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The Anchor in the Mist: Fearing the One Shepherd in a Fleeting World (Ecclesiastes 12:12:9-14) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. Today we are taking a deep dive
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into something pretty ambitious. We really are.
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We've got this massive stack of theological writings we are
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looking at today. Yeah, and it's all centered on
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the closing verses of Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verses
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9 through 14. Right?
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And the mission for this deep dive is well, we are trying to
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find a concrete anchor in what the biblical text calls a
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fleeting world. Yeah, because we are looking for
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objective truth in an age where, you know, opinions are just
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constantly shifting. Totally.
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And to get us started, I want to point out this really
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fascinating contradiction in modern life because I mean,
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think about it, you and I, we have access to more information,
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more data, and more books than any single generation in the
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history of the world. Oh, without a doubt.
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We hold entire libraries in our pockets.
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You have answers to almost any question imaginable.
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Just a screen tap away. Right, you can read commentaries
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from scholars across the globe in seconds.
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Yes, but here's the thing. Society seems to be drowning in
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unprecedented levels of depression, anxiety, and, well,
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just sheer intellectual fatigue. Yeah, people are exhausted.
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So we have to ask the obvious question, why does more
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knowledge not equal more peace? Like why does it feel like the
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more we learn, the more exhausted we become?
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Well, that contradiction is the precise burden of the text we're
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looking at today. To understand that exhaustion,
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we have to introduce the Hebrew concept of Hevel.
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Hevel OK, yeah. In a lot of English
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translations, you'll often see this word rendered as vanity or
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meaninglessness. Sure.
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Vanity of vanities, right? Spot on, but the sources we are
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evaluating today point out that those English words carry kind
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of a philosophical baggage that doesn't quite capture the
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original intent. Oh, interesting.
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So what's a better way to look at it?
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Much more accurate way to understand hevel is as a vapor
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or like a fleeting breath. A vapor, yeah.
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Think of the mist you see when you exhale on a cold winter
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morning. Oh yeah.
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It appears for just a brief second, you know it catches the
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light. You can see it clearly.
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And then it's just gone. Right.
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It vanishes entirely. You cannot grasp it.
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You can't hold onto it or build a house upon it.
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Wow, OK. And that is how the author of
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Ecclesiastes describes all of human existence when it is lived
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apart from the Creator. So the goal of our discussion
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today is to look at how these sources strip away that illusion
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of human autonomy. Yes.
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We are going to look at what actually remains standing when
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all the vapor clears. You know when the breath is
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spent and the absolute final word is spoken.
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I really appreciate that clarification on Hevel because
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it sets the stakes for the rest of the conversation, but before
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we look at the final verdict of Ecclesiastes, we kind of have to
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understand the man who is issuing this verdict.
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Yeah, the historical context is huge here, right?
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And the specific moment he occupied the sources placed the
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writing of this book in the era of the United Monarchy, so circa
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930 BC. Yes, and the author identifies
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himself as the son of David, King in Jerusalem.
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Which points directly to Solomon.
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It points directly to Solomon. And I should add, the sources
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we're unpacking take a very firm stance on defending that
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Solomonic authorship. Because there's a lot of debate
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there. Right.
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Oh tons. Modern liberal higher criticism
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and even some critical scholars who claim an evangelical label.
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They try to date this book much later, like when they argue for
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a post exilic date. They claim the linguistic
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profile of the Hebrew or the socio economic conditions depict
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an anonymous late philosopher. Gotcha.
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So they're saying this later writer is simply adopting a
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royal persona as a literary device.
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Yeah, precisely. Just a literary device.
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But our theological sources today reject that hypothesis
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entirely. OK.
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The text explicitly says it is the son of David, King in
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Jerusalem. And the authors of our sources
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asked a great question. Who else in the history of
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Israel possessed the unmatched, unparalleled wisdom, the
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exorbitant wealth? Yeah, the massive wealth.
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Right, and the unrestrained opportunity to test every single
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earthly pursuit to its absolute limit.
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Nobody but Solomon. No one.
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He had the resources to build anything, buy anything, and
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experience anything. Didn't he import exotic animals
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and build these massive gardens? Yes, he imported apes and
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Peacocks. He gathered singers.
