i. Defining Terms
[06/10/19]
Before we look at biblical statements concerning the omnipresence of God, I suppose we would do well to arrive at a healthy definition of the term, to clarify the specifically Christian sense of the term, and also to distinguish that term from pantheism. I will be borrowing from outside sources for this, as I am with the initial list of passages I have under consideration. In this case, I am borrowing from gotquestions.org. The basic meaning of the term is clear enough. God is omni – all, present. He is everywhere. Here, we might say, the pantheist is in agreement with our position. They would concur that God is everywhere, but with a caveat: He is everywhere because He is in everything. Many a Christian would be inclined to try and agree here. After all, we are a people who insist that God is in us, and we are in Him, so aren’t we saying much the same thing? Well, no. No we are not.
Omnipresence as a doctrine stakes out a place of particular balance between the total immersion found in the pantheistic view and the total transcendence found in gnostic viewpoints. Let me try to distinguish the three if I can, and I don’t promise that I can. Let’s start with pantheism. Here we have the proposal that God is in everything, and in fact, so very much within everything that everything becomes not merely holy, but very nearly if not actually divine. This underlies the idea of reincarnation as we see it, for example, in Hinduism. The cow is not divine because of some innate holiness of bovine existence. Nor is the monkey holy for anything inherent in the lower primates. Rather, both are holy because god is in them. But, then, so is the bird, so is the fly, and so is the tick and the flea. Everything is sacred because God is in everything. Sounds lovely, I suppose, but it simply doesn’t hold up very well. It doesn’t even hold up well if we restrict our scope to mankind – humanity.
Not to say that we are particularly good judges of character, but there are instances on which I think we can generally agree that here was an evil man doing evil deeds. I would suppose that even the devout Hindu must, in the end, recognize that the actions of a Hitler, or a Pol Pot, or others of their ilk are not the actions of one filled with god, are not the acts of divine or divinely inspired beings.
Well, perhaps we could swing to the opposite end of the spectrum and join the Gnostics in the idea that if we would approach divinity we must manage to transcend these mortal bodies. Again, there is something to the idea that resonates with the Christian, and the Christian might be so unwary as to nod in agreement with such views. It happens. Arguably, it happens wherever a fascination with the mystical side of things leads one to set aside reality to some extent. But, Gnosticism has ever been an issue to the Church, and likely will be right to the end. The doctrine of personal resurrection runs us right up against it, and we can see some evidence that this, too, is a long-standing issue. Arguably, Paul was facing it with the Corinthians, and for that reason had to spend a fair amount of time explaining the proper doctrine of personal, physical resurrection. The body’s not going away. We might quibble over whether it’s the self-same body resurrected, or a new body given, but either way, that body remains a physical reality, as we see in the resurrection of Jesus. It is at once something far superior to this current frame and recognizable as being the same.
So,then, what does omnipresence teach? Well, it does declare that God is everywhere. It does not, however, declare that He is in everything, at least not in the same sense that the pantheist would declare. I must be careful here, for we do in fact have claims of God being in all things, or at least the appearance of such a claim. Try this, for example: “DO I Not fill the heavens and the earth?” (Jer 23:24b). If He fills it, is He not in it? Well, yes and no. Shall we say that He is in those against whom He speaks immediately following? He turns to those false prophets, claiming to have a dream from God when in fact they proclaim nothing but their own deceptions, proving themselves nothing more than “prophets of the deception of their own heart” (Jer 23:25-26). Is He in them? If so, why did He not manage their tongues more effectively, dissuade them of their deceptive errors? Or, if a man is bent on serving other gods, is God in him to join in that activity? Here, I again think of Paul’s message to Corinth, and the need to remind them that God was indeed abiding in them, and therefore, their activities with the temple prostitutes down the street were particularly heinous. I should have to think that whatever we mean by God being in the believer, He was not, is not, in them in their sins. How can He be, Who knows no sin, and cannot so much as abide looking upon it?
[06/11/19]
God is with us, and indeed, God is in us by His own choosing. Yet, God remains infinitely beyond us, far and away above us in power, in stature, in glory, in purity, in every way. I cannot stress this enough. God is not in everything as the pantheist would propose, though everything bears the stamp of His creative work. God is everywhere, inescapably present, but to suppose this imbues everything everywhere with some essential divinity overstates the case. God, being the creator of all things, is infinitely beyond all things, and must of necessity have His existence apart from all things. One’s existence cannot be bound up in that which he has made with his own hands. Neither is God to be contained or constrained by we mere creatures.
