Clifford Hill discusses the recent hacking of Ashley Madison, the renowned adultery website.

Older readers will remember the saying "cheats never prosper". Perhaps the 39 million people who signed up to the Canada-based Ashley Madison website should have thought about this before putting their emails and their personal details onto the site that guaranteed them privacy. That privacy has now been brutally torn asunder and a generation of adulterers is facing the reality of their secret sexual encounters being exposed, not only to their partners but also to the world.

Untold Consequences

The Ashley Madison website, with its strapline "Life is short. Have an affair", guaranteed complete secrecy to its clients until hackers succeeded in breaking through the site's security. After failing to persuade the owners of Ashley Madison to close down their operation, they first made the hacked information available on the dark internet, but it very quickly went viral. The consequences of this may be serious not only in endangering many marriages, but even putting lives at risk in countries where adultery and homosexuality are capital offences, such as Saudi Arabia.

The Ashley Madison scandal will not only endanger marriages, but could cause further oppression via blackmail and even put lives at risk.

The exposure of the infidelity site is not only threatening to break up marriages and other relationships of trust; the information could be used by blackmailers and others who wish to cause harm to rivals and competitors. A number of the emails that have been published are said to have Government addresses, which could mean that civil servants or MPs are at risk of public exposure of their infidelities.

Unprecedented Scale

Of course, adulterous affairs are not new to this generation and history is full of them, but what makes this latest exposure unique is the sheer scale of those who responded to the opportunity for a clandestine sexual relationship, in the belief that there was complete confidentiality. As a result they not only gave personal details including names, credit card numbers, sexual fantasies and preferences, but some even included nude photographs.

The development of internet dating sites has created the opportunity for unlimited infidelity, plus the offer of casual sex with the promise of availability, anonymity and affordability. This has clearly proved a temptation that millions of people have been unable to resist. In the 14 years that Ashley Madison has been in existence, it has garnered a staggering 39 million clients willing to risk the trust of those who are closest to them (1 million of these clients are said to be based in Britain).

The internet has created the opportunity for unlimited infidelity - clearly a temptation that millions have been unable to resist.

The first step was internet sites that simply offered introductions and dating opportunities, but this soon progressed to more carnal activities with sites such as Grindr offering gay and bisexual relationships. But this has been dwarfed by the massive response of heterosexuals seeking adulterous affairs.

Cross-sector Exposure

The exposure of cheating is not confined to adultery; sport is another recent activity to come under the spotlight, with first cycling and now athletics facing widespread charges of medals having been won by the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Lord Coe, the newly-elected head of world athletics (International Association of Athletics Federations) has vowed to clean up the sport, but it may take a long time to root out all the cheats.

Similar soul-searching is running through the banking sector, revealing cheating on a massive scale in the rigging of the Libor rate. Banks are facing heavy fines for the actions of their dishonest employees who made millions of dollars and pounds for themselves and their shareholders.

As the searchlight of truth is turned onto one institution after another, the sheer scale of cheating being exposed is breathtaking. It is only a generation ago that cheating was considered to be one of the most heinous of sins in sport, in exams, in business and especially in marriage and family life. Cheating sportsmen were drummed out of their sport: cheating students were expelled from school or university: cheating businessmen were thrown out of their employment and cheating in marriage was universally condemned.

The sheer scale of cheating being exposed is breathtaking. Only a generation ago, cheating was considered to be one of the most heinous of sins – whether in sport, education, business or family life.

Crumbled Foundations

So what's gone wrong with Western society today? Surely there can only be one reason why this should happen in nations with a long-standing Judaeo-Christian heritage, where biblical standards of honesty have been the cornerstone of business life and personal behaviour for centuries. The answer has to be that we have abandoned the Bible as the foundation stone of Western civilisation. The result, ultimately, is moral anarchy – everyone making up their own personal ethics, with little care for the lives of those closest to them and no care at all for the good of wider society.

The sad truth is that most children and young people under the age of 30 have little or no knowledge of biblical principles of right and wrong, truth and falsehood, so they have no plumb-line of truth for judging personal or social behaviour. Unless there is a moral and spiritual revival and a re-discovery of the Christian faith and its values, things can only get worse. At the present rate of secularisation we face a virtual collapse of family life, which will be followed by the inevitable breakdown of social order.

Grace and Truth

In light of this drastic outlook, how can we respond to the Ashley Madison scandal? It's easy to point the finger at others while ignoring our own faults. The teaching of the New Testament is that "no immoral, impure or greedy person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (Eph 5:5). So our first reaction ought to be to examine ourselves to ensure that we live as children of the light, which means not only exposing deeds of darkness but also being those who uphold righteousness and truth in every situation. If we truly live as followers of Jesus we should be radiating love and goodness to those around us.

Our first reaction ought to be to examine ourselves to ensure that we live as children of the light, which means not only exposing deeds of darkness but also being those who uphold righteousness and truth in every situation.

We ought also to be praying for those whose lives are being shattered by the exposure of their names on the Ashley Madison website. Pray for forgiveness in their marriages and the healing of relationships so that good comes out of evil. Especially pray for the children caught up in broken family relationships. Only God can bring healing, love, forgiveness and true repentance out of our human tragedies. Let's ask the Father to reach out to those in need and transform their lives.

We are overjoyed to share news of what God has been doing in the town of Ferguson, Missouri...

A little over a year ago, the town of Ferguson, Missouri made international headlines when black teenager Michael Brown was repeatedly and fatally shot by a white police officer. Since the incident, which ignited heated debate about race and law enforcement in America, Ferguson has seen repeated civil unrest, both violent and non-violent. The judiciary response to release the officer from all charges did not help the situation, despite the use of independent investigations.

To the watching world, Ferguson is another example of long-standing American racial tensions boiling over. As expected, the anniversary of the initial tragedy on 9 August this year brought yet more protests.

However, what we do not hear on the news is that God is at work in this volatile, complex situation. Christian couple Linda Louis-VanReed and Bruce VanReed live just half a mile from the centre of the unrest. Their vivid, positive description of all that God has been doing through the Ferguson crisis has so encouraged the team at Prophecy Today that we want to share it with you all!

August 15, 2015

Dear Cliff and Monica –

It was good to hear from you both a few days ago. Thank you so much for your unfailing support in prayer during the past week, as life in Ferguson threatened to "get rowdy" once again.

As you might expect, those who were either being paid to demonstrate by various groups (Black Panthers, Nation of Islam, Communist party) or who were coming alongside those paid demonstrators (regardless of what group they represented) just to be seen by the media, were on hand in spite of the high temperatures and rainy conditions present between Monday, August 3 and Tuesday, August 11. However, people were not out by the hundreds every night as they were last year.

There were, among the protesters, a great increase in the number of Caucasians, most of who were not from the area, and a good number of felons who were waiting for the crowds to get worked up so they might use it as a chance to vandalize.

