A step on the way, not the final destination.

The cry of the captives from Judah recorded in Psalm 137:1, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion”, has echoed down over the 2,500 years since the Babylonian captivity.

Similarly, for every Jewish household around the world at Passover, the heart-cry of “Next year in Jerusalem” expresses the longing and expectation of return to the homeland. It should be no surprise, then, that we at Prophecy Today constantly express our sympathy and support for Israel and affirm the nation’s God-given, historical and legal right to the Land.

Nevertheless, in this article I want to remind readers that the Jewish return to the Land from around the globe is a step along the way, rather than a final destination.

Bringing Balance

We can debate endlessly whether the political movement called Zionism is a work of man or an act of God, and in so doing miss the bigger picture. The bigger picture is of the covenant purposes of God and how he will fulfil these. We have to face up to the reality not only of history, but of what is prophesied for the future.

Though this fallen world is still awaiting redemption, God has nevertheless been working his covenant purposes out throughout history. As part of this, immense events of deep significance have been allowed, each of which open our eyes in some way to the nature and depth of his restorative purposes. For example:

• The Great Flood at the time of Noah
  
• The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
  
• The captivity of Israel by the Assyrians
  
• The captivity of Judah by the Babylonians
  
• The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans
  
• The 2000-year diaspora of the Jews, followed by a multitude of pogroms and persecutions, including
  
• The Holocaust

And, standing alone for its purpose in covenant history –

• The crucifixion of Jesus the Messiah as the atoning sacrifice for sin.

I include this list to argue that we must dig deeper than relatively short-term, political arguments if we are to put the return to Zion (a name for Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel) into true biblical perspective and move towards a balanced understanding of what is happening today.

We can debate endlessly whether the political movement called Zionism is a work of man or an act of God, and in so doing miss the bigger picture.

Fulfilment of Prophecy

At this deeper level of understanding, the Babylonian captivity (the first exile from the Land) and the global diaspora from AD 70 until 1947 (the second exile) are fulfilments of scriptural prophecies and are consequences of the Jews not heeding prophetic warnings.

A pivotal Scripture is Deuteronomy 28, which sets out clearly under the terms of what we now call the ‘Old Covenant’ what will happen to the Jewish people if they obey the Law given through Moses and what will happen if they fail to obey.¹ There are amazing promises of blessing for obedience. Sustained, wilful disobedience has consequences too:

And it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other… (Deut 28:63-64)

Many religious Jews know this full well. We do not need to stress to them the responsibility of their calling and heritage, nor the importance of repentance. For example, Rabbi Jacob Berman writes:

Because of the sins of our forefathers, we were driven from our land, the land of Israel. Exile, dispersion and suffering caused many of our people to neglect the study of the holy language [Hebrew], to forget the Torah and to assimilate among the gentiles. But God has promised the eternity of the Jewish people…

Go forth and search for the nations of old; where are they today? They have vanished! Not so the people of Israel who live on forever more. What is the secret of their survival? There is but one answer: The Torah! "And you who cleave unto the Lord your God, you are alive, everyone of you, to this day." (Deuteronomy 4:4) Our sages explained it this way: The children of Israel who clung to God, the Source of Life, have come to possess life everlasting.

If Israel would return to God in true repentance, then will He fulfil unto us His promise which He gave us through the prophets, His servants, to gather in the remaining exiles from the four corners of the earth, to restore us to the land of our inheritance, and bring us the Messiah who will rebuild the Temple and restore Divine Worship on the holy mountain, in Jerusalem.²

It was within God’s purposes for the Jewish people to be scattered over the world, and also that they now be restored.

Similarly, many Jewish Zionists who have returned to Israel in our day know that repentance is called for in terms of 2 Chronicles 7:14, a promise given through Solomon directly to Israel: “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.”

It is within God's purposes that the Jewish people now be restored to the Land - but the story doesn't end there.A deeper view of covenant history and the prophetic scriptures should open our eyes to this: that not only was it within God’s purposes for the Jewish people to be scattered over the world, but it is also within his purposes that they now be restored – first to the Land, and then, in true repentance and faith, to their Lord. These are the days in which we are privileged to live.

Gentile Observers

The world at large is an observer of Israel and their place in God’s purposes. But it is easy to misunderstand how to respond. Too often the Gentile world has taken the initiative to persecute and punish the Jews. However, despite God allowing his covenant people to be driven into exile, subject to the sadness of the temporary loss of their homeland, they remain the apple of his eye. Therefore, to persecute the Jews is to draw God’s wrath.

The ancient nation of Babylon is typical in this respect. A Gentile nation into which the Tribe of Judah was taken captive, Babylon (also a type of the final anti-Christian world empire prophesied in the Book of Revelation) was subject to God’s punishment. Its empire soon collapsed when Israel’s captivity came to an end.

The role of the Gentile nations is to comfort God’s people, to understand the Bible and to beware of anti-Semitism or any act of unkindness towards Israel. God is the judge of Israel and will also bring judgment on all nations as his covenant purposes reach their climax.

The prophetic song of Moses (Deut 32) foretells what will come upon both Israel and the Gentile nations in the end times. Moses prophesied the falling away of Israel (vv15-18) and her consequent suffering (vv19-27), but also her return to God (vv36-43). He also foretold how the Gentile nations would be judged who took the initiative to inflict suffering on her:

The LORD will vindicate his people and relent concerning his servants when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free…Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people. (32:36, 43)

God’s purposes for Israel do not end with Zionism or the return to the ancient Land.

