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Psalm 51: When Crushed Bones Rejoice

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Introduction

If forgiveness of sin is one of the glories of the new covenant, and it is (Heb. 8: 8-12; cf. Heb. 10: 17), then this psalm is one of the glories of the entire Bible. In this psalm, we learn the greatness of forgiveness, and in the course of learning this, we learn the true nature of that forgiveness.

The Text

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me . . .” (Ps. 51:1-19).

Summary of the Text

David begins with a cry for mercy, in accordance with the multitude of God’s tender mercies (v. 1), and not according to David’s just deserts. He asks for a thorough washing, a complete cleansing (v. 2). He is not trying to hide or cover up his sin (v. 3)—this psalm is for the chief musician, meaning that his confession is public. God’s law was the law that was broken, and so the sin, while it affected others, was sin against God alone (v. 4). David says that the sin extends down to his very nature (v. 5). Where the sin originated (in the inward parts), that is the place where God desires truth and wisdom (v. 6). He prays again for cleansing (v. 7)—hyssop was a plant used for sprinkling in ritual purifications (Lev. 14:4, 7; Num. 19:18-22). David prays that his crushed bones would be able to rejoice again (v. 8). He prays that God would turn His face away from his sins, and blot out his iniquities (v. 9). He then prays for a new creation, a complete renewal (v. 10). David then asks God not to hurl him away, and not to remove His Spirit from him (v. 11). He does not pray for his salvation back, but he does pray for the joy of it to come back (v. 12). When the cleansing is complete, then David can be used in the restoration of others (v. 13). The king cries out for deliverance from bloodguilt (v. 14), and then he will be able to sing. If God opens David’s mouth, then David will be able to praise Him (v. 15). There was no appointed sacrifice for the things which David had done (v. 16). But God delights in repentance in the inner man, and not just with regard to heinous sins like this one (vv. 16-17). God does not despise a broken spirit (v. 17). David’s sin had not just affected him alone; he was a king. And so David prays for mercy for his people (v. 18). True worship will then be offered to God (v. 19).

An Appalling Sin

We begin by noting that David really was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:4), and so this should make every last one of us mindful of our step (1 Cor. 10:12). David was around the age of fifty when this happened, and had no business staying home from the war. Uriah’s rejection of David’s temptation highlights David’s initial failure (2 Sam. 11:1, 11). The breech of one duty had begun with the neglect of another. Bathsheba’s father, Eliam, was one of David’s cohort of thirty mighty men (2 Sam. 11:3; 23:34). If her father was one of David’s peers, then she was a lot younger than David, less than half his age. Without removing her possible culpability in this (no protest like Tamar’s is recorded), consider the circumstances. Nathan’s metaphor for this indicates something closer to rape than anything else. He says that the ewe lamb was killed (2 Sam. 12:4). Her grandfather, Ahithophel, was a counselor of David’s who later joined Absalom in his rebellion (2 Sam. 15:12)—and it is not hard to figure out why. The sin was appalling, and had its cascading effects. Amnon’s rape of Tamar happened shortly after this— why may a prince not do what a king may do? But it is when we get to Uriah that the horror really begins. He was a Hittite, meaning that he was a convert, and David had been a spiritual father to him. He also was one of David’s thirty great men (2 Sam. 23:39), and was a faithful convert. What Saul tried unsuccessfully to do to David, David “successfully” did to Uriah. The inscription of the psalm puns on David’s coming in to Bathsheba, and Nathan coming in to confront David about it.

The text is silent on the point, so we don’t know if Bathsheba was being a seductress, or as is more common in covenant circles, just a dope. It was not likely to have been simple voyeurism on David’s part. So in either case, we see from the subsequent history that her restoration was also genuine. We don’t need to dwell on the point—the point here is David’s sin—but as Christian women remember their responsibilities in modesty, they need to consider the basic alternatives. If a woman can’t leave the house without assuming that she is taking “the girls” for an outing, then she is either being really bad, or being really dumb. If others think they are going to the worship of God, but she is going to the heavenly Zion in order to headlight the saints, then the same alternatives are there. You can tell the difference if the subject is ever broached with her. If she is nonchalant, and knew all about it already, then she is the kind of woman that the book of Proverbs, your mom, and numerous blues songs warn you to stay away from. If she is offended and distraught, and can’t believe you would ever bring up such a thing, then she is just a dope. Either way, the sin should be dealt with before the kingdom is ruined, not after.