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He amassed gold like it was dust.
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He tested hedonism. He tested intellectualism,
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extreme materialism. And he found all of it to be a
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passing mist, a vapor. All of it.
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See that context changes everything about how you read
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the book because it is not just a philosophical essay written in
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a vacuum. It's not someone guessing about
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what wealth might feel like, right?
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This is the repentance of a backslidden king in his twilight
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years. He is speaking from bitter first
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hand experience. And that historical reality is a
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central argument in the material we're looking at.
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This book represents the retrospective wisdom of a
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monarch who, despite receiving incredible covenantal blessings
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from God, he fell into grievous sins.
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The polygamy and idolatry. Yeah, you can read about that
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tragic fall in First Kings Chapter 11.
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He married foreign women who turned his heart after other
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gods. It's such a tragic trajectory.
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It really is so. In his old age, having tasted
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the bitter ashes of his own worldly compromises, Solomon is
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writing to the covenant community of Israel.
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He wants to warn them against the very apostasy that ensnared
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him. He's like an aged, battle
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scarred king just surveying the wreckage of his own autonomy.
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That's a great way to put it. During his reign, wealth flowed
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through Jerusalem like water. Silver was as common as stone.
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There was peace on every border. Was as close to a utopia as you
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could get on Earth. Exactly.
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Yet Solomon demonstrates that even in a perfect political and
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economic environment under the sun, the human heart remains
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entirely restless. It's unfulfilled without the
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fear of Yahweh. You know, thinking about this,
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I'm struck by how pervasive the prosperity gospel is today, this
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widespread equation of wealth and physical health with divine
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favor. But the sources point out how
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Solomon is, well, he's the ultimate historical Wrecking
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Ball to that entire theology. He really is, because the
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prosperity gospel teaches that material wealth and physical
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health are signs that God is pleased with you.
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Right. But Solomon had maximum material
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wealth. He had maximum health and peace.
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He had the literal definition of prosperity, and yet he declared
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it all a fleeting vapor without the fear of God.
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The historical context is just devastating to that modern
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theology. The authors of our sources make
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that point very, very clear. Solomon had it all, and he calls
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it a vapor. Furthermore, by placing this
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within a redemptive historical framework, the sources show the
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insufficiency of the earthly administration of the Davidic
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Covenant. Break that down a little bit.
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So Solomon, the earthly son of David, failed.
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His Kingdom would tear in two right after his death.
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Right, the Civil War. Yeah, centuries of civil war in
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exile followed, so this historical reality prepares the
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soil of the Old Testament for a greater son of David.
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Ah, a greater king of wisdom. Yes, a king who would reign not
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over an earthly piece of real estate in the Middle East, but
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over a spiritual Kingdom that shall never pass away.
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So we really have to read this text through the tears of a
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repentant Solomon to grasp the full weight of it.
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I like to think of this in a modern context.
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It is like looking at a billionaire CEO who retires at
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the absolute top of his game. He buys the biggest yacht in the
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world. He builds massive estates on
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private islands. He funds his own space program
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as they do right. And then he calls a global press
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conference just to sit at the microphone and say to the world,
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don't bother. I climbed to the top of the
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mountain and there's nothing up here.
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Exactly, it is all empty. So I guess my question is, if if
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a man who had literally everything calls life a vapor,
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why is our natural inclination as human beings still to chase
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those exact same earthly things? Well, the authors argue that we
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chase those things because of the inherent corruption of the
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human heart. It constantly seeks to replace
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the creator with the creation. Yes, and we believe the lie that
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our experience will somehow be different than Solomon.
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'S Oh, we always think we are the exception.
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Right. We think, you know, if we just
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get a little more money or a little more status, we'll
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finally find peace. But knowing who wrote this
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verdict, we now need to examine how he structured his final
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argument. We are moving from the grim
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reality of earthly life to a divine resolution.
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Ecclesiastes is categorized as Wisdom literature, but it
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operates very differently than the other books in that
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category. Right, because Proverbs gives us
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those cause and effect truisms like if you work hard you will
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have food, if you are lazy you will go hungry.
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And Job tackles the mystery of personal acute suffering, but
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Ecclesiastes tackles the apparent futilities and
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injustices of life under the sun.
