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Weekly Messages

The Problem of War

Posted by James · 3 Comments 

Many of the hardest questions that come up when you read the OT concern the role of fighting and killing. In the book of Joshua these questions loom especially large. Why so much killing? Why would a God of compassion and mercy command his people to behave like this?

Philip Jenson addresses these questions in a Grove booklet (see www.grovebooks.co.uk) called The Problem of War in the Old Testament. His conclusion is that the OT’s approach to war is complex, ambivalent, conditional and incomplete. War is presented in a number of different ways. Sometimes God does the fighting for Israel and Israel only needs to trust. At other times Israel fights with God’s assurance of success. Fighting is seen as necessary, but later we’ll see that a fighting king (David) is not allowed to build the temple. Success in war is seen as conditional on a number of factors including trust in the Lord and a society and leadership marked by justice. The coming of Christ changes the situation, not least because the people of God are no longer defined by race or land, but by faith in Christ.

Let’s be clear: fighting and death are seen as a terrible evil. But when it comes to the invasion of Canaan they are seen as a necessary evil. What is at stake is whether God’s people will stay true to him, or will be absorbed into the pagan culture of Canaan and lose their identity. Will true faith in the one true God continue, or will it be critically compromised by the worship of pagan gods? That takes us some way towards understanding what is going on here, though there is still an element of what Calvin called God’s ‘incomprehensible counsel’. There is much of God’s will we don’t understand.

But there is one other thing we can say. Ultimately what is at stake is whether the people of God will survive in order to produce Jesus, the Messiah, who will bring about the salvation of the whole world. In the overarching storyline of the Bible that is the crucial question.

April 19, 2010 · Tagged with ,

Weekly Messages

A New Government?

Posted by James · Leave a Comment 

I’ve been doing some catch-up reading (yes, it does happen!) which means reading even longer chunks at a time. Not a bad thing to do, in fact, if you want to get the broad sweep of what is going on in a book. Anyway, reading through these middle chapters of Luke, I began musing on the similarities between what is going on here and the current election campaign. Here are some:

  • Jesus is going round the country meeting the public, engaging in debates with his opponents and talking about his values and priorities.
  • At the heart of his message is the topic of government – the government (kingdom) of God. He is talking about a new regime.
  • Jesus is asking people to put their trust in him.
  • Jesus is clear that there are going to be sacrifices ahead for those who choose him (and not just economic ones).
  • The time is limited, and a day is approaching (Good Friday, as it turns out) when the people will make their choice.

Obviously, there are huge differences, too. Jesus is after more than just a vote, the consequences of people’s decisions are eternal, etc. But I’ve found the comparison an interesting one. What do you think?

April 12, 2010 · Tagged with , ,

Weekly Messages

If you think you’re standing firm …

Posted by James · Leave a Comment 

As we get near to the end of Numbers, I wonder what you’ve made of the behaviour of the people of Israel in this book. Here is the generation that has experienced God’s most amazing act of liberation (until the cross) and yet all they seem to be able to do is moan and complain and go after other “gods” at every opportunity. Perhaps I’m being a bit harsh, but you’ll find similar thoughts in the New Testament. For Paul, writing to the Christians in Corinth, the Exodus generation provides a warning to us. Like us, they had tremendous spiritual privileges (e.g. they had God’s presence with them), and yet it didn’t stop them from giving in to temptation and going astray. Take note, says Paul:

‘These things happened to them as warnings for us, on whom the fulfilment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!’ (1 Corinthians 10:11-12, NIV)

Scary stuff! But Paul goes on to add an encouragement:

‘No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.’ (1 Corinthians 10:13-14, NIV)

So, while we read about the failures of the Exodus generation, let’s watch ourselves as well, that we don’t go the same way, and let’s thank God for his faithfulness towards us.

In the New Testament this month we’re moved on to Luke’s gospel. Luke is my favorite gospel, if you’re allowed to have such a thing. I’m not sure I can articulate exactly why that is. Maybe I like the thoroughness of his approach (see 1:1-4). Maybe it’s the fact that some of Jesus’ best known stories (e.g. the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son) are found only in Luke’s gospel. Maybe it’s the way Luke focuses on the way Jesus related to the underdogs of society (the poor, the outcasts, etc.). Or maybe it’s the way Luke introduces us to some characters we don’t find in the other gospels, people like Zechariah and Elizabeth, Simeon and Anna. It’s probably a combination of these and other things besides. What do you think?

