The beast survives a mortal wound

02 Tuesday Nov 2021

Posted by memoirandremains in Revelation

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Revelation 13 has the famous “Beast”. An interesting aspect of the Beast is that the Beast undergoes a mortal wound and then lives. While the image is relatively clear, the referent (who is the Beast and what does it mean it was killed and resurrected) has been a matter of some debate. Here are a few possibilities:

The Devil’s defeat at Christ’s Cross and Resurrection:

The wound appeared to be fatal, and, indeed, it really was. Nevertheless, the devil’s continued activity through his agents makes it appear to John as though he has overcome the mortal blow dealt him at Christ’s death and resurrection. Despite defeat, the devil and his forces continue to exist

G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1999), 688.

The City of Man set up against the City of God:

Or perhaps no historical allusion is intended and the purpose of the figure is to underscore the tremendous vitality of the beast. Though wounded, he returns with increased might. From the beginning of history the pagan state has set itself against the people of God. From the pharaohs of Egypt to the emperors of Rome it had moved steadily forward with determined purpose to devour all who refused it homage. It had survived every assault and recovered from every deadly blow. Little wonder that in the last days the whole world will be drawn after27 the beast in wonder and amazement.

Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), 248–249.

QUESTION—To what does the figure of the head of the beast refer?
1. It refers to the Roman Emperor Nero [Be, BNTC, ICC, NTC, Sw]. The head refers to Nero and he will return but only reincarnated as another emperor who persecutes God’s people (see 17:11) [Be, BNTC]. There was a belief that Nero would rise from the dead. It came to be known as the Nero redivivus myth. Though it proved wrong, the expectation still remains that an Antichrist like Nero will arise with even increased cruelty [NTC].
2. It refers to the pagan Roman Empire [Alf, Wal]. The Roman Empire is the head that died and will be revived in the future [Wal].
3. It refers to a future king [EC]. This king will be controlled by Satan and will closely counterfeit Christ’s death and resurrection [EC].
4. It refers to Satan himself. The wounding of Satan was Christ’s victory over Satan when Christ died and was resurrected [NIGTC].

Ronald Trail, An Exegetical Summary of Revelation 12–22, 2nd ed. (Dallas, TX: SIL International, 2008), 37–38.

I thought of that passage today when I read this news:

QAnon supporters have reportedly gathered in Dallas, Texas, in anticipation of the return of John F. Kennedy Jr., who they believe will announce a 2024 presidential run alongside Donald Trump, despite being dead for 22 years—the latest crackpot claim from a movement that believes the world is run by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles.

Big if true. The passage in Revelation 13 is quite strange. What the psychological (or otherwise) relationship between the two, I do not know. But it is odd.

Of Mice and Men: Singing

14 Saturday Nov 2015

Posted by memoirandremains in Proverbs, Psalms, Revelation

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Babylon, Black Holes, Crickets, judgment, Mice, Mouse, Music, Proverbs 29:6, Psalm 98, Revelation, Revelation 18, Singing, Stars

The sheer amount of music in the world is striking. Not only do black holes and crickets make music, it turns out that mice do as well:

It’s true: Mice actually sing, especially when they’re looking for a mate. That’s not anything new. But unlike birdsong, mouse-song is much too high-pitched for humans to hear. So no, it’s not exactly Cinderella-esque, as you can hear for yourself in the above video. But it is shockingly intricate.

God seems utterly delighted with music. While not exhaustive, here a few things to consider

First, it is the mark of a righteous man:

Proverbs 29:6 (ESV)

⁶ An evil man is ensnared in his transgression,

but a righteous man sings and rejoices.

Continue reading →

The Spiritual Chymist, Meditation XVIII: The Philosopher’s Stone

04 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by memoirandremains in Biblical Counseling, Revelation, William Spurstowe

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alchemy, Meditation, New Name, Philosopher's Stone, Revelation, Revelation 2:17, The Spiritual Chymist, White Stone, William Spurstowe

From William Spurstowe, The Spiritual Chymist, 1666. The prior post is this series is here.