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It does, and for the 1st 11 chapters, the Preacher
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systematically dismantles every conceivable human endeavor.
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He doesn't hold back. Not at all.
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Yeah, he exposes the emptiness of sheer intellectualism, the
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bankruptcy of seeking pleasure, and the leveling effect of death
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that eventually comes to both the wise man and the fool.
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Death is the great equalizer. Yeah, and the poetry that
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immediately precedes our specific text today, which is
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Ecclesiastes 12 verses one through 7.
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It is a harrowing, unforgettable description of the aging process
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and the finality of death. I was reading through that
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poetry in the sources and the ancient metaphors are just
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striking. They are very intense.
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The text uses these vivid pictures of a household breaking
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down to describe the human body failing.
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It talks about the keepers of the house trembling.
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What does that specifically refer to?
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So the sources interpret the keepers of the house trembling
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as the hands and arms growing weak with age.
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Oh. Wow.
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Yeah, the arms that used to defend the house and do the
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heavy lifting, they are now shaking.
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That is a powerful image. And then it mentions the
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strongman bowing, which represents the legs and knees
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buckling under the weight of years.
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And then it mentions the grinders ceasing because they
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are few. I assume that it's talking about
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teeth. Yes, the grinders represent the
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loss of Keith making it difficult to eat.
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It also talks about those who look through the windows growing
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dim. Eyesight.
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Right. The laws of eyesight, cataracts
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forming, the vision failing. The imagery's so methodical.
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It is. It takes the listener through
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the systematic shutdown of the human body.
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And then the finality of it all is depicted with these breaking
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images. The silver cord snapping, the
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golden bull breaking, the pitcher shattered at the
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fountain. And the wheel broken at the
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cistern. Yeah, that feels incredibly
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absolute. There's no coming back from
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that. The author uses those vivid
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images to drive the reader into a corner.
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He is forcing us into a space where human escape from death is
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completely impossible. Dust returns to dust.
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Yes, the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the Spirit
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returns to God who gave it. The commentary sources point out
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that this is a masterful literary strategy.
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How so? He tears down every false refuge
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until the human soul is left utterly destitute and out of
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options. There is no bodily strength left
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to rely on, no eyesight, no mobility.
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The machine is broken. The sources also point out a
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very specific structure here, an inclusio.
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Yes, the book ends. Right.
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The book begins with that famous cry, vanity of vanities, and it
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ends by tethering that vaporous reality to God's commandments
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and his coming judgement. But I want to bring up a push
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back here. Sure, go ahead.
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If the first 11 chapters are so unrelentingly bleak, tearing
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down every single human endeavor, every joy, every
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achievement, doesn't this run the risk of creating sheer
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existential dread or fatalism in the listener?
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Like if I am told that everything I do is vapor, why
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should I even get out of bed in the morning?
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There is a very natural reaction, and it is precisely
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why the literary transition in verses 9 through 14 and so
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critical. The sources argue that the
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strategy is not to leave you in despair.
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The strategy is to destroy false refuges.
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Destroying the false refuges. Yeah, it forces your gaze to
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shift from the horizontal plane, meaning everything that happens
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under the sun, upward to the vertical plane.
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To God's judgment seat. Right, the text is making it
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clear that this is covenantal instruction, not secular
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philosophy. That makes a big difference.
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A massive difference, yeah. The authors stress that if you
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read Ecclesiastes as a secular text, it absolutely leads to
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nihilism. Yeah, it would be depressing.
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But as a piece of divine revelation, it guides the
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believer in how to live in a fallen, cursed world with a
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posture of reverent fear. It teaches that the apparent
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futilities of the present are completely eclipsed by the
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teleological certainty of God's final reckoning.
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So the breakdown of the physical body and the emptiness of
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earthly wealth act as a funnel. It's pushing us toward the only
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thing that actually lasts. Pushing us to the vertical.
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Well, that brings us to the specific method the preacher
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used to deliver this divine antidote.
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In chapter 12, verses 9 and 10, we get a look at the rigorous
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craft of the Master teacher. Yeah, the text says, besides
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being wise, the preacher also taught the people knowledge,
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weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with
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great care. The preacher sought to find
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words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
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The commentaries unpack the Hebrew syntax here because it
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reveals the intense, deliberate nature of his work.
