The Anvil - God's Word
by Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1703-1791)
Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith's door,
And heart the anvil ring the vesper chime;
Then, looking in, I saw upon the floor
Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.
How many anvils have you had," said I,
"To wear and batter all these hammers so?"
"Just one," said he, and then, with twinkling eye,
"The anvil wears the hammers out, you know."
And so, thought I, the anvil of God's Word,
For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The anvil is unharmed--the hammers gone.
The Word of God, God and His people are under severe attack on many fronts by many groups of people. The hammers come in various sizes and the ones using them have varying strengths. Some are just hammering enough to be irritating and others are trying to deliver crushing blows in rapid succession. The flurry of hammer activity against the anvil is creating a loud cacophony and scaring many saints and confusing others.
As we see from Brother Zinzendorf’s poem, this type of thing has been going on for some time and yet the anvil stands. During the same time frame as this pastor poet there was a grand atheist named Voltaire (1694-1779) that declared there would be no more Bibles in a hundred years. A hundred years later they were printing bibles in the house where he had lived. So goes that hammer’s prediction and damage. Sadly, while the anvil incurred no damage one can only imagine the souls that hammer damned to Hell because people thought all the noise the hammer was making was actually accomplishing something when indeed it was just a fleeting flurry of fury.
In every century after the Fall there has been an all-out effort by the enemies of God to hammer Him, His Word and His people into a pile of pulverized metallic dust and yet the anvil stands as does the Creator of the anvil and His people both Jewish and Christian.
The Word of God is replete with descriptions of hammers busily clanging away. At times in the dust created by the hammer as it destroys itself the hammer thinks it is doing damage to the anvil until it finally breaks into pieces or the wielder of the hammer dies and is turned into dust. Some even acknowledged their error and wept over their doom as their life departed. These little hammers can irritate and the Saints, but never abrogate the anvil or its Creator.
Indeed, the Creator of the anvil has a perspective on the issue that the Saints need to understand and appropriate to bring peace to their souls in the midst of all the clamor and dust clouds.
Psa 2:1-12
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
See any heathen rage about us? Even heathen wolves cloaked as Christians rage and sometimes confuse the saints that have forgotten about the warnings of wolves in sheep's clothing, demons and false prophets appearing as angels of lights as well as false brethren. We should not be surprised nor fearful of these little, but loud, hammers. They are no surprise to God and He does not fear them for they imagine a vain or useless thing. The King of Kings is naught but irritated by all these lower powers that think themselves grand pile drivers that will break off His bands.
God is laughing at them like you would if a four year old came up to you and wanted to fight. His little mouth might speak bold words or write checks his body can't cash, but you would just chuckle if not laugh out loud. He could come at you and as you put you hand on his head to hold him back he might swing furiously, but he cannot connect. Eventually, he will tire and leave spitting at you and maybe even cursing but it was all in vain leaving you guffawing at the sight of his angry departure.
The raging heathens are no different than that. Someone once chastised Lester Roloff when he challenged the Texas government about licensing his children's homes by saying, “Brother Roloff, doesn't the Bible say to obey the higher powers?” He replied, “I have no problem with the higher powers. It these lower powers that are giving me a fit.” The most powerful heathen on earth is not even equal to the four year old in my analogy. He is just a crying infant in a dirty diaper in comparison to God.
There is coming a day as there has been in the past when the long suffering of God will end and He will laugh at all of them as He deals with their rage and vanity. Oh, the hammers will make quite a noise then as a they are cast down together in a heap called Hell. They chose a useless path and did not want the easy yoke or band of Christ or His cords of love thus they will endure eternity bound hand and foot suffering the full yoke of their sins. Foolish rage it was and though they rage through eternity at God it will be misdirected as it should be against themselves and the devil who sought to be king.
Indeed as they derided God so shall they be in derision. They mocked the Lord, laughed at His Word and His people often with derogatory mimicking or perverted interpretations. Yea, it will be the Lord's turn during the Tribulation and at the Great White Throne. He will really not have to do a thing as their own words and actions will be replayed before all and they will be condemned by them. They will be able to see their own foolishness and it will have them in derision. God may not have to do anything but look them in the eye so they can see the love they could have had and the wrath they will incur. Eyes can speak more than words sometimes so that should be enough though He may say or do more in His wrath. The Judge of all the earth shall do right in that day as He as always done when He makes them tremble or as the passage says, vex them. He has the right to do so in His sore or burning displeasure for they are in His kingdom as rebels and enemies.
