As Shavuot is celebrated this week, we review resources tackling this intriguing question. 

This question should be of great interest to everyone, or at least anyone who eats! The topic is well worth studying personally, but also as a family and in small groups. It will certainly provoke much discussion, even controversy!

A good starting point is to consider eating as a spiritual matter as well as a physical one. Too often, we separate the physical and spiritual dimensions of life - far more than God does. God has created our bodies and everything we put into them. Indeed, it seems he has designed us to receive certain foods, and avoid others.

We each need to decide if our loving Heavenly Father is asking us to reconsider what we choose to eat (and what we eat is a choice, one we make regularly). If gluttony is wrong and fasting is of benefit (including spiritually) then our usual eating must fit somewhere between these two extremes. Our mealtimes become part of the battle between flesh and spirit. These regular times during the day provide repeated opportunities to make good choices. Each meal is a chance to submit more to God’s will and become more conscious of him, perhaps paving the way for other spiritual improvements.

A good starting point is to consider eating as a spiritual matter as well as a physical one.

What we eat may not be a matter of salvation or of huge doctrinal significance, but it is about pleasing God and being obedient to his will. There may well be health reasons too (obedience and being healthy often go together!). It is well said that ‘you are what you eat’ – or, perhaps more accurately, you are what you absorb from what you eat – for biology will back up what our Creator has decreed.

Temples of the Holy Spirit

The Bible contains many laws and requirements relating to food, especially in the Old Testament, but ultimately for Christians this is about walking in the Spirit. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 3:16, 6:19-20). What we place inside us should not be approached carelessly. God was very precise about what the Israelites brought into their Temple, so perhaps also he cares about what we put into ours.

Moreover, the meal table can (maybe even should) be regarded as an altar at which we bless and honour God for all his provision, including the remarkable gift of daily life and how he sustains it.

The Bible challenges us repeatedly on the issue of what we eat. From the very beginning, God instructed Adam on what he could and could not eat (Gen 1:29, 2:16-17) and the first disobedience involved eating (Gen 3:6). Animals were designated as clean or unclean even before the Flood came (Gen 7:2) and eating meat with blood still in it was strongly prohibited from the time of Noah (Gen 9:4), through the Levitical laws to Israel (Lev 19:26, Deut 12:16) and later to Gentiles in the Apostolic decree in Acts (15:20, 29).

What we eat may not be a matter of salvation, but it is about pleasing God and being obedient to his will.

Many questions are raised about our eating habits simply by reading the Bible. What do ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’ really mean, especially regarding eating animals? What did Jesus say on all this - did he change or add anything here? Should Gentiles take seriously Jewish kosher rules, especially in the light of modern methods of food production? Does what Paul says on food offered to idols have any relevance for us today?

If all this has made you want some answers, here are some books to help.

‘Holy Cow!’ by Hope Egan and Thomas D Lancaster (First Fruits of Zion, 2012)

Despite the jokey title, this is a very serious attempt to answer the question ‘Does God care about what we eat?’, which is actually its subtitle. Its main strength is its co-authorship. Part One, by Messianic Jew Hope Egan, gives the perspective of a ‘nice Jewish girl’ (as she describes herself!). She tells her story in a forthright and informative manner - how she came to understand the importance of the Hebrew scriptures in helping her decide which foods to eat.

Her review of the topic spans both Old and New Testament, and takes in what Jesus would have eaten as well as modern Jewish views. She is bold enough to ask whether her ancestors took it too far, especially regarding the separation of meat and milk. Each chapter concludes with questions to discuss and ponder, making it an excellent resource for group study.

Part Two, by Thomas Lancaster, provides extra theological insights on the important biblical passages mentioned in the first part of the book. These include Leviticus 11, Mark 7, Acts 10 and 15, and several parts of Paul’s letters (1 Corinthians 8-10 and Romans 14 in particular). This provides the book with a bit more weight and helps to back up what Hope Egan has already outlined from personal experience. As a ‘double act’, this works well.

This is a very readable book throughout and can also feature as a reference guide to the topic. It contains useful appendices, including a list of clean and unclean animals, as well as a substantial bibliography and two helpful indices (scriptural and subject) to enable the reader to find passages and topics easily.

‘Holy Cow!’ (157 pages) is available from Amazon for around £10. Also on Kindle.

‘Biblically Kosher’ by Aaron Eby (First Fruits of Zion, 2012)

This is a full review of everything you could possibly want to know about keeping kosher and the scriptural mandate behind it. Although it is quite technical in places it provides a substantial study for those wanting to dig a little deeper into the biblical texts.

After reading this book you will not be in any doubt about the more contentious passages, for instance why Jesus did not declare all foods clean (as many translations of Mark 7:19 make him say). And if you wondered whether Acts 10 was suggesting God had changed his mind about eating unclean animals, this book will help you avoid this error. The author also tackles the more complicated passages in Paul’s letters. Each piece of biblical analysis has a helpful summary of bullet points, just in case you get a little lost in the details.

Overall, the book is in three parts. Part One explains the reasons for keeping kosher and also explores objections to it. Part Two is a thorough account of what the Torah has to say on this topic, including clean and unclean animals, abstaining from blood, and the meat and dairy issue.

The last of these is a fascinating word-by-word exposition of the single verse about not boiling a kid in its mother’s milk, which will help you understand how this simple yet rather perplexing verse has come to mean so much in Jewish dietary habits. Eby is also honest enough to explain where rabbinic tradition has taken over from correct interpretation.

