Fighter Verses

Whoever covers an offense seeks love,
but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.
[Proverbs 17:9]

Ken Sande’s The Peacemaker is a refreshingly edifying and practical book on resolving conflict biblically. In the chapter on considering another’s offense against you, one section encourages “overlooking minor offenses.” After referencing this week’s fighter verse, he says,

When we overlook the wrongs of others, we are imitating God’s extraordinary forgiveness toward us … Since God does not deal harshly with us when we sin, we should be willing to treat others in a similar fashion. This does not mean that we must overlook all sins, but it does require that we ask God to help us discern and overlook minor wrongs. (82)

Later, he discusses “when someone’s sins are too serious to overlook” that they need to be discussed (150-155). He offers four criteria in question-form to determine when that is the case:

• Is it dishonoring God? “When someone’s sin becomes visible enough to obviously and significantly affect a Christian’s witness, it needs to be addressed” (151).
• Is it damaging your relationship? If another’s sin causes you to resent them or distance yourself from them, you should consider trying to resolve it with them.
• Is it hurting others? When other individuals or the whole church are tempted, harmed, or endangered by a believer’s sin, the subject should be broached.
• Is it hurting the offender? When a person is harming himself by his sin, it is unloving to adopt “the world’s view that everyone should be allowed to ‘do his own thing,’ … This is not the kind of love Jesus demonstrated” (152).

If you want to find out more about how to lovingly address your brother or sister’s sin, I commend The Peacemaker to you.

I’ve known for a long time that “it is not good to have zeal without knowledge” (Proverbs 19:2, NIV). I’ve also known that it is not good to have knowledge without its according zeal, such as the dead orthodoxy of so many Pharisees (John 5:39-40).

In fact, I’ve dared say that dead Pharisaical knowledge is worse for at least a couple reasons: God especially hates hypocrisy; and “it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to [disobey]” (2 Peter 2:21; see also Luke 12:47-48; Hebrews 10:26-27; James 3:1).

But I had started to conclude then that it would be better for me to be a wild and unorthodox zealot than an arm-chair theologian in my ivory tower. I figured that if I err, I should err on the side of unrestrained passion than being overly restrained. It seems, however, that my conclusion was unfounded:

Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
[Proverbs 16:32]

Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
[Proverbs 16:32]

Why is being slow to anger better than being mighty? Several other proverbs fill this out for us.

Proverbs teaches us that it is a foolish thing to get carried away by your temper. It is irrational. When you give free reign to your anger—and we all have things that make us angry—you make more enemies than friends. Though you may succeed in suppressing others and getting your own way for a while [i.e. Samson, Judges 14:19-20], any victory only lasts as long as you have power. The minute you are vulnerable they will retaliate.

Being slow to anger, on the other hand, is a sign of great wisdom. Such a person understands that the best way towards true success is not to blow up over something, but to stay calm and be reasonable and patient [James 3:17-18]. The results are much better and longer lasting. You win the hearts of others, not just their subservience.

Your patience—your slow-to-angerness—may even be the very thing God uses to save another’s soul:

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. [2 Timothy 2:24-26]

Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. [Proverbs 16:32]

In The Histories the Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC) relates an encounter between the Persian ruler Xerxes and a man named Pythius. Pythius had recently pledged a considerable amount of money to Xerxes’ campaign against the Greeks and felt emboldened to ask him to release the eldest of his five sons from service in the army so that he might care for the aging Pythius and his property. Here is Xerxes’ reported response:

Xerxes was furiously angry. “You miserable fellow,” he cried, “have you the face to mention your son, when I, in person, am marching to the war against Greece with my sons and brothers and kinsmen and friends – you, my slave, whose duty it was to come with me with every member of your house, including your wife? Mark my words: it is through the ears you can touch a man to pleasure or rage – let the spirit which dwells there hear good things, and it will fill the body with delight; let it hear bad, and it will swell with fury. When you did me good service, and offered more, you cannot boast that you were more generous than I; and now your punishment will be less than your impudence deserves. Yourself and four of your sons are saved by the entertainment you gave me; but you shall pay with the life of the fifth, whom you cling to most.”

Having answered Pythius in these words Xerxes at once gave orders that the men to whom such duties fell should find Pythius’ eldest son and cut him in half and put the two halves one on each side of the road, for the army to march out between them. The order was performed. (Pg. 431)

According to Proverbs 16:32, Xerxes’ rage in this instance was pitiable. Ironically, the ruler of a vast empire could not rule his spirit and so proved himself to be a lesser man than, say, a composed commuter in rush hour.

