“People need the Lord”

        I watched a film the other day—a Toronto Film Festival “choice”. Under compulsion, I endured the gloom and loneliness, and the abyss of despair, right to the end. Horrible as the story was, I believe it was true to life in many ways.

        The protagonist is an English literature supply teacher at an inner city high school. He tries to make a difference with a bit of friendship and a listening ear. He tries to give his students some understanding of life through literature, but he specifically picks Poe’s grotesque The Fall of the House of Usher. Poe is also the man who wrote The Raven and The Cask of Amontillado (a story that has haunted me since the day I first read it.)

        If the emptiness is true of humanity at large, then these writers, producers, directors, and actors are accurate; if they are wrong about mankind in general, then they are at least right about an emptiness within themselves; and, ultimately, the film is prophetic of the direction mankind is taking.

        Why would I mention such a subject in a Christian newsletter? There can be only one reason—I came away from the film thinking, “These people need the Lord and they know nothing about Him—He isn’t even mentioned!” But Jesus is their ONLY hope! Scripture says it best: “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.” Psalm 62:1.  

Crossword: Solutions to "A tough little crossword puzzle" in Vol.1, p.182 [or Sep.,2013]

Here are the answers, with references.

Across:

1. MOUNTHERMON (See Google Earth) 

 4. LEFTHANDED—Judges 20:16 

 6. ELISHA—2 Kings 13:21 

 8. ITTAI—2 Sam.15:21 

 10. DANTOBEERSHEBA 

 14. SAUL—1 Sam.10:26 

 16. FIFTY—Num.8:25 

 17. ANAKITES—Gen.6:4; Num.13:33.

Down:

2. NEPHEWS—David had two sisters, Zeruiah and Abigail. Amasa was the son of Abigail. 1 Chr.2:15-17 

 3. CHILDREN—Psalm 69:8 

 5. ZERUIAH— 1 Chr.2:15-17 

 7. JEDIDIAH—2 Sam.12:25 

 9. LORD—Jer.20:7 

 11. EPENETUS—Rom.16:5 

 12. EGYPT—1 Kings 8:51 

 13. ABIB or AVIV—Exodus 13:4 

 15. RAHAB—Mat.1:5

A tough little crossword puzzle

Across

1. A ski resort in Israel is located here.

4. In the days of the Judges, there was an army with 700 _____men who could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

6. The bones of this man raised the dead.

8. The most faithful man from Gath.

10. A “merism” for the entire land of Israel.

14. After his coronation, he went home “accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched.”

16. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, was under _____ years old.

17. The spies returning from Canaan thought these people were antediluvians.

 

Down

2. Abishai, Joab, Asahel and Amasa were all David’s _____.

3. Psalm 69:8 is prophetic proof that Mary had other _____.

5. David’s (much) older sister.

7. God’s name for Solomon.

9. One of the strangest complaints in the Bible is, “You deceived me, _____.”

11. The first Christian in Asia.

12. The “iron-smelting furnace” that Israel feared.

13. Passover occurred in this month.

15. Ruth’s second mother-in-law.

 

Book Review: The Coming Prince

The Coming Prince

Anderson, Sir Robert

KREGEL CLASSICS

Grand Rapids c1998

Softcover

lviii + 320 pp

 

         Back in May we featured a selection of ten prophecies already fulfilled in Christ. One of the prophecies centred on the exact time of His first coming, and referred to this book so we want to give a summary of Anderson’s conclusions. Much of The Coming Prince deals with various prophecies in the Book of Daniel but the main focus is Daniel’s Seventy Weeks in Daniel 9:24-26. Note that Anderson’s subtitle for the original edition of this book was The Last Great Monarch of Christendom, referring not to Christ but to Antichrist. Anderson very meticulously goes through the prophecy showing his interpretation of the first 69 weeks, then spells out 69 weeks of years, which come to 173,880 days (based on a 360-day prophetic year). The clock started ticking at “the decree of Artaxerxes, made in his twentieth year, recorded in Nehemiah 2:1-8.” Anderson had the Astronomer Royal calculate the date, based on new moons and Passovers, to be March 17, 445 BC and the 173,880 days brought him to April 6, AD 32, the very day Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem to the shouts of “Hosanna!”

