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Rejoice that Osama Bin Laden Is Dead—Or Not? (Part 4 of 5)

by | May 13, 2011 | Current Events, Sermons

Under my third heading I want to consider the teaching and lessons we may gain from the verses (you can also listen to or download my message on Bin Laden from our church’s web site). I think it will be best to do this in reverse order. We will consider, first, Proverbs 24:17 and then, Proverbs 11:10.

What practical conclusions should we draw from Proverbs 24:17?

Proverbs 24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles

(1) Proverbs 24:17 warns us never to be guilty of rejoicing out of a vengeful, vindictive, and bitter spirit toward our enemies.

I am convinced that there is a lot of imbalanced thinking with regard to the issue of forgiveness in our day. On the basis of some of this imbalanced thinking we should even have had to feel obligated to forgive Osama Bin Laden while he was in the very process of planning further assaults on our country. I believe the Bible requires no such thing and that repentance is the necessary condition of forgiveness both in our relation with God and with other human beings.

This does not mean, however, that we are ever allowed to entertain bitter and vengeful feelings toward our enemies. Vengeance in any hands but God’s and His ministers is hard-hearted sadism. While we cannot actually forgive our enemies, we must stand ready to forgive our enemies and love them just as God loves His enemies. In this way we must be perfect as our Father in heaven.

This is what Paul so clearly commands in Romans 12:19-21.

Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

This is, in fact, the secret to dealing with the deep hurts the sins of others can cause us in this life and with the indignation those hurts provoke in us. My brother or sister, leave room for the wrath of God. Here is what you do with your hurt and anger. Take it in your spiritual hands and place it in the hands of God. Every in justice will receive from Him a just recompense. God will judge those sins either at the day of judgment, or He has judged those sins at the cross of Christ. Either way the vengeance taken should be more than enough to turn your feelings vengeance into feelings of pity that will enable you to love your enemy.

(2) Proverbs 24:17 warns us never to be guilty of rejoicing out of a self-righteous or self-sufficient attitude toward our enemies.

We do not rejoice and we must never rejoice out of any sense that we are better than the wicked. We are not better in wisdom, or in righteousness, or in power than those upon whose God’s judgments have fallen. This is what is properly called “gloating,” and we must never be guilty of it. Rather, we must admit that we might have been guilty—perhaps we have been guilty of the very folly, ungodliness, and weakness for which God has now judged the wicked. We cannot but rejoice that we are freed from their danger and oppression, but we must never rejoice as if we were better than they.

Brief survey of the history of hermeneutics – 9. Middle Ages (II)

by | May 13, 2011 | Hermeneutics, Historical Theology

Four-fold method (quadriga): Of the many things the era of the Middle Ages is known for, one of its most important contributions to biblical interpretation came from John Cassian (circa 360-435). Cassian inherited the theory of the three senses of Scripture from his Patristic predecessors. Origen had developed the three-fold sense of Scripture – the literal (historical or somatic), the tropological (moral or pneumatic), and the allegorical (doctrinal or psychical). Cassian added a fourth – the mystical, analogical or ultimate/eschatological sense.[1] Augustine (circa 354-430) utilized a form of the four-fold method and his book On Christian Doctrine became “the volume which was to be the basic hermeneutical manual of the Middle Ages.”[2]

The medieval quadriga or fourfold pattern of meaning was comprised of the following: the literal or historical, the tropological or moral, the allegorical or doctrinal, and the anagogical or ultimate/eschatological.[3] Muller comments on the quadriga:

 

The carefully enunciated fourfold pattern of the Middle Ages was based upon the association, already made by Augustine and Gregory the Great, between the three Christian virtues, faith (fides…), hope (spes), and love (caritas…), and the meaning of the text of Scripture as it speaks to Christians. The church does not, then, disdain the sensus literalis or sensus historicus, the literal or historical meaning, but learns of it and uses it as the point of departure for searching out the relation of the text to the Christian virtues. When the literal or historical sense includes details concerning human conduct, it bears a lesson for caritas and issues forth in the sensus tropologicus, or tropological meaning. The trope, related to caritas, manifests the Christian agenda…, work to be done. Similarly, the literal sense may include details which point toward Christian faith: thus, the sensus allegoricus, or allegorical meaning, which has reference to fides and to the credenda… or things to be believed, by the church. Finally, the literal sense may point beyond the history it narrates to the future of the church. This is the sensus anagogicus, the anagogical sense, which relates to spes and teaches of speranda…, things to be hoped for. Although this fourfold pattern was subject to abuse and excess, the medieval doctors generally used it in such a way as to find all meanings of a text expressed literally somewhere in Scripture, particularly in the New Testament fulfillment of the Old Testament promises. In addition, the method did not ignore the literal meaning of the text, as sometimes alleged, but used it as the basis for each of the other meanings… The method, moreover, did not demand that all four meanings be found in each text. The quadriga was summed up in the following mnemonic couplet taught in the medieval schools: Litera gesta docet, quid credas allegoria;/moralis quid agas, quo tendas anagogia (“The letter teaches of deeds, allegory of what is believed;/morality of what is done, anagoge of things to come.”).[4]

Muller goes on to point out that the fourfold method, prior to the Reformation, began to be slowly put aside for a simpler method. What the Reformers and the post-Reformation Protestant (Lutheran and Reformed) orthodox both retained from the fourfold method was its “concern for the direct address of the text to the church…”[5] This is a concern shared with the New Testament itself, the Apostolic Fathers, the Patristics, and all Evangelicals today. This basic concern may be answered in diverse ways, but it follows all Christian interpreters through the ages.

