Jesus Christ’s Parable of the Leaven: Part 2

Posted on February 21, 2025 by The Editor

Matthew 13:33 (Luke 13:20,21)

Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714):  Wonderfully did the leaven of the gospel diffuse itself.

J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): Let us learn from this parable never to “despise the day of small things” in religion, Zechariah 4:10…If we see any symptom of grace beginning in a brother, however feeble, let us thank God and be hopeful. The leaven of grace once planted in his heart, shall yet leaven the whole lump. “He that begins the work, will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ,” Philippians 1:6.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): It is apparent at once that our understanding and interpretation of this parable turns upon a correct definition of the “leaven.”

H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): They talk about the leaven of the Gospel—There is no such thing as the “leaven of the Gospel.” Of the leaven of the Pharisees, of the Sadducees and of the Herodians we are warned. They seem to speak of hypocrisy, false teaching and worldliness. We read of the “leaven of malice and wickedness” in 1 Corinthians 5:8; but of the “leaven of grace” there is not a hint in the Bible.

THE EDITOR: Those who insist the leaven is something good ignore the other details in this parable. What does the woman represent? And the “whole” of the “three measures of meal” is what? The individual’s soul? The world? Why is the phrase specifically “three measures of meal,” instead of an unspecified amount?

MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): I do not think it worthwhile to inquire into the contents of these measures of meal, and why He mentioned but three. They are curiosities, the knowledge of which turns to no account. Our Saviour certainly, by the expression, designed only to hint the small number of Jews that believed in Him, but foretold a greater harvest.

THE EDITOR: That’s not the attitude to details that Jesus displayed in expounding His parables of the sower, or the wheat and tares, Matthew 13:18-23; 37-43. And after finishing His parables, our Lord asked His disciples, “Have ye understood all of these things?” When they claimed that they did, Jesus said, “Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out his treasure things new and old,” Matthew 13:51,52. What did He mean by “things new and old?”

AUGUSTINE (354-430): The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is by the New revealed.

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES (1899-1981): There are many senses in which it can be said that the New Testament cannot be truly understood except in the light that is provided by the Old. For example, it is almost impossible to make anything of the Epistle to the Hebrews unless we know our Old Testament Scriptures.

THE EDITOR: I think you’re right.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): Our Saviour mentions “three measures of meal,” in particular, because this seems to be the quantity they usually kneaded at once. See Genesis 18:6, “And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.”

THE EDITOR: That’s the only other place in the Bible where that exact same phrase is used. But you draw a wrong inference from it. Remember, our Lord was present there that day. Jesus used that specific phrase in His parable intentionally, to draw attention to what happened there. Abraham had seen three men approaching his tent: the Lord Himself, accompanied by two angels, who were on their way to investigate the wickedness of Sodom. Abraham offered them his hospitality, and told Sarah to prepare three measures of meal. Why? To make a cake for each “man,” verses 3-6. Aha!—now there is a “woman” kneading “three measures of meal.”

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): What is your opinion of this matter?

THE EDITOR: Well, let’s unfold the scene as Scripture tells it: Abraham “took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.”—but there is no mention that they ate Sarah’s cakes. Sometimes what Scripture doesn’t say, is as instructive as what it does say. Look what happened next. “They said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife?” Note Abraham’s answer: “Behold!—in the tent.” According to Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary, “behold”  not only means “See,” but it is derived from a root word meaning, “Lo, as expressing surprise.”

A. W. PINK: That expressive term is the Spirit’s intimation that something extraordinary is before us.

THE EDITOR: Yes. Notice what our Lord says now: “I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him,” clearly indicating that she was behind our Lord’s back, kneading the meal. Now something extraordinary happens: “Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” 

JOHN GILL: What is your sense of it?

THE EDITOR: That’s the leaven of Herod. The Hebrew word translated “pleasure” is derived from a root word meaning to “delight self,” or reflexively, “to live voluptuously.” Herod’s besetting sin was not worldliness, but fleshy lusts, according to Matthew 14:3-6. Sarah’s thought also expressed her unbelief in the power of God, the leaven of the Sadducees, as Jesus told them, “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God,” Matthew 22:29; accordingly, our Lord said to Abraham, “Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” 

JOHN GILL: Which words are repeated not merely for the confirmation of Abraham’s faith, which staggered not, but to remove Sarah’s unbelief, and to encourage her faith in the divine promise.

THE EDITOR: Yes. “Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not.” That was surely a bold lying hypocrisy, the leaven of the Pharisees. “And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.” Thus Sarah spiritually leavened the “whole” of the three measures of meal she was kneading—no wonder they didn’t eat her cakes. Immediately afterwards, “the men rose up, and looked toward Sodom,” Genesis 18:16.

A. W. PINK: The first time “leaven” in its negative form occurs is in Genesis 19:3: where we read Lot “did bake un-leavened bread” for the angels, and that “they did eat.” No doubt leavened bread was a common commodity in the wicked city of Sodom. Why then, did not righteous Lot place some of it before the angels? Because he knew better. He must have known that they, like Peter, allowed “nothing common or unclean” to pass their lips.

JOHN DUNCAN (1796-1870): The Old Testament together with the New Testament is an organic whole; they correspond as lock and key.

THE EDITOR: It removes all misconceptions about the real character of the leaven in this parable, and provides the proper key to unlock its prophetic mystery. Next, let’s examine the true meaning of Christ’s parable.

 

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Jesus Christ’s Parable of the Leaven: Part 1

Posted on February 14, 2025 by The Editor

Matthew 13:33 (Luke 13:20,21)

Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): It is thought by many, that “leaven” in this parable was intended by our Lord to mean an evil and corrupt principle, and that the object of the parable was to describe the silent entrance and rapid growth of corruption and false doctrine in the Church of Christ. I am quite unable to see the correctness of this view.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): In Exodus 12:14-20, Jehovah commanded the Israelites to purge their houses of all “leaven’’ at the Passover season. Why was this, if “leaven” is a type of something good? Exodus 34:25 tells us that God prohibited “leaven” from accompanying offerings of blood. Leviticus 2:11 informs us “leaven” was also excluded from every offering of the Lord made by fire…In Matthew 6:11, our Lord Jesus says to the disciples, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” There it is plainly a figure of evil. Would He then deliberately confuse His disciples by using it as the figure of good in Matthew 13?

J. C. RYLE: I can see no force in the objection that “leaven” is generally used as an emblem of evil, and therefore it must be so used here. I don’t see why the word is to be rigorously tied down to be only an emblem of evil; and why it may not be in this case an emblem of good.

A. W. PINK: What then, is the meaning of the parable of the leaven?

J. C. RYLE: The parable of the leaven is intended to show the progress of the Gospel in the heart of a believer.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): This parable is much the same with that of the foregoing parable of the mustard seed, to show that the gospel should prevail and be successful by degrees, but silently and insensibly; the preaching of the gospel is like leaven, and works like leaven in the hearts of those who receive it.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): Both those parables were prophetic, and intended to show, principally, how from very small beginnings, the Gospel of Christ should pervade all the nations of the world, and fill them with righteousness and true holiness.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): Leaven changes not the substance of the meal in which it is hid, but materially alters its qualities: it impregnates the meal as to transform it, as it were, into its own likeness. Thus does the Gospel affect those who receive it: it makes us partakers of a Divine nature, 1 Peter 1:4. It does not indeed essentially change either the faculties of the soul, or the members of the body; but it communicates to them a new life and power, a new direction and tendency.

