\n\nBecause Words Matter: Bowels In The Bible
Robert Hawker | Added: Apr 13, 2019
I should not have thought it necessary to have offered a single
observation on this word, considered in the general acceptation of it,
for every one cannot but know its obvious meaning. But it may be proper,
notwithstanding, to observe, that as in its literal sense, the bowels
mean the entrails, so when used figuratively, it refers to the heart and
the affections. Hence, it is said of the patriarch Joseph, that at
beholding his brother, \u201chis bowels did yearn upon him\u201d (Genesis 43:30).
And the Lord himself is represented as expressing His tenderness for
Ephraim under the same similitude; \u201cIs Ephraim my dear son? is he a
pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember
him still; therefore, my bowels are troubled for him. I will surely have
mercy upon him, saith the Lord\u201d (Jeremiah 31:20).
But when the word is spoken in reference to the person of Christ in His
human nature, here it is not figuratively used, but literally; and the
meaning of it is uncommonly blessed and sweet. If the reader will turn
to Psalm 40:8, he will find Jesus thus speaking by the Spirit of
prophecy, \u201cI delight to do thy will, O my God! yea, thy law is within my
heart.\u201d The margin of the Bible renders it, within my bowels, meaning,
that so perfectly holy and pure was the human nature of Christ, that the
law of His Father was incorporated in His very being; an inwrought
holiness mixed up and becoming His person and His existence. What a
precious blessed view doth it afford of the Lord Jesus!
And what I beg the reader also particularly to remark, this purity, this
holiness of the Lord Jesus in our nature, is, to all intents and
purposes, that holiness in which JEHOVAH beholds His church in Jesus.
This, I believe, is not so generally understood nor considered by the
faithful as it ought; but it is what the Scriptures of God, in every
part, warrant. Jesus becoming our Surety is expressly said to have been
made both sin and a curse for His redeemed, that \u201cthey might be made the
righteousness God in him\u201d (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13). And what
a blessedness is there contained in this one view of the completeness of
the church in Jesus? So that, in the very moment that the child of God
feels the workings of corruption within him, and is groaning under a
body of sin and death, which he carries about with him, though he sees
nothing in himself but sin and imperfection, yea, sometimes, as it
appears to him, growing imperfections, yet looking to the Lord Jesus as
his Surety, and considering the Redeemer\u2019s holiness, and not anything in
himself, as the standard of justification, here he rests his
well-founded hope. This was blessedly set forth by the Holy Ghost:
(Isaiah 45:24) \u201cSurely, shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness
and strength; even to him shall men come, and all that are incensed
against him shall be ashamed.\u201d\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Because Words Matter: Bowels In The BibleRobert Hawker | Added: Apr 13, 2019I should not have thought it necessary to have offered a single observation on this word, considered in the general acceptation of it, for every one cannot but know its obvious meaning. But it may be proper, notwithstanding, to observe, that as in its literal sense, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,129,116,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-robert-hawker","category-complete-in-christ","category-justification-2","category-the-bible"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5298"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5299,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5298\/revisions\/5299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}