This is a table of the timeline of the Arab-Irael wars over the last 120 years. It was written for an “English as a Second Language” course, so it is simplified
World War 1 happened, Turkey lost and much of the land they had owned was now ruled by Britain (England) and France. England now ruled Palestine. Many more Jews came into Palestine. The Arabs did not like this and so trouble began.
For related topics see:
Quantum mechanics and Christianity may seem to be totally unrelated. But perhaps one can extract a parable that connects the two.
Quantum mechanics was born in the early decades of the 20th century. The two great pillars of modern physics appeared almost simultaneously. Quantum Mechanics and Special and General Relativity. It is easy to credit the fatherhood of relativity to Albert Einstein, but less easy to give this title in the case of quantum mechanics. Names like Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrödinger and Werner Heisenberg immediately come to mind, but there were many others.
Max Planck was able to show that the mathematics related to the frequencies of light emitted by hot objects could only give the correct description of the phenomena if we assume that light appears as small packets of energy. These energy packets were named quanta (singular quantum). A light quantum is called a ‘photon’. This was further proved by Albert Einstein in his explanation of the photoelectric effect which could only be explained if light appeared in packets or quanta. Einstein was rewarded with the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for this discovery.
Isaac Newton had postulated that light was a stream of particles as early as the 17th century, stating that the behaviour of light, reflected from surfaces, was exactly the same as for a stream of particles being reflected from a surface.
Thomas Young showed, in 1801, that light could be diffracted as only waves could be. This was proof that light was a wave.
But now, light was again proved to be a particle by Planck and Einstein. It clearly had both properties.
Louis de Broglie (pronounced Lewy De Broy) thought that, if waves of light could appear as particles, then particles (like electrons, protons etc.) could appear as waves, for which he received the 1929 Nobel Prize. This has led to such inventions as the electron microscope. The mathematical description of a quantum particle or a photon is called its ‘wave function’.
Diffraction experiments have conclusively proved that electrons behave as waves – and can be diffracted, and yet, when we ‘observe’ or ‘measure’ electrons, they appear as particles. Here are tracks of subatomic particles in a ‘cloud chamber’, clearly showing particle properties.
So – which is it? Are electrons waves or particles? They are both and neither. The subatomic or quantum world does not correspond to our macroscopic world. There is no distinction between waves and particles in the subatomic world. In fact, subatomic particles behave as waves until they are observed or measured, then they immediately behave as particles.
When a wave passes through two slits, it forms an interference pattern. An electron forms an interference pattern as it encounters two slits. It’s a wave.
But, if we observe which slit an electron goes through, it immediately behaves as a particle, and passes through either of the slits, with no interference pattern.
As soon as we observe or measure the electron, it stops being a wave and becomes a particle. We say the ‘wave function’ collapses.
Superposition
Superposition is the existence of multiple states within one quantum system, until a measurement is taken. Then all except one of the ‘wave functions’ collapse, leaving only one outcome.
Hydrogen is the simplest of all atoms, containing one proton around which circles one electron. The electron can be thought of as circling the nucleus (proton) in any one of many circular orbits. If the electron absorbs some energy, it moves to a ‘higher’ orbit. If the electron drops to a lower orbit, it emits energy, or a photon of light.
If an electron was in the 7th orbit, it could drop down to any of the lower orbits. Each transition has its own wave function (7 to 6, 7 to 5 etc), and while the electron is in the 7th orbit, all wave functions exist at once. They are in superposition. Each transition has its own frequency (colour) photon. When we observe the colour of the omitted photon, all other wave functions collapse. Only the observed one remains.
Many physicists found this concept impossible to believe. Erwin Schrödinger (who invented the wave equation) made up a ridiculous thought experiment to show it could not be true.
A cat is in a box with one uranium atom (U) connected to a machine with a vial of hydrogen cyanide. The U atom has a 50% chance of radioactive decay in the next hour. If the U atom decays, it triggers a smashing of the vial, the cyanide is released, the cat dies. Quantum mechanics tell us that the wave functions of the decayed U and undecayed U are in superposition. Both exist at once. The cat is both alive and dead. It is only when we lift the box lid and ‘observe’ that one wave function collapses, and one exists. The cat is alive OR dead, not both.
Entanglement
Quantum particles have properties like mass (may be 0), charge (may be 0), spin (may be 0) etc. One such property is called spin. This does not mean they are rotating on an axis. Quantum mechanical spin has some correspondence to the rotation that we know (called angular momentum) but is NOT identical. Quantum spin has only two types, up and down, whereas in our world, rotation can be around any of millions of axis directions. I think physicists learned from this confusion, and have since called new properties ‘charm’, ‘colour’, ‘beauty’ since no one thinks subatomic particles are charming, colourful, or beautiful.
In any quantum interactions these properties are conserved. That means that the amount of mass, charge and spin going into a reaction must equal that coming out.
Entanglement means that two or more subatomic particles share a connection between these properties. They are not independent.
An example: A photon can spontaneously turn into an electron and anti-matter electron (positron),
The electron and the positron are now entangled as they were created together. The positron will exist for only a fraction of a second, before it annihilates with an electron forming photons again.
If a hypothetical system of spin 0, decayed to form two electrons, and then we separated these two electrons to opposite sides of the universe, examining one would reveal the spin of the other. If the one we looked at had spin +1/2, the other must have spin -1/2. If we could suddenly ‘flip’ our electron to the opposite spin of -1/2, then the other electron, billions of light years away, would instantaneously flip its spin to +1/2, to make their sum 0. How did it know that we had flipped the spin of our electron? Information travelling faster than light? This is entanglement.
So, we have been instantaneously able to determine properties of both electrons, billions of light years apart.
Christianity
This is just an analogue situation – humans are not quantum systems. Don’t take it too seriously.
Romans 7.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
For what I am doing, I do not understand: This is the cry of every quantum physicist. We can manipulate it, calculate it, but no one understands quantum mechanics. Richard Feynman is reputed to have said ‘if you think you understand Quantum Mechanics, then you don’t understand Quantum Mechanics’.
