Don Carson on Jeremiah

I've finally just finished listening my way through a six part series by Carson on Jeremiah. Very illuminating, encouraging, challenging, scary, difficult, excellent stuff.

A couple of things i noticed:

1) It seems that most of the problems for Israel occurred because Kings, en masse, ignored the most important command to them in the Scriptures. That is, write down and learn and read and obey this law, that you might fear God. Time and again the prophet is ignored when he has a message from God, time and again we see Kings ignore the Word of God. And so they were judged.

2) Sin hardens our heart. Early on in the book Israel is likened to a camel on heat. 'How can we give up our false gods?' she cries. Sin does this to our hearts. Although we know what is right, we don't want to do it. We'd rather protect and provide for our sin instead of giving it up. Eventually we'll be so hard giving it up won't even be an option.

3) God is jealous and personal. Israel makes a cuckold of God. Israel whores after other gods. This language wouldn't be appropriate unless God was personal, unless He was personally affected by the sins of His people, unless His anger and wrath against it was real. Why does God give up Israel? To punish them and to bring them back. He is Hosea, we all are Gomer.

4) In the middle there is grace. Chapters 30-33 are full of grace. There are 14 'restoration oracles' in this block. God will break the back of Israel's oppressors, God will save His people from a distant land, God will restore them nationally and spiritually, God will restore their honour and end their weariness. And on, and on. God is gracious because God is gracious. He will save whom He will save. That's the best news there is.

Go listen!

Jeremiah and the cube

I'm working my way though a series of talks by Don Carson on Jeremiah. I think my ears could listen to his voice all the day long, but my brain can barely stand up to fifty minute bursts. Today i listened to his talk on 3:4-4:4...Long chunks are probably the only way with this book, and Jeremiah says something very interesting about the Ark of the Covenant.

Bare in mind where we are. Israel, to the north, was transported into exile by the Assyrians one hundred years previous. Judah has not learnt this lesson, described in the first section of the book as like a camel on heat, willing to get into bed with any false god it can find. 3:4-4:4 serve as a reminder/warning to Judah, and a forecast from the Lord about the time when Israel repents. The middle section, which refer to the Ark, are some of the most gloriously hopeful verses in the book.

Jeremiah 3:16 says: And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, declares the LORD, they shall no more say, "The ark of the covenant of the LORD." It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again. 

Is that not a bit weird? Isn't the only hope for the remnant in Judah, or the returners from the north the temple worship around the Ark? Isn't the problem that too many people have forgotten the Ark? That it is not being remembered or missed? When Ezekiel reports this turn of events it is horrible news, so why are these verse of hope? The key must be in the first few words... 'when you have multiplied and increased in the land'. When you return, but not just when you return, when the nations return (v17). This verse goes far, far, millions of years beyond Jeremiah's time.

When will finally the lack of an Ark be good news? Verse 17 gives us a clue 'at that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD'. When will Jerusalem be the meeting place of God and man? When will Our God finally dwell with His people? Revelation 21 and 22. There the city has no need of son or moon for the glory of the Lamb is the lamp. They city is a cube, but have you ever seen a cubed city? As long as it is wide as it is high? Of course not. But the cube of the Old Testament is the holy of holies. Behind the veil where priests fear to tread but once a year. In that final and great city, we will always be behind the veil, in the cube, in unobstructed ecstasy with Jesus.

But what about now? Well, 'tear down this temple and in three days i'll rebuild it.' No wonder Jesus' disciples didn't have a clue what He meant when He said that. But here and now for us, Jesus is our Temple, Jesus is our meeting place, Jesus is where we flee, His blood shed for us, He the Passover Lamb. And now Jeremiah's words make sense. Who wants an ark when you can have Jesus. Why settle for the shadow when you can have the substance.

Five Books

A while ago someone asked me what five books i would always recommend to people no matter the occasion or circumstance would be. After a bit of thought, and in no particular order, here they are:

A Call to Spiritual Reformation. (Don Cason)

This book more of less reformed my prayer life. If the title is too wordy, think of it as 'praying with Paul', because thats exactly what this book is. Carson takes us, in his own style though the content, heart and vision of Paul's prayers as recorded in his letters. I read this in September 2006 and what i learnt from it still impacts me today. I think we all need help praying from time to time, and this is the book i'd recommend for that.