Part Three has two sections, the second of which is particularly interesting and important for Christians. Entitled ‘Kashrut for Gentiles’, this will enable Christians to embrace aspects of kosher without going too far down the Jewish path.

The book also has an excellent bibliography, glossary of Hebrew terms and indices of both scriptural passages and subjects.

This is a book which will certainly change the way you think about the Bible and food. It has the potential to bring you closer to the ancient Jewish way of life that Jesus and his disciples practised, and enable you to discover how the simple act of eating can become an expression of worship.

Buy ‘Biblically Kosher’ (190 pages) for £11.85 from Amazon, or download the e-book for $12 from the FFOZ website.

Further Resources

Together, the above two books tell you everything you need to know about what the Bible says regarding food and eating. But on the more practical matter of how to go about incorporating these principles into our daily lives, the following three books are worth considering.

They also tap into the biblical passages explained elsewhere but go on to give advice on how to create meals and a diet for healthy living:

• What Would Jesus Eat? by Don Colbert (Thomas Nelson, 2005. Available here).
  
• What the Bible Says About Healthy Living by Rex Russell (Revell, 2006. Available here).
  
• The Maker’s Diet by Jordan Rubin (Siloam, 2005. Available here).

Why does the Bible focus so much on forgiveness? The answer goes back to the very nature of God, to the beginning of relationships between man and God, and between man and man. It touches on the God who is Love, desiring relationship with His creation. Even in the garden of Eden, we can see disobedience leading to the need for restoration; and in those like David whom God saw as a man after His own heart (1 Sam 13:14) there was later recognition that he had sinned against God (Ps 51:4).

But the first mention of forgiveness in Scripture is when Jacob, before he died, wisely sent a note to Joseph asking him to forgive his brothers for selling him into slavery in Egypt (Gen 37:28) – the result of jealousy between brothers.

Forgiveness is needed because of sin. Ecclesiastes 7:20 tells us that there is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins. We know how unconfessed sin can cause health issues in man (mental, physical, and spiritual). God knew that all mankind needed release from the effects of sin, against Him and against each other. So He determined the one way that would be effective for all mankind, for all time. We need forgiveness; He has placed that need within each one of us.

Forgiveness by God

The prayer that Jesus taught His disciples included the request to be forgiven by our Father in Heaven for sin against Him (Matt 6:12; Luke 11:4). Sin (including not doing what we know is right), and transgression (deliberately doing what we know is wrong) separate us from the holy God. The way to restore relationship with God is by confession - saying the same as (in agreement with) God.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just that He might forgive us (1 John 1:9), and restore our relationship with Him. The Hebrew and Greek words for 'forgive' (nasa, aphiemi) both mean to lift, to bear away, remit, let go. It is a complete, permanent, total removal of the offence (Isa 43:25). But God does this only on the basis of the sacrifice of His sinless Son, Jesus, upon the Cross, because there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood (Heb 9:22).

God made Him who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that by His obedience we might, in Him, be made righteous with His righteousness (2 Cor 5:21; Rom 5:19). That is the power of God's forgiveness. He not only forgives us but removes our sin from us.

It is interesting that Matthew’s record of the Lord’s Prayer uses a slightly different phrase. He recorded Jesus saying, “Forgive us our debts” (appropriate for a tax-collector!). When we sin, we place ourselves in debt to God because Jesus has paid the price of our release from death, which is the product (the wages) of sin (Rom 6:23). A debt is something we owe.

Some years ago I saw a Christmas Card which captured the essence of this truth:

Jesus came to pay a debt He didn't owe – Because we owed a debt we couldn't pay.

Only He could pay the price, a life for a life. Only His perfect life and His shed blood at the Cross could atone for our sin, and pay our debt. The Hebrew letters of His Name Yeshua describe perfect justice and perfect mercy.

Forgiveness by Man

But there is another part to this prayer. For we must also forgive those who sin against us – those who are our debtors. There is an equivalence. We are to reflect the forgiveness that God offers us through the shed blood of Jesus, by willingly forgiving those who sin or trespass against us and without holding onto conditions (e.g. if they say “sorry”) or resentment.

Remember that forgiveness is total lifting or bearing away of the debt that is owed – cancelling the debt, however large, completely (Matt 18:27). Unforgiveness is a luxury we simply cannot and must not afford. May we be as merciful to others who are in debt to us.

Do you remember Colin Parry or Bud Welch, whose children were killed in bomb attacks in Warrington (1993) and Oklahoma City (1995) respectively, and who found eventually that they could forgive the bombers? Reconciliation with God in such situations brings His special gift to be able to forgive man's evil, and release them from debt. Jesus showed us how: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). God's forgiveness of our sins is dependent upon our obedience to forgive anyone for anything we have against them (Mark 11:25-26). There is no forgiveness for the one who does not forgive.¹

The Very Heart of God

When Peter asked Jesus, “How many times should I forgive one who sins against me? Seven times?” Jesus said, “Not seven, but seventy-times-seven”; some translations have just ‘seventy-seven’. The number is less important than the meaning of the word-play (Matt 18:22). Jesus was saying, ‘Forgive, and keep on forgiving, because that is what your Father does for you every time you confess and repent of your sin.’

The only other place the number 77 is used is in Genesis 4:24 where Lamech tries to outdo God in his lust for vengeance. God had told Cain that whoever killed him would suffer vengeance seven times over. Five generations later, Lamech, who had inherited Cain's violence, said “If Cain was avenged seven times, whoever kills Lamech will be avenged seventy-seven times”. Maybe Jesus was saying in allusion to this passage in Torah (that His listeners would have known), ‘Be much more excessive in your forgiveness to one another then Lamech was in his excessive vengeance.’