God is good, and what He has made is, because of His essential goodness, good in its own right. It has not the inherent goodness that is His, yet as it bears His image in the case of man, or the stamp of His being in the case of the remainder of the created order, it demonstrates His goodness. As Paul writes, His invisible attributes, His divine nature, are clearly seen and understood through what He has made (Ro 1:20). This puts paid to the duality that expresses itself through Gnosticm. The flesh is not some inherently evil construct to be put off. It is, like the spirit of man, suffering the ruinous effects of the Fall, of sin. It is, like the spirit of man, in need of restoration and renewal. It needs the new birth, even as our spirit required the new birth, and a new birth it shall have from the same Source: God our Creator and Father.
As to the direct matter of omnipresence, I see three broad themes emerge. We might label these the extent of God’s presence, the preeminence of God’s presence, and the practical impact of God’s presence.
ii. Extent
There came a time in the course of David’s career when the kingdom seemed firmly established, and he thought to build a house for himself, and also a temple for God. But, God deferred on the temple, informing David that this was not his task to perform, but would be done by his son after him, and so it was. Solomon did indeed see to the building of a temple for God, and at its completion made a holy proclamation to the gathered people of God at the dedication of that temple. He began by recounting the events that had led to the building of the temple, much as I have done here. And then, he turned himself to prayer. “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like Thee in heaven above or on earth beneath, who art keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Thy servants who walk before Thee with all their heart,” (1Ki 8:23).
Earlier, he had observed, “The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud. I have surely built Thee a lofty house, a place for Thy dwelling forever” (1Ki 8:12-13). This was said because indeed, the thick cloud of God’s presence had filled the inner sanctuary, and the priests were utterly overwhelmed by the immediacy of His presence. That Solomon was not must, under the circumstances, be attributed to God’s divine intervention, God’s strength upholding him. But, in those first words, one can hear perhaps a hint of future hubris. “I have built Thee an eternal dwelling place.” This is counterbalanced, at least in the prayer, by that message which has brought us to this passage. “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Thee, how much less this house which I have built!” (1Ki 8:27).
It’s almost as if Solomon heard his words and sensed the overstatement, felt need to correct himself. Yes, I built Thee this place, but forever? Really? I am but a man, and You are almighty God. What house could contain You? Heaven cannot contain You! And, if heaven cannot, surely the earth which is fully contained by the heavens cannot. This properly sets the extent of God’s presence. There is no boundary by which His presence is contained. All that is, all that exists, is more properly contained by His presence, but go beyond that set, if such were possible for you, and still He is, and He is there, however it is that there might be defined in that case.
Here again is a stark contrast between the God Who Is, and the gods imagined by the surrounding nations. The Canaanites and their ilk considered gods local phenomena, roughly on par with one another. Their battles invoked, and to their thinking involved, their gods in contest against others who had invoked their own. Thus, choice of battlefield was of some importance, for one wanted a location that played to one’s own god’s advantage, and also played up the weakness of the gods of your opponent. Thus, in battle, as they supposed Israel’s God to be a god of the mountains, they would seek battle in the plains. They would also see it as perfectly reasonable to add the gods of a defeated people to their collection, perhaps to be called into service in some future endeavor. Thus, we find them taking the ark of the covenant to the temple of Dagon. It seems passing strange to us that one would find benefit in having possession of a losing god, but so it was. They may have lost to another god, but they still outranked you, is, I suppose, the conclusion reached.
But here is God – the God, the ONLY God. Here is true and unique divinity. As I stressed in my introductory observations to this whole effort, the supremacy and utter divinity of God require that there can be only the One. A nation with multiple competing sovereigns will not long stand. Ask Rome. The Triumvirate may have seemed a good idea, and a way to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, but it could not work. The nature of authority requires that there is one, and only one, who has final, unopposable say. What this says to our own system of government with its three co-equal branches is something that ought to be considered. There is an inherent tension introduced by any such organizing principle that leaves multiple individuals at the top. Perhaps, insomuch as two of our three branches have a more or less committee-like leadership structure we may find our system preserved, but I’m not sure I’d wish to stake my life on that being the case. In God’s case, there is no need for concern. He stands alone in His divinity, and His divine being, His divine presence, is at once everywhere, and also beyond everywhere.