Take Not Thy Holy Spirit from Me

Once he received the rebuke from Nathan, David knew that he had become another Saul. And just as Saul’s house, Saul’s dynasty, had collapsed because of his lesser sin, David knew that his house, his throne, was forfeit because of his greater sin. Saul’s ability to govern had collapsed when the Spirit removed from Saul (1 Sam. 16:14), and David knew that he deserved exactly the same thing. So he is not praying for his personal salvation here (v. 12), but rather praying for the preservation of the messianic line (vv. 18-19). Ultimately, this prayer of David’s includes us.

Three Things

This does not mean that David does not pray for himself also. In the context of his plea for cleansing, David asks for three things for himself. The first is the creation of a new heart, a renewed spirit. The second is fellowship with God, and the third is a restored joy. But he is not just checklisting his way through this. He has asked for a thorough washing. The word for wash in v. 7 does not mean anything like rinsing a plate, but rather a washing of a deep stain that had gotten down into the texture of the cloth. He is asking that his crushed bones might be able to rejoice. The multitude of God’s mercies is greater than the multitude of our sins—but the potency of His grace is such that it crushes us in repentance first. It is crushed bones that learn to rejoice.

Then I Will Teach

Drunkards in taverns don’t understand the grace of God, and so it will be easy for them to continue to mock David in their songs. Uriah’s life could not be given back to him, nor Bathsheba’s purity. So now David says he’s sorry, and has the unmitigated gall to set up shop to teach people on the basis of his experience? God has to do it. If God opens a forgiven sinner’s lips (v. 15), then the testimony can be compelling. Otherwise it is just another sob story on Oprah.

Fellow Transgressors

This puts everything in perspective. The blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin, but it does not do so in light and trivial ways. And when we see others who need to be converted (v. 13), and they really do need to be converted, we can speak to them with real compassion, and not with any air of superiority or self-righteousness. This psalm teaches us in profound ways, and the message is thoroughly evangelical. This is good news for a sinful race.

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Romans 54: Time For The World To Get Up (13:11-14)

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Introduction

The Incarnation of the Word, and the resurrection of that Word from the dead, has entirely remade the world. We fail to recognize this because we don’t understand history—and the way the world actually was before Christ came into it. But humanity lived through a long night indeed, and when Christ came, the sun rose. Men still sin, but the sun is up. We can still have cloudy days, and even storms, but the sun is up—and cannot be made to ever go down.

The Text

“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom.13:11-14).

Summary of the Text

We have seen how the believers are to submit themselves to the old authorities. They were true authorities, but their rough governance of humanity was in the process of being replaced. We have also seen how believers are to treat one another lawfully from the heart, which is what love is. And so now we come to some very interesting applications. The apostle Paul takes the Decalogue, the meaning of love, and pushes it into some interesting corners. Paul says that the Roman Christians should know the time (v. 11). What time was it? Time to wake up, because salvation was nearer than when the first Christians first believed (v. 11). What is this approaching salvation? It is the cataclysm that Paul has been preparing the Roman Christians for—the final conclusion of the Judaic aeon and the formal, unfettered commencement of the Christian aeon. Note that the night is far spent (v. 12), and that the day is “at hand” (v. 12). Paul is not talking about the second coming, many thousands of years in the future. The response to this immediate eschatological reality is to cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light (v. 12). Once up, with the panoply on, what are these believers to do? They were to walk honestly, because it is day time (v. 13). This honest walk excludes six things—riotous partying, drunkenness, fornication, wantonness, strife, and envying. Put off the old man, and instead put on the Lord Jesus (v. 14), making no provision for the flesh or its lusts (v. 14).