We cannot outdo our Father in His loving desire to forgive. This is His Name, as He proclaimed to Moses (Ex 34:6, the most repeated verse in the Tanakh):

The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty. (KJV)

God freely forgives those who come to Him in Jesus, but only the injured man can forgive and release the man who sins against him. Our forgiveness of others is a decision; it proceeds from our will. It is a choice to speak it out and not hold onto the hurt. We are blessed when God forgives us (Ps 32:1) so we can then bless those whom we forgive.

The words “I forgive you” are three most powerful words.² They are a step into the supernatural, the equal of any miracle, and they release, heal, bless, and restore us to the very heart of God.

Author: Greg Stevenson

Scriptures: Matthew 6:12, 14-15; Mark 11:25-26; Luke 11:4.

References

1 Kendall, RT, 2002. Total forgiveness. Hodder & Stoughton, p71.

2 Prince, D, 2006. I forgive you. Derek Prince Ministries.

The Editor-in-Chief responds to the Manchester atrocity.

I’m torn between grief and anger. I’m grieving for the people of Manchester and all those who have suffered in any way from the terrible atrocity that has engulfed the city – the appalling loss of life and the hideous wounds inflicted upon children and young people, as well as mothers and fathers who came to meet their children from a fun night out.

But I’m angry with the hypocrisy of the media, politicians, commentators and community leaders – none of whom are willing to face up to the truth.

They all pour out platitudes and meaningless slogans about unity and standing together and not letting this tragedy make any difference – and they express amazement that a boy born and raised in Manchester could have done such a thing. ‘How did he become radicalised?’, they cry.

What utter hypocrisy! All our leaders know perfectly well that he became radicalised by learning the Qur’an!

Salman Abedi learned Arabic in the local mosque and he was encouraged to learn the Qur’an by heart. It was there he learned that all Muslims are at war with the rest of the world and they should fight against unbelievers, “strike terror into the enemy of Allah” (Qur’an 8:60) until they submit to Allah and his religion. They are not to make friends with Jews or Christians and they are to kill them by any means, whenever there is an opportunity. All this is in the Qur’an that Salman Abedi learned by heart.

What Muhammad Didn’t Learn

This is the teaching of Muhammad – but Muhammad drew heavily upon the stories he learned in his early years as a merchant listening to Jewish travellers around the campfire in the evenings. He would have undoubtedly learned stories of the Hebrew tribes – the great stories of how God delivered them from slavery in Egypt; the crossing of the Red Sea and the drowning of Pharaoh’s army. Muhammad was illiterate but he remembered these stories and re-told them later; so a version of them appears in the Qur’an.

Sadly, what Muhammad did not learn from the Bible was how biblical teaching progressed through God’s revelation to the prophets of Israel.

I’m angry with the hypocrisy of the media, politicians, commentators and community leaders – none of whom are willing to face up to the truth.

For example, Moses had to deal with a dire situation where some false prophets were trying to persuade the Israelites to worship other gods and burn their sons and daughters in the fire (Deut 12:31). He said:

If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you…and he says, “Let us follow other gods (gods you have not known) and let us worship them,” you must not listen...The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul…That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the Lord your God…Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the Lord your God. (Deut 13:1-6)

Today we certainly would not put such false prophets to death by stoning them! But all the tribes of Israel were living in tents in the desert. Moses had nowhere to put someone in prison or send them to a re-education centre!

Also God’s people were in danger of being corrupted and led astray, which would lead to their destruction. They had to remain a distinctive and godly people following God’s laws, in order to be ready to receive God’s rescuer, their Messiah, the one who would ultimately bring salvation to all humanity as the Prince of Peace. This is why the punishment for leading Israel astray had to be severe and absolute - because the salvation of the whole world was at stake.

New Testament Times

Over the years, rabbis had made laws about stoning to make it less likely and even then, there were many conditions that could halt a stoning. And we know Jesus’ view on stoning - let him who is without sin cast the first stone (John 8:7).

The teaching of the New Testament on what to do with offenders is very clear – they are to be rebuked and restored if possible, or else expelled from the fellowship, but they are certainly not stoned or put to death. Jesus said, “You have heard it said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, but Jesus said, “I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt 5:38).

This is very different teaching on what to do with those who do not agree with you or who have a totally different philosophy of life. It was at the climax of the ages when Jesus' sacrifice was made on the Cross, that this transformation from retribution to forgiveness was at last made possible by the power of God's Spirit released among his people.

It was at when Jesus' sacrifice was made on the Cross that the transformation from retribution to forgiveness was at last made possible by the power of God's Spirit.

God’s Love and Compassion

But you don’t have to jump straight from Moses to Jesus to see a change of emphasis in the Bible. You can stay in the Old Testament and just go some 500 years later to the time of the Prophet Hosea, and you see that his teaching and whole lifestyle is very different. Hosea’s own wife left him and went to work as a ritual prostitute in a pagan temple; but he still loved her and paid the redemption price to get her back.

This helped Hosea to understand the love and compassion of God who still loved and forgave his people even when they deserted him and worshipped other gods. Hosea expressed the word of God beautifully in chapter 11: “When Israel was a child, I loved him…But the more I called Israel, the farther they went from me…All my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man – the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath.”

Sadly, Muhammad was unable to study the Bible himself and he may never have heard the Gospel from Christians. The Qur’an was not written during his lifetime, it was written by his friends from their memory of his words after his death, hence the striking difference between accounts of the same incidents in the history of Israel between the Qur’an and the Bible.

