Arch of Titus, Rome, May 2012

Arch of Titus in Rome, AD 82. The sculptor probably had the lampstand (menorah) in front of him as he carved. As good as a photograph from the first century!

Good Friday

        When we find good poetry, we know it right away. Nothing shoddy or maudlin here; nothing “homey”. This poem is too powerful to save just for Easter. We need to feel its force right now— read the poem as if it were your own words. For straight talk to one’s heart, few can match Christina Rossetti’s Good Friday:

 

Am I a stone and not a sheep

That I can stand, O Christ,  beneath Thy Cross,
To number drop by drop Thy Blood’s slow loss,
And yet not weep?

Not so those women loved

Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;

Not so the Sun and Moon
Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
A horror of great darkness at broad noon—
I, only I.

Yet give not o’er,

But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.                

The Grace of God—mentioned on a Canadian Coin???

 

 

Yes! And it has been there for as long as we have been a nation. It's a little bit hidden nowadays— the coins simply say "ELIZABETH II D^.G^.REGINA". But all through the last century and going back to the 1850's, it was much clearer. Here is the quote from an 1858 ten cent piece: "VICTORIA DEI GRATIA REGINA". For those with a smattering of Latin it now comes clear:

"GRATIA" = "by the grace"

"DEI" = "of God"

"REGINA" = "queen"

The modern-day version of this is simply D^.G (D = DEI and G = GRATIA). Not as clear as we might like but still good reason for being thankful we live in Canada!   Ì

Book Review: a shepherd looks at PSALM 23

Keller, Phillip a shepherd looks at PSALM 23, illus.  by Robert Doares,  Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1970, 144 pp.

 

    I first came across the name of Phillip Keller when my father gave me a used book titled On Wilderness Trails. I was at an age when wildlife, woods and back-packing all appealed to me, and here was the ultimate outdoorsman. Born and raised in Kenya, Keller came to Canada and got a degree from the University of Toronto, in Science and Agriculture. Early in their marriage, he and his wife, Chic, bought a decayed old farm on the southern tip of Vancouver Island and gradually turned it into a wildlife sanctuary.

        At other stages in his life he was a photographer, a journalist, a pastor, and always a conservationist. This book draws on Keller’s eight years’ experience as a sheep rancher. His purpose is to bring God’s people into an “appreciation of the endless effort put forth by our Saviour, for His sheep.” He points out that David wrote this psalm speaking as a sheep! The Shepherd owns me and His ownership is legitimate.

      This book is a devotional that also informs—in twelve short chapters he praises the Saviour on every page, and every chapter brings us relevant facts about keeping sheep. For instance, Keller describes the “butting order” that sheep establish—and there are definite advantages to being “bottom sheep”. We learn that sheep will drink from any dirty pool; it takes the shepherd to find them good water. We learn about a “cast” or “immobilized” sheep; this is one that has rolled onto its back and can’t get up again. It will lie there and flail till it dies, if the shepherd doesn’t get it back on its feet. The parallel with our Shepherd is unmistakable. Keller makes the point that Christians are so much like sheep that it is “well nigh embarrassing”.

Phillip Keller

        The parallels with the spiritual life keep coming: We have to go through the valleys; we can’t be “air-lifted” to higher ground. The shepherd combs the meadows for poisonous plants and removes them to “prepare the table” for the sheep. The shepherd applies a mixture of oil and sulphur to the heads and noses of the sheep to protect them from flies. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me—Do I leave a trail of sadness or gladness?”

        Keller really knew his stuff and he packaged it in a delightful book. You’ll read Psalm 23 with fresh eyes again.

"Stand Back!"

        “Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.”

        “Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”

        “The ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.”

        This drama in Numbers 16 is one of the awfulest in all Scripture. It looks like Korah and his family were completely wiped out. Happily, we read in Numbers 26:11, the little verse, “The line of Korah, however, did not die out.” It’s interesting to speculate how that could be—did Korah have sons or grandsons who remained faithful to Moses? Korah had three sons, Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph— “these were the Korahite clans.” Ex.6:24. Did some members of all three clans survive? We just aren’t told. From the genealogies of 1 Chronicles 6:22-28 and 6:33-38, it seems that the prophet Samuel was a distant descendant of Korah, which would make him too a Levite but not a priest.

        Just two more generations on, we discover that Samuel’s grandson was Heman, “the musician”, who may have been a “director of music” as in the psalm titles. Along with Asaph on his right hand and Merarites at his left hand, we learn that “these are the men David put in charge of the music in the house of the LORD after the ark came to rest there. They ministered with music before the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting.” 1 Chr.6:31-32.

        The Korahites were also  gatekeepers, “responsible for guarding the thresholds of the Tent, just as their fathers had been responsible for guarding the entrance to the dwelling of the LORD.” 1 Chr.9:19 The Korahites were multi-talented people: “A Levite named Mattithiah, the firstborn son of Shallum the Korahite, was entrusted with the responsibility for baking the offering bread.” 1 Chr.9:31.

        In King Jehoshaphat’s day  a vast army of Moabites and Ammonites came against Judah. The king called on the LORD for help, the LORD answered through the prophet Jahaziel, and “all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD.” 2 Chr.20:18-19. “Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voice.”

        We don’t want to leave this study of the Korahites without looking at some of the Psalms that are credited to them in some way or another. The eleven Psalms are 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 84, 85, 87, and 88. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern or theme to them; some of them run the same gamut as Psalm 42: Downcast... downcast... downcast... I will yet praise him...”  For instance Psalm 44 talks about a nation “rejected... humbled... plundered... covered with shame...crushed...” until at last they cry “Rise up and help us.”

        Some of these psalms are hopeful and joyful. Psalm 47 says, “Shout to God with cries of joy...God is the King of all the earth,” and Psalm 84 exults, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.”

        Probably the greatest of the eleven is Psalm 45, praising the Messiah—  “My heart is stirred by a noble theme...You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace...Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever...at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.” Notice that this particular psalm is called “A wedding song.” Might this be the marriage supper of the Lamb?     

        So what can we take away from this picture of a family history spanning 600 years or more? The most obvious thing would be that if there is something rotten in our family’s past or even in our own personal past, God can take dedicated or re-dedicated believers and make something beautiful. The Korahites guarded the gates of the temple, some of them baked special bread for the offering, and the most talented led the musical presentations. Although Jude 11 warns us of those who “have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion”, we can take comfort from the fact that many more of Korah’s descendants never rebelled but were inspired to bring great glory to God.