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
In his body there abides the man of the flesh, and the man of the Spirit. Sin and Good. They are contained in the same body. They are in superposition. The two wave functions exist at once – and it’s only when we observe the man’s actions, that one wave function collapses, and one remains. Then we see him as either sinful or holy.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
Again, the superposition of the two states – good and evil. And it is only in observation that we find which one is happening.
For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Superposition of states. We can only see which ‘me’ wins when we make an observation. If we, as Christians, exhibit a Christ-like action in our life then the wave function for the law of sin collapses and we are left with only one outcome. The good one. But this is not continuous. A new set of wave functions occur at out next temptation – and again we have a new set of superimposed wavefunctions, awaiting a new observation.
Another example. In the letters called the letters of John, we find statements like:
1 John 1 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth…..8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Again, the superposition of two states. If we have fellowship with Him, then we don’t sin. But, if we say we don’t sin, then we lie. The two states are darkness and light. Only the observation of our behaviour collapses one wave function, leaving only the other.
1 John 2 :1… And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous…3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Again – the two states. If we know him, we keep his commandments. If we don’t keep his commandments, we are liars. But, we all sin, so we all ‘don’t know him’. But, when we keep his commandments, we ‘know him’. Two wave functions of keeping commandments and not keeping them.
1 John 3 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. But, 1 John 8 …8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
We cannot sin, but we deceive ourselves if we say we don’t sin. Two superimposed states. We fluctuate between states. One collapses at observation.
Genesis 1: 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Just like the case of the two electrons created simultaneously above, God creates the human – and so God and the human are ‘entangled’. Their destinies are linked. We know God’s properties and God knows ours.
God created man and woman from the human ‘adam’. Genesis 2:21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his sides (not a rib), and closed up the flesh in its place. The man and woman are now entangled as they are created together. Their entangled state is described in Genesis 2:24
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Finally, the entangled states of God, man and woman will unite in one state: God. 1 Corinthians 15:28
When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
P.S. The one-dimensional time dependant wave function:
I’d like to start with the word break up;
AT-ONE-MENT (from 16th C English)
How does sinful man ever achieve oneness with God?
This was Jesus’ prayer, that we could be one with God.
John17:20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.”
This topic has plagued the church for 2000 years.
Wiki defines it as:
In Christian theology, atonement refers to the forgiving or pardoning of sin through the death by crucifixion of Jesus Christ which made possible the reconciliation between God and creation. Within Christianity there are numerous technical theories for how such atonement might work.
In my own experience, there are two main approaches to understanding how the sacrifice of Christ can achieve the forgiveness of sins.
One is called the “substitutional” sacrifice of Christ.
The other is called the “representative” sacrifice of Christ.
Basically, the substitution approach claims that Jesus took all of our sins upon himself and suffered the death which we deserved as the punishment of our sins. He took our sins to the cross. We are absolved.
The representative approach says that Jesus’ death on the cross shows us the way. We must follow him to sacrifice our own lives and live for Christ.
I feel that both approaches can be illustrated on the day Jesus died. I don’t think they are mutually exclusive.
Two of the people in the story of Jesus crucifixion illustrate the two approaches to atonement.
When offered a choice between the life of Barabbas and the life of Jesus, the people chose Barabbas as the one to live. They asked for Barabbas.
Barabbas is a composite name. Bar is Aramaic for ‘son of’ and ‘abba’ is Aramaic for ‘father’. So, Barabbas means “son of a father” and he was a prisoner who was a robber and a man caught in an insurrection and he was in jail under penalty of death.
He represented every son of every father, every daughter of every mother. He was locked up and the only way out was his crucifixion. He had no escape. We are also sentenced to death. We can’t escape. Our very first sin brought our death sentence. We have been rebellious. Death is the fate of all humanity.
Then somebody came along and threw the jail gate open and said, “you’re free – someone else has died in your place”. And so, Barabbas walked out having had Jesus die for him. Jesus died for Barabbas’ sins.
The cross was reserved for a robber, a rebel and Jesus took the place of the sinner. He took the sins on himself. Pure substitution. Jesus was substituted for sinful Barabbas and took his sins to the cross.
So, what of Barabbas. I like to think that maybe he was about Jesus’ age, about 35. He walks out blinking in the sunlight, suddenly free. But what does he gain? Another 35 years or so – and then he will still die unless he comes to Christ.
Jesus died for our sins just as he died for Barabbas’s. We can imagine ourselves cowering in a corner like the disciples, or standing in the mocking crowd calling out “crucify him, crucify him”. Or standing in front of the cross calling out “if you are the son of God, come down and save yourself’. And Jesus’ answer: “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing”. Jesus took our abuse on himself and in his last act achieved forgiveness for us and for every sinner.
BUT….
The other person who interacted with Jesus that day was the thief on the cross. He didn’t escape crucifixion; he was crucified with Jesus, and yet he was the one who was promised everlasting life, not Barabbas. Through absolute faith – he connected himself with Jesus’ sufferings – not escaping them.
He followed Jesus to the cross – not escaping it as Barabbas did.
Barabbas got maybe another 30 or 40 years but would have died just the same unless he came to Jesus as well. And the lesson is, yes, Jesus will die for us and carry our sins to the cross, but oddly enough we must pick up our cross daily and willingly go with him to be crucified ourselves.
The faith of the thief on the cross is illustrated in his statement “Remember Me, when you come into your Kingdom”. What astounding faith! Here was Jesus, being crucified like a slave, dying in agony and yet this man believed that somehow, he would rule in his Kingdom.
Some verses –
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Substitution |
Representative |
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Isaiah 53 4 Surely, he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 8 …. for the transgression of my people, he was punished. |
Matthew 16 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it There was only one reason to take up your cross in the Roman world – the be crucified on it. We must lose our life to gain life.
