It's closed world, after all…

First, many Christians claim to believe in the supernatural but think (and live) like skeptics. We find talk of the supernatural world uncomfortable. This is typical of denominations and evangelical congregations outside the charismatic movement—in other words, those from a background like the one I grew up in.

There are two basic reasons why noncharismatics tend to close the door on the supernatural world. One is their suspicion that charismatic practices are detached from sound exegesis of Scripture. As a biblical scholar, it’s easy for me to agree with that suspicion—but over time it has widely degenerated into a closed-minded overreaction that is itself detached from the worldview of the biblical writers.—Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm, 17

Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory (The Battle Hymn of the Republic)

545 Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory

1 Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
   He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
   He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
   His truth is marching on.

Refrain:
   Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
   Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!His truth is marching on.

2 I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
   They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
   I can read the righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;
   His day is marching on. [Refrain]

3 He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
   He is sifting out all human hearts before His judgment seat;
   O be swift, my soul, to answer Him; be jubilant, my feet!
   Our God is marching on. [Refrain]

4 In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
   With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me;
   As He died to make us holy, let us die that all be free!
   While God is marching on. [Refrain]

5 He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
   He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave;
   So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of wrong His slave,
   Our God is marching on.
                         Julia Ward Howe
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Better known as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," it occurs in about 550 hymnals. Although it was written during the US Civil War specifically to encourage the belief in the rigtheousness of the North's cause, it does contain some good theology. Unfortunately, that theology is infused with a postmillenialism that I find hard to swallow—especially after the twentieth century!

Seems there is another verse, which I don't recall ever seeing/singing, probably because it makes the war setting too obvious for today:

3. I have read a fiery Gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;
   As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal;
   Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
   Since God is marching on.

</idle musing>

A Supernatural view

New book, well not really new, I've had it on my shelf since it was published ten years ago(!). I excerpted from the shorter version way back then. I also started this one about that time, but when I came to his questionable assertions about a certain mountain, I set it aside until I had time to research it. Guess what? That time never came. So, I decided to read the rest of it anyway. For the next couple of weeks, I'll pull some quotations from it.

Let's start out by saying that I agree with his basic premise and have since being an undergraduate and being exposed to the reality of the heavenly council. Where we differ is in how cleanly and smoothly that idea is carried out in the Bible. He sees a very straightforward, literalistic interpretation throughout. I tend to see things a good bit messier.

That being said, I think the book is definitely valuable and should be read by the typical nonsupernatural-type Christian. I used to do a two-day guest lecture at the YWAM base in the Twin Cities about this stuff. The two-third world students caught it immediately. The Western world students were a bit more skeptical for the first hour or two. But when I sent them out for their lunchbreak with the assignment to find an example in the Bible, they came back amazed. It was everywhere. Exactly.

OK, enough background. Here's the first excerpt:

My goal is simple. When you open your Bible, I want you to be able to see it like ancient Israelites or first-century Jews saw it, to perceive and consider it as they would have. I want their supernatural worldview in your head.

You might find that experience uncomfortable in places. But it would be dishonest of us to claim that the biblical writers read and understood the text the way we do as modern people, or intended meanings that conform to theological systems created centuries after the text was written. Our context is not their context.—Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm, 13 (emphasis original)

footnote: Mike Heiser died last year of pancreatic cancer, which is a sad loss. Even though I disagreed with much he said, he was an asset to the Christian community.

Thou shalt not kill/murder

Many people have read the sixth saying and concluded that it prohibited all killing. Such an interpretation misunderstands the Hebrew vocabulary—the Hebrew word used here is rāṣaḥ, and it is properly translated as “murder.” It therefore does not pertain to any other sort of killing, such as capital punishment, war, suicide, or killing of animals for food. All those are fully acceptable in Israel, even at times required, and therefore do not stand as contradictory to this saying or to the preservation of order in the covenant community of Israel. Even when Jesus extrapolates from the saying in the Sermon on the Mount in the Second Temple cognitive environment, he extends the meaning from murder to the prior attitude of hate (Mt 5:21). He does not expand the principle to apply it to other ways in which killing takes place.—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 255

<idle musing>
Well, that's the final excerpt from this book. On the whole, I found it a mixed bag. They do a good job of describing the cognitive environment of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible—at least prior to the Hellenistic period, when the ANE started to become more hellenized with the resulting change in legal systems.

But, diachronically, their approach doesn't fair as well. They definitely are wedded to the historical-critical paradigm, with all of its pluses and minuses. On the plus side is that they take the historical setting seriously, unlike so many other approaches. On the minus side, though, there seems to be a bit of tone deafness to historical theology, as a reviewer pointed out about all the Lost World series of books.

