True Delight
Written by David H. Lauten |
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Our spiritual forebears saw the day of worship as a great market day for the soul where we taste the spiritual delicacies of God’s Word. On the first day of the week, we take in the sweetness and strength of the friendship of God’s people. Resting from the cares of the workaday world we are renewed as we sing his praise and pray with his people. This world holds out big promises to those who will follow in its ways. But the husks of this world never satisfy.
Five thousand to upward of fifteen to eighteen thousand gather to enjoy market festivities each Saturday in the center of the city where I live. Fresh produce, fabulous meat, home-spun leather backpacks, and delicious kombucha are among the items which line the streets for would-be buyers along with their many furry friends. The tastings, browsing, chatting all make the market great fun. A market friend recently described her day atthe market as a “delight.”
God invites us to find our joy in him. The prophet Isaiah (58) knew that the cure for the “gloom” of the people who lived in “scorched places” is tethered to their finding their pleasure in their relationship with God. That we may know him and enjoy him, God has given us a special weekly gift, the Lord’s Day. Isaiah calls the people to rejoice in the Sabbath Day, to call it a delight (58:13).
This day is set aside from ordinary work for worship, rest,and service to others. This weekly pattern of work six days a week and rest on a seventh goes back to creation when God Almighty “rested” on the seventh day. God gave his good instruction to Moses, and all who call upon him, to remember the Sabbath Day. For many years this day of worship, rest and mercy ministry was on Saturday, the last day of the week.
When Jesus who is Lord of the Sabbath arose from the grave on the day following the Sabbath, the day of worship changed from the last day of the week to the first one. On the day of Resurrection, Sunday, we begin our week resting and remembering Jesus’ resurrection.
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Securing an Eternal Redemption | Hebrews 9:1-14
Just as God first made the world through Christ, so too is the new creation worked through Christ. Jesus appeared as our high priest, offering Himself as the sacrifice to atone for our sins. But He did so through the eternal Spirit and to God. This, of course, is also how the Scriptures also describe this redemption being applied to us: the Father ordains, the Son accomplishes, and the Spirit applies.
Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Hebrews 9:1-14 ESVWhile Leviticus has a duly earned reputation for being the destroyer of Bible reading plans, it is, nevertheless, crucial for properly understanding the Pentateuch, the Old Testament, and even the New. I agree with John Sailhamer that the Pentateuch, that is, the first five books of the Bible written by Moses, ought to be thought of as one book in five volumes rather than five separate books. When viewed this way, we see the Holy Spirit’s clear design in the structure and symmetry within.
Genesis 1-11, which covers creation, the fall, the flood, and Babel, is a prologue to both the Pentateuch and the entire Bible. Genesis 12-50 recount the foundational promises that God made to Israel’s ancestors while they sojourned within the Promised Land. Of roughly the same length in word-count, Deuteronomy closes the Torah with Moses preparing Israel to finally enter the Promised Land and see God’s promises to the patriarchs fulfilled. Exodus and Numbers are also roughly the same size books and are mirrors of one another. As we have been seeing in Exodus, three major locations structure that book: Egypt, the wilderness, and Sinai. Numbers has a reverse series of locations: Sinai, the wilderness, and the border of Canaan.
At the center is Leviticus, which is filled with laws and rituals for how Israel will be able to worship Yahweh within the newly constructed tabernacle, particularly through the Levites as their priests. Indeed, the purpose of Leviticus is found in the final chapter of Exodus and the opening chapter of Numbers. In Exodus 40:34-35, we are told that whenever God’s glory filled the tabernacle Moses was not able to enter in. But in Numbers 1:1, we find God speaking to Moses within the tabernacle (or, tent of meeting as it is often called). The whole book of Leviticus is answering the question of how God’s sinful people could enter into His holy and sinless presence. The answer ended up being through lots of death and lots of blood. All of Leviticus is filled with instructions about the various sacrifices and offerings that the priests where to make on people’s behalf for any number of scenarios and sins.
Yet at the center of this central book is found the instructions for the Day of Atonement, the one day each year when the high priest alone was permitted to enter into the Most Holy Place, the inner chamber of the tabernacle, to make a sacrifice for the sins of the people.
I bring all of this up for two main reasons. First, the tabernacle and the priestly functions within is a major point of today’s text. Second, just as Leviticus and the Day of Atonement stood at the center of God’s law, so too does 9:1-10:18 stand at the center of Hebrews. Chapter divisions can make this matter a bit confusing since with thirteen chapters we would expect the middle of chapter 6 to be the center of Hebrews. Yet in terms of word-count, we are now at the center, which is fitting since the author is now going to describe for us the true, better, and final Day of Atonement.
