Redwood Church Preaching

Reforming our nation seems impossible from a natural perspective, because the electoral system is rigged against God’s law. But the church has overturned kings and kingdoms in the past, when the levers of power available to it were even smaller. This is because our power does not come from political maneuvering, but liturgical action. It is through psalm-singing that we wield God’s sword to execute vengeance on nations and bind their kings. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

God provides strict qualifications, which we must discern, before he permits us to set up any man as a judge for ourselves—whether in “institutional politics,” or “influencer politics.” But how can we obey his command to “perceive” and “know” that the men we choose really are fitting candidates, if we have no relationship with them? How can we tell if a man has substance, fears God, loves truth, and hates profit? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Christians should only ever use their vote to endorse a man or party that Christ would endorse as his representative. Electing Satan’s sons can only ever invite God’s judgment—and will never bring about righteousness or advance Christ’s kingdom. Christians are not free to vote for evil, even if it is the lesser of two, and our disobedience in this has caused the name of Jesus to be blasphemed in our nations. Though there is the appearance of wisdom in the pragmatic voting philosophy, true wisdom is justified of her children. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Do you feel like your sin makes you a disappointment to God? But Psalm 149 tells us that he delights in us. There is no sweeter thing than to feel the pleasure of God shining down on us, and this is the reason given that we should praise him. Because God is glad when we come to worship, we sing anew the songs he has given us. Our window for praising God in the flesh is closing, so make the most of it! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

God has given us nine acrostic psalms, yet modern songwriting sensibilities do not include this form. Why would God make alphabetical lines a priority for poetic expression? Why limit himself to having his message dictated by the order of the Hebrew alphabet? What profound truth does the form and nature of this poetry communicate about God’s love for his covenant people? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

The chiastic structure of Judges 10–12 alerts us that Israel has made no progress in learning war; God’s son has made no progress in learning the Father’s work. They have not only failed to accept the lesson; they have failed to accept their teacher. Refusing to be trained as a son, they keep grasping for fatherhood. After seven lessons—a full week of failures—the first “day” of the new “week” starts with idolatry again. What will God do? Will the cycle repeat again, or will he bring a new kind of salvation? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

For a song about romance, Song of Song contains some strange details. The Shulamite worries that she is undesirably swarthy on account of her brothers. How do these concerns serve the purpose of a romantic song? Why does she say her brothers burned her, and what does this teach us about applying the differences between men and women? How does Solomon’s response instruct us in how husbands should deal with their wives’ insecurities? And how does the Shulamite’s attire instruct us in how wives should accentuate and enhance their beauty? All these things work together to remind us of the glory of romance, and renew our apprecation for marital love. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

After Yiphtah (Jephthah) saves Israel from Ammon, Ephraim threatens to burn his house upon him. Their response seems baffling until we remember Cain. Like Yiphtah, we must be willing to war against the “older brother,” and his strategy is instructive to us. The shibboleth password reveals that Ephraim is reverting to Babel. Israel is a people established, prepared, set upright, and made firm by the word of God; but Ephraim is slipping, lacking readiness, crooked, infirm. It does not take a doctrinal exam for the people of Gilead to confirm this. It takes only a single letter. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Once we have learned how to read God’s word well, we must still ask how to apply it. We are not judges of God going to battle, that we should make war-vows—but is there a broader principle of vow-making we should be adopting in our own lives? Three large sections of the Torah are devoted to rightly administering vows, and all three kinds of vows are reiterated and continued into the NT. Yet don’t Jesus and James say not to swear at all—that our yes be yes, and our no, no? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

With the Spirit of God upon him, Yiphtah (Jephthah) vows to offer the symbolic firstborn from his house upon his return. When we understand why the firstborn belong to God, the logic of his vow becomes clear. Just as Israel was constituted through the sacrifice of firstborn in the Exodus, and the church is constituted through the sacrifice of Christ, Yiphtah wants to build the house of Israel in the same way, with his own house as the head and cornerstone. But God, graciously saving him from his own ambition, orchestrates his only child to be the one sacrificed. Thus Yiphtah devotes his daughter to God’s service by “ascending” her to his tabernacle. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com