Book Review: Could You Ever Love Me Again?

Weeks, Gary, and Bob Cretney.

Could You Ever Love Me Again? The Gary Weeks story of forgiveness.

156 pp +32 pp of colour photos.

Gospel Folio Press, Port Colborne, Ontario, 2010



Some of us boomers remember the 1973 hit song,

Could you ever love me again 
If I let you down, 
Disappointed you? 
Could you ever love me again? 
If I ceased to do little things for you, 
Could you ever love me again?
Somewhere, somehow, somewhen, 
If I let you down, girl, 
Could you ever love me again?

Well, this is the story of the man who sang it—Gary Weeks. The book opens with a review of the singing and comedy team Gary and Dave. Gary Weeks and Dave Beckett met in school in grade seven, they went through high school together, they canoed together in Algonquin Park, they attended the University of Western Ontario in London, they each established themselves as pilots and, in the early ‘70s, while still at university, they started performing in clubs and releasing a few recordings. The run-up to their expected music success takes only three pages of the book. In less than ten pages the bubble has broken and Gary is “broke and broken-hearted.”

Was there blame to be placed? Why did the big New York recording firm drop Gary and Dave back there in 1978? Gary tells us that he returned to Montreal and fell into “months of deep discouragement and serious financial problems.” He says, “How did this happen to me?...I was approaching the pinnacle of success…Now, I’m just a nobody.” Looking back after all these years, what does Gary now think of all these events? “The Lord had finally gotten my attention!”

The rest of the book goes back over his life to fill in details— he was raised by a single mother, he was an NHL-quality hockey player with Leaside Lions, he got a “phony” B.A. degree, he piloted for Air Canada.

But Weeks doesn’t leave us there. He tells how his life turned around and he came into full time service for the Lord, first as a youth leader in Toronto, then as a missionary in Eire (for some years in Newcastle West, County Limerick). He tells us of his own conversion to Christ at Pioneer Camp in Muskoka; he tells of his wife, Claudette’s conversion on the island of Fiji, and his mother’s, and even his grandmother’s.

Gary has spoken at Shoreacres Bible Chapel on numerous occasions. For example, I have personal notes from his visit on April 21, 2010: “The characteristics of all the Lord’s healings in the New Testament and thus the tests for all God’s miraculous healings are (1) Was it immediate? (2) Was it obvious? (3) Was it complete? (4) Was it permanent?”

We enjoyed Gary’s story— we felt some of the exhilaration of his successes, we felt the wrench of his failures. We want Gary to continue to live for Christ; we’ve caught the good infection and want to live for Him too.

Gary presented a riddle early in the book and it’s fitting to end with it here: “How can a person born once die twice, and how can a person born twice die once?” Read his book for the answer.

Reviewed by Glenn Wilson 

"Could you ever love me again" c.1973.

“Meditation in a Toolshed”

This is the exact title of an essay by C.S.Lewis, and I often think of it during the Breaking of Bread. He says, “I was standing today in the dark toolshed. The sun was shining outside and through the crack at the top of the door there came a sunbeam. From where I stood that beam of light, with the specks of dust floating in it, was the most striking thing in the place. Everything else was almost pitch-black. I was seeing the beam, not seeing things by it.”

“Then I moved, so that the beam fell on my eyes. Instantly the whole previous picture vanished. I saw no toolshed, and (above all) no beam. Instead I saw, framed in the irregular cranny at the top of the door, green leaves moving on the branches of a tree outside and beyond that, 90 odd million miles away, the sun. Looking along the beam and looking at the beam are very different experiences.”

So, how does this relate to a worship service at Shoreacres Bible Chapel? As we enter the chapel on a Sunday morning, we’re probably greeting one another, commenting on the weather, noticing the warmth or coolness of the auditorium, the comfort of the pews, even the bread and wine on the table at the front. In a sense, this is looking at the beam.

Then the service begins and we notice who gives out a hymn, reads a scripture or prays. Still looking at the beam. Someone may comment on a hymn or a hymn-writer or even the method of our remembrance. Still looking at the beam. Going deeper, someone may show us typology or prophetic fulfillment or the wonders we can expect to enter someday. Still looking.

But what we really want to see is the Son. Isaiah saw Him: “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord!” Isa.6:1 (also John 12:41). Peter, James and John saw Him on that mountain: “This is My Son, whom I love.” Mark 9:7. Stephen saw Him: He “looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” Acts 7:55. John saw Him again, on Patmos: “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever.” Rev.1:18.

So there is a hope every time we come to a Breaking of Bread or any worship, expressed in a slight paraphrase of what those Greeks said to Philip long ago, “Lord, we would like to see Jesus!” John 12:21.

 



Marazion from Saint Michael's Mount, south coast of England.



Book Review: and God said...Science confirms the authority of the Bible.

Abou-Rahme, Farid

and God said… Science confirms the authority of the Bible.

134 pp

John Ritchie Limited, Kilmarnock, Scotland, 1997

As the subtitle indicates, Abou-Rahme has set out to show how science confirms scripture. The four parts of his book are (I) Science and the Bible, (II) Creation or Evolution, (III) Evidence for the Flood and Noah’s Ark, and (IV) Written That You Might Believe. Coming from John Ritchie, as it does, we know this work will be fundamental and evangelical. In fact, I find that Abou-Rahme disbelieves in the “big bang”, believes in creation by the hand of God in six literal days “a few thousand years ago,” believes there was a vapour canopy above the earth before the Great Flood, believes the mountains were formed after the Flood, and believes that men and dinosaurs walked the earth together.

Abou-Rahme has totally confounded “evolution as science” with “evolution as philosophy.” The latter is firmly atheistic and obviously a Christian can have no part of it. But the author seems to have tied salvation to right-understanding of science and to a belief in creation (in six days, etc.). In fact, at several points in his work, he escalates almost to a rant against “false” science, “so-called” science, “betrayal”, and so on. To put it simply, his thinking is “top down.” This means that he has all his doctrines lined up and now he’s trying to fit the facts into them. This is exactly what the Roman Catholic priests did to Galileo— they had the Bible verses that said the earth is firmly established and cannot be moved. “Unfortunately”, Galileo had facts on his side and knew that the earth goes around the sun.

A “bottom-up” approach, on the other hand, would deal with “facts” that the author never considers. For instance, what about the “red shift” and the calculations of star–distances into the millions of light years? And the red shift also indicates the universe is expanding. If we reverse this process, the only conclusion is that at one time “everything” was together, and this would have been the point of the “big bang” (caused by our Creator).

The Bible does not spell out how God made the plants or the animals. Nor does it spell out how He gave life to the first plants and animals, nor how He formed the first humans. In fact, there must have been death before Adam or what would he have eaten (i.e., vegetables and fruit)? What came in with Adam was, sadly, spiritual death.

There are other facts that the author blatantly denies or ignores with little or no evidence but lots of “faith”— the succession of strata and fossils, radiometric dating, application of the laws of thermodynamics, and DNA analysis of Neanderthals.

Abou-Rahme thinks that evolution has God “sit back and wait”, but then I wonder why God should have to hurry. And he never deals with “the appearance of age.” This factor alone can make God out to be a liar. Why not accept the “appearance” of age, as “true” age? Does he think the Americas drifted away from Europe and Africa overnight, or during the Flood?