The next passage I would turn my attention to is one which I have had cause to visit already. One suspects I shall find cause to return to it again. It comes in the midst of a declaration of judgment against the false prophets that were plaguing Israel at the time – and, I would observe, continue to plague the church unto our own day. But, I am not here considering the judgment meted out, but rather the declaration leading up to it. “’Can a man hide himself in hiding places, so I do not see him?’ declares the LORD. ‘Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?’ declares the LORD” (Jer 23:24). Now, I observe that we have a repetition here, as to Who exactly is speaking. Yes, Jeremiah is delivering the message, but it is the LORD who is declaring the message. Jeremiah is nothing. The LORD is everything. And that name, we must observe as well, is the covenant name of God, the Yahweh proclamation of the eternal, self-existent, all powerful, covenantal God. As I say, this is coming at the head of an announcement of judgment upon those who make false claim to declaring the words of the LORD, and that announcement ought rightly to strike fear in the hearts of those who play such games, but behold the basis: God fills all, and as such, God sees all. There is no hiding away from His sight. There is no deed committed in true secrecy, for He is ever witness. There is no place to run, for He is already there.
Go back to Solomon’s proclamation. The heavens cannot contain God, and you can’t even get that far. Sure, we have launched men to the moon, and we have launched probes that wander farther and farther off into space. Yet, they have not, nor could they go so far as to be beyond God’s presence, and God’s reach. They cannot and shall not discover a place beyond God, for there is no such place. If anything, there is God beyond all place. Heaven, for all its mind-numbing expanse, cannot contain Him. Think about it! Space is so vast that our attempts to see to its core lead us to sights that are time-shifted beyond the entire scope of human existence, if we accept the scientific evidence. The stars we see in the sky shone the particular photons that are striking our eyes of an evening millions of years prior, billions even. The images we see of the black hole at the center of our own galaxy are unimaginably ancient. Yet, God is as viscerally, immediately present there and now as He is here and now. Probe outward to the limits of the known universe and the same truth still holds. He is there. He has ever been there. He was there before there was a there there.
And so, we arrive at Paul’s declaration to the philosophers of Athens. He’s been looking about, observing the high culture of Greece. He could not but notice their myriad temples and statues and monuments, each honoring some god or other. Indeed, so careful were they to include everybody that they even had an altar dedicated to an unknown god. This gives him his launching point. “What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is LORD of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything. After all, He Himself gives life and breath to all things. He made all men, and therefore all men should seek Him.” (Ac 17:23-27). He proceeds to announce the answer to the philosophers’ great question. “In HIM we live and move and exist” (Ac 17:28). There is your primary cause. I can’t help but observe the follow up point. “Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man” (Ac 17:29).
My focus is quite naturally drawn to the introductory clause: Being then the offspring of God… There is a declaration to promote hubris beyond even that of Solomon, and it has indeed done just that. Think of that whole, “We’re king’s kids,” mindset that pervades Christian thought in certain circles. It’s the ringing bell of privilege. We oughtn’t to suffer lack or hardship, because we’re king’s kids. We oughtn’t to be dealing with restrictions of any sort, because we’re king’s kids. Well, never mind how poorly that understands the lot of a king’s kid, even in this life. You want liberation from restrictions? The life of a royal heir is probably not for you, then.
Yet, the message is true, as it must be. We are the offspring of God, but far from being the launching board for immense privilege, it ought to be a powerful reminder of responsibility. Sons, if they are sons indeed, bear the image of their father. Their character and habit are formed by observation of their father. They learn at his knee and they gladly, proudly shape themselves after what they have learned from him. If, then, we are in fact offspring of God, this is no grounds for coming to Him with demands, as did the prodigal son in Jesus’ parable. This is no grounds for supposing we can insist on favors, nor even sufficient cause to assume His good graces will be shown us. Rather, this is a clarion call to represent. It is a reminder that we walk this life as ambassadors of the highest King, the Lord of all Creation. We proclaim that we are His offspring. Let us pray unceasingly that the evidence of our lives doesn’t prove otherwise!
Finally, before moving on to the next part of this topic, I would observe the implications of Paul’s corrective to Athens: “We ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.”