[The “philosopher’s stone” was a supposed stone or process that could something expensive such as lead into something expensive such as gold. A “base” metal would be inferior, less expense metal. The process was called “sublimation” of metals. As noted, one might expend an entire fortune in this fruitless experiments in chemistry.]
This lemma, or title, may happily as much affect such to make gold their God as the sight of the star did the Wise Men, hoping that it will be both a light and a guide to the discovery of that rare and matchless secret of turning the more base and inferior metals into the more noble: iron into silver, and brass into gold, and so enrich them with artificial Indies [The “Indies”, India were a source of riches by means of trading.].

But I can scarce resolve myself whether the Philosopher’s Stone which is thus framed for wonders, be not rather a speculation in absolute reality, or an attempt tried by many, rather than achievement attained by few or any.

How many have melted down ample revenues in their crucibles, and while they have with much labor sought the sublimation of metals, have sunk themselves into the deepest beggary? And how have others consume their time, if not wasted their estates in a fruitless pursuit of it? And yet have seen no other change than what age and care has made in them, turning their golden hair into silver hair; or at best have gleaned up some few experiments only, and have not compensated their cost and travel.

But what if any man, after a long search and study, can Archimedes like cry out joyfully that it is found? Yea, what if every man, who has busied his thoughts, and employed his time in diving into this mystery should be able to effect such a change and to multiply his treasures as the sand?

Yet how worthless and inconsiderable would such productions of his philosophical stone be found, as compared within noble and transcendent effects of the Divine, or Theological Stone, which Christ promised in Revelation [2:17] to him that overcomes: whose worth as it is far greater [than the Philosopher’s Stone], and the way to obtain it is more facile and certain — it being not a work of labor, but a gift of grace.

This stone is of such power and energy, that whosoever is possessed of it, can have nothing befal him, which he changes and turns not to his good.
It turns all temporal losses into spiritual advantages;
all crosses into blessings;
all afflictions into comforts;
it dignifies reproach and ignomy;
it changes the hardship of a prison into the delights of a palace;
it is a heavenly anodyne against all pains, and makes the soul to possess itself in patience in every condition;
it is a panacea, a universal salve for every sore, to all accidents that can befall a man. It is the seal to the wax, putting up on them a new stamp and figure and making them to be what they were not before, and what they could never have been without it.
Such it is that he who has it, has all good.
And he that lacks it (whatever else he seems to possess) has little lees than nothing.

Who then can without mourning as well as wondering, pity the prodigious folly of those men who labor in a continual fire to effect the stone of the transmutation of metals, and yet deem this divine stone scarce worth the begging of God in prayer?

Is this wisdom to toil in the refining of clay, and to be able to make a dull piece of earth to shine, and then to value our happiness by it?

Is this wisdom to set a low rate upon what God has promised to give, and then to highly esteemed but we can do?

Oh Lord, if this be the world’s wisdom,
let me become a fool.
I had rather have this divine stone of thy promise,
than all the treasures that nature and art can yield.
Let the mountains be turned into Gold,
the rocks into diamonds,
the sand into pearls,
yet this Stone, with the new name written in it, is to me more desirable than all,
as being a sure pledge of life and happiness and in heaven

Anne Bradstreet, As Weary Pilgrim Now at Rest

16 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by memoirandremains in 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Anne Bradstreet, Literature, Revelation

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Anne Bradstreet, As Weary Pilgrim Now at Rest, Pilgrim, Pilgrimmage, Pilgrims, poem, Poetry, Puritan Poetry

As weary pilgrim, now at rest,

Hugs with delight his silent nest

His wasted limbs, no lie full soft

That miry steps have trodden oft

Blesses himself to think upon

His dangers past and travails done

The burning sun no more shall heat

Nor stormy rains on him shall beat.

