Whilst there are usually other big world issues demanding our attention, anti-Semitism is never far from the front pages of our newspapers.

For the UK, the big issue for the coming months will be the EU referendum, but whilst responding to our personal and national priorities we must be careful not to lose a broader perspective. What else is going on that may bring balance to our understanding and prayers?

Terror Attacks in Paris

In January 2015, world attention was drawn to the terror attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Following this came the assault on a Jewish Kosher supermarket in the east of the city, where four Jews were killed and where the surrounding Jewish neighbourhood was shocked by this act of terror.

These may have seemed like two simultaneous but independent incidents, with Charlie Hebdo taking highest priority in the media. To gain a more balanced perspective, one had to look outside of this and make extra effort to search for other news that would shed biblical light on the overall picture.

Doing this, one would have discovered a growing unease in French Jewish communities. According to the Jewish Agency for Israel, due to growing anti-Semitism about 7,000 French Jews had left the country during 2014 (many emigrating to Israel); double the figure for 2013.¹ The attack on the Paris market was connected to developing anti-Semitism across the nation and not an isolated incident to be sidelined by other news of the day.

Anti-Semitism is never far from the front pages of our newspapers – but it is easily obscured by other big world issues that demand our attention.

Other Recent CasesIsraeli IDs for new immigrants from France.

Anti-Semitic feeling² is erupting in many corners of society and in countries across the world. On Holocaust Memorial Day Martin Schulz, the German head of the European parliament, warned that anti-Semitism was prominent in the whole of Europe, with many European Jews living in fear and afraid to wear their religious garments on the streets of the continent's major cities.³

Anti-Semitism has become so bad in Malmo, the Swedish city where the popular television drama The Bridge is set, that it contributed to actor Kim Bodnia's decision to leave the show.⁴

Another incident in France occurred on Tuesday 12 January, when a Jewish politician was found stabbed and beaten to death at his home in the suburbs of Paris, prompting fears of yet another anti-Semitic attack.⁵

Recently the German head of the European parliament warned that anti-Semitism is rife across Europe, with many European Jews living in fear.

In Britain

Recently there have been anti-Semitic acts in British football.⁶ In London, there was an incident sparked by the sale of t-shirts with slogans designed to provoke Jewish fans of Tottenham. There has also been frequent anti-Semitic chanting from visiting supporters of rival teams.

Only last week an incident was highlighted when Oxford University was ordered by the government to investigate allegations of widespread anti-Semitism. The university's Jewish society had reported eight separate racism allegations levelled against the Oxford University Labour Club. This followed the resignation of co-chairman Alex Chalmers, who said a large proportion of members of OULC "have some kind of problem with Jews".⁷

This was also linked to concerns about trends in the Labour Party, whose leader Jeremy Corbyn has expressed strong sympathy for Hamas and Hezbollah. He failed to apologise for past links to these organisations in his first meeting with representatives of the Jewish community since becoming Labour leader.⁸ Is there a danger of growing anti-Semitism subtly infiltrating the ranks of one of the UK's main political parties?

The Bigger Picture

These examples of continuing anti-Semitism in the world should cause us to consider our world from a biblical perspective. It is so easy to get diverted into the politics of the day and forget what is happening behind the scenes.

Closer to home, anti-Semitic feeling has been noted recently in such diverse arenas as British football, universities and political parties.

Learning from Another Era

I was privileged to be on the staff at the Bible College of Wales during its latter years, when Rev Samuel Howells was Director. I would talk with him in his study and he would tell me something of the war years, when he was part of the team led by his father Rees Howells. In their commitment to prayer through those years they saw clearly that underlying the intent of Hitler to bring in the Nazi regime to dominate both Europe and the world was a spiritual battle for the survival of the Jews.

The account of these years is set out in Rees Howells: Intercessor (2003, Lutterworth Press). Samuel told me of the time when his father came out of the prayer room, ashen faced, saying that the Lord had asked him to take responsibility for the Jews in the Nazi death camps – and he had accepted. The ministry of intercession deepened in the college from that time on, as the deeper issues of the war were understood.

After the war the UN was to vote on the partition plan for Palestine. Dr Kingsley Priddy was Rees Howells' deputy at the time and he told me that they had visions of angels around the UN building as the vote took place. Samuel also said to me once something I still try to understand. Speaking of the intercessory team, he said "We lost six million Jews in the war, but the nation of Israel was reborn." This is perhaps how someone who takes responsibility in intercession will describe the battle and its results.

Samuel also told me that his father, once a strong man, died at a relatively young age in 1950 - strained by those years of spiritual warfare. That indicates the depth of the issues that we will face in future struggles of a similar kind.

During WWII, Rees Howells and his intercessory team saw clearly that underlying Hitler's intent to dominate the world was a spiritual battle for the survival of the Jews.

Same Battle, Different Manifestation

Our spiritual adversary dragged the entire world into a physical conflict in Europe in 1939. There is, similarly, a spiritual dimension to the UK's relation to Europe in our day. The door is now open for us to untangle ourselves from the EU. After that we will have an opportunity to regroup as a nation under God, according to our constitutional position expressed most clearly in the Queen's Coronation Oath.

Now more than ever, we need to understand the spiritual nature of this battle, whilst remembering the central purposes of God's end-time covenant plan. We must take care not to become pre-occupied fighting on one front while neglecting central issues on other, seemingly peripheral fronts.

Growing anti-Semitism is a symptom of an important front of the spiritual battle today, just as it has been through the entire history of Israel. God has a plan for Israel that will be resisted by our spiritual adversary in many ways, erupting in diverse places in what we call anti-Semitism.

Now more than ever, we need to understand the spiritual dimension of the battles we face today, including the UK's relationship with Europe.

One day this battle will be clearer to discern, with an overt turning against Israel stirred up among the rising world coalitions. For now, it may seem a more peripheral issue, but those with understanding will perceive the danger signs and the priorities for our prayers.

Interested in learning more about anti-Semitic trends around the world, or catching up on the latest incidents? You might benefit from looking at the following secular websites:

• The Anti-Defamation League: The ADL has recently produced an index of world anti-Semitism, presented as a useful map. It also catalogues selected anti-Semitic events from 2015.
• The Co-ordination Forum for Countering Anti-Semitism: the CFCA publishes trend reports, articles and news items (see their website here).

Notes

1 Aliyah Hits Ten-Year High: Approximately 26,500 New Immigrants Arrived in Israel in 2014. Jewish Agency for Israel, 2 January 2015.

2 There are a number of attempts at a precise definition of the term anti-Semitism. This one is useful.

3 See, for example, Sanchez, R, Europe's Jews are 'living in fear', warns head of EU parliament. The Telegraph, 27 January 2016.

4 Danish TV star says anti-Semitism made him uncomfortable in Sweden. Jerusalem Post, 17 February 2016.

5 Samuel, H, Killing of Jewish politician near Paris prompts fears of anti-Semitic attacks. The Telegraph, 13 January 2016.

6 See, for example, Telegraph Sport, Chelsea crack down on sales of abusive Arsene Wenger and Harry Kane T-shirts. The Telegraph, 9 February 2016. 7 Ali, A, Oxford University Labour Club co-chair, Alex Chalmers, resigns amid anti-Semitism row. The Independent, 17 February 2016. 8 See, for example, Riley-Smith, B and McCann, K, Jeremy Corbyn fails to apologise for links to Hamas and Hezbollah in first meeting with Jewish leaders. The Telegraph, 9 February 2016.