Let’s leave the creation of the universe for the moment, and move on to the flood. Has he never heard that in the glaciers of both the Arctic and the Antarctic, there are successive layers of snow deposited to the extent of 180,000 years? And in fresh-water lakes in Japan and elsewhere there are undisturbed sediments or varves going back as much as 35,000 years; tree-rings can take us back 12,000 years. These are facts— our job as Christians is to interpret them, not deny them. Because God inspired the Bible and made the worlds, His Word and His Works have to agree— never mind what the scientific term might be— creation, evolution, or whatever.

All this brings to mind Augustine’s remarks, “Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars…it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics.” Abou-Rahme pooh-poohs and even mocks the work of such faithful Christian scientists as Denis Alexander, Francis Collins, Darrel Falk, Deborah & Loren Haarsma, Keith Miller, John Polkinghorne, and Howard Van Till, who are better educated, and deeper thinkers than he. To quote from Denis Alexander, “Personal saving faith in the God who has brought all things into being and continues to sustain them by his powerful Word, is entirely compatible with the Darwinian theory of evolution which, as a matter of fact, provides the paradigm within which all current biological research is carried out. There is nothing intrinsically materialistic, anti-religious or religious about evolution…Christian campaigns against evolution represent a giant “red herring”, distracting believers from far more important pursuits.”

My summary of this book is brief: I’m inclined to suggest that the best service John Ritchie can offer the Christian community is to recall every copy and pulp the lot.

Reviewed by Glenn Wilson

“Gone Fishing” Matthew 17:24-27

Peter was moping in Capernaum because the temple tax collectors wanted their money and he didn’t have it.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Jesus. “Take a little break and go fishing.”

So Peter took His advice, went down to the lake, and threw in his line. Imagine the great guffaw from Peter when the first fish he caught had a coin to pay both his and Jesus’ tax!

I can just see Peter coming back up the lane to his house a few hours later—“Lord, guess what I found!”

I’m sure Jesus smiled at Peter.

Pleasing the Lord

You may remember the story, Chariots of Fire, made into a movie in 1981. The young Eric Liddell is racing with his friends in Scotland. After he easily wins, he says, "I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. When I run, I feel His pleasure."

About a month ago I came across a Bible verse that caught my attention so powerfully that I printed it in letters half-an-inch high across the first pages of my journal— FIND OUT WHAT PLEASES THE LORD! Eph. 5:10.

Then I started to dig—what does please the Lord? For starters, I ran a Bible search on those three words and got seven hits, four OT and three NT. Apparently, “it pleased the Lord to bless Israel.” Num.24:1. “It pleased the Lord to make you [Israel] prosper and increase in number.” Deut.28:63. Then it pleases the Lord to “praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving” (more than sacrificing an ox or a bull). Psa.69:31. “It pleased the Lord…to make his law great and glorious.” Isa.42:21.

The New Testament tells us that we all should be “concerned about the Lord’s affairs”—how we can please the Lord. 1 Cor.7:32. And then, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.” Col.3:20.

Let’s enlarge on the whole subject of “pleasing the Lord,” by brainstorming a list of things that help:—

       • direct communication with the Lord (prayer and Bible reading—we speak to Him and He speaks to us.)

      • raising our children to know Him.

      • associating with and helping all God’s people.

      • assembling with God’s people to worship Him.

      • spreading the knowledge and the love of the Lord everywhere we can.

      • striving for personal holiness. Arthur Dixon recently commented, “Do you want to be holy? Read 1 Corinthians 13!”

This list is almost overwhelming, and it’s far from complete. Here are three more scriptures: Psalm 104:34 says, “May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord,” and 2 Tim.2:4 says “No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.” Finally, 2 Cor.5:9 says, “We make it our goal to please him.”

Perhaps no one outside of scripture said it better than C.S. Lewis: “That some of us, that any of us who really chooses, shall actually survive that examination, shall find approval, shall please God. To please God…to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness…to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son—it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is.”

Summer sunrise, from my balcony

Some thoughts about creation

God created light!—not that He just lit a candle or a star and produced light, but that He created light. ‘God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.’ Gen.1:3. And what powers light, that it can travel for four years from the nearest star? What other thing do we know of that can travel undiminished for that length of time, with no other apparent input of energy? No wonder we are told that “God is light.” 1 John 1:5. What better metaphor could there be in the physical world for a pure, unchanging, fadeless and eternal Being? But this is still only a figure of speech because God is greater than light—He can go where light can never go. Psalm 139:12 tells us, “darkness is as light to you,” and Hebrews 4:13 says, “nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.” Ultimately, Paul tells us, He “lives in unapproachable light.” 1 Tim.6:16.




Mount Saint Michael at high tide and low. South coast of England.

 

Book Review: Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible

Strong, James, ed. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Holman Bible Publishers, 1999.

For Father’s Day, my children gave me an iPod Touch. One of the first things I put onto it was a Bible from the Olive Tree Company because it included a search function allowing me to find any word in the Bible. I now use it all the time for my daily reading and my thought was that now I don’t need a concordance any more. How wrong I was, as you will see.

James Strong (1822-1894) was Professor of Exegetical Theology at Drew Theological Seminary in New Jersey, when this work was first published in 1890. Although based on the King James Version of the Bible, it is really only a compilation of facts—it’s almost like a huge computer print-out. As a concordance, it allows you to find any word in the Bible. Where it goes beyond a concordance is this— it allows you to see which Hebrew or Greek word was used to give whatever English word you are searching, and shows what other words were used to translate that same Hebrew or Greek word.

For instance, look up the word “pleased,” as in, “it pleased the Lord to bruise him.” Isa.53:10. The Concordance for this reference indicates that the word for “pleased” is Strong’s Number 2654. When we look up that number, we find that the word has been translated in the KJV by a multitude of other words, including (have, take) delight, desire, favour, like, move, be (well) pleased, have pleasure, will, or would. If we look up any of these words, we will find at least one instance where #2654 was the original. It thus becomes impossible for the non-Hebrew speaker to refine the exact meaning. Perhaps the best modern word to use would be, “It was the Lord’s will to crush him.”

When you think that this book is over 1500 triple-columned, fine-print pages from the days before computers, it’s obvious that Strong was primarily the supervisor and editor— he was backed up in the work by over a hundred colleagues. It must have even become a matter of some pride because when the title says “exhaustive”, it means “exhaustive”— even the words “a” and “an” are indexed!

The publisher now tells us that the entire book has been newly typeset, with “a key word comparison chart for six Bible translations. The words of Jesus are shown in red.” Maybe it’s time I bought a new copy!

Reviewed by Glenn Wilson 

Book Review: Counsel Fireside Reader

Nicholson, J.B., Jr., editor.
The Counsel Fireside Reader.
Port Colborne, ON:
Gospel Folio Press, 2001

Many years ago, my employer sent me to a Dale Carnegie course. I never became a public speaker, but I did pick up one powerful rule. Mr. Carnegie insisted that to relate to an audience, you had to tell stories—not all stories, but at least a few.

Ever since that day, I’ve always listened with a slightly critical ear. A preacher who illustrates his message with the occasional story has me with him—I can rejoice or weep as he leads but I can never fall asleep. My emotions are involved as well as my mind—and J. Boyd Nicholson has that gift in his writing.