Armor of Light

How should someone act if they are dressed out in the armor of light? What should their behavior be? Right away, it excludes certain things. Orgies or riotous parties are out. So also is drunkenness. The next sin is translated chambering, but the word means sexual immortality. After that is a rejection of sensuality, lasciviousness, or filthiness. Then comes strife or quarreling, and after that is envy. We are dressed in the armor of light, and we are to walk as the children of light (Eph.5:8). We are to do this in a way that produces the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of light—that which is good, right, and true (Eph. 5:9). Set your minds on heavenly things (Col. 3:2). Whatever is pure, (Phil. 4:8), think about that.

Put Off, Put On

These instructions are given to Christians. When you were first converted, you put off the old man, and you put on the new man, Jesus. That was a fundamental action. But it is not the kind of action that never needs to be repeated. We repeat this motion throughout the course of our lives. We put off, and we put on. We put off the old, corrupt way of being a human being, and we put on the new and glorious way of being a human being—the Lord Jesus.

No Provision

An important part of what it means to put off the old man concerns the way we speak. “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Eph. 4:29). “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret” (Eph. 5:11-12). Right after this, Paul uses the same image he used in our passage here, that of waking up from sleep so that Christ the sun could shine on us. One of the disgraceful things in the modern church is slack entertainment standards, being willing to be entertained in our homes by people that we wouldn’t have in our homes. But digitizing a dirty joke doesn’t clean it up any. And then Christians begin speaking and joking that way themselves—although the Bible plainly says not to. Wake up, sleepers.

Eschatological Ethics

The Bible calls us to holiness because of who we are—we are named as Christians in our baptism. But the Scriptures also summon us to purity because of where we are in the story. That is what is happening here.

The Roman Christians were told not to behave in a certain way because it was morning. Christ is the sun, and this is why this contextualization does not make it inapplicable to us in our situation. The first Christians were staggering down for coffee at 5:30 am. We are busy at work, mid-morning. Does this reasoning apply to us, less or more? We are engaged in the work of the Great Commission, which consists of racking people out of their beds. As the morning progresses, this becomes even more of a necessity. As the day progresses, we have to stay with it. Some lazy men have trouble getting up, which is what Paul was addressing. Other lazy men have trouble working through the day, which is what we are addressing—but the point is the same. Don’t be like the archbishop who once joked that he didn’t get up early because it made him proud all morning, and sleepy all afternoon.

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Romans 40: Seven Thousand By Grace (11:1-6)

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Introduction

In times of spiritual declension—which we are certainly in—it is very easy to fall into the trap that Elijah fell into. Flatterers and false teachers always tell us that things are far better than we think, but when we work our way past their lies, we often have to be reassured by God Himself that things are not nearly as bad as we think. This is not blind optimism; this is faith.

The Text

“I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work” (Rom. 11:1-6).

Summary of the Text

If there are two ways of hearing, what conclusion may we draw? If there are two ways of being Israel, what conclusion may we not draw? We may not conclude that God has cast away His people (v. 1). Saul speaks as a member of the remnant—he is a son of Abraham, an Israelite, of the tribe of Benjamin. Those whom God foreknew have not been cast off (v. 2); this means that the promises were fulfilled in and through the remnant. Elijah prayed against Israel (v. 2), but he was praying against one Israel when God had preserved another. Elijah’s complaint was that they had killed God’s prophets, they had thrown down His altars, and they were trying to kill Elijah, the one man still remaining (v. 3). How did God answer His prophet? Paul then quotes 1 Kings 19:18. God said that He had reserved to Himself seven thousand men that had not bent the knee to Baal (v. 4). Paul says that the first century had a remnant according to the election of grace in the same way (v. 5). And if by grace, then the seven thousand were not preserved by their works (v. 6). He plainly says that works and grace cannot abide together; one drives out the other (v. 6).

God Reserved the Faithful to Himself

There is a profound question created by two Israels, two ways of hearing God. What are we to say when judgment falls on one way of being Israel, because of that Israel’s apostasy? Has God cast away His people? God forbid. God’s word will never return to Him void (Is. ). Note that God is the subject of the sentences. God has not cast off. God has reserved to Himself seven thousand faithful men. Paul anchors the point beyond all dispute. The remnant of Israel that remained was a “remnant according to the election of grace.” There were seven thousand according to the sovereign and free determination of God. Reformations that are not grounded on the free and unalterable gift of God are not reformations at all. That is the foundational point that Paul is making here.