Need for Honesty About Islam

I am certainly not suggesting that Muhammad’s policy of forced conversion and violence against Christians and Jews in any way came from the Bible, I’m simply saying that Muhammad may have heard that corporal punishment was permitted under some extreme circumstances during the time the Israelite tribes were encamped in the desert.

Of course, we have great problems today in discussing these things because Muslims in the Middle East try to re-write history and pretend that the Jews never occupied the land of Israel. What is greatly needed today is honest discussions between biblical and Islamic scholars, which is the only way to change the worldview that Muslims are at war with the world and may use any acts of violence in an attempt to force their religion upon others.

Honest discussions between biblical and Islamic scholars are needed if we are to change the worldview that Muslims are at war with the world.

This is the worldview that is being taught to Muslim boys across the mosques of Britain, the USA and Europe, where they are actually taught to hate the West. We will never stop terrorism until we face the true issue that from its inception, Islam has warped and co-opted parts of the Torah to serve its own ends. Its very foundation is a misunderstanding of truth.

Muhammad desperately tried to persuade Jews to accept his teachings, but when they refused he became filled with hatred towards them and the rest is history.

On Thought for the Day today (BBC Radio 4),¹ Mona Siddiqui said that Muslims have to stop believing that they are at war with the world. She is the first Islamic scholar I’ve heard who is prepared to admit that the problem of Islamic terrorism actually comes from the Qur’an – and she will probably incur the wrath of some Muslims. We should be praying for her protection and for any Muslim imams who are prepared to face the truth about their religion.

Jesus the Stone of Judgment

We must also be careful, in considering what I’ve quoted from the teaching of Moses, to remember that the whole Torah is the unchangeable word of God and was accepted by Jesus. He commanded his followers to follow the teaching of the Pharisees who sat “in Moses’ seat” (Matt 23:2), and most certainly did not reject the Torah, although he did criticise the Pharisees’ practices and interpretations, all while upholding the veracity of the Law.

This is what Jesus was doing when he 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” (Matt 5:43-44).

And yet, Jesus did not shy away from speaking about judgment. He spoke about stoning as judgment, saying that metaphorically he would be the Stone of judgment that would crush or break. He quoted Psalm 118, a psalm known to be about the Messiah, saying: “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Ps 118:22). And he added: “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

Death at the hands of humans is not what we should fear - but judgment at the hands of the living God, who said that "If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matt 18:6). Anyone who justifies the killing and maiming of children in the name of jihad (as in the Manchester atrocity) should remember that punishment, not paradise, awaits them.

Where was God on Monday night?

In the aftermath of the horrendous terrorist attack in Manchester, Christians might well be asked, “Where was your God?” The answer is not simple, but there has to be an answer. Indeed, where else but God will we find the bottom line answer to these escalating problems in the world?

Questions like this have been asked as long as the world has existed. At the time Jesus was on earth he needed to address contemporary tragedies like the falling of the Tower of Siloam, which killed 18 people. He made it clear that those 18 were no more sinful than others and warned Israel and Judah in the hearing of Rome that “unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5).

These seem harsh words, but Jesus was not willing to compromise his message to a fallen world. This message echoed through the succeeding 2,000 years to us, coming to mind at such times as the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9/11, the recent Paris terrorism and indeed the Manchester atrocity of this week.

When innocent people suffer such an untimely death, we are not to deduce that they were being punished for their personal sins but we are to consider what God is saying to us all through the incident. There are signs of his presence and word all around us, and these signs are increasing in number and impact.

Where was God on Monday? The answer is not simple, but there has to be an answer.

Where is Our Protection?

When evil abounds we ask why was there no protection. The hard fact is that the protection of God is progressively disappearing from our nation.

Over the years, Prophecy Today has taken the hard path of highlighting the many tragedies that have hit the nation – allowed by God as call after call to turn back to him. This has been through an era when the priorities of our nation have been far from a close walk with him – and many law changes that are against the principles of the Bible.

From the inception of Prophecy Today magazine in the 1980s, we have warned especially about what was then the beginning of the rise of Islamic terrorism. We published articles and sent personal warnings to members of the government. Yet, generally speaking, these warnings were far from heeded. And so, the nation has not been protected as it might have been.

Yet it is not only Islamic terrorism that we are facing when God takes away his protection. We are vulnerable in every area of our society. Surely we all feel this, and despite the massive efforts to gain votes in the coming election, we are not convinced of the strength of man to overcome our vulnerabilities. It is right to increase the presence of the police and the military to increase protection on our streets in this vulnerable time following the Manchester atrocity, but this cannot be the answer alone. Without the help of God, no amount of policing our streets will take away our vulnerability.

God’s Grace and Grief

What, then, is God saying to us? Something like, I have loved you as a nation, but you have rejected my laws and rejected belief in my Son. It was my intention in withdrawing my hand of protection that you should turn to me once more, to reinstate my laws, to seek me in prayer and walk in my ways. I long to restore my protection, but cannot until you turn in repentance: how can I protect a people who do not want to know me? Protection in this transitory world is only effective for a short time. It is your eternal future with me that is of greater importance and you must think on these things. Believe me, when you suffer through the acts of terror of the age I suffer with you, but for the ultimate good I must allow these things to come to pass. Seek me while you can. Only I can protect you against the growing evil in the world.

The hard fact is that the protection of God is progressively disappearing from our nation.

We have highlighted in this magazine the central tenet of the Queen’s Coronation Oath, that to the utmost of her power she will maintain the laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel. We have written personally to the Queen and to her ministers to remind them of this at times of law change and at times when the signs of God’s displeasure are evident through the nation.