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1 Peter 2 . 24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed. . |
1 Peter 2 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. ….To the cross |
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Galatians 3 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” Hebrews 2 9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
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Romans 6 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him…. 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. |
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1 Timothy 2 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.
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Galatians 2 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. |
Why did Jesus have to suffer such an horrific death?
Jesus died this type of death so that no one could say; “well, I’ve got it tougher than Jesus”.
Just imagine, if Jesus had lived into old age, and died in his sleep.
Every one of us, who suffer in this life, would be able to say; “well Jesus doesn’t know what I’m going through – he had it easy”.
But suffering the death on the cross leaves us saying; “it doesn’t matter what I am suffering – it is not nearly as bad as Jesus suffered, and he still clung on to the ‘joy that was set before him’.”
Two other approaches to the atonement are worth a mention.
Ransom. We are all held to ransom by sin and death. The only way out is to pay the ransom. Jesus paid that ransom, and the price was his blood on the cross. Matt 20:28, 1 Tim 2:6
Propitiation. A sacrifice to appease God. Not that God wanted to torture Jesus, but His wrath to us is appeased or turned away when we attach ourselves to the cross of Jesus. Romans 3:25, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:10 – all in KJV (new versions get it wrong).
Representative Atonement
Substitutional Atonement
THIS CROSS
Reserved for
A thief, a robber, and a rebel
The following article was the inspiration for my sermon that can be viewed at this link
A sermon by John Thatcher
The original article was published as a small booklet and written from Keswick, a town in the Lake district of the UK. It was written by Rev J Stuart Holden, Vicar of St. Paul’s in London. It was apparently delivered at the conclusion of the Keswick retreat or Bible School for evangelical pastors of Protestant faiths. It addresses disappointed Christianity, to those whose lofty spiritual ambitions may not be realised.
According to Wiki –
In 1875, the Keswick Convention began. It was the drawing together of ministers and people from different Protestant and Evangelical backgrounds for the purpose of ministering and sharing the teachings of The Deeper Life. The Keswick Convention has had a profound effect on the church from the late 1800’s to the middle of the 1900’s. The earliest part of the movement saw the greatest effect. Well-known ministers such as F. B. Meyer, Evan H. Hopkins, H. W. Webb-Peploe, H. C. G. Moule and many others were consistent speakers at the annual conventions. There were also guest speakers which had a profound influence on the movement itself, such as Andrew Murray and J. Hudson Taylor. The most well-known missionary from the movement was Amy Wilson Carmichael. Beginning in 1892 the messages of the annual conventions were printed in annual volumes entitled “The Story of Keswick”, the first two years, and “The Keswick Week” in the years following. These books are difficult to come by and are usually in very rough condition.
Rev J Stuart Holden, 1914
I suppose it is safe to say, that the majority of us in this tent, and especially those who have been brought, during these past days, to the adoption of new attitudes of surrender and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, are taking away with us in a very few hours, great expectations. We have been led by the proclamation of God’s truth and the illumination of His Spirit in these gatherings, to expect large changes in our experience, large renewals of strength and grace, large openings of fruitful service; and with these expectations we are leaving this this mount of vision to get back to the valley of duty.
I want to speak as simply – and God knows I want to speak as tenderly – as may be to those who, in the days to come, may not realise these expectations; to those who not many days hence are going to be sadly disappointed because their experience does not reach out to their expectation. I want that each one of us shall see that God has larger meanings in life then we are now able to read, that God has larger answers to our prayers then we are able to anticipate, that God has a thousand ways of fulfilling His promise in human lives that trust in Him; that so forewarned by this knowledge of God’s wondrous greatness and transcendence, we may be fore armed against the perils of disappointment and forearmed against that disheartening of soul which makes our hearts fruitful ground for the most noxious seed evil can sow there.
Therefore, I want to speak to you tonight on three words as you find them in Daniel 3:18. Without reading the whole story, let me read with you from the 16th verse, which will recall the incident of which this is part to your minds.
16 “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up” (Dan 3:16-18).
You remember the story of course. Challenged not to worship God at all, challenged to bow down to the popular idol, challenged to join the fickle multitude in acclaiming an earthly king – to the degradation of the King of their hearts, with a burning fiery furnace in front of them, as the only alternative to obedience, this is the answer of the three Hebrew children. “Our God is able to deliver us! More than that, our God will deliver us! More than that, if He does not deliver us, we are still not going to worship your idol! If He does not deliver us, our faith is not at an end. If He does not deliver us, our resolution is entirely unshaken. We still believe God.”
Now it may be for you and me that the experiences we have sought here, the prayer we have offered here, the hopes that have been aroused here, are none of them going to be realised just in the way we have imagined. It may be that you who have claimed a deliverance which you have seen as part of God’s plan for your life, are going to find that God works by human cooperation with His divine spirit and that your way of deliverance is along a Via Dolorosa. It may be that you my brethren, who have claimed a Pentecost from God, are going to find that it leads you not to a revival, but to a tremendous opposition.
It may be that in your church and mission you are not going to see a great in gathering of souls at all, but a determined revolt of worldly Christians and church officers. It may be that from Keswick you are going into a pathway which is dark with the mysteries of God’s dealing with you. And let me say to you here, that if your faith has not got an alternative, you are going to get worsted. And if you are overthrown because of the things which, in some shape or form you are bound to meet, then the world which is looking on, which is taking its measure of Jesus Christ from the loyalty and fidelity of your witness to Him, is going to be stumbled. Blessed be God, our gracious God, who teaches our hands to war and our fingers to fight, who is our hope and our fortress, our battle-axe had our deliverer! Blessed be God, who speaks to forewarn us ere we go from this place into the unknown life of peril and danger and opposition! Let us see to it that our faith has an alternative to our present expectation. Blessed is the man who goes down from Keswick saying something of the same thing that these three Hebrews said to the great king who vaunted himself against God: “We will not serve thee; we will not bow down to thine image; even if God does not do for us what we have trusted Him to do.” Oh God, give us faith like this!
