wisdom

Valentine’s Day is For Getting Drunk (by Jon Bloom)

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The evolution of Valentine’s Day has followed a course similar to the evolution of Santa Claus. It began with legends surrounding an obscure saint (actually, there’s more than one St. Valentine) from early Christian history that oddly morphed over the centuries into something else entirely. Then it exploded into a pop culture and commercial phenomenon in Victorian England (thank the Brits for greeting cards, flowers, and “confectioneries”), with the United States quickly jumping on the bandwagon.

No one knows for sure how a February 14th feast day commemorating a martyr(s) came to be a celebration of Eros love. It’s possible that when 5th Century Pope Gelasius l abolished the ancient Roman pagan fertility festival, Lupercalia (celebrated on February 15th), it ended up just meshing with St. Valentine’s Day. All we know is that “Volantynys day” abruptly shows up in a romantic poem by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th Century and it’s been with us ever since.

So what should Christians make of today’s Valentine’s Day?

As much as purely possible! Valentine was a saint and Eros is not Cupid’s domain. It’s God’s! Christians should be the most unashamed, exuberant celebrators of romantic love there are, and the strongest guardians of God’s design and boundaries, because God made it for us to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17)! And God, the greatest romantic in existence, has designed it to give us a taste of the greatest romance that will ever exist, of which all Christians will experience.

Be Drunk with Love!

On the Desiring God blog we tackle, with blood-earnestness, the issues of sexual sin, the scourge of pornography, the anguish of same-sex struggles, and the complexities and difficulties of marriage, dating, and singleness. We all know the crucial need to guard ourselves, our children and each other against our indwelling, sexually broken depravity and a culture that shoves illicit sexuality in our faces every day.

But just for a moment, let’s not dwell on the dangers and disappointments of Eros. Let’s simply savor the purely intoxicating joy that God intends for betrothed and married lovers!

Yes, intoxicating. That’s Bible-talk for romantic love:

Friends, drink, and be drunk with love! (Song of Solomon 5:1)

Be drunk with love! I would say that’s a sweet imperative. The Bible doesn’t want us to drink in moderation when it comes to loving our lover. We are to drink deeply and become inebriated.

Like the Best Wine

So in that sense Valentine’s Day is a good day to get drunk. And a good place for some wine tasting is in the Song of Solomon. One read and it isn’t surprising that this wild drinking romp through the vineyard of betrothed (pre-consummated) and marital romantic love makes it one of the most controversial books of the Bible! Here are some of its wine samples:

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is better than wine. (Song 1:2)

How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine. (Song 4:10)

He brought me to his banqueting house (literally “house of wine”),
and his banner over me is love. (Song 2:4)

I came to my garden, my sister, my bride. . .
I drank my wine with my milk. (Song 5:1)

Your navel is a rounded bowl
that never lacks mixed wine. (Song 7:2)

Your mouth like the best wine.
It goes down smoothly for my beloved,
gliding over lips and teeth. (Song 7:9)

The taste of God’s Eros is like the best wine — even better! (There was more to Jesus’s first miracle than we first thought (John 2:1–11)!) And it’s meant to be drunk freely.

Awaken Love

Married lovers, have you lost your taste for this wine? If so, go to the Song together. Walk back through the vineyards. Have foxes gotten in and spoiled them (Song 2:15)? It may be that for you this Valentine’s Day is a moment when you resolve together to “awaken love” (Song 3:5). Flowers, cards, and confectionaries won’t do that. Love awakens when you revel in each other.

Husbands, read sections 4:1–5 and 7:1–4. Hear the Song’s groom salivate over his bride’s eyes, hair, teeth, lips, cheeks, neck, breasts, feet, thighs, navel, belly, and nose. Let your lover hear your delight in her body!

Wives, read 5:10–16 and listen to the bride savor her groom’s locks, eyes, cheeks, lips, arms, body, legs, and mouth. Let your lover hear you luxuriate out loud in what you admire.

Hear again God’s invitation to you:

Friends, drink, and be drunk with love! (Song 5:1)

God wants married lovers to experience deeply, and future married lovers to anticipate, the full-orbed sensual and spiritual pleasure of erotically loving another embodied soul. And he designed this intoxication to occur within the safe chamber of marriage because forbidden intoxication can kill (Proverbs 5:15–19, 20–23).

I Am My Beloved’s and My Beloved Is Mine

But of course there is much more to the Song of Solomon than a celebration of marital Eros. In it is woven the mystery of the Great Romance:

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:31–32)

Because of this, the Song can be savored by every Christian. The deepest drink, the most wonderful inebriation Eros can provide any husband and wife in this age is only a copy and shadow of what’s to come. No Christian will miss out on the real thing.

