Good old duct tape

John: I had a Bible that I used so long I had to hold it together with duck-tape!

Jim: What happened to it?

John: It quacked.

The writing culture of early Christians

How the First Christians Challenge Us to Be Bible Readers

According to Glenn Paauw, there about 14,000 examples preserved of ancient Roman papyrus letters. He says the average length of such letters was about 87 words.  “Even the more literary letters of someone like Cicero ranged only from 22 to 2,530 words.” This is a distinct contrast to Christian theological letters. Paul’s shortest preserved letter is the letter to Philemon. It has 339 words in Greek (TR, 429 in KJV). The letter to the church in Rome has over 7,000 words!

“…the use of letters in ancient Rome, which were common enough, yet almost always very short. In contrast, the early Christian letters were lengthy, seeking to provide whole congregations with a significant amount of instruction and teaching. Ordinary papyrus letters averaged about 87 words (we have about 14,000 examples preserved). Even the more literary letters of someone like Cicero ranged only from 22 to 2,530 words. In comparison, Paul’s shortest preserved letter, Philemon, is 395 words in Greek and his longer ones are off the charts (Romans is over 7,000 words…”

We should not anachronistically read our experience back into the Bible. We live in a day when every Christian family member likely has a Bible – even the youngest grandchildren who are yet too young to read. It was not like that in prior times. However, some have turned this around into an ahistorical world didn’t have books, even a Bible. That is a false understanding or expectation as well.

• Have ye not read (Matthew 12:3, 5: 19:4; 22:31; Mark 12:10, 26; Luke 6:3)
• And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. (Ecclesiastes 12:12)
• …a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, 28 was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. (Acts 8:27-28)
• Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. (Acts 19:19)
• The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments. (2 Timothy 4:13)
• These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11)

Another related writing: Paul and First-Century Letter Writing

Bible Word Books

The following are books I have found online that purport to give definitions of old and archaic words in the Authorized King James translation of the Bible. I am compiling them here in one list, ordered chronologically.

• A Short Explanation of Obsolete Words in Our Version of the Bible, and of Such as Are There Used in a Peculiar of Uncommon Sense -- (Henry Cotton, Oxford: S. Collingwood, 1832)
• A Glossary of the Obsolete and Unusual Words and Phrases of the Holy Scriptures, in the Authorized English Version -- (J. Jameson, London: Wertheim and MacIntosh, 1850)
• Motes Upon Crystal: Or Obsolete Words of the Authorized Version of the Holy Bible, Critically and Chronologically Considered, Part I -- (Kirby Trimmer, London: Bell and Daldy, 1864)
• The Bible Word-Book: a Glossary of Old English Bible Words -- (Jonathan Eastwood, William Aldis Wright, London: Macmillan and Co., 1866)
• The Bible Word-Book: a Glossary of Archaic Words and Phrases in the Authorized Version of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer -- (William Aldis Wright, London: Macmillan and Co., 1884)
• Bible Words That Have Changed in Meaning -- (Luther Allan Weigle, New York, NY: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1955)
• The Bible Word Book: Concerning Obsolete or Archaic Words in the King James Version of the Bible -- (Ronald Bridges and Luther A. Weigle, New York, NY: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1960)
• King James Bible Word Book -- (Martin H. Manser, editor. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2002)

Some of these are intended more as a help for the readers of the Authorized Version, while some may tend to be more critical of it. (For example, I think Bridges and Weigle hope to lead readers to eventually use the Revised Standard Version.) Additionally, be a Berean; search and study the definitions to see whether they are so in every case.

Thanks to Christopher Yetzer for information on the J. Jameson book.

Give thanks

Combining Acts Commentary and Thanksgiving.

Acts 27:33-36 thankfulness, sustenance, and good cheer.

Acts 27:33-36 And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you. And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat. Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.

To the church in Thessalonica, Paul wrote, “In every thing give thanks…” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Acts 27 records one case of Paul’s thankfulness “in every thing,” a time of great danger in a storm at sea. In this case, the thankfulness was based in God’s future promise over their present circumstances. In every thing giving thanks can include looking backward in the past, looking around in the present, and looking forward to the future.

Tertullian, John 5:3-4

John 5:3b-4 ...waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

Though the above text is in the majority of Greek manuscripts, the critical text and many modern translations omit it because it is not in early manuscripts such as א. However, notice that Tertullian, who lived circa AD 155 to 220 (before א), had this text in his Bible, and addressed it in his writing on baptism.

If it seems a novelty for an angel to be present in waters, an example of what was to come to pass has forerun. An angel, by his intervention, was wont to stir the pool at Bethsaida. They who were complaining of ill-health used to watch for him; for whoever had been the first to descend into them, after his washing, ceased to complain.

Tertullian, in De Baptismo (On Baptism, chapter 5)

Isaiah 9:3 and the KJV

Isaiah 9:3 in the Authorized or King James Version: 

Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

In the New King James Version:

You have multiplied the nation 
And increased its joy;[i]
They rejoice before You 
According to the joy of harvest, 
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

[For further comparison, the RV and ASV]:

Thou hast multiplied the nation, thou hast increased their joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

Notice the differences in these translations. The Masoretic consonantal text (Ketiv) has the particle לֹא (loʾ, “not”); the margin (Kere) of it has לוֹ (lo, “him” “it”). The NKJV translators and/or editors chose to put the marginal reading in the text, the opposite choice of that made by the King James translators.

This is one of the cases where the NKJV editors violated their stated goal of producing a new King James that might be easily read or listened to while following with the King James (or vice versa). “A special feature of the New King James Version is its conformity to the thought flow of the 1611 Bible. The reader discovers that the sequence and selection of words, phrases, and clauses of the new edition, while much clearer, are so close to the traditional that there is remarkable ease in listening to the reading of either edition while following with the other.” (From the “Preface” of The New King James Version.) It is jarring rather than easy to be reading one translation here while listening to the other being read. I found it so the first time I heard it read, creating a meaning in the NKJV opposite to what I saw in my KJV.