The first line of the first essay introduces us to Harry, his navigator (a fellow-believer), then to Cookie, a seven year old orphan at a mission in India. Nicholson's heart aches as he says goodbye to her and heads for Burma, never to see her again. We feel the pain—but then he asks the question, “Whatever must it have meant to God the Father to yield up His only Son?”



Napoleon's tomb, June 2012

Nicholson’s second article opens at Napoleon’s tomb in Paris, as his guide proudly states, “Here is the glory of France!” Ten days later, Nicholson is in Jerusalem, in an empty tomb, and cries out aloud, “Here is the glory of Christ!”

The list goes on: “God’s Bag Lady”, the “cloud sandwich”, “Kambungu’s heart,” the ‘Tower of Tears’, “God Bless the Giblites!”, “Two o’clock at Entebbe”, “Love’s Rendezvous”…

Reading on, I came to another story that thrilled me—a blessing on Tom Agnew, auto mechanic! “Not just a ‘fixer’, but a man who put his Christian testimony into his workmanship.” “Later, Tom moved into sales and was renowned for many years as one of that unusual breed, a thoroughly trustworthy car salesman!” “Dealing with Tom, you didn’t even need to kick the tires.”

A few of the essays make dry reading, I’m afraid, and most of these prove the need for ‘story’. There is an exception—I encourage you to read an uncharacteristic chapter by Nicholson, entitled “Tears—in Heaven!”

Just to balance things out, let me mention a few minor ‘cons’ that came to mind. For instance, I’m not sure why Adolph Saphir was included—he wasn’t a real contributor to Counsel Magazine, since he died in 1891. My other comment is more of a suggestion. I don’t really know most of the writers. Perhaps a three or four line biography of each author should have been included as an appendix.

I got my copy of Fireside Reader directly from Gospel Folio Press in Port Colborne, on sale for only $10, but it’s full of treasure. To quote from a preface once written by A.W.Tozer, “here is true gold of Ophir.”

Reviewed by Glenn Wilson

Book Review: God Planted Five Seeds

Johnson, Jean Dye
God Planted Five Seeds.
Sanford, FL:
New Tribes Mission,
1966.


Jean Dye Johnson’s image for her title is straight from the mouth of our Lord, “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24) It was the darkest years of World War Two and thousands were dying on the battlefields. What did it matter that five unknown Americans died in a Bolivian jungle?

Johnson’s story begins chronologically with Cecil Dye and a “Cloud Club” outreach he started in a rented room in Saginaw, Michigan. Over a period of months, Cecil and his brother Bob became acquainted with Paul Fleming and gradually a plan evolved for an interdenominational mission to new tribes. Offers of support also came in but they all had some strings attached. “Paul and Cecil rejected all such. They would rather ‘look to the Lord.’…Through missionaries from Latin America, they learned of the unreached tribes of Bolivia, which now became their goal.” At this time Joe Moreno joined the group, offering to be “a flunky for Cecil Dye.”

By the opening of 1943, Cecil and four other men plus Joe Moreno plus some of their families were assembled in Roboré, in eastern Bolivia. Their target was the Ayoré tribes of the Sunsa Hills. For months they worked to piece together some of the language and the culture and to pinpoint their locations, then they started cutting a trail through the jungle to reach these people.

As these five men worked on the trail, communication with their families continued. Then, in November, 1943, all feedback ceased. No more was heard of Cecil Dye, Bob Dye, Dave Bacon, George Hosbach, or Eldon Hunter. Two search parties were sent in but bodies were never found.

Joe Moreno then took over leadership of the mission and worked tirelessly to track down other Ayoré groups and make contact, while the author worked out details of words, phrases, and grammar in their language.

In August, 1947, a band of Ayorés made friendly contact with two railway engineers but not until about June of 1948 did the Ayorés become friendly enough for eleven of them to sleep over in the author’s 15-feet-square, dirt-floored room. Joe arranged for the Ayorés to transfer to a palm grove called Tobité, and there, with extensive help from other missionaries on the team, they clothed and fed the “barbaros”, learned their language, taught them a bit of agriculture, and finally were able to present the gospel.

In April, 1950, an Ayoré turned up in Tobité and, in incidental questioning by an anthropologist, related most of the story of the killings of the five men. In fact, one of the killers had even been in the village.

This is the gist of Johnson’s story. The details can sometimes be revolting (Ayoré burial practices) or can tug at the heart-strings (“I like your Jesus.”)

God Planted Five Seeds is a story worth reading. We have to consider each of these five men as one of God’s elite. In that part of Bolivia there were thousands of “civilized” people who needed to hear the way of life more clearly— but these men heard God’s call to tell the Ayorés of Jesus—people who had NEVER heard of Him. Many trusted Christ, to the extent that when Johnson wrote this story twenty years after the killings she could conclude, “God had planted five seeds. With a full heart, I had seen for myself the harvest.”

Reviewed by Glenn Wilson. Special thanks to Phil Proctor for the recommendation (and for his many years of faithful service with New Tribes Mission).

Footnotes to the Book “God Planted Five Seeds”

 

1. Our own Mary Gemmell Dickson was a child in the missionary school in Esmeralda, in Cochabamba Valley, Bolivia, when the killings took place. Her parents were with the Bolivian Indian Mission and worked in the mountains at 11,000 feet. Some of the students at her school feared for their own parents who worked in the jungles. Thankfully no other lives were lost at that time.

2. Peter & Mima Horne, mentioned early on in the book as “Scottish Brethren missionaries” who hosted these five men, were from Isa Penman’s home assembly in Scotland— Waterside Gospel Hall in Irvine. In later life, they retired to Scotland but missed their adopted land so much that they finally moved back to live out their days in Bolivia. 

3. The final footnote for the moment relates to the railway station in Arica, Chile, where the missionaries had to prove that they were really transporting their own musical instruments. This was the railhead at the start of the journey to La Paz in Bolivia. See the attached photos by G.Wilson, of the “rock” at Arica, and the old railway station itself (“FERROCARRIL DE ARICA A LA PAZ”).  Ì

“I heard there was a secret chord…”

The Montreal poet, Leonard Cohen, has written a haunting secular song, Hallelujah, about King David. Like all good poets, he has full control of his metre and rhyme—beyond that, he creates images that puzzle but eventually satisfy. After the first few hearings, we may hardly know where Cohen is going: “the baffled king composing,” “her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you,” “she broke your throne and she cut your hair…”

We realize, of course, that the song is about David’s sin with Bathsheba. When David had Uriah murdered, (2 Sam.11:15) he ultimately became a “shedder of blood,” guilty beyond anything he had ever done in wartime. And this is why God said, “You are not to build a house for my Name.” (1 Chron.28:3)


To put it bluntly, David was an adulterer and a killer, and under the Mosaic law (e.g., Lev.20:10) both he and Bathsheba deserved to die by stoning. As a murderer, David doubly deserved death. (Lev.24:17) When Nathan the prophet confronted him with his sin (2 Sam.12) David was crushed. He knew there was no sacrifice he could offer for atonement, so he sought the Lord at last in the tabernacle, (2 Sam.12:20) praying: “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psa.51:16 ,17)


We know that there really was a “chord that David played and it pleased the Lord,” because we read that somehow, David was “a man after my [God’s] own heart.” Acts13:22 There is even a quotation in Proverbs that sounds like David’s advice to his son: “Lay hold of my words with all your heart, keep my commands and you will live.” Prov.4:3, 4.