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Let's get into the Hebrew a bit. So the word for wade is izon,
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which is a rare form indicated meticulous evaluation.
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Think of placing raw materials on a set of precision scales to
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make sure the weight is absolutely perfect.
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Wow. Yeah, and the word for studied
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is chicker, which means a thorough, exhausting search.
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It is often used of searching out the deep things of God that
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is ticking, meaning to set straight or put into a specific
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deliberate order. I love looking at the original
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Hebrew for this part. The sources highlight this word
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ISN for wade. It is not just a casual glance,
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not at all. It is the kind of meticulous,
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agonizing precision you would use if you were measuring out
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gold dust on a tiny scale. He was doing massive
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intellectual labor to build these proverbs.
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Correct. The sources established that
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truth is objective and discoverable.
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It is not socially constructed or relative to the observer.
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He didn't just make it up based on how he felt that day.
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Right. The preacher engaged in the
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rigorous labor of handling divine truth, and the authors
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apply this to confront many modern approaches to teaching
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and preaching. This is where it gets really
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practical. It does.
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They point out that in a lot of pragmatic or seeker sensitive
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church movements today, there is a tendency to pander to the felt
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needs of an audience. Just giving people what they
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want to hear. Yeah, there's a temptation to
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dilute the sharp edges of Doctrine to fill seats or make
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people feel comfortable. And just a reminder, we're
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simply reporting what the sources argue here about these
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church movements. Right, of course.
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But their point is that the preacher did not engage in
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theological novelty. He did the hard work of
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discovering and arranging objective truth.
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The text also says he sought words of delight, which the
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sources identify as de vry chaffaise.
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But it says he wrote words of truth uprightly, which is
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yosher. The sources make a great point
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about true craftsmanship. Here the oak table analogy.
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Right. It is like looking at a master
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Craftsman building a sturdy oak table.
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He measures the wood, he planes it perfectly, he joins the
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pieces together so it can hold immense weight for generations.
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That is very different from buying a flimsy piece of
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disposable flat pack furniture. The kind that looks fine on the
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outside, but falls apart the second you put any real pressure
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on it. Exactly.
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But I do have a question about this idea of delight, because
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some people might hear words of delight and think that means
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preaching what people want to hear.
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You know, tickling their ears, so to speak.
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Sure. How do the sources differentiate
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between beautifully crafted truth and simple emotional
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manipulation? That is the crucial tension the
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commentaries address in verse 10.
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He sought words of delight, but the syntax immediately qualifies
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that pursuit. How so?
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Those delightful words were bound to uprightness and truth.
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The authors argue that emotional manipulation sacrifices accuracy
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for rhetorical effect. It tells the audience what they
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want to hear, regardless of reality.
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The preacher, however, teaches us that God's truth, even when
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it cuts the conscience or delivers a hard reality about
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death and judgement, possesses an inherent, transcendent
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beauty. The truth is beautiful in
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itself. Yes, the delight lies in the
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fittingness, the vividness, and the perfect accuracy of the
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words. He didn't use ugliness as a
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badge of faithfulness, nor did he sacrifice truth on the altar
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of style. He joined beauty and accuracy
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together. Perfectly.
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Let me jump in here because you have this guy meticulously
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crafting these words of delight, right?
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But the sources then compare these delightful words to a
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goad. An ox goad.
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Yeah, Counterbenot. That is literally a sharp stick
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used to stab an animal. How on earth do the sources
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reconcile delight with being stabbed?
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I know it sounds crazy. The imagery is incredibly
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physical and intentional, and the author spent a lot of time
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on this apparent paradox. OK, unpack that for us.
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So a goad in the Hebrew kadarbanat was an agricultural
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tool. It was a long stick with a sharp
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iron point used by farmers to drive slubber, an oxen in the
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right direction. To keep them moving right?
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And the commentary argues that because human beings are dead in
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their trespasses and sins, we are entirely stubborn.
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We are recalcitrant. We don't naturally drift toward
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holiness. No, we don't naturally drift
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toward obedience at all. So God's Word doesn't flatter
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us. It pierces us.