The NKJV, like the KJV, could have also kept the other reading (“to him”) in the footnote or margin – but it did not, choosing to match most modern translations rather than matching the KJV. This created a reading that is just opposite the KJV. Of modern Bibles, I found it interesting that the Lexham English Bible follows the KJV here, against almost every other modern English translation I know of, including the NKJV.

You have made the nation numerous; you have not made the joy great.[ii] They rejoice in your presence as with joy at the harvest, as they rejoice when they divide plunder.

A “new” King James should have also followed that option to live up to what it claims to be. Some have ameliorated the NKJV translators by arguing that this is a difficult decision. The default position of a “new” King James Bible that could be read alongside the King James Bible should have been to simply follow the KJV in “difficult” places. Or, put another way, a goal of creating a new King James Bible to which a King James user could easily transition should have been to only update language but otherwise ratify the choice of the King James translators in difficult places – rather than change the very meaning of the King James translation.[iii]  That’s another translation, not a “new” King James Bible.

Here again, the NKJV does not live up to what it claims to be.

---

[i] The NKJV footnote reads: Isaiah 9:3 So with Qr., Tg.; Kt., Vg. not increased joy; LXX Most of the people You brought down in Your joy
[ii] The LEB footnote reads: Isaiah 9:3 The written text (Kethib) is “not,” but the reading tradition (Qere) is “for it”
[iii] If in the strength and trust of their own learning these translators could not do so, they should have bowed out of the project.

The Bible is “All That”

The Bible is the inspired, God-given word. It is absolutely authoritative and completely sufficient for all matters of faith and practice. Therefore, it is to be believed (as God’s instruction) in all that it teaches; obeyed (as God’s command) in all that it requires; and trusted (as God’s pledge) in all that it promises. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Isaiah 40:6-8)

A composite of various statements of faith

The Lord Jehovah reigns

On election day evening, November 2024, I posted on Facebook the following hymn, with the statement, “I’m just going to sit this here tonight, and say that it will still be true in the morning.” It is true yesterday, today, and forever. The Lord Jehovah reigns!

Below is the hymn by Isaac Watts on the eternal and sovereign God, derived from Psalm 93. “The Lord reigneth…”

1. The Lord Jehovah reigns,
And royal state maintains,
His head with awful glories crowned;
Arrayed in robes of light,
Begirt with sovereign might,
And rays of majesty around.

2. Upheld by thy commands,
The world securely stands;
And skies and stars obey thy word:
Thy throne was fixed on high
Before the starry sky;
Eternal is thy kingdom, Lord.

3. In vain the noisy crowd,
Like billows fierce and loud,
Against thine empire rage and roar;
In vain, with angry spite,
The surly nations fight,
And dash like waves against the shore.

4. Let floods and nations rage,
And all their powers engage;
Let swelling tides assault the sky;
The terrors of thy frown
Shall beat their madness down:
Thy throne for ever stands on high.

5. Thy promises are true,
Thy grace is ever new:
There fixed, thy church shall ne’er remove;
Thy saints with holy fear
Shall in thy courts appear,
And sing thine everlasting love.

In our book The Sacred Harp, 2012 Edition, we sing the words with the tune Chambers, arranged by B. F. White from an older tune by Samuel Holyoke. White, with E. J. King, was the compiler of The Sacred Harp, published in 1844. Holyoke (1762-1820) was an American singing school teacher, composer, and tunebook compiler. It has been commonly repeated that music historian George Hood wrote, “There was no man of his day that did more for the cause of music than Samuel Holyoke.”[i]

---

[i] I have not found the source of this statement. I expected it to be in Hood’s A History of Music in New England: with Biographical Sketches of Psalmists and Reformers (Boston, MA: Wilkins, Carter, & Co., 1846) but I have not found it there yet. On page 177, re Holyoke, it says “See biography,” but I have not found the biography.

In other words, bibelot and beyond

• bibelot, noun. A small object of curiosity, beauty, or rarity.
• biblist or biblicist, noun. A person who regards the Bible as the only rule of faith.
• cybernetic, adjective. Of or relating to cybernetics—the mathematical study of communication and control in the animal and the machine; of or relating to computers and internet.
• declaim, verb. To speak aloud in an oratorical manner; to inveigh (usually followed by against).
• disclaim, verb. To deny or repudiate interest in or connection with.
• dogfooding, noun. A company’s use of its own product or services, as a way of testing and helping to sell it.
• elsewhither, adverb. In another direction; toward a different place or goal.
• fusty, adjective. Moldy or musty; stale-smelling or stuffy; (figuratively) old-fashioned or out-of-date.
• gaslighting, noun. The action of tricking or controlling someone by making them believe things that are not true (especially by suggesting that the person may be mentally ill).
• monolith, noun. A large block of stone, especially one used in architecture or sculpture.
• palate, noun. The roof of the mouth; one’s sense of taste; an intellectual taste or liking.
• palette, noun. A thin oval or rectangular board or tablet on which a painter holds and mixes pigments.
• pallet, noun. A portable platform for handling, storing, or moving materials and packages.
• penurious, adjective. Marked by or suffering from penury (severe poverty); given to or marked by extreme stinting frugality.
• pericope, noun. A selection from a book, especially a lection (a liturgical reading for a particular day).
• periscope, noun. A tubular optical instrument containing lenses and mirrors by which an observer obtains an otherwise obstructed field of view.
• quincunx, noun. An arrangement of things by fives in a square or a rectangle, one being placed at each corner and one in the middle.
• shill, noun. A person who publicizes or praises something or someone for reasons of self-interest, personal profit, or friendship or loyalty; (verb) to work as a shill; to hustle.
• steelmanning, noun. The practice of applying the rhetorical principle of charity through addressing the strongest form of the other person’s argument.
• Te Deum, noun. (italics) an ancient Latin hymn of praise to God, in the form of a psalm, sung regularly at matins in the Roman Catholic Church and, usually, in an English translation, at Morning Prayer in the Anglican Church, as well as on special occasions as a service of thanksgiving; a musical setting of this hymn.
• tedium, noun. The quality or state of being wearisome; irksomeness; tediousness.
• triduum, noun. (Roman Catholic tradition) A series of special religious observances over a three-day period, in preparation for a great feast.
• xenolith, noun. A rock fragment foreign to the igneous mass in which it occurs.
• yeoman farmer, noun. A man who farmed his own land.

