Before we get into our text this morning I do wish to make a prefacing comment. One of the things that we will talk about today may be radically new for some of us. We are going to talk about covenant headship, and this might be something that you are not quite familiar with.
Perhaps you are familiar with the idea of headship. But I would figure our take on it today will be something that is rather different. There will probably be a nuance that we talk about that is kind of new to you.
Perhaps you are familiar with the idea of headship. But I would figure our take on it today will be something that is rather different. There will probably be a nuance that we talk about that is kind of new to you.
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"The Lord tears down the house of the proud, but he maintains the boundary of the widow."
Proverbs 15:25 |
I want to make this prefacing comment because you might not agree with it. I hope to show that this particular idea regarding headship is certainly biblical. My hope is that you are able to say, “Yes, that’s obviously the way it is.” But I recognize that it may be a tough nut to swallow.
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This concept will likely go against a lot of what you have learned over the course of your lives. It certainly stands in stark contrast to the radical individualism that we often find in America.
So, I recognize that some of what we talk about could be a little controversial. And that is okay. I want to make sure everyone is cool with that. It is okay to disagree on this point. I at least expect some raised eyebrows. I would just ask that you consider what is said and be content to weigh the words against the content of Scripture. And if you disagree, just know that I’ll still be happy to buy you a coffee sometime.
All that probably makes you wonder: What does our text say this morning? Well, let’s read it together and begin our reflection on it
So, I recognize that some of what we talk about could be a little controversial. And that is okay. I want to make sure everyone is cool with that. It is okay to disagree on this point. I at least expect some raised eyebrows. I would just ask that you consider what is said and be content to weigh the words against the content of Scripture. And if you disagree, just know that I’ll still be happy to buy you a coffee sometime.
All that probably makes you wonder: What does our text say this morning? Well, let’s read it together and begin our reflection on it
"The LORD tears down the house of the proud but maintains the widow's boundaries."
Proverbs 15:25 ESV
Proverbs 15:25 ESV
Introduction:
One of the grand themes of the Bible is the Kingship of Jesus. Our God is the sovereign ruler over all things, and he has all authority by virtue of his being the Creator. The story of redemption orients itself around this idea as well. Jesus came into this world proclaiming the kingdom of God. He had come to restore the kingdom. And we wait for him to come again so that His kingdom may be consummated.
But the kingship of Jesus stands in stark contrast to the kingship of man. When we think of political rule, we do not typically associate it with the idea of love. The kingdoms of men are usually based on selfish inclination and those who take positions of power are usually egotistical figures who use their authority for their own sakes—their own pleasure.
And when you look at earthly authorities, what is it that you typically see. You see them set apart from the rest of the citizenry. They rarely intermix with the commoners, and when they do, it is usually for a photo op and not done out of true interest in such people. They come with their motorcade and their guards work diligently to keep people at a safe distance from the royal figure.
To be sure, we understand that there needs to be safety precautions, but I think you will agree that the lowliest figures in the kingdom are not typically given much attention by the elite classes and the figures of nobility.
But love is the very foundation of Christ’s rule. King Jesus rules in perfect love and the thing that makes his rule significant is that he has a particular interest in those who may be considered the lowliest in his realm.
As we look at our text today, we certainly see that to be the case. Our passage mentions a certain segment of the population that might be considered the most weak and perhaps even the most expendable. It is a widow. A widow in ancient times—and perhaps even today—was one of the most vulnerable people in all society.
You might even say that she was even more helpless than an orphan. An orphan could grow up. He had the potential to make something of himself and gain some semblance of power. It would be hard, and it would certainly be rare, but the potential existed. No such chance existed for the widow. She was already at a disadvantage due to her being a woman. Add to that her being elderly and you have a recipe for a helpless predicament. She would be one that very few cared for. If anything, she was a target for being taken advantage of.
But our passage this morning seeks to make clear that King Jesus has a special regard for such persons. As the covenant head of the people, Jesus has a perfect love for every single person under his care. And that even means the widow. The whole of the Bible seeks to emphasize the loving and tender regard Jesus has for the helpless. And our passage this morning reiterates the kindly interest Jesus has in maintaining her cause.
There are two things I want us to look at this morning. I want us to see how the Lord is the Just King who defends the weak and helpless. And our passage reveals to us just how he does that. There are two sides to it. First, he destroys the house of the proud oppressor. And, as the second half of the verse expresses, he maintains the widow’s boundary line.
