Our Cornerstone

Seeking a stronger foundation

We can’t close our eyes to the serious state of the nation.

Twice this week I’ve used the train for journeys to London and Manchester and seen at first hand the chaotic state of our railways. On Monday I went to our local station from which I can usually get a fast train to London – a half-hour journey which took nearly 4 hours and included going part of the way in a bus calling at a succession of local stations.

The ticket office said the bus was provided because they had no idea when the next train would come! My journey took about the same time as the stagecoach took in Queen Victoria’s reign - oh, what great progress we have made in 200 years!

Then I listened to the report of Yesterday in Parliament where the nation’s political leaders were discussing Brexit. Were these really responsible adults dealing with the nation’s affairs shouting abusively at each other? The words ‘chaos’ and ‘confusion’ were the only way of describing the scenes in the House of Commons as everyone was speaking at the same time and no-one was listening.

I picked up a newspaper and glanced at the headlines: High-Street Meltdown, TSB Banking Crisis – Customers’ Accounts Forged, Carillion Costs Taxpayers £1½ million, Sexually Transmitted Diseases Increase, Criminal Justice System Breaking Down, NHS Facing Funding Crisis. I could go on with a catalogue of bad news stories guaranteed to leave us all depressed. But we cannot simply close our eyes to the serious state of our nation. We can’t all take antidepressants and pretend that all is well. At some point we have got to face up to what’s gone wrong.

In this magazine our objective is to tell the truth - even when it is not politically correct to do so!!

In this issue of Prophecy Today we are publishing two significant articles – one is about our Prime Minister Theresa May and the other is about the plague of political correctness that is polluting the whole value system of the nation. These are both must-read articles which I hope our readers will recommend to their friends. In this magazine our objective is to tell the truth - even when it is not politically correct to do so!!

At the Root

At my meeting in Manchester we were talking about the problems facing young people in inner-city areas. One social worker said, “The root of all the problems with the kids is family breakdown – fatherlessness, insecurity, lack of identity, poverty, drugs, guns, knives, gang warfare – the whole cycle comes back to family breakdown”.

But family breakdown is just one result of the nationwide abandonment of our Christian faith, along with the biblical values that were part of the foundations upon which the nation was built and gave guidance and direction to our behaviour: to the way we treat each other, to the way we do business, to life in the home, in school, in the workplace, and among our friends and neighbours.

The problems in our nation are not economic, or political, or educational, or mental health, or physical health, or all the other things we blame like poverty, discrimination and injustice. At root, all these problems come back to the same cause: it is the spiritual state of the nation.

We have no absolutes anymore. Our previous absolutes – TRUTH, JUSTICE, LOVE – these were derived from the nature of God as revealed in the Bible. But when we abandon these absolute, basic values, the bottom drops out of our lives: we have no firm foundation upon which to base anything.

When we abandon the absolute, basic values revealed in Scripture, the bottom drops out of our lives: we have no firm foundation upon which to base anything.

Facing Up to Reality

There is a telling passage in the Bible found in Deuteronomy 28 that God gave to his covenant people Israel. From this we can learn some lessons for ourselves: It tells us what happens when we turn away from God’s teaching:

The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. (Deut 28:20)

We can see all these things taking place right now in the life of our nation – and in all those nations in the Western world where our Judeo-Christian heritage of many centuries is being despised and rejected with devastating consequences.

We will never solve the problems in the economy, or in politics, in health, or in marriage and personal relationships – until we face up to the spiritual issues that are the root causes.

Transformation is Still Possible!

The Prophet Haggai back in the year 520 BC got it right when he told the people of Jerusalem, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it” (Hag 1:5-6).

He went on to say that the cause of all their problems was because the people had turned away from God – if they would get God back into the centre of their own individual lives and in the corporate life of the nation, all these things would change dramatically.

God is saying the same thing to us today – to our political leaders, to our educators, to our businessmen, to our community leaders and to each of us personally. If we truly seek to get into a right relationship with God, he will respond to us immediately; just as the father ran to greet the prodigal son when he returned home in the story that Jesus told. The transformation of the nation begins with each one of us.

A new series on the ‘elementary principles’ of Hebrews 6:1-2.