A Pastor’s Response to Mark Ward’s KJV Readability Survey

A Pastor’s Response to Mark Ward’s KJV Readability Survey -- “I was randomly called to participate in a King James Bible readability survey by Mark Ward. This is my experience, results, and reaction to this, ‘gotcha’ survey.”

“If people are struggling to determine singular and plural with a consistent rule that allows you to precisely know if the words are singular or plural, how does it help to go to a version that does away with the precision?” -- David Townsley

Mark Ward loves to hammer on the word “halt” in I King 18:21. That anti-KJV quiz (at least the early one that I saw) offers four choices for its meaning: pause, limp, stop, and vacillate. Those who answer “vacillate” rather than “limp” get it wrong. Of course that is Mark’s goal, for he will not allow that the other answer is actually contextually correct, certainly within the range of understanding of even most modern translation users who are reading that verse in its context.

The NIV translates this question as “How long will you waver between two opinions?” (According to Merriam-Webster, the meaning of waver is to vacillate irresolutely between choices!) The NET Bible has “How long are you going to be paralyzed by indecision?” It has in the footnote “In context this idiomatic expression refers to indecision rather than physical disability.”

This is just one example of how Mark Ward’s KJV Readability Survey is not a genuine survey to test a theory or for discovery of information, but rather that it is designed in such a way as to prove his previously-reached conclusion. It is the same kind of thing done with political polls to skew results in a certain direction.

“A little bit on unbelief does not ever lead to true belief; it only leads to more unbelief.” -- David Townsley

Raised from the dead

Acts 20:7-12.

Although Paul was in Troas for several days, the disciples did not come together for breaking of bread until the first day of the week. This probably is the last of the seven days, since Paul and his party left shortly thereafter. “the disciples came together to break bread” breaking bread – interpreted in context – is partaking a communal meal, rather than the Lord’s supper. Compare the statement in verse 11 – “When he…had broken bread, and eaten…” The disciples who “came together” would be those who had gone before Paul (vs. 4-5), those who came with him later (v. 6), and some disciples who resided in Troas (such as Eutychus).

Verse 7b-8: This is the last day before the party’s departure. Paul preached to them and “continued his speech until midnight.” The meeting was in an upper chamber, that had the benefit of “many lights.”

Verse 9: A young tired sleepy man named Eutychus sat in a window. Paul preached a long time. During this time Eutychus fell asleep, and fell from his perch three floors to the ground. This must have happened about midnight, since that time appears to be the time of the conclusion of the sermon. Eutychus “was taken up dead.” Doubtless a death by falling might write the unexcepted conclusion of a sermon.

Verse 10: Paul stopped his sermon and went down to check on the fallen man. Paul “fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.” This statement has been variously interpreted as Paul raising Eutychus from the dead, or Paul simply discovering that Eutychus was still alive. He was “taken up dead” – that is, dead – and after Paul fell on him and embraced him, then his life was in him. Paul did not check his vitals as a doctor and then pronounce him alive. He, as an apostle, raised Eutychus from the dead.

Verse 11: The dead is alive, the sermon is ended, and the disciples conclude by doing what they came together for – they broke bread and ate. While eating they “talked a long while, even till break of day.” After daybreak, Paul and his company took leave of Troas.

Verse 12: An event that might well have ended in death ended in life. The disciples rejoiced in the fact; they “were not a little” – but a lot – comforted!

Many weak children, many dull pupils

Commenting on John 20:24-31, J. C. Ryle wrote:

We should mark for another thing in this verse, how kind and merciful Christ is to dull and slow believers. Nowhere, perhaps, in all the four Gospels, do we find this part of our Lord’s character so beautifully illustrated as in the story before our eyes. It is hard to imagine anything more tiresome and provoking than the conduct of Thomas, when even the testimony of ten faithful brethren had no effect on him, and he doggedly declared, “Except I see with my own eyes and touch with my own hands, I will not believe.” But it is impossible to imagine anything more patient and compassionate, than our Lord’s treatment of this weak disciple. He does not reject him, or dismiss him, or excommunicate him. He comes again at the end of a week, and apparently for the special benefit of Thomas. He deals with him according to his weakness, like a gentle nurse dealing with a froward child:—“Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side.” If nothing but the grossest, coarsest, most material evidence could satisfy him, even that evidence was supplied. Surely this was a love that passeth knowledge, and a patience that passeth understanding.

A passage of Scripture like this, we need not doubt, was written for the special comfort of all true believers. The Holy Ghost knew well that the dull, and the slow, and the stupid, and the doubting, are by far the commonest type of disciples in this evil world. The Holy Ghost has taken care to supply abundant evidence that Jesus is rich in patience as well as compassion, and that He bears with the infirmities of all His people. Let us take care that we drink into our Lord’s spirit, and copy His example. Let us never set down men in a low place, as graceless and godless, because their faith is feeble and their love is cold. Let us remember the case of Thomas, and be very pitiful and of tender mercy. Our Lord has many weak children in His family, many dull pupils in His school, many raw soldiers in His army, many lame sheep in His flock. Yet He bears with them all, and casts none away. Happy is that Christian who has learned to deal likewise with his brethren. There are many in the Church, who, like Thomas, are dull and slow, but for all that, like Thomas, are real and true believers.

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: St. John, Volume III, John XX: 24–31, p. 406

Right on time

Right on time.

John 11:17, 39.

17 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. … 39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

Introduction: 

The sickness and death of Lazarus shines a bright light on the fact of Jesus being an “on-time God.” We are creatures of time, but time is putty in the hands of God. By man’s standards and calculations, Jesus arrived at the tomb of Lazarus four days late. However, with a long look of faith, may we study, see, and believe that Jesus arrived right on time! A popular inspirational or spiritual song is “He’s an on- time God.” “[Jesus is] an on-time God, yes, he is. He may not come when you want him, but he’ll be there right on time. He’s an on-time God, yes, he is.”