[06/12/19]
While this point is well off course from the plan of study, it is here, and it is to our benefit that we take notice of it. What is said of idols and the like applies just as readily to our own efforts at shaping the patterns of worship. They are not ours to shape. They are God’s to define. If our conception of God, and our approach to Him and to His worship are things formed by the art and thought of man, then they are not accurate, not holy, and most assuredly not pleasing to Him with Whom we have to do. God is not interested in a following that have their own ideas of Who He Is, and how He does.
It puts me in mind of the common marital problem of the wife wanting to refashion her husband after her idea of him, or the husband wishing to do so for his wife. They would be perfect for me if only they were perfectly as I want them to be. This is, sadly, too often how we think about God. He would be the perfect God for us, if only He were perfectly as we want Him to be. If He would just drop that whole wrath and judgment business and stick to love and mercy, for example, we would be fine with Him. But, to be honest, His angry streak is a bit off putting. Let’s downplay that, and amplify the positive. It’s still God, right? Wrong. God is not God unless He is ALL that He is. He is not changeable, malleable, that each individual may shape Him to their preferred views. He is Truth, and Truth is likewise non-malleable. It will not bend to opinion, but must form opinion if opinion is to have any value. God will not bend to our desire, but must form our desire, if our desire is to have any value.
What does this say of our worship? What does it require of us, and call us to do, or insist we refrain from doing? That is a big question, and will be pursued more fully, Lord willing, in its proper place. For now, settle for this much. It requires that we remember our proper place, that we acknowledge our sins and our sinfulness, that we seek God not as one upon whom we can make demands, but as one before whom we come in expectant supplication. That expectancy comes not because we have earned the right, but because He has promised His favor. We come before Him as our Father, for thus He has made Himself to us. But, we come before Him as LORD, as the Sovereign Almighty King of kings, who has full right of us, to pronounce our life or our death as He wishes, with none to say Him otherwise. We come, then, not with ideas of how God could make a greater impression, or how we would do things if we were Him. We come with a simple desire to worship Him as He is pleased to be worshiped, in spirit and in truth, and with all that is in us, wholly and wholeheartedly committed to His purposes in all we do, not just in the house of worship, but in the world; not just when we are specifically pursuing what we think of as church, but in whatever we do, whenever we do. We worship as those who know that God is all and in all, and that we are never, ever far from His presence.
iii. Preeminence
I have written in regard to the extent of God’s being, which fills the heavens and the earth to such a degree that the heavens and the earth, all that is, so far as our senses and understanding can assay the matter, are insufficient to contain Him. That cannot but point us to His preeminence, for the very fact of His infinite expanse indicates something bigger than us, certainly, and something bigger than any conception of big that we can devise. This is seen, as I suggest, in the description of His all-extensive domain. But, it is described more fully when we turn to His dwelling place, His throne.
“For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isa 57:15). Now, these words come by way of a promise to the people of God. It is hinted at in the point made in regard to the lowly of spirit. But, at the moment, I want to focus on the first part. “I dwell on a high and holy place.” I suppose, given the text that follows, that this could simply be a bit of a rebuke on Israel’s tendency to follow pagan practices, and go out to high places to worship other gods. But, the rest of the passage speaks not of retribution, but of restoration. As such, I am comfortable in seeing God as speaking to His position, not simply pointing out His witness of Israel’s error.
“I dwell on a high and holy place.” It is singular. It is a place, we might reasonably suppose, higher than any high place. And, it is a holy place, which would seem to rule out those high places where Israel erred so wickedly. No, this is a truly holy place. It is not merely some high point on the earth, not even the tip of Mount Everest, that one could find no higher. It is, in fact, higher than the highest heavens. It is a place beyond whatever we might posit within the scope of the universe, for it is a place that is beyond the universe, outside of it, outside of all that we deem material existence, for it is the place where dwells the One Who spoke all material existence into being.
Thus, Isaiah later records these words from the One Who lives forever. “Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool” (Isa 66:1a). He continues. “Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being.” (Isa 66:1b-2a). If He made all these things, they cannot contain Him. He, it might better be said, contains them. But, that is likely to lead us into some goofy thinking not terribly far removed from pantheism, so let us say rather that He has right of them. He is Lord of them, and disposes them as He pleases, and who shall say otherwise, for they are His.
