who is up for such a monumental task? Certainly none of the political class or academia. It must come from God's people individually, who themselves are recreated and restored, and corporately, as the Body of Christ.

It will not come from anywhere else. Indeed, it cannot.

#culture #politics #theology

While I was in seminary, a new Calvinism was flourishing among Evangelicals in the United States. Well, to be honest, a partial Calvinism was flourishing. The Calvinism then (and still) popular among American Evangelicals like John MacArthur, John Piper, Albert Mohler, Mark Dever, and others was a Calvinism that was limited to following Calvin on the “doctrines of grace” when it came to salvation. Men like these, all baptists, have very little room for Calvin when it comes to his teaching on the sacraments.

Here is an excerpt I ran across recently from John Calvin's commentary on John 20. Here, he takes a very Augustinian view on the power of the sacraments as coming from the joining of the sacramental act with the word or promises of Christ:

But let the reader observe, that with the visible and outward sign the word is also joined; for this is the source from which the sacraments derive their efficacy; not that the efficacy of the Holy Spirit is contained in the word which sounds in our ears, but because the effect of all those things which believers receive from the sacraments depends on the testimony of the word. Christ breathes on the Apostles: they receive not only the breathing, but also the Spirit. And why, but because Christ promises to them?

In like manner, in baptism we put on Christ, (Galatians 3:27,) we are washed by his blood, (Revelation 1:5,) our old man is crucified, (Romans 6:6,) in order that the righteousness of God may reign in us. In the Holy Supper we are spiritually fed with the flesh and blood of Christ. Whence do they derive so great efficacy but from the promise of Christ, who does and accomplishes by his Holy Spirit what he declares by his word? Let us therefore learn, that all the sacraments which men have contrived are nothing else than absolute mockeries or frivolous amusements, because the signs can have no truth unless they be accompanied by the word of the Lord. Now, since we never sport in this manner with sacred things, without wickedly pouring contempt on God and ruining souls, we ought to be most carefully on our guard against those stratagems of Satan.

Here Calvin sounds almost like Luther. Indeed, there is very little for this Lutheran to quibble with here. If only Calvin's contemporary followers read and taught more of what Calvin actually taught!

#theology #sacraments #Reformed #Lutheran #Evangelicalism

Aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.

— The Apostle Paul, 1 Thessalonians 4.11-12

Biblical Christianity, properly lived out, has always been counter-cultural, whether in the by-gone days of Christendom or in the nominally-Christian American culture in which many of us grew up. The difference between Christianity lived and the life epitomized, encouraged, and admired by our culture, however, has never been greater than it is today. While Scripture clearly does not call us to a life of isolated quietism, it also does not permit us to get dragged (or drag ourselves) into the swap that describes most of our culture and the ways in which we interact with it.

We would do well to reflect on what a disentangled life characterized by quiet, intentional labor would look life and how we can live that out in the midst of the bitter clamor and true laziness that describe so much of our culture.

#culture #life