1. By the time Jesus came to Bethany, Lazarus had been dead four days.

• He came four days late, right on time. His not coming when they wanted him:

o Was not because he did not know. Mary and Martha sent him a message, verse 3.

o Was not because he did not care. Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus, verse 5.

o Was not because of the circumstances. He stayed in place for two more days, verse 6.

o Was not because he could not do anything to help. He could have healed him, verses 21 and 32.

2. By the time Jesus came to Bethany: 

• Lazarus was dead & buried (v. 17)

• Martha & Mary were distraught (vs. 21, 32)

• Friends had gathered to comfort them (v. 19)

• The disciples were confused (vs. 7-16).

3. When Jesus spoke to Martha & Mary, they testified their belief in him.

• They believed Jesus could have healed him, verses 31, 32.

• They believed Jesus was Israel’s Messiah and God’s Son, verse 28.

• They could not quite believe that Jesus had arrived right on time.

• They are about to see Jesus “do exceeding abundantly above all that [they could] ask or think” Ephesians 3:20

4. When Jesus came to Lazarus’s tomb, he spoke life into the dead.

• If Jesus had arrived early, he could have merely healed Lazarus. Verses 31, 32.

• Since Jesus arrived right on time, he raised Lazarus from the dead! Verse 43.

• John 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

Conclusion:

We walk by faith and not by sight. By faith may we see, understand, and believe that Jesus is an on-time God. He may not come when you want him, but he’ll be there right on time. Jesus came to his own, right on time. When he sprang from Mary’s womb in a stable in Bethlehem, he arrived right on time. Paul said, “When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman.” Jesus grew up in the carpenter’s home and was subject to his parents, till in his purpose he came to reveal himself, he went to be baptized of John in Jordan right on time! “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” When Jesus came to Lazarus’s tomb, it may have seemed like he was four days late, but he was right on time! Jesus said he came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost, and to give his life a ransom for many. Six days before the Passover, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt the foal of an ass, right on time! The people strewed branches before him and cried, “Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” When he was sufficiently ready, he was arrested and tried. The Jews thought they had achieved exactly what they wanted; Pilate and the Roman authorities thought they were in charge of things. But when they nailed Jesus to that old rugged cross, then slammed that cross into the ground, so that he hung between heaven and earth, they did it right on time! Jesus hung between heaven and earth from the third hour to the sixth hour, and from the sixth hour to the ninth hour a thick darkness engulfed the earth, and in the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice of victory, “It is finished” – right on time. They took Jesus down from the cross, laid him in a borrowed tomb, “as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” The first day, the first night, sadness reigns. The second day, the second night, all is silent. The third day, the third night passes, and when he fulfilled had three days and three nights, Jesus came up out of that tomb, right on time! For forty days he showed himself alive by many infallible proofs, then in the presence of his disciples ascended back into heaven, right on time! He left them with this blessed promise, “I will come again.” The angels said “why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Fifty years. No return. One hundred years pass. One thousand years pass. Two thousand years pass. Scoffers and mockers, unbelievers all, ask  “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” Oh, but things will not continue as they were. One day Jesus will split the eastern sky. We are looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, and I assure you, brothers and sisters, by the authority of God’s word, and by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, he is coming back RIGHT ON TIME!

Comfort one another with these words. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Remember the Lord

“A psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.” Psalm 38, in the title.

This psalm, as well as the seventieth, is particularly marked in the title, and distinguished from every other; and it will be worth while to seek into the cause. A great light will be thrown upon it, if we connect with this title, the character of the great author, under whose inspiration David, as the penman, wrote it: I mean, that sweet and blessed office of the Holy Ghost, the Remembrancer of the Lord Jesus. “He shall teach you” (saith the Lord Jesus, when describing the blessed Spirit in his offices) “all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you:” John 14:26.

Now, if this psalm be found, on examination, to be speaking much of the person and character of Christ, ought it not, when read under the divine teaching of its Almighty Author, to act as a psalm to bring to remembrance, how Jesus thus suffered, thus groaned, bled, and died for his people? 

…

If then the great design of this psalm is to bring to remembrance the Redeemer, in those solemn seasons; shall we make application of the contents of it to David, king of Israel, and overlook David's Lord? Oh! thou great and divine Remembrancer of the Lord Jesus! I beseech thee, thou matchless Instructor! To cause every thing, and every incident, to call my poor forgetful heart to remember its Lord!

…

Robert Hawker (1753-1827), The Poor Man’s Morning and Evening Portions, March 8—Evening

The Corner-Stone

65. L. M. Anon.

Corner-Stone….Isaiah xxviii.16….1 Pet. ii.6.

1. Laid by Jehovah’s mighty hands,
Zion’s foundation firmly stands;
Rais’d up on Christ, the corner stone,
Secure as God’s eternal throne.

2. See how the glorious fabric grows,
Fram’d of materials that he chose!
Each stone prepar’d, and fitly set,
The royal structure to complete.

3. Still shall this edifice arise,
’Till all shall reach the lofty skies;
And joyful hosts shall praise above,
Jehovah’s grace and Jesu’s love.

The above hymn was published in an 1806 hymn book (A New Selection of Seven Hundred Evangelical Hymns for Private, Family, and Public Worship...) by John Dobell (1757-1840) of England. John Julian describes him as follows in his Dictionary of Hymnology.

Dobell, John, b. 1757, d. May, 1840, was a port-gauger under the Board of Excise, at Poole, Dorset, and a person of some local note. In 1806 he published:—

A New Selection of Seven Hundred Evangelical Hymns for Private, Family, and Public Worship (Many Original) from more than two hundred of the best Authors in England, Scotland, Ireland, and America, Arranged in alphabetical order; Intended as a Supplement to Dr. Watts’s Psalms and Hymns. By John Dobell. Lond., Williams and Smith, 1806.