The Billy Graham truck with about half dozen pastors from different parts of the US was present on West Florissant Road ("ground zero," as they have been calling it) and they made themselves available to minister to the crowds. Their best opportunities came from passersby who stopped in to see what the truck was about. Unfortunately, Bruce and I could not get over to see them before they left, so I don't have stories from their ranks to relay to you.

Wednesday evening around 7pm groups of protesters and media trucks converged on downtown Ferguson, about a half mile or so from our house. There was also a group on West Florissant that evening. Storms had been flaring up around the state of Missouri all day, but none were scheduled to touch the St. Louis area until that weekend. However, as the racial tensions thickened, so did the storm clouds, and around 7:30pm we experienced an unexpected torrential downpour. All the hate and misunderstanding planned for that evening was washed away by two inches of rain. Local weather reporters were all a little surprised by the way in which this one particular storm flared up all by itself just outside St. Louis County, and how it seemed to drop the most rain on North County (where Ferguson and Florissant are located). When everyone came together again, later that night, proceedings were peaceful and the crowds were minimal.

All the hate and misunderstanding planned for Wednesday evening was washed away by two inches of rain. Local weather reporters were surprised by the way in which this one particular storm flared up all by itself...

The crowds were nonexistent on Thursday, all day, and into Friday. Friday evening things began to become active, but, strangely enough, everyone seemed, on that evening at least, to prefer a peaceful, friendly, demonstration, and there were no problems. Bruce and I were watching the proceedings down the street from our house via the Internet – a young man with a procam was shooting a live feed which he simulcast from in front of the police station.

The police were in regular event uniforms – light shirts, no weapons, no headgear, nothing. It was the Ferguson police and the St. Louis County police, who were on standby. One man decided to take his bullhorn and scream obscenities into the faces of these people. His blatherings were largely incoherent, but his obscenities were crystal clear. He worked these people on a personal level while a small group of protesters tried to move the crowd into a frenzy by shouting "F*** the police!" and "We will shut it down!" They were playing drums and chanting into the crowd. One young man got on top of a car and started waving two American flags which had been mounted upside down on their poles.

As Bruce and I watched and prayed, we noticed that within a few minutes those who had gathered around the man with the bullhorn were disassociating themselves from him. Soon, he stood there alone with a small child which we think may have been his son. One of the cops stepped forward and appeared to ask him if he needed a bottle of water. He became confused, then cursed, turned, and walked away.

Meanwhile, in the background, our drummers and flag-wavers were faring no better. People chanted along for a minute or two, then broke off into small groups of peaceful demonstrators. They broke it up by midnight. No one hurt. Nobody died.

Saturday night was a different story. Footage from that night was probably what you have been seeing over there. A local station carried a play-by-play throughout the evening as we watched and prayed far into the night.

The events of that evening were at "ground zero." A group of agitators (about 35 or so) were present, once again, trying to stir up the crowds with chants and drums, etc. One young light-skinned black man, wearing a green shirt wrapped around his head and, at one point, a mask, it appeared, was a primary agitator, getting right up into the faces of the police and screaming obscenities, sometimes, less than six inches in front of their faces. The police remained calm and unresponsive until this young man and a few in the crowd began to throw ice water bottles, rocks and pieces of glass at them.

As tensions escalated over the next hour, some local kid with a gun fired off about 30 rounds into crowds and cop cars. The police had to fire on him. The next thing we see is crowds breaking up, as people who were there with their young children got into their vehicles and left. The young man with the green shirt – arrested. They pulled the headgear off him right in front of the camera, and when he saw the camera on him, he immediately started to cry. Guys, he couldn't have been more than about 18 or so. Big man behind his green shirt. Things got real when that shirt came off. I am still praying for that kid. I can't seem to get his face out of my mind. What must have happened in his life to get him to make the choices he made to get him there?

That was pretty much the story of most of the protesters the entire weekend, because after the Saturday night shooting, the police decided their level of tolerance had been reached. These folks were fast becoming a public nuisance, looting three stores, blocking an interstate highway during rush hour, etc. The protesters would push and play, the police would calmly and politely restrain them and book them.

Sunday evening was actually pretty calm. There were six shootings, which I'm sure you heard about, but those were gang-related, black-on-black crimes. Monday and Tuesday there were more such crimes, little in the way of protests. We have not had this many killings in St. Louis even during the Civil Rights protests of the sixties. Our young black men and women are killing each other in frustrations which have little or nothing to do with our police policies.

The aura surrounding all of these events was so different from last year, when the event was fresh. The churches in the area, all of St. Louis, in fact, have been holding events and open forums all year long. A lot of people gave their lives to Christ. There are lots of people who don't want anything to do with a race war, and they are using their influence, locally, to stop and encourage their neighbors who might want such a war to rethink. So much of the raw emotion is gone.

The churches in the area have been holding events and open forums all year long. A lot of people gave their lives to Christ. There are lots of people who don't want anything to do with a race war.

People want peace, praise God. They want their town back. They want their lives and livelihoods and children back. They are getting tired.

Nationwide there was very little to report, it seems. But, you know what that tells us, Cliff and Monica? It tells us that God is a God of his word. If we will seek his face and petition Him, He will save our nation. This is excellent news! The spirit of God was palpable in this town last week. The feel in the air was peaceful, even at the sites of the protests, even as they were going on. Many churches had events. Clergy showed up, big time, late Saturday evening, to pray with, for and among the protesters after the shootings had occurred. Even our heavily-biased liberal media was on the side of the police during all of this! AMAZING!

The spirit of God was palpable in this town last week. I think God is still hearing His people, still making a way in these days for us to experience the power of His glory.

I don't think God is finished with America. I think God is still hearing His people, still making a way in these days for us to experience the power of His glory. The encouragement we feel from simply the events/non-events of Ferguson this year has uplifted so many of us.

I hope the tone of this letter can excite in the both of you just a little of the encouragement, empowerment and faith that we, here in Ferguson, are feeling these days. God has done so much here in response to our prayers, our faithfulness to serve, our desire to see Him glorified. He even went so far as to make it so the Hills, way over there in the beautiful UK, were joining hundreds of us who they have never met face-to-face, in prayer.

God is the author of time, and may yet choose to stay His hand for awhile longer. May the freedoms that both the US and the UK enjoy continue, and may all who oppose Him be confounded!

Warmest regards,

Linda Louis-VanReed
Ferguson, MO

Two personal perspectives on the up-coming Assisted Dying Bill.

On 11 September, Rob Marris MP's Assisted Dying Bill will receive its second reading in Parliament. That this date has been chosen for such an important debate on British freedom, democracy and the sanctity of life, is perhaps pertinent – perhaps sadly ironic.

We bring you two personal perspectives on the bill and some practical advice on how to pray and act in the days leading up to it.