We begin a series about the basic requirements of the Christian life, as set out by the writer to the Hebrews. It is a timely reminder of the necessity for a proper grounding in the principles of life in Christ.

True Salvation

One of the reasons why there are unnecessary problems in the life of some Christians is because certain foundational truths have not been established. If the foundation of a building is weak those weaknesses affect the superstructure. Cracks will appear and things will come out of alignment, all detracting from the strength of the building. So it is in a Christian’s life.

Some years ago after living and ministering in New Zealand, we returned to England. My son, who was then 12 years of age, soon discovered there was a difference in the standard of education between New Zealand and England. For example, he had done no language study, apart from English, and found himself in a class where the students had already had about two years teaching of French and Latin.

Three years later we attended a parent-teacher evening and in conversation with the French master, he said, “I cannot understand your son, Stuart. He is clever and does well in his exams, but from time to time he makes the most elementary mistakes.” We reminded him that he had missed the initial teaching of the basics of the language. Although he had learned much, because the foundational teaching of the language had not been properly laid, the defects were manifested.

Before foundational truths can be established it is important to ensure that a person is a true Christian. Many people call themselves Christians, but are not. Therefore, it may be a good investment of a few minutes to check up on the reality of our profession of faith. Although this may seem a strange introduction to this series, I believe there is a precedent for it. At the end of Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, in which he had encouraged. taught, and corrected, he asks them to do something: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; text yourselves. Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test” (2 Cor 13:5).

One of the reasons why there are unnecessary problems in the life of some Christians is because certain foundational truths have not been established.

He gives a clear definition of what a Christian is; someone with Christ in them. So the first question to ask ourselves is, ‘am I in the faith? Is Christ in me?’ He did not ask others to examine us, but made it personal. Here is a check-list of biblical references to help in this self-examination.

A person who has a right relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ knows it without any shadow of doubt. This assurance is given by the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Rom 8:16) and as John puts it, “Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart” (1 John 5:10).

John Wesley, the great preacher, used to say to his congregations, ‘make sure you have the witness'. You are not a Christian because someone says that you are, but because you have that inner knowledge given by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes people have come to me and said, ‘can you help me, I have never been sure whether I am a Christian or not.’ My response has been, ‘yes, I do want to help you, you are not.’ A true Christian knows.

Another proof is that there has been a change in your life. Something has happened. Paul puts it this way, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Cor 5:17). A true Christian has a desire to obey God. John puts it bluntly but clearly, “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, ‘I know him’, but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3, 4). The Lord Jesus made this challenging statement, “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 7:21).

Another evidence of the reality of Christian experience is that we love other Christians. Before one becomes a Christian there is little or no desire to be with people who want to worship God, read the Bible, pray and talk about Jesus. They are not, ‘one of us’, and we are not ‘one of them’. However, when the miracle of salvation takes place there is a change of attitude which leads to a change of company! Again John says, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death” (1 John 3:14).

The Apostle Paul gives a clear definition of what a Christian is: someone with Christ in them.

So, what is the result of the examination? Do you have the assurance of the Holy Spirit? Has there been a change in your life? Do you live to do the will of God? Do you love other Christians? Every true Christian will be able to say with Paul, “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day” (2 Tim 1:12).

If, however, you failed the test and sincerely desire to know God as your Father and Jesus Christ as your Lord, obey the word of God. Acknowledge your need. Agree with the Bible when it says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa 53:6) and, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23).

Remember the cry of the tax collector in Luke 18:13, “God have mercy on me, a sinner”. If we have one good word to say for ourselves we are not candidates for God's salvation, because he is only the Saviour of sinners. Look to the Lord Jesus. He is the only Saviour. He is the only way to God. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

The first step to salvation is to believe in the Lord Jesus. Believe what is true, that Jesus is the Son of God, who loves you, died for you and took the punishment for your sins at the Cross. Jesus who, “died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3). Receive him as your Saviour.

Having acknowledged your sin and repented, believing he died for you and rose again, ask Jesus to come in to your life, yielding it totally to his Lordship, knowing, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God. Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husbands will, but born of God” (John 1:12). Now confess him as Lord, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9).

Now look at the record, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11,12). We move on now to the foundational truths.