God was present in Westminster Abbey when the Queen, on all our behalves, made that Oath on 2 June 1953. We may have forgotten this but God has not and grieves to see the consequence of his removing his hand of protection. He grieves with us at what he must allow and at the consequence when 22 people die so painfully, as they did in Manchester. Yet it was we that turned from him first.

His longsuffering ensured that his grace extended to this nation beyond our deserving, even during our drift to apostasy. So when signs abound of protection removed we have sunk further than we realise.

Now: Our Great Responsibility

Christians have a great responsibility in the midst of this. There are some especially called to intercessory prayer and to the ministry of the watchman exemplified in the call of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 3 and 33), but all of us are called to this ministry to a certain level in these days of crisis.

Unless the Lord God brings back his protection we will remain vulnerable whatever party wins the General Election, whatever Prime Minister handles Brexit, the NHS, social care, the nation’s finances and so on. The evil that hit Manchester is yet another sign intended to point us back to God. Out of a suffering nation it is time for prayer to rise to the throne of God as it has in past times of crisis in our nation. Perhaps our current crisis is more serious than at any other time in our history.

Frankly, we who know these things have a great responsibility. Through the laws of the Lord and true profession of the Gospel, the country can be brought back under the protection of Almighty God. It is not God who is unjust but it is our hands that are stained with blood if we, once appointed, do not fulfil the call of the intercessor and watchman.

Are those who oppose the EU really backward-looking and bigoted?

Reversing Brexit is currently the chief General Election objective of all those people, especially Liberal Democrats, passionately committed to furthering the goal of European union.

This group includes many of our young people, particularly those in higher education, because of a deeply rooted but mistaken belief that the desire to preserve or (in Britain’s case) re-gain national sovereignty is somehow ‘racist’ and reactionary. They are taught that ‘nationalism’ leads to war, and being patriotic supposedly implies that one dislikes foreigners.

However sincerely held this belief may be, it should be rejected firmly by biblically informed and historically literate Christians.

The fallen human nature of ambitious and despotic rulers, obsessed by the selfish pursuit of wealth and power, has been the chief cause of war down the ages - not the existence of self-governing nation-states.

As for World Wars I and II, they, like so many armed conflicts of the modern era, were launched by militaristic dictatorships against mainly liberal democracies, whose peaceful exercise of their national sovereignty threatened nobody.

Reversing Brexit is the chief General Election objective of all those passionately committed to furthering the goal of European union.

Consequently, the real lesson of history is the very opposite of that drawn by the supporters of European integration. Since power corrupts because human beings are fallen creatures, it is essential that it remain dispersed, in an international system of ‘checks and balances’, rather than centralised and concentrated in a European Super-State.

Curbing Immigration: Right or Wrong

These ideas about national sovereignty and freedom are highly relevant to the controversial issue of immigration.

Politically correct ‘liberals’ always imply that the desire to restrict immigration is morally suspect, because it stems (supposedly) from a xenophobic, bigoted dislike of foreigners. Even when political pressures force them to acknowledge people’s legitimate concerns about the impacts of mass uncontrolled immigration on schools, hospitals, housing and transport, they do so reluctantly, always wanting to change the subject to the need for more government action to create jobs and improve public services.

Yet whilst it is obviously important to combat racists and welcome the positive contributions made by so many immigrants to our economies and societies, there is a strong and principled case for acknowledging the right of individual countries to control their own borders.

Border Control is Moral

In the first place, a country’s right to control its borders and restrict immigration is an essential component of its national sovereignty. If it is not allowed to determine who is or is not permitted to cross its frontiers and settle within them, it cannot maintain its distinctive national character or preserve its political independence.

Consequently, if we value an international system in which political power is de-centralised, we should recognise that mass uncontrolled migration threatens these institutional and cultural foundations, and should therefore be curbed.

There is a strong and principled case for acknowledging the right of individual countries to control their own borders.

A second and related argument is that liberal democracies cannot preserve their sovereignty, cultural unity and liberties if they open their doors to too many migrants whose cultural beliefs and values are fundamentally at variance with those of a free society. This truth is particularly relevant to the question of mass migration from the Muslim world, especially within the context of the global spread of radical Islam.

Freedom to Critique Islam

As the annual reports of international human rights monitoring organisations like Freedom House regularly reveal, most of the Islamic world is blighted by religious intolerance, sectarian violence and political tyranny. Women largely remain second-class citizens, freedom of thought and speech is non-existent or heavily restricted, and the rights of religious and ethnic minorities are generally trampled underfoot.

Some two million Christians, for example, have been driven out of their Middle East homelands over the past 20 years. But the greatest victims of Muslim violence and intolerance have been and continue to be other Muslims. According to a 2007 study by Harvard-trained scholar and Middle East expert Daniel Pipes, and Professor Gunnar Heinsohn of the University of Bremen:

…some 11,000,000 Muslims have been violently killed since 1948, of which 35,000, or 0.3%, died during the sixty years of fighting Israel, or just 1 out of every 315 Muslim fatalities. In contrast, over 90% of the 11 million who perished were killed by fellow Muslims.¹

To highlight these facts, and the difficulties they pose for European countries struggling to control immigration from the Muslim world, is not to indulge in Islamophobia or to deny the fact that most Muslims currently living in Western countries live at peace with their neighbours and contribute to our societies. It is simply to draw attention to what is a genuine political and cultural problem widely acknowledged by liberal Muslims and human rights activists.