March 17, 2010 · Tagged with , , ,

Interlude, Resources

Temple Objects – up close and in colour!

Posted by Christoph Lindner · Leave a Comment 

As we come across a number of objects used in temple worship again and again in our readings, it would be great to know what they actually looked like. Well, we can – to a degree! Although the second temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD, many Jews believe  that a third temple will be built in its place in the future.
The Temple Institute in Jerusalem is dedicated to that vision and in preparation for it, has produced a number of vessels and garments, strictly following biblical instructions and pre-approved for use in temple sacrifice once the third temple is established.
Here is a gallery of some of the items – this link lands you in the middle, press “next” to see some of the more interesting objects…

March 7, 2010 · Tagged with , , ,

Resources

Jewish Feasts, Jewish Calendar

Posted by Christoph Lindner · 1 Comment 

For many of us, the description of the Jewish feast days may not mean a lot. Here are two charts which hopefully help us to get a bird’s eye’s view of how the Jewish calendar works and the place of the big Jewish feasts in it…

(From: Holman Charts, 1993)

February 28, 2010 · Tagged with ,

Weekly Messages

On spots, mildew and bodily discharges

Posted by James · 1 Comment 

To a 21st Century reader, many of the regulations in Leviticus seem strange. Why does God seem obsessed with skin conditions, diet and mildew? I’ve blogged before that the root idea here is holiness. In some way these regulations are meant to preserve the holiness of the people and the ritual purity of the tabernacle. But what decides whether something makes you ‘clean’ or ‘unclean’? What principles are operating here?

You probably won’t be surprised to know that there is much debate about this. Here are some of the suggestions:

1. Some regulations seem designed to prevent the Israelites from indulging in the religious practices of the pagan Canaanite nations. E.g. the regulations about sex and contact with corpses prevent cult prostitution and ancestor worship.

2. Many of the ‘unclean’ things are related to weakness, illness or death (e.g. decay, loss of blood, animals that feed off carrion, etc.). Holiness is about life and wholeness. There is something symbolic going on here.

3. There could be a health-related element, too. The ritual washing keeps up levels of personal (including sexual) hygiene. The ‘clean’ animals in many cases are the ones least likely to cause food poisoning or other illnesses.

These are just three possibilities, and it’s quite possible that the true answer is a combination of these and more. What we do know is that this idea of holiness and purity was woven into the everyday life of every Israelite. Every day carried many opportunities to live out and develop loyalty and obedience towards God.

Jump ahead to Mark’s gospel and we can see something of the radical nature of Jesus’ ministry (something the Pharisees hated). He effectively declares all foods clean (7:19). He touches a dead girl and is touched by a woman whose bleeding makes her ‘unclean’. But instead of becoming unclean himself, he gives them life and wholeness (5:21-43). In the same way, he touches someone with leprosy and makes them well / whole / clean (1:40-45). The laws of Leviticus were not wrong. They were right for their time and place. But Jesus is bringing in a new era (‘the kingdom of God is near’). He has come to make the unclean clean, the impure pure, the unholy holy. And he does that for us, too.

February 26, 2010 · Tagged with , , , , ,

Blog Posts

The Tabernacle – Brought to Life

Posted by Martin · 1 Comment 

I too have been more and more fascinated by the descriptions of the tabernacle. This slightly naff but detailed video gives another insight into how it may have looked and worked for the people of God under Moses.The Tabernacle scale model

February 26, 2010 · Tagged with

Interlude

Time for a word cloud quiz!

Posted by Christoph Lindner · Leave a Comment 

We have already read through three major books of the Bible (plus many Psalms and Proverbs) and it’s always exciting to see how incredibly diverse the books of the Bible are, yet together they show us the big story of God with us. One way of visualizing the unique character of a book of the Bible is a “word cloud”: feed all the words from the book into a computer and then let it show the most common words in a graphic way.