On the lowest level, this story proves to me that a believer can do anything an unbeliever can do except perish. On a higher level, it shows me what God can forgive. On another level, it shows me what I should do in David’s situation. Poor David prayed, “Take not your Holy Spirit from me.” What a difference for the believer today—we have the Holy Spirit Who has come “to abide with us forever”, to help us control our passions, and guide us to what is best. May we never quench Him! Thank the Lord for this Comforter and Guide!

A bit about priests and altars…and sacrifices

Some background information to get us started— In Old Testament times, God set up a priesthood through Aaron and his sons. Their assistants, so-to-speak, were all the rest of the tribe of Levi. When the priests and the Levites came into the promised land, they weren’t given any inheritance like the other tribes, except for a few towns and some surrounding pasturelands. God had no intention for them to become farmers— their primary duty was to serve the tabernacle, so He arranged that they should live by the work they would do.

All of the Israelites were required to make various offerings— grain offerings, sin offerings, guilt offerings, burnt offerings, fellowship offerings, freewill offerings. But a very large part of these offerings became the property of the priests. For instance, with the grain offering, the priest was to “take a handful of fine flour and oil…and burn the memorial portion on the altar.” “Aaron and his sons shall eat the rest of it.” Lev.6:16.

The same was true when the sin offering was slaughtered—“the priest who offers it shall eat it.” Lev.6:26. God’s gift to the priests is extended even further in Numbers 18:8—“all the holy offerings the Israelites give me I give to you and your sons as your portion and regular share.” And it doesn’t stop there— God says, “I give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain.” Num.18:12. In fact, “the first offspring of every womb, both man and animal, that is offered to the LORD is yours.” Num.18:14.

One of the worst examples of abuse in this department was Eli’s sons. 1 Sam.2:12-29. They took what they were allowed but then extorted far more.

But leaving all that behind, look at the Apostle Paul’s comments. He says, “Don’t you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?” 1 Cor.9:13. “Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?” 1 Cor.10:18.

All this preamble finally brings us up to the key New Testament verse on the subject: “We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.” Heb.13:10. In other words, those priests who were still just doing their duty at the time the book of Hebrews was written had no right to the better Altar and greater Sacrifice, which is Christ.

And so the wonderful conclusion is this: As we “break the bread” and “drink the wine”, we portray the spiritual benefit we get as a spiritual priesthood, as we eat of that Sacrifice which, as believers, we now have a right to.

Amazing the Lord!

A great deal of our understanding of the Godhead comes not from direct doctrinal statements in the Bible but from piecing together small details and passing comments in many diverse scriptures. For instance, the word “trinity” is nowhere found in the Bible but we know, as one example, that God the Father was involved in creation, the Holy Spirit brooded over it, and Jesus was the creative Agent but “there is one God.”

Two scriptures forced themselves upon me recently. In Mark chapter six, Jesus returns to His hometown, teaches in the synagogue, and heals a few sick people. As He leaves Nazareth, the end result is “he was amazed at their lack of faith.”

Another time (Luke 7:9 NIV) a centurion sent to Jesus, asking for healing for his servant. The soldier didn’t want to impose on Jesus so he just asked the Lord to heal from a distance— and Jesus did. “He was amazed at him” and said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”

Apparently Jesus can be amazed. Two things amazed Him: (1) His fellow Nazarenes knew Him and still rejected Him, and (2) a foreigner, who wouldn’t be expected to know Him, had absolute faith in Him.

Logic seems to lead to one conclusion— God had not predestined some Nazarenes or foreign soldiers to either believe or not believe. They had an absolutely free choice. This is why the Lord could say in John 3:17, that God sent His Son into the world, “that the world through him might be saved.” The gospel is available to everyone, but only valuable to those who believe.

Bible Cosmology (8, and last!)

Review
This series has gone on long enough and I want to finish it off, but there are still a few loose ends to tie up. There are odd subjects and questions that need answers so I’ll tackle a few in this final blog:

What about figurative language?

The automatic answer that comes when you ask the meaning of these descriptions is “figurative language”. The obvious retort is “figurative of what?” I would be the last one to say that all the references I’ve given were intended to be literal. There is obviously some complex imagery in use. And don’t leave out truly figurative geographical and cosmological language like Psalm 98: rivers clap hands, mountains sing, or Isaiah 49, where the sun can “smite”. Without going over every detail, let’s look at a few examples:

(i) “The skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze”. (Job 37:18) Job did not think the skies were a “mirror of cast bronze”, but he didn’t know what they really were. A simile.

(ii) “The water jars of heaven”. (Job 38:37) The water is held up there somehow, but Job didn’t really know how. He refers to water jars; other places refer to storehouses and floodgates. These are metaphors, without the actuality ever being defined.

(iii) “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow?” (Job 38:22) Another great metaphor for what is above the firmament. It reminds me of the little glass villages that, when shaken, sprinkle snow on the scene.

(iv) “He has pitched a tent for the sun”. (Psa.19:4) Another metaphor for the place the sun goes at night.

(v) “The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up.” (Rev.6:14) Yet another simile, apparently showing a view from earth directly into heaven. The opening of the Skydome in Toronto might be a good comparison.

What is accommodation?

The ancient writers described the cosmos as they understood it (again, flat earth, domed sky, pillars holding up the earth and the heavens, and so on). This is called “phenomenological” language. “Accommodation” describes God’s attitude to those writers—in His own revelation of Himself, He gave spiritual teaching that they could never have learned without Him. On the other hand, they had their own understanding of daily life and the visible cosmos. The Bible is not a scientific book and so God didn’t give them twenty-first century science—or any other century than their own.

Who put all the “phenomenological language” into the Bible?

Most of the phenomenological language is from the original writers, e.g., sunrise, sunset, ends of the earth, floodgates of the heavens, storehouses of the snow. Many of these words are so embedded in our language that we hardly know any other way to talk about the event. No daily weather report mentions “the moment when the sun first becomes visible in the morning”— that is “sunrise”.

What is the significance of silence?

Silence in some ways confirms the premise of this whole blog. For instance, there is no mention of North and South America or Australia in the Bible. The obvious reason is that the writers didn’t know about them and being non-spiritual pieces of geographical information, God didn’t clue them in. This is in exact parallel to the fact that He didn’t tell them any new science either.

What about semantics?

Do we have to be so particular about classifications? A star was simply a light in the sky or even a constellation or a conjunction of planets—it could still be a planet or a comet or a meteor. In the animal world a bat was listed with birds (see Lev.11:19) simply because it was an animal that flew. Jonah was swallowed by a great fish (Jonah 1:17), never mind that generations of readers have called it a whale.

Can we cite a few extra-Biblical references that “accommodate”?

Here are five examples from different eras. Some of the writers believe their statements literally, some “accommodate”, some are just harking back to the old way of thinking for poetic effect.

(i) Bernard of Cluny (12th century), Jerusalem the Golden [The Celestial Country]. “That worms should seek for dwellings Beyond the starry sky!”

(ii) Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Merchant of Venice. “Sit, Jessica: look, how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold:”

(iii) Shakespeare, Sonnet When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes. “…The lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate.”