At the marriage supper of the Lamb, when we drink the real wine with our Groom and enjoy an intimacy with him that we had only previously known in metaphors, then we will really know what was meant by “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” (Revelation 19:6–8; Matthew 26:29; Song 6:3).

And then we will all know what true and wholly pure intoxication is.

Publishing Note: Jon Bloom (@Bloom_Jon) is the author of Not by Sight: A Fresh Look at Old Stories of Walking by Faith and serves as the President of Desiring God. www.desiringGod.org Copyright 2014 John Piper. Used by permission.

Synopsis and Homework Week 12

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In the days of Jesus’ life on earth he knew his purpose. He knew the need for a prefect once-for-all sacrifice to become the source of eternal salvation to everyone who placed their faith in the Perfect One alone. He knew he was that sacrifice. He knew exactly what John the Baptist was declaring when he pointed to Jesus and cried, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

The author of Hebrews pulls back the curtain on Jesus’ earthly life and we see our worthy Savior walking daily, even minute by minute, with his Father in prayer. The weight of creation itself rested firmly on Jesus’ shoulders in this time of testing. One sin in his 33 years would send the entire salvation plan to the fiery abyss. One sin would end for all time the hope of eternity. The times of Jesus’ testing made famous in the Gospels, in the wilderness and in the garden with Satan, sometimes so overshadows his day to day life that many Christians fail to marvel at the love of our Savior to endure to the end for our sake. O how he loves us!

HOMEWORK:

The label “Christian” means to be like Christ. Many scratch their heads when thinking about his sinless life; most of the time it’s because we think of a Christ-like life as a list of do’s and don’ts. The author of Hebrews paints a much different picture. We see Jesus, with prayers and supplications, crying out to the Father for help. We see Jesus knowing without doubt that God is his only hope. We see Jesus living out his life loving righteousness and hating sin.

Read Romans 7:7 through 8:1

How did knowing the Law affect Paul? (see verses 7-11)

 

What happens to you when you try to live according to a list of do’s and don’ts?

 

Did Paul expect to live a perfect life? (see verses 15-20)

 

What did Paul love and what did Paul hate?

 

Where did Paul place his hope? (see verse 24)

Teaching Outline Week 12

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The Joy in Responsibility

(An In-Depth Study of Hebrews)

Commentary

Obey Him

Hebrews 5:4-10 

Outline 

The main idea in the text comes in verse 9:

Jesus is the source of our eternal salvation.

The surrounding verses put forth Jesus’ credentials…

Honor (vs 4-5)

Appointed by God

Begotten Son

Order (vs 6, 10)

High Priest

Like Melchizedek  (not like Aaron)

Purity (Vs 7-9)

Tested / Proven

Learned Obedience

Made Perfect

 

LIFE APPLICATION:

Obey: The command “obey” doesn’t come with a list of do’s and don’ts. It comes with one imperative; believe!

Take Sin Serious: Like Jesus, pray that sin be put to death in this mortal body.

Synopsis and Homework Week 11

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A mentor taught me that prayer is a “wartime walkie-talkie”, not a bell to ring for the butler. I’m not calling to have my pillow fluffed, I’m asking my Leader, my General, my King instructions for battle. We have already drawn the battle lines in previous chapters. Our battle is against unbelief. We fight to trust. We meditate and pay much closer attention to the Word to believe what it says; to trust in the promises.

The greater our trust, the greater our confidence. The greater our confidence, the more we find ourselves before the Throne of Grace. The more we find ourselves before the Throne of Grace, the more help we receive to fight the battle. The pattern is clear. We don’t strive to do, we strive to believe. The doing comes from resting in the promises.

My help comes from a sympathetic High Priest. I am understood. My leader has been tested in every way that I am tested. I fail often, He never fails. Yet He has pity on me. I don’t arrive to find a mostly annoyed perfectionist when in need of help. I always find the perfect source of help. So, I come with confidence.

HOMEWORK:

Read Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus earthly ministry began with testing. It is the plan from the beginning. Being fully human (and also fully divine) there must be proof that Jesus is the sinless once for all sacrifice for the sin of the world. Notice that the first thing Jesus did, before the accuser was engaged, was fasted and prayed for forty days.

 

The detail of Jesus’ prayer and fasting is not stated in Scripture. However, based on what we have been encouraged to do by the author of Hebrews, what do you think the focus of Jesus’ prayer was to the Father in those forty days?

 

What did Jesus use to do battle with his accuser?