That whole passage points us back to preeminence. He is above and beyond all material existence. What we find immense to the point of rendering us insignificant is itself insignificant when set alongside God. All that is, as we measure it, is but His throne. We have not even begun to enter the palace. It’s just a chair, if you will. It’s a mighty fine chair, but it’s just the chair. Imagine the room in which that chair must be set! We get hints of it now and again in Scripture, but only hints, because it is simply too far beyond us as yet to even manage a sensible description. But, the earth is His footstool! As I stand typing, I have my mother’s old footstool below me under the desk. It is a small thing, perhaps the width of my two feet, and not a great deal longer than my foot. In the grand scheme of things, it is the merest nothing. For all that, in the grand scheme of things, I am the merest nothing. But, the earth? It’s huge. It’s beyond us, really, to explore it in full, and remains so in spite of long millennia of mankind striving to do so. Yet, this is a mere nothing to the God Who Is. And you wonder why David would write, “Who am I that You should give me even a thought?” It is rightly stunning, utterly humbling, to think about the fact that this God, this Being beyond all existence, condescends to care about us. This One for whom heaven is but a throne, and the earth but a footstool still takes it upon Himself to give thought to our situation, our needs, and our true well-being. If that fails to stun you to silence, perhaps it’s time to ask whether you have refashioned God to your limits.
But, not even the scope of physical reality is sufficient to demonstrate God’s utter and undeniable preeminence. We must take into account a fourth dimension, if you will; that of time. We saw it already back in the first Isaiah quote. He lives forever. He eternally is. Indeed, were one to discover the bounds of eternity and go beyond them, still He is. Yes, the very concept of eternity denies such possibility, but then the very concept of eternity defies us to properly conceive of it anyway. You can sense Paul striving with the subject as he writes to the church in Colossi. “He is before all things” (Col 1:17). This comes on the heels of declaring God the creator of all things.
[06/13/19]
“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created by Him and for Him” (Col 1:16). Look where this has gone! What He has created exceeds even what is visible to our eye, or for that matter, to our finest instruments of science. Even that which is invisible, that which is spirit only, is made by Him. And from here we are moved onward to considerations of power structures. Whatever authorities you bring to mind, whether earthly authorities such as governors, presidents, and the like, or spiritual powers such as angels or even devils, it matters not: He made them, too, and as such, He has the final, ultimate authority. Their authority is delegated. Their power is delegated. His is not. His creative work encompasses them, and His right as Creator overshadows them. Go back to Jesus’ words to Pilate. “You would have no authority over Me except it was given you from above” (Jn 19:11). He’s not thinking of Caesar’s assigning of the governorship. He’s looking higher up the chain; infinitely higher.
So, we have God the creator and rightful ruler of all things whatsoever. Truly His reign and His presence are everywhere, and over everyone. Now, behold! “He IS before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Col 1:17). Note the present tense of that. He IS. His omnipresence transcends the bounds of time even as it transcends the bounds of space. Before all things, He is there. Before there is a there, He is there. And so long as there continues to be a there, and even after all that is has ceased to be, still He is. He must be, for in Him all those things hold together. What power this lends to the message of, “I AM the Vine”!
“Apart from Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). There is a twofold power to those words. There is, which I think we hear primarily, the message of our own futility, if you will. Apart from Christ, we can accomplish nothing of value. We may chalk up our little accomplishments – a child born, a monument erected, a business founded, a disease healed, what have you – but those accomplishments will fade to insignificance. In time even the greatest deeds of the most famous men are forgotten, destroyed from sight and from memory. But, with God, the things that matter can and will be done. What is done with God is done for eternity, for in Him all things hold together. Apart from Him, then, all things must dissolve to nothingness.
That brings me to the second aspect of that declaration. Apart from Me you can do nothing, because apart from God – truly apart, not merely denying or ignoring – even existence itself must cease to be. In Him all things hold together. Let Him turn His eyes away for but a moment, and it’s over. All will cease to be. Let it be supposed that the scientists have the right of it with something akin to the proposals of the Big Bang. If this be the case, then all that is effectively snapped into existence in but a moment, the twinkling of an eye, if you please. How, then, can it be thought preposterous that the end of all that is shall come about just as swiftly? Paul speaks of us being caught up to God’s heavens in that briefest moment of the end, where we shall be found in bodies glorified and fitted for eternity. Peter writes of the end of things, when the elements run together like wax in the fierce heat of their destruction. But, that is not the end, only the end of all things. That is the beginning, if you will, of “apart from Me.” For those who belong to Christ, there shall be no, “apart from Me.” In Him, we shall, by His grace, all hold together.
iv. Practical Impact
I suppose that with that thought I have already turned to practical impacts of God’s omnipresence, but this impact was not the thought I had in mind for this portion of my considerations. Rather, it encompasses the impact upon us while yet we remain in this life. For that, I think the ideal reference point is Psalm 139. We shall have cause to consider the first portion of that Psalm in considering God’s omniscience, but we are approaching that subject even now, as we consider the impact of His omnipresence.
“Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Thy hand will lead me, and Thy right hand will lay hold of me” (Ps 139:7-10). There is no escaping God. There is no place one can go that He is not. Invent time travel, and that will do you no good. For there is no time to which you can go that He is not. We have seen this. Before all things, He IS. After all things. He IS. Let there be a multiverse, and some means to travel between them and still, wherever you might go, He IS.
Given that sentiment of fleeing, which seems such an odd sentiment coming from David, we might think to ask why such concern for getting away from God’s presence? Yet, David, like any man of self-awareness, knew his sinfulness. As devoted as he was to God, yet he remained human, fallen, and fallible. Indeed, Scripture puts his failures on display just as clearly as his victories. He was capable of great evil. So are we. His love for God could not prevent him from sinning against God. Neither will ours. But, here is a man after God’s own heart. Knowing all this, painfully, agonizingly aware of his sinful estate, he yet comes to God with these words. “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” He does, David, He does. “Try me and know my anxious thoughts.” He does, David, He does. “See if there be any hurtful way in me.” You know as well as He just how hurtful you can be. “And lead me in the everlasting way” (Ps 139:23-24). Ah, there is the remedy, the assurance. This God from whom there is no escape needs no escaping from, for He does indeed lead in the everlasting way, the way that leads to home, to Him.
But, this gives introduction to our main point. Where can I go from You? Nowhere! “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, watching the evil and the good” (Pr 15:3). There is no action you can take that is beyond His awareness. He is not like those pagan gods, that perhaps we might find Him asleep or distracted and take advantage of the occasion. He is ever present. He is the God who IS.
God Himself brings the connection home as He speaks through Jeremiah. “Am I a God who is near, and not a God far off? Can a man hide himself in hiding places, so I do not see him? Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” (Jer 23:23-24). We are back to the judgment of false prophets, which seems to come up repeatedly as I go through this effort. They are the reason for this reminder. “I have heard what they say, who prophesy falsely in My name.” (Jer 23:25). “Is not My word like fire, and like a hammer which shatters a rock? Therefore behold, I am against the prophets who steal My words from each other. I am against those who have prophesied false dreams, and related them, and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit” (Jer 23:29-32).
Hear the warning, nay the assurance of retribution! I have seen. I have heard. There is no place you can hide from the penalty for your crimes against Me. Observe as well that this retribution is for something far more severe than merely denying Him. Here is active harm done His people, and He will not stand for it. This goes beyond persecution, is in fact something far worse, far more insidious than mere persecution. Persecution might destroy the body, but that only hastens the day when we shall be with Him. These lying liars seek their own prestige by trading on His good name, and in so doing lead His people astray, apart from the everlasting way for which David prayed.
I must temper this thought with the knowledge that God is perfectly able and fully determined to preserve all whom He has called His own. His people may be led astray, but not far, not for long. He will, as David prayed, lead them back to that way. He will, as Jesus taught, go after the lost sheep and carry them home. But, this does nothing to ameliorate the sins of those who lead astray. For them, the message remains: Where do you suppose you can hide from Me? There is no such place. Your time is coming.
This same message plays out in what is often heard as a word of great comfort. “Where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst” (Mt 18:20). If all this had in view was to remind us of God’s omnipresence, then frankly, it wouldn’t matter if it were two or three gathered, or one alone. It wouldn’t matter whether they sought to act in His name, or in firm opposition to His will. Circumstances don’t change the reality: I am there. Wherever there is, whenever there is, I am there.
But, this message comes as the culmination of a discussion on disciplinary actions undertaken by believers amongst and against believers. The two or three gathered point to the biblical requirements for establishing the truth by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Indeed, the whole flow of that passage serves to ensure that this standard is met. But, we should have to back up a bit further to assay the scope of Jesus’ instruction.