Do not think that this is faithlessness on the part of these men. Read their splendid protest; “Our God is able, and He will; but if He does not, we still recognise His will as entirely supreme. If He does not, we still recognise God as greater than our hearts and all our imaginings. If He does not do just what we thought He was going to do, we still believe, though we may have no evidence of sense to support our faith”. This is the faith which accepts God’s will not merely with equanimity but with positive enthusiasm. This is the faith which relates itself not only to the commands of God, but to His contradictions; and if you and I go on with Him we shall find that pathway to be one of constant contradiction. Christ, my leader may contradict my conceptions; Christ, my teacher may contradict my impulse and my aims; Christ, my master will bring all things within me into conformity to His holy purpose. Oh, this is not faithlessness, it is faith which says, “but if not, my course is already clear; if not, my determination has already been made; if not, my resolve is entirely unaltered for it has been made in the conscious presence of God, and on the warrant of His own sure word.”
I should like to say here that it is by such contradictions that God teaches us in ways which otherwise were impossible either to Him or to us. There are words which I often read to my enlightening and comfort, the uplift of which I should like to share with you now:
“If all my years were summer, could I know
What my Lord means by His ‘made white as snow?’
If all my days were sunny, could I say
‘in His fair land He wipes all tears away?”
If I were never weary, could I keep
close to my heart, ‘he gives His loved ones sleep.’
Were no graves mine, might I not come to deem
the life eternal but a baseless dream?
My winter, yea, my tears, my weariness,
Even my graves, may be His way to bless.
I call them ‘ills’, yet that can surely be,
nothing but love that shows my Lord to me!”
In the days which lie ahead of each of us, with their perplexing experiences, remember that His meanings of life are essentially larger than ours. It will fill our hearts with peace and put stability into our lives to be able to say: “but if not Lord, I still trust Thee; and if not, I am here as truly Thine as ever I was; as truly Thine in the darkness of London, of the slums, of the mission field, of the unsympathetic home, as truly Thine, my God, in the darkness as I was Thine in the light at Keswick. But if not” -!
This alternative to disappointed faith tests the entire quality of the man who professes the faith of God. I know the man – I have him in mind tonight – who, being disappointed in his experience, nervously begins to pity himself; the man to whom self-consequence is everything. When God contradicts his expectation and longing, his faith is staggered, and his backsliding begins. I know the man who is willing to accept a shallow answer to a great question; the man to whom disappointment becomes disbelief; the man who measures God in the tiny scales of his own self-consciousness. Many such have gone from Keswick to be utterly disheartened, utterly despondent, and ultimately a deserter. For there is a subtle interaction in the life of every one of us of courage and conscience. The man who does not stand firm with God and for Him, loses his power of vision, and with that much else goes also.
On the other hand, I know the man who has learned to say courageously with these three Hebrews, “But if not – there shall be no deviation from my duty; its dominance shall be entirely unaffected in my life. But if not – if no ecstatic joy fills me, if no revival results appear in my work, I mean to go on and do the next thing. If I do not get the sunshine in all its full-orbed light upon my life, I mean to follow the gleam which I have already seen. If I cannot see the distant scene, I can at least see one step ahead. God has given me enough light to walk by; and in any case, I’m going on with His work. There shall be no cessation of hostility to evil, no backing out of the conflict with the forces of the devil in the world. There shall be no lowering of my aim, even if I should be conscious of disappointment. By the grace of God, forgetting the things that are behind, I press on toward the mark for the prize. Even if the battle seems to be going against me, there shall be no desertion of the colours.”
For instance, here is a businessman who has come to a determination to seek first the Kingdom of God in his business, with a certainty that all things else shall be added to him. And he finds not additions but subtractions! He finds that his profits are not greater but actually less each year. He finds just what we have been reminded of tonight, that the pathway of the cross is no sentimental emotional thing to sing about; but that the cross is heavy and the way is narrow and his position inexpressibly difficult. For that man, real blessing is bound up in the attitude which says: “But if not! I do not intend to haul down the flag. I do not intend for a moment to desert my Lord. For I can never unsee what I have seen in Him: I can never unlearn what I have learned from Him: and I can never lose that which He has begun to work in me. Therefore, be the consequences of my fidelity what they may, I am going on with God.”
After all, if you have the real faith of a child as you leave Keswick, in consequence of God’s drawing near to you here, it is founded not upon a subjective experience, but upon God Himself. Our faith does not stand in the wisdom of men. Our faith does not stand in the memory of any emotional thrill which may have come, lifting us up to a higher plane in this place. Our faith does not rest upon anything that is visible, but upon that which is within the veil, where Jesus is. Therefore, in the calm confidence of a child, I may say with these three Hebrew children; “I am expecting God to do wonderful things for me, I am expecting God to breakdown iron gates before me, and to beat down my foes all around me. I am expecting God to give me great and wonderful power in His work, manifested by souls gathered in and breaking forth of blessings all round. But if He does not, I am still going on with Him, persuaded that He does all things well. His wisdom is my sheet-anchor and His faithfulness my stay.”
Now let me point out to you that God’s response to this spirit is to do a bigger thing than we trust Him for, not a smaller. These men said “our God is able to deliver us from the fire. What do we care about your furnace heated 7 times though it might be? It does not affect us in the slightest. It does not even make us perspire with fright. We are entirely calm in front of it. Our God is able and He will deliver us from it.” But God did a far bigger thing for them then they thought He would do. He did not deliver them from the peril at all, but He delivered them in it, which is an infinitely greater thing. He did not affect their escape from the furnace, but He gave them an experience of fellowship in the furnace such as they had never dreamed of. For God’s angel came to walk with them in the flame. I wonder what they talked about, the faithful God and His faithful servants? That they did talk together we may be very sure, and that those three heard words there which it is not lawful for men to utter or to imagine. One thing is certain: They learned more in that furnace with God’s angel than they had ever dreamed it possible for men to know of God. That is the kind of thing God does for the men who have this spirit. They said: “He is going to check your hand, O King”. But He did not do it at all – he did something greater. He changed the King’s heart and brought him to a knowledge of His almighty power and grace. Oh! great though your expectations are, they are not great enough. Great though the promises are to your conception tonight that conception is not nearly great enough. God is going to do an infinitely larger and a more influential thing in our lives if we will stand with Him.