        This book corroborates the accuracy of Daniel’s prophecy, whether you date it to Daniel’s time of   about 555 BC or accept the modernist date of only about 167 BC. Over the last 140 years, The Coming Prince has become a classic in Bible prophecy. It was validated by such preachers as Herbert Lockyer, F.A.Tatford, John Walvoord, and Alva McClain. It was quoted in great detail as an authoritative reference by J.Dwight Pentecost in 1958 in his own classic—we might almost say definitive— work, Things To Come. Again, in 1988, Anderson’s work was quoted multiple times in Unger’s Bible Dictionary from Moody Press.

        Robert Anderson was born in Mountjoy Square, Dublin in 1841, and later described himself as “an anglicized Irishman of Scottish extraction”. After primary school, a brief apprenticeship, and some study in Paris, he entered Trinity College, Dublin, got his B.A. in 1862, and was called to the Irish Bar in 1863.

        Through his father’s work for the Crown, he became involved in operations against the Fenians and, in 1868, he became an advisor on political crime to the Home Office.  In 1888, Anderson became Assistant Commissioner at Scotland Yard and it was during this period that “Jack the Ripper” committed his grisly murders. Anderson felt the case was correctly resolved but the press continued to sensationalize it.

        Robert Anderson was raised in a Christian home but it wasn’t until he had a personal conversation with evangelist John Hall in about 1860, that he exclaimed, “In God’s name, I will accept Christ.”

        A tribute after his death of Spanish Influenza in 1918 praised him as “one of the men to whom the country, without knowing it, owes a great debt.”

The Marriage at Cana

        This record, in John 2, is most often talked about because of the miracle it contains. Jesus’ first recorded miracle certainly should tell us a great deal about Him. But I want to look at the total event, again using a little bit of that “sanctified imagination”. 

        This was a wedding—what greater cause could there be for a gathering of family and friends: religious and irreligious, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile. And why, particularly, was Jesus there? Somebody there was his friend. He wanted the best for not just the bride and groom but for everyone there. Maybe He got to say a few words in the after-dinner speeches.

        Here is where we can learn a few lessons about spreading the Good News, about fulfilling the Great Commission. I find the whole incident “culturally apt”— I can picture the exact same event taking place in exactly the same way, in a thousand towns or villages in, for example, Italy or France. Maybe just to solidify the picture in our minds, the following sonnet will help:

 

The happy bride and groom have made their vows;

    They’ve traded rings and greeted every guest.
The food and wine are good. The lights burn low.
    The sun has long since sunken in the west.

A waiter whispers that “The wine’s run out!”

 

“No way! We bought enough for everyone!”

“Don’t worry,” a soft voice nearby calls out.
“My Son is here and He can fix what’s wrong.”

“Just fill those pots with water, fresh and cold,

Then take it to the master of the feast...”

The master is amazed and speaks up, bold:—

“This is the wine of heaven, at the least!”

And so, you see, when life and joy decrease,

We know to Whom to go to get real peace.
        

There’s an interesting concept...

        Have you ever thought about the names of the days of the week? Tiw’s Day? Wodin’s Day? Thor’s Day? Freia’s Day? Our English heritage has memorialized pagan gods and we don’t even notice it. Some Christian traditions have tried to change the days within their own groups, to, for example, Day One, Day Two, etc., but this obviously never took hold on a worldwide basis. In fact, Day One in Canada may be Sunday, but Day One in most of Europe is Monday.
       Here’s a proposal: How about Christian names for the days? Sunday could become Sonday. Monday (Moonday) could become Mosesday (since he reflected Christ). Tuesday could become         Timothyday (or even Paulday if we don’t mind changing the initial letters). Does it bother you to come to church for prayer on Wodin’s Day? Peterday might be better, since there doesn’t seem to be any Bible proper name starting with ‘W’. Thursday could be Thomasday or even stretched to Theophilusday! We wouldn’t want to call Friday, Felixday or Festusday,  so we might have to try Philipday. And finally we come to Saturday—lots of choice here: Samuelday, Silasday, Stephenday, or perhaps Sarahday.