Thoughts in Proverbs

Greetings,

I have been keep a journal for some time as I have have been working through Proverbs, mostly, verse by verse. The following is from Tuesday, November 19th, morning meditation. This particular morning I was deeply moved and impressed by the study for the necessity of the message of the coming judgment of the Lord which seems to be absent from many pulpits in our nation.

"Everyone Proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; though they join forces, none will go unpunished." Proverbs 16:5

Here the Holy One calls the proud in heart an abomination. This word is often used of things related to false religions and of sins such as perversity, injustice, and one who sows division. Prov. 3:32; 11:1.20; 6:19. In Leviticus 18 we can learn the various sins of sexual immorality and the murder of babies to Molech for which the Lord was disposing of those nations, calling them and their deeds abominations, by which the land was defiled and God's judgment was to vomit them out of it. These the Lord called abominations just as He calls a proud heart an abomination. The pride of a man's heart is seen in his face. "An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin." Prov. 21:4. The Lord hates a proud look. Prov. 6:16-17. Here in this Proverb and in Proverb 11:21, we learn the proud in heart and the wicked join forces, literally hand-in-hand. They must think themselves stronger in force and deceive themselves that they are safe and not be shaken because of their numbers and agreement among themselves. But the prophetic Scriptures declare that they shall not go unpunished. "None will go unpunished."

When the whole world united in pride and sin, which one escaped the flood? Only Noah and his family, eight persons, were saved alive because of the grace of God. Genesis 6:8. And now, when the Gospel of Christ is preached to us, if we are proud in our hearts and do not humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, and remain disobedient to continue in the perversity and wickedness of our hearts, and do not repent of the evil in our hands, do we think we will escape the wrath of God which is yet to come? None will go unpunished. When these things enter our minds and hearts, and we become concerned for our souls so that our hearts melt within us for the fear of the Lord, let us be like Rahab, who trusted in the Lord, and saved herself and her whole family alive and all that they had.

How interesting that on the heels of this Proverb, the next verse declares, "In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil." v.6 How wonderful the Holy Spirit is who speaks truth in judgment and declares mercy and truth in forgiveness of sins. When I hear His Word that He will not acquit the wicked, my heart melts. My heart says with His Word, "Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him." Nahum 1:6. Whose proud heart will not tremble and is so haughty that he thinks he will stand in the day of His anger? I am melted within me and no confidence remains in me. The day of the Lord's wrath surely comes and He does not tarry.

How many tokens can we multiply and examples given of the surety of the fulfillment of His Word? Of the world that perished in the flood, of Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed by fire, of Jericho, and Babylon, and all the cities dispossessed and destroyed by Israel which the Lord did because of all their abominations. And yet a Day remains when He will come and remove out of the earth and make an end of all the wicked of the earth. And though we live long on the earth, continuing in sins and abominations, and the patience of God continues, in our lack of repentance we do nothing more than store up greater wrath against ourselves when the Lord Jesus comes to judge the living and the dead. Moreover, if we live long in sin and die, our spirits will only be reserved in chains of darkness until that day when all will hear the voice of the Son of God and come out of their graves, the righteous to everlasting peace and joy, and the wicked to everlasting destruction and eternal fire.

O how long will you continue in your wickedness, pride, and stubborn heart? Today is a day of mercy and truth. The Lord is slow to anger and rich in mercy. "The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him." Nahum 1:7. Atonement for iniquity has been provided for in the blood of the Lamb, Jesus, the Lord and Messiah, the anointed one. Fear the Lord. Repent. Depart from evil and trust in Him. Come to the Lord Jesus and wash away your iniquity in His blood and receive His grace of eternal life. Amen.

William Tyndale – 1483 – 1536, October 6th

Found hundred and eighty-three years ago on Friday, October 6^th 1526, at the young age of 53, William Tyndale was tied to a stake, strangled to death, and then burnt in the sight of men. Most of what we know of the man comes from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs where we learn of his final words: “His last words, uttered with fervent zeal, and in a loud voice, were these: “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes!”