So, here is a little quiz: Below are the word clouds for Genesis, Exodus, Matthew and Mark. Click on one to enlarge it and then try to guess which is which (no prizes for guessing which is Old or New Testament), then click on the link  below to find the answer (and lots more of these word clouds). Got them all right? Check the answers out here…

[Hints: key words to distinguish Genesis and Exodus (apart from the many biblical characters) are the relative weights of the words used for God - LORD is God's "proper name" YHWH (Yahweh, Jehovah) revealed to...? Matthew or Mark? Only one of them uses the distinctive phrase "kingdom of heaven"...]

By the way, if you want to create your own word cloud from a document or a talk you have given, go to Wordle – endless fun!

February 17, 2010 · Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Weekly Messages

A holy God and a holy people

Posted by James · Leave a Comment 

We begin two new books this week: Leviticus and Mark. Leviticus functions in many ways as a worship manual for the people of God under the old covenant. The key concept in the book is holiness. Holiness can be a difficult idea to grasp, but at its heart it is about being, separate, distinct, set apart, different, ‘other’. God’s holiness is what sets him apart from all he has created. It also has overtones of moral purity.

Leviticus answers the question of how the people of Israel are to worship a holy God, and a major part of that is maintaining their own holiness, or purity. 11:44 encapsulates this well: ‘I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.’ 

In Leviticus, holiness is maintained by a combination of rituals (sacrifices and festivals) and regulations (e.g. about which foods are ‘clean’ and which are ‘unclean’). The detailed practice of these has been superceded by Jesus (see Mark 7:14-23 and most of Hebrews) but the call to be holy remains and is echoed in the New Testament – see 1 Peter 1:15-16 (where Leviticus is quoted and applied to Christians) and Matthew 5:48 (‘Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.’) For the Christian, purified by the blood of Jesus, living a holy life is encapsulated by the command to love others as God has loved us (see 1 Peter 1:13-25).

Mark is the shortest of the gospels and regarded by many (but not all) scholars as the earliest. In comparison with Matthew it is short on the teachings of Jesus and long on action. It also proceeds at a cracking pace, as you’ll notice straight away in chapter 1. One theme to look out for is discipleship. As you read through, can you imagine what life with Jesus was like for those first disciples? Watch out for their responses to him. How does their experience of Jesus compare to yours?

February 15, 2010 · Tagged with , , ,

Weekly Messages

How to get access to God

Posted by James · 2 Comments 

This week we continue to read the detailed instructions for the worship of God under the Sinai covenant. And, yes, it does read like DIY manual at times! To help you imagine what all this looked like, here is a picture of one reconconstruction of the tabernacle and its associated holy objects (the altar is in the foreground):

And here’s what Aaron’s garments may have looked like:

For an extended New Testament commentary on all of this, the best place to look is chapters 7-11 of Hebrews. Christ is both the perfect High Priest and the perfect sacrifice, the fulfilment of the whole sacrifical system under the old covenant. We’ll be reading a lot more about that system in the weeks to come. It’s a system that graphically represents a number of theological truths: (1) God is holy, (2) sinful people cannot approach a holy God without their sins being dealt with first, (3) this is done through sacrifice.

Unlike the sacrifices made by priests under the old covenant, which had to be made repeatedly, Christ’s sacrifice of himself needed only to be made once. In the words of Hebrews: ‘… he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. … The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves.’ (Hebrews 9:26b and 10:1, NIV).

In the New Testament we come to the end of Matthew’s gospel, with Jesus’ death and resurrection. And just to drive home the point that Jesus’ death has dealt with the separation from God caused by sin, notice 27:51 – at the time of Jesus’ death the curtain in the temple is torn in two, from top to bottom. This curtain is the equivalent of the one that hung in the tabernacle, separating off the Most Holy Place, where the ark of the covenant was and where God’s symbolic presence dwelt. We read about it in Exodus 26:31-33 last week. If you tear down that curtain it means that you have access to God. And that’s what Jesus’ death has done for us.

February 8, 2010 · Tagged with , , , , ,

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