[06/14/19]
In fact, let’s get back before the immediate context of judgment and see in what context that context comes. “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray” (Mt 18:12-13). This is not discussing judgment, but rescue. It rather describes the whole mission of Christ Jesus on the earth, doesn’t it? “I came not to judge but to save.” There is no question that in straying, that sheep has erred, and if God is its shepherd, then that sheep has in fact sinned. The punishment of sin has been earned, and the Shepherd would be perfectly just in leaving it to the death it has deserved by its deeds. But, the Shepherd doesn’t take that course. He goes and searches, and brings back the wandering sheep to the way of righteousness.
Jesus provides a conclusion to go with His example. “Thus it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish” (Mt 18:14). Now, on the basis of this and other like statements, some attempt to establish a case for universalism, which is to say, that all mankind shall in the end be saved. This is not the time and place to pursue the matter, other than to observe that it is not all mankind that are in view, certainly, in this passage, but all ‘these little ones’. This builds upon an even earlier statement in regard to the children who had come to Jesus. But, even with that, ‘these little ones’ does not expand to cover the whole of Israel, let alone the whole of mankind. The scope is limited by the example. It is the set of those who come to Jesus which, if we have been paying attention, is identical to the set whom the Father has drawn to Him, given to Him, and also that set of which He has said (or will say, from the perspective of this passage), “I have not lost a one.”
With that we proceed to the passage for which we have come here. “If your brother sins, go to him in private. If he listens, you have won your brother. If he doesn’t, take one or two others with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed” (Mt 18:15-16). Note first the concern for human dignity. To the degree it can be handled privately, handle it privately. Note second the adherence to original, Old Testament principles. Establish the Truth by multiple witnesses. “And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer” (Mt 18:17-18). This is a level of discipline that I can tell you from experience no church leader wishes to find necessary. Yet, it is a level of discipline that is often made necessary by the sinfulness of sin. There comes a point where the wickedness of sin requires that the flock at large be warned of the danger in their midst, lest that sin be spread to others.
But, look again at that final stage: Let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer. Given Jesus’ own example, we cannot take this as a call to shunning, or a turning of the back upon them as lost causes. Rather, it is a recognition that they remain in the camp of the lost. They remain in darkness, and in need of the light. They are, then, the mission field, just as any other unbeliever.
Finally, we arrive at the point applicable to our current topic. “Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three have gathered in My name, there I am in their midst” (Mt 18:19-20). OK, we have arrived, but there remains a bit of precursory work to be done.
Again it is easy to find those who have taken the first portion of this perhaps a bit too much to heart. There are those who revel in the idea of wielding such power as can command heaven. They will bind and loose with great vigor, and frankly, little concern for the consequences were it true that they held such power. But, I return to the simple fact of God’s absolute Sovereignty and Self-existence. He is not answerable to any power, nor beholden to any power, and that assuredly includes such power and authority as He delegates to His own children. If you think by your calls to bind and loose that you have bound God to act as you decree, then either you are delusional or you are playing with powers you ought not to toy with; with demons in disguise at best, or out of disguise at worst.
We have at least two problems with such an understanding of the message here, beyond the simple fact of God’s unopposable, unalterable Authority. First, there is the question of scope. Is this, in fact, a promise for all, or does this pertain particularly to the Apostles, and to church leadership? Honestly, I could go either way on this point. For one, it is not entirely clear who the audience was, here, whether the Twelve, or a larger group, for those who have come to speak with Jesus on this occasion are only identified as ‘the disciples’. For another, as it speaks to matters of the church which had not, as yet, been truly founded, it points forward, I should think, beyond the Apostolic era.
On the other hand, it is clear that the Apostles were set as initial authorities within that church that was established, and it is equally clear that they took pains to set in place such leadership as was suitable to continue the work in each place the church was planted. The office of elder was seen to for exactly such purpose, and one of the duties incumbent upon that office is the maintenance of church discipline. Yet, there remains a personal responsibility that applies certainly in the first stages of what has been laid out. If your brother sins, the first step does not consist in go tell your elder. It consists in go reprove him yourself. You are a child of God, and presumably so is he. It will be uncomfortable, as such matters always are. But, if he listens to you, one with whom we might suppose he has some sort of established relationship such that you might have reason to expect he will listen to you, then you have won your brother. Congratulations! It’s only when he refuses to listen to faithful reproof that the situation escalates to involve the elders, and here, I would suggest, the elders are in fact the right course of escalation, rather than simply grabbing a couple of other church members. I wouldn’t call it a hard and fast rule, but it seems a reasonable safeguard against gossip and other such foolishness.