The briars and thorns no more shall scratch

Not hungry wolves at him shall catch

He erring paths no more shall tread

Nor wild fruit eat instead of bread

For water cold he doth not long

For thirst no more shall parch his tongue

No rugged stones his feet shall gall

Nor stumps nor rocks cause him to fall

All cares and fear he bids farewell

And means in satisfy now to dwell.

A pilgrim I, on earth, perplexed

With sins, with cares and sorrows vexed

By age and pains brought to decay

My clay house moldering away

O how I long to be at rest

And soar on high among the blessed.

This body shall in silence sleep

Mine eyes no more shall ever weep

No fainting fits shall me assail

Nor grinding pains my body frail

With cares and fear ne’er cumbered be

Nor losses know, nor sorrows see

What thought my flesh shall there consume

It is the bed that Christ did perfume

And when a few years shall be gone

This mortal shall be cloth’d upon

A corrupt carcase down it lies

A glorious body it shall rise

In weakness and dishonor shown

In power ‘tis rais’d by Christ alone

Then soul and body shall unite

And of their maker have the sight

Such lasting joys shall there behold

As ear ne’r heard nor tongue e’er told

Lord make me ready for that day

Then come dear bridegroom Come away.

Notes:

The image of a pilgrim was a common one for the Puritans. It derives from the language of Hebrews 11, a passage of Scripture which describes saints who came through the world (this life) as pilgrims with a view to living in a permanent homeland:

Hebrews 11:13–16 (AV)

¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ¹⁴ For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. ¹⁵ And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. ¹⁶ But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

And the language of 1 Peter 2:11:
1 Peter 2:11 (AV)

¹¹ Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Hence we may gather divers grounds, that while we live in this world, a Christian is but a pilgrim and stranger. First, Heaven is his home, and this life is but a way, and he a passenger. And thus David accounted of himself, though a king, yet but a stranger, both himself and his fathers; and therefore, as a passenger, he provides for his journey, he stands not for ill usage, cares not to look after delights in the way, but uses them as advantageous to his journey.

Richard Sibbes, The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 5 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; W. Robertson, 1863), 136.

Resurrection: This imagery comes from 1 & 2 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 15:35–57 (AV)

³⁵ But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? ³⁶ Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: ³⁷ And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: ³⁸ But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. ³⁹ All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. ⁴⁰ There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. ⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. ⁴² So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: ⁴³ It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. ⁴⁶ Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. ⁴⁸ As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. ⁴⁹ And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. ⁵⁰ Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

⁵¹ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. ⁵⁵ O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And:

2 Corinthians 4:16–5:5 (AV)

¹⁶ For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; ¹⁸ While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Chapter 5

¹ For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: ³ If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. ⁴ For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. ⁵ Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

The end of sorrows:

Revelation 21:1–4 (AV)

¹ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. ² And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. ⁴ And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

The Fountain of all Theology: The Father’s Love for His Son

31 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by memoirandremains in Christology, Ephesians, Glory, God the Father, Image of God, Justification, Revelation, Romans, Soteriology, Trinity

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1 John 3:1-2, Bartel Elshout, christology, Colossians 3:9-10, Creation, Ephesians 1:3-7, Father, Puritan Reformed Seminary, redemption, Revelation 4:11, Romans 8:28–29, Son, The Beauty and Glory of the Father, Trinity

An August 2012 conference at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary resulted in a book of essays entitled The Beauty and Glory of the Father. The first essay in the collection, “The Father’s Love for His Son” by Bartel Elshout contends:

The Holy Spirit gives us a glimpse into the infinite depth of the Father’s heart — a heart that is eternally moved in love for His eternally begotten and beloved Son. This is the fountain from which all theology flows. Nothing so precisely defines who the Father is as the fact that He loves His Son with the totality and fullness of His divine person. (3)

The remainder of the essay sets out to demonstrate and develop that thesis. He sets out a series of minor theses respecting the Trinity in eternity, creation, fall, redemption, and the eschaton.

