Category Archives: Christianity

Arts, Christianity, Culture

Psalms: Scaling heights and plumbing depths

OLD TESTAMENT

CRISP, graphic language – which is the common thread of all poetry – captures mood and emotion more vividly than mere prose. “My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes” is far more evocative than “everything has gone wrong at once”. We can identify with the feelings even if the circumstances are unknown.

Similarly, many spiritual experiences and theological truths cannot be captured fully in prosaic definitions or formulae. “The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders” (29:3) evokes a “picture” of God’s majesty by linking him to the awesome power of nature seen in a storm. “God is more powerful than anything else” is tame, even if true.

That is the genius of Psalms. All human experience is here, from ecstatic joy to despairing pain. And, to many modern readers’ surprise, there are complaints and even imprecations – curses – scattered among the 150 poems.

Old Testament believers knew how to bare their souls to God. They reckoned that a covenant-keeping God could cope with their exasperation, for they knew he would not allow his people to suffer oppression for ever.

Many psalms relate to specific historical events. A few can be traced, and others can be described in general terms. Frequently they concern the nation’s fortunes rather than the individual’s. Understanding them can help us enter the writer’s concerns.

Today’s readers need to approach the psalms carefully. Do not look for neat theological formulae. We are meant to feel, rather than analyse, the outpourings of praise or pain. They are to be read meditatively. Ask first, what is the writer trying to express? And then, what insight does he have into God or the human condition which we can learn from, or meditate on?

Prophetic edge gives wider meaning

– A narrative on Psalm 2

WHEN we turn to examine what the prophets of the Bible wrote (or said) we see that their words were not always understood in the way we interpret them today, nor in the way some New Testament writers quote them. Some of the psalms also have this ‘prophetic’ element which was at least partially hidden from the writers (cf. 1 Peter 1:10-12).

This is one such. Verse 7 was used at Jesus’ baptism and the letter to the Hebrews begins by quoting it (1:5). Verse 8 is echoed in Jesus’ ‘great commission’ and verse 9 is picked up in the vision of Christ’s cosmic rule (Revelation 12:5; 19:15). The first Christians saw it as clearly messianic in their prayer in Acts 4:25,26.

At one level, therefore, we can say that in hindsight the whole Bible points towards Jesus. But it would be wrong to take this psalm, and others like it, simply as poetic forecasts. It meant something to the author at the time also, which is where all biblical interpretation should start.

It rejoices in typical Middle Eastern terms at the king’s relationship to God as his son, and the king’s relationship to subservient nations as their ‘father’. When church and state are separated, as they mostly are today, it is hard to think of kings as divine appointments, but they did in Old Testament times, which is what the psalm celebrates.

Today’s readers can apply the worship and praise in two ways. We can use its prophetic imagery to reflect on the greatness of Jesus. Also, we can use it to reflect on our own relationship with God as his children, privileged to serve as his fellow workers and ambassadors in the world (1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 5:20).

Love and serve the LORD.

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Arts, Christianity, Culture

Book of Joel: Are natural disasters sent by God?

OLD TESTAMENT

– A narrative on Joel 1:1-2:17

SWARMS of locusts, possibly triggered by climatic changes, have regularly devastated the Near East. They consume every green shoot and leave nothing but famine. Joel says this is God’s warning to the nation that something worse is to follow (2:2). He does not blame specific sins apart from allusions to drunkenness and materialism in 1:5 and sexual licence in 1:8.

In the Old Testament natural disasters and political oppression are seen as warnings or punishments from God on an errant Israel and Judah. But they were also part of everyday life. It is the prophetic function to interpret such historical events as conveying messages from God – which is not the same notion as the caricature of God disrupting his world by raining down vengeance.

Four things need to be held in balance. First, natural disasters are a fact of life in an imperfect world. Although phenomena such as global warming contribute to destabilising the planet, natural disasters have afflicted people for centuries. Christians point additionally to “the fall” (Genesis 3) which threw the created order out of perfect alignment (cf. Romans 8:22).

Second, Jesus explicitly ruled out the view that accidents of nature are punishments of those involved (Luke 13:1-5). Thirdly, Judah and Israel had a unique relationship with God; they formed a political, cultural, and spiritual unit called to be his “chosen people”. His dealings with them cannot be transposed directly to other nations. And finally, the Bible reminds us that God is a judge. Disasters alert us to our mortality and the certainty that we shall each appear before God for personal judgment.

