Meditation on Text of the Week

A Glory Too Great to Bear

Let them fear Thee while the sun endures
And as long as the moon, through all generations.
May he come down like rain upon the mown grass,
Like showers that water the earth.
In his days may the righteous flourish,
And abundance of peace till the moon is no more.
Psalm 72: 5-7

It is critical to have the correct perspective on time—and in particular upon the time of God's Kingdom. Throughout most of the twentieth century the Church remained preoccupied with the “end times.” There was a widespread expectation that the Final Advent of our Lord was nigh, that human history was about to end, and the great final battle of Armageddon was imminent. These ideas, usually tied to the fortunes of the nation of Israel in the Middle East, have now waned somewhat.

It is not uncommon for such speculations to co-incide with dates or times regarded as momentous or significant. The turn of a century is often a favorite. The end of a millennium is usually a doozy. At the close of the first millennium AD, the western church had a widespread expectation of the Final Advent. The pope of the day (Sylvester) presided over a dramatic midnight mass and maintained an all night vigil at the last day of the millennium so that he would not be asleep when the Lord returned. He (along with numerous others) was wrong.

Speculations such as these turn out to be childish fancies, driven more by Christians reading their newspapers (or historical equivalents) than the Scriptures. But they are damaging to the Kingdom in at least three critical ways. Firstly, they all necessitate a wresting and distortion of the teachings of the Scripture. Any theology or “ism” which results in a distortion of the Scripture is both evil and destructive. Secondly, it distracts God's people from proper, diligent, faithful service. When people become convinced that the world is about to end they are likely to take their eyes off their day to day, year to year, decade to decade responsibilities to God as His servant and steward. Finally, when the speculations do not eventuate a widespread spiritual cynicism results. Those who had been seduced by the speculations risk ending up disbelieving the Bible completely. Others become deeply cynical towards their teachers and leaders.

The imminent end of the world is simply not taught in Scripture. At times when God's people are more informed by the Bible a “long-haul” view of history comes forth. For example, in 1559 John Knox was corresponding with John Calvin, asking for advice on issues regarding the administration of baptism. Calvin's reply and advice was based on the truth that the Covenant of Grace would continue for a thousand generations. Calvin used this fact as a premise in his discussion of the particular issue. But the “self-evident” manner in which he did indicated that for Calvin and the leading Reformers, the matter was beyond doubt.

So, let's think this through. A thousand generations, assuming that a length of generation is around 30 years, indicates that the Covenant of Grace will last at least thirty thousand years. Now this does not indicate the eternal heavenly state, because it is measured by generations. The human race is continuing to marry and bear children. So, since we have now entered the third millennium, we have only just begun. There is roughly at least another 27 millennia to go.

Where did Calvin get this idea from? It is derived from the Ten Commandments (and parallel passages). The Second Commandment forbids making any graven image of God, then: “you shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Exodus 20: 5,6)

The parallel passages of Exodus 34: 6,7 and Deuteronomy 7:9 confirm that when the commandment speaks of “thousands” it is not meaning merely “thousands of people” but thousands of generations. Notice the explicitness of the language: “Know therefore that the Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God, Who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments.”

Note that the manifestation and revelation of the glory of God's lovingkindness and faithfulness to mankind requires a thousand generations, it is so vast and incredible. Let none be in doubt: the Lord will not short change the time so as to truncate the revelation of the extent and glory of His faithfulness and His covenant keeping.

To us, today, we find ourselves marveling at the glory of God that He would keep covenant with us today, calling us the sons and descendants of Abraham. Yet we are a mere three thousand years later. Nevertheless our mouths are stopped and our hearts almost cease beating as we consider the weight of divine glory that we, three thousand years later, would be called sons and daughters of Abraham, and therefore inheritors of His lovingkindness. What kind of God is this, we wonder? How great can He be?

Imagine the depth, extent, and weight of glory that will be evident by the time the thousandth generation has come forth. It is beyond our ability to comprehend. Eye hath not seen. Ear hath not heard.

Our Text of the Week approaches the question from a different perspective. Psalm 72 is one of the royal Psalms, extolling the reign of God's King upon earth. Solomon himself was a type of this king. The New Covenant scriptures confirm that it is the Lord Jesus, Who comes forth as David's greater son, Who is granted this universal throne over all the nations of the earth.

The respect, fealty, and blessedness of His reign is to last as long as the moon—“throughout all generations”. During the days of His reign the days of the righteous will flourish and there will be an abundance of peace till “the moon is no more.” The extent of His reign will cover all the nations of the earth, from sea to sea. All kings will bow to Him; all nations serve Him (Psalm 72: 10,11)

This long, glorious, extensive and universal reign is not an unhistorical reign in the the heavenly realm, for it is a characteristic of His realm that the cries of the needy are heard, the afflicted are helped, the poor and the needy receive His compassion. He rescues their life from oppression and violence; their blood is precious in His sight. There is an abundance of grain; the city will flourish like the vegetation of the earth. His Name will increase as long as the sun shines. The whole earth will be filled with His glory. In other words, the glory of this King and His kingdom comes into human history and captures it, taking it over.

As we look about the world today, the conditions and reality described in this Psalm are far from fulfillment. The Kingdom has made only a small beginning. The full glories of His throne, which will come during the realms of the sun and the moon (that is, before the time they are no more, as described in Revelation 21:23 & 22:5), have yet to be seen.

No, the earth is not about to end. The very greatness of the Lord necessitates that He has to reveal far more profoundly, far more powerfully His glory. It is intrinsic to that revelation that He show mankind the glory of a divine lovingkindness that lasts unto a thousand generations of the human race. It has only just begun. Yet, even now, we can hardly bear it. It is too wonderful for us.

And in the greatness of that revelation, the glory of the Son of Man, Who kept covenant that God's lovingkindness might last to a thousand generations of sinful men, will shine forth as mankind has never seen it before. The glory that the apostles beheld, the glory as of an only begotten Son, full of grace and truth, will pale in comparison to the glory that is to be revealed upon the earth as His Kingdom comes.