The presentation is precise and scholarly without being pedantic. While the work entails rigor of thought, it does not present any difficulties which an attentive adult could not master. While never quite poetic, it is beautiful in its clarity and object.

Elshout presents his case with careful logic, drawing out implications which are not immediately obvious — but which once demonstrated can be affirmed. This is the primary strength of the essay.

For example, as he works through the manner in which creation demonstrates the Father’s love for His Son, Elshout contends:

The Father’s love for His Son, the love that moved Him to create the entire univere for His Son, also moved Him to create Adam in the image of His Son. (7).

I was not immediately sure that one could say that Adam, who was certainly created in the image and likeness of God was particularly created in the image of the Son. Elshout recognized the difficulty and so presents a careful case.

First, he looks to Romans 8:28-29. The first verse is the much abused text that all things work together for good — which fails to recognize that “good” is defined in verse 29:

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

“In other words, the ultimate goal of redemption is the conformity of fallen human beings to the image of the Father’s well-beloved Son” (7). He confirms the proposition by referencing 1 John 3:1-2:

1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

From this proposition, Elshout draws an inference: “If the goal of the Father’s redemptive work is to conform men and women to the image of His Son, this must have been His original goal in creating man” (7). This is the greatest leap of the argument.

To support this jump, he argues that the goals of creation & redemption are the same. First, he looks to the purpose of creation. He reasons, “If the goal of the Father’s redemptive work is to conform men and women to the image of His Son, this must have been His original goal in creating man.” (7)

What is the purpose of creation: “thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Rev. 4:11, KJV). [The Greek text has “καὶ διὰ τὸ θέλημά σου ἦσαν καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν”; thelema, will/decision. Here is an example of how English words have shifted meaning over the past 400 years. In 1611, “pleasure” would be something in accordance with one’s will.]

All things exist according to the pleasure, the will of God and continue so. At this point, I believe Elshout would have strengthened his argument by a reference to Ephesians 1:

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

The fact of redemption in the Son is solely a matter of the Father’s will [Greek: κατὰ τὴν εὐδοκίαν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ, according to the pleasure of his will, thelematos.] Elshout certainly seems to presume this passage in his argument.

We know that the purpose of redemption is conforming rebellious, straying human beings to the image of the Son. This is done according to the good pleasure of God’s will. Moreover, creation itself is an act of the very same will. Indeed, the process of redemption and sanction is conformity to the Creator:

9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Colossians 3:9-10

At this point, Elshout’s observes something which I found fascinating. Skipping a portion of his argument, Elshout draws out an implication of Adam being created in the image of the Son. First, the Son himself discloses the Father (John 1:18). Thus, to look upon the Son is to know the disclosure of the Father.

This leads to the realization:

We may therefore conclude that, before the Fall, Adam and Eve delighted themselves in the very same Son of God in whom the Father eternally delights Himself. Being the bearers of the image of His Son, loving and worshipping Him, Adam adn Eve were the recipients of the love the Father has for His Son. The Father beheld the reflection of His eternal Son, and loved them with the same love with which He loved His Son. …In summary, the Father created man for His Son and in His image in order that man might know and love his Son and live for His glory. (8)

This brief notice concerns only two pages of the 16 page essay. The entire piece is well worth one’s consideration.

Edward Taylor: Raptures of Love.2

01 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in Edward Taylor, Glory, Literature, Praise, Revelation

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2 Corinthians 4, Edward Taylor, glory, gold, poem, Poetry, Praise, Puritan Poetry, Raptures of Love, Revelation 1, Revelation 21

(For the previous stanza, see here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/edward-taylor-raptures-of-love-1/)

Might I a glance of this brightness show;
See it in him who gloriously is dressed:
A gold silk stomacher of purple, blue
Blanched o’re with orient pearls being on his breast:
And all his robes being answerable, but
This glory seen, to that unseen’s a smut.

