Harper, Francesco; The Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem
Sometimes what’s cut from a manuscript is the most helpful part. Samuel Johnson reports these words cut from Oliver Goldsmith’s Vicar of Wakefield:
I do not love a man who is zealous for nothing.
Without zeal, a man is only half alive. But first.
Compassion
My Dad had a comment reserved for his family. He would describe a man as a “cold fish,” by which we understood him to be warning us this man was devoid of the milk of human compassion. There are cold fish in this world, and sadly, many women are married to them and many children grow up in their homes, starving for love. In our cold world, it’s natural compassion is often abused, especially within the church.
Take, for instance, pastors. Here are men called and set apart by God to preach God’s Word, yet many set to the side half of that Word—that part which states God’s “no.” When questioned about their scrupulous avoidance of these passages, they hide behind the cloak of compassion: “People don’t need to be told they’re sinners. They already know that. What they need is to be told about God’s grace and mercy. They need to know Jesus came to forgive our sin, not to condemn us!”
Under our hegemony of victimhood, today countless crimes are committed while hiding behind a cloak of compassion. High school and college administrators usher men into women’s locker rooms where they undress and put on a woman’s swimsuit, then compete against women in swim meets. The administrators lecture everyone, condescendingly explaining such men can’t help it if they suffer under gender dysphoria. The least we can do is show compassion. We must be kind to them as they crossdress and crosscompete.
But of course, this is the very opposite of compassion. To give in to a child’s rebellion is to refuse to love that child. Yes, when he’s a toddler, but also when he’s in high school and college. Rejecting the sex God gives each of us at conception is rebellion against God, so it is never compassionate to aid and abet that rebellion.
Yet in a world ruled by aggressive victims who demand every member of society affirm their pain, appeals to compassion are effective—particularly among Christians. Quickly though, requests for compassion are followed by moral demands which, inevitably, corrupt legislators and judges are quick to codify so that such false compassion attains the force of law. This is how half of our nation came to feel our mothers, sisters, and wives should be forced to share bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers with crossdressing male aggressors. “It’s only compassionate,” they reassure us, and which one of us has the chutzpah to argue with them?
But the most precious things in life are worth defending. Compassion is God’s gift to our fallen world, so it must be guarded. We must keep our eye on the ball. Counterfeits always devalue the genuine, and this isn’t just true of currency and paintings. It’s also true of moral virtues. False compassion is always an attack upon true compassion.
False zeal
They have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. (Romans 10:2)
It’s the same with zeal. By nature, prophets specialize in the clamor of high dudgeon. Claiming they’ve received their words directly from God’s mouth and Word, zeal is their tool of trade, and now the world is as full of false zeal as it is of false prophets.
What did our Lord warn us?
Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. (Matthew 7:15)
Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. (Matthew 24:11)
Near the end of sacred Scripture, we have our Lord’s warning repeated by His Apostle John:
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1John 4:1)
The man of zeal is attractive, particularly among credulous young men opposed to testing any spirit that blows conservative. Thus in Reformed circles today, the man who proclaims his zeal for patriarchy, childbearing, paedocommunion, guns, bourbon, cigars, biceps, and the pursuit of the millennium finds it kids’ play to gather for himself a bunch of twenty-something callow disciples. Then, with younger men setting the fashion, there are always older men who, lacking any wisdom of age, panic at the thought of youth leaving them behind.
But what if these Reformed influencers hawking their political zeal are false prophets? What if God hasn’t called them or sent them or spoken to them? What if their zeal is to occupy Herod’s palace or the House of Parliament rather than our Heavenly Home and the House of God?
The Bible provides many accounts of false zeal that did no good, but a lot of bad.
- Eve had zeal for the forbidden fruit.
- Adam had zeal to listen to his wife.
- Cain had zeal to murder his brother, Abel.
- All the men of Sodom had zeal to rape Lot’s angelic visitors.
- Moses had zeal to murder the Egyptian master.
- The Sons of Israel had zeal to raise up a golden calf.
- Aaron had zeal to sculpt it for them.
- Aaron and Miriam had zeal to lead an uprising against their ruler, Moses.
- Korah had zeal to lead an uprising against the Sons of Israel’s ruler, Moses.
- Ten of the twelve spies sent by Moses into the Promised Land returned with zeal to convince the Sons of Israel to return to Egypt.
- The false prophet, Balaam, had zeal to curse Israel.
- Absalom was zealous for political reform.
- The list could go on, and next up would be David’s general, Joab.
We stop here to examine Absalom’s politics. The history should be read because it is so instructive for those today who posture themselves as reformed zealots, and hawk to naive young Reformed men their own political parties and programs.
Read on, keeping in mind this man Absalom fomenting rebellion was King David’s son:
Now it came about after this that Absalom provided for himself a chariot and horses and fifty men as runners before him. Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way to the gate; and when any man had a suit to come to the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?”
And he would say, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.”
Then Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but no man listens to you on the part of the king.” Moreover, Absalom would say, “Oh that one would appoint me judge in the land, then every man who has any suit or cause could come to me and I would give him justice.”
And when a man came near to prostrate himself before him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. In this manner Absalom dealt with all Israel who came to the king for judgment; so Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel. (2Samuel 15:1-6)
Absalom built his conspiracy, adding disciples by selling himself as the truly humble and democratic man. Before egalitarianism, he was egalitarian, preventing any man from bowing before him. Why sure he was the king’s son, but no one needed to show him the respect they showed his Dad, King David.