A. W. PINK: When leaven is placed into meal it causes it to swell—it puffs it up! Is that what the Gospel does when it enters human hearts? No indeed. It produces the very opposite effect. It humbles, it abases. In 1 Corinthians 5:6,7, we read, “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump.” Would they be told to “purge out” that which was good?

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN (1863-1945): That which produces fermentation issues in disintegration, and leaven is the very principle of decay in active condition. The figure of leaven is uniformly used in Scripture to typify evil. This is no exception to the rule.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): But it seems to be taken in a good sense here, and the Gospel to be compared unto it—not for its disagreeable qualities, but on account of its small quantity; “it is a little leaven that leavens the whole lump,” and may express, as the grain of mustard seed does, the small beginnings of the Gospel, and its meanness in the eyes of men; and on account of its piercing, penetrating, and spreading nature. The Gospel reaches the conscience, pierces the heart, enlightens the understanding, informs the judgment, raises and sets the affections on right objects, subdues the will, and brings down all towering thoughts, to the obedience of Christ, in particular persons; and has penetrated and made its way, under divine influence, through towns, cities, kingdoms, and nations.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Some read this as a parable to set forth the power of evil, and I do not doubt that it does set it forth. At the same time, it sets forth the power of good, too, for it is put side by side with the other as the likeness of the Kingdom of God. And the Truth of God in the soul does work, ferment and permeate the entire nature if it is placed there!

THE EDITOR: What! Leaven here is both evil and good? But exactly what does the leaven represent? The truth of God? The preaching of the Gospel? The Gospel itself? Is it Grace?—or the Spirit’s work in the soul? Be specific.

C. H. SPURGEON: Although leaven is usually the symbol of evil, yet it may be here a fair representation of the Kingdom of Heaven itself, for it operates mysteriously and secretly, yet powerfully, till it permeates the whole of man’s nature. And the Gospel will keep on winning its way till the whole world shall yet be leavened by it.

H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): Let me suggest a word of caution: Do not say the kingdom itself is like leaven. Many have the idea that leaven is a symbol of the kingdom, and as a housewife puts yeast in dough, so the Gospel has been committed to Christ’s servants to be carried to the end of the world; and it will go on working until everybody will be converted, and this whole universe will be brought to the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now that would be a wonderful thing if it were true, but many scriptures show it is not. Jesus put the question: “When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” He told of ever-increasing apostasy as the end draws near.

C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): It is surprising that this parable is so repeatedly explained as the “invisible working of grace.” It must be because Christians, who look for universal progress, improvement, and a converted world, are loathe to see that our Lord, instead of this bright prospect, foretold evil first—evil in the kingdom of heaven, or the professing church which now answers to it. There will, indeed, be a time of universal blessing, Isaiah 11:9; but not until the Lord Himself comes, and purges out of His kingdom all things that offend, as is taught in Matthew 13:41, and other passages.

C. H. SPURGEON: If Jesus had meant to represent the power of evil, He would have given us some intimation of that, but He has given us none. He means to describe exactly what He had described before, for He says, “Unto what shall I liken the Kingdom of God?” The leaven is buried—“hid in three measures of meal.” By the force within itself, it begins to work its way in the meal and leavens all around it until, at last, the whole three measures of meal are permeated by it.

THE EDITOR: Well, that begs another question: What does the “three measures of meal” signify?

 

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David and His Nephew Joab – Part 25: Joab’s Final Lesson

Posted on February 9, 2025 by The Editor

Psalm 37:12,13; 1 Kings 2:10,12-23

The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.

So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David…Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly.

And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably. He said moreover, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And she said, Say on. And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother’s: for it was his from the LORD. And now I ask one petition of thee, deny me not. And she said unto him, Say on. And he said, Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king, (for he will not say thee nay,) that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife. And Bathsheba said, Well; I will speak for thee unto the king.

Bathsheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right hand. Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; I pray thee, say me not nay. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother: for I will not say thee nay. And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife.

And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah. Then king Solomon sware by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Bathsheba was surprised to see Adonijah in her apartment, and asked him if he did not come with a design to do her a mischief, because she had been instrumental to crush his late attempt. “No,” says he, “I come peaceably.”

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): “He said, moreover, I have something to say unto thee”—signifying that he came upon business: “and she said, say on”—intimating her readiness to hear what it was.

THE EDITOR: Why? Was it curiosity? Or, was it her nervousness in this awkward situation?

JOHN GILL: She might fear he came to avenge himself on her and destroy her, because she had been the instrument of disappointing him of the kingdom, and of getting her son Solomon set upon the throne, and established in it; and therefore could not tell what envy, rage, and disappointment, might prompt him to.

MATTHEW HENRY: He came to beg a favour—that she would use the great interest that she had with her son to gain his consent that he might marry Abishag. And if he may obtain this, he will thankfully accept it, as a compensation for his loss of the kingdom. He insinuates that “Thou knowest the kingdom was mine,” as my father’s eldest son, “and all Israel set their faces on me.” This was false; they were but a few that he had on his side; yet thus he would represent himself as an object of compassion, that had been deprived of a crown, and therefore might well be gratified in a wife…He owns Solomon’s right to the kingdom: “It was his from the Lord.” I was foolish in offering to contest it; and now that it is turned about to him I am satisfied.” Thus he pretends to be well pleased with Solomon’s accession to the throne, when he is doing all he can to give him disturbance; “His words were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart,” Psalm 55:21.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): He cheerfully gives up all right to the kingdom, and only desires to have this young woman, who, though she had been his father’s wife or concubine, was still in a state of virginity. Some think that Joab and Abiathar had advised Adonijah to make this application.

MATTHEW HENRY: Abiathar and Joab were both aiding and abetting in Adonijah’s previous rebellious attempt, 1 Kings 1:7; and it is probable they were at the bottom of this new motion made of Adonijah for Abishag.

THE EDITOR: It’s not probable—it’s certain. As high priest, Abiathar was the one indispensable man sufficiently expert in the Mosaic law, to find a legal technicality to allow Adonijah’s marriage to Abishag, and also able to pronounce it lawful. Otherwise, how could Adonijah’s request be considered at all? It would have been directly contrary to the precise wording of Leviticus 18:8, and a replay of Absalom’s sin. But Abishag’s marriage to David was in name only, a marriage of convenience, and it was well known that she had remained a virgin. Since this marriage had never been consumated, technically Abishag had never been “joined together” as “one flesh” with David in its true Biblical sense; isn’t that the significance of the word “cleave” in Genesis 2:24?

JOHN GILL: That was the ground of Adonijah’s request, and his hope of succeeding.