The first step to salvation is to believe in the Lord Jesus. Then, having acknowledged your sin and repented, believing he died for you and rose again, ask Jesus to come in to your life, yielding it totally to his Lordship.

Foundational Truths

The Lord Jesus told a story about two house builders. One built his house on a rock and when the storms and floods came his house stood firm. The other built his house on sand and his house was completely demolished when the deluge came.

As the storms and winds of adversity face the church of God it is imperative that Christian lives are solidly laid on the foundation of Jesus Christ, and on the truth of God's word. It is a sad fact of life that many Christians remain in the kindergarten of faith and never move on to maturity.

The writer to the Hebrews emphasises this point. He was writing to Christians who had just come through severe times of persecution and were on the threshold of even greater opposition. After declaring the glorious wonders of the Lord Jesus Christ, greater than angels, greater than Moses, “the apostle and High Priest of our confession. Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him who appointed him”, he pauses to express a certain fear. That fear was that some who had been truly born again would fail to go on to maturity.

One of the reasons for their immaturity was a failure to have certain truths established in their lives. He wants them to get beyond the ‘milk bottle’ stage. He complains that instead of their being able to teach others they themselves still need to be taught the elementary truths. In chapter 6 of Hebrews these truths are described in the New King James Version as repentance from dead works; faith toward God; the doctrine of baptisms; of laying on of hands; of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

The purpose of this short series is to teach these basic truths to ensure that they have been established in your life so that you can go on to maturity.

First published as a mini-book in 1992 by PWM Ministries, entitled ‘The Biblical Basis of First Principles’. Edited for online publication May 2018.

Clifford Denton discusses the principle that all Scripture is founded on the first five books of the Bible - the Torah.

In the last study we looked at the covenant purposes of God to show that there is an overarching principle of covenant throughout all history. This week we will look at another unifying principle of our faith, handed down by the nation of Israel. This is the principle that all Scripture is founded on the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.

All Scripture is for all of God's people. It is not to be seen as the Old Testament for the Jews and the New Testament for Christians. The basis of Scripture, from the Hebraic point of view, is the Torah. Now this is not to say that the basis of our faith is Torah - the basis of our faith is faith in Jesus the Messiah. So how are we to read all Scripture with the right balance?

All Scripture is for all of God's people. It is not to be seen as the Old Testament for the Jews and the New Testament for Christians.

We do not replace Jesus by the Torah, or Torah by Jesus. We see him as a fulfilment, a manifestation - a full realisation of Torah. So in saying that we are to take a Torah perspective on the scriptures, we are neither going into legalism nor a replacement of Jesus. In fact, by reading the scriptures as they should be read, Jesus will be central, and we will come to know him better.

Torah Foundations

So let us consider how Torah is the basis of all Scripture. A well-known and respected Jewish Rabbi, Samson Rafael Hirsh, wrote a book called Horeb (Soncino, 2002). Horeb was the mountain of God where God met with Moses to give him detailed aspects of Torah. Hirsch comments in his introduction:

As far as the term torot is concerned, it can without difficulty be applied to the general religious truths of Judaism because the word Torah, although sometimes used for the whole corpus of our laws, originally signifies teaching or doctrine.

To Hirsch, Horeb means to plant the seed in someone else - hence to implant the seeds of truth and morality in others to transform their lives.

So that torot are the teachings which God has revealed to us of truth and goodness, which we are to accept in our minds and feelings so as to beget in us the knowledge of truth and the decision to do good. The value of torot can therefore never lie in their merely doctrinal or theoretical character, but in their motive power leading to action as a transforming agency in the lives of men.

Hirsch seems to be a Jew speaking about these things from a Christian perspective, but really he is showing us that for both Jews and Gentiles called by faith, there is a purpose in Torah that goes beyond legalism. Legalism is certainly a valid criticism of much of the Jewish world. They took the teachings of Moses and legalised them so much as to take the life from them. But there is also a deep truth in what we read from Rabbi Hirsch, that the Torah is the heart of God's teaching for all mankind. Torah is to be manifest in our lives, and that is the pursuit of the Jew and the believing Gentile - all who come into this one family of faith. Remember that it was Jesus himself who said:

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10)

All of God's teaching is to bring life. He also said in Matthew 5:17-18:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law [Torah], or the prophets, I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For I truly tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law [Torah], until everything is accomplished.

