Canaan's Rest

Soon after the Babylonians took young King Jehoiachin and many of the leading citizens of Jerusalem into exile, God gave Jeremiah a vision of two baskets of figs. This exile had been smaller than the first exile of 605 BC.  This exile took place in 597 BC, nearly ten years before the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC.  Those left behind believed they had been favored over those in Babylon. “They could not imagine that Babylon would be the place where the true faith would survive and thrive.  But what the people viewed as a disaster could work for good” (Grace and Truth Bible). 

In the vision Jeremiah saw, “one basket had very good figs” while “the other basket had very bad figs” (Jer. 24:2).  God provided a prophetic meaning to the visual metaphor. “The message turns popular assumptions upside down; if the people thought that those who were carried off to exile were the ones who were headed for extinction like rotten fruit, while those who remained were in for a happier future, they were completely wrong” (Bible Speaks Today). 

The Lord gives this surprising interpretation to the vision: “Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians” (Jer. 24:5).  “The Lord was announcing a remarkable theological concept.  His evaluations are not based on people’s goodness but on his sovereign grace” (Jeremiah – Huey). Those left behind believed they would be blessed by remaining in the land.  But God intended blessing and refinement for those in captivity.

God promised protection and prosperity for those in exile.  He would bring them back after 70 years in captivity. “My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them” (Jer. 24:6).

Even more than prospering, God would give them a heart to know him: “And I’ll give them a heart to know me, God.  They’ll be my people and I’ll be their God, for they’ll have returned to me with all their hearts” (Jer. 24:7 – Message). The people would choose God, while God remained in sovereign control.  “God requires his people to turn but they can no longer turn; but what they can no longer do he will do for them by giving them a new heart which can turn.  His sovereign grace will create a new reality that breaks out of the prison of human failure and inability” (Bible Speaks Today). 

In my opinion, there is an important lesson for us as we navigate the spiritual bareness of our day.  We are in many ways a people going into exile. We will be like strangers in a foreign land.  That time is coming quickly.

There are two major takeaways from this vision, as we will need to faithfully endure what will be happening.  First, we need to believe that we will prosper in exile.  How God accomplishes that is up to Him.  I cling to this promise: “I’ll build them up, not tear them down: I’ll plant them, not uproot them” (Jer. 24:6 – Message). 

Further, and more incredibly, God will give us a heart to know God even better and return to Him with all our hearts.  In words that come close to the “new creation” language of II Cor. 5:17, God promises “a heart to know me.” 

Men: be a man (and seek men) with a heart for God – open and responsive to Him.  

In concluding a recent blog, Aaron Renn offered a quote from Richard Reeves’ new book, “Of Boys and Men.”  Below is the quote and some comments on it:

“Until around 2015, the phrase toxic masculinity warranted just a handful of mentions in a couple corners of academia.  According to sociologist Carol Harrington, the number of articles using the term prior to 2015 never exceeded twenty, and almost all mentions were in scholarly journals.  But with the rise of Donald Trump and the #MeToo movement, progressives brought it into everyday use.  By 2017, there were thousands of mentions, mostly in the mainstream media.  Harrington points out that the term is almost never defined, even by academics, and is instead used to simply “signal disapproval.”  Lacking any coherent or consistent definition, the phrase now refers to any male behavior that the user disapproves of, from the tragic to the trivial.  It has been blamed, among other things, for mass shootings, gang violence, rape, online trolling, climate change, the financial crisis, Brexit, the election of Donald Trump, and an unwillingness to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

When I began writing this blog back in 2009, I envisioned writing on masculinity because of what I had learned from Leanne Payne.  She wrote in Crisis in Masculinity that “a culture will never become decadent in the face of healthy, balanced masculinity.  When a nation or an entire Western culture backslides, it is the masculine which is first to decline.” I will always be grateful for the healing I found (and continue to find) in her writings. I believe she is a forgotten voice in helping men find inner healing from a biblical perspective.  

In confronting toxic masculinity, I value Payne’s viewpoint: “To think on the transcendent nature of gender is awe-inspiring, for sexuality and gender are grounded in the Being of God and His creation. Masculinity and femininity have utterly transcendent dimensions.” 

Jesus reminds us of the transcendent nature of gender: “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh” (Matt 19:4-5). I am created as a man.  I have spent a lifetime learning how to live out of the unique masculine soul given to me by my loving heavenly Father.  I am who God says I am, and He continues to form who I am as a man.  I am still under construction. 

So when the term “toxic masculinity” began to appear in our cultural consciousness, I knew I had to continue to be voice crying out to men in the modern wastelands of gender confusion.  I refuse to cave to the voices that want to shame me into denying my masculinity.  I will continue to cry out to others in the wilderness. As Payne notes, “Masculinity… is… not a thing to be learned, but rather a quality to be tasted or experienced.  The masculine within is called forth and blessed by the masculine without.” 

Be aware, men, that in our culture, the term toxic masculinity is used primarily as a “signal of disapproval.”  So my advice is threefold:  First, celebrate the transcendent nature of your masculinity. God made you to be a man for a reason.  Second, find another older male, a mentor or coach, who can affirm you in your masculinity.  Third, find a group of men who seek the Lord, hold each other accountable, pray for each other, and practice soul care with each other.