Grace and Works

And note that Paul argues that the difference between grace and works is not one that admits of compromise. You cannot split the difference between these two. Introduce any element of works into the equation, and it drives out grace. And true grace, faithfully preached, will drive all works of the law before it. And it is important to remember that we are not talking about grace on paper, but rather grace in action.

A Typical Encouragement

Elijah and Elisha were the leaders in a renewal movement, located in the midst of a wicked and apostate Israel. They did not constitute what we might call a “free church” movement, but neither were they lap dogs for the kings and corrupt priesthood. The schools of the prophets were simultaneously part of and separate from the wicked nation they prophesied to.

Applications For Us

We live in comparable times. We do not live in a time that would be typified by the conquests of Joshua, or the rise of David, or the established glories of Solomon. We live in a time when idolatry and syncretism are largely accepted, even within the evangelical church. We live in a time when other gods are exalted in the public square in the name of diversity. We live in a time when wicked men appear to be able to do as they please, egged on by the Jezebels behind them. We live in a time when children (by the million) are being caused to pass through the fire. And we live in a time when, if we held a conference to protest these monstrosities, we could get at least seven thousand to come. Not very much, but our God can work by many or by few (1 Sam. 14:6). Here then are three basic principles for us to apply to our day:

First, if any “saving America” is to be done, then the true God will do it through Jesus. He will not share His glory with another, and we are not permitted to offer to share it for the sake of building coalitions. God reserves the seven thousand, and we must reserve the right of God to be God.

Second, worship is the key. Worship is the litmus test. How does God identify the good guys? He speaks to Elijah about what they did and did not do in worship. He didn’t say whether they were registered to vote, and He didn’t say whether they paid any of Ahab’s taxes. The watershed issue is always worship, and the downstream issues, while important, are not the place to begin. They are not where we place our trust—even though we must get there as well. The thing God mentions to Elijah is where the seven thousand have not bowed, and what they have not kissed.

And third, the relationship between faithful communities and apostate larger communities is a complicated one. There is a delicate balance here that only the Spirit of God can enable us to achieve. The faithful communities are distinct but not detached. In our day, we have to struggle with the misunderstandings of Christians who fail to get this principle right. They are either “distinct and detached,” which is an escapist religion, or they are “not distinct and not detached,” which is muddle and compromise.

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Romans 27: Christians On Paper (8:5-14)

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Introduction

So what is the difference between those who are simply called by God’s name, and those who really belong to Him? This is a question that arises in both covenants, and it is answered (in principle) the same way for both. The Jews had drifted into the error of externalism, and Paul is here cautioning the new Israel against committing the same error. The difference between formalism and the reality is the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Text

“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit . . .” (Rom. 8:5-14)

Summary of the Text

The Spirit had been at work in the times of the older covenant, but He had not been poured out so extensively. At the same time, the nature of the border between the Spirit’s active work within the covenant and His absence within the covenant remains the same. There were true Jews, and Jews who just had the outside of the thing (Rom. 2:28). There are Christians like that also.

You have the mind of the kind of person you are. The fleshly mind belongs to the flesh; the spiritual mind belongs to the Spirit (v. 5). To veer off to the left like that is death, while to be spiritually minded is life and peace (v. 6). The carnal mind is hostile to God, and cannot help being hostile to God (v. 7). Notice that this hostility is evidenced through its refusal to be subject to the law of God (v. 7)—indeed, note its inability to be subject to it. This is why those who are in the flesh cannot please God (v. 8); they can’t want to please God. But this is not the condition of the Roman Christians (v. 9), unless . . . Paul says that they are in the Spirit if the Spirit is in them. If the Spirit is missing from a man, that man does not (ultimately) belong to Christ. It does not matter how many times he has been baptized. Baptize him until he bubbles, but his carnal mind is still there seething (v. 9). But if Christ is in a man, then the Spirit within him is life because of resurrection-righteousness, justification- righteousness (v. 10). This is true even though a true Christian’s body will still die because of sin. But not to worry, even though we will die, we will be raised—if the Spirit that raised Jesus is in us (v. 11). Our obligations, therefore, are not to the flesh (v. 12). We owe the flesh nothing. If you live as though you owed the flesh something, you will die (v. 13). The contrast to this is to mortify the deeds of the body through the power of the (indwelling) Spirit. If you do that, you will live (v. 13). Who are the true sons of God? They are the ones in whom the Spirit is at work, leading them in mortifying the deeds of the body (v. 14).