Charles Gardner

An alert has gone out from concerned Christians about a deadly Bill to be debated in the British Parliament on September 11. The so-called 'Assisted Dying Bill', better known as assisted suicide, is a bid to make it legal not only for people to take their own lives, but for others to assist them in doing so.

I trust it will not escape the notice of too many that it comes on the day we recall the death and destruction committed on a grand scale 14 years ago by a group of suicide bombers who flew jet liners into New York's tallest skyscrapers, leaving some 3,000 dead and a world in shock.

Although primarily an attack on Israel and the Jewish people whom America is perceived as supporting, it was also seen as an attack on Western democracy which allows the freedom of thought so despised by Islamic fundamentalists.

But if the Assisted Dying Bill is passed, it would spell a death of democracy of our own making as we would effectively be committing democratic and national suicide; for the effect of the Bill would be to pressurise the weak, vulnerable and elderly into ending their lives prematurely out of fear of being a burden to society.

Their right to have a say in the destiny of their own lives will have been withdrawn forever, with the result that a much-envied civilisation built on Christian foundations of care and compassion would collapse as surely as did the 110-storey Twin Towers of Manhattan.

If the Assisted Dying Bill is passed, it would spell democratic and national suicide. Our much-envied civilisation built on Christian foundations of care and compassion would collapse as surely as did the Twin Towers.

As its detractors state, the Bill does not speed people towards a natural death, but rather sanctions state-sponsored killing. Thank God for campaigns like Christian Concern who are doing all they can to 'help keep death from Britain's door'.

Certainly 9/11 was a devastating, earth-shattering event. But who remembers the millions of innocent babies murdered in the womb for spurious social reasons? So now we have death lurking in the shadows both at the beginning and end of our lives – and in the latter case, all in the questionable cause of the relief of suffering.

The Religion of Secular Humanism

This is the poisonous fruit of so much humanistic, secular and atheistic influence on our once Christian culture which says that since this life is all there is – and there is no God – we should alleviate pain and discomfort at any cost. And we are daily bombarded by noble-sounding campaigns to rid the world of disease, poverty and environmental destruction. And we humans are capable of dealing with this. On our own!

But we aren't. For as long as we ignore the real reason for our troubles – our sinful obsession with self – and act independently of God, we are only putting off the evil day when divine judgement will show up our pitiful attempts at making the world a better place.

Not Belittling Suffering

I do not wish to minimise the dreadful plight of those who suffer – and those who care for them. I watched my late wife dying in agony of cancer, which had spread from her breast to her bones. In all she suffered for some four-and-a-half years; and that was in addition to being blind since the age of 16. But she 'saw' through her pain and sorrow to a better world beyond this life as she trusted implicitly in Jesus. I well remember how, with very little lung capacity left, she raised her arms in worship of her Lord as I played some Christian songs on my guitar.

True, in view of her suffering towards the end, she wanted to go sooner rather than later. So when she asked her lady doctor how much time she had left, and "two weeks" was the reply, she was somewhat exasperated, saying she would rather it were two days. And it was! But that was a prayer to God, not a nudge for her doctor to prescribe a lethal injection.

A nation which has rejected God will soon also dispense with all his precepts and laws, eventually leaving a society with neither mercy nor justice.

A nation which has rejected God will soon also dispense with all his precepts and laws, eventually leaving a society with neither mercy nor justice.

But for those who trust in Christ, their suffering is only temporary. They look forward to a day when "he will wipe every tear from their eyes; when there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Rev 21:4).

Dr Mark Houghton

None of us who watched 9/11 on our televisions will ever forget 2001 when nearly 3000 people died. Yet September 11th 2015 may go down in history as the prelude to a higher – far higher -- intentional death toll. That day the House of Commons holds a critical vote on the Assisted Dying Bill (No 2).

Back in 2005, the deaths predicted by a Select Committee were around 650 a year if assisted suicide was legal in the United Kingdom and we had a law like Oregon, USA. The Dutch experience, on the other hand, could lead to around 13,000 deaths a year in the UK.

Britain, being the first large nation to legalise assisted 'killing for the willing', would show other nations how to remove laws currently in place. Globally, anti-abortion laws fell like a pack of cards after our 1967 law was passed.

My experiences, as a doctor and as a patient in pain, have shown me how much we all need the protection of the law. Good care kills the pain, not the patient - and this has been shown again and again. But show a crack in the door to the patient, the family or the carers, then the protection of the vulnerable melts away; killing for the unwilling begins. The 'safeguards' of the law allowing assisted suicide are regularly flouted in Holland and the handful of tiny countries that have legalised it.

We all need the protection of the law. But show a crack in the door to the patient, the family or the carers, and the protection of the vulnerable melts away.

Action Points

1. Pray that you "speak up for those being led away to death" (Prov 24:11). Pray that Britain will promote palliative care, not suicide. Pray for Christ to prevent Parliament from weakening his 6th Commandment: "You shall not kill" (Ex 20:14).

2. Learn about the debate. Go to Christian Concern for information, resources and personal stories from a Christian perspective. See also carenotkilling.org.uk and notoassistedsuicide.org.uk for resources from a secular perspective.

3. Say to your MP how you want them to vote on 11 September (this site makes it easy to email your MP).

4. Share resources others by posting on social media, or sharing in home groups or at church.

Is the Greek banking crisis really over, or have they just kicked the can down the street? Does the new bailout bring real hope or just delay the day of reckoning? Clifford Hill believes biblical principles hold the answer...

The problems facing Greece raise much wider issues that affect all of Europe because there are biblical principles that should have been applied: and if they had been applied the whole situation would have been very different.

All the nations in Europe have a Christian heritage. Their shared belief system based upon the Bible should have enabled a common approach to financial dealings. It is because the European nations have abandoned their Christian foundations and lost their biblical heritage that they are in such trouble today."

Lending and Borrowing in Scripture

The Bible sets out clear rules for lending money. "If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or temporary resident, so that he can continue to live among you. Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God so that your countryman may continue to live among you. You must not lend him money at interest or sell him food at a profit. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God" (Lev 25:35).

Surely that could not be clearer? Within the family of Israel, despite all the differences of tribes and clans, there had to be just one rule for everyone. If anyone became in need of help, through illness, accident, or a bad harvest, or even through mismanagement of resources, he and his family had to be helped by the rest of the community. There were no exceptions to this. They were one family of people with a shared belief in God and a shared covenant relationship with God, which created a shared relationship with each other. Therefore they had mutual obligations within the family of Israel.

Those who had resources were to help those who were in need. If they cared for one another in this way they would all prosper and they would enjoy a healthy society where no one was exploited and the whole nation benefited. Indeed, the exploitation of the poor and needy by the rich and powerful was forbidden.

No Blame

The regulation given to Israel in Leviticus 25 does not lay blame on how someone became poor. It simply states "If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself" then he must be helped. That becomes a sacred obligation because it is an out-working of the covenant relationship within the nation of Israel, because of her relationship with God.