Subsequently this Sel. was increased to “More than Eight Hundred” hymns, and the wording of the title-page was changed in several instances. Dobell’s account of this work is:—

“The hymns here presented to the public I have collected from more than two hundred authors; many of them are taken from Manuscripts which I deemed too valuable to be suffered to remain in obscurity, and some have been supplied by friends. As this work has been the labour of years, and the choice of many thousand hymns, it will, I trust, give satisfaction to the Church of God.” Preface, p. iii.

In addition to a work on Baptism, 1807, and another on Humanity, 1812, Dobell also published:—

The Christian’s Golden Treasure; or, Gospel Comfort for Doubting Minds, 1823. This work was in two vols., the first of which contained 124 hymns, several of which were by Dobell.

Of this writer’s hymns very few are found in modern hymn-books. We have from the 1806 book:—(1) “Come, dearest Lord, and bless this day” (Sunday Morning); (2) “Great Ruler of the earth and skies” (In time of War); (3) “Now is the accepted time,” (Invitation) — in C. U. in G. Britain and America,[i] out of twenty or more. It is not as a hymn-writer, but as a diligent and successful hymnologist, that J. Dobell is best known.

A Dictionary of Hymnology, Vol. 1, A-O, John Julian, Editor. New York, NY: Dover, 1907, p. 304

Dobell ascribes this cornerstone hymn to “Anon.,” so it should not be mistaken as written by him.[ii] Though John Julian does not identify the following hymn by Dobell as in use, we can find it used in The Sacred Harp (see 479, 2012 Cooper Edition), with the song Behold A Sinner by W. J. Bartlett:

Behold a sinner, dearest Lord,
Encourag’d by thy gracious word.
Would venture near to seek that bread,
By which thy children here are fed.

This hymn (No. 287) is based on the “Woman of Canaan….Matt. 15.27,” and is found in three stanzas in his Selection.[iii] 

John Julian does not give a denominational affiliation for Dobell; I had previously assumed he was some sort of independent, and thought he might even be a Baptist. However, based on his inclusion of eight hymns on “infant baptism” (180-187; two of which he wrote), it is clear that John Dobell was a paedobaptist.[iv] 

---

[i] That is, “common use in Great Britain and America.”
[ii] “I have endeavored to ascertain the Author of every hymn. In some cases my enquiries have been fruitless, and I have consequently said, Anon. (anonymous)” (p. iv).
[iii] The fourth stanza and chorus were added or arranged by W. J. Bartlett.
[iv] For example, “This water sprinkled on the child…” stanza 5, hymn no. 186, titled “Infants given to God in Baptism.” Additionally, his preface also makes this clear. “It is however, as generally admitted, that there are many subjects for which Doctor Watts has provided no hymns. To see this deficiency supplied amongst pædo-baptist churches, has been the desire of many ministers and private Christians; and to effect this is the principal, though not the only end of this small volume” (“Preface,” p. 3). Dobell mentions in his “Preface” generically “that denomination of christians with which providence has placed me” and “the churches with which I am connected,” but does not identify them by name.

Left foot, right foot, which foot, spite foot

Those who think washing feet in church is sort of odd and quaint often find humor at the expense of feet-washers. I guess it doesn’t hurt for us to laugh at ourselves. Laughter can be good medicine. R. Inman Johnson told the following (probably made-up) story of the New Harmony Church’s origin:

“A little foot-washing Baptist church over in Georgia got concerned over the complication of the foot-washing procedure as the membership grew. By unanimous vote, they decided they’d wash just one foot instead of both feet. Then the church split over which foot to wash.”

The Arkansas Baptist newsmagazine published this story, November 16, 1961 (p. 23). A little extra humor hides in the name of the church – New Harmony. How often we Baptists call our church splits Fellowship, Harmony, and Unity!

Interestingly, washing feet has held an unusual and unique place in the annals of Baptist history, one Baptist leader advocating it while another decries it. For example, in 1882 J. R. Graves called J. B. Gambrell, who in 1877 founded The Mississippi Baptist Record, “the champion advocate of feet-washing in the Southwest.” According to a preacher whose father was in the founding of the Mt. Zion Association in East Texas, and who himself became an ordained minister in it soon thereafter, recorded that almost all the churches of the once practiced feet washing. Within 100 years, none of them did. I do not know for sure, but I suspect at some point, as he became a leading Southern Baptist minister, J. B. Gambrell, probably quietly dropped any mention of feet washing. R. Inman Johnson taught speech and music for many years at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Tennessee Baptist, May 5, 1882, p. 8

Proper pronunciation

How important to biblical scholarship is the proper pronunciation of Greek words?

In the linked video, Mark Ward, John Meade, and Will Ross give a “response” to the sessions of the first meeting Reformation Bible Society. In a complaint about the scholarship, Will Ross (starting at about 13:51) says there were problems with “even basic things like mispronounced words that would be common to people who work in more detail with Septuagint scholarship.” Is this a legitimate complaint, or more a closing of ranks, “You’re not a scholar if you don’t pronounce Greek words like I do”? How well do we really know that everyone across the Roman empire pronounced Koine Greek the same way? I notice that Englishmen, even those in the same country, have a wide range of pronunciations which does not amount to ignorance, but may properly be ascribed to accent. I notice even Mark, John, and Will do not have the same accent. Starting about 47:01 Mark and Will refer to Peter Van Kleeck’s paper on Augustine. Mark calls him “uh-guhs-tin” which I perceive to be popular in academic circles. Will calls him “aw-guh-steen” (for which he gets high points for speaking a little drawl-like, as we talk here in East Texas!). Maybe one or both of them are not well-schooled in their historical scholarship. Or, more likely, they just speak differently. But is not this the pots calling kettles black? Physicians, heal yourselves before you scold others.

I hear and read in the Bible version debates a lot of things from both sides that I believe are petty and lacking in substance. They distract from the substance of the arguments. I see such pettiness in their pronunciation complaint. The more I hear British English on TV, in lectures, videos, and such like, the less I believe there is one proper pronunciation of most English words. Even the Brits do not have one pronunciation shared among themselves. And neither do we.