On the whole, though, I would still definitely recommend the book. There's a lot you can learn from it.

We'll start a new book tomorrow...
</idle musing>

Sabbath

This corresponds with the parallel observation throughout (especially) Genesis-Exodus that human efforts are not especially good at establishing and maintaining order or understanding the covenant as God working to establish and maintain order on humanity’s behalf. This idea represents one of the most significant divergences of Israelite thinking from its broader context (where humans are usually delegated to sustain their own order on behalf of the gods) so it is not surprising that the festival encapsulating this idea has no direct parallel [Sabbath].—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 252

The presence of God (Tozer for Tuesday)

This presence is both intangible and indescribable. Some try explaining it, but only those with a personal, intimate knowledge of God’s presence can truly understand. Some things rise above explanation and human understanding, and this is one. Many Christians are filled with good information, but only a few mercy drops fall into their languid soul to satisfy the thirst for God’s presence. Too many have never burst into the dazzling sunlight of God’s conscious, manifest presence. Or if they perchance have, it is a rare experience and not a continuous delight.—A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God, 17

Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown

529 Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown

1. Come, O thou traveler unknown,
   Whom still I hold, but cannot see!
   My company before is gone,
   And I am left alone with thee;
   With thee all night to stay
   And wrestle till the break of day.

2. I need not tell thee who I am,
   My misery or sin declare;
   Thyself hast called me by my name;
   Look on thy hands and read it there!
   But who, I ask thee, who art thou?
   Tell me thy name, and tell me now.

3. Yield to me now—for I am weak,
   But confident in self-despair!
   Speak to my heart, in blessings speak,
   Be conquer’d by my instant prayer;
   Speak, or thou never hence shalt move,
   And tell me, if thy name is love.

4. ’Tis love! ’tis love! thou diedst for me!
   I hear thy whisper in my heart.
   The morning breaks, the shadows flee:
   Pure, universal love thou art;
   To me, to all thy passions move;
   Thy nature and thy name is love.
                         Charles Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Not a terribly popular hymn, occurring in around 290 hymnals. It also has a lot more verses:

3. In vain thou strugglest to get free;
   I never will unloose my hold.
   Art thou the Man that died for me?
   The secret of thy love unfold;
   Wrestling, I will not let thee go,
   Till I thy name, thy nature know.

4. Wilt thou not yet to me reveal
   Thy new, unutterable name?
   Tell me, I still beseech thee, tell,
   To know it now, resolved I am;
   Wrestling, I will not let thee go,
   Till I thy name, thy nature know.

5. ’Tis all in vain to hold thy tongue,
   Or touch the hollow of my thigh:
   Though every sinew were unstrung,
   Out of my arms thou shalt not fly;
   Wrestling, I will not let thee go,
   Till I thy name, thy nature know.

6. What though my shrinking flesh complain,
   And murmur to contend so long,
   I rise superior to my pain;
   When I am weak, then I am strong;
   And when my all of strength shall fail,
   I shall with the God-man prevail.

7. My strength is gone, my nature dies,
   I sink beneath thy weighty hand,
   Faint to revive, and fall to rise;
   I fall, and yet by faith I stand;
   I stand, and will not let thee go,
   Till I thy name, thy nature know.

10. My pray’r hath power with God; the grace
   Unspeakable I now receive,
   Through faith I see thee face to face;
   I see thee face to face and live!
   In vain I have not wept and strove;
   Thy nature and thy name is love.

11. I know thee, Savior, who thou art:
   Jesus, the feeble sinner’s friend;
   Nor wilt thou with the night depart,
   But stay and love me to the end;
   Thy mercies never shall remove,
   Thy nature and thy name is love.

12. The Sun of Righteousness on me
   Hath rose, with healing in his wings;
   Withered my nature’s strength; from thee
   My soul its life and comfort brings;
   My help is all laid up above;
   Thy nature and thy name is love.

13. Contented now, upon my thigh
   I halt, till life’s short journey end;
   All helplesness, all weakness I,
   On thee alone for strength depend,
   Nor have I power from thee to move;
   Thy nature and thy name is love.

14. Lame as I am, I take the prey,
   Hell, Earth, and sin with ease o’ercome;
   I leap for joy, pursue my way,
   And as a bounding hart fly home,
   Through all eternity to prove
   Thy nature and thy name is love.