Objective Realities

Certain things are true independent of us. We are male or female, regardless of what we think. Our parents are our parents, whether or not we like it. We are baptized or we are not, and our baptism always means the same thing (union with Christ in His death) whether or not we approve of that meaning. These are objective realities. A Jew was a Jew, whether or not he was a true Jew inwardly (Rom. 2:28). A Christian is a Christian, and he was baptized on a certain date with other people watching. The covenant, and all its attendant obligations, is an objective thing. Someone might say that if we have to be born again in the heart, then what value is there in being this kind of a Christian? The Pauline answer is “much in every way.” This is not the answer given by those who like to float

around in the invisible church, like dust motes in a sunbeam. While rejecting their approach, we must also say that, when it comes to the final question, all these privileges (which are genuine and real), together with five bucks, will get you a frappuccino.

Those Who Walk

Why is this? A man consists of more than his obligations, and his covenantal identity. At the center, we are defined by our loves and our hates, and this is what Paul is addressing here. The flesh does what? It minds the flesh (v. 5), it seeks death through a carnal mind (v. 6), it hates God (v. 7), it chafes under the law of God (v. 7), it is uninterested in pleasing God (v. 8), and it rejects the ownership of Christ (v. 9). Those who are characterized by this fleshly mind, circumcised or not, baptized or not, church fixture or not, are those who die. Are they a kind of Christian? Sure . . . the kind that goes to Hell.

The Spirit’s Leading

But at the same time, we must not make the mistake of thinking that if we have any struggle with the flesh, we must be unconverted. Thinking you are completely above the fray actually means that you are deep in sin. Remember our earlier illustration—weed patch, true garden with three foot weeds, and true garden with weeds the size of your thumbnail. This last category is described here (v. 13). Mortify the deeds of the body—the sense is continuous, ongoing. This is something we are all called to daily, and the Spirit is the one accompanying us, leading us to those weeds, pointing them out. “There, that one.” The true sons of God are those who are doing this (v. 14). The Spirit’s leading here is not directional (right or left), but rather moral (right or wrong). True sons have weeds to pull, and true sons pull them.

The True Evangelical

If churchmen are not evangelicals, they will destroy the church. Ironically, if evangelicals are not churchmen, they will destroy the church also. We insist upon being both. You must be baptized and you must be born again. If you have true, evangelical faith, you don’t set these things at odds with each other. You don’t love the woman while refusing to put a ring on her finger. You don’t put a ring on her finger while refusing to love her. Here’s a radical idea, kind of crazy when you think about it—why not both? Why not have a beautiful ceremony and treat her right? You are more than a Christian on paper if the Spirit is in you.

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Romans 25: Wretched Man (7:13-25)

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Introduction
We have seen that the apostle Paul continues to answer the question created by the gospel of grace. Gentiles are under sin. Jews are under sin. They are both under sin. God promised to remake the world through Abraham, and God did this by sending a final Adam. This glorious message can be twisted and distorted in various ways, and so Paul has to answer objections. Won’t this introduce moral chaos? No. Won’t this render the Torah as a superfluous moral distraction? No, not at all. The Torah had a pivotal role to play in our salvation, as we will see.

The Text
“Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful . . .” (Rom. 7:13-25).