Let us consider the tender king: the one who regards the weak and helpless. The tender king is not so tender with those who show themselves ruthless.
I. When it comes to the proud, the Lord is the destroyer
Notice how our passage starts out. It says, “The LORD tears down the house of the proud.” This text states that the Lord stands in direct opposition to those who have inflated egos. As a matter of fact, the Lord is so angry with them that he is said to tear down their house. As Matthew Henry so eloquently put it, “Those who are elevated the Lord delights to abase.”
Now, let’s ask ourselves, what exactly is a proud person? Or, what are the characteristics of someone who is proud? There are a number of things we can say in regards to this.
We can say that he is a man who is overly infatuated with himself. The word for proud actually comes from a word that means “to rise.” So what you have here is a person who has a rather large view of himself. He thinks himself rather important; even more important than God. That’s the idea of rising. He in his pride has risen higher than God.
The classic illustration of this is Nebuchadnezzar. There’s the story of how King Nebuchadnezzar walked out on his patio and looked out over his kingdom and said, “Look at all that I’ve made. Look at this vast kingdom I have acquired.” Immediately a voice came from heaven and said, “This day I’ve taken the kingdom from you.”
Nebuchadnezzar’s view of himself had risen too high. He thought it was his power that had gotten him all these realms. So God deflated that pride by taking it all away from him in a moment, just to point out that it wasn’t due to his might at all.
And along with this inflated attitude is his not being willing to submit to God. That’s another mark of proud person. A proud person thinks that he knows it all. He thinks he stands in the place of God. So he thinks he’s the one who calls the shots.
This is seen in a lot of the proverbs that are sprinkled throughout this chapter. You’ll notice the proud man is spoken of (though maybe not by name) in a number of different passages here. For instance,
Proverbs 15:5 ESV - “A fool despises his father's instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.”
Proverbs 15:12 ESV - “A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.”
Proverbs 15:22 ESV – “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.”
The only counselors that a proud man needs is “Me, Myself, and I.”
So you see that a proud man is a man who stands in the place of God. He’s risen to the point where he thinks he can call the shots, and he doesn’t need to listen to sound, godly counsel. And he certainly doesn’t listen to God.
There’s one more point to note about the proud man though. The proud man can be described as a ruthless, cruel tyrant. The proud man here is put in contrast to the widow. It is likely that he’s the one who is encroaching on her property. He’s the one who is moving her landmarker. This is why the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT) translates this by saying, “The Lord destroys the house of the insulter (or mistreater).”
Oppression is one of the characteristic traits of a proud person. The proud man likes to assert his power over other people. He is full of himself, and he likes to fill himself with other people’s things. That’s how proud he is, he thinks that he can do whatever he wants to get whatever he wants. So he ends up preying upon weak people. He mistreats them. He steals from them. He uses them for his own advantage.
It is in the face of this kind of cruel, ruthless tyranny that this Proverb is spoken. The Word of God says that the proud man, whether he be a petty tyrant such as a bully or a political figurehead, should not expect to last long. He will be destroyed.
But I want you to notice what the text says here. Not only will he come crashing down, but his house will fall too.
It says that the Lord tears down the house of the proud. And it doesn’t mean that one of the rafters in his home is going to cut loose and the building is going to collapse. The house here is symbolic of his household. It is not just talking about the things he owns, but it is his whole family—everyone who is under his rule. It is the whole complex of evil that exists under him or the whole of his rule. Every part of his dominion is going to be rooted up—and that includes his family.
In order to rightfully understand what this is saying we have to understand the whole idea of covenant representation. Sometimes we may call it federal headship. It is the idea that the proud man stands as the head of some organization: be it his family, his country, his institution. His pride invokes God’s wrath and God’s wrath falls on all whom he represents. All those who are in him by virtue of their covenant relationship to him, end up being destroyed.
Now, this is something that we as Americans are not used to. We live in a very individualized society and we think that everyone is punished for his or her own sins and everyone is rewarded for his or her own good works. And it is true, in so far as that is stated. But the Bible tells us that God relates to people covenantally. That is to say, He relates to them corporately by virtue of their covenant head.
Let me give you a few examples. First of all, let’s think of Korah’s rebellion. When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness there were a couple men who rose up against Moses and Aaron. They tried to say that Moses and Aaron had no business leading them. You might say that they were proud men because they thought they knew who should be leading.