THE EDITOR: But it took Joab, the manipulative man of subtle engineering, who had once sent a woman with a tale to David, to know who to send with this dubious marriage proposal, and how to present it—because Joab understood Bathsheba’s character better than anyone, from her youthful days as the wife of Uriah, his fellow officer; and only he knew all the details of what had happened between her and David.

MATTHEW HENRY: Adonijah engaged Bathsheba to be his friend in this matter, who would be forward to believe it a matter of love, and not apt to suspect it a matter of policy.

THE EDITOR: Bathsheba was a woman who reasoned from her emotions, not her head; and like Eve, she was easily deceived. Physically very beautiful in her youth, she understood from her own experience the sexual attraction of carnal “love.” Beyond that, she seems rather intellectually dull, despite her many years in the royal court. As David’s principal wife, perhaps Bathsheba desired to see Abishag gone from her royal household. Also, by doing Adonijah this favour, she probably hoped to placate any lingering animosity that he might harbour toward herself and her son. Believing Adonijah’s desire for Abishag to be a carnal lust, she most likely decided that it well served her own motives. That’s why she not only supported Adonijah’s marriage, but she made it her own very personal plea—even elucidating an obligation from Solomon to grant it for her sake, before telling him what she wanted. But when Solomon did hear her request, he was astonished by his mother’s stunning lack of discernment.

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): “I desire one small petition of thee.” Small she called it, but Solomon, who saw further into the matter, judged otherwise of it.

MATTHEW HENRY: His reply is somewhat sharp: “Ask for him the kingdom also.” To ask that he may succeed the king in his bed is, in effect, to ask that he may succeed him in his throne.

JOHN GILL: “Even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.” She might as well ask for them as for him—so the one might be continued in the office of high priest, and the other as general of the army.

THE EDITOR: As Solomon wrote, there is “a time to every purpose under heaven,” Ecclesiates 3:1. Now this was “a time to kill,” Ecclesiastes 3:3; and Solomon acted immediately, sending Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, to slay Adonijah, 1 Kings 2:25. It was “a time to cast away,” Ecclesiastes 3:6; and Solomon deposed Abiathar from the priesthood—but, “in wrath, remembered mercy,” Habbakuk 3:2—because Abiathar had borne the ark and suffered afflictions with David, Solomon spared him, but banished him to Anathoth, which in Hebrew means afflictions; Abiathar was a child of God, and God’s purpose was to chasten him, and to fulfill His Word in a past judgment upon Eli, Abiathar’s ancestor, 1 Kings 2:26,27.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): Joab heard that Adonijah had been slain and Abiathar banished. Fearing for his safety, he “fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar,” claiming Divine protection, and desiring to have his case decided by God alone; or perhaps a spark of remorse is now kindled, and, knowing that he must die, he wishes to die in the house of God, as it were, under His shadow—that he might receive the mercy of the Almighty, 1 Kings 2:28-33.

THE EDITOR: But “he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy,” James 2:13. When did Joab ever show mercy? To satisfy a very personal revenge, Joab made Absalom suffer three unnecessary agonies. And for revenge and his own personal advantage, he had murdered both Abner and Amasa with guile—see Exodus 21:12-14. Therefore, in obedience to God’s law in Exodus, and David’s solemn charge, Solomon ordered Benaiah to take Joab from the altar and slay him, 1 Kings 2:34.

 

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David and His Nephew Joab – Part 24: David’s Last Lesson

Posted on January 31, 2025 by The Editor

Psalm 37:23,24; Psalm 71:17,18; 1 Kings 2:1-6

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.

O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.

Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man; And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself: That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.

Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet. Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace.

THOMAS SCOTT (1747-1821): It is probable, that Psalm 37 was written towards the close of David’s life, as the result of his long experience and observation, for the instruction and encouragement of others, who might be called to pass through such trying scenes, as he had been conversant with.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): A good man may be overtaken in a fault, but the grace of God shall recover him to repentance, so that he shall not be utterly cast down. Though he may, for a time, lose the joys of God’s salvation, yet they shall be restored to him; for God shall uphold him with His hand, and uphold him with His free Spirit. The root shall be kept alive, though the leaf wither; and there will come a spring after the winter. A good man may be in distress, his affairs embarrassed, his spirits sunk, but he shall not be utterly cast down; God will be the strength of his heart when his flesh and heart fail, and will uphold him with his comforts, so that the spirit he has made shall not fail before him.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Though he fall into temptation, and by it into sins, and these very great ones; from a lively and comfortable exercise of grace, and a degree of steadfastness in the doctrine of grace: “he shall not be utterly cast down;” because he is in the arms of everlasting love, and in the hands of Christ Jesus—is on Him as the sure foundation, and is kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, and so shall not perish, but have everlasting life; “for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand;” with the right hand of His righteousness, and keeps him from falling finally and totally.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): Notwithstanding the grace given unto them, they are yet weak and frail, so that “still in many things they offend,” James 3:2; and, if left to themselves, they would eternally perish.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): Even the slightest fall would be enough to destroy us utterly, did not God uphold us by His hand. The miseries of the godly are so tempered with God’s fatherly mercy, that they fail not under their burden, and even when they fall, sink not into destruction…Solomon speaks still more expressly when he says, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again,” Proverbs 24:16—the godly are not only subjected to frequent afflictions in this life, but they are visited with daily trials, and yet are never forsaken of the Lord.

CHARLES SIMEON: Under a sense of their great infirmities, many fear that, notwithstanding all that God has spoken for their encouragement, they shall come short at last. But if only you really desire to please and serve God, see how full and suitable are the promises of God to you: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee: yea, I will help thee: yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness,” Isaiah 41:10. Are you weak? God says, “I will strengthen you.” Are you apprehensive that nothing less than Omnipotence can administer sufficient aid? God adds, “I will help you.” Are you still alarmed because there is something yet left for you to do? God adds, I will take the whole matter into My own hands, and altogether “uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.” “Be strong, then, in faith, giving glory to God;” and “you shall not be ashamed or confounded, world without end.”

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Grace catches us up when sin would throw us down.

MATTHEW HENRY: God will direct and dispose of our actions and affairs so as may be most for His glory. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. By His grace and Holy Spirit, He directs the thoughts, affections, and designs of good men. He has all hearts in His hand, but theirs by their own consent. By His providence He overrules the events that concern them, so as to make their way plain before them, both what they should do and what they may expect. Observe, God orders the steps of a good man; not only his way in general, by His written word; but his particular steps, by the whispers of conscience, saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” He does not always show him his way at a distance, but leads him step by step, as children are led, and so keeps him in a continual dependence upon His guidance.

C. H. SPURGEON: Oh, what comfort there is in this blessed assurance! Sometimes we know not which way to move, but we need not lack divine guidance, for there is a special providence which watches over every step of a gracious man. When we are right with God, everything is right with us. If our heart’s desire is that we may walk in God’s way, then God will take care that the way of His providence shall be made plain to us, and shall be full of love to us…What a beautiful expression that is, “the steps of a good man”—the very steps, the little things, the daily actions, the ordinary progress of a good man.