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It prods us. It prods us out of our lethargy
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and our sinful complacency. The delight is found in the fact
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that this piercing is actually saving our lives.
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Wow. And the second metaphor in verse
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11 is nails firmly fixed or mesmerot nethum.
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Yes, and the sources contrast the two functions perfectly.
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While the goad provides necessary movement through
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conviction, the nail provides stability.
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Because we live in a world of shifting cultural sands.
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Yeah, where opinions change with the wind in the vapor of life
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constantly disorients us. The fixed nails of doctrine hold
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the soul in place. They give the believer an
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immovable anchor, and the absolute key to this entire
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verse, according to the theological sources, is the
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concluding phrase. Given by 1 Shepherd.
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Yes, the multiplicity of wise sayings is traced back to a
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singular divine origin. The one shepherd is Yahweh
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himself. This brings up a major
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theological stance from the sources.
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If these nails are firmly fixed by the one shepherd, the sources
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articulate A strict cessationist view regarding the Canon of
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Scripture. They do.
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They argue that the Canon is completely closed.
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That is the logical and theological conclusion the
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authors draw. If the nails of divine
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revelation are firmly fixed by the shepherd, the Canon of
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Scripture is closed. Meaning no new revelation.
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Right, The sources argue that the Church does not need, nor
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should it seek, new prophetic utterances, private prayer
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languages, or novel Apostolic decrees.
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Then the Holy Spirit speaks definitively and sufficiently
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through the completed written. Word Yes.
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The argument is that looking for additional revelation implies
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that the shepherd's given words are somehow insufficient for the
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flock. I want to go back to that image
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of the goad for a second. Sure, nobody likes being prodded
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with a sharp stick. It hurts.
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Yeah, it does. If God's Word is meant to act as
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a goad that wounds us, how do we explain this to our current
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culture? We live in a society that is
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obsessed with therapy, with safe spaces, and with constant
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unconditional affirmation. Absolutely.
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How do you convince someone that this specific kind of wounding
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is actually medicinal? The commentaries address this by
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looking at the nature of the disease.
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OK, think about it like this. If a person is falling asleep in
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the freezing snow, the person who violently shakes them awake
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is not abusing them. Right, they are saving their
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life. Exactly.
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The therapy culture you mentioned often treats the
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symptoms of human sadness by affirming the very autonomy that
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causes the sadness in the first place.
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Treating the symptom, not the disease, right?
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The sources argue that the GOAT of scripture wounds our pride,
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it wounds our self righteousness, and it wounds our
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idols. It is painful to be told that
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your earthly pursuits are a vapor and that your heart is
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corrupt. But that wound is the exact
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incision necessary to remove the tumor of self-reliance.
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It allows the grace of the Shepherd to actually heal the
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soul. That is a very helpful way to
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frame the source's argument. The wound is an incision for
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healing. Yes, this takes us right into
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verse 12, where we look at the exhaustion of secular
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epistemology. It's a big topic.
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If the shepherd provides these fixed nails, what happens when
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humanity tries to build its own foundation?
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The verse issues a very stern warning, it says, of making many
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books. There is no end, and much study
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is a weariness of the flesh. The authors clarify that this
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verse is often misunderstood. Some people think it's a defense
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of anti intellectualism or laziness.
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Right. Don't read books.
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Yeah. But remember, the preacher was
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just commended for his meticulous study.
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The weighing and arranging. Exactly.
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This is not a rebuke of discipline learning, the sources
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argue. It is a rebuke of scholarship
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that refuses to submit to divine wisdom.
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OK, when human philosophy attempts to answer the ultimate
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questions of existence without reference to the Creator, it
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becomes an infinite exhausting loop.
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Because it's never settled. Right human reasoning cannot
21:38
heal the soul. It only compounds the tragedy of
21:42
total depravity. The sources apply this directly
21:44
to modern ideologies. They do.
21:46
They cite liberal theology, macroevolution, secular
21:50
humanism, and critical race theory as modern examples of
21:54
this weariness of the flesh. Yes.