(iv) Donne, John (1572-1631). Divine Meditations, 7. At the round earth’s imagined corners, blow Your trumpets, angels, and arise, arise From death, you numberless infinities Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go…

(v) Quine, E.C. (1857-1942), BHB Hymn #386, verse 1. “Glory to Thee, enthroned above the sky…”

Conclusion

As I said at the beginning, I have over 200 Biblical references to cosmology and geography. This entire series has touched on only half of them. A belief in Biblical inerrancy has difficulty with this “accommodation” position and so often falls back on the “figurative language” explanation. We have to leave the whole matter of Biblical cosmology in the hands of the ancient writers, themselves. God, of course, knows the ultimate truth about cosmology and He won’t deceive us.

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The Underworld (The Grave, Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, Hell)
The third component of this three-decker universe is the Underworld. It seems, in fact, to be a physical place as much as a spiritual one. The first mention of Sheol is in Genesis, where Jacob says that he will go down to the grave (Gen.37:35) to his son, Joseph. The direction he states is important because obviously, when he died, he would not visibly go up. It is the “realm of death below”, and in the “depths”. People can go down alive into the pit— this has to be more than just dying. In Numbers 16, Korah, Dathan and Abiram went down alive (Num.16:30-33). In Deuteronomy, God refers to a fire “that burns to the realm of death below.” (Deut.32:22) And Samuel’s spirit came up out of the ground. (1 Sam.28:13) The mysteries of God are “deeper than the depths of the grave,” Job 11:8,9) and Job speaks of those who “go down to the grave in peace.” (Job 21:13) On a less happy note, another Psalmist says, “I am counted among those who go down to the pit…You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.” (Psa.88:4,6) Happily, the Psalmist tells us that “from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up” (Psa.71:20) and “You have delivered me from the depths of the grave.” (Psa.86:13)

There is life (or at least conscious existence) in the Underworld because Isaiah says about a recently dead celebrity, “The grave below is all astir to meet you at your coming.” (Isa.14:9) “You are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.” (Isa.14:13,14) Amos speaks of a physical underworld that could, at least theoretically, be accessed with a shovel: “Though they dig down to the depths of the grave, from there my hand will take them.” (Amos 9:2) Jonah himself felt that he had been alive in the underworld because he said, “from the depths of the grave I called for help,” (Jonah 2:2) and, “You brought my life up from the pit.” (Jonah 2:6) The Lord takes up the same picture and asks Capernaum, “Will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.” (Luke 10:15)

There is a good deal more that could be said about the Underworld. For instance, part of it was a place of torment and, across a great gulf, was a region of peace and contentment. (Luke 16) And the Bible gives instructions about how to go to one place or the other.

Endings

The end of this earth (and the entire cosmos) as the Bible describes it, is an awesome sight. The Apostle John tells us that there will be “a great earthquake”, so tremendous that “every mountain and island was removed from its place.” (Rev.6:12-14) This same passage tells us that the sun will turn black, the moon blood red and the stars in the sky will fall to earth. Isaiah tells us that “all the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll.” (Isa.34:4) Peter indicates that “the heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” (2 Pet.3:10,12) Finally, Jesus Himself assures us that “Heaven and earth will pass away…” (Mat.24:35)

How to explain all this in terms of the science of today? For starters, the study of tectonics has defined plates on the earth’s crust that are surrounded by intense volcanic and earthquake zones. By comparison, the February 2010 earthquake in Chile moved the entire city of Concepcion 10 feet westward.

A series of super-volcanoes could put thousands of cubic kilometers of dust into the sky— enough to darken the sun and turn the moon blood red. Earlier in this series we saw the sky compared to a dome or a scroll or a tent. If the ancient writers had this picture of the sky, it was only a step to viewing that dome destroyed or that scroll rolled up. And if that firmament gave way, who knew what would happen to the earth?

Bible Cosmology (6)

Earth
Dropping down to earth, the picture is very different from the modern view. Earth is set on foundations (1 Sam.2:8; 2 Sam.22:16; Job 38:4,6; Psa.82:5; Psa.104:5); the sun, moon, and stars are all in “the expanse of the sky” but below the firmament that holds up heaven. There is water above that firmament and water below it. The waters below are the oceans we are familiar with. Isaiah talks about the “ends of the earth” (Isa.41:5) and the Psalmist says “their words [go] to the ends of the world” (Psa.19:46; Psa.22:27; Psa.72:8; Isa.13:5) —something that a globe doesn’t have but a flat earth does. Again, a globe hardly fits the picture when Zophar talks about the mysteries of God, that “their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.” (Job 11:8,9) In fact, the Lord suggests that the dawn “might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it.” (Job 38:12,13) In the same vein, the Psalmist talks about the sun, when “it rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other” (Psa.19:4-6) —or the whole span of the earth “from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting” (Isa.45:6; Mal.1:11) — again, not unique places on a globe, but well-defined on a flat earth. And when the same prophet refers to God, Who “sits enthroned above the circle of the earth” (Isa.40:22), there is really no question of a spherical shape because all other references are to a flat earth. The “circle” is the horizon, which stretches in equal distances in all directions and so constitutes a circle, with the viewer at the centre. Job and the Psalms mention how the pillars of the earth can tremble. (Job 9:6; Psa.82:5) At the same time, the Lord questions, “on what were its footings set?”(Job 38:6), and Job even goes so far as to say that “he suspends the earth over nothing.” (Job 26:7) It seems that these pillars hold the earth out of the sea. (Psa.24:1,2) If these pillars fail, the earth will give way and fall into the sea. (Psa.46:2) Along this line, Psalm 136 talks about God, “who spread out the earth upon the waters.” (Psa.136:6) Peter talks about how “long ago by God’s word…the earth was formed out of water and by water.” (2 Pet.3:5)

Matthew tells of how the devil took the Lord ‘to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour.” (Mat.4:8) Once again, this is not something you could show from any mountain on a globe, but it would be theoretically possible on a flat earth.

Isaiah says that “all the starry host will fall,” (Isa.34:4) and this would only be possible on the view that they are attached to a dome above the earth and are small but powerful lights. Obviously, one star as we know it, falling to earth, would destroy it instantly. In Mark, even Jesus uses this language of accommodation when He quotes Isaiah: “The stars will fall from the sky.” (Mark 13:25)

Terminology has gotten much more specific in 2000 years. At one time “stars” could mean “stars”, but also “planets” (wandering stars) and meteors and comets, as well as conjunctions of planets. We shouldn’t fault the ancients for semantics.

Martin Luther’s Lectures on Genesis give a similar picture: “Scripture simply says that the moon, the sun, and the stars were placed in the firmament of the heaven, below and above which heaven are the waters…It is likely that the stars are fastened to the firmament like globes of fire, to shed light at night.”