Again, I would remind you that this is not an isolated instance of this spirit and the divine response to it, for we find the principle at least running right through the word of God. Let me give you an illustration or two ere I close. Elohim said to Abraham: “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac”; so he took him, and together they mounted the hill. I hear the boy saying to the father: “Father, here is the wood for the sacrifice, but where is the lamb?” And I hear Abraham say to him, and to his own heart also: “My son, God will provide himself a lamb. But if not, the programme is going to be carried out. But if not, there is still going to be a sacrifice. My purpose is undeterred; my obedience to God is unaltered: my devotion to His will is entirely unmoved, even if He does not provide a lamb, and I have to put my son to the knife and to the fire”. That is the secret of Abraham’s fruitfulness – his faithfulness; and that is the secret of God’s blessing to the nations through this man.
I see it again in a man who has lost everything. His home is gone, his friends are against him, his health is undone. He sits there mourning; and yet beneath the mourning there is a note of triumph. God shall bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold him. Then he says in effect, “But if not, though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” Even if He does not bring me out to the place where I may behold His face in righteousness, I shall still trust him. I know that my Redeemer liveth.”
I see it in another man. He is in prison – a man persuaded of Christ’s identity and mission; a man who stands for the most complete self-effacement this world has ever seen; who cried to others: “behold the Lamb of God”, and rejoiced when his own disciples left him to go with Jesus; a man who knew the power of God in his life, for he was filled with the Holy Spirit from his birth; a man who saw in Jesus the great Baptizer with the Holy Spirit and with fire; and a man whose faithfulness was put to such severe test in the prison house on the shores of the Dead Sea as you and I have never known and never can know. He sent his disciples to Jesus, to the one who said He had come to liberate the prisoners; and yet here is one of his loyal friends whom He does not liberate. Here is the one whom He has proclaimed as the mighty Messiah of God, but who seems so slow at coming to the victorious side of his work. John sends his disciples to Jesus with the query: “Master, after all, have I been mistaken? Art thou He who should come? I thought you were, but if you are not, I am still going on to look for another: for the promises of God cannot be broken”.
I think of Paul too. All those wonderful and magnificent declaration of Paul’s faith. Listen to them above the howling of The Tempest. “I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”! “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” “Thanks be unto God which always causes us to ride in triumph in Christ!”. And he ended where? In a prison! Not in a great experience of triumph and conquest but in a prison, chained to two Roman soldiers. Surely Paul had this “if not” spirit in him. If you want to read its expression, turn to his prison epistles; turn to the words that came from his heart in that captivity in Rome, and you will see the indomitable courage of a man who was filled with the spirit of God.
But, before I close, there is someone higher; greater than Abraham, and Job, and John, and Paul; there is the blessed one himself. Away yonder in the garden He cries: “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. But if not, thy will be done”. That is the spirit which made the world’s redemption an accomplished fact. that is the spirit in you and me which will invest our lives with redemptive value, as we go out from the throne of God down to the lowest gutter of sin, to do the work of the Redeemer. This is the spirit, and the only spirit, which ensures victory beyond anything we can conceive.
So, as we turn from Keswick, may God make this your spirit and mine, in view of all that the future may hold, in view of all the mystery that may becloud your pathway, in view of all that may stagger you for a moment as God’s greatest thoughts are brought into conflict with your own inferior and unworthier thoughts concerning His purpose. When your prayers, instead of being speedily answered, are delayed of answer; when those things you thought God must do for you, He still keeps you waiting for, may God help each one of us to say in some such words as these – “But if not.”
“I’ll follow Thee, of life the Giver;
“I’ll follow Thee, loving Redeemer:
“I’ll follow Thee, deny thee never:
“By thy grace, I’ll follow Thee.”
I will say just one more thing, and it is that the world is perfectly helpless before that kind of Christian. The world is positively powerless before the man who actually laughs at its threats, because he knows what they are worth, and who goes into the fire for God with a song in his heart. It cannot light a fire, however vehement is flame, that can do more than burn up the man’s bonds and bring him into greater liberty as he sings:
“Across the path of nature leads on the path of God;
Not where the flesh delighteth, the feet of Jesus trod.
What though the way be lonely, and dark, and bleak, and lone,
Though crags and tangles cross it
Praise God we will go on!”
And as the world is helpless before a man of that kind of faith, God cannot be otherwise than truly faithful to such a one. Therefore, as in a few minutes we shall go out into the night, and shall certainly never all meet until Jesus comes back again, would it not be an infinite blessing to us to bring our Keswick week to a close by solemnly, gladly reaffirming this same sure note in the presence of God now: “Oh God I am expecting so much from You. I am expecting you to do such wonderful things. My God, I am expecting you to make all things new with one word of your power. But if not, if you keep me waiting, if you discipline me into patience, and correct my misconceptions by your wisdom, I here and now covenant with you, my Lord that I will stand by you. I here and now covenant, my Lord, in all the naked sincerity of my soul, that I am Thine utterly and absolutely, down to the last crust and candle flicker of life. I am Thine, Lord Jesus, for time and eternity. And Thou are mine, my Saviour, my Master, my King.”
Have you ever felt like you were swimming against the tide, that you were going against the flow?
Whenever I speak of the wrath of God, I seem to be isolated from most of my Christian friends. God so loved the world…how could there be a day of wrath? ‘ For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him’ [John 3:16-17]. Doesn’t that clear it all up?
One of my much loved Christian friends once said; ‘God is love’ [John 4:16], take away love and you have nothing.
That’s not what my Bible says. ‘For our God is a consuming fire’ [ Hebrews 12:29]. Take away the fire and there is nothing!
So, which is correct? Is God love or a consuming fire?