Mark likes to say that others in the Bible version debates are offensive, but I find their raising themselves up on the backs of others to be offensive.

• Also interesting, the rejoinder by Jeff Riddle to Meade, Ross, and Ward.

The first day of the week

Acts 20:7 assembling in Troas

Verse 7a: They met “upon the first day of the week.” Canon 29 of the Council of Laodicea states: “Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.” Many who observe the Seventh-Day Sabbath claim that this Canon is an example of a post-apostolic change from Christians keeping Saturday to keeping Sunday. However, the first day of the week is shown to be time of gathering in early writings such as those ascribed to Barnabas, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus – all before the edict of Laodicea in the 4th century.[1] In New Testament times and biblical records, Christians are already found meeting on the first day of the week, the day of the Lord’s resurrection (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19, 26; I Corinthians 16:2: Revelation 1:10).[2] Christ our firstfruits rose on the first day of the week, the day of the feast of firstfruits, the first day after the Sabbath after Passover. See I Corinthians 15:20, 23 and Leviticus 23:9ff. Jesus Christ was sacrificed as the Passover lamb (I Corinthians 5:7), and was raised up as firstfruits to God.

---

[1] For example, Justin Martyr, who lived in the 100s AD, in his First Apology, Chapter 57 wrote, “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things.” Ignatius of Antioch, circa AD 250, wrote of “no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death…” Epistle to the Magnesians, Chapter 9. See also Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews, Chapters 2-4.
[2] Though the first day of the week is not specifically mentioned, both Acts 21:4 and 28:14 emphasize tarrying with disciples in a certain place for seven days. The significant Day of Pentecost, or feast of weeks, also occurred on the first day of the week (Leviticus 23:15-21; Deuteronomy 16:9-12; Acts 2:1).

A Word of Consolation for Mourners

Points from a funeral sermon:

Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Introduction.

Ecclesiastes 5:15 As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.

Revelation 14:13 and Ecclesiastes 5:15 stand in sharp contrast. Ecclesiastes 5:15 speaks to those who die in their natural state. Revelation 14:13 speaks to those who die in the Lord.

Blessed: divinely favored; enjoying happiness, pleasure, and contentment; particularly, enjoying the bliss of heaven.

Death is a curse of sin (Rom. 6:23; 1 Cor. 15:56) that has been turned into a blessing by the death of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:54).

The truth is sure.

It is stated by “a voice from heaven.” 

It is ratified or confirmed by the “Yea” of the Spirit.

The blessing is for those who “die in the Lord.”

This applies not to all the dead, but only to those who die in the Lord. There is no blessing in death to those who are outside the arms of the Lord. Those die without God and without hope.

A physical or first death, but not the second death. See Revelation 20:14.

The blessing is “rest.”

Those who die in the Lord rest from their labours. Matthew Henry writes, “They rest from all sin, temptation, sorrow, and persecution; for there the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest.”

The works of those who die in the Lord do follow them. 1 Corinthians 15:58 “…your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” Works do not make their way in to heaven, but they follow them on to heaven. Joseph Benson writes, “their works do not go before, to procure for them admittance into the mansions of joy and glory, but they follow or attend them when admitted.”

This is marked contrast to those tormented in fire and brimstone, “they have no rest day nor night.”

Conclusion.

These truths are founded in “the everlasting gospel” (Rev. 14:6), how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

Is Giving Children the King James Bible a Sin?

In a recent debate, the ubiquitous anti-KJVO apologist Mark Ward asserted that the King James Bible should not be given to children. 

“There comes a point at which it’s so close to this ditch that actually it is a sin for a given Bible translation to be handed to children. I’m saying we’ve reached the point where there’s a sufficient number of readability difficulties that it’s time to turn away from the King James in institutional contexts. Would I say it’s a sin to hand to your child? Here’s what I’d say, quoting the King James: ‘to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him it is sin.’”

Some people have tried to defend Mark by saying that he “misspoke.” I am not aware that Mark has said he misspoke. Regardless, this is not an isolated statement. He recently said much the same in an interview with Scott Ingram. He also is pretty clear about the sin issue in his book Authorized. He says that using the King James Bible “for most situations…using the KJV violates Paul’s instructions in 1 Corinthians 14” (Authorized: the Use and Misuse of the King James Bible, p. 137). And what is disobedience to God’s instructions through an inspired apostle, if not sin? I do not believe Mark misspoke. If he has, he needs to clearly and flatly, without caveats and calculations, say that using the KJV and giving the KJV to others to use IS NOT a sin.

Even folks who are not supporters generally of the King James Bible recoiled from such a claim. One of those folks is James Snapp Jr. In a recent blog post he brought out several points against what Mark said. I found one particularly intriguing contradiction of Mark’s claim that I had not thought about previously. It is this – even the practice of Bible publishers disagrees with Mark’s assertion about not giving a KJV to children.

“Mark Ward: … Thomas Nelson Publishers disagrees with you. They publish a children’s version of the KJV. Lo and behold Hendrickson Publishers also publish a Children’s KJV New Testament. Lifeway and Holman Bible Publishers also publishes a Kids KJV. There are even KJV Bibles marketed to be given to illiterate babies. The KJV Armor of God Bible is marketed with the claim that it is ‘perfect for ages 6-10.’ Is it sinful to give such Bibles? No.”

I suppose one could argue that these publishers are merely creating those Bibles in order to make more money. However, I think it would be hypocritical for Mark himself to make such an argument, since he has been making a living in the Bible publishing industry.

Since I wrote the above, Mark has added a new video to his repertoire, Continuing the Conversation, in which Mark is supposed to clarify his statement about giving the King James Bible to children. You can listen yourself to see what you can find about it.

And now there is another video, Mark interviewed by Dwayne Green in Its SINFUL to give a KJV to a CHILD? | Debate Retrospective with Mark Ward. As best I can understand, these are clarifications that ultimately fail to clarify. Mark even said, “There’s my slight sort of clarification that really isn’t.”