[1] Bray, Biblical Interpretation, 133.

[2] Muller, Dictionary, 254.

[3] Cf. Muller, Dictionary, 254-55; Muller, PRRD, II:469ff.; and Steinmetz, “The Superiority of Pre-Critical Exegesis,” 30ff.

[4] Muller, Dictionary, 254-55.

[5] Muller, Dictionary, 255.

Rejoice that Osama Bin Laden Is Dead—Or Not? (Part 3 of 5)

by | May 12, 2011 | Current Events, Sermons

We are looking at two verses which provide a balanced, biblical response to the death of Bin Laden (you can also listen to or download my message on Bin Laden from our church’s web site). In this blog post I want to compare and contrast the two verses. This will help us, I hope, reconcile their teaching. Having in the previous post cast aside a superficial way of reconciling of the two verses, let us see if there is not a better way to release the tension we feel between them.

II. The Verses Compared

We ought not to shy away from difficulties in the Bible. Nor should we feel that genuine Christianity requires that we check our brain at the door. True lovers of the Bible will find in tensions and difficulties like those we now face an opportunity to lay aside superficial views of Scripture and go more deeply into the truth of the Word of God. In seeking to go deeper into the Word there is no substitute for extended meditation on the Word of God. As I thought about it, three helpful thoughts occurred to me in the comparison of Proverbs 11:10 with 24:17.

Proverbs 11:10 When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.
Proverbs 24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles

I see here one similarity and three contrasts.

The first thought: The emotion described in the two verses is the same. There is no escape from the tension between the two verses by trying to contrast the emotions commanded in the two verses. Yes, the words for joy and the expression of joy are different, but they convey the same concept of exultant joy. The words used for joy and joyful shouting found in these two verses are synonyms and describe fundamentally the same human emotion. They are clearly parallel and synonymous words in the Hebrew Bible and are used in parallel in many places in the Old Testament. There is no distinction between the two verses at this point.

Emotions are not in themselves good or bad. I believe I could show you in the Bible if time permitted that every human emotion may be either good or bad depending on its situation and motivation. It is the situation and motivation of human emotions that make them good and bad—not the emotion itself. Exultant joy may be very good, or it may be very bad. It must be one or the other, but it may be either.

Take the emotion of anger. We may be angry at the man who murdered 3000 thousand innocent lives on 9/11. We may be angry that this wicked man has now been brought to justice. It is the same emotion, but in the one case it is good, while in the other case it is bad. Even so it is with the emotion of joy.

The second thought: The rejoicing in Proverbs 11:10 is public, while the rejoicing in Proverbs 24:17 is private. The first text (Proverbs 11:10) speaks of a public, corporate, and civil rejoicing. Look at it closely. Who is rejoicing in the first text? The city! The second text is in striking contrast to this. Let me give you an expanded Waldron Literal translation of Proverbs 24:17: In fall of your (singular) enemy not shall you (singular) rejoice; and in his overthrow not shall your (singular) heart shout with joy. All of the pronouns here are singular. This text speaks of a private and individual rejoicing. The difference or contrast is clear.

In American football there are rules against excessive celebration after scoring a touchdown. These rules, however, apply against the player on the field and not against the crowd in the stands. Even so the rejoicing in Proverbs 11:10 is by the crowd in the stands and not by the player on the field. We can hardly even imagine it, but suppose one of the Navy Seals who killed Bin Laden had done a little jig over his body and chanted You’re dead! You’re dead! That is a very different thing than the couple whose son was killed in the tragedy of 9/11 sitting silent on their couch with a sense of exultant joy and relief filling their hearts.

The third thought: The rejoicing in Proverbs 11:10 has a moral cause, while the rejoicing in Proverbs 24:17 has a personal cause. Again the contrast is clear. Proverbs 11:10 speaks of rejoicing over the destruction of the wicked (who are contrasted with the righteous). Proverbs 24:17 speaks of rejoicing over the destruction of your enemy. Notice the personal character of this rejoicing seems emphasized by the very next verse, Proverbs 24:18. “Or the LORD will see it and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him.” It may be true that your enemy is also wicked. But is your rejoicing over his fall because of his wickedness of because of your enmity? That is the great question. That is one main thing that distinguishes Proverbs 11:10 from Proverbs 24:17.

I need to qualify this last point. It is not wrong to feel a sense of gladness and shout for joy when God judges an enemy who was an imminent threat to you, your family, or your nation. This is a different thing than merely rejoicing that old scores of no present consequence were settled and that old enemies of no present danger are destroyed.