There is a purpose in the Torah that goes beyond legalism – it is the heart of God's teaching for all mankind.

We must reject the idea that a Torah foundation to Scripture leads to legalism. It can lead to legalism but need not do so. God does require standards, and he tells us what these are. Therefore, we must be disciplined in our walk of faith, but we must also find God's heart through his teaching. All the laws of God are full of his heart's concern for us. That is why the Holy Spirit came to write the teaching on our hearts.

Where is the Balance?

So where is the balance? How can we re-assess the scriptures and discover their Torah foundation? This is central to our Hebraic and Jewish heritage. Also handed on to us was the realisation that the Jewish world did not quite get it right. Indeed, Jesus criticised many of the teachers of the law about their interpretation and their lifestyle. But even so, it does not mean we should not look again and rediscover what Israel itself is seeking today - as we read from the introduction of the book by Hirsh, concerning the teaching of God at Horeb – "And I sought through all generations..."

We must reject the idea that a Torah foundation to Scripture leads to legalism. It can lead to legalism – but need not do so.

What is it that we are seeking together in that life of faith, using the Bible as our reference point? First, to understand that the Torah is the basic teaching of God. Although the whole Bible is Torah or teaching, the first five books are given a special place - these are the special revelations of God.

These books contain far more than the 'dos and don'ts' that God brought through Moses. We need to reassess what they really bring to us, and with confidence put them at the foundation of our Bible reading. If you go through these books carefully you will find in them the origins of all the truths contained in the Bible.

All Foundational Truths Begin in Torah

The first teaching of the Bible is the account of creation - nowhere else do we find this truth in the entirety of the libraries of the world. As we go on with our reading we begin to learn about God, mankind and their relationship. We learn how sin came into the world and about God's standards for mankind. We learn of the Fall and the situation that we are all in now after the Fall. We learn of the great Flood, and of the covenant purposes of God - all these things are laid out in the Torah.

These five books contain far more than the 'dos and don'ts' that God brought through Moses. If you go through them carefully you can find the origins of all the truths in the Bible.

Abraham's life is fully described in those first five books - as are the lives of Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and later, the twelve tribes of Israel. Finally, the growth of the nation of Israel is described in the books of Torah.

Here too we learn how to apply the metaphors that God wants to teach us, through real life situations. From the toil in the land of Egypt and the release from captivity, we set the foundations for our own experiences with God, both physical and spiritual. We learn about the miracle workings of God. We learn about his active interventions in the world. He has not just separated himself so that it goes like some machine.

We learn about the Feasts of the Lord, which appear first in the Torah. We learn about the Sabbath and its importance. The priesthood is introduced, as are the principles of faith and of prayer.

If you go into the first five books of the Bible and try to assess the number of themes there, you will find them to be countless. We must, therefore, come away from a mindset that these are irrelevant books for Christians. They are the foundation of the faith for Israel and those saved from the Gentile world.

We must come away from a mindset that these books are irrelevant for Christians. They are the foundation of our faith.

Torah Dependency of all Scripture

So then, if Torah is the basis, how does the rest of Scripture fit into its pattern? The Jewish way of dividing Scripture is very valid. The division into three sections according to tradition is first the Torah itself, then the Nevi'im (or Prophets) and finally the Ketuvim (the Writings). That is the traditional way that was handed on to us.

The Bible books are set out in a different order in the Hebrew bible. If we look at them in those three sections, we can see better how they fit together as we try to re-establish the Torah as the basis of all Bible study.

The Prophets

What about the Prophets then? What message in addition to Torah do the prophets bring? The prophets have one purpose and it is Torah-based. When the people of God begin to stray, they also begin to not listen to him. They do not read the signs around them and they gradually ignore what God is saying. So God sends along a prophet, or a prophetic word, or prophetic movement in order to remind people and call them back to the one true God. How do the people get called back to the one true God? They must be called back to his teaching - to what he requires of us.

So the simple task of the prophet is to call the people of God back to himself through his teaching. In that sense, the prophets are Torah-based. There is second purpose in the prophets - a message that looks to the future for God's people. They all say, as it were, "Israel - people of God, cleave to God through his teaching. It may be hard but one day he will make it easier, because in the future there is a promised Messiah, and there is a promised new heaven and a new earth - that day will come but hang on - keep with him, walk it through with him in the meanwhile."