21:56
And again, to be clear for you listening, we are just reporting
21:59
what the sources argue here. We aren't taking a political
22:01
stance, but the argument the authors make is that these
22:04
frameworks attempt to redefine sin, justice and humanity
22:10
outside of a biblical framework. That's right, we see millions of
22:14
titles published, an endless stream of discourse on social
22:17
media, and yet the culture remains exhausted.
22:20
So what's the fundamental issue with that according to the text?
22:24
The fundamental issue the source material identifies with those
22:26
ideologies is that they attempt to unfix the nails of God's
22:30
Word. Yeah, they offer endless human
22:33
words as a substitute for divine revelation, but the soul can be
22:37
heavily informed by these books and still remain entirely
22:40
unwise. You can have a PhD and still be
22:42
a fool, biblically speaking. A person can be stimulated by
22:46
endless academic debate and still not be holy.
22:50
The argument is that true rest for the human mind is only found
22:54
when it submits to the boundaries set by the shepherd's
22:56
words. So if the manual is right there,
22:59
and human philosophy is just a treadmill of exhaustion, what
23:03
does the author say is the actual core of existence?
23:06
We finally get to the bottom. Line right?
23:07
When you strip away all those endless books, what is left?
23:10
I look at this like someone trying to fix a complex high
23:14
tech engine. They are scrolling infinitely on
23:17
the Internet, reading forum after forum, listening to
23:20
hundreds of conflicting opinions.
23:22
They're getting more and more frustrated and exhausted.
23:25
Meanwhile, the manufacturer's manual is sitting right there on
23:28
the workbench. That's a great analogy.
23:30
But critics might hear this and argue that restricting yourself
23:33
to the shepherd's words is a form of intellectual prison.
23:36
They would say you were closing your mind.
23:38
How do the sources convince someone that submitting to this
23:41
closed Canon is actually intellectual freedom?
23:44
The sources make a great point about true freedom here.
23:47
It is like a train. Yeah, a train is not free when
23:51
it derails and attempts to drive across a muddy field.
23:54
Definitely not. It is bound to get stuck, break
23:56
apart and fail. Its purpose?
23:59
A train is only truly free to operate at maximum capacity when
24:02
it stays firmly on the tracks it was designed for.
24:05
Right. If a train decides it wants to
24:07
be free and jumps the tracks into a Meadow, it is not
24:10
liberated, it is stuck in the mud.
24:12
It is totally useless. Absolutely.
24:14
And the psychological mechanism there, according to the sources,
24:17
is that boundaries actually relieve us of the impossible
24:21
burden of having to invent our own reality.
24:23
That is so true. Intellectual freedom is not the
24:26
absence of boundaries, it is the ability to operate perfectly
24:30
within the boundaries of truth. Submitting to God's Word frees
24:34
the mind from having to invent its own morality and its own
24:37
meaning out of a fleeting vapor. A train is free when it stays on
24:40
the track. That is a great visual, yeah.
24:42
It really works. So after clearing away the
24:45
endless noise of all those worldly books and philosophies,
24:48
we finally reached the irreducible core of human
24:50
existence. Verse 13.
24:52
Verse 13 it says the end of the matter.
24:55
All has been heard. Fear God and keep His
24:57
commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
25:00
This is the definitive summary statement of the entire book.
25:03
The end of the matter, yeah. The Hebrew word for fear, yera,
25:08
is placed at the front of the clause for intense grammatical
25:10
emphasis. God alone is the object of this
25:14
supreme reference. And the sources are careful to
25:17
define what this fear is. They are because it is not bear
25:20
cowering terror of an abusive tyrant.
25:23
No, not at all. It is a trembling trust, a holy
25:26
awe, and a reverence for the Creator's majestic sovereignty.
25:30
And this internal affection of fear organically produces the
25:34
external action of obedience. Which is keeping his
25:37
commandments. Right now, the sources are very
25:39
specific about how they view this obedience.
25:41
They frame it strictly through a reformed theological lens.
25:44
They take a hard line on human ability here.
25:46
Yes, the distinctions the authors make are vital to their
25:49
argument. Let's unpack that.
25:50
The Reformed view in the sources rejects the Armenian concept of
25:53
libertarian free will, arguing that that humans, being dead in
25:57
sin, cannot simply choose to keep the commandments out of
26:01
their own inherent ability total.
