10/13/74; Rev 5:4 9/5/82; Eph 1323 11/20/90

DOCTRINE OF WEEPING

A. Definition.

1. Weeping is the emission of tears from the eyes. Weeping is an expression of grief, sorrow, frustration, lamentation, emotional stimulation, happiness, pain, and any overpowering emotion. Therefore, weeping can express weakness or strength. It is never an expression of rational thinking but an expression of emotion.

2. Eccl 3:4 tells us, "There is a time to weep and a time to dance."

3. There is good and bad weeping.

a. Good weeping is related to legitimate expressions of emotion which are not related to the sins of arrogance or the emotional complex of sins.

b. Bad weeping is related to both the emotional and arrogance complex of sins. Bad weeping is related to the law of volitional responsibility; once we sow to the wind and reap the whirlwind, we weep. Bad weeping is related to dissociation, disorientation to the grace of God, frustration, and scar tissue of the soul. Bad weeping is described in:

B. Scripture Related to Bad Weeping.

1. Num 14:1-4, "Then the congregation raised their voices and cried all night. And all the sons of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron; and the whole assembly said to them, "If we had only died in the land of Egypt or in this desert! "Now why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to be killed by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? So they said to one another, `Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.'"

a. This weeping resulted from scar tissue in their stream of consciousness which was caused by: negative volition by refusing to hear Bible doctrine, negative volition by hearing but refusing to metabolize the doctrine, and negative volition through dissociation. Dissociation was caused by their fear, hysteria, an hatred of Moses.

b. This entire assembly saw the omnipotence and grace of God perform ten miracles, and they saw the deliverance of God ten times in the desert. The problem was that they were so emotional and so under emotional that they could never appreciate the miracles. They had no doctrine in the stream of consciousness. The power is in the doctrine in your soul, not what you see. There was no reality in their souls.

c. Thinking that the Lord had brought them into the land to be killed by the sword was totally irrational. They preferred to return to slavery which represented security. They forgot all of the injustices of slavery.

d. The weeping of emotional sins resulted in manifestation of irrationality and stupid planning. The solution of the people ignored divine viewpoint and demonstrated ignorance of God's problem solving devices and no spiritual strength to use them.

2. The same irrationality and emotional revolt of the soul motivated the Jews to invade the Land contrary to God's mandate. The result was military disaster and more weeping, Dt 1:43-45, "So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the Lord, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country. And the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you, and chased you as bees do, and crushed you from Seir to Hormah. Then you returned and wept before the Lord; but the Lord did not listen to your voice, nor give ear to you."

a. Scar tissue from the soul's stream of consciousness plus garbage in the subconscious meant that the Exodus generation of believers did not possess the spiritual strength to conquer the Land.

b. The Jews had arrogance as a foundation in their souls instead of humility; they had ignorance instead of professionalism; they had spiritual weakness instead of spiritual strength. They could not lift the shield of faith.

3. Esau cried because he constantly rejected the gospel, and when he wanted to believe, he could not. Heb 12:16-17, "that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he did not find a place for a change of mind [about Christ], even though he sought for it with tears."

a. Esau's weeping expresses the frustration of making bad decisions inside the cosmic system. If people say "No" to the gospel long enough, they build scar tissue of the soul and accumulate garbage in the subconscious.

b. The Greek word METANOIA means a change of mind, not repentance. He said "No" so often that he could not bring himself to believe in Christ. All he could do was cry. He lacked the spiritual strength to believe because of too many withdrawals and dissociations from the gospel resulting in garbage in the subconscious.

4. Weeping is caused by lack of spiritual strength to use the problem solving devices.

a. 1 Sam 30:4, 6, "Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. Moreover David was greatly distressed because the soldiers spoke of stoning him, for all the soldiers were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God."

(1) The Amalekites had raided Ziklag and destroyed the city and taken the wives and children of David and his men.

(2) David was the only one who had the spiritual strength to lead his men to recovery.

b. When the Syrians invaded David said in Ps 42:3, 5, "My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all day long, `Where is your God?' Why are you depressed, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Have confidence in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His deliverance." There is weeping because the soul cannot cope with historical disaster. Here weeping is a negative expression of the soul to utilize resident Bible doctrine.

5. Weeping occurs in national disaster.

a. Joel 1:5-6, "Awake, drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you wine drinkers, because of the sweet wine that is cut off from your mouth. For a nation has invaded my land, mighty and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness." This is the weeping of drunks in national disaster. There is no good wine during the fifth cycle of discipline. Drunks cannot handle national disaster.

b. Lam 1:15-16, "The Lord has rejected all the warriors, my strong men in my midst; He has summoned an appointed time against me to crush my young men; In His wine press of judgment, the Lord has trodden the virgin daughters of Judah. This is why I weep; This is why my eyes overflow with tears; there is no one near to comfort me; no one to restore my spirit; my children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed."