In March 2007, for example, a brave group of Muslim writers and intellectuals came together at a ‘Secular Muslim Summit’ in St Petersburg, Florida, USA, and issued a freedom manifesto called The St. Petersburg Declaration. This declared, amongst other things, that:

We see no colonialism, racism, or so-called ‘Islamophobia’ in submitting Islamic practices to criticism or condemnation when they violate human reason or rights…We demand the release of Islam from its captivity to the totalitarian ambitions of power-hungry men and the rigid structures of orthodoxy…²

Against this background, is it really ‘racist’ or illiberal for Western governments to seek to limit the entry into their countries of large waves of migrants? These will inevitably include a minority of Muslims who advocate Sharia law, do not recognise freedom of conscience or speech, treat women as inferior beings, and feel no loyalty or attachment to their host communities.

Liberal democracies cannot preserve their liberties if they open their doors to too many migrants whose cultural beliefs and values are fundamentally at variance with those of a free society.

Protecting Personal Freedom

It remains, finally, to observe that peace, harmony and wealth creation depend primarily on the voluntary co-operation and enterprise of private individuals, organisations, and businesses - that is, on all the myriad relationships, activities, and institutions of civil society outside the State.

Therefore, a peaceful and harmonious world requires that the coercive power of government be kept to a minimum, and maximum scope be given to personal initiative, effort and creativity.

That may seem a utopian dream, but such a world is more likely to become a reality (at least in part) if its existing free societies retain (or re-gain) their sovereignty and independence, trading freely with each other and co-operating in defensive alliances and the pursuit of common solutions to regional and global problems.

In such an international environment of competing tax systems, centres of power, and legal jurisdictions, connected to each other by free trade, travel and communication, private individuals and independent institutions will always have more room to breathe, and greater freedom of action, than if they are imprisoned within a world of regional power blocs – or, worst of all, some monopolistic system of global government.

Note Well

The single most important historical fact about the 20th Century is that more people (170 million of them) died in internal repression under tyrannical rulers and governments, than in all its wars combined.³

Bearing this in mind, no true friend of liberty should have any hesitation in opposing the misguided idealism of those who believe that abolishing national sovereignty will lead to a better world.

References

1 Click here for full details.
2 Click here to read the full text of the Declaration.
3 For fuller details, see: R.J. Rummel, 1996. Death by Government. Transaction Publishers, USA. Also The Black Book of Communism (Harvard University Press, USA, 1999).

Monica Hill continues her series on the ministry gifts of Ephesians 4. 

This article is part of a series. Click here to read other instalments.

“It was Christ who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:11-13, emphasis added).

“And They Shall Prophesy…”

‘Prophecy’ appears in all three lists of spiritual gifts – but it has a slightly different meaning in each. We will explore the meaning of the ‘manifestation’ of prophecy described in 2 Corinthians 12 later, but we just note here that manifestations are not bestowed permanently on any individual, but come as the Lord wills and to anybody who is open to the Spirit.

Manifestations are very different from the ministry gift of ‘prophet’ which is given to an individual who is specifically called to build up the Body. The Ephesians ministry role of ‘prophet’ bears more resemblance to the more ‘natural’ role of prophecy described in Romans 12, with its emphasis upon the forthtelling of the word of God as well as the foretelling of future happenings. But the emphasis for any spiritual gift still needs to be on equipping the Body and this is especially true for those who are given a ministry role.

Perhaps in our modern society we can see more affinity between the role of prophet and that of the ‘preacher’- though obviously there are differences (incidentally, it should be noted that the title ‘preacher’ is not recognised in any of the lists of spiritual gifts – the nearest is the role of the teacher, although it is not difficult to see the differences).

Old Testament Prophets

The prophets, both writing and speaking, in the Old Testament, were walking closely with God and knew him intimately. They had reached such a close understanding of his nature and purposes that they found it easy to see where the people they were called to address were falling short of all that God wanted for them.

Biblical scholars maintain that less than 20% of the words of the writing prophets are warning or foreseeing what will happen in the future, while more than 80% of their prophetic words are forthtelling God’s nature and purposes – and reminding the nation how God had revealed himself in the past.

Less than 20% of the prophetic words of the writing prophets are foreseeing what will happen in the future - more than 80% are forthtelling God’s nature and purposes.

The whole nation of Israel was in a covenant relationship with God. The prophets were the biblical preachers of their day, spending their time reminding the Jewish people of God’s requirements, while also remembering God’s actions in similar periods in their history and then challenging them to become more like the people that God expected them to be.

Occasionally they did receive a revelation of what would happen as a consequence if the nation continued in the direction it was taking, but their messages were more than foretelling and often they were of an encouraging rather than a warning nature.

New Testament Prophets

The reason we do not hear much about specifically named individual prophets in the New Testament is that with the coming of Jesus, God’s revelation of himself, his nature and his purposes was now complete (nothing new would be revealed, although to each of us “the Lord has yet more light and truth to break forth from his word”). The coming of Jesus fulfilled Moses’ words in Deuteronomy 15:18 and “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people” (Luke 24:19).

The task of the New Testament prophets was unchanged, in that it was to remind people of, and bring them back to, the biblical roots set out for them (and us) in the word of God, so that they could understand God more completely and strive to be like him. Their function was additionally related to the fulfilment of the Great Commission and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, with the understanding that now the Church itself was to be the Prophet to the nations.