But, remember your purpose in all this. It is not to pronounce judgment and call down the wrath of God. Neither is it to pronounce pardon and demand that God wink at a sin not truly repented of. I have to think that this whole message of binding and loosing is not so much a promise of power as a reminder of the seriousness of the matter. Be careful, you who are set in the place of leadership! Your words matter. Your decisions matter. I’ll tell you, I struggle with the phrasing of this passage because on its surface it does appear to set far too much power in the hands of fallible men, even were we to restrict it to the Apostles alone; certainly if we expand it to encompass the entire class of elder officers. I suspect that while the words imply earthly decision driving heavenly fulfillment, the intent is rather to stress that earthly decisions, if they are to bear any weight whatsoever, had best reflect heavenly determinations. That is to say, when you sit in judgment, however uncomfortably you may so sit, remember Whom you represent. Remember, o judge, that He has said you are gods. But, you are delegated authorities, and your decisions must be prayerful, must be true to Him whom you represent. “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.” Your judgments are no more made in secret than were the sins which you judge. I AM stands as witness to both. Therefore, picking up the message to the Old Testament priesthood, judge justly, for I AM is Just.
That, finally, brings us to our point here. “I AM in their midst.” This is the applicable implication of God’s omnipresence. Wherever you are, I AM is with you. Wherever you are, I AM is watching you. Whether you are consciously seeking to act as God’s representative or not, you remain God’s representative, and He is fully and perfectly well of how you represent. This is a thing to press the least of believers to his knees, for none of us can look upon our thoughts and deeds with open eyes and suppose we have represented well. It’s an example used to the point of utmost triteness, but only because it applies so very well. Call me when you have made it through your morning commute representing well. Call me when you’ve been cut off for the nth time and you’re running late to arrive before an unforgiving ogre of a boss, and you still represent well. Until then, remember and pray, for wherever you are, I AM is there. It matters not, honestly, whether there are others to witness. God is witness. Wherever you are, as my old prayer warrior friends were wont to observe, two or three are gathered. There is you. There is God. That’s two right there. If you wish to count Father, Son, and Spirit separately, that’s four, three of which are able to witness against you in your sin.
It is a terrible thing, this power to judge – nay, not power, but demand. It is a thing to drive the officer of God to his knees, for the situations that call for judgment are never pleasant and easy matters. They are matters of sin and sin’s outfall. They are matters in which one is unlikely to have all the facts of the matter plainly laid out in indisputable order. It is quite likely that one or more parties involved seeks to keep the truth hidden. It is almost certain, if there is in fact a dispute between parties, which seems rather necessary to the case if it has risen to this level, that there will be multiple and conflicting representations of the truth, and the poor officers are left to discern as best they may where the truth lies and how best to address the matter. That may require the course of inaction because the evidence, such as it is, simply isn’t conclusive one way or the other. It may require, as we see from Jesus’ instruction, public rebuke, revoking of membership, and other such actions. I can guarantee that where such actions are called for, there will be those who side with the rebuked. Whatever your decision, count on there being those who, with less information at their disposal, are nevertheless quite certain that they have the better understanding. And you, dear leader, because you represent the God Who Is, and seek to do so with all propriety, are effectively defenseless. You cannot lay out in public what was pursued in private. You cannot expose the details because they were delivered in confidence, and confidence must needs be maintained, or there is no leadership.
All I can say is, imagine how God feels, Who is perfectly Just and shockingly, inordinately merciful, and yet is maligned with such regularity. Imagine who God feels, Whose own creatures, when given opportunity, took it upon themselves to kill Him and be rid of His rule to pursue their own rotten course. And in all this, He is not given to offer His own defense. He stood silent before His accusers and accepted their ill-treatment. As He forewarned His leadership, “The servant is not greater than the Master. If they did this to Me, they will do so and worse to you.” But, in so doing, it is not you they seek to destroy, but Him. And God will repay. As for you, for all the pain and anguish, the endpoint remains certain. To die, even, is gain. Rejoice, for rich is your reward in heaven.