Then they will see the King that the Lord has set upon His holy hill. The very King they sought to destroy as did the hordes of Hell. Yea, they thought they had Him when they nailed Him to a Cross. What they did not know was they were only accomplishing that because He allowed it. It was not Jew nor Gentile or even the unholy hordes that put Him on that tree. He laid down His life freely for the sins of mankind. They were taken in their own craftiness and ego for He knew what they would do. Their desire was vain and had they known their own rage would defeat them they would not have consented to His Crucifixion.
We see the Messianic promise for Israel in verse 7 when the Son of God will come and destroy His enemies and the enemies of Israel. Verily, God has given the Son the heathen for an inheritance in two ways. Many of the heathen have come to faith in Christ and those are joint-heirs with Him because they were His by the calling of God and thus He bought them with His blood. They are also His by inheritance for the world is given unto the Son and He has the authority to judge them. All creation belong to the Father and He has given it to the Son to possess. Opposite of our traditions where the Father dies for the Son to inherit the Son of God died according to the Scriptures to gain His inheritance.
He came the first time to offer the raging heathen a pardon, love and salvation. When He returns the second time it will be to execute judgment upon them and the description here is quite vivid though other aspects or details of that judgment as shown in other passages in the Prophets and Revelation.
Verse nine should be enough to encourage the judges and kings of the earth to rejoice with trembling and serve the Lord and to seek wisdom, but the determined foolishness of men cannot see the truth until an anvil is dropped on their head. Some men can wake up by stubbing their toes against the anvil, but most need much more pain than is necessary. Sadly, many of His people also have some issues in this area as we need to go through many heartaches before we allow Him to be Lord in our life. We are entitlement driven in that we like the blessings and want them with no responsibility or commitment. So many of us lack joy, power and impact because we want to do life our way and just go to God's welfare office to pick up benefits when we run short or just want more.
Maybe the hammers are hitting us because God has taken off the pile of iron to stick in the fire to place us on the anvil and let the hammers beat the impurities out of us. Some of us get hammered because we portray ourselves as a mini-anvil and draw those hammers to us. We need to rejoice with trembling and serve the Lord with a bit more fear than we have and I do not just mean reverential awe. He can crush the heathen but He can also scourge the saint. If we hang out with the heathen we may find ourselves as collateral damage when God smites them with that rod of iron and the shrapnel of those broken pieces may definitely cut us.
We see again the importance of being in good relationship with the Son in verse twelve. Kiss the Son means to reverence Him or be subject to Him. We kiss for all sorts of reasons in our culture, but is was different in this time and still in some places in the biblical lands it means the same. He is the one with whom we have to do and we better do it sooner than later for the passage says that you will perish when His wrath is kindled. But a little speaks to it being quickly executed as well as how much of a quantity of wrath it takes to make it happen or how large a flame burns.
Indeed, blessed are those who trust in Him for as we know they are not under condemnation, but rather blessing, grace and peace. God chose the easiest and yet the hardest method of redemption of man for we can do nothing to please Him, but trust. It has always been about trusting Him. Adam and Eve failed to trust and here we are in this messy life. Only Noah's clan trusted God and all the rest died in the Flood. Those who trusted in Scripture always fared well when they trusted even if they totally blew it at times in their works. Abraham was the father of faith and yet he had some severe failings. David, a man pursuing God's heart committed the two unpardonable sins of the Old Testament. Solomon, the wisest man also failed in his wives. Peter feared people and failed before Pentecost and after in that same area. Yet, all these folks were greatly blessed and God used them.
Are you among the heathen today? You better stop your rage or your running for both are in vain. Kiss the Son soon as time is running out, for you shall surely die once. It is up to you if you die twice.
Brethren, are the hammers scaring you? Fear not, as it is the evident token of their perdition and sign of your salvation and redemption, which is drawing nigh. If you are being hit by the hammers or sparks you may be too close to the world or getting in God's way. If you are hammered for your own sin or foolishness then there is no reward of comfort in that. If God is using the little hammers to mold you and make you more like Christ then no matter what the pain or cost it will be worth it all when you see Jesus. Therefore, listen to the hammers ring and rejoice! They will be silenced forever in due time! Maranatha!!
