The Wings Of God

(Mat. 23v37)

It is one of the beauties of the inspired writings that they contain such a great range of imagery. In the text we are to consider the imagery is that which I have called the ‘wings of God.’

In the Old Testament the imagery of wings is frequent, but not static, by which I mean, that the various words that are translated as wings contain within themselves, differing ideas. For instance; if the passage in Is. 55v6 is consulted, you will see that the underlying idea there is strength. In Ex. 25v20 it is protection; in Psalm 61v4 it is the figure of trust that it conveys. In Psalm it is fatherly, loving protection. in Psalm 91v4 it is a hiding place from danger. in Ruth 2v12 it is shelter, trust and safety. This imagery continues to the end of the Old Testament. In Malachi we have the glorious promise, now fulfilled; but unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings. It is spiritual healing that is being spoken of there.

As we return back to our text we hear the words of Jesus, and they are words full of the most heart-rending pathos. They express, in that most vivid way, the most intense yearning, not just for the city of Jerusalem, which serves here as a symbol for the whole Jewish nation: indeed the Jewish nation to all mankind.

In considering such words as these the question is often asked: are they the expression of the divine compassion or of the humanity of Jesus for his Jewish brethren? It is an interesting question, but it is quite meaningless. Orthodox Christianity has long since formulated the doctrine, that while Christ has two natures, the human and the divine, he is not two persons, but one; he is the person of the eternal Son of God. But he is not thereby a god and a man, no, no, but God manifest in human flesh. What ever is performed by Jesus, be it through the divine or human nature, it is ever and always the divine Son of God that is performing. The incarnation, the virgin birth, have little meaning if this is not the case; but it is the case, and therefore we are at liberty to call him Emmanuel; ‘God with us.’ If he were not God, what blasphemy would it be. . John the apostle can declare: ‘and the word became flesh and dwelt among us.’ ‘Hail the incarnate deity’ How delightingly revealing are the disciple’s words spoken to Christ, the man of sorrows: ‘My Lord and my God’

When Jesus said that ‘he that hath seen me hath seen the father’ You may ask, ‘is there then no difference between God the Father and God the Son?’ the only answer I am capable of giving is this: the Father is not the Son; and the Son is not the Father. You say ‘I don’t understand it.’ No, and neither do I, but it is what the scripture teaches, and as such, we bow in adoring wonder before the man Christ Jesus and say ‘My lord and my God.’ Veiled in flesh the Godhead see.

When the Jews accused Jesus of blasphemy, because, said they ‘no man can forgive sins but God only’ they were uttering a truism. There error consisted in not realizing, or accepting, that he who forgave sins on earth was God. God enfleshed. The words of forgiveness proclaimed through the lips of Jesus were the words of the divine Son of God. Paul, in that great passage in Philippians makes it clear , that in taking to himself the form of a servant, and being made in the likeness of man, he did not cease to be God, nor in any way did He diminish his deity. The question then: is this God speaking, or is it man speaking is indeed meaningless. It is a question based on a false premise: the premise that God and Jesus can be separate. It is the eternal Son of God who laments over Jerusalem. In Christ, God, God’s love, God’s wrath, God’s patience, God’s grace, in Him, all that man is able to understand, is rendered in terms which the human mind can comprehend. All that Jesus does, God does. So profoundly true is this that Paul can utter the most daring words that were ever uttered by man: ‘God hath purchased the church with his own blood’