26:03
Depravity. Exactly.
26:04
It also rejects the Roman Catholic view, which suggests
26:07
that keeping the commandments earns a treasury of merit that
26:11
contributes to our justification.
26:13
Yeah, the authors stressed that true, acceptable obedience is
26:16
never the root of our salvation. It's the.
26:19
Fruit. It is the fruit is the result of
26:21
sovereign unconditional grace and the regenerating work of the
26:25
Holy Spirit changing the stubborn heart.
26:28
But notice the absolute universal language here.
26:31
The text says for this is the whole duty of man.
26:34
Yeah, it applies to everyone. No one gets a pass based on
26:37
their intellect, their culture, or their status.
26:40
But I have to ask, if the sources believe in total
26:43
depravity, meaning we are completely unable to keep the
26:46
commandments perfectly, isn't this conclusion setting the
26:49
listener up for massive failure failure.
26:51
How so? Well, it says the whole duty of
26:53
man is to do something that man is inherently incapable of doing
26:57
perfectly. It absolutely sets the natural
26:59
man up for failure, and the sources argue that is precisely
27:04
the theological intent of the law.
27:05
Oh, to expose our failure. Yes, the law is a mirror that
27:09
exposes our absolute inability to achieve righteousness on our
27:13
own. It forces us to realize that if
27:15
this is the standard perfect fear and perfect obedience, then
27:19
we are utterly condemned, which leads directly to the terrifying
27:23
reality of the next verse where the demand for obedience meets
27:26
inevitable accountability. That brings us to verse 14.
27:30
It says For God will bring every deed into judgment with every
27:33
secret thing, whether good or evil.
27:36
The commentaries emphasize that there is no Incognito mode
27:38
before the Almighty. No Incognito mode.
27:40
I like that. The public life is not the whole
27:42
life. Every hidden motive, every
27:45
unseen lost, every secret cruelty, as well as every
27:48
unnoticed act of faithfulness is completely open before the
27:51
piercing gaze of God. Nothing is hidden.
27:54
Nothing. The text establishes that the
27:55
universe is morally governed. The injustice, as we see under
27:58
the sun, will be rectified. The sources make a strict
28:02
dispensational distinction here regarding how this judgment is
28:05
applying to different groups. Yes, they distinguish between
28:08
the judgments based on a dispensational framework for the
28:12
unbeliever. The sources point to the Great
28:14
White Throne Judgment described in Revelation 20, which
28:18
evaluates their deeds and results in eternal damnation
28:21
because they lack the righteousness of Christ.
28:24
But it's different for the believer.
28:25
Right the justified church faces a different reality, which is
28:28
the Bhima seat of Christ as described in 2nd Corinthians 5.
28:32
The. Bema Seat.
28:33
At the Bema seat, the believers sins are already paid for and
28:36
their penal condemnation is removed, but their works are
28:40
still tested by fire to determine heavenly rewards.
28:43
So the authors use this to completely destroy the
28:46
Antinomian lie, and for those listening, that is the idea that
28:50
because we are saved by grace, the moral law no longer matters
28:53
and we can live however we want. Right.
28:55
Let us sin, that grace may abound.
28:57
Exactly. It serves as a terrifying
28:59
warning to hypocrites who play church, but it is also a solemn
29:03
motivation for the actual St. It is.
29:06
But here is a practical pushback.
29:08
OK, if you, the listener, truly know your sins are already paid
29:12
for by grace at the cross, why should the reality of this
29:15
judgement shape your private secret life today?
29:19
That's a fair question. If I am not going to hell for my
29:22
secret sins because of grace, why fear this judgement?
29:26
The sources answer that by pointing out that a true
29:28
believer possesses a regenerated heart that loves the Father and
29:32
desires to honor him. It's a different kind of fear.
29:34
Yes, the fear of God we discussed earlier is filial.
29:37
Is that the fear a loving child has of displeasing a perfect
29:41
father, not the fear of a criminal facing a judge.
29:44
Furthermore, the loss of eternal rewards and the Father's loving
29:47
discipline are serious realities.
