The Key to Bible Knowledge

The Key to Bible Knowledge

—J.C. Ryle

"And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." — Luke 24:27

Supper at Emmaus — Titian, Public Domain

“Let us mark [in this verse] how full the Old Testament is of Christ. We are told that our Lord began ‘at Moses and all the prophets, [and] expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.’

How shall we explain these words? In what way did our Lord show ‘things concerning himself’ in every part of the Old Testament field? The answer to these questions is short and simple. Christ was the substance of every Old Testament sacrifice ordained in the law of Moses. Christ was the true Deliverer and King of Whom all the judges and deliverers in Jewish history were types. Christ was the coming Prophet greater than Moses, Whose glorious advent filled the pages of the prophets. Christ was the true seed of the woman Who was to bruise the serpent’s head—the true seed in whom all nations were to be blessed, the true Shiloh to Whom the people were to be gathered, the true scapegoat, the true brazen serpent, the true Lamb to which every daily offering pointed, [and] the true High Priest of Whom every descendent of Aaron was a figure. These things—or something like them, we need not doubt—were some of the things that our Lord expounded on the way to Emmaus.

Let it be a settled principle in our minds in reading the Bible that Christ is the central sum of the whole book. So long as we keep Him in view, we shall never greatly err in our search for spiritual knowledge. Once losing sight of Christ, we shall find the whole Bible dark and full of difficulty. The key to Bible knowledge is Jesus Christ.”

—Excerpt from Expository Thoughts on Luke, Vol. 2 by J.C. Ryle (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1879, 500-501; in the public domain.

Amen.

False Revival

And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them. And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day. Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.

-2nd Kings 10:26-28

Image credit: Cristopher Burns via Unsplash creative commons license

One would think from these verses that King Jehu would be Israel’s version of zealous King Josiah who turns the kingdom of Judah away from its idolatry and leads a great revival. The images are burned and the temple to the false god Baal is turned into a urinal. Jehu leads a great slaughter of the Baal worshippers but made sure that all of the followers of the Lord were spared. And yet the very next verse tells us:

“Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and that were in Dan.”

Incredible! Rather than restoring Israel to true religion he was simply putting away the foreign idols in favor of Israel’s historic idols. What’s even more astonishing is that God sent his own prophet to anoint Jehu king of Israel while Ahab was still alive as Jehu was not naturally a successor to the throne. And after Ahab’s line is judged God speaks to Jehu directly (verse 30), without the facilitation of a priest or a prophet telling him that for his works his children will reign in Israel for four generations.

“But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.” 2nd Kings 10:31

No amount of miracles or divine providence will soften an unbelieving heart. No matter how much proof an idolator sees, they remain stubborn and unbelieving unless God himself intervenes and gives that person a heart of flesh.

That is why we must pray the words of Psalm 80 for our leaders and governors:

“Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself. So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.”

"Little children, keep yourselves from idols." -1st John 5:21

Selah.

The Blessed Hope

“The advance of God’s kingdom, while inevitable, does not guarantee that evil in society will abate as the kingdom advances. In fact, the presence of God’s kingdom guarantees conflict with the forces of evil.” (Riddlebarger, 2013, "A Case for Amillennialism: Understanding the End Times", pg. 125)

History appears to be cyclical. There are peaceful times, but there are also dark times, and we are not guaranteed either. We are not promised worldwide Christian revival nor are we promised the antichrist fanfiction of dispensational futurists. Our only hope is the salvation of our souls if we are so blessed.

"...I came not to judge the world, but to save the world" -John 12:47

Christ is our redeemer in this life and it is not through a secret escape hatch in which he redeems us. He will save this physical world because it belongs to Him and he ordained his saints to endure on this earth in each of our own unique capacities. Therefore we should expect suffering and tribulation, even great tribulation, with the understanding that we have eternal life in Jesus Christ.

"These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace: in the world ye shall have affliction, but be of good comfort: I have overcome the world. -John 16:33

This is that blessed hope, which stands in clear contrast to the anti-Christian teaching of the secret rapture.

"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou keep them from evil.

-John 17:15