In 1998, a hurricane in Honduras and earthquake in Afghanistan each killed 9,000. A cyclone in India killed 10,000. In 1999 a record wind speed of over 300 mph was registered above a tornado in the United States. Our proper reaction is not to look for “reasons” but to turn to the LORD, as there could be worse in store: an eternity excluded from his presence.

OVERVIEW

THE little Book of Joel has an importance out of all proportion to its length. It takes a literal plague of locusts in Judah as a basis for prophecies about “the day of the LORD”.

Some may see the swarm as an allegory for, or a literal forewarning of, the invasion of Judah by Babylon or other aggressors. However, the simplest interpretation is that Joel takes the literal disaster as a general warning of worse to come.

The second half offers a promise or renewal and restoration after repentance and was quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) with promises of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

A key quote comes from Joel 2:13: “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate.”

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Asia, Christianity, Culture

Proverbs: Down-to-earth advice for living

OLD TESTAMENT

THE Book of Proverbs is blunt, earthly, and practical. It belongs to the genre of “wisdom” literature which was common in the ancient world. It is not a book from which to cull theology, but it is a book to show how theology can be applied.

Proverbs has previously been described as a “book which seldom takes you to Church”. Its function in Scripture is to put godliness into working clothes; to name business and society as spheres in which we are to acquit ourselves with credit to our LORD, and in which we are to look for his training.

Although rooted in the culture and lifestyle of an ancient world, much of its wisdom can be extrapolated into modern life. The advice to have honest scales (in which ‘the LORD delights’, 11:1) is fundamental to social order in any age, and the statement that getting drunk is unwise (20:1) has always been rued by those who ignore it.

The book originates from the sayings of a class of “wise men” in ancient Israel, from the time of Solomon onwards. They seem to have been given a status close to that of the priests and prophets as guides of God’s people (cf. Jeremiah 18:18). Other cultures had them too, but we know little of how they operated.

This is a book to be read in short sections and meditated upon. It is perfectly possible to delve into it at random and gain some insight, encouragement, or warning – a practice which is inadvisable for any other Biblical book.

Wisdom is mediated through the Holy Spirit

– A narrative on Proverbs 8

TODAY, wisdom is not often praised as a virtue, but that is partly because we have other ways of describing it. Knowing what is the right thing to do; avoiding mistakes we might regret; keeping our eyes open; seeing all sides of a situation; not being driven by foolish desires.

Wisdom is the mind controlling the heart, the heart informing the mind, and both subjected to the law and leading of God. As a result, compassion, thoughtfulness, and generosity are displayed in social relationships, and blind impulse gives way to far-sighted consideration.

Throughout the book wisdom is lauded as something to be treasured. It produces better returns than monetary wealth (3:13,14), and is more attractive than a bride’s garland (1:8,9); it is the supreme principle of successful living. Get wisdom and you get a lot else thrown in.

Living by wisdom is living God’s way, in harmony with the rules and constraints which he built into creation. With it, we can avoid the pitfalls of sin (2:9-11), look forward to a rewarding life (3:1,2) and enjoy protection from needless danger (4:6).

The author of the first section seems so carried away by his theme that he personifies wisdom, elevating it almost to divine status, but being a Jew, he cannot be suggesting that there is a real divinity named Wisdom.

Christians can see the imagery as a pale foreshadowing of the New Testament image of Jesus as the divine “Word” (Logos) in John 1:1. But it would be stretching the Old Testament too far to suggest that Wisdom in Proverbs 8 is an exact portrayal of the Second Person of the Trinity.

Instead, he is using a poetic image to convey a truth. In human affairs, wisdom is supreme; everything worthwhile in life depends on it, just as life itself depends on God. But the ability to live wisely as God intended does not come naturally; it must be sought and learned, just as God waits for us to turn to him and does not force himself upon us.

The Word made flesh is the source of our wisdom which is mediated through the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:6-10; John 16:7,8,13). And the New Testament agrees that to become a human trait, wisdom needs first to be received as a divine gift (James 1:5). The fact that it restrains the excesses we rather enjoy may be one reason why we don’t seek it with the same urgency as did the authors of Proverbs.

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