THE EDITOR: Whenever David neglected consulting God, he made many mistakes, and fell often, yet the Lord ordered his steps and chastised him to restore His beloved child to Himself, and to seek His counsel again, and He always answered David’s inquiries for His guidance. Contrast that with king Saul. After Saul had reigned seven years, he built his first altar unto the Lord and sought God’s counsel; but his inquiry was a pretense, because Saul had already determined what he would do, and God “answered him not that day,” 1 Samuel 14:35-38. The only other time Saul ever inquired of God was before he went to battle against the Philistines near the end of his reign; and again, “the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets,” 1 Samuel 28:6. So, Saul consulted the witch of Endor, where he received an answer announcing his own doom from a demonic spirit impersonating the prophet Samuel, 1 Samuel 28:7-20.

C. H. SPURGEON: Hypocrites are like the swine; when they fall, they wallow in the mire.

THOMAS SCOTT: A good man may fall through temptation, as David had done in a most deplorable manner: but he shall not be cast down to rise no more, as hypocrites are, or be a castaway, one finally rejected by God; because God Himself upholds him by His mighty power.

CHARLES SIMEON: In this the righteous differ from the wicked, that, notwithstanding they fall, yea, and “fall seven times, they rise again;” whilst the wicked, in their falls, are left to perish, Proverbs 24:16. The Lord Jesus Christ has engaged for them that “none shall ever pluck them out of His hands,”John 10:28,29. And this is fulfilled to every one of them, insomuch, that of those whom the Father in his everlasting covenant gave unto his Son, not one ever was, or shall be, lost. They all, in their respective generations, are “kept by the power of God through faith unto everlasting salvation,” 1 Peter 1:5.

 

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David and His Nephew Joab – Part 23: Old Age

Posted on January 24, 2025 by The Editor

1 Kings 1:1-15

Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat. So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.

Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom. And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him.

But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by Enrogel, and called all his brethren the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah the king’s servants: But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not.

Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not? Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon. Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign? Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee, and confirm thy words.

And Bathsheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814):  They who come to old age, must expect the burden of infirmities which attend it.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): Old age as well as youth has its own particular snares—the infirmities of the former place them more in the power of their juniors and they are apt to yield to arrangements which their consciences condemn. But while the aged need to guard against irritability and a domineering spirit, yet on the other hand, they must not be a willing party to that which they know is wrong.

THE EDITOR: David was “very old,” and “gat no heat,” which indicates he had very poor blood circulation; that “he knew her not,” suggests his condition and old age, perhaps had also made him sexually incapable. Bathsheba, and David’s other wives who may have been still alive, were also old and probably unsuitable to provide the robust physical body heat and constant ministrations that David’s health required, and there were no electric blankets in those days. Therefore, his counsellors devised another arrangement to get him warmth.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): “They sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel.” Not only a damsel, but a beautiful one—that she might be the more acceptable to the king; who otherwise, if deformed and ugly, would not have endured her in his sight, or received at her hands, and much less suffered her to lie in his bosom.

THOMAS COKE: If it be asked, how the beauty of the person to be employed for this purpose was concerned in David’s health; I answer, that the beauty here required, is evidently beauty of complexion, which, as it indicates the health and temperament of the body, might be of importance in this case.

JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): “Let her lie in thy bosom,”—in a medicinal way, to work heat in thy cold body, whilst she lieth with thee as a wife or concubine: else they would never have advised it, nor David have taken their counsel.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): They foolishly prescribed nuptials to one that should rather have been preparing for his funeral—but his prophets should have been consulted as well as his physicians in an affair of this nature.

A. W. PINK: The Lord’s displeasure against David’s weakness in consenting to the carnal counsel of his friends, is plainly marked in the immediate sequel. Serious trouble now arose from yet another of his sons. It is true that this was the fruit of his earlier laxity in ruling his children, for he was much too easy-going with them: yet the time when this impious insubordination occurred leaves us in no doubt that it is to be regarded as a divine chastening of David for being a party to such a questionable procedure. “Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.” Nothing is more conspicuous throughout the whole history of David than that, whenever a believer sows to the flesh, he will most certainly of the flesh reap corruption; and another solemn example of this is here before us.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): It was no wonder that Adonijah disturbed the dying moments of David when we read that, “his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why have you done so?” Nor need we marvel that Absalom almost broke his father’s heart if this was the manner of his bringing up!

A. W. PINK: But like Absalom before him, Adonijah reckoned without God. And Joab, as we have seen in other connections, was a thoroughly unprincipled ungodly man, and no doubt the impious Adonijah was more congenial to his disposition than Solomon would be. Moreover if this son of Haggith obtained the kingdom, then his own position would be secure, and he would not be displaced.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): Joab had been steadily drifting away from David for years. His fierce temper could not stand the king’s displeasure because of his murders of Abner and Amasa, and his slaying of Absalom had made the breach irreparable; and Joab’s old comrade in many a fight, Benaiah, had stepped into the place which he had once filled. Joab commanded the native-born Israelites; Benaiah, the ‘Cherethites and Pelethites,’ now generally regarded as foreign mercenaries—they were David’s bodyguard, and were probably as heartily hated by Joab and the other Israelite soldiers as they were trusted by David, 1 Kings 1:8,38. So there were reasons enough for Joab’s abetting an insurrection. He wanted to be indispensable, and would prop the throne as long as its occupant looked only to him as its defender.

MATTHEW HENRY: We have here the effectual endeavours that were used by Nathan and Bathsheba to obtain from David a ratification of Solomon’s succession, for the crushing of Adonijah’s usurpation.

THE EDITOR: Bathsheba went into the king, and followed Nathan’s advice precisely; then Nathan confirmed it, saying, “Behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah,” 1 Kings 1:16-27.

MATTHEW HENRY: To Bathsheba, the king repeats his former promise and oath, that he had “sworn unto her by the Lord God of Israel that Solomon would reign after him.” Though he is old, and his memory begins to fail him, yet he remembers this: An oath is so sacred a thing that the obligations of it cannot be broken, and so solemn a thing that the impressions of it cannot be forgotten. He ratifies it with another, because the occasion called for it: “As the Lord liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, even so will I certainly do this day,” without dispute, without delay, 1 Kings 1:30.

THE EDITOR: No Bible text reveals when David made that previous promise to Bathsheba. But he definitely had God’s mind on it when he said it, as 1 Chronicles 28:1-5 proves; thus his oath was neither hasty, nor presumptuous. Now it was “a time to break down” Adonijah’s coup d’etat before it could spread, Ecclesiastes 3:3—and David did not hesitate.

JOHN GILL: David “said unto them, take ye the servants of your lord,”—meaning his bodyguards, the Cherethites and Pelethites; “And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon,” 1 Kings 1:33,34—all of which was done before Adonijah and his guests rose from the table; “and when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar?”

THE EDITOR: When Adonijah heard that “our lord king David hath made Solomon king,” they all fled. “And it was told Solomon, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword. If he will shew himself a worthy man,” Solomon replied, “there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die,” 1 Kings 1:42-52. Most kings would have executed such a rival immediately, but Solomon understood that “the throne is established by righteousness, Proverbs 16:12—and mercy,” Isaiah 16:5.