Here in our text, it is the divine compassion , the love and compassion of God which is expressed through the lips of the man Christ Jesus; it is that same compassion which we must understand on the occasion when: ‘he beheld the city and wept.’ It is the very heart of God that is revealed through the humanity of Christ: ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen gathereth her chicks under her wings, and ye would not.’ ‘I would, but ye would not.’ The reference is the love and compassion which God had extended towards the Jewish people throughout their history. The figure of a bird is most apt and is often used. It is the figure employed since the beginning of the nations history. In Ex. 20 God reminds the nation: ‘I bare you on eagles wings and brought you unto myself.’ Listen to the Song of Moses: Jacob…he kept as the apple of his eye, as an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth her wings, taketh them, bringeth them on her wings, so the Lord did lead him.’ It is a picture so vivid of the Lord God of Israel, caring for, watching over, protecting his people under the shadow of his wings. How blessed a picture of the divine love and compassion. It is

love divine

All loves surpassing

God never changes. Here we see Jesus , the incarnate God, uttering these words to rebellious and sinful Israel, the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. How often would I have gathered thy children together- gathered them under my wings-but ye would not. Note the words: how often. How oft indeed! ‘ Can a woman forget her suckling child that she should forget the son of her womb? Yea they may forget, yet I will not forget thee, saith the Lord.’ Love and compassion belong to the very nature of God. How often? Oh so often, does God offer his wings as a place of shelter. It belongs to the very nature of God, I say, that God taketh no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. ‘All day long ‘ says God, ‘I have stretched out my hand to a disobedient and gainsaying people.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered thee! How oft.’

We must note, however, how this divine lament, this utterance of the compassionate, longsuffering God in Christ, is cast between the most fearful denunciations and promises of wrath and judgment. The heart of Jesus, so filled with tenderness , pronounces the most fearful imprecations : Woe unto you, woe unto you. Behold your house is left unto you desolate.

The modern theologian and preachers speak only of the love of God. They tell us that all talk of hell and judgment is misguided. God is love they say, too loving to cast any into hell even if such a place existed, too full of love to be wrathful; too compassionate to damn anyone. What shall we say to those who speak thus of the love of God. Surely this: ‘Woe unto you, for ye shut up the kingdom of God against men: for ye neither go in your selves , neither suffer ye them that are entering in. No. No!. Of course God is love; love is the essence of God, but God is also holy and just. He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look upon sin. God is light and can have no dealings with the workers of darkness. He is not only the loving creator, he is the judge of all the earth who must judge in righteousness. It is the loving God who would gather Israel under His wings; who would gather all mankind under his wings. It is He, it is the righteous judge who pronounces these fear woes.

Those who speak only of the love of God have not begun to understand the depth, the height , the breadth and the length, the inexpressible magnitude of the love of God as it is confronted by His own justice. That love made known to Israel under the figure of the outstretched wings of God, is now made known to all the earth; made known in a manner that only foreshadowed and dimly perceived in former times; made known and exhibited in a manner that reconciles the loving Father to the righteous judge,; made known, I say, in a manner that enables the love of God to be just and the justifier of him who believeth on Jesus. That theology, that preaching which only offers a sentimental God of love, offers us only an impoverished love. It robs the love of God of its ineffable glory and manifestation to men. It is the very reality of the wrath of God, That these men throw out. They throw out that which sets before our gaze the full splendor of the of the intensity of the love of God for men. It is the reality of the wrath of God, that is become the occasion for the supreme demonstration of the love God; loves sacrificing our Lord Jesus Christ to the death of the cross. If divine wrath is not a reality, then the sacrifice of Jesus was a meaningless, cruel and wanton act. But it is none of these things. The divine wrath is a reality and the cross is become the wings of God stretched out to all mankind. They who seek refuge from the wrath to come on Golgotha’s hill find there a place of shelter under the wings of God. It is at the cross alone that mercy and truth meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. In the words of the hymn writer; the cross is…

A safe and happy shelter

A refuge tried and sweet;

A trysting place where heaven’s love

And heavens justice meet

That’s it. That’s it exactly The cross is the one place, the only place where heavens love and heavens justice meet. Did you ever see such love; did you ever see such wrath; did you ever see such justice as it is exhibited at Calvary. It is God’s own son who dies in the midst of that great inferno of divine wrath. Paul tells us: ‘God spared not his own son.’ Fearful words. Fearful indeed. Tell me not that God loves too much to hurt. He loved his own son with an infinite passion, Oh, how he loved him. Before the hills in order stood or earth received her frame he loved His Son, What eternal joy, what eternal delight and pleasure they had shared through all eternity past, Shall we not wonder how that thick darkness descended as he turned his back upon His Son; as He hid from him his love as one forsaken. It was as if God’s own heart was breaking as he laid upon Christ the iniquity of us all; it was as if he could not bear to look upon him, upon whom he was pouring out his wrath. It as if the very sun in the sky bowed its head and hid its face in sorrow at a sight so grievous, so dreadful, so inexplicably awesome.