One of these men who sought to usurp the power was a fellow by the name of Korah. And Moses said told everyone to move away from the tents of Korah. And Moses said that if Korah died a normal death, then we know that Moses was wrong. But if he died in a supernatural way, if the earth opened up and swallowed him, then we know that the Lord had chosen Moses.
We know that the latter happened. But the interesting thing is that it wasn’t just Korah who went down into the earth. His whole family got swallowed up with him. They weren’t said to be part of the rebellion. But they died just the same. That’s because they were represented by Korah. Korah was acting as their federal representative.
Another example we could look at is the good old story of David & Goliath. We often hear the story of D&G in children’s story books and we take it as a battle between two individuals. But it wasn’t. When D&G squared off, it was a battle between Israel & the Philistines. In those days it was common to have one or two people fight. It saved a lot of bloodshed. So one man would be a representative. The competing armies would send out their champion to fight on their behalf. And that’s what D&G was doing. Remember Goliath even said if I win, you will become our slaves, but if you win, we will be your slaves. And when David slew the giant he was acting as the covenant head of Israel.
Let me give you one more example. This time Noah’s son, Ham. If you received our newsletter from a few weeks ago, you may have already read this. You remember that Noah had 3 sons, Shem, Ham, & Japheth. After the flood we read about how Noah got drunk; so drunk that he lay naked. And we are told that Ham saw this and went and told his brothers. In other words, Ham thought it was pretty laughable. We are told that Shem & Japheth took a sheet, walked in backwards, and laid it on their father to cover him up. They didn’t want to disrespect their father, like Ham had.
When Noah woke up, he pronounced a curse. He said, “Cursed be Canaan! A servant of servants he shall be!” Now it is important to understand that Canaan was Ham’s son. He would go on to be the father of the Cannanites, of course. But you see, Ham’s actions had repercussions for his descendants. His offspring were cursed because of the actions of their father as their covenant head.
Now, this concept of covenant headship is important to understand because it is crucial to the whole plan of salvation. Adam was our federal head and it was his disobedience that plunged us all into sin. You can think of it this way: Adam became proud. He didn’t think he had to listen to his father. As a result, his house was destroyed. All of his children, including you and me, fell in him and with him.
So, hopefully you see how this whole covenantal headship thing plays out.
I recognize that this might not sit right with you. It is a bit of a foreign concept. As Americans, we emphasize a radical individuality. We are not used to this idea of federal headship. It is ironic because our political system is based in this idea. We elect officials to represent us—to go to Washington DC and make decisions on our behalf. And those decisions become our decisions. That is a form of federalism.
But hopefully we can grasp that this is the way God ordinarily relates to people, whether it be to countries, or families, or some other body—like a corporation or school. And, as our text tells us, those who are covenantal heads need to beware that their pride can result in the downfall of their whole house.
And I take all this time to go through all this because it leads to a very important point: This is a lesson for fathers and for political leaders, and for elders in the church. As a father, you need to recognize that you stand as the covenant head of your household. And you need to make sure that you are humbly seeking to follow God’s lead in your life. You need to be submitting to God because the welfare of your house depends on it.
The same is true for us as elders. We need to be very careful that we do not provoke God’s wrath. We need to be circumspect in our actions and make sure that we are humbly serving the Lord. If we allow ourselves to become inflated with pride—if we rise up and so fail to acknowledge God and His rule, that may very well lead to the tearing down of our whole house. All of them will meet their demise, just like the Devil himself, who’s whole house will be brought to nothing on the Last Great Day.
I heard an illustration just this week about a man who sold real-estate. He came into work one day and said, “My book on how I became so successful is ready for sale. If you would like a copy, let me know.” His employees said, “Who does this guy think he is? If it weren’t for us, he wouldn’t be anything.” So they all turned in their resignations that afternoon and they went out and formed their own company. The owner of the company ended up seeing his whole business collapse. He then went on to make some bad deals, all of which were illegal. He was trying to scramble and get things together and he was, of course, caught in the act. He then lost all of his money, his business, and he went to prison. It wasn’t just him who suffered though. His whole family ended up suffering. They were all put in the poor house because of the acts of this one man.
That just goes to show that the Lord tears down the house of the proud.
And when we look at this passage, we understand something of God’s special favor—his special regard for the widow.