 

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David and His Nephew Joab – Part 22: Justice and Mercy

Posted on January 17, 2025 by The Editor

2 Samuel 24:15,16; 1 Chronicles 21:16-30; Chronicles 22:1

So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men. And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.

And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued. Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD.

And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves.

Now Ornan was threshing wheat. And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground. Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people. And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.

And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost. So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight. And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

At that time when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there. For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD.

Then David said, This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): The men of Israel and Judah were punished, not so much because David numbered the people, as because they had offended the Lord and called down by their vices this punishment upon them. Nor can we, upon a review of what is past, want proofs of their criminality. Can we conceive anything more shameful and sinful, than the rebellions which we have read of in the preceding chapters? Rebellions against a good and pious king, established over them by the immediate choice of God Himself.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): David hears of 70,000 of his subjects who in a few hours were struck dead by the pestilence. He was proud of the multitude of his people, but divine Justice took a course to make them fewer. Justly is that taken from us, weakened, or embittered to us, which we are proud of. David must have the people numbered: “Bring me the number of them,” says he, “that I may know it,” 1 Chronicles 21:2. But now God numbers them after another manner; He “numbers them to the sword,” Isaiah 65:12. And David had another number of them brought, more to his confusion than was to his satisfaction—namely, the number of the slain.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): God punished one sin by another: the sin of David works for the chastisement of a sinful people.

THOMAS COKE: “Let thine hand—be against me, and on my father’s house,” is a noble instance of David’s generous concern for the welfare of his people. The language is tender and pathetic; it is the real language and spirit of a genuine true shepherd of the people, devoting himself and family as a sacrifice to God for the preservation of his subjects.

THE EDITOR: “On my father’s house,” David said. Placing an inordinate natural family affection above his duty to God and the people of Israel, had always been the insidious heart idol that generated David’s sins of ommission. But in that phrase, David’s idol was finally and completely destroyed; see Psalm 45:10,11, and Isaiah 55:3—“Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.”  Immediately, in answer to David’s intercessory plea for Israel, the Angel of the Lord commanded Gad to instruct David to build an altar, showing that David’s sure mercies are received only through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, Acts 13:32-39.

ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): Consider how particularly the prophet Gad commanded David to rear an altar in this spot. This memorable transaction was on the very spot where in ages before the LORD showed mercy to Abraham, even on mount Moriah, Genesis 22:2. Hence Abraham is commanded to sacrifice, his son; and the pestilence to Israel lays the foundation for the introduction of this sacrifice again, in the same spot, on mount Moriah.

JOHN LIGHTFOOT (1602-1675): In the very place where Abraham, by a countermand from heaven, was stayed from slaying his son, this angel, by a like countermand, was stayed from destroying Jerusalem.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): And where, but a short time after, the temple itself was built; that temple in which all the sacrifices were offered, and in the services of which the death of Christ was so abundantly prefigured. “Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor,” 2 Chronicles 3:1.

C. H. SPURGEON: There was the place for the temple, where the angel sheathed his sword. Christ Jesus, in His great atonement, is the corner-stone of the temple where divine justice sheathes its sword. There let the house of God be built. Every true Church of God is founded on the glorious doctrine of the atoning sacrifice. It was a threshingfloor, too; and God has built His Church on a threshingfloor. Depend upon it, the flail will always be going in every true Church, to fetch out the wheat from the chaff. We must have tribulation if we are in the Church of God.

THE EDITOR: David purchased that threshingfloor for its full price, six hundred shekels of gold; and fifty shekels of silver to buy the oxen to sacrifice, 2 Samuel 24:24; just as Jesus Himself paid the full price for our debt of sin—but “ye were not redeemed by corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with precious blood of Christ,” 1 Peter 1:18,19.

ROBERT HAWKER: Surely so grand an object as the redemption of our sinful nature by the sacrifice of Jesus, was deservedly shadowed forth. And, no doubt, to make way for that important and most interesting of all doctrines, redemption by Jesus. The burnt-offerings and peace-offerings offered up on the memorable spot, where afterwards the Lord Jesus Christ offered His soul an offering for sin, most plainly shows how the Holy Ghost had an eye to this, and accepted the sinner in the complete salvation of the Saviour.

MATTHEW HENRY: It is for the sake of the great sacrifice that our forfeited lives are preserved from the destroying angel…It seems the owner was a Jebusite, Araunah by name, proselyted to the Jewish religion, though by birth a Gentile, and therefore allowed, not only to dwell among the Israelites, but to have a possession of his own in a city,  Leviticus 25:29,30.

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): Araunah is written in 2 Samuel 24, but in every place in 1 Chronicles 21, his name is written as Ornan. It is likely he had both names.

THE EDITOR: Potts’ Bible Proper Names has both Araunah and Ornan as meaning “pine” trees, or an “ash of God.” But Jackson’s Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names, has Araunah as “make ye to shine,” or the “joyful shouting of Jah;” and Ornan as “light was perpetuated,” or “their fir tree.” Summarizing those meanings, we have a tree, light, and joy—Do not all those meanings connect to Christ’s substitutional atonement, as portrayed by David in this context? “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed,” 1 Peter 2:24; and its efficacy on earth—“If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin,” 1 John 1:7—and even to its joyful effect in heaven, as Jesus said, “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth,” Luke 15:10.

ROBERT HAWKER: When I consider that Christ Himself is the altar, the sacrifice, and the sacrificer, for us; and that God our Father, for His sake, and for His sake alone, is entreated for the land, and the plague and everlasting destruction for sin is now stayed from Israel, I rejoice to behold Jesus and find my heart going forth in songs of holy joy, that the same is He of whom Moses, and the prophets, and patriarchs, did write, Jesus of Nazareth—“Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved,” Acts 4:12.

 

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David and His Nephew Joab – Part 21: The Glory of God

Posted on January 10, 2025 by The Editor

2 Samuel 24:1-4,8; 1 Chronicles 21:5-7; 2 Samuel 24:10; 1 Chronicles 21:8-13

And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah. For the king said to Joab the captain of the host, which was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people, that I may know the number of the people. And Joab said unto the king, Now the LORD thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing? Notwithstanding the king’s word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel. So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword. But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king’s word was abominable to Joab. And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.

And David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people.

And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. And the LORD spake unto Gad, David’s seer, saying, Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee Either three years’ famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.

And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me now fall into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies; but let me not fall into the hand of man.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): We are not left in any doubt that on this occasion David committed a grave fault, yet wherein lay the evil of it is not so certain.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): What harm was there in it? Did not Moses twice number the people without any crime? Does not political arithmetic come in among the other policies of a prince? Should not the shepherd know the number of his sheep? Does not the Son of David know all His own by name? Might not he make good use of this calculation? What evil has he done, if he do this?

ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): In the parallel place, 1 Chronicles 21:1, it is expressly said, “Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.” David, in all probability, was slackening in his piety and confidence toward God, and meditating some extension of his dominions without the Divine counsel or command.

ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): “The anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.” It was a national sin, not a personal sin only…It is more than probable that David’s sin, on this occasion, was, that he was looking for strength from numbers more than from the LORD. And Satan found occasion to blow up this pride of David into a flame of rebellion against the LORD. Alas! what is man in his highest attainments, if but for a moment left to himself and his own government? Well might David, from his own experience, put up the prayer which he did upon another occasion: “Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins,” Psalm 19:13.

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN (1863-1945): We may certainly gain an understanding of it from the protest of Joab, “Now the Lord thy God add unto the people, how many soever they be, an hundredfold, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it; but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing?” The spirit of vainglory in numbers had taken possession of the people and the king, and there was a tendency to trust in numbers and forget God.

MATTHEW HENRY: Some think that it was an affront to the ancient promise which God made to Abraham, that his seed should be innumerable as the dust of the earth; it savoured of distrust of that promise, or a design to show that it was not fulfilled in the letter of it. He would number those of whom God had said that they could not be numbered.

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN: That the act was wrong is evident from David’s consciousness that it was so.

THE EDITOR: Immediately afterwards, “David’s heart smote him,” convicting him of his sin. That phrase is found in only one other place—when David cut off the skirt of Saul’s garment. God had commanded Israel to “make fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue—that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring,” Numbers 15:38,39. When David held up that severed fringe before king Saul, 1 Samuel 24:11, Saul was convicted, remembering that God had “rent the kingdom from him” for disobeying the Lord’s commandment, 1 Samuel 24:20; 1 Samuel 15:13-28—as with Saul, it marked the effectual end of David’s reign, and surely David realized what he had done.

MATTHEW HENRY: It was a proud conceit of his own greatness in having the command of so numerous a people, as if their increase, which was to be ascribed purely to the blessing of God, had been owing to any conduct of his own. It was a proud confidence in his own strength.

THE EDITOR: At end of 2 Samuel 23, there is a twenty-two verse list—a distinct numbering of all David’s mighty men, which hints at his growing dependence on them, due to his increasing incapacity from old age. Subtly, little by little, David was drifting into that old folly of not consulting God, and relying on arms of flesh, and his own wisdom. Knowing that the end of his life was approaching, David also was most likely considering his legacy, and desired to quantify how the kingdom had been enlarged under his reign; but he forgot that “the kingdom is the LORD’s,” Psalm 22:28. God has said, “My glory I will not give to another,” Isaiah 42:8. And Satan took advantage of David’s concerns of old age, to provoke him to sin.

JOHN NEWTON (1725-1807): Satan is a watchful enemy; he studies our situation and disposition.

THOMAS ADAMS (1583-1656): Like a fisherman, he baits his hook according to the appetite of the fish.

ROBERT HAWKER: David’s sin seems plainly to have been the sin of presumption, in trusting more to an arm of flesh than in the LORD GOD of his salvation—yet that God should propose what kind of punishment the sinner would choose, appears difficult to explain.

THE EDITOR: God’s purpose was to chastise Israel for their national sins, as embodied in David’s sin, and to turn them from trusting their own wisdom and arms of flesh—to restore them to fully trusting their God, and to do the same for David. David’s answer to Gad shows that he understood that purpose; he answered wisely, refusing to choose; in faith, he looked to the Lord’s mercy—in essence, his repentant words said, “Not my will, but thy will be done;” and also, they savour of Psalm 71:9, “Cast me not off in the time of my old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.”

Although “God was displeased” with David’s sin, His anger was primarily kindled against Israel—“therefore God smote Israel.” Behold the wisdom of God: Three years famine would be a severe misery upon Israel, but it would not starve David much in the palace; three months fleeing from his enemies would be a sore trial for David, but far less so for the people. But three days of pestilence? It put everyone from David to his lowest subject at risk—all were equally and entirely dependent upon God alone, regarding who perished and who survived the plague. As in the wilderness, “when He slew them, then they sought Him: and they returned and inquired early after God,” Psalm 78:34.

THOMAS MANTON (1620-1677): Temptations come not by chance, nor out of the earth, nor merely from the devil; but God ordereth them for His own glory and our good.

THE EDITOR: Do we now understand the significance of Christ’s words to His disciples, before He went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane? “He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one,” Luke 22:36. “Here are two swords,” said His disciples. “It is enough,” Jesus replied. Peter used one sword, an arm of the flesh, to cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. But Jesus used the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, to heal the servant’s ear, saying, “suffer ye thus far,” Luke 22:49-51; Ephesians 6:17. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds,” 2 Corinthians 10:4.

 

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Questions & Answers for a New Year

Posted on January 3, 2025 by The Editor

Job 28:12; Proverbs 1:20-22; Proverbs 2:10;11; 4:7; 3:13; Exodus 14:15

Where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee…Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding…Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.

A. W. PINK (1886-1952): “Go forward!” Is not this a timely word for each of us as we enter a new year?

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): Consistency in religion is by no means an easy attainment. Certain duties may be performed with zeal, whilst others of a more difficult and self-denying nature are shamefully neglected…However the past year may have been spent, bethink yourselves now what work you have to do for Him, and how you may perfect it with expedition and care.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Let us pause here a minute and let each of us, as we begin a new year, ask this question—How far has Christ’s purpose of sanctifying me been answered in my own case? I know that in one sense I am completely sanctified, but, in another sense, I still feel my imperfections and infirmities. How far have I progressed in sanctification during the past year? How much has my faith increased during the year? How many of my corruptions have I overcome? Have I more power in prayer? Am I more careful in my life? Is my spirit more loving than it used to be? Am I more decisive for that which is right? At the same time, am I more meek in standing up for it?

A. W. PINK: We need to clearly realize there is no such thing as remaining stationary in the spiritual life: if we do not progress—we inevitably retrograde.

HENRY SMITH (1560-1591?): When a man begins to apply his heart unto wisdom, he learneth more in a month after than he did in a year before, nay, more than ever he did in his life. Even as you see the wicked, because they apply their hearts to wickedness, how fast they proceed, how easily and how quickly they become perfect swearers, expert drunkards, cunning deceivers, so if ye could apply your hearts as thoroughly to knowledge and goodness, you might become like He which teacheth you.

WILLIAM BROWN KEER: (1827-1898): “Our hearts.” In both the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, the term “heart” is applied alike to the mind that thinks, to the spirit that feels, and the will that acts. And it here stands for the whole mental and moral nature of man, and implies that the whole soul and spirit, with all their might, are to be applied in the service of wisdom.

HENRY SMITH: Therefore, when Solomon shews men how to come by wisdom, he speaks often of the heart, as “Give thine heart to wisdom, let wisdom enter into thine heart.” “Get wisdom, keep wisdom, embrace wisdom,” Proverbs 2:10; Proverbs 4:5—as though a man went a wooing for wisdom. Wisdom is like God’s daughter, that he gives to the man that loves her, and sues for her, and means to set her at his heart. Thus we have learned how to apply knowledge that it may do us good; not to our ears, like them which hear sermons only, nor to our tongues like them which make table-talk of religion, but to our hearts, that we may say with the virgin, “My heart doth magnify the Lord,” Luke 1:46—and the heart will apply it to the ear and to the tongue, as Christ saith, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh,” Matthew 12:34.

CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): Valuable, however, as were Solomon’s maxims for their own wisdom, they claim our reverence upon infinitely higher ground. “Behold! A greater than Solomon is here,” Matthew 12:42. Often does Solomon speak in the personification of wisdom, Proverbs 8:1-36—and always under the inspiration of “the wisdom of God,” 2 Timothy 3:16; so that his sayings are truly “Divine sentences in the lips of the King,” Proverbs 16:10. Wisdom—the Son of God Himself—now invites us, in all the plenitude of His Divine authority and grace.

ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): Observe, in 1 Corinthians 1:30, how blessedly Christ is spoken of by the Holy Ghost, as made all these things to His people, and that by God Himself. It is not only said, that Christ is the “wisdom,” and the “righteousness,” and the “sanctification,” and the “redemption” of His Church, but that God hath made Him so. Here, indeed, is the blessedness of the whole.

THE EDITOR: Jesus is our Prophet, Priest, and King—our complete Saviour.

PHILIP DODDRIDGE (1702-1751): Amidst our ignorance and folly, He is a source of wisdom; and through Him, guilty as we are, we receive righteousness or justification; polluted as we are, we obtain sanctification, and, enslaved as we naturally are to the power of lusts and the dominion of Satan, the faithful obtain by Him complete redemption.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Thus the Lord leads awakened and inquiring souls to the right way of salvation; to Christ, who is “the way, the truth, and the life,” John 14:6; and directs and enables them to believe in Him, to walk by faith, and to continue to walk in Him, as they have received Him.

CHARLES BRIDGES: The dark question long before asked, “Where shall wisdom be found?” is now answered. In the Son of God Himself “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” Colossians 2:3; all these treasures in Him are laid up for the righteous. Oh let us draw upon this infinite treasure daily, hourly, for light to direct an upright walk.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): When a new year begins, we should think of serving God more—and better than we did the year before.

C. H. SPURGEON: How much nearer am I living to Christ now, than on the first Sabbath of last year? How much closer do I approach in my likeness to Him? Am I, in all respects, more like my Master than I was a year ago? Or, on the other hand, have I been going backward? Stand still, I cannot—I must either go forward in Grace or go backward!

A. W. PINK: How that solemn fact should search our hearts! Christian, your history this year will be either one of going forward—or backsliding. This new year will mark either an increased fruitfulness in your soul and life—to the glory of Him whose name you bear; or increased leanness and barrenness—to His reproach! It will witness either a growing in grace—or a decline in your spirituality. It will record an increased love for the Word, use of the Throne of Grace, strictness of walk and closer communion with Christ—or a growing coldness and a following of Him afar off.

ROBERT MURRAY M’CHEYNE (1813-1843): What the coming year is to bring forth, who can tell?

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): It will probably be the last on earth for some of us. It will probably contain great sorrows for some of us, and great joys for others. It will probably be comparatively uneventful for others. It may make great outward changes for us, or it may leave us much as it found us. But, at all events, God will be in it, and work for Him should be in it. “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord.” Romans 14:8. So let us front this New Year, with all its hidden possibilities, with quiet, brave hearts, resolved on present duty.

 

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Thoughts At the End of Another Year

Posted on December 27, 2024 by The Editor

Deuteronomy 31:14,19,22-26,30; Deuteronomy 32:48-50

And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge.

Now therefore write ye this song and teach it to the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel…Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel. And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: thou salt bring the children of Israel into the land which I saware unto them: and I will be with thee. And it came to pass, when Mose had made an end of the writing the words of this law, until they were finished, that Moses command the Levites, saying Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the convenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee…And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.

And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying, Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession: And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): “To man there is an appointed time upon earth,” Job 7:1. But the precise measure of our days is in mercy hid from us. On some occasions, however, God has been pleased to make it known, and to declare with precision the near approach of death, that so the persons whose fate was made known might employ their remaining hours in perfecting the work which he had given them to do.

THE EDITOR: As commanded, Moses taught the children of Israel the song written in Deuteronomy 32:1-43, which is much too long for us to quote here. Then, in verses 46-47, Moses said, “Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.”

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN (1863-1945): It is very beautiful to see Moses in his last days on earth attempting in every way in his power to impress on the people the fact that only one thing mattered—that they should remember God and obey Him.

ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): When Moses had finished his song, which he delivered not only in the hearing of the people, but particularly of Joshua, his successor, that he might be a witness both for the LORD and for himself, he makes a short observation upon the whole: and as a dying pastor, again and again, affectionately entreats them to be wise unto salvation after his departure. See a beautiful example of this kind in Paul, Acts 20:28-37. Reader! it is a blessed thing, to be as the Apostle, who died daily, 1 Corinthians 15:31. Is it your case? How stands your heart affected to death! If in Jesus, surely you know somewhat of this spirit.

JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): Wherefore, though our carnal sense may be averse from death, let our faith prevail to overcome all its terrors: even as Paul teaches that God’s children, although they desire not “to be unclothed,” still long to be “clothed upon, that mortality may be swallowed up of life,” 2 Corinthians 5:4. This, however, was remarkable obedience, to prepare himself no less willingly for death, than as if Moses had been invited to some joyful banquet. Thus it is plain that these holy men had so consecrated themselves to God, that they were ready to live or to die, according to His pleasure.

THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): The very day on which his work is completed, Moses is ordered up to mount Nebo. Note: when God has accomplished all His will in us on earth, He will not fail that same hour to take us to Himself.

CHARLES SIMEON: The intimation here given to Moses, we shall consider as applicable to every child of man. What if God were now to issue the command to any one of us, “Go up to thy bed, and die?” How would it be received amongst us? Should we welcome such an order? Should we rejoice that the period was arrived for our dismission from the body, and for our entrance into the presence of our God? Such an order will assuredly be soon given to every one of us: the old and the young, the rich and the poor, those who have travelled all through the wilderness, and those who have but just entered into it, may have it said to them within a few hours, “This night is thy soul required of thee.”

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Even those that are most ready and willing to die have need to be often reminded of the approach of death.

JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Psalm 90 was penned by Moses, as appears by the title. We have upon record a praising song of his Exodus 15:1-19, which is alluded to Revelation 15:3; and an instructing song of his in Deuteronomy 32. But Psalm 90 is of a different nature from both, for it is called “a prayer.”

EDMUND BARKER (1621-1688): Mark what Moses prays for in Psalm 90:12—only to be taught “to number his days.” But did Moses not do this already? Was not his daily work this constantly and continual employment? Yes, doubtless it was; and he did it carefully and conscientiously too. But yet he thought he did it not well enough, and therefore prays here to be taught to do better. See a good man, how little he pleaseth himself in any action of his life, in any performance of duty that he does. He can never think that he does well enough whatever he does, but still desires to do better. There is an affection of modesty and humility which accompanies real piety; every pious man is an humble, modest man, and never reckons himself a perfect proficient, or to be advanced above a teaching, but is content and covetous to be a continual learner; to know more than he knows and to do better than he does; yea, and thinks it no disparagement to his graces at all to take advice, and to seek instruction where it is to be had.

