Something Was Wrong!

“If there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.” Heb.8:7.

        It may sound almost heretical to look at the Old Testament and say, “Something was wrong!”, but it was the writer to the Hebrews who said it— it is an inspired judgement.

I puzzled over what could be “wrong”. It couldn’t be the laws themselves—they were given by God. It couldn’t be the physical nature of the laws, because God made matter and pronounced it “good”.

        My next step was to compare the old and new covenants in Hebrews 8, and I found at least a dozen contrasts drawn by the writer, including: an earthly sanctuary versus a greater and more perfect tabernacle; a tabernacle made with human hands versus a sanctuary “not of this creation”; the people did not remain faithful versus God will put his laws in their minds and they will all know him; a repeated sacrifice once per year versus one sacrifice forever; animal sacrifices versus better sacrifices; and finally, gifts and sacrifices that were unable to clear the conscience of the worker versus eternal redemption.

        The last contrast seems to be the key to what was wrong— everything the Israelites did in obedience to the law never gave them a permanent right standing with God. Ezekiel tells us that a wicked man, by changing his behaviour, could live; equally, a good man could do evil and die. Ezekiel 3:20-21. Nothing was forever, and that was wrong. By Christ’s sacrifice on the cross better promises were established, all need for sacrifice was finished, and He redeemed us forever. Heb. 9:12.

Crossword— Women of the Bible

 

Across

1.       She was asked, "Will you go with this man?", and she said, "I will go."

4.       The very first woman.
5.       She chased the birds and wild animals away, day and night.
9.       A prophetess and judge of Israel.
12.    The Feast of Purim is celebrated by the Jews in her honour.
13.    She killed General Sisera with a tent peg.
14.    A beautiful Shunammite girl.
18.    "Call me Mara."
22.    She never left the temple but worshiped night and day.
23.    Abraham's second wife.
24.    Hosea's wife.
25.    Her first husband's name was "Fool".
26.    She said, "From now on all generations will call me blessed."
27.    Queen of Ethiopia.
28.    Mother of Solomon.
  

 

Down

2.       Mary's relative, and mother of John the Baptist.

3.       She gave her name to pancake syrup!
5.       Jacob said, "She was quite my favourite wife."
6.       A seller of purple.
7.       David said, "These sons of________ be too hard for me."
8.       The most wicked of women.
10.    "Your people will be my people and your God my God."
11.    She said, "I give this child to the Lord."
15.    She said, "God has brought me laughter and everyone...will laugh with me."
16.    A tent-making lady.
17.    She was cumbered about much serving.
19.    She said, "You are the God who sees me."
20.    Wife of Joseph.
21.    A woman of sincere faith, mother of Timothy.

Book Review: Your God Is Too Small

Your God Is Too Small

J.B.Phillips

Touchstone/ Simon & Schuster /

New York 2004 Paperback

124 pp

            There’s a puzzling title—how can God be “too small”? Well, Phillips is absolutely right. The God people believe in can really be too small. For instance, to some people, God is a “resident policeman”, or the leftovers from their relationship with their parents, or a “grand old man in the sky”, or a “meek and mild” Jesus, or even “God-in-a-box”, who comes out at our beck and call. This is Part One, which Phillips labels “Destructive— Unreal Gods”.

        Part Two is “Constructive—An Adequate God”. Phillips talks about God, unfocussed, and then coming into focus in Jesus. He talks about “clues to reality”, such as the fact that matter is destructible and “reality” lies in another realm altogether; that beauty arouses a hunger and a longing which is never satisfied in this world; that there is something unavoidably attractive about the good (honesty, sincerity, faithfulness and so on).

        The latter part of the book raises some of the big questions—What sort of person is God? What is the purpose of life? What is really wrong with the world? What sort of people does God intend men to be? What are we to make of pain and disease, injustice and evil? What is the truth about sin and forgiveness?

        The very last pages touch on some things we can get excited about— “Satisfactory Reconciliation”, “The Abolition of Death”, and “Theory into Practice”. At last, the rubber meets the road, so-to-speak.

         John Bertram Phillips (1906-1982) was born in Barnes, Surrey, educated in London and Cambridge, and was ordained an Anglican clergyman in 1930. According to Wikipedia, “he found the young people in his church did not understand the Authorised Version of the Bible,” so he “used the time in the bomb shelters during the Blitz, to begin a translation of the New Testament into modern English.” After the war, he continued the work, with the support of C.S.Lewis, and published the complete New Testament in 1958. A few other of his books include, The Newborn Christian, Making Men Whole, When God was Man, and Appointment with God.

Apologetics: Dashing infants against rocks??

        In my daily reading, I’ve just come through Psalm 137, and what a shocker that last verse is—  “Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.” My first instinct is to repudiate it with all my heart. Then I remember that “all scripture is given by inspiration of God” and that “God is love.” However can these three quotations be reconciled? Pages and pages have been written about this Psalm, but it is essentially a prayer for justice, and for the righting of wrongs.

        The word “infant” may mean a very young or even a grown child (compare the “children” of Israel), and focuses on relationship and not on age. It points to the fact that the sins of the fathers are being repeated in the next generation. These deaths seem to be the psalmist’s view of the only way the sins of the fathers can be stopped. Since we believe that babies who die go straight to heaven, this is far better in the eternal scheme of things than for the children to grow up,  reject God, and be lost forever. It confirms our Lord’s comment about Judas  (Mark 14:21) that, “It would be better for him if he had not been born” — not “if he had not been conceived” (perhaps indicating that the soul comes into existence at conception). It was the same with David’s son by Bathsheba— when he died, David said, “I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” (Indicating that the baby was already in Paradise.)

        Modern unbelievers point to this verse and say “How brutal!” But what about the writhing in pain that occurs as a modern Canadian unborn baby is “salted out” or aborted by dilation and evacuation (D&E)? Abortion is arguably a great deal more brutal. Of course, in neither case are we taking into account the taker of these lives—“Thou shalt not kill.” We have to remember, too, that this is not a blessing on the killers. It is a statement of fact about the unthinking cruelty of the warriors who would later conquer Babylon, specifically, the Medes and Persians, in 539 BC. They were “happy” in their evil, much like a modern-day terrorist!

        To return to the three quotations in the first paragraph, as Christians, we must repudiate this sentiment. Our Lord, himself said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Mat.5:43-44. God is love. The souls of those children are safe in His care!                           Ì