The New Testament points to the prophets as outstanding examples of patience in action. What can we learn from them?

When James, the Lord's brother and the leader of the church in Jerusalem, wrote a letter to the Christians of his day, he stressed the importance of patience and pointed to the prophets as an outstanding example of this quality. "Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord" (James 5:10).

Of the more than 50 commands in the 100 or so verses of this short letter, not the least significant for today's prophets is the command, "Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming" (James 5:7).

Examples of the Prophets' Patience

1. Job

Having referred to the patience of the prophets in general, James points to Job as a particular example of patience in suffering. This is the only place in which Job is mentioned in the New Testament. Job has traditionally been regarded as a prophet, and who can doubt that attribution when we consider his amazing picture of a Redeemer who would be resurrected and return to earth? "I know that my redeemer lives and that in the end he will stand upon the earth" (Job 19:25).

Meanwhile his patience had to withstand the vicious attack of his three friends, all of whom insisted that the terrible misfortunes Job had had to face were the result of some secret sin on his part.

Job's persevering patience has taught all subsequent prophets that hardships and, disappointments are not meaningless, but that God has some purpose and objective in them which will, in the end, fully justify what he has allowed us to go through.

Job's patience teaches us that hardships and disappointments are not meaningless, but that God has some purpose in them which will ultimately fully justify them.

2. Abraham

Abraham was called a prophet by his contemporaries (Gen 20:7) and, like Job, he had to wait for God to vindicate his purposes in him. God had promised him a son and many descendants:

A son coming from your own body will be your heir...Look up at the heavens and count the stars...so shall your offspring be...Abram believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Gen 15:4-6)

The writer to the Hebrews commends him for his patience: "And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised" (Heb 6:15). But that is not the whole story, for when there was a considerable delay in the fulfilment of God's promise and he and Sarah were beyond the age of child-bearing, Abraham agreed to Sarah's suggestion that he should father a child through Hagar. His impatience has had an awful consequence in subsequent history, as the angel foretold: "He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against every¬one and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility towards all his brothers" (Gen 16:12).

It is important that modern prophets should "let patience have her perfect work" (James 1:4, KJV).

Abraham's story shows that impatience - and taking matters into our own hands - can have awful consequences in subsequent history.

3. Moses

Moses is another example of an outstanding prophet who nevertheless lost out through impatience. Scripture teaches us that "no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face" (Deut 34:10). Moses was the prototype prophet, to be surpassed only by Jesus himself, concerning whom Moses said, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him" (Deut 18:15).

Hosea tells us of the ministry of Moses in bringing Israel up out of Egypt: "The Lord used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt, by a prophet he cared for him" (Hos 12:13). But the Lord could not let Moses lead Israel into the promised land because of his impatience.

The Lord said to Moses, 'Take the staff...gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water...Moses said to them, 'Listen, you rebels'...Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not trust me enough to honour me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them'. (Num 20:7-12)

The Psalmist's commentary on the event tells us something of the emotions involved: "By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord and trouble came to Moses because of them; for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' mouth" (Ps 106:32-33).

It was not God but Moses who was angry with the people, and in his anger and impatience the Israelite leader struck the rock twice. If Moses had merely spoken to the rock, as he had been directed, the miracle would have pointed away from Moses to God and the Lord would have been glorified in the eyes of the people. As it was, the intended witness to God's power was confused, because the rock was struck twice and Moses attempted to do God's work in man's way.

Moses is another example of an outstanding prophet who nevertheless lost out through impatience, attempting to do God's work man's way.

Today's prophets need to remember that "the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God" (James 1:20 RSV), that impatience can spoil their presentation of the Lord's message. Notice that in the account of the rock being struck in Numbers 20 the verbs are plural: Moses and Aaron were held jointly responsible and neither was allowed to enter the Promised Land. Moses and Aaron acted together in their transgression and together they shared in the judgment. Today's prophets need to watch out that they are neither leading nor being led by their fellow prophets to go beyond what God has actually told them.

4. Simeon

Here is a man in whom patience had her perfect work. "There was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ" (Luke 2:25-26).

Simeon belonged to what has been called 'the quiet people', a group that included Zechariah the priest, Anna the prophetess and others who were "looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem" (Luke 2:38). Simeon had received a prophetic word informing him that he would not die before seeing the Messiah. He did not grow anxious as each year came and went but waited patiently for the fulfilment of the divine word he had received.

He must have often spoken of the promise of God and his conviction that it would be fulfilled, but by now he was an old man. However, he spent his time in the Temple precincts, which strengthened his patient anticipation that God would keep his promise.

Simeon is a man in whom patience had her perfect work, waiting until old age before God's promise to him was fulfilled.

Then one morning the child Jesus was brought to the Temple by his father and mother and Simeon knew that the moment he had been waiting for all these years had come. He took the child in his arms and praised the God who had fulfilled his promise in the words of his Nunc Dimittis: "Now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation" (Luke 2:29).

It is not given to us to know the day or the hour when Jesus will return but we may certainly sense that his coming is imminent (Matt 24:36). Like Simeon, we have the privilege of patiently awaiting his return. "For in just a very little while he who is coming will come and will not delay" (Heb 10:37).

The Written Prophets Teach Patient Waiting

Hosea says, "You must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always" (12:6). At a time when a man's enemies are members of his own household, Micah declares, "As for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Saviour; my God will hear me" (7:7). God speaks through Zephaniah and says, "Wait for me...for the day I will stand up to testify...to assemble the nations...to pour out my wrath on them" (3:8).

Jeremiah protests that it is not the idol gods that send down the rain. "No, it is you, O Lord our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this" (14:22). Isaiah affirms the God who operates on behalf of his people: "Since ancient times no-one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him" (64:4). Isaiah sums up the happiness and security of those who wait for God in the words, "Blessed are all who wait for him!" (30:18). But they must wait patiently, as David writes in Psalm 37:7: "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him."

The prophets testify that God is our Saviour and justifier, our hope and portion. It is a blessing to watch and wait patiently for him.

I believe our patient waiting is precious to the Lord because it expresses our absolute confidence that he will not fail us and that all his promises to us will be kept.

Areas in Which a Prophet's Patience is Tested

The areas in which prophetic testing takes place are:

• Circumstances, where patience is the capacity for calmly enduring pain, delay, and other trying circumstances with an even temper.
• Other people, where patience is the equanimity that can cope with difficult people and their frustrating behaviour without getting worked up.
• God, where patience is the ability to go on trusting God when prayer appears to be unanswered and his promises remain apparently unfulfilled.
• Ourselves, when like the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane we are unable to keep awake, or on other occasions when we just cannot manage to call on our inner resources (Mark 14:40).

No 'Instant' Patience

We live at a time when 'instant' everything is the order of the day. We want the end-product but not the frustrating period of training or preparation. But there is no available supply of patience that we can call on. We can acquire it only by facing the things that make us impatient and by learning how to react to them - above all, by allowing the Holy Spirit's fruit of long-suffering and patience to get deeply rooted in our lives (Gal 5:22-23).

We can only acquire patience by facing the things that make us impatient, and learning how to react to them. Patience is a fruit that must be borne in us by the Holy Spirit.