Tyndale was a highly educated man, studied at Oxford at an early age and later moved to Cambridge where he became acquainted with Erasmus, a great Greek scholar of his day, who had just completed the Greek New Testament. Learning this language and so learning the New Testament in its original language, became a follower of the Lord Jesus. You must understand that at this time in the world, the Bible was not available to people like it is today. It was in a language the people did not speak, either of Greek or Latin, and the Roman Catholic church kept it away, hidden from the people. Tyndale could not keep silent about the things he learned from the Bible and openly taught the people and debated the priests. One of Tyndale’s opponents, a Roman Catholic priest had remarked that it would be better to have the pope’s laws than God’s Law. To this Tyndale replies, “I defy the pope, and all his laws; and if God spare me I will one day make the boy that drives the plough in England to know more of Scripture than the pope himself!”

With a fervent zeal and love for his people, Tyndale set to do what had never been done up to his day: translate the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures (Old and New Testament) out of the original languages into English. After many attempts to do so in England, Tyndale found there was no room for him in all the land to conduct the work there. This did not deter his purpose, so in 1524 he left his home in England, never to return, and went to Hamburg Germany. There, in poverty and constant danger, he continued his work. The Roman Catholic church at the time had often persecuted the true Christians, burning alive men, women and children, who would even quote the Lord’s Prayer in English. How much more Tyndale who would give all of England the whole New Testament in English!

In Germany Tyndale could work and utilize the new printing press which made the making of copies far more numerous and at a cost most could afford. This did not stop the papacy and priestcraft from launching a vehement persecution against the work. Thousands of copies of Tyndale’s New Testament were discovered and burned at St. Paul’s Cross, in the city of London. This in no way discouraged Tyndale who said, “In the burning the book they did none other thing that I looked for; no more shall they do if they burn me also, if it be God’s will that it should be so.” When the papacy could see that burning the books did no good, and the New Testament spread all the more, they conspired to buy all the New Testaments so they could to burn them all. Of course, this meant that ALL of Tyndale’s testaments were purchased. To this Tyndale remarked, “I am the gladder, for these two benefits shall come of it: I shall get money to bring myself out of debt, and the whole world will cry out against the burning of God’s word. The overplus of the money that remains shall enable me to correct the said New Testament, and then newly to print the same again, and I trust the second will be much better than ever was the first that I printed.”

The result was exactly that, and the New Testament went into England with a better revision and all the more abundantly. It was a terrible betrayal that caused Tyndale to be caught by the authorities. A man pretending to be a Christian won Tyndale’s confidence that led to his arrest and imprisonment. He suffered greatly in prison not having good clothing, suffering cold, lack of food, and sickness. The Lord had not only provided for this great brother in the Lord to work in bringing to Word of God in English to the people, but also to crown him with the sufferings of Christ and lay his life down for those who he labored so much to bring to Christ. Of his sufferings we have from him, “I suffer greatly from cold in the head, and am afflicted by a perpetual catarrh (terrible cold, inflammation of sinus, sinus infection), which is much increased in this cell…My overcoat is worn out; my shirts are also worn out…And I ask to be allowed to have a lamp in the evening: it is indeed wearisome sitting alone in the dark. But most of all I beg and beseech your clemency to be urgent with the commisionary, that he will kindly permit me to have my Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Grammar, and Hebrew Dictionary, that I may pass the time in that study.”

Not only Tyndale, but his fellow workers, suffered much to give the English speaking world a Bible in English. All the books of Moses and some of the prophets and the whole New Testament were given to us by God through the life, sufferings, and martyrdom of Tyndale. My purpose in sharing this with you today is not only to remember one of the greatest servants of God in history on the anniversary of his death, but to encourage you and inspire you to treasure what you have when you hold your English Bible in your hands. It is not saying too much to say that from the King James Version of the Bible to all English translations that 70% of what we hold is Tyndale’s (although most will not acknowledge this, as is the case with many servants of God, who would prefer themselves to decrease anyway, and see the Lord Jesus increased all the more). Here are a few phrases that are wholly Tyndale’s that may be familiar to us all:

“And God said, Let there be light, and there was light” Genesis 1

“Ask, and it shall be give you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” Matt 7

“With God all things are possible” Matt 19

“Fight the good fight of faith; lay hold on eternal life” 1 Timothy 6

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” Hebrews 12

Let’s pray and give thanks to the Lord who raised up men like Tyndale so we could have His Word in our own language and that Jesus will truly be to us the author and finisher of our faith.

Revived

Glad to see this blog doesn't disappear after 2+ years! Glad to revive it and also have notes back from my studies in hermeneutics! I am not sure where I will take this at this point, but I will take it one day at a time, as the Lord wills.