Can never be written again

Hartley Coleridge (1796-1849), son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, speaking of the King James Bible as the perfection of English language prose, while commenting on Quaker Anthony Parver’s translation of the Bible.

“We doubt, indeed, whether any new translation, however learned, exact, or truly orthodox, will ever appear to English Christians to be the real Bible. The language of the authorised version is the perfection of English, and it can never be written again, for the language of prose is one of the few things in which the English have really degenerated. Our tongue has lost its holiness.”

Hartley Coleridge, Biographia Borealis, or Lives of Distinguished Northerns, London: Whitaker, Treacher, & Company, 1833, p. 718.

Great God! thy kingdom come

1. Great God! thy kingdom come,
With reverence would we pray,
May the eternal Three-in-One
His sovereign sceptre sway.

2. May grace triumphant reign,
And Christ exalted be;
Sinners, deserving endless pain,
Thy great salvation see.

3. May mercy, truth, and peace,
Fill each believer’s soul,
And the sweet kingdom of thy grace,
Their raging lusts control.

4. May love and harmony
Among thy saints abide,
Thy presence set each bosom free
From enmity and pride.

5. Go on, thou mighty God,
Thy wonders to make known,
Till every sinner bought with blood,
Shall trust in thee alone.

6. Thus let thy kingdom come,
And free salvation reign,
Till all thy saints arrive at home,
And never part again.

(Written by William Gadsby, this is #683 in A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship)

William Gadsby (1773-1844) was a minister of the Strict and Particular Baptists in England. For 38 years he was pastor of the Strict Baptist church at Manchester, England. He was the first editor of The Gospel Standard periodical. He compiled a selection of hymns (including many of his own) and published them in a hymnbook entitled A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship in 1814. It is one of the oldest English hymnbooks still used for congregational worship.

Gadsby was the son of John Gadsby and Martha Lingard, born January 3, 1773 in Warwickshire. In 1793 he was baptized by the Particular Baptist church at Cow Lane in Coventry. He was ordained in 1800 and became the pastor of St. Georges Road Particular Baptist Chapel in 1805. Gadsby died January 27, 1844 at age 71 and was buried at the Rusholme Road Cemetery in Manchester. For more information on William Gadsby and his hymnbook, see the doctoral dissertations “Engaging the Heart: Orthodoxy and Experimentalism in William Gadsby’s A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship,” by Deborah A. Ruhl.

As a common meter hymn, it can be effectively set with most any good common meter tune.

Our preaching, and other quotes

The posting of quotes by human authors does not constitute agreement with either the quotes or their sources. (I try to confirm the sources that I give, but may miss on occasion; please verify if possible.)

“Church, you don’t need to fit in when God has ordained you to stand out.” -- Damien Reese

“Our preaching is not the reason the word works. The word is the reason our preaching works.” -- H. B. Charles, Jr.

“Swelling is not the same as growing.” -- Damien Reese

“Men fall in private long before they fall in public.” -- J. C. Ryle

“Church has become a seating station instead of a sending station.” John Wyatt

“Be careful who you vent to ... a listening ear can also be a running mouth!” -- Unknown

“Those that spare not the flock and lead disciples away can only succeed in a climate of Scriptural ignorance.” -- Benjamin Mabee

“Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or a fool from any direction.” -- Country proverb, (used in the book Plots and Pans, by Kelly Eileen Hake, but probably not original to her)

“What was fundamental for the early church has become supplemental for the modern church” -- Joby Martin

“Look back thankfully and look ahead faithfully.” -- Larry Wade, Jr.

“Something happens through preaching that cannot occur in any other communication context. God is committed to preaching, by which he speaks through the proclamation and explanation of his word.” -- David Jackman

“Why are you mad that you got up on the wrong side of the bed, when you ought to be glad that you got up on any side of it?” -- John Wyatt

“May your words be so seasoned with Scripture that when people argue, they argue with Scripture and not you.” -- Dustin Benge

The Blessed Man, Psalm 1

Psalm 1 contrasts one singular “the man” (vs. 1-3) versus plural ungodly men (vs. 4-5). Ultimately, the only one man who fulfills this perfectly and completely is our Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 1

• He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.
• He does not stand in the way of sinners.
• He does not sit in the seat of the scornful.

Verse 2 

• He delights in the law of the Lord.
• He meditates in the law of the Lord day and night.

Verse 3

• He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.
•     o He brings forth his fruit in his season.
•     o His leaf also shall not wither.
• Whatsoever he does shall prosper.

Verse 4 

• The ungodly are not like the blessed man.
• The ungodly are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

Verse 5 

• The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment.
• Sinners shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous.

Verse 6

• The Lord knows the way of the righteous. (1 John 2:1 …Jesus Christ the righteous)
• The way of the ungodly shall perish. (Luke 13:3,5 ...except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. John 10:28 ...I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish. Cf. John 11:25)

The descriptions of the blessed man in Psalm 1 can and should be seen as a reflection fulfilled in Jesus Christ’s life and character. Therefore, may we in this Psalm not lose sight of Jesus Christ. Only Jesus Christ never did what the man described in Psalm 1 does not do. Only Jesus Christ always did what the man described in Psalm 1 does do.

Jeremiah 10:23; Psalm 37:23. 1 Peter 2:21 “...leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps”

Seeing God’s blessing rests on this kind of man, we may rightly resolve that we want to be that kind of man. To the extent that we follow the Lord, we may not do what this blessed man does not do, and may do what this blessed man does do. However, in this way we will always fall short of being the blessed man, and find that our true blessings are found in The Blessed Man himself!

Psalm 2:12 Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Fulfilling a former purpose

Acts 20:1-6 fulfilling a former purpose

Verse 1: Paul had previously purposed to pass through Macedonia and Achaia, and then go to Jerusalem. Staying in Ephesus a little longer, he sent Timotheus and Erastus ahead of him into Macedonia. Now Paul is moving on that purpose. He bids the disciples in Ephesus a loving farewell.