As a reformed believer, I am not supposed to say such things; but to suppose for one moment that the Father was without passion, immutable, unchangeable, lacking all feeling even as his own beloved, suffered and died in such a manner, is theology gone mad. I’m with Paul: ‘God purchased the church with his own blood.’ The cry of Jesus: ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? tells it all. Who shall ever know, the suffering and the turmoil it caused His Father. In that thick darkness, it was as if God could not bear to look. It was if he couldn’t bear to hear; as if was trying to cover his ears, trying to blot out the sight and sound of the suffering Jesus. It was as if, his own heart was tormented with what he Himself, the Father of the Son, was doing to him; and yet, at Calvary, even as he loves him, he spares him not. Christ is made to drink dry the cup of God’s wrath, the wrath of God Almighty. Why? Why? Because Christ is there, clothed in the sins of his people, and he is treated as if he where a sinner in the hands of an angry God. The love of the Father for the Son is an immeasurable love, but divine justice, judgement and wrath. will not spare him while he is the bearer of sin; while he suffers instead of sinners. Here is that divine justice and wrath and judgement which utters such fearful woes against the children of Israel whom he loves with such tender, compassionate love: Woe ! Woe! Woe unto you.

It is the wrath of God against His own son, that exhibits the love of God for sinners. What nonsense they speak who tell you that the cross wins the love of God. The cross IS THE LOVE of God for sinners, those very sinners that nailed His Son to the tree. It is a love intended to save his elect people, but it is yet, a sacrifice of love sufficient for the whole world; a sacrifice sufficient for all, and is to be freely offered to all. Where there ten thousand times ten thousands other worlds of men the cross is sufficient for all. None shall perish for the lack of a saviour.

The elect of God shall find refuge beneath the wings of God. Christ himself shall take away their hearts of stone and give them hearts to believe; they shall be made willing in the day of the saviour’s power and glory. His purposes shall not be frustrated; he shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. He shall have his church at his own right hand in glory; a people washed in his blood and clothed in his righteousness; a people to sing for ever and ever before the eternal throne, the honour and power; the majesty, the praise and the glory of the lamb that was slain, .

Oh, tell me, tell me where I shall find cleansing for my soul; tell me where I can wash my sins away; I am borne down by the weight of my sins; my conscience follows me night and day. I am lost for ever; my tears flow without ceasing, I have no peace for I fear that I shall perish eternally. Oh, tell me where I can find relief. I am just a worthless sinner. Ah, my fried, away to the loving God without delay; where? where? you ask. where will I find the wings of God. I have heard that it is beneath the wings of God that I may cast off all my burden of sin. There, you say, I shall find cleansing, peace and assurance. Listen to me. You are not worthless; you are a human being made in the image of God, but you have gone away from him, turned your back on him, but you are not worthless; your worth to God can only be expressed by the love God that he as has shed abroad for men and women such as you. Oh, be assured that God taketh no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that they should turn to him and live.

Go now I say. Nothing stands in the way of your salvation save your own sinful and obstinate will; you own stubborn heart. God still says ‘look unto me and live’ ‘come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’

There are those that will tell you that you will still have troubles and strife; still know heart breaks perhaps, you may still be lonely and in need. Well, yes you may. God is not offering you a life free of all these things in this life; he is offering you shelter from His wrath against your sin, in this life and the next.

