Tag Archives: hear

Closed Minds

Revelation Commentary, , , , ,

Revelation 2:7a: “He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”[1]

This phrase ends every one of the messages to the Seven Churches. The main theme of the messages to the Churches is the refrain: “He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches.” It is a message of warning in light of the fact that Jerusalem is being destroyed because she closed her mind to Christ. On that Great Day of the Lord, at His appearing to reward His saints and to judge His enemies in the overthrow of Jerusalem, the appeal was to open their minds to Christ, the Word. The Spirit is still speaking this message to the Churches today.

A closed mind is the final stage of apostasy, beyond which there is no hope of repentance. As long as a person has an open mind, he may be taught the truth and corrected in his errors, but when he closes his mind, he seals himself into a chamber with no exit.

The closed mind accepts popular belief as authoritative and does not test doctrines or philosophies by Scripture. One attitude that reflects a closed mind is the expression: “Everyone knows –(thus and so).” Scriptures may be taken out of context as ‘proof-texts’ without weighing the evidence from the whole Bible.

“Rightly Interpreting the Word”

Interpretation is a stronghold; like a building, it is a system. It is indeed frustrating when a neat system of doctrine is upset by finding error in the foundational premises. Much effort, dedication, and persistence are required to rethink a whole system and make necessary adjustments. An attitude typical of the closed mind is: “I know what I want to believe, so don’t confuse me with the facts.”

It is painful to have to admit error or ignorance, especially when one has taught these errors to others. It is scary to take responsibility for an opinion. The easy way out is to simply say: “Our church teaches (thus and so).” It is unpleasant to the Flesh, but sweet to the Spirit to experience Truth firsthand.

Church Dogma – An Idol Not To Be Questioned

Closed minds are prevalent in the religious world, and are especially reflected in the area of dogma. Religious organizations typically lay down a body of doctrines that are considered as the authoritative principles of that religious body. Upon this basic dogma, other doctrines are built. But, while doctrinal principles may be discussed, refined, proven or disproven, the dogmatic foundations of those doctrines are expected to be accepted as true without question.

The word ‘doctrine’ implies a principle accepted by a body of believers, while ‘dogma,’ though a synonym of ‘doctrine,’ implies a doctrine that must be accepted without question merely upon the authority of the founders of the body. Obviously, if these founders were ignorant, unaware, deceived or malicious, their dogma will be faulty, and doctrines built upon that dogma will not be sound. Dogma thus assumes a blind belief in the infallibility of the founders of a religion and becomes an idol.

The Dogma of the Pharisees

Christ faced just such a situation when He ministered to the scribes and Pharisees. Their minds were closed to the truth He taught because of the dogmatic teaching of the rabbis. Many of these teachings were supposedly the authoritative interpretation of Scripture, but were actually perversions and distortions. Jesus refuted these errors consistently, for example, in the Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard that it was said …. but I say unto you….” He pronounced “Woes” and judgments upon those who refused to hear Him, (Matthew 23).

Christ referred these Pharisees to the Scriptural foundations. He quoted from the prophet Isaiah, (Isaiah 6:9-13). Isaiah was called to preach to the nation of Israel to warn them that judgment for their sins was coming and to call them to repentance. Yet, he was told he would not succeed in turning the nation, for “hearing they would not hear and seeing they would not perceive.” Isaiah would fail, for their minds were closed.

When he asked: “How long, O Lord?” the answer was:  “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without men, and the land is utterly desolate, and the Lord removes men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.” (RSV)

Their destruction was assured because of their closed minds. Yet, though the nation would not be saved, his preaching was not in vain for a remnant would hear and be saved.

Christ knew that He faced the same situation – people with closed minds, accepting only the interpretations of their malicious leaders; people whose ears were closed to hearing and whose eyes were closed to seeing the truth, (Matthew 13:14-17; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:9-10; John 12: 39-40.) This willful blindness and deafness greatly grieved and frustrated our Lord. It was this that prompted Him to so often repeat the refrain: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Jesus Calls Us To “Hear”

The series of parables in Mark 4:1-33 begins with the command: “Hearken!” (KJV) or “Listen!” (RSV). The series ends with the statement that Jesus taught the larger crowds by parables only as they were able to hear, (v. 33). The reason for using parables as a method of teaching is given in verse 12:

“So that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven.” (RSV)

The principal point of the parables is given in verses 24 and 25: “Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.”