Our biblical heritage should guide Europe's thinking, so that when one nation becomes poor that nation should be lent money by the other nations of Europe without interest. There would, of course, be an obligation to repay the amount loaned. The biblical principle is stated in Psalm 37:21 "The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously".

The bailout that was reached last month was the worst possible solution for the people of Greece and only makes them poorer. Already they have 60% unemployment among their young people. This deal, with its increased austerity, will make things worse, driving people into hopelessness and despair. It is a cruel exercise of power of which Germany and France are the chief perpetrators.

Historically both these nations have a record of trying to dominate Europe and rule their neighbours.

• Napoleon was defeated 200 years ago at the 1815 Battle of Waterloo
• Bismarck tried and failed to conquer Europe by force of arms in 1870
• The Kaiser tried the same tactic in 1914 with the resultant deaths of millions of men
• Hitler tried to enslave the rest of Europe in 1939 with disastrous results

Have the Germans and the French really learned that power should be used to promote the common good; not to oppress others, especially their brothers and sisters in the Christian faith? However, we live in post-Christian Europe where biblical values have been abandoned and even the Church relies on interest on its investments!

Different Theological Interpretations

Ironically, although usury (money-lending at interest) was forbidden among the Jewish community, the Bible does not forbid lending to those outside that community. The teaching of Jesus was "And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked" (Luke 6:34-35).

The Catholic Church interpreted this to mean that those who lend should not expect anything in return – not even the original loan. This discouraged any lending. Consequently, the Jews became the money lenders for the Christian community across Europe in the Middle Ages. The Protestant Church similarly forbade usury, but Calvin argued that lending at low interest should be allowed and that the prohibition should be against 'extortionate' interest.

Protestant Work Ethic

His influence extended to German sociologist Max Weber – one of the fathers of Sociology - who noted the distinction between the culture of northern European and southern European nations. In his analysis he noted that the most powerful influence was religion – the differences between Protestantism on the one hand and Roman Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy on the other. He noted that Catholic and Orthodox beliefs were largely controlled by priests who had great influence over the people.

By contrast, the Protestant nations followed the teaching of the Apostle Paul that each individual believer should work out their own salvation by seeking a personal relationship with God, to whom they are primarily responsible for the stewardship of the spiritual gifts and physical resources they have been given. Weber believed that it was this fundamental difference in religious belief within Christianity that accounted for the difference in national culture between Europe's northern and southern nations.

German sociologist Max Weber argued that religion has powerfully shaped European culture, creating a divide between the northern Protestant nations on the one hand, and the southern Catholic and Orthodox nations on the other."

He noted that the northern nations were driven by what he called the "Protestant Work Ethic" which promoted industrialisation and the maximisation of resources, and included an aesthetic element which prevented them from simply consuming the profits of their labour. They ploughed the surplus back into their business enterprises which became increasingly profitable; whereas people in the southern nations of Europe were not driven by such ambition and were simply content to live life from day-to-day.

This cultural difference still exists in Europe today, particularly among the older generation. Many Greeks remember the Nazis' brutal treatment during the Second World War and that legacy sours the relationship between Greece and Germanythe two countries. Young people are much more influenced by the secular humanist ideology that is circulating freely across Europe and the Western nations. They do not share the faith of their parents or grandparents so they live with a different world-view which is less nationalistic. They accept a different set of values and are not even aware of the biblical values that laid the foundations of all the nation-states of Europe.

Road to Financial Bondage

The traditional north-south European religious divide, as Weber showed, still underpins the Greek crisis as German efficiency is contrasted with perceived Greek fecklessness.
The Germans look upon the Greeks as inferior and lazy people who should be treated harshly and made to conform to northern European standards. The German press day after day vilifies the Greeks. They are determined to impose their Protestant Work Ethic culture upon the people whom they once physically enslaved.

Angela Merkel and her fellow politicians have certainly learned that military might is not the best way of achieving their objectives, but the principle of oppression and the brutal exercise of power leading to enslavement (in this case financial bondage) is the same.

The traditional north-south divide still underpins the Greek crisis, as German efficiency is contrasted with perceived Greek fecklessness."

Biblical principles governing finance show that to profit from the enslavement of others is the worst of crimes! But this is what the euro nations are doing to Greece – they are virtually enslaving them! What they don't realise is that they are creating a situation that will bring disaster, not just upon Greece, but upon the whole of Europe. Unrighteousness has a day of reckoning! Europe is stoking up a mountain of debt in Greece that will become a volcano which will eventually erupt and pour its lava across Europe because the whole system is built upon unrighteousness, exploitation, and enslavement.

Justice in Right Relationships

God has built into his Creation principles of justice. When they are ignored they bring disaster upon those who defy the truth that it is right relationships which bring prosperity and well-being. Michael Schluter in his book After Capitalism – Rethinking Economic Relationships says that the current financial crisis is a result of a sustained culture of debt which is based upon 'reward without responsibilities', 'investment without involvement' and 'profit without participation'.¹

In all our dealings, whether of a financial or social nature, the most important thing is our relationship with others. Ezekiel, the Prophet of the exile in Babylon, taught the people about the importance of right relationships with God and with each other. Ezekiel 18:16-18 says that the righteous man: "does not oppress anyone or require a pledge for a loan. He does not commit robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked. He withholds his hand from mistreating the poor and takes no interest or profit from them. He keeps God's laws and follows his decrees."

These are the biblical principles which establish righteous financial policies based upon just and merciful relationships which the nations of Europe should be following. This would ensure justice for the poor in times of hardship and shared prosperity. These biblical principles are already there in the Christian heritage of Europe which has been largely abandoned in the age of secularism that has swept the Continent. The only real hope for the future prosperity of Europe is to reassert the principles of righteousness in our biblical heritage.

References

1 Jubilee Centre, Cambridge, 2012, p24.

What do we learn from the current investigation into the hidden life of our former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath?

Sins of the Nation

It is interesting first to note our initial reactions, even before police enquiries are complete. Most of us are not at all surprised! We are getting used to exposure after exposure of the sinful hidden lives of those who should be trusted in the nation.

Already the well-known entertainers Rolf Harris, Stuart Hall and Jimmy Saville have been exposed as having dark sides to their lives: whilst having an acceptable public profile they were also involved in sinful acts that should not exist in a righteous nation. The recent conviction of Tom Hayes in the Libor banking fraud illustrates that the sins of our nation extend into other areas as well as child abuse. Now we wait to see if the accusations levelled against a former Prime Minister will reveal further dark secrets.

On the one hand we can be reassured that we still have a legal system that will bring justice relating to serious crimes. Our nation, despite all, may not have slipped beyond recovery. On the other hand we may be witnessing the tip of the iceberg of sin in our nation. Could it be that the Lord God himself is uncovering these sins to show us the danger that our nation is in, before he acts in further judgement?