In his teaching Jesus was keen on agricultural illustrations and following the parable of the sower he explains that the harvest the farmer looked for depended on his patience. "As for those in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience" (Luke 8:15 RSV).

Let the final word, as was the first, be from James' letter: "See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient...the Lord's coming is near" (James 5:7-8).

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 7 No 2, March/April 1991.

Weekly Passages: Exodus 27:20-30:10; Ezekiel 43:10-27; Hebrews 13:10-17

In Exodus 28, in the midst of instructions for building the tabernacle and bringing sacrifices, God sets out his specification for the outfits that his priests should wear and the preparation they should undergo to discharge their ministry. The surprising level of detail in these chapters shows that God cares very deeply about how his servants are clothed.

For Glory and Beauty

The outfit designed for Aaron to wear in his office of High Priest comprised an ephod, breastplate, robe, turban, tunic and sash – all outlined by God with meticulous attention to detail (and each worthy of a Bible study in their own right!). To use today's language, this was a 'bespoke' outfit, created not for fashion but for symbolic beauty, not for weather-proof functionality but for priestly glory. Aaron's wardrobe set him apart as 'Holy to the Lord' (Ex 28:36).

Many Hands

Interestingly, God chose to include many people in the process of creating these priestly garments. Whilst God designed the clothes, he hand-picked skilled craftsmen to bring his designs to life. God singled out Bezalel and Oholiab from among the children of Israel, filling them with wisdom by the Holy Spirit to accomplish this special task (see Ex 31, 35:4-36:7).

Not only this, but the rich materials required for the garments (including wool, linen, gold and precious stones) were all contributed voluntarily by God's people. In a striking foreshadowing of the New Covenant, the Israelites were not required to give out of duty but were encouraged to give freewill offerings, as prompted by the Holy Spirit. This was a faith venture - dependent on everyone "who was willing and whose heart moved them" (Ex 35:21). In the end, so much was given that the craftsmen had far more than they needed.

What Are You Wearing?

Whilst we are not required to wear Levitical garments, God has never stopped caring about the raiment of his people – his "royal priesthood" (1 Pet 2:9). We are encouraged to clothe ourselves with Christ (Rom 13:14), to "put off" the old self and to "put on" the new (Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:10). We are exhorted to wear "the full armour of God" (Eph 6) and to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Col 3:12-14). In Revelation, the outward appearance of these "righteous acts of the saints" are white robes of "fine linen, bright and clean" (19:8, 3:18).

God knows in fine detail the apparel required by our new roles as priests of his kingdom – for it is the apparel acquired for us by his Son, Christ Jesus, our eternal Great High Priest (Hebrews 10:1-22). No other clothing is clean enough. Those who try to enter the sanctuary of God without it, like guests turning up at a wedding without their wedding clothes, will be refused entry (Mtt 22:11-13).

God's Work, God's Strength

Thankfully, it is God himself who clothes us with "garments of salvation and...a robe of righteousness" (Isa 61:10). It is only through trusting in Christ's sacrifice, once for all, that we receive this imperishable heavenly outfit.

And while salvation wins us eternal robes of righteousness, life then becomes a process of allowing God to strip off our filthy, sin-stained rags and re-clothe us in this new regalia. This can only be achieved through the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, by whom we are "clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49).

Co-Labourers in the Kingdom

How utterly powerless we are on our own to walk this narrow path – how completely dependent we are on God! But if God cares about the lilies of the field enough to clothe them with more splendour than Solomon, how much more will he take care over our spiritual raiment?

As part of this lesson in humility, we must also understand that God often chooses to work through others to re-clothe us, through the power of the Holy Spirit. For each person who responds to the call to enter the Kingdom of Christ, God hand-picks Bezalels and Oholiabs – teachers, pastors, friends, family - and gives them skills and wisdom with which they can help re-robe the child of God. Meanwhile, the Lord prompts countless others at just the right time and in the right place to sow generously out of their own resources into this Kingdom venture.

For those who gave into the creation of the priestly garments, whether their contribution was little or large, the common factor uniting them all was their willingness to respond to God's call. Is God nudging you to invest in someone else today? Or is he prompting you to give freely and generously out of whatever you have in your hands? Let's yield ourselves willingly to his purposes.

Author: Frances Rabbitts

Weekly Passages: Exodus 25:1-27:19; 1 Kings 5:12-6:13; 2 Corinthians 9:1-15; Hebrews 9.

This week's Torah portion is called Terumah meaning contribution, gift or freewill offering. It refers to designating something for a higher purpose, or lifting a part of a quantity from a larger quantity.¹ The passage is called Terumah because it describes the costly and precious items God's people need to provide for building the Lord's Tabernacle or Mishkan in Hebrew, which comes from a root meaning to dwell - a root from which the word shekinah is also derived, which denotes the presence of God among his people.

There are 13 types of costly material required for the Tabernacle: gold, silver and copper; blue, purple and red-dyed wool; flax, goat hair, animal skins, wood, olive oil, spices and gems.² The Tabernacle was to be portable because Israel's God travelled with them. He is not a static idol. He moves with his people; he is carried in our hearts (if you are curious about the Tabernacle's assembly, you might enjoy this animation).

Dwelling with His People

The instructions are incredibly detailed but the purpose of all of it is so that God may dwell among his people: "Then let them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them" (Ex 25:8).

In Hassidic (mystical) Jewish tradition, it has been noted that God says "Build a sanctuary for me and I will dwell among them" (plural) rather than "in it" (singular). Some suggest that the reading should be 'within' rather than 'among' them.³

The late Dr Dwight Pryor (www.jcstudies.com) often made the point that Christians think we are making our way up to God's dwelling, but the Bible is all about God coming down and dwelling among us. In the beginning, God walked and talked in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. After the Fall he is searching for ways to dwell once more with his people. First through the Tabernacle, then the Temple, then in Jesus, now by the Holy Spirit, until the end of this age when "'God's dwelling-place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death" or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'" (Rev 21:3-4).

The Mercy Seat

The beginning of this journey of God dwelling with his people is in Exodus 25:

There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites. (Ex 25:22)

Between the cherubim whose wing tips touched on the Ark's cover, God would be present. This place was also called the Mercy Seat. Like everything else in the Tabernacle, it would be sprinkled with the blood of animal sacrifices:

In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Heb 9:21-22)

Paul describes Messiah as a "sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of his blood - to be received by faith" (Rom 3:25). The word for atonement in this verse is hilasterion which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew kapporet meaning mercy seat. Kapporet is derived from the verb meaning to cover and from which the word kippur (as in Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement) is derived. So atonement means that our sins are covered. Just as the wings of the cherubim arched and touched over the mercy seat providing a cover for the place beneath, so God in Messiah reaches out to humanity, to touch our hearts: "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge" (Ps 95:4).

The rabbinic commentator Rashi said that the instructions about the Tabernacle were given to Moses on Yom Kippur itself when the Israelites were forgiven for the sin of the Golden Calf. The same material, gold, that had been used for evil would now be used for the highest good, to build the Ark. Rashi said this despite the fact that chronologically the sin of the golden calf comes after the instructions about the Tabernacle in Exodus.⁴ God knew in advance that a mercy seat would be required, that even as he gave these instructions to Moses his people were engaged in the vilest sin.