Any tyrant who oppresses a widow will come down. His house, like the whole house of Satan Himself, will come crashing down.
But we find in our passage that King Jesus also rules in a more positive way. His protection of the widow is not just through His vengeance he exacts, but it is also through his maintaining of her land rights.
II. When it comes to the needy, the Lord is the protector
The second half of our passage says that the “Lord maintains the widow’s boundaries.”
Now think again how this happens. You have a boundary marker that marks off your property. In ancient times this was typically done with a rock. At my house we have a metal pin that marks the line between my parent’s house and my neighbor’s land. But imagine that during the night your neighbor comes over and moves that rock 3-4 feet. He’s just usurped a part of your property. And what can you do about it? If you are grown man, you can pop your neighbor in the nose and move it back. But a widow can’t defend herself. She’s completely dependent upon God to give her justice.
And the promise here is that Yes, God will act on your behalf. God won’t allow that to happen. God’s normal way of working is that he looks after those who are helpless. He’s not like the unjust judge who won’t listen to the pleas of the widow who comes to him for justice.
We don’t have any widows. But someday we will. And this is a special affirmation to you. That you are near and dear to God’s heart.
You can think of how people today prey on the elderly. There are scam artists who will call you on the phone and try and trick you into giving up your credit card number or bank information. I believe this passage applies to that sort of thing. God isn’t going to let that injustice go unnoticed. He’s going to advocate on your behalf and see to it that it is restored.
This is a reminder of God’s covenant headship over all of us. We just talked about how that representation affects the whole house of the proud, but here you see it in its more positive light. Christ is our federal head and he looks after everyone who is under his authority. He defends them and protects them. He loves them and ensures that their inheritance is secure.
And this ultimately reminds us of what he has done on the Cross. In the cross, he has secured our inheritance, hasn’t he? He has guaranteed that we each have a place in the world to come—and no one can take that from us.
Each of us is essentially a widow. When it comes to our hope of living and having property rights in the world to come, there is nothing we can do. We are completely dependent upon God. And the glorious thing is that he secures it for us. He acts as our covenant king, to ensure that it never slips away from us.
I’m going to suggest to you that this verse points to the doctrine of “once saved always saved.” Do you see that? If God is our covenant head, if he acts as our representative in the cross to secure salvation for his people, then can you ever lose it? Can the widow, with God watching over her boundary marker, ever lose it? Certainly not.
So this verse is applicable more than to our widows. It is applicable to each one of us—causing us to rest in God and rejoice in Him.
Paul spoke to this very thing when he said, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which has been committed unto Him against that day." These wore words of land rights; the assurance that God is keeping our place in heaven.
One of the grand themes of the Bible is the Kingship of Jesus. Our God is the sovereign ruler over all things, and he has all authority by virtue of his being the Creator. The story of redemption orients itself around this idea as well. Jesus came into this world proclaiming the kingdom of God. He had come to restore the kingdom. And we wait for him to come again so that His kingdom may be consummated.
But the kingship of Jesus stands in stark contrast to the kingship of man. When we think of political rule, we do not typically associate it with the idea of love. The kingdoms of men are usually based on selfish inclination and those who take positions of power are usually egotistical figures who use their authority for their own sakes—their own pleasure.
And when you look at earthly authorities, what is it that you typically see. You see them set apart from the rest of the citizenry. They rarely intermix with the commoners, and when they do, it is usually for a photo op and not done out of true interest in such people. They come with their motorcade and their guards work diligently to keep people at a safe distance from the royal figure.
To be sure, we understand that there needs to be safety precautions, but I think you will agree that the lowliest figures in the kingdom are not typically given much attention by the elite classes and the figures of nobility.
But love is the very foundation of Christ’s rule. King Jesus rules in perfect love and the thing that makes his rule significant is that he has a particular interest in those who may be considered the lowliest in his realm.
As we look at our text today, we certainly see that to be the case. Our passage mentions a certain segment of the population that might be considered the most weak and perhaps even the most expendable. It is a widow. A widow in ancient times—and perhaps even today—was one of the most vulnerable people in all society.
You might even say that she was even more helpless than an orphan. An orphan could grow up. He had the potential to make something of himself and gain some semblance of power. It would be hard, and it would certainly be rare, but the potential existed. No such chance existed for the widow. She was already at a disadvantage due to her being a woman. Add to that her being elderly and you have a recipe for a helpless predicament. She would be one that very few cared for. If anything, she was a target for being taken advantage of.