In times past, God’s people have suffered from the things of this world, but still they were at peace with God in the midst of their trials and tribulations. Can you not hear their song? In the deserts, in the wilderness, in their captivity, they sang.

Under the shadow of thy wings,

thy saints have dwelt secure

From everlasting thou art God

Till endless years the same.

Till endless years the same! I bid you now, hasten to the cross, and you shall have this song to sing.

And from my smitten hearts with tears,

Two wonders I confess,

The wonders of thy glorious love,

And my own worthlessness.

May God bless you. His wings are still stretched out. What will you do? Don’t be among those, of whom this loving God will say: ‘I would, but you would not.’ Oh, why? Why should you perish? Why? Have you not read these words: ‘come, let us reason together, thou your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

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Short commentary on Hebrews

An extract from the first volume of a forthcoming commentary on Hebrews

by the Rev. A J Walker.

(The writer is  sorry for the transliterations errors; being a PC novice, it just never occurred to him that they would revert to the English text)

Verse 14....Are they not all ministering spirits being sent forth for service for the sake of those who are about to inherit salvation?

Ouchi pantes eisin....“Are they not all” As the previous verse demands a negative answer, so the use of ouchi here demands a positive answer to the question asked. It puts the seal on the negative of v.13 by showing how radical is the contrast between the Son seated at God’s right hand, ruling as king, and the angelic beings as ministering spirits. The general role of angels as ministers of God has been discussed above in v.7. Here it is that ministry concerning God’s people that is specifically focused upon.

Tous mellontas kleronomen soterian. God’s people are here identified as “the ones who are about to inherit salvation”. The present infinitive with the participle is being used periphrastically for the future. Mello in this place implies the certainty of the divine purpose as it does everywhere in Hebrews (2:5, 6:5, 8:5, 10:1, 27, 11:8, 20, 13:14). As these references show, it is used by the writer of that which is promised, but not yet realized, or of that which is about to be brought to pass. The time span between expectation and realization may be short as in 8:5, long as in 10:1 or indefinite as in 13:14.

Soteria....“salvation” In general use, soteria meant deliverance, salvation or preservation without specifying the nature of the blessing involved. It may indicate deliverance from any kind of danger or condition, material or spiritual, temporal or eternal. Is used in this very general way in 11:7 of Noah’s deliverance from the flood. In the Christian vocabulary the word came to be used as a technical term for that salvation wrought by Christ from the power, penalty and pollution of sin, and hence, to indicate salvation as a present possession of believers, or, of the consummate blessedness held in anticipation now, but only to be realized at the coming again of the redeemer; the eschatological salvation. (cf. Roms. 8:29-30, 13:11, Phil. 1:6, 1 Pet. 1:5). The writer to the Hebrews maintains this N.T. tension between the now and the not yet, but as will be seen later in the commentary, he alleviates that tension by his particularly Jewish interpretation of Messianic Salvation.

Soteria is, for him, a far broader concept than deliverance from sin and eschatological glory as current phraseology understands the term. Deliverance from sin is not an end in itself. For him it is the means of entering into the blessedness of Messianic rule in the “Age to Come”. That “age” was not simply an interim before the Second Coming of Christ but is itself part of the “so great salvation” (2:3) hence his great interest in Ps. 110. He was, again to use current terminology, an original post-millennialist? He was not ready to spiritualize the glory and extent of Messiah’s reign in the earth (See on next chapter for fuller exposition). This reign of righteousness (see. on v.8), and his people’s benefit of it, is for him, and indeed, for the Apostle Paul (Roms.11), part of the salvation to be inherited by God’s people. God’s people are to posses the earth as heirs of salvation. The notion of heir ship takes up the thought of v.2. Christ’s people are heirs with him: joint-heirs with Christ (Roms. 8:17). Paul’s words here explain the notion of “inheriting” salvation”. The inheritance is all that issues from Christ’s redemptive work. The anarthrous soteria is virtually equivalent here to the Kingdom of God in both its present and eschatological glory.