Verses 2-3a: Paul traveled through Macedonia to exhort and encourage the disciples, then went into Greece. Greece is identified as Achaia in Paul’s purpose, described in Acts 19:21. He stayed there for three months. It possibly was during this time Paul wrote his letter to the Romans (cf. Romans 15:25-26, 31).

Verse 3b: The Jews here “laid wait” for Paul (cf. v. 19), indicating an intent to ambush him, for evil intent – either to arrest and accuse Paul before the authorities, as they had done at other times; or possibly to accost and kill him. Perhaps they intended to attack Paul on board ship, since knowing of the plot, Paul changed his course to reroute back through Macedonia rather than sail to Syria from Greece. Some have suggested a contrived robbery at sea, since Paul was carrying a contribution from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia to the saints in Jerusalem.

Verse 4: Accompanying Paul to Asia were eight men:

• Sopater of Berea
• Aristarchus (of the Thessalonians)
• Secundus (of the Thessalonians)
• Gaius of Derbe
• Timotheus [of Lystra, 16:1]
• Tychicus (of Asia)
• Trophimus (of Asia)
• Luke [a “we” section begins verse 5. Acts 20:5-21:18, from Philippi to Jerusalem]

Verse 5: Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Timotheus, Tychicus, and Trophimus go on ahead of Paul, Luke, and (presumably) Silas to wait for them at Troas.[1] Troas is a city of Asia north and west of Ephesus, from whence those which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus. Sopater is probably the same person as Sosipater of Romans 16:21. Aristarchus is mentioned in Acts 19:29, 27:2; Colossians 4:10, and Philemon 24. Gaius was a common name of that day, which is used several times in the New Testament, probably for more than one person, considering that Derbe (v. 4) is not in Macedonia (19:29). See Acts 19:29; Romans 16:23; I Corinthians 1:14; and III John 1. Timotheus is, of course, Paul’s son in the faith, Timothy. Tychicus is mentioned in Ephesians 6:21, 24; Colossians 4:7, 18; II Timothy 4:12; and Titus 3:12. Trophimus is mentioned in Acts 21:29 and II Timothy 4:20. Secundus is mentioned only here in Acts 20. “tarried for us” indicates that Luke has rejoined the group.

Verse 6: the author, Luke, evidently stayed at Philippi during the events of Acts 17:1 to Acts 20:5-6 – possibly 6 years.[2] Note that this time the trip from Philippi to Troas took five days, in contrast to two days on the initial trip from Troas to Philippi recorded in Acts 16:11-12. After this five-day journey, they stayed in Troas seven days.

---

[1] Silas has not been mentioned by name since he and Timothy joined Paul in Corinth (18:5). Outside of Acts he is mentioned (by the Latinized form “Silvanus”) in II Corinthians 1:19; I Thessalonians 1:1; II Thessalonians 1:1; and I Peter 5:12.
[2] The calculation and approximation of this time includes possibly a month in Thessalonica (17:1ff.), stays in Berea and Athens (chapter 17), over 18 months in Corinth (18:11), a trip back to Jerusalem and Antioch (chapter 18), 3 years in Ephesus (cf. 20:31), travel through Macedonia, and 3 months in Greece (20:3) before going back through Macedonia.

God Bless the USA Bible

This post is not a recommendation of the Bible views of Tim Wildsmith. However, his review of the God Bless the USA Bible is timely and interesting because of the political circumstances. The reviews are not political, but rather talk about the binding and print quality of this particular Bible.

The flying roll

The flying roll.

Zechariah 5:1-4.

5:1-4 Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll. And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it. I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

Lambert’s Cafe in Sikeston, Missouri has a tradition of throwing dinner rolls to customers. That might be the first kind of “roll” that enters the thoughts of American readers. However, this flying roll in Zechariah is a scroll, the “roll of a book” (cf. Jeremiah 36:2,4,32; Ezekiel 2:9), a written message from God. The Messiah the Branch will remove sin from the land (3:9b; Daniel 9:24-27). This removal of sin is either through forgiveness or destruction. Luke 13:3, 5 “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Cf. Zech 3:8-9 and 4:6-7.

3:8-9 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH. For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

4:6-7 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

The law of the Lord is worldwide it “goeth forth over the face of the whole earth” (v. 3)

• John Gill notes that God has exact knowledge of the sins of all men, and strict remembrance of them.

The law of the Lord is equal, it is “for every one” (v. 3).

Matthew 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

• On this side “that stealeth” (the 8th commandment on the second table; relationship to man)
• On that side “that sweareth” (the 3rd commandment on the first table; relationship to God)

The law of the Lord is fixed in God’s purpose, enforced by the Lord, “I will bring it forth” (v. 4).

• The curse of the law and the wrath of God are certain, fixed in God’s purpose.

The law of the Lord is triumphant, enforced on the sinner, “it shall enter…and shall consume it.”

• The curse of the law and the wrath of God are certain of victory. God will overcome and overwhelm all sin.

Conclusion.

The curse of the law extends as far as the rule and control of the law. The law is in writing “on a roll” and “in the hearts” (Joshua 8:34; Romans 2:15).  It is universal in its scope of time (perpetual) and space (global) and impartiality (for all man). “What I have written I have written" (John 19:22; Daniel 6:8). The angel asks “What seest thou” and Zechariah answers, “I see a flying roll.” In size the roll was twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide, that is, 30 feet X 15 feet. It is an uncommon size.

The sinners against whom the judgment of the curse of the law is levelled are: (1) “every  one that stealeth” and (2) “every one that sweareth.” The curse lands on those that break either table of the law. Here God does not rank one sin above the other. These two kinds of sin are representative of and summarize the “two tables of the law,” man’s relationship to man and man’s relationship to God. The curse applies equally to those who break either table. James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

In the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, God has inscribed and preserved his law and his gospel. 

Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Sin must be removed through either forgiveness in Christ or destruction from Christ. God’s word is the standard by which we are judged, and all must give account to God. God’s roll of his writing has flown through the face of the whole earth. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men – but God does not tolerate sin. The unrepentant unbelieving will be punished, with the Lord “in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.”

When the great day of his wrath is come, who shall be able to stand?