6. There is the weeping of bitterness.

a. 1 Sam 1:10, "And she [Hannah] was bitter of soul, and she prayed to the Lord and she kept on weeping bitterly."

(1) Hannah was barren and was bitter about it. Her bitterness caused dissociation and scar tissue of the soul. This was weeping from arrogance.

(2) Weeping can express sinfulness of the soul under emotional revolt. Hannah was bitter because of the unjust attacks against her. When you weep it is either because of bitterness in the soul or nobility in the soul from positive volition to doctrine.

b. Lk 22:62, "And he [Peter] went out and wept bitterly."

7. The weeping of lust.

a. Num 11:4, "And the Gentile believers who were among them lusted a very strong lust; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, "Who will give us meat to eat?"

b. Num 11:10, "Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly, and it was evil in Moses' sight."

c. Num 11:20, "But a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, `Why did we ever leave Egypt?'"

8. The weeping of disorientation. Ezra 3:12-13, "Yet many of the priests and Levites and rulers, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud shrieks when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many others shouted aloud for joy; so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the other people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away." The old men wept at the rebuilding of the Temple because it wasn't as big as the original temple.

9. The weeping of lost opportunity. Mt 8:12, "But the sons of the kingdom [Jewish unbelievers] shall be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Compare Lk 13:28, "There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth there when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being cast out."

10. Weeping from emotional takeover of the soul, Rev 5:4. This was a momentary failure by John.

C. Scripture Related to Good Weeping.

1. Good weeping can be an expression of sorrow.

a. 2 Sam 18:33, "And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And thus he said as he walked, `O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!'" 2 Sam 19:1, "Then it was told Joab, "Behold, the king is weeping and mourns for Absalom."

b. 1 Thes 4:15, "But we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest [unbelievers] who have no hope."

c. Jn 11:33-35. No one ever died naturally in the presence of Jesus Christ. When a loved one dies, weeping shows great capacity for love. Those who are noble weep, e.g., our Lord. When you weep at the death of a loved one and have no regrets, that is a sign of nobility in the soul. Capacity for love also weeps from knowing that the person who has died is face to face with the Lord.

2. Weeping can occur as an expression of sadness regarding those who are negative toward Bible doctrine. Phil 3:18-19, "For many keep walking, concerning whom I told you many times, and even now weeping I tell you again, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose destiny is destruction, whose god is their emotion, and whose glory is in their shame, who concentrate on earthly things." It was Paul's frustration because these believers did not listen to doctrine.

3. There is the weeping of appreciation for restored fellowship. Ps 30:5, "For His anger is but for a moment resulting in a lifetime of grace benefit; weeping may endure for a night, but happiness comes in the morning; the joy of the Lord is your strength." Ps 30:11, "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have torn off my sackcloth and clothed me with happiness."

4. There is weeping related to the restoration of the client nation. Ps 126:3, 5-6, "The Lord has done great things for us; We are glad. ...Those who sow in tears will reap with joyful shouting. He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed [faith-rest confidence of restoration at the Second Advent], shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him." There will be great blessing to the nation of Israel during the Millennium. There is also the weeping of patriots in a national disaster, Isa 22:3-4; Jer 9:1. They weep for the untrained army and the people in captivity.

5. Tears were also a memorial to God, Ps 56:8, "You have into taken account of my [David] wanderings; You have put my tears in Your bottle; and they are now in Your book." All the tears related to our fellowship with the Lord, all of the tears that represent the good part of weeping, all of the things related to those tears, God puts them, as it were, into a bottle as a memory. In that memory, He provides comfort in time, and a far greater comfort in the eternal state.

6. The weeping of the humanity of Christ is unique.

a. Our Lord wept at the tomb of Lazarus, Jn 11:35. This was weeping of bereavement, indicating our Lord's great capacity for love.

b. Our Lord wept out of patriotism in Lk 19:41, because of the coming destruction of Jerusalem.

c. Our Lord wept at the cross, Heb 5:7; Ps 22. This expressed the manliness and maturity of Christ. He could cry and scream under the horribleness of spiritual death and still orient to the grace of God and pray.

7. The Cessation of Weeping, Isa 30:18-20; Rev 21:4, "And God shall wipe away all tears from your eyes. And there shall no more be any death, neither shall there be any sorrow, no longer will there be any crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things have passed away." All weeping ends for the believer at the point of death. He is forever face to face with the Lord where there is no more pain, no more sorrow, and no more death.

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