Eis diakonian apostellomena dia....Lit. “for service being sent forth for the sake of”. The purpose of the angels being sent forth is to “do service”, that is, eis diakonian (“to serve”) is “for the sake of” (dia with accusative) those who shall inherit salvation”. This is not to be understood to mean that they serve the saints as their servants, but rather that they serve the one who sends them forth by performing services pertaining to the saints. They are God’s leitourgoi (“ministers” v.7) not man’s; they are diakonoi (“deacons”) to men in a sense corresponding to their rendering service.

For a Christian to write of angels rendering diakonia (“service”) to the saints was not to disparage the angels, nor indeed, of itself, to suggest their inferiority to Christians, but rather to enhance their dignity. In the Church, the word group, diakoneo (“to serve”), diakoneo (“service”) and diakonos (“deacon”), came to be used not only in the primary meaning of “serving tables” (cf. Mk. 1:30, Lk. 10:40, 22:27, Jn. 12:2, Acts 6:2), but through the teaching and example of Christ, the practical expression of the central Christian ethic of love. The words came to be used concretely for service freely offered in love for Christ’s sake. In this respect, the teaching of Christ was opposed both to the Greeks estimation of greatness and to the Jewish perversion of the concept of one’s neighbor. True greatness is to be found in serving (Mt. 20:26-27, Lk. 22:24-26). Service rendered or withheld from one’s fellows is service rendered or withheld from Christ himself (Mt. 25:31-46. The example of Christ is both the glory and the pattern of all Christian serving: he came not “to be served” (diakonethenai) but (diakonia) “to serve” (Mk. 10:45). The diakonia he rendered was out of his boundless love, freely rendered and immeasurable, even to the giving of his life as a ransom for many. To render Christian diakonia is therefore man’s highest dignity. See v.7.

Writing against this background, it is evident that the writer does not demean angels when using the word diakonia of them, but rather seeks to enhance their dignity in the minds of his readers. The angels themselves do not deem it an indignity to serve (cf. Rev. 19:10, 22:9). In the Gospels, something of the dignity of their service towards the incarnate Christ himself may be seen (Mt. 4:11, Lk. 1:13, 26, 2:9, 13, 4:10, 22:23), but it is vain to speculate on the nature of the angelic service towards Christians: it belongs to things unseen. It is enough to know that “he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways” (Ps. 91:11); a promise made both to the Lord Christ and to his people. The angels are neither uninterested nor disinterested in the welfare of the saints: they desire to look into those things concerning salvation (1 Pet. 1:12) and their joy in heaven over one sinner that repents may be reflected upon. (Lk. 15:7, 10).

This verse offers no support to the notion of individual “guardian angels”. They are “sent forth”. The present passive participle apostellomena (from apostello “to send forth”) is an iterative present: the angels are being sent forth continuously to do service on behalf of the heirs of salvation. Each ministration is designated by him that sends them. The destiny of God’s people has not been delegated even to the care of angels, but is controlled moment by moment by him at whose bidding they come forth from the throne to render assistance. In 2 Kgs. 6, the veil is momentarily lifted from the spiritual realm, and “behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha” (v.17). God’s people may take comfort in the face of numerous enemies: “Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (v. 16). Compare the words of Jesus: “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels” (Mt. 26:53).

How privileged then are the heirs of salvation to have the unseen service of angels rendered on their behalf; how great, how glorious. how loving, must he be who sends them forth. Surely the king upon the throne has a more excellent name than those ministers of his who do his pleasure; those whom he sends forth for the sake of that blood-bought multitude. Not Gabriel, not Michael, not the highest archangel in heaven, but the Lamb that was slain has a name above every name. Angels are ministering spirits sent forth. He is prophet (v.2), he is priest (v.3), he is king.

But the high mysteries of Thy name

An angel’s grasp transcends:

The Father only - glorious claim-

The Son can comprehend.

Worthy, O Lamb of God, art thou,

That every knee to thee should bow

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