He Once Was Dead!

1. Sweet is the savour of His Name 

Who suffered in His people’s stead;

His portion here, reproach and shame:

He liveth now; He once was dead.

2. He once was dead; the very same

Who sits on yonder throne above;

Who bears in heaven the greatest Name,

Whom angels serve, whom angels love.

3. He once was dead; the very same

Who made the worlds—a work of power,

Who now upholds the mighty frame,

And keeps it till the final hour.

4. He once was dead; but now He lives,

His glory fills all heaven above;

Its blessedness to heaven He gives,

The fountain He of joy and love.

5. His people shall His triumph share,

With Him shall live, and with Him reign;

In heaven their joy is full, for there

They see THE LAMB for sinners slain.

        This hymn, left as “anonymous” in our hymnbook (Believers’ Hymn Book #256), actually appears as HYMN DCXXXIX [639] in Hymns on Various Passages of Scripture, by Thomas Kelly (published in 1853), and it is he who should be credited with its authorship. 

        Kelly referenced Revelation 1:18, “I am alive for evermore,” and included two more verses between 3 and 4, above: 

He once was dead, the very same

Who soon will come with glory crowned;

His breath shall kindle then a flame

That shall consume the world around.

He once was dead, the very same

At whose command the dead shall rise,

To sorrow some, and endless shame,

And some to everlasting joys.

        Thomas Kelly was born in Dublin on July 13, 1769, the son of a judge of the same name, residing at Kellyville House, Athy. We know little of his mother or of his childhood, other than the simple statement, “his primary education was obtained at Portarlington and Kilkenny. He received his secondary education at Trinity College of Dublin University.” After graduation, he intended to study law so he transferred to the Temple bar in London. Here he encountered Hutchinson’s Moses’ Principia, with the consequent need to study Hebrew. This in turn led him to William Romaine’s works and a determination “to forsake the world and all its attractions and take up the study of theology.” The ascetic lifestyle he adopted put his very life in danger until “he found peace and comfort through faith in the grace of God through Jesus Christ.” 

      The clergy and even his own family opposed him. Kelly’s parents regarded his conversion as a calamity, and his mother exclaimed, “a change has taken place, but for the worse!” They were mortified that their only son, heir to the family estate, had stooped to unite himself with “Methodists and Swaddlers.” One biographer happily reports that, “After 

some time he gained universal recognition on account of his culture and thorough learning, but especially on account of his endearing personality, his sincere piety and humility, his charity work, and untiring zeal for the extension of the Kingdom of God.” 

      He was ordained in the Established Church in Ireland in 1792 and began to preach a clear gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. This soon upset Archbishop Fowler of Dublin, and both Kelly and his friend Rowland Hill were barred from preaching. This didn’t stop them, of course, and Kelly soon associated himself with the dissenters. Being a wealthy man, he was able to build chapels with his own money in Dublin (Blackrock), Portarlington, Athy, Wexford and Waterford. 

        In about 1800, Kelly married a Miss Tighe of Rosanna, Wicklow, who shared his spiritual views, and they had at least one child, a daughter. Then, in 1802, he published A Collection of Psalms and Hymns that included thirty-three of his own works. Over the next fifty years, he steadily added to his portfolio until, with the final edition of Hymns on Various Passages of Scripture in 1853, he filled out a volume with 765 of his own works. 

Kelly Memorial at Ballintubbert

     When a friend read “The Lord is my shepherd” as Kelly lay on his deathbed, his response was “The Lord is my everything.” He passed away on May 14, 1855 in Dublin, and was buried at Ballintubbert Church, just a few miles outside of Athy. 

        A few other notable hymns from Kelly’s pen include Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious; Meeting in the Saviour’s Name; Praise the Saviour, ye who know Him; and We’ll sing of the Shepherd that died. 