Line 1:
Taylor tries to convey what he has “seen”. The pile of images necessarily impossible in an effort to convey that which cannot be said. The point of the stanza is that Christ conveys an unspeakable glory:

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9

Line 2:
Him: Christ.

Line 3:
Stomacher: something like a cummerbund. Taylor seems to have taken the imagery from Revelation 1:

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

The gold cloth is purple — an impossible image; like transparent gold in Revelation 21:18.

Line 4:
“orient pearls”: consider how exotic pearls would be to Taylor in rural colonial New England.

Line 6:
The glory which can be seen, impossibly beautiful though it is, is nothing (a smut) when compared to that which cannot be seen.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18:

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Morning Hymn

10 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in Charles Wesley, Christology, John, Literature, Praise, Prayer, Revelation

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Charles Wesley, Morning Hymn, poem, Poetry

Revelation 22:5

And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

John 1:3-4:

In him was life, and the life was the light of men.The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

MORNING HYMN

By Charles Wesley

Christ, whose glory fills the skies,
Christ, the true, the only light,
Sun of Righteousness, arise,
Triumph o’er the shades of night:
Day-spring from on high, be near:
Day-star, in my heart appear.

Dark and cheerless is the morn
Unaccompanied by thee,
Joyless is the day’s return,
Till thy mercy’s beams I see;
Till thy inward light impart,
Glad my eyes, and warm my heart.

Visit then this soul of mine,
Pierce the gloom of sin, and grief,
Fill me, Radiancy Divine,
Scatter all my unbelief,
More and more thyself display,
Shining to the perfect day.

Christians in every age and culture need to discern

19 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in Ministry, Revelation

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David Peterson, Engaging with God, Ministry, Revelation, Worship, worship

A major theme of this book [The Revelation of John] is the distinction between true worship and idolatry. John divides humanity into two categories, the worshippers of the dragon and the beast and the worshippers of God and the Lamb. ….Christians in every age and culture need to discern how this conflict between God and Satan is manifested in their own particular context. Acceptable worship involves acknowledging and accepting God’s claim for exclusive devotion and loyalty by rejecting every alternative. In the market-place, in politics, in the field of education or arts, the Christian is constantly challenged to make the decisive choide for God that Jesus himself made, when he was tested so forcefully in the wilderness. 264-265

The worship of Christians on earth is the exact opposite to the worship of the beast and involves giving proper allegiance to God and the Lamb in every circumstance of life. 270

David Peterson, Engaging with God, A Biblical Theology of Worship

The Church at Ephesus and Canticles 3

31 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by memoirandremains in 1 Corinthians, 1 John, James, Revelation, Song of Solomon

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1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, 1 John, 1 John 3:16–18, Ephesus, Faith, faith, Good Works, James, James 2:14–17, James Durham, love, Love, Revelation, Revelation 2, Song of Solomon, Song of Solomon 3, Song of Solomon 3:1-4, works

In Revelation 2, Jesus commends and then rebukes the church at Ephesus. He commends their good works and care for correct doctrine, “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.” He also commends their “patient endurance”. Yet, there is a fault, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”

Now James explains that a faith which has no work is no true faith:

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:14-17)

John in his first epistle explains that one who claims love and yet does not actually conduct acts of love has no true love from God:

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:16-18

Thus, “faith” and “love” which exist only as words, are not faith or love; yet work — even good work of charity, and endurance and right doctrine — without love means nothing:

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

What does all this mean? At times Christians of this time and place speak of a personal relationship with Jesus. Unfortunately, it seems that such words usually mean a self-centered self-defined vague Jesus as the guy who paid for my get out of hell card. Yet there
is a sense in which the phrase is quite correct: Jesus is a persons : he is a man and the Son of God incarnate and is a person. He is a person with whom a relationship may and must be cultivated.