Intimacy Through Obedience

The Haftarah reading from 1 Kings 5:12-6:13⁵ describes the building of the Temple by Solomon. Again the purpose of the Temple was for God to dwell among his people: "The word of the Lord came to Solomon: 'As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfil through you the promise I gave to David your father. And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.'" (1 Kings 6:11-13).

This promise has a condition attached: "if you follow my decrees...my commands and obey them". The way to know the indwelling presence of God is through obedience to his Word. When Jesus was asked that very Hebraic question, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?", he answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." Paul said that the majority of the Jewish people, "who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works." (Rom 9:31-32). They were seeking to do rather than to believe.

By Faith, Through Grace

Israel's relationship with God was never one of works but always of faith through grace. God's people never deserved to have him live among them or dwell within them, but Torah obedience brought holiness so that he could dwell among them. Salvation was never earned: God saved his people from Egypt and then made his covenant with them through Moses. Obedience to the Torah was a response to God's grace in rescuing his people. Similarly, the new covenant is mediated through God's grace. There is nothing we can do or bring to God to win his favour. We must simply believe in the one he has sent, the Messiah. Then we obey his Word in response to his goodness.

God does not need a building place to dwell in: he longs to dwell in our hearts. The Tabernacle and the Temple were not needed by God, but by his people as a reminder of God's kingship over them. They were places of lavish beauty and awe-inspiring dimensions to provoke longing for the divine presence. It was here that heaven would kiss earth: "Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other." (Ps 85:10). As Heschel put it, "There is a lifting of the veil at the horizon of the known, opening a vision of what is eternal in time."⁶

In Messiah, God tabernacles with his people by his Spirit. Gentiles have been invited to join with God's people Israel and "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." (Eph 2:19-22) We are God's Temple, the place where his shekinah or divine presence dwells.

What is in the Way?

So why do we not all hear God's voice clearly?

Is it because many of us are not moved to respond to God's goodness by obeying and giving in return? The Torah portion opens with: "The Lord said to Moses, 'Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give" (Ex 25:1-2). The Tabernacle was built by those who were generous and open-hearted towards God.

Generosity is a defining characteristic of the Lord and when we are generous, in gratitude for his mercy, we become more like him. This is why Paul exhorted the Corinthians: "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously" (2 Cor 9:6), because it would lead to a "harvest of your righteousness" (v10).

The kingdom is built through the gifts of God's people – Tabernacle, Temple, Church. We cannot withhold our time, money and talents from the Lord and expect to hear from him. What is distracting us from giving and working for his kingdom with all our hearts? What drives us away from intimacy with the divine? What prevents us from saying wholeheartedly: "One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple" (Ps 27:4).

Author: Helen Belton

References

1 Heave offering / Terumah, Wikipedia.

2 Terumah in a Nutshell, www.chabad.org.

3 Rabbi Hyim Shafner, A Sanctuary Within. My Jewish Learning. Also Rabbi Alana Suskin, "That I May Dwell Among Them...". My Jewish Learning.

4 Zornberg, A G, 2001. The Particulars of Rapture. New York, pp318-319.

5 Note that the Jewish divisions of the Hebrew text differ at various points from those used by Christians. The Haftarah portion accompanying Terumah in Jewish Bibles is 1 Kings 5:26-6:13 whereas in Christian Bibles it is 1 Kings 5:12-6:13.

6 Heschel, A J, 1955. God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism. New York, p138.

As mental health issues are given huge media attention this week, Clifford Hill reflects on depression: is it a purely individual problem, or does it also have something to do with wider trends in society?

Mental health issues have been given a lot of media attention during the past week. A report by a task force set up by NHS England reported that every year a quarter of the population suffer some form of mental health problem, but three quarters of these do not receive any help.¹

Mental health services are the Cinderella of the NHS and the Prime Minister has responded by calling for greater focus upon mental health issues and promising additional funding.

An Issue Close to Home

The BBC screened a programme on Tuesday this week (16 February, BBC1), still available on iPlayer, which I found particularly harrowing as it featured a young mother whom I've known personally for a number of years - the daughter of one of my friends (he also spoke movingly on the programme). Although a qualified paediatric nurse and a committed Christian with a vibrant faith, after the birth of her first baby she suffered from a rare form of post-natal depression.

Mental health services are the Cinderella of the NHS and the Prime Minister has responded by calling for greater focus on mental health issues.

It is known as 'post-partum psychosis', from which 1 in 500 mothers are said to suffer. Her condition was so severe and caused such powerful mood-swings that she was actually suicidal and had to be admitted to a specialised mother and baby unit. She has now made a remarkable recovery and her baby is doing well, for which the whole family are giving thanks to God.

The Prime Minister chairs a meeting of business leaders to discuss mental health issues in the work place, 15 February, 2016. See Photo Credits.Of course, there are many different forms of mental health issues. By a strange coincidence, two other friends have contacted me during the past week concerning mental health problems with their children. One of these has been struggling to deal with a mixture of aggression and depression in his teenage children since their mother left home to live with someone else.

The Cost of Family Breakdown

The suffering caused by family breakdown is immeasurable. The effects upon physical health and mental and emotional well-being are having life-changing outcomes for millions of children. More than half of all children in Britain will experience a broken home before they leave school.

The unsettling effects of domestic disputes and the disruption of family life affect educational attainment and future life-chances. They also create psychological problems such as aggressive behaviour, which teachers have to deal with in school, and barriers to relationships of love and trust with others that can affect their adult life.

A report last week from the Relationships Foundation said that the cost of family breakdown to the economy of the nation has risen to a staggering £48 billion annually, which means a cost to each taxpayer of £1,820 a year.² Health, education and the economy are all affected by the strength or weakness of family life and our human relationships.

The cost of family breakdown to the national economy is a staggering £48 billion annually - and its impacts on physical, mental and emotional well-being are life-changing for millions of children.

It is in the family that character and personality are developed. If family life is unstable or aggressive it will inevitably affect the children and their relationships with other children. It is no wonder that, with family breakdown so prevalent in Britain, half of all mental health problems are established by age 14, rising to 75% by age 24.³

Rise in Cyber-Bullying

It is quite incredible how cruel children can be to each other and sadly, social media now gives them even more opportunity to spread mischief, lies and hate messages. The other friend who contacted me this week is a single mother whose 15-year-old son is suffering from depression, brought on by migraines as a result of cyber-bullying. His condition has become so severe that he cannot face going to school and is having to be home-schooled in preparation for his forthcoming GCSE exams.

Social media often encourages aggressive behaviour by providing an anonymous environment in which cyber-bullies can operate. The faceless senders feel they can swear, insult, threaten and intimidate their victims, with no thought of the extreme damage and distress being caused. Victims often become frightened and withdrawn – not knowing for sure who is threatening them, and feeling powerless to prevent it. They often suffer depression and related mental health problems - their 'real' relationships suffer – and some are even driven to commit suicide.⁴

Pippa Smith of SaferMedia, in a statement for this magazine, said:

The Internet is a breeding ground for abusive trolls, pornographers and paedophiles, yet children are spending several hours a day on their mobile phones and have easy access to social media sites which is making them vulnerable to dangerous messages. From the comfort of their own bedrooms, unbeknown to their parents, they can be groomed for sex, bullied and even driven to suicide by anorexia sites, suicide sites, and by those who hide behind anonymity to attack and exploit. Facebook, Twitter and others need to act urgently to introduce tighter security settings such as proper vetting and a tougher registration process to protect the vulnerable.