 

 

Teaching Outline Week 11

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The Joy in Responsibility

(An In-Depth Study of Hebrews)

Commentary

Have Confidence

Hebrews 4:14-5:3 

Outline 

There are two very important pictures of Jesus in the context of our verses;

Hebrews 4:14 through 5:3:

First picture is our Reigning King: (Not the main picture)

Throne of Grace –

The Kingdom is established on Grace. (verse 16b)

We all need help but we don’t deserve help.

We need to be pitied, have mercy and grace extended to us.

The main picture is our Sympathetic High Priest:

Jesus is compared to OT Israel Priesthood. (No modern day example is correct)

We need to know the OT in order to fully know our relationship with Jesus. (5:1-3)

As our High Priest: (4:15)

–          Tempted exactly as we are

–          Never gave in, never sinned, endured to the end

–          Understands weakness

Therefore…

Draw near…(vs16)

Jesus is sympathetic toward you

Hold fast…(vs14b)

Jesus is alive and in God’s presence, forevermore.

LIFE APPLICATION:

We need to strip ourselves of self-confidence:

Superman/Superwoman aren’t real

We need to stop drowning in leisure and sensual pleasures

Finding temporary escape

We need not be paralyzed

Sitting in dark depression

We have complete help now and forever

This is the whole point of the Old and New Testaments. God planned for a High Priest, a Savior, a Redeemer, a gracious Helper.

 

Synopsis and Homework Week 10

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It is a comforting thought that medical technology will advance to the point one day of simply allowing your body to be scanned by an “all seeing” MRI type device. The device will look into the deepest recesses to assess our overall health. Knowing that not even the smallest cancer cell can escape its penetrating gaze, we joy in the long and healthy life anticipated with its aid.

Upon detecting the unwanted, our miracle device constructs a series of “nanobot” doctors who enter the body through the smallest drop of liquid in the eye. No invasive surgery, no long recovery periods, only busy little robots working silently inside your body. These tiny doctors locate, subdue, and destroy disease like the perfect instruments they are.

Instinctively, the body knows it’s been healed. The morning walk to the office is with light energetic steps. You feel like singing…and you do! You frequently visit the device for continuing medical and health assessment. It becomes part of daily life.

Hebrews chapter four verses twelve and thirteen paints a strikingly similar image of daily life in the Word of God for the believer.  The Word of God, like a sharp penetrating gaze, looks deep into the soul and spirit. Its job is to assess the heart. Like cancer, unbelief can take your life. The Scriptures destroy unbelief and rest the heart firmly on the promises of God.

Instinctively, the heart knows it’s healed. The morning walk to the office is with light energetic steps. You feel like singing…and you do! You frequently visit the Word for continuing spiritual health assessment. It becomes part of daily life.

HOMEWORK:

Read John 8:39-47 (Jesus and the Pharisees argue over who belongs to God and truth)

Sometimes one can see the power of the Word of God in a believer’s life by looking at a negative example. The Pharisees would not hear the Words of Jesus. They didn’t believe. Jesus goes on to explain that they didn’t hear His Words because they couldn’t bear the sound of them. Jesus correctly assessed that they didn’t belong to God. Their father was the devil. Their father is the father of lies.

In verse 42 what does Jesus say about a true child of God in relation to Himself?

In verse 47 what does Jesus say will happen when the Word of God is spoken to a child of God?

Teaching Outline Week 10

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The Joy in Responsibility

(An In-Depth Study of Hebrews)

Commentary

Resting On Promises

Hebrews 4:12-13 

Outline 

The Context of Chapters 2, 3 and 4 (so far):

The main idea is “There is a rest for the people of God” (4:9)

Enter by:

Trusting in the promises of God (4:3)

Trusting comes through the Word by faith (4:2)

Strive to enter that rest (4:11)

2:1 Pay much closer attention [to the Word]

3:1 Consider Jesus…the Apostle [the message, or Word]

3:12 Take care brothers…evil unbelieving heart [not believing the Word]

3:15 Today if you hear His voice [Word], don’t harden your hearts

For… (our focal verses 12 and 13) we are taught about the Word…

About the Word:

Living and Active

Sharper than a double edge sword

Dividing – Soul and spirit, joints and marrow

Discerning – thoughts and intentions of the heart

The point of verse 12 is:

The Word of God penetrates very deep into the whole person

Once deep inside it assesses the heart

The assessment is NOT Good vs. Bad

The assessment is Belief vs. Unbelief

Are you resting on the Promise of Sin or the Promise of God?

 

The point of verse 13 is:

All are exposed in God’s sight. God sees and understands all about all.

However:        Believers are “naked and unashamed”. (Genesis 2:25)

 

LIFE APPLICATION:

Everyone is a promise believer.

There must be a function to assess the promises on which we rest.

Spend time with God’s people allowing the Word to assess us.