The individual role of each prophet (both then and today) is therefore increasingly to impart the wisdom they have received from their close walk with God to others, so that they too can be built up in their faith and thus be an effective ‘front line’ with the world. This is why prophets need to be subject to other prophets so that they are both open to correction and also protected from bringing anything of themselves into the words they share with others. The lone prophet is, by and large, a thing of the past: each needs to meet with others, not just for fellowship and to build each other up, but also to confirm or correct what they are hearing and to keep their thinking in line with Scripture.

The task of the prophets was to bring people back to their biblical roots, so they could understand God and strive to be like him.

Apostles and prophets are often linked together – they were the foundation of the early Church (Eph 2:20, 3:5) and interestingly these are the two most neglected of the ‘ministry gifts’ today. Their function has always been to give the Church, locally or nationally, the right base for ‘sending out’ and ‘speaking out’ (which is a powerful combination that ensures the Church is guided both in the right direction and with the right values and strategy).

The ‘prophetic’ function is to bring and present the unchanging word of God to others, both in a contemporary setting and to a contemporary world: reaching each new generation, preparing them for works of service and ensuring that the message is passed on.

The words of the prophets should be judged by their contemporaries on their truth, irrespective of the effectiveness the messages have on the +believers in their generation or acceptance of the words they had received. If the biblical prophets were judged on the acceptance of their messages, they would all be judged to be failures.

‘I Wish That All the Lord’s People Were Prophets’

Numbers 11 gives us a great example of how God supported Moses in the desert when he was almost in despair, and began to set in motion an effective strategy that has continuing significance today. Moses’ great joy when God “took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders” led him to want even more as he saw that “when the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied” (11:25).

He wanted there to be no restrictions or limit on who could receive this blessing, when he made the far-reaching statement “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” (11:29) which, with the coming of the Holy Spirit, did come to pass and is still available today.

Prophets need to be subject to other prophets so that they are open to correction and protected from bringing anything of themselves into the words they share.

All human beings have the ability to hear from God, although few actually do!! There is truth in the words of Jean-Paul Sartre, who said “I tell you in truth: all men are Prophets or else God does not exist”. As Romans 10:14 in the Message says “…how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it?”

Encouragement or Warning

When building up the Body of Christ, words of encouragement are just as important as words of warning, and although they may not require the same hard testing as the warnings, they should still be tested. Yet, in our modern society, they are not often treated as of equal importance and often people think that God only rebukes his people.

Continually giving words of warning can be counter-productive – and it is also unbiblical - Jesus called us to ‘feed his sheep’ – not berate them all the time. It is interesting that Judas (Barsabbas) and Silas were prophets who explained the decisions of the Jerusalem Council to the believers in Antioch and encouraged them (Acts 15:30-32).

When the word came to the Seven Churches in Revelation, each of the different gatherings from Ephesus to Laodicea were both commended and rebuked, although only two (Smyrna and Philadelphia) were seen as pleasing to God, while nothing good was said about Sardis. Nevertheless, they all had warnings of what was to come in the future alongside the amazing promises for the overcomers. Our Father is concerned that we listen and hear him – and wants each of us to be ‘overcomers’ so all words from him will be given in order to help us to achieve his desire.

Individual Prophetic Words

Although most words of prophecy are to the whole Body of believers, there can be a place for individual words of encouragement that will build specific people up so that they can play their part in the Body of Christ – and that should be the main emphasis. We will look at personal ‘words of knowledge’ about the future of individuals when we cover the manifestations, but note here that they are usually linked with ‘words of wisdom’ too.

Equipping the Body of Christ

In order to equip the Body of Christ effectively, the modern day prophet should not only desire that the Body of Christ (the Lord’s people given to him to minister to) would have a right relationship with God, but that they too would know the scriptures and know the Lord - and be able to pass this on to others.

Prophetic words should be judged on their truth, irrespective of the effectiveness the messages have on believers.

This confirms the reason given in Ephesians 4 for the continued existence of the prophetic function (working along with the other ministries): “so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ”.

Those with a prophetic function are the most effective when a real relationship has been built up and they know who they are reaching. Their own relationship with God and understanding of the scriptures and the insights they have received are not just for themselves, but God will also show them how they are to share these with others.

As we have noted there are NO prophets speaking directly to the nations today. There are prophetic voices within churches or fellowships of believers – or there should be! They should be the groups who are more open to listening and hearing from God, to enable the Church to be the Prophet to the nation.

But remember, prophets have never had an easy ride! When prophets compare what God is alerting them to in his word with what is happening in the fellowship, they usually call for change – which is not often welcome. People like the status quo and the words of the prophet are often resented by the pastor or priest. Dean Inge said “a priest is never so happy as when he has a prophet to stone”.

There is much more we could include about the role of the prophet – which is also covered elsewhere in this magazine. Prophecy will also play a major part on the Issachar Ministries Community Portal (under construction) – click here to find out more about this project. But if you have any other comments to add about prophets and their role – past and present - please add them below.

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘The Messiah Pattern’ by Peter Sammons (CPI, 2017, revised edition released 2019). 

With Shavuot on the horizon, we turn once again to the biblical significance of the Jewish feasts.

Peter Sammons has written several books to date, but his latest is the first to be published by his new outlet, Christian Publications International (CPI). Its subtitle, The Biblical Feasts and How They Reveal Jesus, gives a good indication of the author’s overall intention and the particular emphasis that this book brings to the general theme of God’s appointed times (moedim).

Sammons presents the biblical Feasts within their covenantal setting which is a helpful, even essential, context for unpacking them in terms of God’s overall salvation plan, and which makes them both more understandable and applicable to Gentile believers in Yeshua (Jesus).

Enlargement Theology?