But our passage this morning seeks to make clear that King Jesus has a special regard for such persons. As the covenant head of the people, Jesus has a perfect love for every single person under his care. And that even means the widow. The whole of the Bible seeks to emphasize the loving and tender regard Jesus has for the helpless. And our passage this morning reiterates the kindly interest Jesus has in maintaining her cause.
There are two things I want us to look at this morning. I want us to see how the Lord is the Just King who defends the weak and helpless. And our passage reveals to us just how he does that. There are two sides to it. First, he destroys the house of the proud oppressor. And, as the second half of the verse expresses, he maintains the widow’s boundary line.
Let us consider the tender king: the one who regards the weak and helpless. The tender king is not so tender with those who show themselves ruthless.
I. When it comes to the proud, the Lord is the destroyer
Notice how our passage starts out. It says, “The LORD tears down the house of the proud.” This text states that the Lord stands in direct opposition to those who have inflated egos. As a matter of fact, the Lord is so angry with them that he is said to tear down their house. As Matthew Henry so eloquently put it, “Those who are elevated the Lord delights to abase.”
Now, let’s ask ourselves, what exactly is a proud person? Or, what are the characteristics of someone who is proud? There are a number of things we can say in regards to this.
We can say that he is a man who is overly infatuated with himself. The word for proud actually comes from a word that means “to rise.” So what you have here is a person who has a rather large view of himself. He thinks himself rather important; even more important than God. That’s the idea of rising. He in his pride has risen higher than God.
The classic illustration of this is Nebuchadnezzar. There’s the story of how King Nebuchadnezzar walked out on his patio and looked out over his kingdom and said, “Look at all that I’ve made. Look at this vast kingdom I have acquired.” Immediately a voice came from heaven and said, “This day I’ve taken the kingdom from you.”
Nebuchadnezzar’s view of himself had risen too high. He thought it was his power that had gotten him all these realms. So God deflated that pride by taking it all away from him in a moment, just to point out that it wasn’t due to his might at all.
And along with this inflated attitude is his not being willing to submit to God. That’s another mark of proud person. A proud person thinks that he knows it all. He thinks he stands in the place of God. So he thinks he’s the one who calls the shots.
This is seen in a lot of the proverbs that are sprinkled throughout this chapter. You’ll notice the proud man is spoken of (though maybe not by name) in a number of different passages here. For instance,
Proverbs 15:5 ESV - “A fool despises his father's instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.”
- You see how this points to pride? He’s too smart. He already thinks he knows better. He’s not going to listen to his father’s advice. He’s not going to heed correction. He thinks his old man is old fashioned or too dumb. His problem though is that he’s arrogant and he won’t listen to the wisdom that his father has accumulated through his experience and years of learning.
Proverbs 15:12 ESV - “A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.”
- Again you see the inflated attitude. This time the proud man is called a scoffer. Why is that? It is because he scoffs at correction. In other words, he ridicules the person who tries to reprove him and he laughs at their counsel. A few years ago it was hip to say “Whatever.” When a teacher or parent would take a child aside and talk to them, they’d say, “Whatever” with a tone of mockery. That’s an example of a proud person. A proud person won’t listen to what any authorities have to say because he thinks he’s the authority he needs.
Proverbs 15:22 ESV – “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.”
- This one is saying that a proud man isn’t going to consult with others. He’s not going to look to anyone for advice. He’s just going to do what he wants to do. If he’s starting a business, he’s just going to charge ahead without stopping to check with people who are wiser than him. He thinks, “Of course it will succeed. I know exactly what people want. Why wouldn’t they want what I have to give them?”
The only counselors that a proud man needs is “Me, Myself, and I.”
So you see that a proud man is a man who stands in the place of God. He’s risen to the point where he thinks he can call the shots, and he doesn’t need to listen to sound, godly counsel. And he certainly doesn’t listen to God.
There’s one more point to note about the proud man though. The proud man can be described as a ruthless, cruel tyrant. The proud man here is put in contrast to the widow. It is likely that he’s the one who is encroaching on her property. He’s the one who is moving her landmarker. This is why the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT) translates this by saying, “The Lord destroys the house of the insulter (or mistreater).”
