If you feel spiritually barren, that is a good thing. It is because you are, and because God has shown it to you. However, a barren heart cannot praise God. So often we rock up to church with empty hearts and attempt to feel “worshipful.” Well, we are commanded to worship, but must we draw water from dry wells?
Psalm 8:2 gets cited in support of paedobaptism. But what is it actually about? It’s a retelling of the Covenant story, from Egypt to Canaan, from the Nile (bloody waters below) to the Jordan, the river of resurrection (purifying waters above). It moves from circumcision of the firstborn to baptism of the bride, from Covenant Head to Covenant Body. Like the royal screen above, it’s not ungarnished truth, but it’s not fictitious either. It’s facts presented as symbolic art.
Psalm 11 seems a simple one to break down. As usual, once the structure is parsed, the author’s allusions are allowed to shine. The odd progression of the subject matter of the song suddenly makes sense. Now, remember we are dealing with poetry. All those silly rules you learnt at Bible college don’t apply. But all those good rules you learnt in English class do apply. The context is the Covenant, and Covenant breakers, and all the allusions are drawn from the history of the Covenant so far. It all takes place inside the tent of God and the Land of God, because that is where judgment begins.
Genesis - Creation - Day 1 - Sabbath
In the LORD (Transcendence)
…..I put my trust; (Hierarchy)
……….How can you say to my soul, (Ethics)
…..“Flee as a bird (Sanctions)
to your mountain”? (Continuity)
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things…” (Hebrews 1:1-2)
Psalm 110 is one of the two most frequently quoted (or alluded to) Psalms in the New Testament (Psalm 22 is the other). Identifying its literary structure makes plain what is really going on, and thus, what the ministry of Jesus was really about. It was the calling, delegation and ascension of a new Covenant Head, who, after qualifying and receiving authority from the Father, slew the Old Covenant body, the Jewish-Roman oikoumene.
If the Bible Matrix premise is correct, there’s an entire channel of communication in the Scriptures which scholars have overlooked. How cool is that? Well, this particular one is pretty hot, actually… Continue reading
The recent Australian federal election resulted in a hung parliament, with the balance of power held by a small number of elected independents. Not being forced to toe the party line, each of these men is free to stand for the needs of his own electorate. This can certainly slow down the process of government in the courts of men, but not in the courts of God.
As Christians, we are taught to toe the party line. This is a false piety. Our Father actually loves a lively, argumentative parliament. The process of maturity is supposed to bring us to the point where we are wise judges whom He can include in His government (pictured in baptism), standing on the crystal sea as joint heirs with His Son, Great Prophets whose very words change history.
Back room deals and bargaining with God are an abuse of prayer. Or are they? Not when those disputing with God are men whose hearts are like those of the Father. Abraham and David did it. God’s desire is that we should be like them. Continue reading
Van Gogh’s work has been regarded by some as “hallucinatory,” however his letters show that few artists were as intelligent and rational. His work was not the product of his dark times but of his struggle against them.
“I am feeling well just now… I am not strictly speaking mad, for my mind is absolutely normal in the intervals, and even more so than before. But during the attacks it is terrible—and then I lose consciousness of everything. But that spurs me on to work and to seriousness, as a miner who is always in danger and makes haste in what he does.” [1]
Psalm 114 is one of those weird passages of Scripture that makes you wonder if the author was high on something. Without an understanding of the significance of the place of this song among these seven Psalms, the lyrics appear to be either the overly-clever, sophomoric crypticism of an ancient Bono or the fragmented derivatory prattlings of a madman.
“I am the Door.”
The second part of both the Covenant and matrix structures concerns the authority of the transcendent God being delegated to His servant. Very often, a book of prophecy begins with a vision of the Lord, which promptly knocks Adam onto his face as a dead man, and the destroyer passes over him in the darkness. He is “waters divided.” He is called to be separate from the world, and this sanctification begins with mortification. [1] So Psalm 112, as the second in this Covenant song-cycle, concerns the outcome in the world of the faithful use of God’s authority by His Adam.