Rev Lynda Rose, Convener of the Lords and Commons Family and Child Protection Group also gave us a statement:

It's a difficult crime to pin down and police powers are inadequate, while the social media has been notoriously slow to respond to complaints and protect victims. This is why the Parliamentary Group is calling for Parliament to strengthen the law governing social media. We want to see victims protected, with dedicated police units set up to deal quickly and efficiently with offenders.

Civilised Society?

Protecting children should be one of the chief objectives not only of government but of the whole population in a civilised society. Some of the hardest words Jesus ever spoke were directed against those who cause harm to children. He specifically spoke about those "who cause little ones to sin" (Matt 18:6). Clearly Jesus was speaking about those who harm the minds of children: what today we would call 'grooming', so that their understanding of right and wrong becomes blurred.

Some of the hardest words Jesus ever spoke were directed against those who cause harm to children.

Many of the different forms of depression afflicting millions of people in the nation result from the enormous pressures we put upon each other in a competitive, acquisitive and affluent society. The whole of our Western civilisation has become self-centred. We view everything from the standpoint of our own self-advantage, which affects all our human relationships. When sinful human relationships get into the family, family life breaks down.

This is where dealing with many forms of depression really starts. We should all be taking the family relationships test to discover how much we care for others. Paul describes ideal relationships within the family. He says:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Does this describe your love relationship with each member of your family? When family relationships are right, righteous relationships in the nation are restored and so too are the health and welfare of each individual.

Finally, the widespread prevalence of depression in the nation should lead us to recognise how we have abandoned our Judaeo-Christian heritage and that only by embracing the word of God will we be brought into a right relationship with our Heavenly Father. The apostle John says, "How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1). Being firmly in the Father's love gives us the security to deal with anything that happens to us.

References

1 The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health. A report from the independent Mental Health Taskforce to the NHS in England, February 2016.

2 Counting the Cost of Family Failure: 2016 update, Relationships Foundation.

3 See 1.

4 The 2015 UK Annual Bullying Survey (Ditch the Label) reports that 43% of young people experience bullying, 62% of which have been cyber-bullied. That means that over a quarter of young people in Britain have been victims of cyber-bullying.

Charles Gardner reviews a spell-binding new book from Julia Fisher, which looks at the costly path of discipleship being followed by Jews and Arabs in Israel.

Stories of healing, restoration and forgiveness, along with a remarkable outflowing of love and reconciliation...sounds rather like the gospel accounts of when Jesus walked the land of Israel! Actually, it's also the story of what is happening there today, according to a spell-binding new book by British author-journalist Julia Fisher.

What is God doing in Israel? (Monarch Books) is a gripping account of the lives of individual Jews and Arabs who have had a supernatural encounter with Yeshua (Jesus).

In each case it has led to a dramatic transformation in their lives. And the cost of their discipleship – whether coming from a Jewish or Muslim background – has been no less demanding than that experienced by Paul and the original apostles. For there is nothing half-hearted about their faith, with passion undimmed despite painful suffering, especially through rejection by family or community.

Modern Apostles

Appropriately, therefore, the book is divided into twelve chapters, each dedicated to what I would call a true modern 'apostle'. Most of the Jewish believers included have been disowned by their families at some point – in the case of Sandy Shoshani it was 14 years before she was reconciled with her father, who subsequently gave his life to Jesus on his deathbed!

As Jesus said: "No-one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields – and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life." (Mark 10:29)

Also featured is the more widely-known story of David and Leah Ortiz, whose teenage son Ami was virtually blown apart by a bomb (though he has since miraculously recovered). Perversely disguised as a Purim parcel, the device was sent to the family home during the Feast of Purim, when Jews exchange gifts to celebrate their rescue, by Queen Esther, from a plot to exterminate them in ancient times. The perpetrator of the atrocity, a Jewish extremist, believed the Ortiz family were betraying his people by encouraging them to follow Jesus.

As far as some of the Muslim-background believers are concerned, they have become like hunted animals after deciding to follow Christ, with Julia having to carry out interviews with a great degree of stealth and care so as not to attract attention to these brave men and women risking their lives for the sake of their Lord. Many have been tortured, imprisoned or forced to flee the land.

This gripping account tells the stories of Jewish believers who have been disowned by their families - and Muslim-background believers who have become like hunted animals after deciding to follow Christ.

The Power of True Reconciliation

The shocking irony of it all is that these persecuted believers actually hold the key to peace in this troubled region. Palestinian and Jewish believers are clearly united by their love for Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah; they pray and fellowship with one another and are a powerful demonstration of the reconciling effect of what Jesus did for them on the cross, breaking down the dividing wall of hostility and creating "one new man" out of the two (Eph 2:14).

"This is something the politicians cannot do" said Mazen Naswari, a Palestinian pastor in Jerusalem's Old City. "This love that we as believers in Jesus share, no matter what background we come from, shows that we can love one another."

Patrick Radecker was a seemingly hopeless drug addict who lived on the streets for seven years but, with the help of a rehabilitation centre in Haifa called House of Victory, he has been totally cleaned up and renewed, almost unrecognisable to those with whom he used to hang out in downtown Tel Aviv. A Jew whose family immigrated to Israel from Holland, Patrick too has developed a special love for Arabs since he started following Yeshua.

Here is the answer to conflict in the Middle East: all these people, Jews and Arabs, have found peace through the Messiah whom the prophet Isaiah foretold would be the "Prince of Peace" (Isa 9:6).

What is God Doing in Israel is out today (19 February 2016), available for purchase from Amazon or from Lion Hudson, both £8.99 + P&P (Kindle edition £8.54).

True prophets are those who have been set on fire by the Spirit of God.

When God began to reveal himself to Moses he chose to do so in flames of fire enveloping a bush. As Moses came upon the scene he was puzzled to see that, although the bush was on fire, it did not burn up. So he decided to look into the matter more closely. When the Lord saw that he had gone over to investigate, God called to him from within the bush.

What do we learn from this encounter about the nature of the God we worship, and what have today's prophets to learn from the fact that the God they proclaim is a consuming fire? (Ex 3:1-6).

Lessons at the Burning Bush

Moses was mystified to observe that, although the bush was obviously on fire, it was not consumed. This showed him that Yahweh, the God who had chosen to reveal himself to Moses, was completely self-sufficient. The flames needed no fuel. This God needed no help from anyone else. He was self-perpetuating. Therefore, he could be trusted absolutely.

Another lesson was that mortal man must not approach Yahweh. For God had said to Moses, "Do not come any closer...Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground". Moses had become aware that he was in fact being confronted by none other than God himself. "For Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God" (Ex 3:6).

The burning bush that was not consumed shows that God is completely self-sufficient and needs no help from anyone else – and therefore he can be trusted absolutely.

God subsequently told Moses that he was aware of the suffering of his people at the hands of their Egyptian overseers, and that he had come down to rescue them (Ex 3:7-8). By the conclusion of this encounter, Moses knew that God was totally self-sufficient, and that he was holy and must not be approached by sinful man. But he also knew that God cared about his people Israel and intended to rescue them from their Egyptian slavery in fulfilment of his covenant relationship with their fathers (Ex 3:6).