The book is in two sections. Part One sets the scene in which the author argues that God has frequently used patterns to express his plans and purposes, and that the cycle of the Feasts is one of the main patterns that God has woven deeply into his dealings with mankind.

The second chapter, Covenant Promises, is an excellent survey of the ‘Covenant stream’ that has emerged over time. The author explains the covenants in terms of ‘enlargement theology’ - a phrase designed to combat the error of ‘replacement theology’. God has been building a people over history, increasing their number and never discarding any who attach themselves to him through faith in his covenant promises.

The author explains the covenants in terms of ‘enlargement theology’ - a phrase designed to combat the error of ‘replacement theology’.

Also in this first section is a chapter explaining how God’s calendar differs from the one we have come to use with its own traditional festivals, and how his ‘times and seasons’ provide a better setting for understanding the whole span of the life and work of Christ, from birth to return. He also includes a preliminary chapter on Passover (before considering it as one of the cycle of seven) in order to emphasise its special importance as the starting point for the salvation story. The truths of the Exodus account are a much-needed, even necessary, model for our own experience of sin, slavery and redemption.

By the time this section closes (about one third of the book) we have a very good idea of where the author is taking us, and have also been introduced to several diagrams which are a regular feature of his teaching style.

Profound Reflection

Part Two has eight chapters, one for each of the Feasts plus a very important final chapter on what this should now all mean for us. Under the overall title of The Moedim – The Jesus Pattern, each of the seven main chapters is headed by the name of the Feast and its significance within the work of Christ. For instance, Passover (Crucified), Unleavened Bread (Buried), First Fruits (Resurrection), and so on.

There is also a common structure to each chapter. After opening with a significant passage of Scripture, the subsections are Meaning, Prophetic Fulfilment, Present Jewish Observance, Re: Jesus, and Commentary. The author is employing a pattern of his own!

The chapter on First Fruits was particularly enlightening as this is often overlooked or misunderstood, its meaning blurred by being subsumed into Passover, as indeed has also happened with Unleavened Bread (Burial). The author provides a lot of detail on each Feast, bringing out the richness of each so that even for someone familiar with how the Feasts operate within God’s plan there will be something new to learn and appreciate.

There is a sense of profound reflection, a deeper well to draw upon, if we will only pause and drink. There is so much to absorb from these chapters that as well as reading the book all the way through it would be worthwhile re-reading its various sections during the course of a year as each feast comes round.

There is a sense of profound reflection, a deeper well to draw upon, if we will only pause and drink.

What Now?

The final chapter is a key one, and powerful too. It asks the important question ‘Do we comply today?’ basically challenging a negative attitude of ‘So what?’ or answering the more positive ‘What now?’

The author is very much against those who grab such revelation as the Feasts offer and misuse it, especially those who tell other Christians that they must observe these Feasts or that without them their faith is lightweight or less meaningful. He is concerned that the increasingly popular Hebrew Roots movement could easily be led astray by such claims, and confusion could follow. To avoid this, the link of each with Jesus is necessary to provide the correct focus and application (incidentally, the author prefers the term Hebrew ‘Root’, not ‘Roots’, as this stresses the single root which is Jesus himself).

From early on in the book Sammons has been at pains to stress that we are not to become bound up with “observance” of religious ceremonies, and certainly not judge others on that basis. Internal renewal in Messiah Jesus is the aim, to which end he asks: “why not observe and mark this biblical Moedim cycle which is so focused on the life, death, resurrection and completed ministry of Messiah Jesus?” (p44).

The Feasts as a Gift from God

At the end Sammons raises a very significant point. As many churches today are becoming increasingly distant from biblical Christianity, true believers are finding it impossible to remain within their structures. They “find themselves ‘frozen out’ if not actively thrown out of many such institutional churches as their hierarchies refuse to tolerate dissent” (p130).

The solution, or at least part of it, the author claims, is to embrace the moedim as a gift from God in which we will find the full Gospel and a means of revering and honouring the one who has redeemed us.

In the moedim we find the full Gospel and a means of revering and honouring the one who has redeemed us.

The book concludes with some useful appendices, including one on why seven is an appropriate number for the whole cycle as it represents completion, and another containing a table of the covenants and key scriptures. Overall this is not a lightweight book. It requires determination and diligence. But it is well set out and makes a very worthwhile contribution to the literature on the biblical Feasts.

A revised second edition of 'The Messiah Pattern' was released in 2019, containing new material, available from the publisher for £16 + P&P.

A round-up of key resources for concerned Christians.

Christian Institute: General Election Resources

• Briefing on where the main parties stand on issues important to Christians.
  
• Questions to ask MPs.
  
• View your MP’s voting record.

Christian Concern: The Power of the Cross

• Campaign tools including church resources, social media resources, plus plenty of information on Christian freedoms in the UK and how to engage with the election in your area.
  
• View your constituency profile – including voting records for past and present candidates, as well as prospective candidate profiles.

CARE: engaGE2017

• Information on key election issues important to Christians.
  
• Resources for individuals and churches, designed to equip Christians to get involved in the election.

CUFI (Christian United for Israel): A Pledge for Israel

• Contact your prospective MPs and ask them if they are willing to pledge their support for Israel.
  
• See also CUFI’s coverage of Labour’s manifesto commitment to recognising a state of Palestine.
  

Voice for Justice UK

• VfJUK is not party-political but has launched a petition calling on Labour to drop their manifesto commitment to extending abortion ‘rights’ into Northern Ireland. Click here for more information.
  

If you know of any other useful resources, do post them below!