Bible Cosmology (5)

More about Heaven
Now that we’ve established that the firmament up there is solid, what is above it? For one thing, water. “God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it.” (Gen.1:7,8) The word “expanse” in NIV and NASB really is a bit of a cop-out; Genesis 1:7 in the KJV says “God made the firmament.’ The water is held back in the heavens by some type of dam, with “floodgates”. (Gen.7:11) In times of blessing, “The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season.” (Deut.28:12) But then, “He waters the mountains from his upper chambers.” (Psa.104:13) At times there can be no rain, “when the heavens are shut up.” (1 Kings 8:35) The Lord tells Job, too, that there are “storehouses of the snow” and “storehouses of the hail”. (Job 38:22) Manna was up there too. (Psa.78:23-25) To be sure, the psalmist calls forth praise from the “waters above the skies.” (Psa.148:4) Amos refers to him “who builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth.” (Amos 9:6)

This hard sky holds up God’s bounty in water jars (Job 38:37) that can be tipped over; and, when the floodgates of heaven in this hard sky are opened, rain falls on the earth. Storehouses of snow and hail can also use these “windows” or “doors”. Even here, we can’t get away from imagery. God’s dwelling place in the heavens is termed His “pavilion”, His “tent”, His “palace”, so that when He comes down below the sky, He “parts” the heavens, He “rends” the heavens, He “opens the doors of heaven.” It seems that those ancient writers liked best the idea of a solid sky, partly because how else would the “waters above the firmament” be held up there? [Firmament: Strong’s #7549] They also spoke of pillars holding it up, presumably out beyond the circle of the horizon, at the region referred to as “the ends of the heavens.” And God’s power can make those pillars quake, and those foundations shake.

To the writer of Genesis, heaven was just “up there”, but fairly close, because, when the Babylonians tried to build “a tower that reaches to the heavens” (Gen.11:4), it was not unreasonable to him or to them. They were going to build their tower right up against the hard sky, the solid “floor of heaven”, break their way through, and so physically enter heaven. This idea of physically reaching heaven comes up in several other places as well: perhaps Jacob’s dream in Gen. 28:12; certainly the spies of Joshua’s day described Canaanite cities ‘with walls up to the sky.” (Deut.1:28) Jeremiah says that “even if Babylon reaches the sky” (Jer.51:53), God will “send destroyers against her.” Daniel describes a tree whose “top touched the sky” (Dan.4:10,11) —a really big tree but still with that solid dome of sky up there. And Amos says “though they climb up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down.” (Amos 9:2) And again, the Apostle John talks about the sins of Babylon “piled up to heaven.” (Rev.18:5)

Bible Cosmology (4)

Heaven
To expand on the previous blog, let’s look at one aspect of the Bible picture of heaven, as described by Moses, Samuel, Job, Isaiah, Malachi, Mark, and various Psalmists. The Apostle John and Jesus Himself have passing comments as well, so the picture isn’t isolated to one or two writers.

The previous blog mentioned the “firmament”. Now, how would God separate water from water? Could oceans, lakes, and rivers on the earth, be separated by a bit of air, from clouds holding the waters above the firmament? Not a very satisfactory division. Something more solid was needed. How about “something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself?” (Ex. 24:9,10) This is an outstanding event because Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up the mountain and saw the God of Israel. Since God is Spirit, they obviously didn’t see Him in all His glory, they must have seen a dimmed down representation. But the point is that they saw an image representing the sky, in a clear, hard, blue form, with God above it.

Or, how about “skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze?” (Job 37:18) The speaker is Elihu, who has just gone through a magnificent list of God’s works, from His communication with man through dreams, visions of the night, or even pain; His knowledge of their every step; His power in nature in, for example, the water cycle or in fierce storms and driving wind. Then the imagery becomes personal—the breath of God produces ice, He directs the clouds over the whole earth to punish or reward. At last, Elihu addresses Job directly: “Can you join him in spreading out the skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze?” Elihu didn’t really know what the skies were made of but the thought of hard and polished bronze was the best simile he could come up with.

Or even “an expanse, sparkling like ice?” (Ezek.1:22-26) Ezekiel was among the Jewish exiles by the Kebar River in Babylonia when, he says, “the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.” Ezekiel’s visions are tough ones to understand but here and there we may be able to pick up some details of his world view. A gigantic windstorm came out of the north, and four living creatures appeared to him. We don’t really know what or who those creatures were but we do know that, “Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked like an expanse, sparkling like ice, and awesome…Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.” This is another simile for the sky overhead, still hard and still bright.

And what is the shape of the sky? Job calls it a vault or arch (Job 22:12-14) and likens it to a mirror. The idea of a vault or dome would be the first picture that would come from simply observing the sun, moon and stars. These rise from the horizon, arc upward, then drop to the horizon again, e.g., “the sun knows when to go down,” (Psa.104:19) and “the sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.” (Ecc.1:5) Other metaphors for the firmament are tent (Psa.19:04-06; Isa.40:22), pavilion (Job 36:29) and scroll (Rev.6:14). Isaiah says that one day “all the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll.” (Isa.34:04) These are the metaphors that allow the Psalmist to say, “Part your heavens, O Lord, and come down,” (2 Sam.22:10; Psa.18:9; Psa.144:5) or, “rend the heavens and come down.” (Isa.64:1)

Isaiah quotes “the king of Babylon” when he says, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God…I will ascend above the tops of the clouds.” (Isa.14:13, 14) Heaven is thus “above the stars”, and “above the tops of the clouds.” What can hold such a firmament up? Obviously, pillars—Job knew that God could make “the pillars of the heavens quake.” (Job 26:11) Isaiah talks about the heavens trembling. (Isa.13:13) And David knew that “the foundations of the heavens shook.” (2 Sam.22:8) In fact, God is the One “who builds his lofty palace in the heavens and sets its foundation on the earth.” (Amos 9:6) Where is that foundation, where are those pillars? Well, remember that the heavens are “vaulted” (Job 22:12-14), they are “arched”, so according to Isaiah, they must be far away, at “the ends of the heavens,” (Isa.13:05) where they come down to earth. The vaulted ceiling of a cathedral (Exeter in this image) was a perfect picture on a scale the ordinary man could understand.

Bible Cosmology (3)

Before Time Began
“Pre-beginnings”, as I have termed it, are the details that scripture may be giving us about the situation before creation. Scripture indicates that the world, as we know it, had a beginning. In fact, the whole age of the existence of the universe is called simply "time". The Apostle Paul looks back and talks about a wisdom “that God destined for our glory before time began.” 1 Cor.2:7. Later he talks about "a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time." Titus 1:2. Peter refers back to that era too, when he praises Christ, “a lamb without blemish or defect”, “chosen before the creation of the world.” 1 Pet.1:20. In this context, I always enjoy C.S.Lewis’ description of “Deeper Magic from before the Dawn of Time” in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Beginnings

The very first verse of the Bible tells us that, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The next verse tells us that the earth was formless, empty and dark. In verse three, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” This is completely inexplicable from a modern scientific point of view— light had to come first from the “Big Bang”, then stars should have coalesced, then planets. The only way the description presented in the Bible makes sense is in a so-called three-storey or “three-decker" universe, as J.I.Packer terms it. These three storeys would be first, heaven proper, where God dwells; second, the “flat” earth that we know, with a solid dome or vault over it and the ground beneath; third, everything beneath the earth, that is, the “underworld”.

Concordists have tried every variation imaginable to make the six days of creation match up with some form of scientific development. They’re barking up the wrong tree. The fact is that none of the Bible writers had any inkling of the astronomy that we know. The ideas of a spherical earth and a solar system with other planets and an immense sun were utterly unknown, as will be shown in later blogs. They didn’t know the science so they couldn’t say.