Other Revelations of God by Fire

The first incident in which God appears in fire comes at the end of the story of the fall of man, when God had to banish Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden and placed "cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life" (Gen 3:24). The Garden of Eden was closed to man because of his sin, and the flaming sword disclosed the wrath of a holy God on all who, like Adam, are disobedient.

However, the method of navigation in darkness which God gave to his pilgrim people reveals the beneficial use of fire. "By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night" (Ex 13:31). The same God who had banned them from Eden now took his place at the head of their wandering tribes to lead them by the pillar of fire until they reached their promised land.

The same God who banned his people from Eden with a flaming sword took his place at their head in Exodus, leading them by fire to the Promised Land.

Offerings Made by Fire

The Levitical offerings which prefigure the saving work of Christ and enable us to understand the way of salvation are listed in the book of Leviticus chapters 1 to 7, and it contains one phrase which repeats over 40 times. The offerings were made to the Lord "by fire" (Lev 2:3).

This fire, which was kindled by God himself, was never to be allowed to die. "The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out" (Lev 6:13). We are told that this "fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering, whereupon the people shouted for joy and fell face down" (Lev 9:24). The two sons of Aaron the high priest, Nadab and Abihu, dared to offer unauthorised fire on God's altar, and perished for their presumption (Lev 10:1-2).

Charles Wesley had the right attitude to the place of sacred fire in our reverence and esteem when he wrote, "O thou who camest from above the pure celestial fire to impart, kindle a flame of sacred love on the mean altar of my heart. There let it for thy glory burn with inextinguishable blaze".

In Leviticus we read about the sacred altar fire, kindled by God himself, which shows that he demands reverence and esteem.

Commandments Through the Fire

It was through the medium of fire, Moses told the people, that God spoke his commandments. Communication of the Law in this manner must have impressed Moses, for he refers to it at least nine times in the book of Deuteronomy:

Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. He declared to you his covenant, the ten commandments which he commanded you to follow. (Deut 4:12-13)

The impression it had on Moses can be judged by his challenge to the people, "Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have and lived?" (Deut 4:33).

Proof by Fire

Centuries later the prophet Elijah brought a challenge to the prophets of Baal with the proclamation, "You call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord. The God who answers by fire - he is God!" (1 Ki 18:24). After hours of fruitless praying and screaming to their god, and at the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah stepped forward and quietly asked that God would vindicate his confidence and act. "Then the fire of the Lord fell...When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, 'The Lord - he is God. The Lord - he is God!'" (1 Ki 18:38-39).

Two Words for 'Burning'

There are at least nine words in the Hebrew Bible which can be translated 'burn', five of which occur only two or three times. One word, alah, means 'to ascend', but the other two are interesting because of the way in which they are used. The word qatar is reserved for those offerings, whether of incense or of sacrificial animals, the smells of which ascend to God as a pleasant aroma. On the other hand, the term saraph is reserved for destructive burning.

It is important to note this distinction, for the Bible throughout is careful to differentiate between the fire of God that destroys and the fire that blesses. Amos says, "This is what the Sovereign Lord showed: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire" (Amos 7:4). On the other hand, according to the prophet Zechariah, "Jerusalem will be a city without walls...I myself will be a wall of fire around it", declares the Lord" (Zech 2:4-5).

The different Hebrew words translated as 'burn' distinguish between the fire of God that destroys and the fire that blesses.

So the God of the Bible who is revealed to us in contrasting ways is both the consuming fire of Deuteronomy 4:24 and Hebrews 12:29 and the refining fire of Malachi 3:3-4 that purifies us until we are like gold and silver.

The Burning Heart of the Prophet

In the prophecy of Jeremiah, we have three examples of how the prophet reacted to his particular situation.

1. "Therefore this is what the Lord God almighty says: 'Because the people have spoken these words, I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes.'" These people had been saying that Jeremiah and other prophets were wind-bags (Jer 5:13) and that, despite their rebellious spirit, "no harm will come to us" (Jer 5:12). But God promises that he will make their words disappear like a pile of dry sticks when they are set alight.
2. "But if I say, 'I will not mention him or speak any more in his name. His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones...'" Jeremiah had decided that he could no longer serve as a prophet. He is not thrilled with the message God has given him, and bares his heart as he tells that the flame burning in his heart compels him to carry on despite all the problems (Jer 20:9).
3. "'Is not my word like fire', declares the Lord, 'and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?'" (Jer 23:29). In contrast with the false prophets and their powerless words, God's truth is like fire and like a hammer. It is both penetrating and purifying, and so should encourage all who have experienced frustration and pointlessness to begin again with new confidence in the fire of God's presence with them. Jeremiah's experience is beautifully expressed in the words of Psalm 39:2-3: "when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased. My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue."

To Jeremiah, God's word was like a fire burning in his heart and mouth, powerful and compelling.

His Servants Like Flames of Fire

These words from Psalm 104:4 indicate what God wants his servants to be. He wants them to blaze. This is why part of the experience of Pentecost is that of being completely immersed in the fire of God (Matt 3:11). On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God came upon the disciples, and the visual manifestations that accompanied his presence were tongues of fire.

We can therefore conclude that a true prophet is someone who has been set on fire by the Spirit of God. He is one who has made a complete offering of himself to God, one who not only proclaims the fire of God's love but also reverences the God who is a consuming fire. He is one whose heart has been strangely warmed, and who can keep on speaking even when this makes him unpopular and unacceptable with the false prophets who are content to prophesy only what people want to hear (Jer 23: 16-18).

Seeing God as Fire

The prophet Ezekiel writes, "While I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. I looked and saw an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The centre of the fire looked like glowing metal..." (Ezek 1:1, 1:4). Ezekiel continues, "...he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him" (Ezekiel 1:27-28).

A true prophet has made a complete offering of himself to God, and proclaims the fire of God's love whilst also reverencing the God who is a consuming fire.

The experience of sitting among the exiles by the river for a week overwhelmed Ezekiel. Every prophet has times when all he can see is the disaster, the difficulty and the discouragement all around. How good if at that time we can also be envisioned to see Jesus "crowned with glory and honour" (Heb 2:9). Suddenly we experience the light and heat which streams to us from the God who is never cold and
forbidding but is always welcoming like a warm fire.

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 7 No 1, January/February 1991.

Weekly Passages: Exodus 21:1-24:16; Jeremiah 34:8-34:22; 33:25-26; Matthew 5:38-42; 17:1-11.

Jesus taught that the entire Torah hangs on two laws, to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves (Matt 22:37-40). These two laws are found in Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, so this was not new teaching Jesus was giving.

However, it may have been an additional revelation to those listening to Jesus that all of God's teaching emanates from just two main principles. Simply put, the heart of Torah is the love of God, which he wants us to receive and to live by.

Unity in the Law

Last week we read the Ten Commandments. This week we read a wider range of laws and it takes some prayerful meditation to determine how the entire Torah holds together as a unity of love to God and our neighbour.

Judaism traditionally holds that there are 613 individual commandments. Though this is not necessarily a perfect count, it is certainly a good estimate. Does that mean that if we remembered hundreds of individual laws and earnestly obeyed them that we would be fulfilling the command to love God and our neighbour? Not necessarily.

Good though it might sound, this could easily become an act of the flesh – something we struggle and strive (and ultimately fail) to achieve in our own strength, without dependence on God. The spiritual gift of love is not so limited in its scope. If we receive it from God first, then we will find that Torah observance follows as a natural outcome.