The Shroud of Turin

        “The Shroud of Turin is a length of linen cloth bearing the negative image of a man who is alleged to be Jesus of Nazareth…The cloth itself is believed by some to be the burial shroud that Jesus was wrapped in when he was buried after crucifixion.” Wikipedia article

        “It is first securely attested in 1390, when a local bishop wrote that the shroud was a forgery and that an unnamed artist had confessed.” Since then thousands of books and articles have been written, both approving and debunking its reality. 

        In a “view”, this author wants to suggest two logical reasons why it is unlikely to be the original burial cloth. Aside from all provenance and science, two Scriptural facts should be noted: 

1) There was a weight of 75 pounds of spices wrapped with the body [John 19:39] and 

2) The burial cloth did not cover the head [John 20:7]. 

       If the image was caused by radiation or some other form of brilliant exposure, there seems to be no sign of the spices, and secondly, the covering from the head was lying separately from the linen, not part of the shroud itself. Just a thought. ☺ 

        For anyone who would like to pursue this further, there is an amazingly thorough essay by Gary Habermas, available on the internet at www.garyhabermas.com. His article includes some excellent insights into the resurrection, as well as what he considers strong reasons why this might be the “true” shroud.

Apologetics: Crossing Jordan Dryshod

        After the two spies were helped by Rahab to escape from Jericho, they returned to Joshua and reported, “The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands.” (Joshua 2:24) Early the next morning, the Israelites moved to the Jordan and camped there three days. On the fourth morning, Joshua had the priests carry the ark of the covenant and stand in the river. “As soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.” (Joshua 3:13) 

        The author’s comment at this point is that “the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest,” (v.15) but the water from upstream did stop flowing. “It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan.” (v.16) As soon as all Israel had hurried over, Joshua called the priests up out of the river bed and “the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.” (v.18) 

        The period of the exodus is filled with miracles; some we may explain in a scientific sense, but many not. There is a geographical explanation in the drying up of Jordan but the geology and the perfect timing are entirely God’s doing. 

        Are there other passages of Scripture that bear on this event? Consider Psalm 114:3-7—the psalmist tells us that “the Jordan turned back, the mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs…tremble, O earth…” This was for real! This is a poetic description of a serious earthquake. 

        What is the geography of the Jordan at Adam near Zarethan? The site of “Adam” is considered to be about two kilometers downstream from the confluence of the Jabbok River with the Jordan, on the east side and about 27 kilometres north of Jericho. The “Adam Bridge” or “Damia Bridge” located here, is one of the few border crossings into the country of Jordan. It is here, too, that the river Jordan flows past the foot of barren hills that look just ready to crumble. In fact, “on July 11, 1927, an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 struck near Jericho, causing extensive damage in the town. Eighteen miles north of Jericho, near Adam, there was a mud slide which dammed the river, causing it to run dry for a short time. 

        Historical records tell us that larger mud slides have occurred in 1160, 1267, 1534, 1546, 1834 and 1906 and the average length of time during which the river was blocked was two days - ample time for all the Israelites to cross from one side to the other.” [info per http://www.diggingsonline.com/pages/rese/books/comment/joshua.htm]

A Taste of Apologetics: Salt

        In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt.5:13), Jesus refers to the possibility that "salt loses its saltiness." How could this be? Table salt, as we know it, is just sodium chloride (NaCl), with a little bit of iodide added. The taste comes from the sodium chloride and if that were removed, there would be nothing left. 

        So in what sense can salt lose its "saltiness"? Once again, we turn to Unger's Bible Dictionary for some guidance. Unger refers to salt and "its power to strengthen food and preserve it from putrefaction and corruption." In a figurative sense, salt symbolizes hospitality; grace in the heart (Mark 9:50); and wisdom or good sense in speech (Col.4:6). Unger also refers to "the belief that salt would, by exposure to the air, lose its virtue." But this is our question—how could sodium chloride lose its savour and still be there? Logically and chemically, this couldn't happen. So what is the explanation?