In context, when He speaks of the ‘measure,’ He is speaking of the measure of the Word which a man has allowed to take root and to bear fruit in his life. To him that has thus incorporated the Word into his life, more of the Word will be given, but to him that has only accepted the surface meaning of the parables, and who refuses to allow the Word to impart a deeper spiritual meaning, even the Word that he has heard superficially will be taken from him.

The Parable Of The Candle

The parable of the candle, (Mark 4:21-22), is about the entrance of the Word into a man. Psalm 119:130: “The entrance of thy words giveth light: it giveth understanding unto the simple.” The Word enters a man through the channel of hearing. Unless the hearer places the ‘light’ of the Word upon a ‘candlestick,’ that is, gives it a place of prominence and honor, it will not give him light. But if it is given its proper place, it will illuminate his inner man, cleansing him from the secret sins of the heart and mind.

Those with closed minds do not allow the Word to penetrate their hard exterior of religious dogma. As both the fulfillment and the embodiment of the Word, Christ emphasized its acceptance as a means of salvation. So Christ punctuated the parables, as well as the messages to the churches with the refrain: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Search The Scriptures – Learn Their Context

Genuine faith in the Scriptures does not fear to subject them to careful scrutiny and analysis. The doctrine of the infallibility of the Scriptures has been well examined and has proven reliable. The Holy Bible has been preserved and transmitted down to us as a faithful witness to the Truth by many generations of saints. But examining our dogmatic beliefs can be unsettling, for our entire philosophy of life rests upon them. In rooting out false dogma, we must carefully examine them in the light of the Scripture and hold fast that which is good.

The Scriptures establish that Jesus is the Messiah Savior, the Son of the Living God, whose coming was foretold by the Prophets. His words have been tried and proven for 2000 years. We can accept His authority. Upon His authority, we can accept Christ’s Spirit, which says: “Let God be true and every man a liar.”

The Spirit of Truth

This Spirit of Truth will reveal our weaknesses and errors and give us full assurance of pardon if we repent and allow the Truth to rule our conduct and thinking, although here we only know in part – our knowledge is not perfect. The Spirit of Truth is also the Spirit of Love. Because He loves us, we have the security to examine the Scriptures without bias and without fear of condemnation. We can postpone an opinion until we have gathered more information and we can change our opinion when we find we are wrong. In other words, we can be teachable.

The greatest hindrance to enlightenment is a closed mind. The greatest challenge to teaching is not how to fill a mind, but how to open it. “The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back,” (Isaiah 50:5).

[1] In Hebrew perhaps “Hearing, let him hear… (with acceptance)“.

Blessings To The Hearers And Keepers

Revelation Commentary, , , , , ,

Revelation 1:2“Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near, (RSV).

Hebrew Writing

The blessing to “he who reads aloud the words of this prophecy” further indicates that it originated in written form rather than the oral form often used by the other prophets. Since John was in exile it was necessary that he address his audience in writing. Since their native tongue was Hebrew/Aramaic, the letter was probably written in Hebrew. Why would he, being a Jew and writing to Jews, not write in Hebrew? Furthermore, it was at that time thought that all true prophecy must be written in Hebrew.

What is the special blessing for those who read, hear and keep the words of this prophecy?

This blessing is related to the fact that “the [appointed] time, (kairos), is near.” If we take “the appointed time” to mean the time foretold by Daniel and confirmed by Christ of the judgments of God upon Jerusalem, then we can see that the special blessing is that those who heed this prophecy will be delivered from the “wrath to come,” and will escape the judgments coming upon Jerusalem.

The Oracle

Eusebius tells us that there was an “oracle given by revelation to acceptable persons,” that ordered the Christians to leave the city, just before the Roman siege. This oracle was circulated in Jerusalem at the time of the Roman invasion (Eusebius 3.5.4). What was that “oracle ” that was so influential as to cause the entire local church to emigrate? I believe that “oracle given by revelation” is, or is contained in, the Book of Revelation which we now have as the final book of our Bibles. The word “revelation” or apokalupsis may also be translated “oracle.”