The Heart Behind the Commands

Meditate on the laws in our Torah portion this week and see if you experience a response of understanding in your spirit that confirms Jesus' teaching. It is this spiritual response which naturally results in God's moral and ethical principles being lived out - including the precise laws that Moses codified, but also expanding into an infinite number of applications, stemming from the heart principles that the laws represent. The Sermon on the Mount should be understood in this way.

How important is this? Take Exodus 21:22-25 (for example). On face value this concerns the penalty for harming an unborn child in the circumstance of two men fighting. But that is too limiting. The heart principle here is God's love for children yet unborn and his exhortation that we too must be careful with the unborn child. If God's heart were understood through Torah principles, how would we ever have allowed the abortion of children in our nation?

As we read this week's Torah portion, let us ask God to show us the heart issues behind the specific laws - especially when they are relevant for today.

Author: Clifford Denton

In the week where scientists reported discovery of gravitational waves (previously predicted by Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity), we start a new series of Bible studies with the timely reminder that God is Creator and wants to be worshipped as such.

How important is it to God that we know him as Creator and Sustainer of the Universe? It is the first thing that we read in the Bible and it is a recurring theme through every part of Scripture. Every person in the entire world can know, through the evidence all around, that there is a Creator - and this can be the beginning of reaching out to him and knowing him in other ways. Ultimately, it puts us on a path of discovery which leads us to understand that the entire Creation came through Jesus the Messiah. We will also discover that those who deny that God is Creator put themselves on a road that leads to greater and greater depths of sin.

The First Statement in the Bible

It may seem an outrageous claim, but the only reliable account of the world's beginning in all the books in all the libraries in the entire world is in the first chapter of Genesis! Because it is the first thing we read in the Bible we can assume that it is of foundational importance. Thereafter, like for all main biblical themes, a thread weaves its way through all Scripture. If we follow the thread verse by verse through all the books, we gain a sense of its importance and we come to the conclusion that it is important to God that we know him as Creator.

It is important to God that we know him as Creator. Ultimately, this puts us on a path to knowing Jesus the Messiah.

"Bereshit Bara Elohim..."

Turning to a little Hebrew, the first three Hebrew words of the Bible are "Bereshit Bara Elohim", translated "In the beginning, God created". The first name given for God is Elohim. When a Hebrew word ends in im it is usually plural - yet we know that God is one. The Hebrew word Echad is used in Deuteronomy 6:4 to express this oneness of God, and means a unity with many parts, many facets and many expressions.

Do we see this principle of oneness in a plural form in the verses of the Bible, when we consider the Creation? The Holy Spirit "hovered over the face of the waters" (Gen 1:2). Jesus was there in his pre-incarnate form (John 1:1-3). God the Father, through his Son, by the power of his Spirit, spoke - making himself known as Creator.

The Hebrew word bara, which we translate as 'created', is a word that is only used in the Bible to express what God himself has done. It is not a word that is related to what others can do within Creation. As such, only God can know just what this word means - just what he did and how he did it. We can take something from God's Creation and re-model it to something else - wood from trees to build furniture, coloured pigments to paint pictures, clay and stone to build houses and so on. The Hebrew word for re-modelling, building within the Creation, is not bara: it is banah. Only God can create something from outside our universe. We can merely reform what comes to our hands.

Only God can create something from outside the created order – we can only remodel what already exists within it.

The word bara is associated with God's creation of the entire universe: the stars, the earth, the plants, the animals and mankind. That explosive moment when everything that we know in Creation came to be is beyond our imagination. From within the created order we can investigate what we find by observation and measurement, but we cannot get outside of it to find out how God did it. There is no human logic that applies to this.

What God wants us to know is in the Bible, within the limits he himself has set. We can ask questions but we may not get complete answers, so belief in God as Creator remains a matter of faith, faith that is ultimately a gift from him. This is an important matter as we follow the thread of revelation through all the scriptures.

Following the Thread

The thread of truth that God is Creator remains of fundamental and deepening importance right through the Bible. God watches over his Creation and intervenes in it. Consider:

• how he sustains his Creation and provides for his people according to his covenant with Noah (Gen 8:21-22)
• how he intervenes at times to send signs (e.g. the physical judgments on the earth, Amos 4)
• how he intervenes with miracles (e.g. the healing of a leper in 2 Kings 5, the lengthening of a day for Joshua (Josh 10:12-13) and Hezekiah (Isa 38), the many miracles which authenticated Jesus as Messiah (e.g. Matt 8, 14:13-21; John 4-5))

Furthermore, knowing God as Creator is a fundamental part of being in relationship with him:

• God first makes himself known to his people as the Creator (e.g. Gen 14:19-20)
• God will remind us of his greatness through his work of Creation when he calls us to repentance (Deut 32:6)
• When we consider God's Creation we should remember who we are, created beings, in contrast to who he is, the Creator (Isa 40)

Trusting in God as Creator: Job's Testimony

The account of Job shows that however much we know about God, there are aspects of both his character and our own characters that will always reach beyond our understanding. Job retained his faith through hard times, even though his suffering prompted questions that could not be answered through human logic. When God finally spoke, he reminded Job of who he is by first asking Job to consider the wonder of his creative deeds: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding..." (Job 38-42).

This puts Job in his rightful place (and us in ours!). When we have faith in God as Creator we realise that we cannot answer many of the fundamental questions of life with human logic - including the matter of suffering - but faith, beginning with faith in him as Creator, leads to faith in him even in the most difficult of times.

Faith, beginning with faith in God as Creator, leads to faith in him even in the most difficult of times.

Meditating on God as Creator: Psalm 19

Meditating on God as Creator can lead us into amazing revelations about his character and our position before him. Psalm 19 is a wonderful psalm for meditation on the benefits of knowing God as Creator and it deserves a careful and prayerful study so that the Lord can speak to us in the same way that he did to the psalmist.

The psalm is in three main sections. The first section is a meditation on God's perfect creative power and his steadfastness, seen through the things he has made. The second part recognises that if God is so constant and trustworthy in his Creation then he is trustworthy in all his teaching.

The third part comes from a person who has confronted these immense truths and has come to terms with his or her own fragile character, whilst also recognising God's mighty hand over their life. So the psalm moves from wonder at the magnitude of Creation and its testimony of God's character - "the heavens declare the glory of God" (v1) - down to the confession of even hidden sins – "cleanse me from my secret faults" (v12). This is a Gospel message beginning with a meditation on God through his Creation.

Denying God as Creator: Romans 1:18-32

Romans 1 is to be contrasted with Psalm 19. Those who know God as Creator can be led to repentance, but those who deny him as Creator turn their backs on him - and finally he hands them over to the desire of their heart, which manifests itself in all manner of perversions, just as we see growing in the world today.

Horrendous sins can therefore accompany a turning away from the God of Creation. Vain imaginings based on the view that mankind developed by evolutionary accidents have their consequences. Some of these consequences are abortion of babies, tampering with genetics, relative morality, homosexuality, not knowing the difference between sin and holiness in all areas, and attributing wrongdoing to genetic make-up rather than to sin that must be cleansed. It is as serious as that in our day.

Those who accept God as Creator can be led to repentance, but those who deny him as Creator turn their back on him – which leads them into ever-increasing sin.