</idle musing>

Stolen (divine) identity

The name is equivalent to the identity of the deity, and the divine identity can be commandeered for illicit use. We are familiar with identity theft today, when a symbol such as a credit card number or social security number can be used to abuse or exploit the economic power or authority of an individual. Commandment three works on the same premise and prohibits divine identity theft (used for empty, vain purposes).—Walton and Walton, The Lost World of the Torah, 248

Where shall my wondering soul begin?

528 Where shall my wondering soul begin?

1 Where shall my wondering soul begin?
   How shall I all to heaven aspire?
   A slave redeemed from death and sin,
   a brand plucked from eternal fire,
   how shall I equal triumphs raise,
   or sing my great deliverer’s praise?

2 O how shall I the goodness tell,
   Father, which thou to me hast showed?
   That I, a child of wrath and hell,
   I should be called a child of God!
   Should know, should feel my sins forgiven,
   blest with this antepast of heaven!

3 And shall I slight my Father’s love,
   or basely fear his gifts to own?
   Unmindful of his favors prove,
   shall I, the hallowed cross to shun,
   refuse his righteousness to impart,
   by hiding it within my heart?

4 Outcasts of men, to you I call,
   harlots, and publicans, and thieves;
   he spreads his arms to embrace you all,
   sinners alone his grace receive.
   No need of Him the righteous have;
   he came the lost to seek and save.

5 Come, O my guilty brethren, come,
   groaning beneath your load of sin;
   his bleeding heart shall make you room,
   his open side shall take you in.
   He calls you now, invites you home:
   Come, O my guilty brethren, come.
                         Charles Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
Hymnary.org adds a verse:

For you the purple current flowed
   in pardon from his wounded side,
   languished for you the eternal God,
   for you the Prince of Glory died.
   Believe, and all your sin’s forgiven,
   only believe--and yours is heaven.

</idle musing>

Out of the Depths I Cry to Thee (Luther)

526 Out of the Depths I Cry to Thee

1 Out of the depths I cry to Thee;
   Lord, hear me, I implore Thee!
   Bend down Thy gracious ear to me,
   My prayer let come before Thee!
   If Thou remember each misdeed,
   If each should have its rightful meed,
   Who may abide Thy presence?

2 Our pardon is Thy gift; Thy love
   And grace alone avail us.
   Our works could ne'er our guilt remove,
   The strictest life would fail us.
   That none may boast himself of aught,
   But own in fear Thy grace hath wrought
   What in him seemeth righteous.

3 And thus, my hope is in the Lord,
   And not in mine own merit;
   I rest upon His faithful word
   To them of contrite spirit.
   That He is merciful and just,--
   This is my comfort and my trust,
   His help I wait with patience.
                         Martin Luther
                         Trans. by Catherine Winkworth
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
There appears to be two versions of this floating around out there, both translated by Catherine Winkworth. Together, they appear in around ninety hymnals. I don't recall singing this hymn in either version.

Most of hymnals include some version of these two verses as well:

4 And though it tarry till the night
   And round till morning waken,
   My heart shall ne'er mistrust Thy might,
   Nor count itself forsaken.
   Do thus, O ye of Israel's seed,
   Ye of the Spirit born indeed,
   Wait for your God's appearing.

5 Though great our sins and sore our woes,
   His grace much more aboundeth;
   His helping love no limit knows,
   Our utmost need it soundeth;
   Our kind and faithful Shepherd He,
   Who shall at last set Israel free
   From all their sin and sorrow.

</idle musing>

To Thee, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise

524 To Thee, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise

1 To thee, O Lord, our hearts we raise
   in hymns of adoration,
   to thee bring sacrifice of praise
   with shouts of exultation:
   bright robes of gold the fields adorn,
   the hills with joy are ringing,
   the valleys stand so thick with corn
   that even they are singing.

2 And now, on this our festal day,
   thy bounteous hand confessing,
   upon thine altar, Lord, we lay
   the first-fruits of thy blessing:
   by thee the hungry soul is fed
   with gifts of grace supernal;
   thou who dost give us earthly bread,
   give us the bread eternal.

3 O blessed is that land of God,
   where saints abide for ever;
   where golden fields spread far and broad,
   where flows the crystal river:
   the strains of all its holy throng
   with ours today are blending;
   thrice blessed is that harvest-song
   which never hath an ending.
                         William C. Dix
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
This hymn occurs in about 110 hymnals. Hymnary.org inserts a third verse:

3 We bear the burden of the day,
   and often toil seems dreary;
   but labour ends with sunset ray,
   and rest comes for the weary:
   may we, the angel-reaping o'er,
   stand at the last accepted,
   Christ's golden sheaves for evermore
   to garners bright elected.

</idle musing>