| Jackson Browne – Don't You Want to Be There Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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This has become one of my favorite JB songs. It shows, as he is aging, that he is thinking perhaps more maturely, about the future. There some hard-to-miss christian themes here. 1. The need for reconciliation that is repeated with " And those you have wronged, you know You need to let them know some way And those who have wronged you, know You'll have to let them go someday" 2. The rapture of the church/believers seems to be represented with "Don't you want to be there, don't you want to fly? With your arms out, let a shout take you across the sky Don't you want to be there when the time's gone by..." The Apostle Paul articulated this as: "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (NASB) JB carries that out accurately with "when time's gone by" -at the end; "don't you want to fly" -caught up is Greek harpazô (Latin rapturos/rapture) meaning caught or snatched away and since "in the air" fly is implied; and "let a shout take you across the sky" is pretty clearly the shout of 2 Thess. 4:16. 3. The only theological (from a biblical perspective) mistake that JB presents in these lyrics is a VERY IMPORTANT one to understand/correct. He says: "Don't you want to cry when you see how far You've got to go to be where forgiveness rules Instead of where you are" -This is a mistake religious minded people often make... that there is a long road to get from the brokenness of this world to the place of forgiveness (a metaphor for reconciliation with God). For an example, again from a christian/biblical perspective, of how near salvation actually is, all one needs to do is consider the thief on the cross. Two men were sentenced with Jesus, they were both estranged from God, even mocking Jesus (Matthew 27:44) but at one point, one of the criminals was convicted and changed his mind about Jesus. He went on to ask Jesus to be "remembered". This is a beautiful story recorded by Luke in his gospel, (See Luke 23:40-43) The only requirement to "be there" is a willingness to turn from sin and to the Lord in faith. John writes: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." -1 John 1:9 (NASB) I believe JB wants to "be there" as I believe a lot of people want to "be there". But you have to ask yourself what is "there" and where is it? Jesus talked about that a lot... "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going." Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." -John 14:1-6 (NASB) Don't YOU want to be there? |
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