Summary of the Text
Paul’s purpose here is two-fold. He intends to vindicate the Torah (v. 12), and also to show how the Torah worked within Israel to reveal and exacerbate the reality of sin (3:20; 5:20; 7:13). Was the problem the Torah itself? God forbid (v. 13). The point was to have sin use the Torah in order to grow up to its full wicked maturity (v. 13). More on this shortly. Paul then continues to illustrate the problem of Israel in the vividness of a first- person narrative—Israel’s Torah is spiritual, but Israel is not (v. 14). Israel is a slave—to sin, and to Rome because of sin. The national ideals are good, but they don’t really get done (v. 15). The hypocritical failure reveals the goodness of the standard (v. 16). The national conscience doesn’t want to go that way, but the national “id” has other ideas (v. 17). So Paul comes to a conclusion—Israel is in the flesh, and cannot do what Israel knows is right (v. 18). The good remains undone; the evil is pursued and embraced (v. 19). Don’t blame the Torah, and don’t blame Israel’s conscience—there is something deeper going on (v. 20). That deeper thing is a law deeper than Torah, responding to it (v. 21). Israel really does delight in the Torah “in the inward man” (v. 22). But that is not all; there is another law there as well—it is the law of sin, using the law of God, in order to plunge Israel into exile and captivity (v. 23). Wretched man! Who will deliver (v. 24)? Paul thanks God for the Messiah, the new Israel (v. 25), and then sums it all up again. With the theological conscience, Israel was right to bind the Torah to itself (v. 25). And Israel was then right to be dismayed to find that this lawful binding resulted in spiritual disaster for Israel (v. 25).

Three Qualifications
The first qualification is that Paul is not describing this problem as a detached theological spectator. He is certainly talking about Israel (because he is discussing Israel throughout the entire epistle). But he himself was right in the thick of this problem; he was not one of the glorious exceptions of grace that we find described elsewhere (Heb. 11). He was a Hebrew of Hebrews (Phil. 3:5), and to personify Israel’s problems in his own unconverted voice was not at all a stretch. Because of this we find that law and grace are always relevant categories.

Second, the Reformed doctrine of sanctification including a genuine internal moral struggle is correct. While it is not found here in Romans 7 (which way overstates the problem), that doctrine is found and well-grounded in Galatians 5. Too often Reformed exegetes take this as a description of the process of sanctification because those who deny it are usually theological perfectionists, which is clearly an error.
And third, to apply this to Israel in this way does not make this an irrelevant passage for us to meditate on. As Paul would say, God forbid. We are Christians, and in various places Paul tells us that as the new Israel we are called to learn the lessons that the old Israel failed to learn. We will see this clearly when we get to chapter 11 (cf. 1 Cor. 10). And God willing, that lesson is one that we will in fact learn.

Further Development
Paul is simply digging deeper here. Romans 7 is simply the next pass at Romans 2:17-24. Romans 8 is the next pass at Romans 2:28-29, which explains why he needs to address the same, identical question at the beginning of chapter 3 and at t he beginning of chapter 9. “What is the point of being a Jew, then?”

Many Adams
Israel received the Torah, and then failed to keep it, meaning that Israel was another failed Adam. The fact that Christ was the final Adam should not blind us to the fact that Scripture shows us a series of Adams—founders who fail, founders who fall. Think of Noah, for example, or Solomon. Think of Israel, adopted at Sinai and given the very words of life. What did they do with this? They did what every Adam still in the flesh must do—they rebelled against those words of life and turned them into instruments of death. So it was not the case that Israel successfully escaped from Adam while the Gentiles did not.

Exceedingly Sinful
Why did God want sin to grow to its full maturity? Why did God give a Torah that He knew sin would take full advantage of? Why did God deliberately grow sin up to its full height? He did this so that He could deal with sin once and for all. Israel was a greenhouse, enclosed by Torah’s glass, and heated by the sun of God’s holiness, so that the most noxious weeds could grow up to their worst potential, in stark contrast to the sign outside that proclaimed it a greenhouse full of rare and exquisite orchids.

God did this so that He could deal with sin foundationally. Just as He did not send Israel into Canaan until the iniquity of the Amorites was full (Gen. 15:16), so He did not send the new Israel into our Canaan until our evil had reached its full maturity. When Jesus collided with sin, He met it in full force. When Jesus took it all onto Himself, He took the full measure of it.

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