Layer Upon Layer

During the 1990s, we carried out some research on the New Age Movement for Prophecy Today. In doing so, we discovered deep and demonic darkness taking footholds in the nation. Satan's lies usually start with harmless-looking temptations: after all he is called lucifer, the angel of light. His traps are subtle and what seems like 'fun' or even beneficial in some ways can gradually be a luring of a person into utter darkness and sin. Such sin is then kept in the secret recesses of a person's life – a trap.

That is how even a prominent leader can be drawn into ritual abuse of children and even into satanic rituals. That is how a banker can be tempted to exploit the wealth of the nation for personal gain. That is how any of us can turn from the ways of God to the ways of sin and evil. The thin end of the wedge of sin is very narrow, but the wedge thickens as sin deepens, sometimes imperceptibly to the one caught up in it.

Satanic lies usually start with harmless-looking temptations, but gradually and subtly lure people into utter darkness and sin. Such sin is then kept in the secret recesses of a person's life."

Consider, for example, the way the so-called 'New Age Movement' attracts a person through subtle means. Doorways include the lie that all religions lead to the one god, promises of healing through alternative therapies such as with crystals and counterfeit meditation, and a lie that "we are all gods" with no such thing as sin. Step by step, one can then be trapped, with the potential of believing ever deepening lies of satan.

A Tangled Web

When we carried out our research on the New Age Movement, one of the things we did was to draw a diagram linking together various organisations and activities. If we found something in common, such as a particular group of people who belonged to two seemingly separate organisations, we would draw a line to link the organisations together. By studying these links one could understand how a person involved in one activity would meet others belonging to another, thus enabling a person in one area of interest to move to another, and move deeper and deeper into areas of deception. On this basis we were also able to warn others of the traps that should be avoided.

In our research on the New Age Movement, we often found hidden links between seemingly unrelated organisations, groups and activities. We traced connections between apparently useful, innocuous activities and others of great concern."

This process of tracking potential links often showed up connections between seemingly useful, innocuous activities and others of great concern. A person, for example, could start with an interest in ecology, or some modern evolutionary science, or alternative medicine, and wander into other areas through personal contact with others or through widely circulated written material. A person could experiment with something relatively harmless and move on to other things, including false religions and even witchcraft and satanism. Of course this is not inevitable - but the potential is there.

The 'spirit of the age' is one of relativism and experimentation. Is it any wonder that some people end up in the deepest darkness when their guard is down and when they are personally vulnerable, and mix in circles that can mislead them?

Satan's Cleverest Trick?

One of Satan's cleverest tricks is to blind the eyes of people to his very existence. Then he can get away with almost anything, degree by degree. James had the weakness of men in mind and also the schemes of satan when he wrote:

...each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. (James 1:14-15)

Our Response

Whilst those being seduced may be blinded by satan to the consequences of their sins, even thinking the sins to be pleasurable, those who set up opposition enter an unrelenting spiritual battle. Those who sin may go into the dark depths quite unaware, whilst others fight a battle, knowing how dark these depths are.

The Lord Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by satan (Matt 4). By contrast he taught us to pray: "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" (Matt 6:13). Jesus disarmed satan for those who live by faith, so that the injunction of Paul might also be fulfilled:

...brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things. (Phil 4:8)

For this reason, having sent our warnings out in Prophecy Today we have also turned to a positive response to the wickedness of the age in which we live, wickedness found even in our own nation. We will keep on warning but will also promote deeper Bible study and the ministry of prayer. Many may go astray in our nation but we must be stronger in the things of God. With many revelations of wickedness coming to the surface - even accusations concerning a past Prime Minister - repentance across the nation is still possible. Let us pray for the things of darkness to be exposed, as God has started to do. Let us also be strong in the Lord and ready to serve, as we are called to in this age of growing deception.

When times are changing, as in today's society, we find ourselves asking each other this question.

It was the one posited to the early church in 2 Peter 3:11, one of the latest books in the New Testament, when they were experiencing situations not too dissimilar to our own today. How did the persecuted Christians respond at that time?

Early Apologetics

There are a number of written records (which did not make it into the Bible) of what is known as Apologia, or writings defending Christianity to its accusers. The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus is one such example of Christian apologetics.

One particular chapter in a long letter thought to be to Diognetus (a tutor of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, admired for his wise advice) from a disciple, gives some of the answers which are still relevant today. Read this section on how Christians were seen to be behaving then and meditate on whether it matches our understanding of how we should be seen to be behaving today:

"For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity.

The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines.

But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life.

They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers.

They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh.

They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives.

They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life.

They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified.

They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers.

When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred."

How does this witness to you? Can you be an apologist in today's society so that those who are picking up the wrong message about Christianity can re-think all that they are currently believing? Do we have modern apologists who are prepared to fight the case for Christianity in the world today?

In this series on the Spiritual Gifts taught by Paul and listed in the New Testament, Monica Hill continues to examine each of the gifts listed in Romans 12.

Serving is not only named here as a natural gift, but is also one of the two methods, Speaking and Serving (Spiritual Gifts III), emphasised in 1 Peter 4 as the way and manner in which ALL the gifts are to be used.

Usually when Paul mentions a specific gift in more than one of the lists, it is there each time for a specific reason and meaning. 'Serving' is a good description of all the gifts in this particular listing and the fact that it is singled out and placed second seems to elevate its importance – perhaps acknowledging that it can so often be taken for granted or even demeaned. It is true that in the natural order of things, the servant does not have the same status as the one being served - this deliberate reversal accentuates it and should make us take more notice of it in our own lives.

Turning Values Upside Down

Jesus came to challenge and invert worldly concepts, showing how Christians should replace worldly values with Kingdom values. Luke even records Jesus' response to the dispute on greatness arising during the Last Supper: "I am among you as one who serves" (22:27). In the discourse following the request of John and James for preferential treatment, Mark records: "whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (10:42-45)

Isaiah's four 'Suffering Servant' passages, culminating in Isaiah 53, were a prophetic forerunner of not only the role of Israel but also of the Messiah, fulfilled in the coming of Jesus.

Jesus was always emphasising the servant nature of his relationship, whether it was with washing the disciple's feet, eating with the lowliest, elevating the poor or putting down those who thought too highly of themselves. Thus he taught his disciples by example that this was the way in which they too needed to behave toward each other.
He would also emphasise that serving the Lord was to be their priority, and that since serving others was a way in which they could do this, they should serve willingly and fervently. "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people" (Eph 6:7) or "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord" (Rom 12:11).

Slaves – Servants - Friends

The New Testament emphasises that servants are not to be treated as slaves: it is not right that anyone who is serving should feel that they are enslaved. They are to serve not as slaves but as sons: "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts...So you are no longer a slave, but a son and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir". (Gal 4:6-7).

In the Kingdom of God, worldly values are turned upside-down. We are to become servants of all, just as Jesus was, but we are not to serve as slaves- rather as sons."