Other Important Passages

The first statement of faith in Hebrews 11 is in God the Creator. Before we come to the testimonies of faith in this chapter, the foundation is set in the first few verses – "by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God". This echoes Psalm 19, showing that a close walk with God begins with knowing him as he wants to be known - as the Maker and Sustainer of all things.

John 1 should be the subject of a deep meditation as a consequence of this study. We realise that our Saviour was present before Creation and that Creation was made through and for him. He was united with the Father in the Elohim of Creation and then stooped down into it as the Son of Man who came to save us.

2 Peter 3:1-13 is a meditation on the end times. There will be those who rise up to mock the Creator, while those who are close to him will hold fast to fellowship with him. A severe judgment - not by water, as in the Great Flood, but by fire - will come on those men and women who have refused to come to God the Father through faith in Jesus.

Danger of coming under God's final judgment on this earth can begin by first denying God as the Creator of the universe. If we take lightly what God has done in Creation and dismiss it as a myth, not taking seriously the consequence of sin that led to the Great Flood at the time of Noah, we are likely to be unprepared for the last acts of God on this earth prior to Jesus' return.

If we take lightly what God has done in Creation, as well as the consequences of sin that led to the Great Flood, we are likely to be unprepared for God's last acts on earth prior to Jesus' return.

Conclusion

The Creator will demonstrate once more his creative power and how he has sustained and held his Creation in balance when he acts in a different way at the end of this order of things. At that time, it will be likened to rolling the created order up like a scroll, making way for the new Heaven and new Earth (Isa 34:1-4; Rev 6:12-17; Rev 21). When all things are restored, peace will come to God's creation as the lion lies down with the lamb – something that only God can bring about in his time and in his own way (Isa 65:25).

Surely, if we neglect what the Bible says about Creation and the Creator – what God himself wants us to know and believe - we are in danger of taking all else too lightly.

Interested readers may want to explore the new website of the Biblical Creation Trust, which works in partnership with local churches in Britain to establish Biblical Creation as mainstream in church theology and apologetics.

North Korea is causing international consternation, Europe is covered in confusion and the outlook for the Middle East seems bleak. Can Isaiah 24 shed any light on the world this week?

In every region of the world there is increasing tension and growing conflict. In the Far East North Korea has launched an intercontinental ballistic missile soon after testing what they claim to be a hydrogen bomb. Even China is expressing concern at their inability to restrain the renegade state thirsting for war.

In the Middle East the civil war in Syria has entered a new and highly dangerous stage with the Russian bombing of Aleppo. And the whole of Europe is covered in confusion through the mounting migration crisis triggering both economic and social instability.

Failed Peace Talks

The UN-brokered peace talks bringing together the warring parties in Syria broke down after only three days. This was seemingly the result of the Russian bombing of Aleppo which is said to have infringed UN Resolution 2254 mandating the talks, which required an end to air-strikes and the provision of humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones.

In every region of the world there is increasing tension and growing conflict. But what is God doing?

The Russians, in support of Bashar al-Assad's forces, are attacking the so-called 'moderate rebels' who have been trained by the USA and supplied with American arms to overthrow Assad. This is increasingly drawing the Western powers into conflict with Russia and the Iranian/Iraqi alliance which is supporting Assad. Also in the midst of this confused conflict there is the Islamic State which is against them all – pursuing its own radical Islamist objectives.

Migrants attempt to cross from Macedonia into Serbia.America and Europe

With America now fully involved in an internal battle for the White House between such unlikely contenders as Trump and Sanders (not the Colonel!) on opposite wings of the political chicken, there is unlikely to be any firm foreign policy initiative coming from Washington as Obama free-wheels through his final year.

Meanwhile, the crisis in Europe intensifies as the social backlash grows against the 1,000,000-plus migrants who poured into the EU last year as people react to incidents such as the Cologne sex attacks. Today some 400,000 Syrians are trying to get into Turkey after fleeing the bombing of Aleppo and the advance of the Syrian government army.

The migrant crisis in the Middle East is rapidly becoming a vast humanitarian disaster, with Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan all saying they cannot cope with any more refugees and the European Union desperately trying to organise its border defences and establish 'Fortress Europe'.

But God...

But what is God doing in all this mess? Is God no longer in control of the nations as the Lord of history? Isaiah claimed the opposite, saying that God holds the nations "in his hands as a drop in a bucket" and that he "brings princes to nought and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing" (Isa 40:15, 23). Did this just refer to a bygone era - has God now withdrawn his power over the nations, leaving them to work out their own salvation?

Is God no longer in control of the nations as the Lord of history? Far from it! He still holds the nations in his hands as a drop in a bucket.

The Bible actually prophesies a time of intense instability throughout the world. Whether God simply allows it or actually initiates an era of vast conflict between nations and instability in the world of nature with earthquakes, hurricanes and storms, is not made clear. But there are three passages in the Bible where a great shaking of everything – the natural order of creation and the nations – is foretold. Isaiah 2:12-22 speaks of God "humbling the arrogance and pride of human beings". It says "The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted and they will be humbled." That was probably written in the eighth century BC.

Haggai, writing two centuries later in 520 BC, was more specific in stating that God would "shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land". He would "shake all nations" (Hag 2:6-7). Written over 500 years later, about AD 90, Hebrews 12:26 says that the great shaking of everything will be a prelude to God establishing his kingdom on earth.

The Little Apocalypse

There is another passage of Scripture that is rarely read in church and is usually neglected by biblical scholars because its message is too difficult to handle. It is found in Isaiah 24, which scholars traditionally have referred to as 'The Little Apocalypse' because its language is extreme. It speaks of the whole earth being shaken and split asunder which former generations of biblical scholars have always classified as symbolic. It was never imagined that there ever could be a force capable of shaking the whole of the earth.

Today we know different. The splitting of the atom and the production of hydrogen bombs has caused us to revise our biblical theology. We now know that among the nations there are sufficient nuclear weapons to destroy the world if they were all detonated at the same time and in the same region in an international conflict.

Isaiah 24 speaks of the whole earth being split and shaken by human sin. Until modern advances in weaponry, there was never a force capable of such a thing - but there is now.

This could literally fulfil the prophecies of Isaiah 24:

The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly shaken. The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls – never to rise again.

The reason this will happen is given in Isaiah 24:5-6.

The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore the earth's inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.

But is this a warning of the inevitable – or of what COULD happen? Is there still time for human beings to heed the warning and change the course of history?

Hope for the Future

The Bible also speaks of a time of peace. Isaiah 2, which foretells a day of judgment quoted above, begins with a beautiful picture of the word of the Lord going out from Jerusalem. It foresees swords beaten into ploughshares and nations no longer training for war.

The New Testament is full of hope for the future – that hope is founded on the return of Jesus to judge the nations and to bring a time of peace and justice which is what Hebrews 12 refers to as "the kingdom of God". Jesus himself spoke of this in Matthew 24 saying that there would be a great conflict among the nations, followed by a cosmic shaking which will be a prelude to his Second Coming.

These eschatological passages of Scripture often draw vastly different interpretations – but they nevertheless show that God is still the Lord of history! He holds the nations in his hands. He has allowed us free will to run the affairs of the nations until the time he intervenes through the Second Coming of Jesus.

How near that is, nobody knows; but the Bible says that he will come when least expected. That may be much sooner than anyone anticipates!