To help set the stage for later developments in this presentation, look at what happened on Day 2: “God said, ‘Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” The word “expanse”, as used in the NIV is pretty vague. I would tend to go back to the KJV and use the word “firmament”—it seems to give a better idea of what the ancients had in mind—and even the King James translators. Something solid or, so-to-speak, “firm”. An apt quotation from the same era would be Shakespeare’s, “Sit, Jessica: look, how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold.” [The Merchant of Venice]

Bible Cosmology (2)

A few modern authors have touched on the understanding that the ancient Bible writers present to us. For instance, J.I. Packer, in Beyond the Battle for the Bible, says “biblical references to nature and history, so far from being “scientific” in the modern technical sense, are simply declarations, naïve, phenomenal, and non-technical, about God in relation to the world of our direct experience;…expressed in such concepts of nature as contemporary culture provided (e.g., the three-decker universe, active consciousness diffused throughout the body, etc.)…God accommodated himself to the historical and cultural situation of the human speaker and hearers…”

Dickin, in On a Faraway Day, gives a drawing (attached) of the world these old writers envisioned. At first sight, it seems amusing; then, going a hundred Bible references beyond even Dickin, we realize that this is the cosmos as the writers understood it. They usually meant their descriptions literally, not in any way figuratively. In contrast, Unger’s Bible Dictionary (p.366) talks about foundations of the heavens, windows or doors in heaven, etc., then goes on to say, “But these expressions are manifestly figurative in nature.” How so? This comment is surely wrong. Another scholarly volume, the New Bible Commentary Revised says, regarding Gen.1:6-8, “The waters above are the clouds (Cf. Prov.8:28) or, poetically, the rain reservoirs in God’s ‘lofty abode’. (Ps.104:13)” [emphasis added]. We think not— the ancient writer really did mean literal rain reservoirs.

The conclusion that Wayne Grudem reaches in Bible Doctrine [p.132] is probably our best guide: “Descriptions in the Bible of the sun rising and setting (Eccl. 1:5, et al.) merely portray events as they appear from the perspective of the human observer, and from that perspective, they give an accurate description. The lesson of Galileo…should remind us that careful observation of the natural world can cause us to go back to Scripture and re-examine whether Scripture actually teaches what we think it teaches. Sometimes, on closer examination of the text, we may find that our previous interpretations were incorrect.”

When I look at the multitude of scripture references to the cosmos— mostly Old Testament, but many from the New Testament as well, I’m amused to remember my own attitude to each one. I’ve always called myself a believer in a literal interpretation of the Bible but, somehow, I managed to fluff over each of these scriptures. At that time I understood that the writers were obviously using figurative language when they spoke of the floodgates of heaven, the pillars of the heavens, the storehouses of the snow, the earth’s foundation, walls up to the sky, the vaulted heavens, the four quarters of the earth, the circle of the earth.

Suddenly it hit me that maybe the ancient writers meant all these statements literally. Then I started to find current authors who had recognized the same facts. So here is the picture that started to emerge. It has huge repercussions in other areas of science and Bible study, such as modern geography, geology, cartography, astronomy, etc.

Bible Cosmology (1)

For several years now, I’ve been thinking about how the Bible writers viewed this physical world. The most common word to express this branch of knowledge is “cosmology”. By dictionary definition, it is “a branch of astronomy that deals with the origin, structure, and space-time relationships of the universe.” Reaching out over several blogs, I hope to cover the Bible view of the cosmos— its view of “pre-beginnings”, beginnings, heaven, earth, underworld, and endings.

From my vantage point, as I look back on some of the debates I’ve heard over the years, they were really nonsensical, when we take into account the ancient writers’ views of the world. A second problem is that churches sometimes raise particular views of science or technology to the level of dogma. A young person then has to accept it or hit the road. This should not be. A Christian should never become closed-minded about the inter-relationship of science and scripture. The analogy of God’s two books is still appropriate—there is the Book of His Word, namely God’s revelation of Himself to us; and there is the book of nature, namely what we can study and learn about His creation. To the believer, these may seem to conflict at times but we don’t know everything. We should keep working at finding resolutions; it may even be part of our assignment to “subdue the earth”.

To some, this may seem to smack of liberalism. In my defence, what started me on this track was looking at all these Scripture references not as figurative but as literal. A recent book raises the question—or perhaps throws out the challenge— about “how the Bible can present a flat-earth cosmology and yet remain free of error.” Perhaps these blogs will throw some light on the matter.

To my mind all Scripture interlocks—details tie in with one another, they mesh like well-made gears. One example is “The Math of Solomon’s Sea”, shown elsewhere in the blog.

Another interlocking example is the entirety of Psalm 145. This is an acrostic, each verse starting with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. However, in verse 13b, the letter Nun is missing. The NIV rightly restores this verse, saying, “Your dominion endures through all generations.”

Other examples would include all the prophecies of the Messiah. For instance, if the Messiah is David’s son, why does David call him Lord? (Luke 20:41) Another example is the many-dimensional claim by Jesus to Deity when He says,”Before Abraham was, I AM!” (John 8:58)

I’ve tried to take this interlocking view, where supposedly incompatible facts can be resolved, as I look at all the Scripture references I can find that bear in any way on the old writers’ understanding of the universe. Including Old and New Testaments, I found over 200 such references, some clear and unmistakable, some oblique. My purpose is to compare scripture with scripture or, in other words, put them together so they interlock, much as a Sudoku puzzle does.

The Math of Solomon’s Sea

Back in high school, I heard one student mocking another for saying that the Bible indicated that pi was 3.0. It turned out that he was quoting from the dimensions of the “sea” in Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 7:23-26 and 2 Chronicles 4:2-5): the perimeter was 30 cubits and the diameter was 10 cubits— obviously pi was 3.0.

A check of Geisler & Howe’s The Big Book of Bible Difficulties shows only this “solution”: “This is not an error…the scripture simply provides a reasonable approximation. The rounding of numbers or the reporting of approximate values or measurements was a common practice in ancient times when exact scientific calculations were not used.”

What the student failed to allow for was the thickness of the rim— a handbreadth. The solution is simple if we allow an inside perimeter and an outside diameter. This may seem an odd way to measure, but the perimeter may actually have been taken from the mould rather than the bath or sea itself. And we can use the true value of pi.

Realism in Hollywood?

Movie producers seem to think that realism means adultery, murder, drugs and foul language. Of course, that reflects what’s happening out there and, since people can’t help copying what they see, our old Enemy loves it. But there is another reality. There are dedicated believers out there who try to remain pure and faithful. This other reality may not get much coverage but it breaks through in some of the strangest places.

A while back, I watched the DVD “My Dog Skip”. It’s a family movie, pretty innocuous— but one brief scene lifted it into a far higher artistic (and realistic) class. The young protagonist, Willie, is bullied by some schoolmates into staying in Greenwood Cemetery overnight. We know, but he doesn’t, that they are, themselves, afraid to stay there. As the boy cowers under a tree among the gravestones, as wind lashes the branches and spatters of rain fall, I had the very strong thought, “This is phony. What does this boy have that the others don’t?” And just at that very moment, he started to softly sing, “A sunbeam, Jesus wants me for a sunbeam. A sunbeam, a sunbeam, I’ll be a sunbeam for Him.” The reality of his faith took my breath away. The writer showed the power of Jesus to carry him through any night.

The “C.S.Lewis Society” and a “Christian Society”

C.S.Lewis in 1947

An old family friend died in September of 2009, and part of her obituary read, “fondly remembered by her many friends in church and educational circles, and the C.S.Lewis Society.” I’ve been a fan of C.S.Lewis all my adult life, and he did write some wonderful things, but the statement started me thinking. If we Christians could take all the debris from our lives, all the “fill” that just takes up our time, what would we want left? It seems to me that we would want to be left with Jesus alone.