Also when we serve and obey Jesus' commands, we become his friends: "You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business Instead I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from the Father I have made known to you" (John 15:14-15).

The Value of the Team

The serving capacity is one of the most important and vital roles in any team – without this co-operation, 'One Man Bands' proliferate. Even those who have the gift of leadership need not necessarily lead on every occasion, but must be sensitive to the skills and insights needed in each circumstance. When others are leading, they need to be mutually supportive.

An observation from nature is helpful here: when geese fly long distances they change leadership regularly (and so do cyclists in long road races). Those who lead also need to be able to support.

Priority in Serving

In Numbers 18:21 the serving role was recognised: "I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting." Their time of serving was acknowledged and rewarded. The decision of the apostles in Acts 6 "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables" is often misunderstood, as the seven Greek-speaking apostles had a much greater understanding of service and led the missionary movement to the Gentiles.

It is recognised that "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other" (Matt 6:24). Christians should want to serve the Lord and this should develop into a natural expectation to serve others. Joshua gave the people an option:

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. (Josh 24:15)

'Other masters' can be material things like money – or even putting yourself and your own needs first. When you do the latter, "such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naïve people" (Rom 16:18).

A Word of Warning

In today's world the service industry is a prominent sector – and is often thought of as the 'serving' section of society. But servicing is not necessarily serving! It rather depends on your motivation and mindset when carrying it out. If God and others are not ahead of your own needs you have things in the wrong order!

If you have any comments on 'serving' as a spiritual gift, please do post them below.

'Reading Backwards' by Richard B Hays (SPCK, 2015, 176 pages, £16.99, available from Amazon for £14.88)

Anyone interested in reading God's Word more informatively and effectively will find this a fascinating and valuable aid towards understanding an important aspect of Bible study: namely how the New Testament writers used what we now call the Old Testament. The aim of the book is to uncover the strategies the Gospel writers employed when appropriating Israel's scriptures in order to provide their readers with a fuller portrait of Jesus, a methodology that Hays describes as 'reading backwards'.

The book is based on a series of six lectures the author delivered at Cambridge University but it is very accessible rather than too academic. There are, however, useful endnotes and a full bibliography for those wanting to take these studies further. The time constraints of a lecture series means the book cannot cover such an extensive topic in the depth it deserves, but it is still long enough to contain many useful examples, and if it leaves you wanting more then it will have achieved one of its main aims.

The structure of the book is very straightforward. The introduction sets out the main points involved and emphasises what the book is and is not about. Then each Gospel is examined in turn to discover how the individual writers used Israel's scriptures in their own distinctive way. Hay discusses the strengths and weakness of each writer's approach, and explains how each contributes to the composite multi-faceted picture of Jesus that results. The conclusion provides a good summary, tying everything together in a satisfying way.

Hays uncovers the strategies used by the Gospel writers to appropriate Old Testament scriptures in relation to Jesus, each of which builds a composite, multi-faceted picture of our Saviour."

There are many ways in which this book could be useful and significant. It will help promote the importance of Hebraic roots within Christianity, and also counter the heretical view that the Old Testament is obsolete or portrays 'a different God' (a heresy known as Marcionism).

Furthermore, we can begin to appreciate that the Gospel writers are actually teaching us how to read the Old Testament more as God intended. In particular, the technique of 'reading backwards' illustrates how prophecy is to be evaluated in retrospect and that it should not always be treated as predictive. Also it is to be hoped that, via the general approach of the Gospel writers to their Scriptures and more specifically from the examples given, thoughtful readers of the New Testament might become better attuned to hear for themselves both implicit and explicit resonances from the Old Testament. Given all this, a richer Bible reading experience should be the overall result.

Edmund Heddle unpacks the connection between the prophetic ministry and the metaphor of a watchman.

It is a long time in this country since the watchman made his way around a city at night, calling out the hours and declaring all was well (Song of Songs 3:3).

However, we still have those who watch over our safety by day and by night. The Royal Air Force provides a radar screen over our airspace, coastguards seek to prevent dangerous drugs from being landed, police protect our property, and doctors and nurses, firemen and ambulance crews are on the alert to provide us with immediate assistance should we need it.

Together with others too numerous to mention, they maintain the defence of the realm and the well-being of its inhabitants.

Prophetic watchmen

But our country also needs to be protected from evil practices and powers that can wreck our national and family life and this, according to the Old Testament, is the responsibility of the prophets. These individuals were regarded as watchmen.

Just as our military and emergency service maintain the defence of the realm and the well-being of its inhabitants, so prophets are responsible for protecting people spiritually."

God spoke to Ezekiel and said, "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel" (Eze 3:17, 33:7). In his commentary on the prophecy of Ezekiel, Dr A B Davidson said, "The appointment of Ezekiel as a watchman was not a change upon his original appointment as a prophet, it is only a more precise definition of it".

Picture a tower set in a commanding position with the watchman climbing to the top of this look-out, from where he can see all that is happening and is able to sound the alarm immediately he sees danger approaching (Isa 21:6-7). This is the responsibility laid upon his prophets by the Lord both then and now (Jer 6:17; Hos 9:8; Acts 20:28-31).

Hebrew words describing watchmen

There are at least ten words in the Hebrew Old Testament that are translated into the English words watch/watchman/watchtower. One of these, which occurs twenty-eight times, means to lean forward, to peer into the distance. This word is used in Ezekiel 3:17 and 33:7.

A second word, also occurring twenty-eight times, means to hedge about with thorns, that is, to act as a deterrent to would-be invaders. This is the word used in Isaiah 62:6. The third word, occurring nine times, means to keep alert, to be sleepless on the watch. This word is used in Jeremiah 31:28 to describe God's watching.

The fourth word, used only four times, means to protect and preserve. It is used in Jeremiah 31:6.

A study of these words shows that the prophetic watchman requires a penetrating vision, an unsleeping alertness and an undiminishing concern if he is adequately to protect those for whom he has been made responsible.

The Hebrew words used for 'watch' and 'watchman' depict prophets as needing a penetrating vision, an unsleeping alertness and an undiminishing concern."

Watchmen must watch

The watchman's first responsibility, having found the best position for observing all that is going on, is to keep his eyes open so as to gain as accurate a picture as possible of the situation (2 Kings 9:17). We need watchmen today who are not afraid to open their eyes to the seriousness of the situation in our country.

Britain is flaunting God's law in the matter of homosexuality (Lev 18:22, 20:13), while the media continues to fill our eyes and our ears with ever more violence. In some of our schools the minds of little children are being corrupted whilst older children are indoctrinated by teachers determined to overthrow the forces of law and order. Meanwhile so many of the churches show no real concern and carry on as though we had all the time in the world, their only real objective being their survival and personal happiness. The situation is so like that in the days of Isaiah who said, "Israel's watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs that cannot bark" (Isa 56:10).