The authors of the Asbury Bible Commentary have some great insights on Revelation 21:1-8 (a section we’ve been looking at for several weeks now). It is here, they say, where John brings 8 key themes of the Book of Revelation together as a way of summarizing the whole thing.

See what they think these themes are, how they show up in 21:1-8, and what their significance is:

1. The sentence skeletons, I saw and I heard, refer to the inspiration guiding John’s writing. They denote the divine and human elements in John’s writing of Scripture. What he saw and heard from God passed through his human personality.

2. The end time equals a return to the beginning of time. After the judgment, a new era will dawn, which will be a return to the harmony of Eden.

3. The Holy City, the New Jerusalem sets up a contrast between Babylon the harlot (ch. 18) and Jerusalem the bride (21:10ff.) By picturing heaven as a holy city, John establishes an ideal for human society. Revelation is not an anti-urban book. John’s answer to the pagan city of Babylon is a city of God.

4. The word throne (22:3) appears in seventeen of the twenty-two chapters. Throne denotes the political message of this dramatic contest between the rule of God and the rule of Caesar/Satan. Also, throne recalls the scenes before the throne of God in the visions of creation and redemption in chs. 4-5.

5. The parallelism of skana/skanosei, dwelling/he will live establishes a relationship between God and God’s people in 21:3. That corporate relationship has a parallel in the promise of a personal relationship for faithful overcomers (21:7). In opposition to this relationship between God and the church, John contrasts Pergamum as the place where Satan’s throne dwells (2:13). Faithful saints enter into a saving relationship with God.

6. The new era is a time of healing for a church battered by persecution, social stress, and sin. In heaven God acts as an eternal pastor. Heaven is a place of healing for Christians who do not experience physical or emotional wholeness on earth. Revelation relegates tears, death, mourning, crying, and pain to the banished first heaven and first earth. Heaven is a place of healing, not as a mental escape from suffering as Karl Marx accused, but as God’s eternal response to earthly suffering. John’s church endured sufferings on earth because they believed God would soon act on their behalf to end their stress and bring eternal victory. The human spirit can encounter and endure tremendous tension if the mind believes its capacity for survival will not be stretched ad infinitum. Sometimes we live not by what we have but by that for which we hope. Heaven is our ultimate hope. That hope supplies stamina during stress.

7. Designating God as the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End continues the tendency to speak of God in terms of time (1:8; 4:8). Revelation abounds with temporal contrasts. As John nears the end of the book, he returns to an initial announcement that punctuates Revelation with a contrast between what is and what is to come.

8. In 22:7-8 a moral contrast is set up between faithful conquerors and faltering compromisers. Nikon (“conquering, overcoming”) recollects the seven conquering promises in chs. 2-3. The Lamb “has triumphed” (5:5). Martyrs conquer and attain eternal life (12:11; 15:2-3). Yet the leopard beast conquered saints and the evil trinity waged war against the church. Built into the structure of Revelation is a dualism that creates a moral contrast. Faithful conquerors including God, the Lamb, martyrs, and saints oppose antagonists including the beasts, the serpent, the Dragon, the harlot, and faltering compromisers. These verses contrast the faithful overcomers who received a halo of victory with those who do not enter heaven. Heaven serves an ethical and moral purpose.

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” [Revelation 21:5-7]

In The Reason for God, Tim Keller writes about the Christian hope of resurrection. More specifically, he addresses the implied question, “How does the resurrection affect the way we understand suffering and evil in this present life?” I love his answer:

The Biblical view of things is resurrection – not a future that is just a consolation for the life we never had but a restoration of the life you always wanted. This means that every horrible thing that ever happened will not only be undone and repaired but will in some way make the eventual glory and joy even greater.

A few years ago I had a horrible nightmare in which I dreamed that everyone in my family had died. When I awoke my relief was enormous – but there was much more than just relief. My delight in each member of my family was tremendously enriched. I looked at each one and realized how grateful I was for them, how deeply I loved them. Why? My joy had been greatly magnified by the nightmare. My delight upon awaking took the terror up into itself, as it were, so that in the end my love for them was only greater for my having lost them and found them again. This same dynamic is at work when you lose some possession you take for granted. When you find it again (having thought it was gone forever) you cherish and appreciate it in a far deeper way.