29:49
The authors argue that to use grace as an excuse for secret
29:52
sin is to demonstrate that one might not actually understand
29:56
possess that grace at all. That tension, the demand of the
29:59
law, the reality of our failure, and the certainty of judgment
30:02
would absolutely crush us if the text ended right here.
30:05
It would be unbearable. But it does not end here.
30:08
In the canonical context, we have to reach the Christological
30:11
resolution. How do the sources say Jesus
30:14
Christ fulfills this massive weighty text?
30:17
The authors insist we must read this Old Testament text in the
30:21
full light of canonical revelation.
30:24
Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of the one Shepherd
30:27
mentioned in verse 11. Right in John chapter 10, Jesus
30:30
declares I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his
30:34
life for the sheep. Yes, all the words of truth, the
30:38
goads of conviction, and the fixed nails of doctrine proceed
30:42
from the mind of Christ, who is the Word made flesh.
30:44
Without him, the sharp goads of the law would only drive us to
30:48
absolute despair. And he fulfills verse 13 as
30:50
well, the command of fear God and keep his commandments.
30:54
The sources frame him as stepping in as the second Adam.
30:57
Exactly. And the theological material
30:59
details this beautifully. Where the first Adam failed the
31:01
covenant of works, and where Solomon failed despite his
31:04
wisdom, Christ succeeded. His act of obedience.
31:07
Yes, he lived lived a life of perfect active obedience.
31:11
He perfectly feared God, and he kept every single commandment
31:14
and thought, word and deed, without a single infraction.
31:18
Doing what we couldn't do. Right.
31:19
He achieved the righteousness that we owed but could not
31:22
provide, and then through His passive obedience on the cross,
31:26
he bore the wrath of God. Suffering the exact judgement
31:30
that our secret evils deserved. And finally, regarding verse 14,
31:33
the Father has given all judgement to the Son.
31:36
Jesus states in John chapter 5 that the Father judges no one,
31:40
but has given all judgement to the Son.
31:42
It is like standing in a courtroom.
31:43
OK, you are gaiky. The evidence is overwhelming and
31:47
the penalty is severe. But instead of wearing the
31:49
orange jumpsuit of a convict, you were wearing the spotless,
31:53
pristine uniform of the one person who actually passed the
31:56
test. The judge himself.
31:57
And that person happens to be the judge sitting on the bench.
32:00
That is the doctrine of imputed righteousness that the sources
32:02
are pointing toward. We cannot stand before the judge
32:05
closed in our own works. We must be found in him.
32:09
Justified by grace alone through faith alone.
32:11
The fleeting vapor of life under the sun only finds eternal
32:15
substance in the Son of God. So as we wrap up this, look at
32:19
the material, how did the sources say we should Live
32:21
Today? The applications are urgent.
32:24
Very urgent. First, they tell us to reject
32:26
the weariness of secular philosophy, stop trying to find
32:29
solid ground in the endless shifting books of the culture.
32:32
They won't hold you up. 2nd, cultivate A joyful, trembling
32:36
fear of God in your daily life. Let it shape your home, your
32:40
work, and your worship. Yes.
32:42
Third, I love the analogy the sources used from Brian Borgman
32:46
about taking a simple trip to the Oregon Coast.
32:48
Oh, that's a great application. Enjoy the lawful temporal
32:51
blessings of this life. Eat your daily bread, look at
32:55
the ocean. Love your family.
32:57
Enjoy them precisely because they are temporary gifts from
33:00
the hand of the shepherd, not ultimate gods that can save you.
33:03
And finally, let the reality of the coming judgment drive you to
33:06
the cross to cleanse your secret sins.
33:09
It is a clear call from the authors to live entirely for the
33:12
Great Shepherd, just resting your soul completely upon the
33:15
finished work of Jesus Christ. Well, here's where I want to
33:17
leave you a final thought to ponder as you step back out into
33:21
the midst of this world. What is it if?
33:23
Ecclesiastes teaches us that the physical clock of our lives is
33:27
just a vapor, a passing miss. Yeah, what happens to your daily
33:31
anxieties when you stop measuring your life by the
33:34
ticking clock of mortality and start measuring it strictly by
33:37
the eternal gaze of the judge? Does the vapor suddenly feel a
33:40
lot more solid?