As Long as the First Section is Still Standing // Verses 1-10
After describing the glories of the new covenant that Christ has inaugurated (primarily by citing Jeremiah 31:31-34), the author now takes us back to the old or first covenant that God made with Israel at Sinai: Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. This verse introduces us to what the author will present in verses 2-7, which is a very broad overview of those Old Testament regulations. These can then be divided into two parts: verses 2-5 recount the two-fold structure of the tabernacle, while verses 6-7 describe the priestly duties associated with each section.
For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
Here the author gives us a brief sketch of how the tabernacle was laid out. As he notes, there were two main sections: the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (also called the Holy of Holies). It is worth noting that the golden altar of incense was actually within the Holy Place right before the entrance to the Most Holy Place, yet the author clearly associates it with the Most Holy Place for good reason. Indeed, in Leviticus 16:12-13, we find this association:
And [the high priest] shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil, and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die.
I think we are meant to hear notes of Exodus 34, where Moses was not permitted to see God’s face lest he die. In the same way, even the high priest’s once-a-year entrance into the Most Holy Place had to be conducted under the cover of a cloud of incense to shroud him from Yahweh’s beautiful but deadly glory. Let us also remember that this was God’s glory radiating through a copy and shadow of the heavenly reality.Read More
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A “Reset” of the Anglican Communion
Written by Barton J. Gingerich |
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
GAFCON-affiliated Anglicans have made it clear that fellowship has been ruptured, particularly due to the infidelity of progressive western leaders. They have not been “able to provide a godly way forward that will be acceptable to those who are committed to the truthfulness, clarity, sufficiency and authority of Scripture. The ‘Instruments of Communion”’ have failed to maintain true communion based on the Word of God and shared faith in Christ.”The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) has spoken, and with a clear voice. The FCA recently held its fourth conference (known as GAFCON) in Kigali, Rwanda. Delegates representing nearly 85 percent of the world’s Anglicans had a lot on their plates, but the biggest concern was drafting a statement responding to the continued, unrepentant infidelity of western provinces of the communion, particularly the Church of England and its recent decision to allow for pastoral blessings for same-sex unions.
Of course, the archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops of the Church of England presented their policy as a compromise—a measure meant to keep together an institution that includes Christians who denounce sexual immorality as well as various members who affirm sin. This policy of blessing same-sex partnerships without establishing same-sex matrimony was supposed to achieve unity.
Predictably, that policy has failed the test of unity. Neither faithful Christians within the Church of England nor the majority of Anglicans worldwide deem this an acceptable way forward. In fact, this policy’s adoption has resulted in a clear, forthright denouncement from the majority of the world’s Anglicans in the form of the Kigali Commitment.
The substance of the Kigali Commitment focuses on the crises of the Church of England’s doctrinal unfaithfulness, which has been made manifest in its endorsement of sexual immorality. While the ecclesiastical endorsement of the LGBT+ agenda draws the most notice, such behavior is the tip of an iceberg. Most of the problems lie under the surface, ranging from the denial of the Bible’s truthfulness and clarity to other doctrinal errors with regard to salvation, Jesus Christ, the Church, and human nature.
Revisionism tends toward universalism, the downplaying of sin, and otherwise portraying reality—even God Himself—as malleable to our will, preferences, and desires.
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CNN Reports that the Birthrate is Going Up in States with Pro-Life Laws
CNN actually goes so far as to claim that not being aborted negatively impacts the child: “Earlier research has found that there are many consequences of unintended birth, affecting the health and livelihood of the mother, the child and the family in general.” In other words, the child would be better off dead.
It is true that since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, the pro-life movement has faced a series of challenges. Most notably, the abortion movement has won seven straight abortion referendums, highlighting their advantage in direct democracy initiatives. (I recently reviewed the flaws in the pro-life movement’s strategy for First Things and on the podcast.) I observed that despite these setbacks—which should certainly provoke a re-evaluation of our strategy—it is unwarranted to claim, as some do, that Dobbs was a “pyrrhic victory.” Tens of thousands of lives have been saved.
On November 21, for example, CNN ran this headline: “Births have increased in states with abortion bans, research finds.” According to the article:
Nearly a quarter of people seeking an abortion in the United States were unable to get one due to bans that took effect after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, researchers estimate. In the first half of 2023, states with abortion bans had an average fertility rate that was 2.3% higher than states where abortion was not restricted, according to the analysis – leading to about 32,000 more births than expected. The findings are based on preliminary births data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The research has not yet been peer-reviewed but experts say the data paints a clear picture about the direct impact of abortion restrictions.
Abortion activists, as you might expect, see this rise in the birthrate as a negative thing. In their view, these are babies that would have been aborted under Roe, but have not been aborted under Dobbs, and thus their very existence is actually tragic.
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