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Vol. 9, No. 9
Contents:
Scripture Twisting (1)
Preaching to Departed Spirits (3)
The Role of Israel (5)
So far we have seen that God-breathed Scripture is absolutely sure and unbreakable, and that it shall never pass away. How then are sinful men going to avoid submitting to it? Many try to ignore it. Others attack it, calling it "cunningly devised fables" (II Peter 1:16). Others argue that the Bible’s meaning is simply a matter of personal opinion: "That’s what you say it means!" Many try all three of these methods to avoid obeying God’s Word. Moreover, Peter even writes of these who are "unlearned and unstable" who "wrest" or twist the writings of Paul and "the other scriptures" (II Peter 3:15-16).
The "other scriptures" (16) certainly include the inspired OT. Paul’s epistles (15) are also Scripture, placed on a par with the OT as divine writings, since Peter refers to the OT as "other scriptures" (16). The OT, all the inspired letters Paul wrote, and indeed the remaining NT books constitute the sacred Scriptures. The 39 OT and 27 NT books are the product of divine "wisdom" (15) given to God’s chosen penmen. Wisdom is that which perfectly adapts to reality, and all Scripture perfectly accords with the reality of the sovereign Triune God and His redemption in Christ Jesus. The 66 books of the Scriptures, as the product of Jehovah’s infinite wisdom, are a perfect unity and contain no mistakes. For what part have errors in God’s wisdom?
There are, however, difficult parts in God’s Word—in the OT, in Paul’s epistles and in the rest of the NT—for there are "some things hard to be understood" in the Scriptures (16). This does not oppose the orthodox doctrine of the perspicuity or clarity of Scripture. "Hard to be understood" does not mean impossible to be understood. Furthermore, "some things" are "hard to be understood;" not all or even most things; merely some things. This means that most of the Bible is not hard to understand. As the Psalmist says, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Ps. 119:105). Thus "ordinary" believers—and not just church officers or those with theological degrees—can and must read the Scriptures in the confidence that most of Scripture can be understood. There are some hard bits, but do not let them discourage you. Interpret the hard parts in the light of the easier parts. Study more diligently. Pray over the Word for divine illumination. Use commentaries or ask an orthodox church teacher.
The infinitely wise God included some hard parts in
Scripture in order to serve our salvation. These difficulties subdue our pride and stir us
up to pray and search the Word. Moreover, we often only esteem that which we obtain with
difficulty. God also uses the difficult sections of His Word to snare the wicked, for they
twist especially the hard parts of Scripture to their own destruction (16), as we shall
see (DV). Rev. Angus Stewart
Preaching to
Departed Spirits (3)
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for
the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened
by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which
sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah,
while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water (I
Peter 3:18-20).
In the last two issues we called attention to a few interpretations of this verse, and we began to try to see what the verse actually does mean. We noticed that the text teaches that Christ in the Spirit made an announcement to some in hell concerning His victory over Satan in His death and resurrection. Second, we saw that He did not preach the gospel, but made an announcement or proclamation. Third, we noted that this proclamation was made only to a limited number in hell, namely, to those who were disobedient when Noah was building the ark.
Finally, we ought to notice that the text does not say that Christ made His proclamation to the spirits of those who lived and died prior to the flood while His body was in the grave. This is an unwarranted assumption. The text clearly states that proclamation took place after Christ arose: "… that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which (Spirit) also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison."
But what was the content of the proclamation which Christ made? It seems to me that Christ announced His victory over Satan in His suffering and death on the cross. Although the text states that Christ suffered for well-doing at the hands of wicked men and is thus an example to us, verse 18 also speaks of His suffering for sins that He might bring us to God. The rest of Scripture declares that Christ’s suffering on the cross was a mighty victory over Satan and the forces of darkness and all the power they represent. This is also the force of verse 22.
Christ arose from the dead triumphant over the grave, ascended into heaven and is exalted at God’s right hand. According to Revelation 12, this victory of Christ was announced in heaven by the casting out of Satan and his hosts at the time of Christ’s exaltation. This victory was also announced on earth through the preaching of the apostles, and it continues to be announced wherever the gospel is preached. It is not surprising, therefore, that this victory is publicly proclaimed in hell. Thus every part of God’s creation is made aware of the triumph of God’s Son.
A second and more difficult question is: Why was it announced only to some of those in hell and not to all—only to those who had lived and died prior to the flood? Once again, the text does not directly answer this question and so we must deduce our answer from the context and from the rest of Scripture.
If we consult the rest of Scripture, it becomes evident, in the first place, that the flood was a picture of the end of the world. It was a picture of the end of the world because the entire creation as it existed prior to the flood was destroyed, and a new creation was formed—just as at the end of the world this old world will be burned and a new heaven and new earth will be formed (cf. II Peter 3:10-13). It was a picture of the end of the world because the church was delivered through the judgments which God sent upon the earth, just as Zion is always redeemed through judgment (Isaiah 1:27). The salvation of the church through the waters of the flood was a type of baptism as the text itself makes clear (21b-22), a baptism which signifies the washing away of sin through the blood of Christ.