Watchmen must warn

It is not enough for the watchman to see the danger approaching; he is on his watchtower for the express purpose of warning the people. This is why an essential part of the equipment of a watchman is his trumpet. God explains this to the prophet in Ezekiel 33:3, 6. The watchman "sees the sword coming and blows the trumpet to warn the people...but if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people...I will hold the watchman accountable."

Watchmen are responsible for keeping their eyes open to the situation and warning the people."

Already our streets with their muggers, rapists and child molesters reflect the situation described in the book of Lamentations (4:18) where it states: "Men stalked us at every step, so we could not walk in our streets." The calamity that could totally overwhelm our country if today's watchmen fail to deliver the strongest possible warning is nothing less than the total breakdown of law and order.

Watchmen must weep

When Jesus contemplated what was going to happen to the Jerusalem of his day he wept over it (Luke 19:41). And so will all true prophet/watchmen. As they like Ezekiel sit where the people sit and contemplate their despair they too will be 'overwhelmed' or to quote the Jerusalem Bible rendering, they will be 'like a man stunned' (Eze 3:15).

As the watchman warns of coming danger, he can prevent his words sounding harsh and judgmental only if his hearers know that his own heart is breaking. This is the thought behind the Lord's instruction in Ezekiel's day: "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it" (Eze 9:4).

How much genuine weeping for the nation is there in our churches and fellowships? Why is there an almost total absence of serious, informed prayer for the nation and those who govern it (1 Tim 2:1-4)? When will we care enough to pray through the hours when we might be sleeping? Twice in the New Testament there is mention of Paul's 'watchings oft' (2 Cor 6:5, 11:27). A number of modern versions render this as 'sleepless nights' and William Barclay comments "At all times Paul was willing to be the unsleeping sentinel of Christ." Are we?

Watchmen must wrestle

God does not always do things the way we think he should, and Habakkuk was neither the first nor the last prophet that had to wrestle with such problems. "Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?" (Hab 1:13). Ezekiel also felt he must object to what he saw God was about to do. "Ah, Sovereign Lord! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel?" (Eze 9:8).

When we face the apparent contradictions in God's ways in human history we need to learn patience. It was seven days before the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel, and Jeremiah had to wait ten days. God does not always give us instant answers (Eze 3:16; Jer 42:7). But we need his answers before we can be certain we are making the right reaction to the situation that faces us. God's strategy for Jericho was different from that for Ai. Twice David sought guidance as to how to deal with his Philistine enemy, and God's strategy differed each time (2 Sam 5:18-25).

Watchmen must care enough to weep for the state of their nation, and to wrestle with God for answers."

Watchman's watch

Prophets/watchmen are not self-appointed. It is the Lord himself who stations them where he wants them to be. "I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem" (Isa 62:6). No one prophet could maintain continuous intercession night and day. He could do no more than take his turn to watch.

This method of working has given the name WATCHmen. The Jews divided up the night into three vigil periods which were called first, middle and morning watches (Lam 2:19; Judges 7:19; Ex 14:24). The Romans divided the night into four watches. The watch was the period when the watchman was on duty and it was only by co-operating with other watchmen that the whole twenty-four hours could be covered.

At the heart of this ministry was the necessity for co-operation, and today it will be only through churches working together that an effective warning can be given to the nation. That warning will fail unless all we do is in obedience to the Lord's strategy and in dependence upon his superior power. "Unless the Lord watches over the city the watchmen stand guard in vain" (Ps 127:1).

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 3 No 1, January/February 1987.

Having begun our survey of the separation of the Christian Church from its historical roots, we now consider aspects of our inheritance: what legacies have the Jews given us?

The history of Israel reveals many things. Above all, the Jewish people are a living witness to the covenant faithfulness of the One True God. In addition, however, despite much failure to attain the highest goals of Torah, the Jewish people passed on to the Christian Church a testimony of Biblical interpretation and lifestyle, giving enough light on God's relationship with (and requirements of) mankind for the Christian Church to enter into its inheritance.

Unfortunately, because of the failure of Israel to live up to the perfect standards of Torah, the Christian Church has largely failed to give credit where it is due. We will make a brief survey of just a little of what the Christian Church owes to the Jewish people. First an important comment.

Good but not Perfect

No-one claims that Israel was perfect. Indeed, God did not choose Israel because of its size:

The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy... (Deut 7:7-9)

Nor did they displace other nations on merit:

Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying, 'Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land'; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you. It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. (Deut 9:4-6)

The prophets constantly echoed the theme of imperfection which, at its lowest point, even resulted in exile from the Land:

If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, then...it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess.

Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known - wood and stone. And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. (Deut 28:58-65)

The Book of Lamentations shows the anguish of a fallen nation:

How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow is she, who was great among the nations! The princess among the provinces has become a slave! She weeps bitterly in the night, her tears are on her cheeks; among all her lovers She has none to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.

Judah has gone into captivity, under affliction and hard servitude; She dwells among the nations, she finds no rest; all her persecutors overtake her in dire straits. The roads to Zion mourn because no one comes to the set feasts. All her gates are desolate; her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. Her adversaries have become the master, her enemies prosper; for the Lord has afflicted her because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy. (Lam 1:1-5)

Contemporary View

Even a contemporary comment recognizes the failure of Israel to achieve perfection. In Popular Halachah: A Guide to Jewish Living (edited by Avnere Tomaschoff, 1985), we read in the chapter entitled 'Serving the Creator':

Because of the sins of our forefathers, we were driven from our land, the land of Israel. Exile, dispersion and suffering caused many of our people to neglect the study of the holy language (Hebrew), to forget the Torah and to assimilate among the gentiles.

Our Expectations

We do not need to labour the point further. We acknowledge that Israel has not been a perfect light to the Gentiles. However, there are two errors we can commit as we respond to this. The first error is to expect perfection from Israel. The second is that, on account of the imperfection, we neglect all the good that has been done for the Christian Church because of the testimony of Israel.

It is only by God's grace that the Christian Church exists at all. With the biblical testimony of Israel to help us understand God's ways and draw near to him, we must remember that all good is from God. However, we can still validly consider these things from the human level. We would not even have our Bibles if it had not been for the Jewish people who had to walk the hard road before us, write down what they heard and experienced, and bring the Scriptures to us through many generations.

If we had received the truth in our Bibles another way, we would not have had the living testimony that Israel brings, showing their full humanity. Imperfect though this human testimony is, it is nevertheless a good and useful testimony, the one from which we learn. If they had not walked the hard path of seeking to respond to God, and failing, would we not have failed in the same way?

Imperfect though their testimony is, Israel provides a vital living testimony of true humanity seeking God. If they had not walked this hard path before us, would we not have failed in the same ways they did?"

When we look at the Jewish inheritance we must consider it, from our human standpoint, as good but not perfect. We should not seek to emulate their failures, but we can learn from their experiences and, starting from that point, we can use the Scriptures to seek out the good roots of that testimony.

