Four Seven
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Cor 4:7 NIV)
Welcome
Hello, and welcome to Four Seven. We're not sure how regularly this will be updated, but basically this started with an exposition I wrote on a new Jars of Clay song called "Show You Love". We'd been pondering doing something like Four Seven for some time, but had never really gotten around to it before now. With a little prodding Four Seven was pretty much born as a place to ponder, dissect, and thoroughly massacre as many Jars of Clay songs as possible.
Enjoy.
I built another temple to a stranger He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem I will put my Name." In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts. (2 Ki 21:3-6)
"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." (Mt 6:24)
The idea here is not necessarily that a person is worshipping another god as in Baal, or bowing down to the starry hosts as the passage in 2 Kings tells us Manasseh did. Jesus tells us that to put anything before God is idolatry, worship of that thing rather than God. In Matthew, we see that we cannot serve both God and money, but the idea is that we cannot serve God and something else. Hebrews 12:1 tells us to "throw off everything that hinders". Is something keeping you from your relationship with God? If a brother or sister calls you and asks to talk, do you respond with something like, "I have to work overtime to support my family; I don't have time to spend with you tonight." If you have a schedule conflict between sports and a church gathering, which do you go to? If you choose work, or sports, or money, or all those other things that sound good on paper but in the end are just more trappings, you have "built another temple to a stranger". It may not seem that way, but to put something before the kingdom is to do just that.
I gave away my heart to the rushing wind The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. (1 Ki 19:11-12)
And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? (Deut 10:12-13)
To who or what is your heart given? Many put their trust in relationships, or in money, or in things that seem powerful and mighty. Yet Elijah's example shows us that God is not in the rushing wind Jars talks of, nor in the earthquake, nor the fire, but in the gentle whisper, barely heard. In the same way, many times we have to strain to truly hear God speaking to us. We are creatures of sight and sound, and it can be difficult to pay attention to our spiritual voice speaking, because it is just a gentle whisper. Yet paying attention to that gentle whisper can be the most transforming and powerful experience that someone can find. Give your heart not to the rushing wind, but to God. Deuteronomy tells us that it is "for [our] own good". Is it? Where do you feel spiritually fulfilled: with God or without?
I set my course to run right into danger In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares, but he who guards his soul stays far from them. (Pr 22:5)
Much of Proverbs is concerned with God directing your path. This is called a wise choice: God will keep you from harm. Here we see the converse, that in the paths of the wicked, of those who trust to themselves and in themselves, lie thorns, snares, and danger. Setting your course to run right into danger involves leaving God behind.
I sought the company of fools instead of friends He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. (Pr 13:20)
Knowing this, why would anyone seek the company of fools instead of friends?
Possibly a few reasons:
Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones. (Ecc 10:6)
Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. (Pr 27:6)
Friends will hurt you. A true friend will show you what's wrong with you, in order to help you grow and mature. But it hurts. It's easier, more comfortable to seek the company of those who won't hurt you. We also see that "fools are put in many high positions" (ref GWB and his administration, if you need an example). Sounds attractive, no?
Trying to jump away from rock that keeps on spreading In several places in the New Testament Christ is described as the rock, or the capstone, or the foundation of the church. Why is this rock spreading? Because, as Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:18-20, the Gospel is being preached to all men. Those who avoid the rock do so because they are made uncomfortable by it, or they refuse to accept the basic tenets of Christianity, or for whatever reason.
Solace in the shift of the sinking sand "But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." (Mt 7:26-27)
To build your house on anything but Christ is to build your house on sinking sand. It will shift, your foundation will move and begin to fall; you have no solid base. It will be blown back and forth, as one unstable and divided.
I'd rather feel the pain all too familiar
Than be broken by a lover I don't understand
'cause I don't understand I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Php 3:10-11)
We are to be presented to Christ as his bride upon his return to earth. Christ asked to take all our burdens, all our pain, and all our suffering upon himself. When presented with that choice, did you choose to shoulder your own burden, or the burden of Christ? Will you choose to be broken with Christ, and so to come to know him?
One hundred other lovers, more, one hundred other altars Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. (Eph 4:19)
At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, offering your body with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by. (Eze 16:25)
Sin begets sin -- to offer yourself once will result in offering yourself again and again. "One hundred other lovers, more, one hundred other altars" indeed.
If I should slow my pace and finally subject me to grace Therefore this is what the LORD says:
"If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them. I will make you a wall to this people, a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue and save you," declares the LORD. "I will save you from the hands of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel." (Jer 15:19-21)
To turn to God is the greatest gift of grace that you can be given. It has already been given -- have you accepted it? God wants to restore you, to make you his spokesman. Subject yourself to grace, and God will be merciful.
And love that shames the wise Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength .... But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. (1 Cor 1:20-25, 27)
The love of God is shown and poured out through the cross of Christ. For the Jews, whoever died on a cross was cursed; for the Gentiles, it was an instrument used to punish slaves and the lowest of the low. Yet upon Calvary God used a cross to put to shame all the wise Pharisees and Sadducees, all the Gentile philosophers, and all those who thought that the Messiah would come and restore Israel to its physical splendor.
Betrays the heart's deceit and lies For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Heb 4:12-13)
Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed." (Lk 2:34-35a)
The word of God reveals the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. It's not just about what you do, but about why you do it. If you do the right thing for the wrong reasons, it's the wrong thing to do. God does not want your hands only.
And breaks the back of foolish pride The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, (Is 2:17)
"That day" refers to the establishment of the kingdom of God upon earth; the church which Christ built. The love Christ showed on the cross is the foundation of the church, which breaks the pride of men and humbles the mighty.
You know I've been unfaithful
With lovers in lines Ezekiel 23 tells of two sisters. They prostituted themselves, going to further and further lengths in their depravity. Nations lined up to use them, yet the two did not repent, and continued to prostitute themselves. Verse 4 tells us that one represents Samaria, and the other Jerusalem. Oholah and Oholibah were God's, yet they were unfaithful to him.
While you're turning over tables
With the rage of a jealous kind John 2:12-16 gives us the account of Jesus going up to Jerusalem and turning over the tables of the money-changers, of those who were prostituting themselves as Oholah and Oholibah were. Jesus saw the need of those who were spiritually bankrupt, and he came to earth to claim his own.
I chose the gallows to the aisle I've seen many comments on this particular verse, but I think none of them quite get it all. It's possible this one won't, either, but I think it's more complete than many.
Anyway, we know that Judas went off and hanged himself. The gallows thus becomes an image of death, representative of those who choose something -- in Judas' case, the thirty silver pieces -- other than Christ.
The aisle is an allusion to a wedding. The bride walks down the aisle, escorted by her father, and is wed to the groom. Thus, choosing the gallows to the aisle is to choose death over marriage to Christ.
Thought that love would never find
But hanging ropes will never keep you
And your love of a jealous kind And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, (Eph 3:17b-18)
Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (Ex 34:14)
How wide and long and high and deep is the love of God? It is so wide as to encompass the entire earth. There is no length to which God will not go to rescue someone caught in sin. It calls us ever higher, and there is no point so deep, no sin so great, and no person so low that God will not stretch out His hand and pull them out. Yet God is jealous: he wants your love, and he wants you to love Him alone. But to love God includes loving all men, and to love the creation which God has put here. So to love God is to love with the love of Christ, which encompasses everything.
God's love will find you, if you are willing to be found. Nothing will stop it: not the ropes of a gallows, not Satan, and not death.
