According to the satisfaction theory, our sins were placed on Christ as he suffered on the cross. The scapegoat of Lev. 16:20-22 and the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 were types of Christ's bearing our sin, verified in passages such as John 1:29; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; Heb. 9:28; and I Peter 2:24. Propitiation can only be understood by first recognizing that God hates sin, pouring out his wrath on those who oppose his holy will. There are numerous Old Testament passages describing the wrath of God, and it is a significant theme in the parables of Jesus. Above all, the wrath of God is the cup of suffering that Christ drank (Mark 10:38, John 18:11, Luke 22:42-44).
Whoever recalls other contexts of crisis in the Bible where the cup is the symbol of divine wrath (e.g. Ps. 60:3, 75:8; Isa. 51:17, Jer. 25:15; 49:12; etc.), and takes with full seriousness the cry of Jesus on the cross: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34; cf. Ps. 22:1),(2) can scarcely escape the conclusion that as Jesus approached his death, he knew the full weight--without himself being its provocation--of the wrath of God.(3)
As the rest of the New Testament makes clear, Christ's bearing God's wrath on the cross delivers sinners from the divine judgment and thereby grants eternal life to believers (Rom. 5:9-12, Gal. 3:13; Eph. 2:3-7, I Thess. 1:10, 5:9-10, Heb. 9:26, I Pet. 1:18-19). For that reason, Jesus Christ is our propitiation. His sacrifice averts God's judgment, and by faith in him, we receive God's favor and blessing. Now, how does this apply to the sermon on Ezekiel 38?
The sermon on Ezekiel 38 was a severe distortion of the gospel. To begin
with, the preacher did not correctly interpret Scripture, failing to see
that Jesus Christ, not Israel and the Arab states, is the fulfillment of Old
Testament prophecy. The New Testament Church, the early Church, and the
Reformers, all read the Old Testament law and prophets as fulfilled in
Christ.(4) This fulfillment was understood typologically.
For example, the earthquake, rain, hail, fire and brimstone of Ezekiel 38
are types of God's judgment on sin. God's decisive judgment against sin
occurred on the cross, not in the destruction of various nations. The cross
fulfills the judgments of Ezekiel 38. That is the gospel. Christ died in our
place, he suffered the wrath of God that falls on individuals and nations
alike. According to Anglican biblical scholar, N.T. Wright, it is a
misreading of the biblical text to see "the modern state of Israel as the
fulfillment of scriptural prophecy."(5) Such a reading
dishonors Jesus Christ. He and he alone is the one who suffered the wrath of
God, and made a full, complete, and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the
world.
Secondly, God does judge nations and individuals. But he does not judge
according to present day Israel. He judges in accordance with Christ. Jesus,
not the modern state of Israel, is "the apple of God's eye." In reference to
Christ, the terrible events of the Middle East are the result of sin. They
are the kind of power politics that led Pilate to crucify Jesus Christ when
the crowd howled for his crucifixion and their leaders proclaimed "We have
no king but Caesar" (John 19:15). The crowd was party to the crucifixion, a
crucifixion that is repeated all over the world as nations slaughter each
other. This slaughter is supported by other nations who fund the armaments
while their citizens believe various apocalyptic scenarios, whether
Christian or Muslim, that justify the massacres. As preached, the Ezekiel 38
sermon allowed the congregation to walk away with no sense of their
complicity in the horrors. It gave them and their government carte
blanche to fund and support reprisals by Israel beyond any sense of
proportion. The fact that Arab organizations commit horrible crimes does not
exonerate everything Israel does. All proportion is lost, all sense of
justice disappears, and all desire for negotiation vanishes, when terrible
political events are projected into a cosmic drama in which God will
magically resolve problems created and perpetuated by human sin. What a
dishonoring of the gospel, what horrible consequences, and what massive
human suffering results from this misreading of Scripture.
Had the gospel been preached the congregation would have been told how they
were complicit in the events of the Middle East. They would have been told
that unless they repented, Ezekiel 38 would happen to them and their
country. They would have heard that Christ died for their sins, that the
judgments of Ezekiel 38 fell on Christ, that God accepted Jesus' atoning
work, and by his suffering they are forgiven and raised to new life. They
would have been asked to respond to Christ in faith. They could have been
asked to do some research into the history of the Middle East, into what is
actually happening, rather than relying on television, official White House
statements, and cosmic drama. The congregation could support the best of
this sinful world's solutions: negotiation, compromise, and if all else
fails, lawful force. One could now ask: Do such political solutions actually
work, and will they work in the Middle East with its terrible history?
Before addressing that question, let me mention aspects of that history.
The present conflict in the Middle East is the latest cycle of an endless
series of reprisals that spiral backwards into the past. These reprisals
include such things as suicide bombings by Palestinians, reprisals by
Israel, Israelis driving Palestinians from their homes in the Occupied
Territories, shelling by both sides, the original seizure of territory by
Israel, the consequent attack by the Arab states, prior British conquest of
the Middle East, the Nazi horrors against the Jews, the conquest of the
Middle East by the Turks, the pogroms against the Jews during the Middle
Ages, the Crusades which slaughtered Arabs and Jews alike, the violent
conquests of Islam, and forever backward and forward in an unending series
of reprisals that will never end. Political solutions, negotiation,
compromise, and lawful force should always be attempted. Such efforts can
sometimes effect a temporary and relative peace. But that is not enough. The
problem is so deeply entrenched that only God can solve it, and he has done
so in Jesus Christ. The cycle of reprisals comes to an end in one place and
one place only: the cross of Christ. That is the gospel, and until the
gospel is proclaimed, believed, and practiced, there will be no real peace:
only wars, reprisals, lies, and distortions without end. Come Lord Jesus.
1. For a discussion of the various
theories of the atonement see Millard J Erickson, Christian Theology,
(Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2004), pp. 799-819, 828-835.
2. In light of Christ's cry of dereliction on the cross, as
well as Romans 1, I understand God's wrath as abandoning sinners to the
consequences of their sins rather than actively inflicting evil upon anyone.
3. The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. 4,
edited by George Arthus Buttrick and Emory Stevens Bucke (Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 1962), p. 907.
4. See, for example, the outstanding text by Graeme
Goldsworthy, According to Plan, (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press,
1991).
5. N.T. Wright, The Last Word, (San Francisco:
HarperCollins, 2005), p. 108.
The Rev. Robert J. Sanders, PhD
August, 2006