Another Christian friend of mine has a blog called ‘Alsowritten’ [https://alsowritten.wordpress.com].
It is derived from the answer Jesus gave to the enemy in Matthew 4:7. When confronted with the ‘proof’ that he could fall from the top of the Temple and remain unharmed – Jesus did not dispute the verse the tempter quoted – but rather said – go to all of the Bible, every verse, to see how to behave and to interpret God’s requests.
So, which is correct? Is God love or a consuming fire?
Both!!
We need to consider the whole gospel to get an understanding of the wrath and/or love of God.
I won’t concentrate here on the love of God – the scripture (especially the NT, but also the OT) abounds in examples. There is no dispute that God is gracious and loving. But there is another side. “6 The Lord passed before him, and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty “[Exodus 34].
Let’s look at some passages. How can we ignore the clear implications presented here?
“26 For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries….. 29 How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. [Hebrews 10].
This chapter is not symbolic, or allegorical. It is warning the believers of a literal judgement.
We attempt to mould God in the image we want. How many times have you heard a person say “well, that’s not the God I worship”, as though God is completely malleable – like a piece of clay, and one person can shape Him into the image that person likes, and another can shape Him into a different form which he likes.
There is one God – and we have to accept that. He is not made in our image.
Romans 1 [RSV] 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse;
The wrath of God is revealed against those who suppressed the truth. Paul goes on to imply that those who suppressed the truth are those who refuse to accept that God is the creator of the universe. Paul says that God’s existence is proven by the evidence of creation around us. This wrath may be purely verbal in the sense that God condemns those unbelievers without actually inflicting any physical harm.
Romans 2 4 Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
Yes – God is kind, forbearing and patient. Why? To lead us to repentance. What of those who don’t repent? Those who refuse this kindness? What of those, who in stubbornness refuse to bow to God?
5 But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
This doesn’t sound like a verbal correction, of pouring out verbal wrath. It alludes to a day of wrath – a time when God’s judgement will be revealed to all the world who should have repented. It seems to me, that there is a time when the anger of God will be unleashed on those who have refused to accept the sacrifice of his son.
6 For he will render to every man according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury.
Again, how do we interpret ‘wrath and fury’? It seems to me that this is a physical judgement on the world, as in the days of Noah and of Lot. Jesus himself used the judgments in the time of Noah and Lot as types of the judgement to come. They were literal judgements of destruction [Matthew 24:37].
9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honour and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.
Tribulation and distress sounds like a physical condition, on those who have reject His salvation.
Romans 9 “ 22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?”
Here, Paul goes on to show how those who have received God’s mercy should be greatly thankful, that they have escaped the wrath to come. This escape is open to everyone as the gospel has spread across the whole earth and it’s free for anybody to grasp. But, those who reject this great salvation, are due to receive His wrath.
Ephesians 5 “5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.”
This is a warning. Those who turned their back on such a great salvation have nothing to look forward to but the wrath of God. It is a profound truth.
Colossians 3 “5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.
The wrath of God is coming. When? At the day of judgement when all will be asked to account for their ways. I’m sure this doesn’t mean that Jesus will sit there with a long list of our sins, ticking them off, but it does mean, that for those who have held onto the name of Jesus, and followed him as best they could, will avoid the wrath that is promised here. But for those who have wilfully turned their back on God, there remains the wrath that is promised.
1 Thessalonians 5 “ 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ”.
We can only avoid wrath through the name of Jesus the Christ.
2 Peter 2 “9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.”
The day of judgement is at the return of Jesus. Peter is clearly saying that there is a punishment do these people who have rejected Jesus. As Jesus says there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
2 Peter 3 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
There is a day of the destruction of the ungodly. At the end of our mortal time, Jesus will come to the earth, collect the saints, and pass judgement on those who have been evil and have rejected the great salvation offered.
I have neglected to reference the Book of Revelation, as it is a book of symbols and is difficult to perhaps extract the physical idea of the wrath of God. But, as a brief perusal of the book certainly shows, there is wrath to come on those who refuse the sacrifice of Jesus and it’s atoning work.
So – let us gladly hang onto the hem of Jesus clothes and follow him to the cross. And we need not fear the wrath of God – as perfect love casts out fear.
Have you ever thought how hard it must be for an infinite God to express himself to us. In fact, the one concept He has robbed us of, is that of infinity. We can’t understand numbers that go on forever, a universe that may go on forever. How can we understand a God, infinite in love, mercy, faithfulness etc. How can He show us his infinite love when our minds are finite.
He uses the closest thing we know to His love. He chooses our most intimate relationships to simulate, ever so poorly, his love for us. The deepest loves we know are of that of husband and wife, and parent and child. Jeremiah 3:19-20 links both in the expression of God’s rejection by Israel. Like a father who gave Israel the total of the inheritance, and like a husband who gives all to his wife, God expected faithfulness in return.
God uses these relationships in two ways. Firstly, the relationship simulates God’s love for us, and secondly, God’s love sets the standard for our love relationships on earth.
Matthew 7:9 illustrates how our relationships infer God’s properties. If you, being evil, would never deny your children their needs, how could God, being good? Then Ephesians 5:25 shows how the ideal of God’s love for his church, sets the standard of the love between a husband and wife. These two uses form an iterative loop throughout our life. We model our love on God’s, then our love becomes a better illustration of God’s love, and so on.
The emphasis which God chooses between the husband/wife, and the father/child relationship seems to vary between the Old and New Testaments. It seems to me that God emphasizes the husband/wife relationship in the OT. God and Israel exchanged vows at Sinai, God promising to provide (gift of the land of Canaan), to protect (win all battles), to cherish Israel, in return Israel promised faithfulness. This analogy is followed through by almost all the prophets, notably Hosea and Jeremiah 3 :1-14. The father/child relationship is present, but not to the same extent. In the NT, marriage is still there as an image (Ephesians 5, the bridegroom of Matt 9:15. Bride of Rev 18:23), but the Parent/child relationship dominates. We now cry “Abba Father” and consider ourselves adopted children. Why the change?