The Reason for God. (Tim Keller)

I don't do much apologetics reading, but this was excellent. I reviewed it when i first read it and i can only reiterate what i said then really. A few months on i can say that is has helped me think more clearly about the way i present the Gospel, engage with people, think about objections to faith, answer objections to faith. Also, it's as well designed as any book i've read for a while!

Desiring God/Don't Waste Your Life (John Piper)

Well obviously! I've chosen two together because i'm not sure they really work without each other. I don't think that was the way they were meant to be written, but i know a lot of people that really didn't get along with dwyl, and i think that may well be because Desiring God lays such a firm foundation for the application that appears in Don't Waste Your Life. Desiring God was the first Christian book i ever read back in spring 2005. I really think that the seeds planted by these two books are why i'm sitting in North Carolina right now, and why Bulgaria seems to be seared onto my heart.

The Mortification of Sin (John Owen)

Why does no one write like this about sin any more? I have never ever read a book that made me despair about my sin, that drove me to real self abasement before the Lord as this one. WE really need to do this. It's not without encouragement, it changed the way i looked at sin, helped me to see why it is to be hated and made me want to hate it more. We need to the Puritans, we need to read Owen. He's hard but he's so worth it. I think it's best summed up by when i asked a close friend how he was getting on with the book.

'oh man (sits down heavily) urgghh'

Pierced for our Transgression (Jeffrey, Ovey, Sach)

There were a couple of contenders for this, but since i'm an evangelical, and since it's 2008, it has to be this. Do you want to understand the controversy around penal substitution? Do you want to know why this doctrine is 'pure gold'? Do you want to know why New Word Alive exists? Do you want to understand why what Steve Chalke etc are doing and writing and believing isn't new and breathlessly exciting but rather old and deadly? Get hold of this, and soak in Biblical, bloody, glory.

Don Carson and Adrian Warnock at NWA

Part One



Part Two



many man thanks to Adrian for doing these, although i'm sure it wasn't that much of a burden!

New Word Alive

Just back, (well, yesterday) from New Word Alive, the new UCCF/Keswick easter conference in Pwhelli, Wales. It was brilliant. And very challenging.

1 John

Don Carson took us though 1 John on the four mornings of the conference. It was challenging, convicting, convincing and encouraging all at once. I've never seen Carson preach in the flesh before and it was an honour to so do. Here is a man as gifted as a communicator as he is a scholar, which is priceless mix. It was stirring to hear how deeply connected knowing truth, loving God's people and a holy life are when it comes to assurance, great to be reminded that Christ has indeed come in the flesh and the wonderful implications of this, and challenging to be faced once again with the moral horror of committing sin as one of God's children. Many challenges from this now, not least how to avoid repeating what he said when i preach on the prologue on wednesday night.

Humanity the Crown of Creation

Mike Ovey, another communicative scholar, led this seminar. Over just three sessions he was clearly pushed for time, but we went on a whistle stop tour of what the Bible says of humanity and Jesus and us. This linked in so well with 1 John as we were again unable to escape how terrible sin is and how we have been marred by it. What a breath of fresh air though to see Jesus as the Psalm 8 man, Jesus, our substitute fulfilling what it means to be human, Jesus as the most human man who ever lived, never marred by sin.

Romans

Terry Virgo, two sessions from John Piper and Richard Cunningham took us through Romans 5, 8 and 12 in the evenings. It was the first time i'd heard John Piper in the flesh and its safe to say that as he spoke God moved. Terry remined us of the relationship between justifiaction and sanctification and the need for grace at all times on the first night, and this was such a great way to start off the week. Terry was a great choice for the first evening. Then Piper took us into Romans 8 for two evenings under the title 'Treasuring Christ and the Call to Suffer'. You can tell that this is a man who has spent years in Romans with his categories being redefined and his worldview being changed. They were hard, but glorious messages to hear. I want to be able to say with Paul that whatever we suffer now is not worth comparing to the glory, joy and pleasure that is to come, i want to be able to say with John Piper, 'go ahead death, make my day'. I want my sufferings to be a loud hailer to the world of the worth of Christ. Richard Cunningham finished us off on thursday evening exhorting us to live and breath as sacrifices to Christ. To not get excited while your at a conference and then forget about it, but to always be living in the light of the Gospel, and to use our gifts accordingly. Challenging stuff.

New Word Alive could turn out to be an historic moment in British Evangelicalism, it was a joy to be there.

Adrian Warnock's summary.