Eusebius says that the war began in the twelfth year of Nero, which Williamson notes was 66 AD,* and that the Christian exodus was “before the war began.” He no doubt means the Roman war against Jerusalem to put down the Jewish rebellion against Rome that had been going on for some time. The historians Kee, Young, Froelich, says: “Presumably it was just before the siege began that the Christians decided to flee to a place of safety.” The time of the flight, therefore, may have been at some point “before the siege,” which began in April 70 AD. Other indications are that it may have been in the summer of 68 AD.* (See also my Commentary at 18:4 “Flight to Pella.“)

How Did The Christians Escape?

Other accounts show that after the city was under siege and Titus offered their life to anyone who would voluntarily come out to him, the warring factions of Jews inside the city stood guard at the gates and did not allow anyone to pass out to Titus. Some they robbed and some they ripped open in order to obtain any gold pieces they might have swallowed in their effort to get it out of the city. It thus became impossible to leave the city.

However, the account goes, this band of Christian Jews “were found” in another place across the desert from Judea. This may have involved a bodily translation as in Acts 8:40: “…but Philip was found at Azotus,” which may indicate that he was bodily translated from one place to the other. This may well have been the signal fulfillment of the “catching away,” or “rapture” that points to the fact that it can, and has, happened whenever it becomes necessary for Christians to be so delivered.  Indeed, we have modern accounts of saints being bodily translated. It can happen when needed.

*The discrepancy between the dates 66 and 68 AD may be that one was using lunar years and the other solar years.

Hear, Deliverance Promised, End Of The Age

Revelation Commentary, , , , ,

1:3: Hear: “Blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein,” (RSV).

Just as God does not speak without results, so in Biblical thought, man does not truly hear without keeping, or observing, what has been heard. To “keep” that which was heard requires an appropriate response. In Biblical communication, if the response is lacking, one has not completed the act of hearing. The Hebrew meaning of “hear” is more like our word “heed;” that is, you become a doer of the word.

The hearing of the ears initiates a challenge to the will. The will then must either assent or dissent. To assent is to accept or comply passively. This is the first step toward “keeping” or “doing” the Word. However, according to opportunity there must also be, not only the readiness to will, but also a performance of the deeds. Only with the performance is the act of “hearing” complete.

The great shema to Israel was not only an admonition to “hear” but also to “do”: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might,” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).

The controversy concerning faith versus works is due to the lack of understanding, amongst the Christians from gentile backgrounds, of the Biblical meaning of “hearing.” James taught the true sense of the word, declaring that “…faith without works is dead,” (James 2:26). And: “Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves,” (James 1:22).

Blessing Of Deliverance Promised

The message of Revelation gives the blessed assurance of Christ’s deliverance, reminiscent of Christ’s words in Luke 21:28: “Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near,” (RSV).

The passage in Luke 17:34-37 seems to indicate that deliverance is not to be merely a matter of one’s own volition, or watchfulness, but that some “will be taken” while others “will be left.” In reading Josephus’ account it seems that indeed there were people who did escape the City and others who could not. These passages themselves would have been sufficient to warn the Christians to avoid the City, or flee from it where possible.

The End Of The Age For The Whole Earth? Objections

Some will object that the “end of the age” does not pertain only to the fall of Judea and Jerusalem but to the whole earth. For example, “for it (that day) will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth,” (Luke 21:35 RSV). There are two things that must be pointed out in this regard:
(l) the word ‘earth,’ in the Hebrew is ’eretz which is sometimes translated “earth” and sometimes “land.” It could therefore refer to the whole land of Judea, or to the whole planet earth.
(2) It may in fact refer to both in their proper time and order; that is, first to the whole land of Judea in the first century, then to the whole planet after the Gospel has gone to the whole world. This is according to the pattern: “The Jew first and also the Greek (Gentile),” (Rom. 2:9-10).

A further objection is that, at His “coming,” Christ is to establish His Kingdom in the earth. This may be answered by pointing out that, at the destruction of the fleshly nation, Christ’s Kingdom fully replaced it in the earth. After that time, there was no other nation of Israel, no other heirs to the promises. We find in Revelation chapter 22 that the New Jerusalem has come down to the earth and God is again dwelling in the midst of His people.

But just as the physical nation had occupied a limited space in the world, so Christ’s kingdom at that time was not all-pervasive of the world systems. His kingdom has, however, like the little stone cut out by no human hands that broke in pieces the great kingdoms of the earth in Daniel 2:34, continually increased and will ultimately fill all the earth and replace every kingdom of this world, the Blessed Kingdom of those who hear the message of Revelation.

“Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this,” Isaiah 9:7.

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