It seems that the husband/wife image represents God and the collective church. The covenant between God and the collective state of Israel is symbolized like this. The relationship between Jesus and the collective church is also symbolized as husband/wife. But where the relationship is personal, just God and Jesus, or just God and me, the parent/child image is used.
But, in God’s wisdom, he knew there would be cases where these symbols break down. Some children are abused by the parents, and the Father image is one of terror and loathing. Some of us do not have children of our own, and therefore can not relate to the parent/child image.
Many of us are not married or are in marriages which do not reflect the love of God. Then the symbol of marriage representing the love of God for the Church is lost. This particularly applies to the ‘singles’ amongst us, who have never married, never parented. These are those who have God as their only love. They could have left God to search for a partner but chose not to. These are they who have chosen the life of a Paul, of an Elijah, of a Jesus.
But there is a new relationship which Jesus chose for His followers.
“I will no longer call you servants…but I’ll call you my friends.”(John 15:13-15)
A Friend. We’ve all experienced it. Oddly, it can surpass all other relationships. Look at Jonathan and David. It’s a relationship that can be broken, then re-established. God and Jesus are our friends, if we keep their commandments. The sort of friendship Abraham had (James 2:23).
How do you keep in contact with an absent friend? Read his letters and emails (the Bible), talk on your mobile (prayer). That’s how we remain a friend of Jesus.
The story in Mark 8:22-25 relates just one of the miracles of Jesus. What is unusual about the miracle? It hits you between the eyes. Jesus had to have two goes to get it to work. We are told in the fourth gospel that only Jesus could heal those born blind. Why? I guess that, as Jesus was the light of the world, the reservation of healing the blind solely for Jesus was symbolic of that fact.
But why did the man have to be touched twice? Couldn’t Jesus heal him in one touch…. or was it some mistake? Obviously not. After one touch the man could see but couldn’t tell men from trees. You can’t go through life no being able to tell men apart from trees…. although many people try.
What do you use a tree for? We seek out and take refuge in its shade in the summer, we burn them for warmth in the winter. We delight in the artistry of beautiful furniture made from them. In short, we use trees for our pleasure. They sustain us by their oxygen production, bind our soil together, cool us and warm us. They serve us.
But to see people as Jesus saw them is to come to them when they need us, not when we need them. We supply coolness when they are in need, warmth when they are cold, and the beauty of God when they are devoid of beauty in their life. Unlike a tree, which serves us, we serve people. No, you can’t be a follower of Jesus and not know the difference between men and trees.
Pontius Pilate related to Jesus the man…when he saw Him as a man. He would have set him free. He saw no guilt in Jesus, certainly not any worthy of death. I think Pilate even felt some rapport with Jesus, I guess as would anyone in His presence. But when Jesus was seen as a threat, a name on letters to and from Rome, a source of trouble between Pilate and Caesar, a tree, Pilate had him removed.
But why the two touches? Why was a second touch needed? As I said, the use of sight giving as the only miracle that Jesus did exclusively, indicates that it is symbolic of the giving of the light of God. Jesus in the only one to give this light, as he was the light of the world. The light of God doesn’t come in one touch (except in the rare case of a Paul), but we are continually touched by God in our lives as we grow in Him. Each touch leaves us with a clearer insight into the world of His promises.
Peter is a great example of this gradual growth.
“Who do people say that I am? ”
“Some think you’re Elijah, some a prophet.”
“But who do you think I am?”
“The Christ…the son of the living God”
“Peter…men haven’t revealed this to you…you have been touched by God”
Peter had been touched by the very presence of the Lord and Master…. But it had not yet led him into all truth.
“I must go to Jerusalem to suffer”
“No, Lord…never”
“Get behind me Satan”
The touching of Peter was not yet complete. How short was his period of understanding.
“I’ll suffer, and all will desert me”
“Not me Lord…I’ll never leave you”
Touched again. Peter wore his love on his sleeve.
“Peter, before the rooster crows, you’ll deny me 3 times.”
The touching not yet complete. He had grown, but not yet to completion.
Then, he stands before the risen Lord.
“Peter, do you love me more than all these?”
“You know I love you”…but please don’t ask me 3 times…I can’t bear the pain of what that symbolises.
“Feed my lambs“
No condemnation…touched again.
Then, after the touchings of three years with Jesus, Peter receives the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and stands up boldly to preach Jesus in the face of the threat of death.
The Holy Spirit has now touched him.
Then on the rooftop at the time of prayer.
“Peter…you’re hungry…get up now, kill and prepare some food I’ve provided for you”
“Not me Lord…I’ve never eaten unclean food.”
“Don’t call what I’ve cleaned, unclean.”
Touched again by a vision from God.
Peter grew, by a succession of touches from Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and from God himself.
He had been touched by life with Jesus but could only see men (gentiles) as trees. But every touch from Jesus, The Holy Spirit and God made his vision clearer. Do you envy Peter his touchings?
But one touch was yet to come.
“And when those from James came up from Jerusalem, Peter withdrew himself from the Gentiles, and would only eat with the Jews, until I showed him a better way.”
Touched again. By whom?
After being touched by Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God, all the ones you and I would desperately love to have talked with, who else could supply what they hadn’t.
Just a brother or sister in the church…that’s all.
Peter was touched by his brothers, brought to the fullness of the vision God has for us by his brothers. We have that privilege. No, we don’t talk in person with Jesus, or experience a Pentecost, or direct visions from God. But don’t ever underestimate the God given blessings that are our brothers and sisters.
It was those who supplied Peter with the final steps of his journey to meet God.
Also See youtube A Second Touch
Two of the people in the story of Jesus’ crucifixion are worth looking at.
The people asked for Barabbas. Barabbas is a name meaning “son of the father” and he was a prisoner who was a robber and a man caught in insurrection and he was in gaol under penalty of death.
