Mourning for the Good Shepherd - Part Two

Zechariah 12:1-14
Theme: End times.
This week’s lessons remind us that today is the day of salvation.

Lesson

The oracle begins with a thematic statement in which God first identifies himself and then tells what he is going to do: "This is the word of the Lord concerning Israel. The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares: ‘I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling’ " (vv. 1-2).

Progress in the Christian Life

You may stop the hands of the clock, but time will go on just the same. True progress can never be permanently arrested. When Nicholas I became Tsar of Russia, he attempted to shut off his country from all intercourse with the outside world. A historian summarized the results of the Tsar's attitude: "Russians were forbidden to travel abroad. Nicholas referred to the Moscow University as a 'den of wolves,' and restricted the number of students to three hundred." Censors struck out of papers such phrases as "forces of nature" and "movements of minds."

You may stop the hands of the clock, but time will go on just the same. True progress can never be permanently arrested. When Nicholas I became Tsar of Russia, he attempted to shut off his country from all intercourse with the outside world. A historian summarized the results of the Tsar's attitude: "Russians were forbidden to travel abroad.

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Bought the T-Shirt

I was asked to respond to a question addressed in today's Mortification of Spin podcast some time ago. Maybe it is a bit ironic to answer this question in a blog post:

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Mourning for the Good Shepherd - Part One

Zechariah 12:1-14
Theme: End times.
This week’s lessons remind us that today is the day of salvation.

Lesson

The last three chapters of Zechariah contain a second "oracle" or "burden" of the prophet, corresponding to the burden in chapters 9-11. This second oracle concerns "the judgment through which Israel itself is sifted and purged in the final conflict with the nations and transformed into the holy nation of Jehovah."1 The events of these last chapters belong to the same time period, as a careful reading shows. Characteristic of these chapters is a reiteration of the phrase "on that day."

The Christian's Personality

Many people today are seeking after various methods of improving their personalities. There are many books available on such topics as winning friends or influencing people, and one sees much advertising which features methods whereby dull people can become the life of the party, or wallflowers can win the hero of the neighborhood. These things would be more amusing were it not for the fact that many Christians follow this worldly lead and ape the earth-dwellers in their seeking for personality development.

Many people today are seeking after various methods of improving their personalities. There are many books available on such topics as winning friends or influencing people, and one sees much advertising which features methods whereby dull people can become the life of the party, or wallflowers can win the hero of the neighborhood.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

The Secret of a Healthy Christian Life

Professor Gordon W. Allport of Harvard University urges that more psychological studies be made of healthy people in order that we may learn what makes us tick. "Many psychological theories," he says, "are based on the behavior of sick and anxious people, or upon the antics of captive and desperate rats," and "few theories are derived from the study of healthy human beings, those who strive not so much to preserve life as to make it worth living."

Professor Gordon W. Allport of Harvard University urges that more psychological studies be made of healthy people in order that we may learn what makes us tick.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Rejection of the Good Shepherd - Part Five

Rejection of the Good Shepherd
Zechariah 11:1-17
Theme: Unbelief.
This week’s lessons remind us of the danger of denying the Savior.
 
Lesson

In the last section (vv. 15-17) the prophet is given a second symbolic commission. Just as he had been told to represent the true shepherd in verses 7-14, so now is he to represent a false or wicked shepherd. The character of this man is described both negatively and positively. Negatively: "I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy." (The Lord Jesus Christ had done precisely that. The words are a description of his ministry.) Positively: "...but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs." (This shepherd uses the sheep selfishly for his benefit. Jesus gave himself for the sheep.)

The Church and Politics

What right has the church of Jesus Christ, as a church, to mix in politics? We hold that the separation of church and state is a fundamental principle of both civil and ecclesiastical polity. We remember that the Lord took the kingdom away from Saul and his dynasty because he had intruded into the priests' function; Uzziah was stricken with leprosy because he had offered incense in the temple. God will not entrust the office of civil leader and priest to any individual. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who can be Prophet, Priest, and King at the same time.

What right has the church of Jesus Christ, as a church, to mix in politics? We hold that the separation of church and state is a fundamental principle of both civil and ecclesiastical polity. We remember that the Lord took the kingdom away from Saul and his dynasty because he had intruded into the priests' function; Uzziah was stricken with leprosy because he had offered incense in the temple. God will not entrust the office of civil leader and priest to any individual. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who can be Prophet, Priest, and King at the same time.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Duguid to Westminster

Congratulations to Westminster Theological Seminary for their wise appointment of Dr. Iain Duguid as Professor of Old Testament. I have long been helped by Dr. Duguid's outstanding work.

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Rejection of the Good Shepherd - Part Four

Rejection of the Good Shepherd
Zechariah 11:1-17
Theme: Unbelief.
This week’s lessons remind us of the danger of denying the Savior.
 
Lesson

Verse 11 may be a specific prophecy of an unusual event that took place during this siege. This verse speaks of God’s revoking the covenant of favor which had been established with the people, which is clear enough if the passage is referring to the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. But then it goes on to say: "So the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord." These "afflicted of the flock" may be the Christians who were in Jerusalem at the time of the Roman siege.

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