Oppression is one of the characteristic traits of a proud person. The proud man likes to assert his power over other people. He is full of himself, and he likes to fill himself with other people’s things. That’s how proud he is, he thinks that he can do whatever he wants to get whatever he wants. So he ends up preying upon weak people. He mistreats them. He steals from them. He uses them for his own advantage.
It is in the face of this kind of cruel, ruthless tyranny that this Proverb is spoken. The Word of God says that the proud man, whether he be a petty tyrant such as a bully or a political figurehead, should not expect to last long. He will be destroyed.
But I want you to notice what the text says here. Not only will he come crashing down, but his house will fall too.
It says that the Lord tears down the house of the proud. And it doesn’t mean that one of the rafters in his home is going to cut loose and the building is going to collapse. The house here is symbolic of his household. It is not just talking about the things he owns, but it is his whole family—everyone who is under his rule. It is the whole complex of evil that exists under him or the whole of his rule. Every part of his dominion is going to be rooted up—and that includes his family.
In order to rightfully understand what this is saying we have to understand the whole idea of covenant representation. Sometimes we may call it federal headship. It is the idea that the proud man stands as the head of some organization: be it his family, his country, his institution. His pride invokes God’s wrath and God’s wrath falls on all whom he represents. All those who are in him by virtue of their covenant relationship to him, end up being destroyed.
Now, this is something that we as Americans are not used to. We live in a very individualized society and we think that everyone is punished for his or her own sins and everyone is rewarded for his or her own good works. And it is true, in so far as that is stated. But the Bible tells us that God relates to people covenantally. That is to say, He relates to them corporately by virtue of their covenant head.
Let me give you a few examples. First of all, let’s think of Korah’s rebellion. When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness there were a couple men who rose up against Moses and Aaron. They tried to say that Moses and Aaron had no business leading them. You might say that they were proud men because they thought they knew who should be leading.
One of these men who sought to usurp the power was a fellow by the name of Korah. And Moses said told everyone to move away from the tents of Korah. And Moses said that if Korah died a normal death, then we know that Moses was wrong. But if he died in a supernatural way, if the earth opened up and swallowed him, then we know that the Lord had chosen Moses.
We know that the latter happened. But the interesting thing is that it wasn’t just Korah who went down into the earth. His whole family got swallowed up with him. They weren’t said to be part of the rebellion. But they died just the same. That’s because they were represented by Korah. Korah was acting as their federal representative.
Another example we could look at is the good old story of David & Goliath. We often hear the story of D&G in children’s story books and we take it as a battle between two individuals. But it wasn’t. When D&G squared off, it was a battle between Israel & the Philistines. In those days it was common to have one or two people fight. It saved a lot of bloodshed. So one man would be a representative. The competing armies would send out their champion to fight on their behalf. And that’s what D&G was doing. Remember Goliath even said if I win, you will become our slaves, but if you win, we will be your slaves. And when David slew the giant he was acting as the covenant head of Israel.
Let me give you one more example. This time Noah’s son, Ham. If you received our newsletter from a few weeks ago, you may have already read this. You remember that Noah had 3 sons, Shem, Ham, & Japheth. After the flood we read about how Noah got drunk; so drunk that he lay naked. And we are told that Ham saw this and went and told his brothers. In other words, Ham thought it was pretty laughable. We are told that Shem & Japheth took a sheet, walked in backwards, and laid it on their father to cover him up. They didn’t want to disrespect their father, like Ham had.
When Noah woke up, he pronounced a curse. He said, “Cursed be Canaan! A servant of servants he shall be!” Now it is important to understand that Canaan was Ham’s son. He would go on to be the father of the Cannanites, of course. But you see, Ham’s actions had repercussions for his descendants. His offspring were cursed because of the actions of their father as their covenant head.
Now, this concept of covenant headship is important to understand because it is crucial to the whole plan of salvation. Adam was our federal head and it was his disobedience that plunged us all into sin. You can think of it this way: Adam became proud. He didn’t think he had to listen to his father. As a result, his house was destroyed. All of his children, including you and me, fell in him and with him.
So, hopefully you see how this whole covenantal headship thing plays out.
I recognize that this might not sit right with you. It is a bit of a foreign concept. As Americans, we emphasize a radical individuality. We are not used to this idea of federal headship. It is ironic because our political system is based in this idea. We elect officials to represent us—to go to Washington DC and make decisions on our behalf. And those decisions become our decisions. That is a form of federalism.