He represented every son of every father, every daughter of every mother. He was locked up and the only way out was his crucifixion. We are sentenced to death also. Then somebody came along and threw the gate open and said “you’re free – someone else has died in your place”. And so Barabbas walked out having had Jesus die for him. Jesus died for his sins. Jesus died for our sins.
The other person that day who interacted with Jesus’ salvation was the thief on the cross. He didn’t escape crucifixion; he was crucified with Jesus and he was the one who was promised everlasting life, not Barabbas. Barabbas got maybe another 30 or 40 years but would have died just the same unless he came to Jesus as well.
And the lesson is, yes Jesus will die for us and carry our sins to the cross, but oddly enough we must pick up our cross daily and willingly go with him to be crucified ourselves.
See also – Live for Christ, Die for Christ
How did people relate sin and sickness in the past?
John 9 “As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
We are all familiar with this story. Jesus corrected them and said this birth defect was not a result of any sin. But this was the common belief at the time, and still is in many parts of the world. We should interpret parts of the Bible as having been written by people with this idea in mind.
Even today, many believe that wrong deeds will be repaid by some tragedy. ‘They’ll get their comeuppance’. Karma.
Psalm 24:21 “Evil shall slay the wicked; and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.”
Of course, this isn’t true. At least not in this life.
Evil deeds are repaid by misadventure was a common assumption of the time. If a person suffered some disease – it was assumed that God had struck them. The whole book of Job is based on this concept, believed at the time. ‘Struck by the Lord’ may have been just a way of expressing a happening without an obvious cause, just as we call earthquakes, storms etc ‘acts of God’.
An example
1 Samuel 25:38 “37 In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38 And about ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.”
Nabal was a churlish fool who had rejected David’s request for help, but hardly a capital crime one would have thought. It very well maybe that God did cause his death, but I don’t believe that is a given. He may have suffered of a stroke or heart attack and took ten days to die, and the recorder of these events called it ‘an act of God.’
Another example: Acts 12 21 On an appointed day Herod (Agrippa) put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and made an oration to them. 22 And the people shouted, “The voice of a god, and not of man!” 23 Immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, because he did not give God the glory; and he was eaten by worms and died.
Again, it may very well have been a punishment from God. He had accepted the accolade of speaking as a god. Certainly, an abuse of his status and perhaps even blasphemy. But it is also possible that he simply died and again the death was seen as an ‘act of God’. Herod certainly should have known that he had a responsibility to God, but I would imagine many people have given speeches without crediting God but were not struck down with worms. Was it just that Herod did get this disease and the writer has called it an ‘act of God’?
A very different case
2 Kings 20 16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. 18 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
We often imply that this was a punishment for the sin of pride. Hezekiah was ‘showing off’ to the emissary of Babylon. The prophecy is ‘punishment’ for this. But there is nothing in the story to support this. We just don’t know Hezekiah’s motive. It’s possible that Hezekiah used his wealth as a preaching tool. He may have said ‘”look – because I worship the true God – He’s given me all this – you should worship him too.” The following prophecy is not a punishment – but a simple statement of fact. Jerusalem would fall to Babylon. Fact.
In the gospel records attributed to Mark and Matthew, we find a curious statement by Jesus. Jesus suggests that the number of baskets of scraps collected from the feeding of the 5000, and the feeding of the 4000, should have triggered the disciples to realise that they should beware of leaven of the scribes and Pharisees. Why? Why should the number of baskets of scraps indicate anything about the spiritual nature of the miracle?
Mark 8 [and Matthew 16:8-11]
14 “Now they had forgotten to bring bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “We have no bread.” 17 And being aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20 “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21 And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”
I feel very much like the disciples. Why should twelve baskets and seven baskets trigger a spiritual lesson?
The feeding of the 5000 he is recorded in all four gospels and is the only miracle (aside from the resurrection) recorded in them all. Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6: 31-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:1-14
Jesus is in his own country – north-western Galilee. His brothers and sisters were around. This is where the 5000 were fed. [Matt 13:54- 58.]
Mark 6 says 45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Beth-sa′ida, (northeast Galilee) while he dismissed the crowd. They must have been quite close the Bethsaida [Luke 9:10].
So, feeding of 5000 happened in north Galilee. Jewish territory.
Firstly, let’s track where Jesus has just been before he fed the 4000.
Mark 7: 24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
Mark 7 tells us that he was in Phoenicia [Lebanon]. After healing the gentile woman’s daughter, he moved to the region of Decapolis [ten cities], on the south-eastern side of Galilee. [Mark 7:31]. Here, he cures a deaf man and then he feeds the 4000 [Mark 10:1-10]. He then travels by boat to the western side of Galilee [Mark 8:13]. This maybe important. Decapolis was a mixed region of both Jew and gentile. This is where the 2000 swine ran into the sea. Not a very Jewish thing, to have 2000 pigs.
So, Jesus fed the 5000 in a Jewish area, and the 4000 in a gentile (mixed) area
I can only guess at a possibility.
The feeding of the 5000 occurred in Israel and the 12 baskets of scraps represents the 12 tribes of Israel. The disciples probably saw this connection, as 12 was a significant number for all Jews. There were 12 disciples. They should have seen that Jesus was the bread of life, and as such supplied all their needs, with some left over. The 12 baskets.
The feeding of the 4000 happened in Decapolis, which was largely gentile and the seven baskets represents the gentiles. Why would seven represent gentiles? There were seven Canaanite nations which Israel conquered as they came into the land. [Deuteronomy 7:1]. Seven represented the gentiles as did Decapolis. But they also received the bread of life, with some left over. The gospel had gone to Jews and gentile alike.
Perhaps Jesus was saying that now they are all being fed with the bread of life. The bread is now open to both Jew and gentile, something which the Scribes and Pharisees failed to see and in fact fought against. The major sin of the Jewish rulers was hypocrisy, self-righteousness and conceit in their Abrahamic lineage. They saw salvation as the Jewish descent from Abraham. The leaven of the Jewish leaders refused the grace extended through Jesus – which is now open to Jew and Gentile alike.
Renewed 