But the relationship may not be a matter of mere words like “faith” or “love”. Were I to tell my wife “I love you” and yet keep a mistress, my wife would rightly question (to say the very least!) the word “love”. I perhaps may feel an emotion of some sort — but I would not demonstrate love. That would be a “dead” love or faith. My wife seeks the words, but she really seeks my life. When words and conduct, when the entire life renders a true love, then the marriage exists.

Conversely, if I were to do things because I thought she wanted me to, but I did not care for her out of love, there would still be no true love.

Conduct without love and words without conduct are both nothing more than manipulation. Work without love and faith is rank paganism: I have sacrificed X and so the deity owes me Y. Words without corresponding conduct are fraud. A confidence man promises an interest in an oil well in North Dakota — he may even deliver a piece of paper claiming the same — but he only delivers words without meaning, because he words correspond to nothing in reality.

How then must the church at Ephesus respond? Canticles (Song of Solomon) 3 pictures the bride who seeks her love:

1 On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not.
2 I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but found him not.
3 The watchmen found me as they went about in the city. “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me.

This passage pictures the desire of the bride for the bridegroom — and thus the desire of the Church for Christ. In Revelation 2, Jesus has told the Ephesians, You must come seek me — and seek until you find: just as the bride in Canticles must seek her love. James Durham’s comment on verse 4 helps us to understand the application to the soul:

The second thing here, is her success, which is according to her desire, ‘I found him’ (saith she); when I had pressed but a little further, he sensibly and surprisingly made himself known to me. Observe. 1. Christ is not far off from his people when they are seeking him, whatever they may think when he hides himself. 2. They who love Christ, and conscionably follow all means for obtaining him are not far from finding, nor he far from manifesting himself to them. 3. They who sincerely press forward to the life of ordinances beyond the form, and by faith take themselves to Christ himself for the blessing, not resting on their performances will not long miss Christ, yea, it may be, he will give them a sensible manifestation of himself sooner than they are aware; for, ‘the Spirit is obtained, not by the works of the law, but by the hearing of faith,’ Gal. 3:2. 4. A soul that sincerely loves Christ, should not, and when in a right frame will not give over seeking Christ till it find him, whatever disappointment it meets with; and sure such will find him at last. 5. Christ found after much search, will be very welcome, and his presence then will be most discernible. 6. Believers should no less observe, and acknowledge their good success in the means, than their disappointments; there are many who often make regrets of their bonds, that are deficient in acknowledging God’s goodness when they get liberty.

Edward Taylor: Meditation on Canticles 2.1b

24 Friday Aug 2012

Posted by memoirandremains in Edward Taylor, Hebrews, Puritan, Revelation, Song of Solomon

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1 John 2:15-17, Book of Sports, Edward Taylor, Hebrews, Hebrews 11, Pilgrim, Pilgrimage, Poetry, Puritan, Revelation, Song of Solomon, Thomas Brooks

In this poem, Taylor begins with the image of love being locked within a silver chest looking for an object fit for its attention. First, this “spark of love” must pass through the temptation presented by the world

The gawdy World me Courts t’unlock the Box,

A motion makes, where Love may pick and choose.
Her Downy Bosom opes, that pedlars Stall,

Of Wealth, Sports, Honours, Beauty, slickt up all.

This image of passing through the world which presents itself as seduction is an image present in the Bible. Thus, in 1 John 2:15-17 we read:

¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 1 John 2:15–17 (AV)

John’s warning to not love the world provides the basic concept of the love of world as a dangerous temptation. However, the citation alone does not tie the imagery to both the multifaceted details of Taylor and the concept of pilgrimage. The concept of pilgrimage was perhaps developed by Hebrews 11, a chapter which details the faith of those saints who had gone on before:

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. Hebrews 11:13–16 (AV)

In Hebrews 11:24-26 Moses chooses the reproach of Christ over the pleasure of this world:

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; ²⁵ Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; ²⁶ Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. Hebrews 11:24–26 (AV)

The multiplication of items of delight and commerce perhaps suggested itself the description of John in Revelation 18:11-17:

¹¹ And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: ¹² The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, ¹³ And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. ¹⁴ And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. ¹⁵ The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, ¹⁶ And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! ¹⁷ For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, Revelation 18:11–17 (AV)

Thus, the general content of this section could have suggested itself to Taylor from the Bible (and from the common tradition extant at the time, as will be seen later). However, the particular list of temptations is not directly found in the Bible:

Wealth, Sports, Honours, Beauty

Three of the items could easily be understand as basic mainstays of human desire: money, power, beauty which people both desire and can be parlayed into money and power. The strange item on the list is “sports”. While one cannot be dogmatic at this distance, perhaps this was a swipe at the Books of Sports:

Book of Sports, formally Declaration of Sports, order issued by King James I of England for use in Lancashire to resolve a conflict, on the subject of Sunday recreations, between the Puritans and the gentry, many of whom were Roman Catholics. Permission was given for dancing, archery, leaping and vaulting, and for “having of May games, Whitsun ales and morris dances, and the setting up of May-poles and other sports therewith used, so as the same may be had in due and convenient time without impediment or neglect of divine service, and that women shall have leave to carry rushes to church for the decorating of it.” On the other hand, “bear and bull-baiting, interludes, and (at all times in the meane sort of people by law prohibited) bowling” were not to be permitted on Sunday. In 1618 James ordered all English clergy to read the declaration from the pulpit, but so strong was the Puritan opposition to Sunday amusements that he prudently withdrew his command. In 1633 Charles I not only directed the republication of his father’s declaration but insisted upon the reading of it by the clergy. Many of the clergy were punished for refusing to obey the injunction. When Charles was overthrown during the English Civil Wars, Puritan prohibitions against sports and games on the Sabbath again prevailed until Charles II was restored in 1660.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/561039/Book-of-Sports

Taylor develops the seduction of the world using plainly sexual imagery:

Her Downy Bosom opes

Due to the bizarre caricatures of the Puritans, one may confuse their absolute adherence to fidelity within marriage and exclusion of sexuality outside of marriage as repression – rather than as the opening for a profound love and passion. Rather than being repressed to the extent denying the existence of sexuality, they would use language which likely startle some more “modern” attenders at church (although the progressively crass language which masquerades as “authenticity” in modern pulpits would aim at the sort of thing which they would have avoided – vulgarity is not authenticity, is is just vulgar). Consider Thomas Brooks’ image of profit and pleasure:

There is an opening of the eyes of the mind to contemplation and joy, and there is an opening of the eyes of the body to shame and confusion. He promiseth them the former, but intends the latter, and so cheats them—giving them an apple in exchange for a paradise, as he deals by thousands now-a-days. Satan with ease puts fallacies upon us by his golden baits, and then he leads us and leaves us in a fool’s paradise. He promises the soul honour, pleasure, profit, &c., but pays the soul with the greatest contempt, shame, and loss that can be. By a golden bait he laboured to catch Christ, Mat. 4:8, 9. He shews him the beauty and the bravery of a bewitching world, which doubtless would have taken many a carnal heart; but here the devil’s fire fell upon wet tinder, and therefore took not. These tempting objects did not at all win upon his affections, nor dazzle his eyes, though many have eternally died of the wound of the eye, and fallen for ever by this vile strumpet the world, who, by laying forth her two fair breasts of profit and pleasure, hath wounded their souls, and cast them down into utter perdition. She hath, by the glistering of her pomp and preferment, slain millions; as the serpent Scytale, which, when she cannot overtake the fleeing passengers, doth, with her beautiful colours, astonish and amaze them, so that they have no power to pass away till she have stung them to death. Adversity hath slain her thousand, but prosperity her ten thousand.

Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, Volume 1, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1866), 12-13.