But hopefully we can grasp that this is the way God ordinarily relates to people, whether it be to countries, or families, or some other body—like a corporation or school. And, as our text tells us, those who are covenantal heads need to beware that their pride can result in the downfall of their whole house.
And I take all this time to go through all this because it leads to a very important point: This is a lesson for fathers and for political leaders, and for elders in the church. As a father, you need to recognize that you stand as the covenant head of your household. And you need to make sure that you are humbly seeking to follow God’s lead in your life. You need to be submitting to God because the welfare of your house depends on it.
The same is true for us as elders. We need to be very careful that we do not provoke God’s wrath. We need to be circumspect in our actions and make sure that we are humbly serving the Lord. If we allow ourselves to become inflated with pride—if we rise up and so fail to acknowledge God and His rule, that may very well lead to the tearing down of our whole house. All of them will meet their demise, just like the Devil himself, who’s whole house will be brought to nothing on the Last Great Day.
I heard an illustration just this week about a man who sold real-estate. He came into work one day and said, “My book on how I became so successful is ready for sale. If you would like a copy, let me know.” His employees said, “Who does this guy think he is? If it weren’t for us, he wouldn’t be anything.” So they all turned in their resignations that afternoon and they went out and formed their own company. The owner of the company ended up seeing his whole business collapse. He then went on to make some bad deals, all of which were illegal. He was trying to scramble and get things together and he was, of course, caught in the act. He then lost all of his money, his business, and he went to prison. It wasn’t just him who suffered though. His whole family ended up suffering. They were all put in the poor house because of the acts of this one man.
That just goes to show that the Lord tears down the house of the proud.
And when we look at this passage, we understand something of God’s special favor—his special regard for the widow.
Any tyrant who oppresses a widow will come down. His house, like the whole house of Satan Himself, will come crashing down.
But we find in our passage that King Jesus also rules in a more positive way. His protection of the widow is not just through His vengeance he exacts, but it is also through his maintaining of her land rights.
II. When it comes to the needy, the Lord is the protector
The second half of our passage says that the “Lord maintains the widow’s boundaries.”
Now think again how this happens. You have a boundary marker that marks off your property. In ancient times this was typically done with a rock. At my house we have a metal pin that marks the line between my parent’s house and my neighbor’s land. But imagine that during the night your neighbor comes over and moves that rock 3-4 feet. He’s just usurped a part of your property. And what can you do about it? If you are grown man, you can pop your neighbor in the nose and move it back. But a widow can’t defend herself. She’s completely dependent upon God to give her justice.
And the promise here is that Yes, God will act on your behalf. God won’t allow that to happen. God’s normal way of working is that he looks after those who are helpless. He’s not like the unjust judge who won’t listen to the pleas of the widow who comes to him for justice.
We don’t have any widows. But someday we will. And this is a special affirmation to you. That you are near and dear to God’s heart.
You can think of how people today prey on the elderly. There are scam artists who will call you on the phone and try and trick you into giving up your credit card number or bank information. I believe this passage applies to that sort of thing. God isn’t going to let that injustice go unnoticed. He’s going to advocate on your behalf and see to it that it is restored.
This is a reminder of God’s covenant headship over all of us. We just talked about how that representation affects the whole house of the proud, but here you see it in its more positive light. Christ is our federal head and he looks after everyone who is under his authority. He defends them and protects them. He loves them and ensures that their inheritance is secure.
And this ultimately reminds us of what he has done on the Cross. In the cross, he has secured our inheritance, hasn’t he? He has guaranteed that we each have a place in the world to come—and no one can take that from us.
Each of us is essentially a widow. When it comes to our hope of living and having property rights in the world to come, there is nothing we can do. We are completely dependent upon God. And the glorious thing is that he secures it for us. He acts as our covenant king, to ensure that it never slips away from us.
I’m going to suggest to you that this verse points to the doctrine of “once saved always saved.” Do you see that? If God is our covenant head, if he acts as our representative in the cross to secure salvation for his people, then can you ever lose it? Can the widow, with God watching over her boundary marker, ever lose it? Certainly not.
So this verse is applicable more than to our widows. It is applicable to each one of us—causing us to rest in God and rejoice in Him.
Paul spoke to this very thing when he said, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which has been committed unto Him against that day." These wore words of land rights; the assurance that God is keeping our place in heaven.