Even that is a Torah-based message, however, because it is all about Jesus, and Jesus is the fulfilment of Torah. In a subtle way the futuristic aspect of the prophetic message is aligned with the past prophetic message - to remember Torah and walk with your God. If you approach the prophets in that way you'll find that Torah is the basis of their whole message, and without Torah they have no real foundation. They do not bring a new message, but they remind you of an old message.

The prophets do not bring a new message, but remind you of an old one.

They may well give some clues as to what Torah really means, such as we find in Micah 6:8:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Sometimes, like this, the prophets give glimpses of the heart message of Torah, but it is not a new message, it is a message in context. Here is a simple example of how this applies. In the book of Amos, chapter 4, we read:

"I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up. People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD. "Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, destroying them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.

"I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD.

Amos repeats one sign after another from God that has fallen upon the nation of Israel with increasing intensity as God's judgments became more severe. The people of Israel had lost sight of the signs of God, lost their walk with him, turning away - and so a prophet came to warn them.

But what about these signs? Well, Israel's history - Israel's prophetic history - can always go back to the Torah portions. If you look at Deuteronomy 28 and 29 you see it is exactly what God said that he would do. Part of this teaching was how Israel would receive blessings or curses from the Lord.

If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks...

...However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you: You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country...

So what does Israel perceive when things start to go wrong - blight on the crops, plague on the cattle, things going wrong in their community life, rain here and not rain there - these are signs from God, signs that were part of his teaching programme, and here it is in Deuteronomy - a central book of Torah. Amos did not bring a new message. It should not have been a surprise to Israel, but they were not heeding the signs, so a prophet came to explain what was happening. The prophet's message was Torah central.

The Writings

In 2 Chronicles 7 there is a similar parallel, and this is part of the 'Writings'. Solomon had built the great temple to the Lord and wanted to dedicate it. In 2 Chronicles 6, he asks God if he will bring blessing upon this place. The Lord responds and says:

"I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chron 7:12-14)

Here again, God speaks in a way that is founded upon all that went before in Torah. His ways have not changed. This is just one example, but in one way or another, this is verified wherever we read in Scripture. All the teaching of the whole Bible is bound together by principles and parallels from the Torah. Christians, like Jews, have this same heritage.

All the teaching of the whole Bible is bound together by principles and parallels from the Torah.

Another clear example of the way the Torah, rightly interpreted, is in the heart of all God's people, is in Psalm 119: "O I love your law [Torah], I meditate upon it night and day." Again, in Job, he accepted all that he had suffered, when he realised that God is his Creator. That was the central part of the message of Job - a Torah-based message for a suffering world.

New Testament

Moving into the New Testament scriptures, we remember that Jesus said that he came to fulfil Torah - not one small letter or stroke of the pen would be taken away until all is fulfilled. On the road to Emmaus he reminded the two disciples of how he was to be found there in the Torah and the prophets and the writings. He showed that he was at the heart of God's teaching, rather than replacing it. All the gospels are about fulfilment.

Paul, whose writings form a substantial part of the rest of the New Testament, was first taught as a Jewish rabbi, at the best schools of the day. He was taught about the Torah basis of all scripture and Torah basis of Jewish lifestyle, before ever he went out with the Gospel message. Just as it was for Paul, we should read Torah not with a legalistic approach but by the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul does not deny this teaching; he brings a right interpretation of this teaching.

We, too, need to read the whole of the New Testament in the light of Torah. Our flawed understanding is in a wrong perception of Torah, rather than setting it on correct foundations. If we have a wrong perception of Torah we are afraid to touch it, but Torah reveals the heart of God. This is fulfilled in the New Covenant, written onto our hearts. In this way, the entire Bible is one united whole which brings us to that purpose.

Our foundational Scriptural inheritance is the same for Jews and for Gentiles.

For Reflection and Comment

Can you devise a reading plan which keeps the Torah in balance with all Scripture?

(Consider Under the Fig Tree in the Online Courses of www.tishrei.org)

Next time: Root and Fruit