It seems that every local church should be a community or “society” whose chief occupation is to study and follow Jesus. We don’t really want to be “Lewisians” or even “brethren”— we want to be “Christians”—people who follow Christ, study Christ, talk to Him, worship Him, emulate Him and above all are filled by His Spirit.

I know a bit about C.S.Lewis— I know that his name was Clive Staples— I know that he chose his own nickname of “Jack”— but how well do I know Jesus’ name? “Your name is like perfume poured out.” (Song 1:3) “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow.” (Phil.2:10)

C.S.Lewis suffered and was wounded in the back, in the trenches of World War 1—by the friendly fire of a British shell! What do I know of the sufferings of Christ? Psalm 22 tells us a bit about that—“All my bones are out of joint—my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth—they have pierced my hands and my feet” (Psa.22:14,15,16) — and I should even know the psalm well enough to quote it, if I’m serious about knowing Him!

C.S.Lewis endured long years with no one close but his brother and his scholarly friends. Late in life he found his true love, only to have her die of cancer after only a few years of marriage. He was overlooked for promotion for many years at Oxford, simply from jealousy of his Christianity and his writing gifts. Do we ignore the friendship of Jesus, do we overlook Him—“I am…scorned by men and despised by the people.“ (Psa.22:6) Do we leave Him out of any of our plans? We shouldn’t.

Finally, C.S.Lewis was honoured when Cambridge University gave him a professorship that he had long deserved. In fact, in 1947, Time Magazine featured him in a cover article as, “one of the most influential spokesmen for Christianity in the English-speaking world.” What about our Lord? Do we honour Him anything like He deserves? Let’s try to. “He is altogether lovely…this is my friend.” (Song 5:16) Let’s tell Him so!

The ‘Breaking’ of Bread

As I sat in the worship service one Sunday morning and the bread came around to me, I thought, “This is the body of the Lord and the only way I can get the benefit of it is if I tear it!” What a shock, after decades of thinking at this point only of what Jesus did for me. Suddenly I was involved—I was an active participant in the symbolism, and not a commendable one.

My mind went to Psalm 22 and some of the lesser known verses there: “Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.” (v.13) “Rescue me from the mouth of the lions.” (v.21) Psalm 7:2 has a similar thought— “They will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.” Dare we go even further and see God the Father’s hand in dealing with His Son? Zechariah said, “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd.” [13:7] and Hosea said, “He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us.” [6:1]

What the Lord taught me in that moment was that I must first put myself in the crowd that wanted to kill Him. And I must do that every time I “break the bread.”

It’s like a tiny re-enactment of my moment of salvation— I admit I am a sinner and Jesus saved me. As I assimilate the physical bread, so Jesus came into me by His Spirit.

So, the next time you participate in Communion and your hand reaches to tear the bread, remember, you too were once with those lions!

How shall I tell you of heavenly things?

A wonderful Christian friend died recently, after months in a cancer ward. Later, the nurse commented that near the end she occasionally saw him looking not at her but back and to the side a bit. She inquired, and he said matter-of-factly, “There’s an angel standing there.”

The writer to the Hebrews touches on some of the highest and profoundest subjects of Christian theology. By verse three, he has already declared the deity of Christ and indicated God’s handling of the sin problem. Before the chapter ends he has told us who made the universe and even intimated how it will end. In fact, “what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” (Heb.11:3.)

One of the most difficult concepts he raises is the intermingling of physical and spiritual. We generally keep the two worlds separate in our thinking, but he blends them into one. For instance, he says we are to “approach the throne of grace with confidence” (Heb.4:16), or “we have this hope for an anchor of the soul” in “the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus…has entered on our behalf” (Heb.6:19-20), or “we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.” (Heb.12:1.) Where does physical leave off and turn to spiritual? Old Testament writers have taken this same approach, from Moses and Joshua right down to David, Isaiah, and Zechariah.

Modern writers, too, have made the spiritual realm visible through physical eyes, from Charles Williams and C.S.Lewis of 70 years ago, to Frank Peretti of just yesterday. An acquaintance read Williams’ All Hallows’ Eve and remarked that he “hadn’t realized until about chapter two or three that the heroine was dead.” In The Screwtape Letters, Lewis gives a highly imaginative picture of one demon writing to another: “The Enemy [God] takes this risk because He has a curious fantasy of making all these disgusting little human vermin into...’sons’.” My third example, Peretti’s This Present Darkness, gives the reader a constant view of both sides—the physical protagonists and the spiritual angels and demons just out of sight. To quote: “…a little demon clung to him, its taloned fingers entwining Marshall’s legs…”

These fictional works can be great fun to read. The crunch comes when we realize that behind all these stories is truth. There is more than a pretty—or horrific—story here. There really is a spiritual dimension. According to the Bible, that dimension is more real than anything we see. Going back to the book of Hebrews, we read, “It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” (Heb.9:23.) In other words, the design of the tabernacle, as defined by God to Moses, was only a model, so-to-speak — a “photocopy”. And all the bulls, goats, sheep, and doves killed on Jewish altars were “inferior”.

With the help of the New Testament, and especially the book of Hebrews, we can look at Old Testament history and see reference to the real thing, which is, in Bible terms, the spiritual thing. For starters, the Psalms are full of allusions to the tabernacle or the temple. David says, “He will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.” (Psa.27:5.) Do we really think David meant the cloth and fur tent? Very unlikely. He meant “the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man” (Heb.8:2), and his refuge was a spiritual one. And speaking of rocks, what point would there be in David’s climbing onto any rock in Israel? The apostle Paul shows us the spiritual reality: “That rock was Christ.” (1 Cor.10:4.)

Theophanies are recorded in a few places in the Bible. When God appears as a man, his host, for instance Abraham or Joshua, recognizes His quality and is awed (Gen.18:1-5 or Josh.5:13-6:5). But when God appears in His spiritual power, in his unrestrained reality, He says, “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” (Ex.33:20.)

Another powerful expression of the spiritual realm is recorded by Isaiah: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.” (Isa.6:1.) We think of a vision as not real—as pretend—like a dream. But more likely Isaiah was seeing into the real, the spiritual world.

One last example from the Old Testament is Zechariah, and the description is pure Peretti: “He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.” (Zech.3:1.)

The Bible event —the world event—that means the most to every Christian is the crucifixion. Christ died for our sins. But here, again, the visible and physical is secondary to the spiritual. The old preachers used to tell us that God covered the scene in darkness while He laid our sins on Jesus. Psalm 22 is the earthly, physical story of Jesus on the cross—His pain, His emotions, His thoughts. But Hebrews shows us the spiritual picture: “He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Heb.9:12.)

Maybe we can’t often see the spiritual world with these eyes. But Paul said, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph.6:12.) To bring this into God’s perspective, our Lord Himself said, “I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?” (John 3:12.) If we make the effort and break through into the spiritual realms we can speak directly to a High Priest who can “sympathize with our weaknesses” because he “has been tempted in every way, just as we are.” (Heb.4:15.) In other words, prayer is a direct entrance into the spiritual realm. Pray, and you cross that bridge that puts you among the “heavenly things” with Jesus.