        For an answer to this we turn to Hard Sayings of the Bible, edited by Kaiser, Davids, Bruce, and Brauch:— “But how can salt lose its saltiness? If it is truly salt, of course, it must remain salt and retain its saltiness. But probably in the ordinary experience of Galilean life, salt was rarely found in a pure state; in practice it was mixed with other substances, various forms of earth. So long as the proportion of salt in the mixture was sufficiently high, the mixture would serve the purpose of true salt. But if, through exposure to damp or some other reason, all the salt in the mixture was leached out, what was left was good for nothing. 

        The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary has several good comments but we will end by quoting just two of them: 

· Jesus may be alluding to rock formations that contained deposits of sodium chloride. Meat and fish were packed in these rocks to preserve them. After a period of time the salt leached out of the rocks, so the rocks were not good for anything and so thrown out.

· Jesus may be citing a well-known proverbial saying...Jesus may be using this expression to describe an equally impossible characteristic of his disciples. As they go out into the world as salt, the proof of the reality of their profession is in the nature of their lives. True disciples cannot lose what makes them disciples because they have become changed persons, made new by the life of the kingdom of heaven. However, imposter disciples have only an external flavoring. They cannot be made salty again, because they never had that kingdom life in the first place.

“Turtles All the Way Down!”

Everybody knows the story of the south sea islander who was asked what his island was resting on. He said it was on the back of a giant turtle. But what was that turtle on? —it was on an even bigger turtle—in fact it was “turtles all the way down!”

We laugh, and think, “How simple. How primitive.” There obviously couldn’t be an infinite progression of bigger and bigger turtles.

Wait a minute! Let’s re-think that in more modern, possibly more scientific terms. Where is his island? It’s the peak of a sea-mount, surrounded by water, on a globe just floating in space. It’s 8 light minutes from the sun, and 4.2 light years from the next sun (the star, Proxima Centauri). Astronomers tell us that the universe has been expanding for 14.8 billion years. But into what? What is beyond that? More stars? More turtles?! Nothing?

Maybe that islander wasn’t so far wrong. We really can’t come up with anything much better! Farther and farther stars (or three-dimensional space stretching to infinity) or more and more turtles, may not be so far-fetched.

And while we’re thinking along these lines, maybe we’re at the beginning of another infinity too. It could be that the ‘Big Bang’ started a fourth dimension as well—time! But that’s a whole other story.

Who wrote the First Letter of Peter?

       There is a man in the New Testament, whose name, in our modern terminology, was Simon Johnson. When he first met Jesus, at His baptism, he was ‘bar Jonas’ or ‘son of Jonah’ (hence ‘Johnson’). Jesus changed his name to ‘Peter’ that day, and ever since, we’ve known him as the Apostle Peter.

        I’ve been reading his story in the gospels, especially Mark, and in Acts. Now I’ve come to his first letter and I meet critics: ‘This letter was written too late in the first century. Peter was dead by this time.’ ‘This letter is too well written. Peter was only a fisherman.’ ‘Someone forged it in Peter’s name.’

        Well, I believe the critics are wrong. Peter may well have hidden himself in his own letter. His name is the very first word in the letter, and his identity might well show up in other places too. His subject matter is too high and holy. A forger could never have conceived it. Chapter one alone, talks about being sprinkled with Jesus’ blood (1:2), about a living hope (1:3), about an unfailing inheritance in heaven (1:3), about trials that prove our faith (1:7).

        Then he reaches the high point of worship of Jesus, the Living Stone (2:4). Peter knows that he, himself, is about to die by Nero’s orders. But look at the honour he confers on his readers. They will live on after Peter is gone; they will be little ‘living stones’. In fact, as his imitators, he might almost say they will be living ‘Peters’, for peter is a stone and a stone is Peter. His signature was there all the time.

        Bless Peter. Bless the Living Stone. Bless the Lord!

[See also 'The Painting and the Painter', elsewhere in this blog.]

Word Find: The Life of David