In the second place, the times before the flood were typical of the times just before the coming of Christ. This is true in several ways. Just as at the end of time apostasy will abound in the world, so before the flood apostasy was very great. The sons of God came in unto the daughters of men and brought forth giants (Gen. 6:4), and wickedness was great (Gen. 6:5). Just as at the end the righteous will be persecuted, so it was before the flood, so much so that Enoch, the preacher of righteousness was taken to heaven without dying, and the church itself was, through apostasy and persecution, reduced to just eight people who were saved in the ark.
It must not be forgotten that the greatest sin the wicked world can commit is the persecution of the church. The church is the bride of Christ. Christ will not take lightly the abuse, mutilation and murder of His bride. By this dreadful sin the wicked fill the cup of iniquity and become ripe for judgment. It is precisely this suffering for Christ’s sake that the apostle is discussing in the context (14-16).
Finally, the wicked who lived and died before the flood never knew on earth that God’s cause was vindicated. They hated that cause, despised it, mocked Noah and his sons, spoke sneeringly of Noah’s prophecy of the flood, and in so doing rejected the promise of Christ of which Noah spoke (Heb. 11:7). These wicked men lived and died thinking that the cause Noah represented went down to defeat. Now, when through the victory of Christ in His exaltation in heaven, the cause of the wicked is utterly destroyed, this victory is announced in hell to those who were disobedient that they may know that righteous Noah triumphed through faith, but that they perish because of their unbelief. Thus God’s cause—and the cause of His people—is vindicated publicly, their enemies receive their just reward, and the righteous inherit the kingdom. This is great comfort to God’s suffering people.
This seems to me to be the answer to this question and the
interpretation of a difficult passage.
Prof. Herman Hanko
In the last two issues of the News, we have seen that
Jeremiah 31:31-34 is fulfilled in the NT catholic church of Christ. This sheds light on
the interpretation of the surrounding chapters, Jeremiah 30-33, which are widely
recognized as Messianic.
First, the days of Jeremiah 31:31-34 ("the days come" [31]; "those days" [33]) are the "last/latter days" which began with the coming of God’s Son in the flesh (Heb. 1:2) and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:17-18), as we have seen from the last two issues. This suggests that other verses—and their contexts—in Jeremiah 30-33 which refer to the "latter days" (30:24) or "those days" (31:29; 33:15, 16) or which state that "the days come" (30:3; 31:27, 38; 33:14) must be so interpreted. Second, the NT passages we have considered in this connection (Matt. 26:28; I Cor. 11:25; II Cor. 3:6; Heb. 8:8-12; 10:16-17) all teach that the new covenant of 31:31-34 is established in the blood of Christ. Thus when Jeremiah predicts the coming Davidic king (30:9; 33:15-18, 19-22), these sections refer to the NT age. Third, Jeremiah 31:15, Matthew tells us, is a prophecy of the slaughter of the innocents in the days after Christ’s birth (2:16-18). Fourth, Jeremiah 31:31-34 is not the only passage in Jeremiah 30-33 which speaks of God’s faithfulness to His covenant. The word "covenant" (31:31-33; 32:40; 33:20-21, 25) or the covenant formula—"ye shall be my people, and I will be your God" (30:22) or variations of it (31:33; 32:38)—occur in all four chapters of Jeremiah 30-33. Fifth, two of the great blessings of the new covenant are mentioned not only in Jeremiah 31:31-34, but elsewhere in Jeremiah 30-33. I am thinking here of "heart-religion" (31:33; 32:39-40) and the forgiveness of sins (31:34; 33:8).
Thus Jeremiah 30-33 speaks of the repentance (31:9, 18-19), joy (30:19; 31:4, 7) and spiritual unity of the one true Israel of God in all ages (32:39). The prophecies of the return to the land (30:3), the rebuilding of Jerusalem (31:38-40), the multiplication of man and beast (31:27), and agricultural plenty (31:12; 33:12-13) are fulfilled in the return of God’s people from Babylon which is a picture of the Good Shepherd’s gathering His redeemed from the four corners of the earth (31:10-11; John 10:14-16).
God’s promise of the continuous reign of the Davidic
house (33:17, 21) and the continuous labors of the Levites (33:18, 21) is false if taken
literally, since for many centuries there have been no earthly throne of David (33:17) and
no literal Levitical offerings (33:18). It will not do to say that these verses speak of
their restoration in a future millennial age. The text does not say that these things will
be restored in the days ahead; it says that they will always continue from Jeremiah’s
day to the end of time (33:17-18, 21-22). The Holy Spirit tells us that the ascended
Christ sits (present tense) on the throne of David (Acts 2:29-30) and that the Christian
church is the new priesthood (I Peter 2:9) which offers "the sacrifice of
praise" (Heb. 13:15). Only the Reformed principle of Scripture interprets
Scripture—and not dispensationalist "literalism"—fits the Biblical
facts. Rev.
Angus Stewart