The fourth thought: The rejoicing in Proverbs 11:10 is over the perishing of the wicked, while the rejoicing in Proverbs 24:17 is over our enemy’s merely stumbling.

Proverbs 24:18 makes clear that the calamity which overtakes our enemy is not complete or irreversible. While the perishing of the wicked in Proverbs 11:10 is final, the stumbling of our enemy is not.

Proverbs 24:17-18 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Or the LORD will see it and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him.

The Importance of Hermeneutics

by | May 11, 2011 | Hermeneutics

The radio speaker that Sunday morning was a successful minister in one of the major Protestant denominations. His text was Acts 5. His topic was “power.” He spoke eloquently of the many ways in which most of us misuse our authority. Parents abuse their children by their negativism. Government leaders show insensitivity to the pains of those in need. We destroy by our criticism when we should build up with our praise.

As he approached the last part of his radio message, the preacher finally came to his text. In the narrative of Acts he found a dramatic example of the misuse of power. Ananias and Sapphira, weak Christians who had just given in to their temptations, were in need of reassurance and upbuilding. The apostle Peter, in an ugly display of arrogance, abused his authority and denounced their conduct with awful threats. Terror consumed each of them in turn, and they died on the spot under Peter’s unbearable invective.[1]

Hopefully all of us shook our heads in unbelief as the misuse of Acts 5 above was read. We can grant that all of us misuse our authority, but we cannot grant that the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 was put there by Luke (and God!) for preachers to expound upon the ugly reality of heavy-handedness.

But how can we be sure that the preacher above got the meaning of the text wrong? The correct answer is that we can be sure he got the text wrong because the text in its context clearly does not indicate that its purpose is to highlight the abuse of authority. In other words, interpreting the text in its context will not bring us to the conclusion of the radio preacher.

Our answer to the question above brings us into the vast world of hermeneutics. Our answer assumed that Bible texts possess meaning. It assumed that the meaning of Bible texts can be known by readers far-removed from the world of the Bible. It assumed that the English language can convey what was originally written in Greek and so on and so forth. This misuse of Acts 5 highlights the importance of hermeneutics. Many other examples could be given to drive home the point – the study of and principles for the interpretation of the Bible are of vast importance.

[1] Moises Silva, “Has the Church Misread the Bible?” in Moises Silva, editor, Foundations of Contemporary Interpretation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 17.

Rejoice that Osama Bin Laden Is Dead—Or Not? (Part 2 of 5)

by | May 11, 2011 | Current Events, Sermons

In this blog series we are looking to provide a balanced, biblical response to Bin Laden’s death (you can also listen to or download my message on Bin Laden from our church’s web site). I want to introduce the verses under my first heading:

I. The Verses Contemplated

Here are the two verses. I want you simply to contemplate or look at them for a few moments. Here they are in the NASB

Proverbs 11:10 When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.
Proverbs 24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles

Here they are in the New English Translation

Proverbs 11:10 When the righteous do well, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there is joy.
Proverbs 24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and when he stumbles do not let your heart rejoice

Here they are in the ESV:

Proverbs 11:10 When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.
Proverbs 24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles

Finally, here they are in the Waldron Literal Translation:

Proverbs 11:10 In good of righteous ones rejoices a city and in destroying of wicked ones shouts (of joy)
Proverbs 24:17 In fall of your enemy not shall you rejoice; and in his overthrow not shall your heart shout with joy

As you can see, there is no difficulty with the translation with these verses. Each of the above translations render them so as to produce the same thoughts. The problem is not with the translation of these verses, but with the meaning of them. It is especially with how both verses can be true. The problem is how the Bible can affirm both these things.

There is one possibility which may occur to some of you and which might appear to remove the difficulty. The first verse (Proverbs 11:10) is simply descriptive. That is, it directly commands nothing. It simply states what is the case. Someone might argue conceivably that the text is merely descriptive and not normative. They might say that it simply affirms what is and not what should be. They might interpret the verse like this: …when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting, but there should not be…

This would provide a satisfying resolution of the tension we feel as we look at the two verses together—if it were true. I am convinced, however, that it is not. Here is why. I have three reasons.

First, Proverbs 11:10 itself suggests that it not merely descriptive. Look at it again. The first half of the verse says: When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices… Should we understand this to mean similarly, When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, but they should not! I don not think so.

Second, the following verse suggests that this rejoicing is properly motivated and thus not to be reproached.

Proverbs 11:11 By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.

Third, other texts in the Bible teach us to rejoice when the wicked are judged.

Psalm 52:5-7 But God will break you down forever; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent, And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah. The righteous will see and fear, And will laugh at him, saying, “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge, But trusted in the abundance of his riches And was strong in his evil desire.”
Psalm 58:9-11 Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike. The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. And men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely there is a God who judges on earth!”
Revelation 18:19-20 “And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’ Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.”
Revelation 19:1-3 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.” And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER.”

There is no relief from the tension and difficulty we feel between these two verses in this way. Though Proverbs 11:10 is descriptive, it is not merely descriptive. It tells us what the righteous will do—what in some sense the righteous must do when the wicked are judged.

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