Category Archives: Christianity

Arts, Christianity, Culture

The Old Testament Book of Numbers

NUMBERS

OVER the next few weeks narratives from Scripture will be based on the Old Testament Book of Numbers. The Book overlaps with Leviticus and Deuteronomy with Moses and the Israelites the key people to be found in the text.  

For today, Numbers has significance in that God is supreme over all nations who defends his people. There is also the lesson that hardship is not a reason to question God but an opportunity to trust him.

REBELS WITHOUT A PAUSE

It might better have been called The Book of Warnings. On several occasions the fractious Israelites oppose Moses and complain. Even his brother and sister oppose him.

Each time the rebels are punished by a divinely-appointed event, reinforcing Moses’ authority and leadership. People are reminded that God is holy and just; it is a common theme that runs through Numbers. His holiness is demonstrated in the detailed instructions for religious rituals, stressing the need for God’s people to be pure and to deal with him carefully.

His justice and care for the Israelites is seen in the way in which he defends their cause against the Moabites in the strange tale of Balaam. The pagan priest’s curses are turned into divinely inspired blessings.

As we see from Numbers, the Israelites had expected to go straight from Egypt into Canaan, a journey taking a few weeks at the most. The Book tells the sad story of their refusal to trust God after the spies sent into Canaan brought back a report of “giants in the land”. As a result, they were sentenced to 40 years solitary confinement in the Sinai Desert until all who had left Egypt had died.

All, that is, except for Joshua and Caleb, the two scouts who produced a minority report saying that Canaan was accessible with God’s help. They eventually took the Israelites across the Jordon as the story continues in Deuteronomy and Joshua.

Numbers makes for sober reading. Any generation can embark on new projects with the same buoyant enthusiasm reflected in the first census which prepared the Israelites for conquest. But the temptation to begin to rely on human wisdom, to forget God’s absolute holiness and to neglect the spiritual disciplines, returns every time. Numbers is a clear warning not to make the same mistakes as the Israelites.

The censuses make sense

– A narrative on Numbers 1-4, 7, 26

NO ONE ever read the phone book for pleasure, and therefore the temptation to skip the lists in Numbers is strong. Yet, they serve a purpose and have a positive message for today.

The censuses were taken as a record of the Israelites’ military strength (1:3; 26:2). So they offer a picture of a united federation of 12 tribes preparing for combined operations.

Entry into Canaan was going to be costly; they would have to fight even though they saw the land as God’s gift. Unity and co-operation were essential for success.

They also give us a snapshot of the relative strengths of Israel’s tribes. Judah, for example, with 74,600 men over 20 years is more than twice the size of Manasseh with its 32,200. Later in Israel’s history we see intertribal conflict, and Judah (with the smaller Benjamin) eventually separating from the other ten.

The list of offerings for the Tent of Meeting (chapter 7) reads like an accountant’s stock list. But how exciting it is! Little Manasseh gives exactly the same to God’s “church” as mighty Judah!

The tribes are seen as equal before God. Judah cannot be closer or more valuable to God because it is bigger, and Manasseh can’t be of less value to God because it’s smaller. This is an exact parallel to Paul’s teaching about the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:14-27.

This well-known and beautiful blessing can be found in Numbers 6:24-26:

“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face towards you and give you peace.”

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Arts, Christianity, Culture

1 & 2 Timothy: The Pastoral Letters

NEW TESTAMENT

IF you read only Acts, you might think that the early church was one big happy family (once they had sorted out a bit of racial tension, Acts 6:1-8, 15:1-6). Generous sharing, daily praying, hundreds being converted, miracles of healing and deliverance, with only the odd arrest to hinder the flow of the Spirit at revival level.

Well, it wasn’t like that all the time; Acts is like a newspaper, it focuses on “news”: the unusual rather than the normal. And it certainly didn’t last. The sensual excesses of Corinth (Paul’s letters to them spare no blushes) highlighted the fact that the church was made up of human beings who, by biblical definition, are prone to more errors than a crashing computer.

And so by the mid-60s the first generation of Christians was being superseded by the next, and familiar problems were sprouting everywhere like weeds after a rain shower. The three “pastoral letters” (two to Timothy and one to Titus) are effectively manuals for the pair of troubleshooters to use as they sort out problems in Ephesus (Timothy) and Crete (Titus).

In laying down the law, Paul has given us a timeless set of guidelines for church leadership. He expects leaders to have exemplary lives and orthodox beliefs; and he expects his own colleagues to labour tirelessly and sacrificially. Along the way he gives some valuable truths memorably expressed about God and the Scriptures.

They apply especially to anyone in church leadership today. But it isn’t just aimed at the pastorate, there are clear guidelines for everyone in what they should be praying and looking for.

DON’T GET SIDETRACKED

– A narrative on 1 Timothy 1,4,6

THE human mind has a huge capacity for learning and remembering. Most of us only use a fraction of it, yet the world is an infinite source of information. However, what can be known is far greater than anyone can take in.

Theology – the knowledge of God revealed through the Scriptures, interpreted by successive generations of believers and applied to our lives by the Spirit – is no exception to the rule. There is always more to discover, and more than one mind can take in.

Paul encouraged his readers to learn the Scriptures and be mindful of healthy, right-minded doctrine (1 Timothy 4:6, 5:7, 6:3; 2 Timothy 3:14) but warns against fruitless speculation which leads us away from the gospel.

The false teachers in Ephesus had done just that. Some scribes have associated them with later heresies and thus questioned Paul’s authorship. But there are hints of similar problems elsewhere (Colossae, for example). The details are vague which makes them widely applicable. We should avoid excessive interest in legends (1:4), not to be fascinated by genealogies for theological reasons or personal status, not delighting in controversies arguing for the fun of it, and to avoid an interest in the occult (4:1-2).

The net effect is “envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction” (6:4,5). All this destroys fellowship. We are to be wise and to remain so.

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Arts, Christianity, Culture

The Old Testament Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 10

GOD WALKS OUT ON A LOVER

– A narrative on Ezekiel 10

THE DIVINE PROMISE “I will be with you always” (Matthew 28:20) recurs in various forms throughout Scripture. But just occasionally, it is revoked. God is patient. God is love. Sometimes, however, his people become so insufferable that like an exasperated lover he walks out.

In Ezekiel’s vision he leaves his “house”, the temple in Jerusalem, before it is destroyed. The symbolism is powerful. It says to the Judeans that God is leaving them to their own devices. His holiness cannot co-exist with their sinfulness.

It wasn’t the first time he had walked out like that. When the ark of the covenant was captured by the Philistines in Samuel’s day, it was said that the glory of the Lord had departed (1 Samuel 4:21,22).

It won’t be the last time, either. Churches, like ancient castles, can become empty shells from which the Spirit of life has departed. Those that survive the invasion of property developers may echo with liturgy but do not vibrate with life. There were some like that even in New Testament times (Revelation 3:1,2).

And people once zealous for God became shipwrecked on the reefs of materialism; no longer able to catch the wind of the Spirit they drift on the tide (1 Timothy 1:19; 2 Timothy 4:10) while God sails on without them. He will stay as long as you want him to, but he never outstays his welcome.

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