Hey there! Stand up straight and look me in the eye. My Dad makes you bow, but that’s not my way.
Dad won’t help you, but here I am. If I were king, I would stand with you in your pursuit of true justice. All the other judges of Israel are betraying their duty, but you know me. I’ll be faithful to judge with truth and equity. You may depend on me to protect your rights so you’re able to hold on to what’s rightfully yours!
Absalom bragged of his zeal for equality and justice, promising that, unlike his father, he would always give a listening ear to citizens’ complaints and demands—their very complaints and demands his father, King David, wouldn’t listen to.
My, what zeal Absalom had! Everyone heard and saw Absalom’s political zeal, so this wolf stole the hearts of the men of Israel away from King David, the “man after God’s Own heart” (1Samuel 13:14).
Would you or I have been Absalom’s goose or moron, his ninny?
Tell the truth, I’ve been the ninny of a number of men whose zeal lacked knowledge. They took me in when I was young and credulous, but as I aged, I’d learned to care nothing for foolish zeal no matter how loudly it yelled at me, and no matter what false promises it made as it tried to scratch me where I itch. The pain of the consequences of believing and following men perfectly attuned to my youthful lack of good judgment eventually created muscle memory in me, and now I search far and wide for wise counsel which will protect me and my loved ones from all the bandwagons that ride through the church every three years or so.
Shall I mention a few of the men claiming to be God’s prophet as they passed across the screen of Christian acclaim?
- Billy Graham’s many visits to the Oval Office
- Senator Mark Hatfield, the Great Christian Hope among public servants
- Bill Gothard’s Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts.
- Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness
- Rushdoony’s Dominionism
- Ron Sider’s Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger
- Jim Dobson’s Focus on the Family
- Richard Land’s Ethics and Religious Life Commission
- Chuck Colson’s Prison Fellowship and Task Force on Federal Corrections
- The Fellowship of Doug Coe
- Anthony Campolo’s Red Letter Revival
- Bill Mallory’s Promise Keepers
- Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority
- Ralph Reed’s Christian Coalition
- Gary Bauer’s Family Research Council
- Marvin Olasky’s Compassionate Conservatism
- Peter Leithart’s Federal Vision
- Tim Keller’s Transformationalism
- Doug Wilson’s Postmillennialism
There are a bunch of wannabe influencers hawking their zeal among young, conservative Reformed men today, but need I name them? Some are millenarians, some anti-Semites, some neo-Crusaders, some zenophobes, some eugenicists, some preppers, some slavery revisionists; and most of them share a toxic nativism. This all makes sense given the world’s current political climate, but none of their zeal is with knowledge, and thus none of them are sanctifying the souls hankering after them. Their zeal is not for the good. It is not for the Kingdom of God, although “the kingdom of God” is their mantra.
Flee from these zealots. More, flee every religious zealot whose zeal is for anyone but Christ and anything but the true Kingdom of Heaven He has deposited in His Father’s House:
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
True zeal
What is true zeal?
True zeal always burns for the glory of God. Where does His glory reside?
In the household of faith, the Church of the Living God. The Divinely commanded work that increases His glory is what Jesus commanded in His Great Commission, that His disciples go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything He commanded.
Young men seeking to be zealots for His glory will sacrifice their lives in this temple, on this altar.
But of course, such zeal doesn’t get anyone a reputation for being an influencer. Rather, such zeal consists of taking up our crosses, praying for His blessing, making oneself vulnerable to His sheep, studying and preaching all of His Word; and guarding, binding up the wounds, and feeding His flock.
There’s no glamour in this work. Shepherds are no one’s heroes. They abide in the field, keeping watch over His flock by night. They never stop warning the sheep, house to house and day and night, with tears.
It is the House of God which calls for our zeal. The Church is desperate for faithful zealots.
Was Jesus one of these zealots? He lived in a day when God’s people had many zealots, but their zeal was for victory over Roman oppression. Their zealotry was political.
The Gospels have regular accounts of Jesus’ brothers and disciples pushing Him to stop messing around, and show Himself to the rulers so He could bring about the political and military revolution everyone but the scribes, priests, and Sanhedrin were desperately seeking.
Satan appealed to this same zeal just before the beginning of our Lord’s ministry:
Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” (Matthew 4:8-10)
Jesus refused the political temptation. Ought you not follow Him in this?
It’s Lent, and during this Church season, it was my habit to teach my congregation the meaning of Jesus going directly from the unmistakably political threat of the Triumphal Entry into the Temple, to cleanse it. This set the course and inexorably led to His arrest, trial, and crucifixion. He knew it would, so why?
Our Lord cleansed the Temple twice, the first cleansing carried out at the inception of His ministry. Watching Him, the Twelve made this observation:
His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house will consume me” (John 2:17).
Do you desire to take up your cross and follow Him? If so, read this from Psalms which awakened the disciples’ understanding of His holy violence for the Temple, which is today the Church of God:
I have become estranged from my brothers and an alien to my mother’s sons. For zeal for Your house has consumed me. (Psalm 69:8-9)
Do you remember Jesus’ explanation during His cleansing of the Temple just after His triumphal entry to Jerusalem?
And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a robbers’ den.”
And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. (Matthew 21:12-14)
Like compassion, zeal is precious. Zeal with knowledge is holy zeal.
We must not corrupt it with our cultural aspirations, utopian visions, monetary greed, or political resentment.
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[Next we will turn to examine the holy zeal absent, but needed, in the Church of Jesus Christ today.]