In Greek (specifically Stoic) philosophy there was a belief that history was an endless cycle. Every so often the universe would wind down and burn up in a great conflagration called a palengenesia, after which history, having been purified, started over. But in Matthew 19:28 Jesus spoke of his return to earth as the palingenesis. “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things (Greek palingenesis), the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne.” This was a radically new concept. Jesus insisted that his return will be purged of all decay and brokenness. All will be healed and all might-have-beens will be.

Just after the climax of the trilogy The Lord of the Rings, Sam Gamgee discovers that his friend Gandalf was not dead (as he thought) but alive. He cries, “I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself! Is everything sad going to come untrue?” The answer of Christianity to that question is – yes. Everything sad is going to come untrue and it will somehow be greater for having once been broken and lost.

Embracing the Christian doctrines of the incarnation and Cross brings profound consolation in the face of suffering. The doctrine of the resurrection can instill us with a powerful hope. It promises that we will get the life we most longed for, but it will be an infinitely more glorious world than if there had never been the need for bravery, endurance, sacrifice, or salvation. (The Reason for God, pp. 32-33, italics author’s)

The whole of Isaiah 24 speaks of God’s impending judgments to be poured out on the earth. But the next chapter speaks of the favors he will afterwards lavish on every people. One verse in particular mentions,

The LORD of hosts … will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.
[Isaiah 25:7]

This got me wondering: What is this veil cast over every people group? What is so foreboding that it will be so relieving when God finally eradicates it?

While this helped my thinking, I fortunately didn’t have to wonder forever without an answer. The next verse says,

He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces.
[Isaiah 25:8]

So it is death that hangs over everyone on the planet. And it is death that the Lord aims to kill once for all. It is to this event that our fighter verse refers:

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
[Revelation 21:4]

And how is it that he eradicates death? It is by Jesus’ death that he destroyed “the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14; compare 2 Timothy 1:10). And it is by Jesus’ resurrection that he has inaugurated his conquest to destroy every enemy, the last of which is death itself (1 Corinthians 15:21, 26).

Finally, at that point, God will not only ensure that there will be no more sorrow and crying. But as a tender Father, his removal of our sorrows will be most cathartic: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (see also Psalm 56:8).

When Adam and Eve were driven out of Eden, a number of things had changed:

1. They were now subject to death. “In the day that you eat of [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17).
2. Creation was cursed. “And to Adam he said, ‘Because you have … eaten of the tree … cursed is the ground because of you’ (Genesis 3:17).
3. Everlasting fellowship with God was broken. “Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden” (Genesis 3:22-23).

But Revelation 21 tells us that all of these things are one day going to be reversed:

1. There’s will be no more dying. “Death shall be no more” (21:4).
2. Creation will be remade. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (21:3).
3. God will grant us everlasting fellowship with him. “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (21:3).

How, then, are the new heavens and new earth a step up from Eden?

1. No murderous serpents. “Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false” (21:27).
2. No forbidden trees. The only one mentioned is the tree of life, “with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (22:2).
3. No threat of falling back into sin and separation from God. Our Savior will have sealed us forever: “[God's] servants will worship him … and they will reign forever and ever” (22:5).

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. [Revelation 21:4]

One of the effects of meditating on a future like Revelation 21:4 promises is that it causes us to press on through our present sorrows. It puts gas in the tank of our perseverance.

One of my favorite quotations on this subject is by Jonathan Edwards. Here’s what he says in a sermon titled “Heaven, A World of Love”:

…[B]e content to pass through all difficulties in the way to heaven. Though the path is before you, and you may walk in it if you desire, yet it is a way that is ascending, and filled with many difficulties and obstacles. That glorious city of light and love is, as it were, on the top of a high hill or mountain, and there is no way to it but by upward and arduous steps. But though the ascent be difficult, and the way full of trials, still it is worth your while to meet them all for the sake of coming and dwelling in such a glorious city at last. Be willing, then, to undergo the labour, and meet the toil, and overcome the difficulty. What is it all in comparison with the sweet rest that is at your journey’s end? Be willing to cross the natural inclination of flesh and blood, which is downward, and press onward and upward to the prize. At every step it will be easier and easier to ascend; and the higher your ascent, the more will you be cheered by the glorious prospect before you, and by a nearer view of that heavenly city where in a little while you shall forever be at rest.