Geerhardus Vos says in his Biblical Theology that “every sin offers to God what ought not to be offered, an offence, and at the same time, it withholds from God what ought to have been given to Him, obedience.”
(Biblical Theology, p. 171)
The Harvest Is Ripe – Joel 3:13
“Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great” (Joel 3:13).
This verse is not to be taken in the positive sense. The ripe harvest, the full winepress and the overflowing vats are not to be seen as prosperity or blessing, but rather, as a description of judgment. Farmers and vintners would be thrilled with such things as a ripe harvest and an abundance of wine. That is not the case here. Jesus spoke of the harvest being plentiful but the laborers few (Matt. 9:37, 38; Luke 10:2). He was referring to the vast helplessness and need of the crowds who were as sheep without a shepherd. Jesus said we should pray that more laborers be raised up and sent. The harvest, Jesus speaks of, is a good thing.
But this is not the case in Joel. In Joel 1 we read of God’s judgment in the form of locusts (Joel 1:4). Locusts are well known for their devouring of everything edible. Joel refers to different kinds of locusts—cutting locust, swarming locust, hopping locust and destroying locust. His point is that if one doesn’t accomplish the job, others will. The result of this locust invasion is utter devastation. This is a picture of God’s wrath and judgment against Judah and Jerusalem. This judgment of God’s is also referred to as “the day of the Lord”(1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14). It occurs 13 times in seven other prophets (Isa. 13:6, 9; Jer. 46:10; Ezek. 13:5; 30:3; Amos 5:18–20; Obad. 15; Zeph. 1:7, 14; Mal. 4:5). It refers to God’s final judgment, the judgment that Judah and Israel were to experience from their enemies, and also what their enemies were to experience from God. [Read more…]
Boston on Death
Thomas Boston says that, “death is one of those things that work together for good to them that love God (Rom. 8:28). When the body dies, the soul is perfected; the body of death goes off at the death of the body.”
He further says; “a dying day is a good day to a godly man. Yea, it is his best day; it is better to him than his birthday, or than the most joyous day which he ever had on earth.”
He then says; “it is their redemption day when the captives are delivered, when prisoners are set free.”
(Thomas Boston, Human Nature in its Fourfold State, pp. 356-358)
The Chief Thing
Calvin says that the chief thing of the gospel is that Christ is given to us and that in him is life.
(Titus Commentary. p. 286)
Lessons from Job
I have been reading Calvin’s sermons on Job while being away. His staggering main point is extraordinary. After we have experienced God’s blessings, kindness, and many provisions, we grow accustomed to them. We expect them, and then, when difficulties, struggles or afflictions come, we accuse God, we question God as to why he has taken away what we previously enjoyed by grace. How vile we can be. All that we have received has come to us from our good God, and should he take it all away, it is because he is being good to us. It is that last point that is so crucial to grasp. This is what Job expressed. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. May we say the same no matter what comes our way.
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