If we keep this testimony alongside us as we also seek to walk with God, we can ignore what is imperfect and learn from what is good. We can also give credit where it is due for all that the Jewish people have given to the whole world. Their testimony came at great cost.

Jewish Communities

To investigate what we owe the Jews we simply need to look into their community life, in which there is much variety. In our day, among the people in the Land of Israel as well as in Jewish communities around the world, we can observe everything from atheism to devotion to the God of their Fathers. In the midst of this variety, we discover every aspect of God's dealing with the Jews and of their response to him.

In the Home

Jewish communal life shows us that community is built on family. Our first picture is therefore not of the Synagogue, but of the home. The focal point of the home is the family mealtime. This is most strongly emphasized at the Shabbat table, where we hear prayers to God, blessings on the children and between husband and wife, the sharing of bread and wine, and the candle-lighting ceremony to remember the light of the Sabbath, pointing to rest in God.

Jewish traditions are not necessarily straight from the Bible but they are generally a response to this heritage. In this case, the response is to the biblical emphasis on the Sabbath; to thank God for His provision, to bless one another and centre one's spiritual growth in the family.

Education and Worship

On other occasions, the home becomes a centre for education. We can picture the father studying from the teaching of God, leading evening prayers or talking to his children about the Scriptures and about God. We see an emphasis on education in the home and remember how God said to Israel:

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deut 6:6-9)

If we were to look around a Jewish home in more detail, we might see the mezuzah on the door (parchment including these verses from Deuteronomy). Similarly, at a Synagogue we would see the tefillin (small boxes also containing verses) on the arms and forehead of the men in prayer. These are among the constant reminders of Torah's centrality to the lives of the Jews.

From Synagogues to Churches

In the Synagogue we would hear Torah read on a yearly cycle, again emphasising that Torah is central to the life of the Jew. But the Synagogue is not only a place of congregational meeting- it is also a House of Prayer and a House of Study. Here there are echoes back to the days of the Temple (there are also echoes in the function of Christian church buildings).

The Jewish people passed on to the Christian Church models of prayer, worship, and honouring the Bible as the teaching of God, in both the home and the community.

From the Jews we have not only inherited the Scriptures and their testimony, but also models of communal life, prayer, worship, teaching, celebration and devotion."

Our knowledge of the One True God comes from our Jewish inheritance. If the Jews had not been zealous to remember the Shema (the Hebrew word for hear) then how would Gentiles have responded to the coming of Jesus? Without this heritage, the Church would have all too readily drifted into even more idolatry than has occurred over the years of Christianity. The Shema is from the Book of Deuteronomy:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deut 6:4-5)

The Feasts

What would the Christian Church have made of the Feasts of the Lord had not Israel faithfully celebrated the Feasts on a yearly cycle? How would they have understood Passover (and in relation to this, Communion) without the rooting in the Passover Seder of the Jews? From the time of Moses until today, the Passover Seder has developed and been celebrated in ways interpreted by the Rabbis. We are free to look through the traditions into what the Bible says, but we have the Jewish interpretation as a place from which to begin.

Witness to the World

Then there is the wider fruit of Israel's Torah-consciousness. It was always God's intention that this Nation should be the light to the world. Instead of a book of philosophy, God prepared a people to live out his purposes, observable by all nations. In the midst of a pagan world, Israel has been a witness to the living God who dwelt among his people, and also to the ethical and legal requirements of a nation under God.

Instead of a book of philosophy, God prepared a people to live out his purposes as a witness to all nations."

It is true that the Christian influence on the world's legal and moral stance has been great. Nations such as Britain and America have attempted to frame their constitutions on biblical principles. However, the first nation to show the way was Israel. They demonstrated that the Living God enters into the affairs of men not just through dry commandments but through living relationships and we have seen the outworking of this giving vision and hope for our own nations.

Suffering

In all of this, Israel has suffered the consequences of being the chosen nation in covenant relationship, demonstrating every aspect of man's need, his relationship with God, his failings and successes. God came to earth in Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) through the relationship he had been building with the people of Israel. The suffering of Israel, on account of their inability to live out this relationship to the full, brought us necessary teaching, so that we all might inherit what was first offered to them.

Faith and Works

Israel is built from families, and yet it is a nation, a corporate entity. There is a balance here that the Jews teach us between family and nation.

There is also a balance between faith and works. Every nation is bound to its own inheritance of land. The nation of Israel teaches us the very meaning of inheritance: an inheritance (in biblical terms) is something that God gives and yet which you also work for. Israel is a society that sees faith and works in balance- and as a consequence, Jews have achieved success in every area of human endeavour, even in the Diaspora.

We can therefore learn about the biblical balance of work and faith by observing the Jews (this has long been the starting point for the work ethic of Christian believers, and we must not forget it).

Christian Inheritance

The Christian Church has entered into the inheritance of the Jews, not to replace the Israel of God, but live as part of the Israel of God's family of faith rooted in Messiah:

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh...that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Eph 2:10-22)

From Inheritance to Biblical Root and Fruit

We can go on and on taking examples from every area of life to emphasise the indebtedness of the Christian Church to the Jewish people, and each of us should be careful to study this and give credit where it is due. Though Israel was not perfect, and even though individual Jews cannot fulfill their Covenant response to God unless they have faith in Yeshua the Messiah, we have good examples from Jewish life of the inheritance into which we were adopted. Every study of Jewish response to God is an example to us. This was touched on by Paul in 1 Corinthians 10.

Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ...Now these things became our examples...

When we read the Psalms, we ought to read them in the context of Israel's experience, out of which they were written. When we read the prophets we should study first the context of the history of Israel, as we seek to know God and the prophetic understanding of our own day. When we read the Torah we should consider how Israel responded to God through his teaching. We will find lessons for every part of life. If we look at the practices of the Christian Church and the fruit of Christianity among the nations, we must realise that all practical application of biblical principles began with the Jewish people.

We must realize that through history and across the world, all practical application of biblical principles began with the Jewish people."

Then we must go back to the Bible itself and study what is biblical, what is a good tradition and what is not useful from Jewish tradition, thereby maturing in our own response to Scripture. We have years of Christian history to consider too, in our appraisal of what the life of faith is meant to be. In all our searching, we must remember that our biblical inheritance was passed on to us through Israel and the Jews.

The most important truth of all is that Jesus the Messiah comes one hundred per cent from a Jewish background. The testimony of Jesus is perfect, but he would not want it to be detached from the background of Judaism from which he emerged - as King of the Jews. The perfect message of Jesus is not in isolation from this context.

Apart from Jesus, Israel did not fulfil the prophecy of the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. But they have suffered for us in passing on an inheritance, and we must recognise this as part of our own heritage.

For Study and Prayer

Consider Romans 11 in light of what we have studied.

Next time: Theological Conflict