AUGUSTINE (354-430): “Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” We can never do that, except we number every day as our last day.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Men are led by reflections upon the brevity of time to give their earnest attention to eternal things; they become humble as they look into the grave which is so soon to be their bed, their passions cool in the presence of mortality, and they yield themselves up to the dictates of unerring wisdom; but this is only the case when the Lord Himself is the teacher; He alone can teach to real and lasting profit. Thus Moses prayed that the dispensations of justice might be sanctified in mercy, Psalm 90:14,15.

THE EDITOR: In Psalm 90:16,17, Moses was considering his own mortality, and all God’s work yet to be done in the strength of the Lord, not only by himself, but also by future generations—“Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.”

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): So, brethren, let us set our faces to a New Year with thankful remembrance of the God who has shaped the past, and will mould the future. Let us remember our failures, learn wisdom and humility from our sins, and trust in Christ. Let us set our ‘hope on God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.’

CHARLES SIMEON: That “the day of death approaches” we are sure: at what precise distance it is, we know not. It is true respecting every child of man: for we no sooner begin to breathe than we begin to die: and the life, even of the longest liver, is “but as a span long.” “Our time passeth away like a shadow,” Psalm 102:11. But should not this thought stimulate us to improve our every remaining hour? Yes, verily.

 

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The Angelic Christmas Carol

Posted on December 20, 2024 by The Editor

Luke 2:13,14

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714):  An exhibition of divine splendor had been already made in the person of a single angel. But God determined to adorn His Son in a still more illustrious manner, This was done to confirm our faith as truly as that of the shepherds. Among men, the testimony of “two or three witnesses” is sufficient to remove all doubt, Matthew 18:16. The message was no sooner delivered by one angel than suddenly there was with that angel “a multitude of the heavenly hosts;” sufficient, we may be sure, to make a chorus, heard by the shepherds, “praising God;” and certainly their song was not like that which “no man could learn,” Revelation 14:13—for it was designed that we should all learn it.

THOMAS GOODWIN (1600-1679): There was never such joy on earth, and never such joy in heaven as upon Christ’s nativity, when the angels sang. The angels sang but one song before, which is recorded, but the matter of it seems to be the wisdom of God chiefly in creation.

C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): They were present at the creation: “The morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy,” Job 38:7. They had sung solemn songs over many a world which the Great One had created. We doubt not, they had often chanted, “Blessing and honour and glory and majesty and power and dominion and might be unto Him that sits on the Throne,” manifesting Himself in the work of creation, Jude 1:25; Revelation 5:11-13. I doubt not, too, that their songs had gathered force through ages. As when first created, their first breath was song, so when they saw God create new worlds then their song received another note. They rose a little higher in the gamut of adoration.

J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): Creation glorified God, but not so much as redemption—Now is come the time when God’s kindness and good will towards guilty man is to be fully made known. His power was seen in creation. His justice was seen in the flood. But His mercy remained to be fully revealed by the appearing and atonement of Jesus Christ.

C. H. SPURGEON: They sang the story out, for they could not stay to tell it in heavy prose. They sang, “Glory to God on high and on earth peace, good will towards men.” Methinks they sang it with gladness in their eyes—with their hearts burning with love and as full of joy as if the good news to man had been good news to themselves.

J. C. RYLE: These famous words are variously interpreted. Man is by nature so dull in spiritual things, that it seems as if he cannot understand a sentence of heavenly language when he hears it. Yet a meaning may be drawn from the words which is free from any objection, and is not only good sense, but excellent theology, “Glory to God in the highest!” the song begins. Now is come the highest degree of glory to God, by the appearing of His Son Jesus Christ in the world. He, by His life and death on the cross, will glorify God’s attributes—justice, holiness, mercy, and wisdom—as they never were glorified before.

H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” It seems strange, doesn’t it?—to hear those words ringing down through the ages, when you think of the awful condition which prevails in the earth today. Look where you will; there is no peace. Look at the lands abroad; there is war. Look out over our own land; it is strife between different groups. There is misery and wretchedness everywhere, unrest on every hand; and yet the angel said, “Peace, goodwill toward men.”

J. C. RYLE: Now is come to earth the peace of God “which passeth all understanding”—the perfect peace between a holy God and sinful man, which Christ was to purchase with His own blood—the peace which is offered freely to all mankind—the peace which, once admitted into the heart, makes men live at peace one with another, and will one day overspread the whole world.

H. A. IRONSIDE: Ah, but that peace was dependent upon receiving the Saviour whom God had sent into the world. Alas, men rejected Him. They refused Him, and that is why the world remains in its unhappy condition.

CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): The strongest possible evidence of God’s love to men was, the gift of His only dear Son, to die for them. The whole race of man had fallen, and were subjected to God’s heavy displeasure. Nor was there on man’s part any possibility of restoring himself to Divine favour. But God devised a mode for reconciling the world unto Himself through the intervention of His only Son. On His co-equal, co-eternal Son, who was “the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person,” “He laid our iniquities,” that so, His justice being satisfied by an atonement in our behalf, reconciliation might be effected for us in perfect consistency with all the Divine perfections, Hebrews 1:1-3; Isaiah 53:6. Hence peace was brought down from heaven to earth, through the sufferings of our incarnate God, who is therefore emphatically called “the Prince of Peace,” Isaiah 9:6. Now every sinner in the universe may have peace with God, and in his own conscience, if only he welcome this Saviour into his heart, and believe in Him as God’s appointed instrument for the salvation of the world.

J. C. RYLE: Such was the purpose of the angels’ song. Happy are they that can enter into its meaning, and with their hearts subscribe to its contents.

ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): The glory died off the hillside quickly, and the music of the song scarcely lingered longer in the ears of its first hearers; but its notes echo still in all lands, and every generation turns to them with wonder and hope.

C. H. SPURGEON: I wish everybody that keeps Christmas this year would keep it as the angels kept it. Many persons who, when they talk about keeping Christmas, mean cutting the bands of their religion for one day in the year, as if Christ were the Lord of misrule, as if the birth of Christ should be celebrated like the orgies of Bacchus. There are some very religious people that would never forget to go to Church on Christmas morning. They believe Christmas to be nearly as holy as Sunday, for they reverence the tradition of the elders. Yet their way of spending the rest of the day is remarkable—they would not consider they had kept Christmas in a proper manner if they did not verge on gluttony and drunkenness—many think Christmas cannot possibly be kept except with a great shout of merriment and mirth in the house and added to that, the boisterousness of sin.

MATTHEW HENRY: But here is a heavenly host, with one consent and one voice bearing testimony to the Son of God. What then would be our obstinacy, if we refused to join with the choir of angels, in singing the praises of our salvation, which is in Christ?

C. H. SPURGEON: The angels gave glory to God. Let us do the same.

 

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