The Song of Moses and the Lamb

God’s purposes for Israel do not end with Zionism or the return to the ancient Land. More suffering is foretold as nations gather in the Middle East to pressurise Israel. These nations will be judged with the judgments like those which befell ancient Egypt, as outlined in the Book of Revelation. In this context, Israel as a whole will finally look upwards, from the earthly Jerusalem, with the Messianic cry, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord” (Matt 23:37-39).

All the struggles of this world will climax with Yeshua’s return to redeem Israel and those who wait in faith for him from the Gentile nations. But woe to those who take it upon themselves to seek to harm God’s covenant people! Gentiles have a much worthier calling: to bless the Jews and to bring them the good news of Yeshua’s all-sufficient sacrifice on the Cross, atoning for their sin.

In this respect, Zionism is really about living out a hope and understanding of Israel’s significance in God’s purposes that goes beyond the restoration of heritage and homeland to the fulfilment of future promise. Let us pray and act accordingly.

Notes

1 The blessing and cursing of Old Covenant applies to those of the nation of Israel who have not entered into the New Covenant by faith in the sacrificial death of Yeshua (Rom 9-11; Gal 3:10-13).

2 Popular Halachah: A Guide to Jewish Living (1985, edited by Avnere Tomaschoff).

The real reason for leaving the EU – come what may.

Why has God blessed Britain so much?

As we bring our short series to an end it is clear that we have barely scratched the surface of what God has done for Britain.

When God cut a covenant with Abraham, that he would be the father of many nations, and even when Jesus suffered on the Cross, making the New Covenant available to the whole world, it nevertheless remained hidden just how much God would do for nations such as ours. Yet history is full of testaments to God’s loving kindness towards the people of the British Isles.

But why have we chosen to write a book of remembrance, echoing Malachi 3:16?

Pleasing God Through Obedience

One reason is that we learn from the Book of Malachi that it pleased God for the people of Judah to recall his goodness to them (Mal 3:16-18). So, surely our remembrances might please God today in the same way – it is a good thing to do at any time.

Secondly, remembering is a principle built into the yearly cycle of the Feasts of the Lord. For example, at Passover deliverance from Egypt is remembered, which in New Covenant terms brings remembrance of the Lord’s sacrifice for sin – “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). Quite simply, if we do not remember, then we will forget.

History is full of testaments to God’s loving kindness towards the people of the British Isles.

Thirdly, we live in days of great decline from the ways of God, particularly in Britain. In such days we can easily meditate only on the negative aspects of our times. Remembering God’s help in times past can give us a balanced perspective and, indeed, kindle our hope again, leading to thankfulness and renewed prayer:

Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. (Habakkuk 3:2)

Fourthly, we live in a generation where more and more people, especially the young, have little knowledge of what God has done for us in the past. They must be taught.

Understanding His Deeper Purposes

But I think there is also another reason, deeper down, to be understood. As we set out all that God has done and consider it in prayer before him, we may find that he grants us a new perspective on what he is doing now, today.

God is always moving forward in fulfilment of his covenant promises. Historically, Britain has been greatly used as part of this – as a base for sending forth the Gospel message around the world, and also in helping to fulfil God’s purposes for Israel – working to prevent satan from annihilating the Jewish race in World War II, and participating (albeit imperfectly) in enabling the Jews to re-establish the land of Israel.

If we can understand some deeper reasons behind the blessings God bestowed upon Britain, we might wake up to what he is doing in our day.

As we consider what God has done for us in the past, we may find that he grants us a new perspective on what he is doing now, today.

As the nations fall into disarray, having had 2,000 years of opportunity for hearing the Gospel, the scene is set for God’s final plans for Israel to be fulfilled prior to the return of the Messiah. To put the past in perspective might enable us to understand where the time-clock of covenant history is now, so that we might participate in rather than oppose the work of God today.

Would God be pleased with us if, in our Bible study and prayer groups, we spent some more time recalling past blessings and asking him to show us how to prepare for and pray concerning the future? I think this is the deeper reason why we have been led to begin writing our Book of Remembrance.

This is the final instalment in our short summer series 'Our Book of Remembrance'. You can read the rest of the series by clicking here.

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘Israel’s Anointing’ by Sandra Teplinsky (Chosen Books, 2008).

Sandra Teplinsky’s book ‘Why Still Care About Israel’ was reviewed previously on Prophecy Today and highly recommended. Now we feature her other main book of this kind, ‘Israel’s Anointing’.

The book, subtitled ‘Your Inheritance and End-Time Destiny through Israel’, aims to prepare God’s people for the closing events of this age (and beyond) by providing insights into God’s heart and purpose for Israel and how these apply to us personally as individual believers in Jesus.

Messianic Understanding

In the author’s own words, “the chapters build on each other, taking us from the ancient paths into the prophetic future” (p17).

Two of the chapters focus on single books – Ruth and Song of Songs, respectively. Chapter 3 uses the story of Ruth to illustrate the mystery of Jew and Gentile as ‘one new man’ and the recent unprecedented move of the Spirit, destined to increase in the coming years, that is causing a “global rejoining of Gentile to Jewish believers in Messiah” (p40). Chapter 4 features the Song of Songs to emphasise that Jesus is coming for a Bride.

The next two chapters are particularly impressive as Teplinsky explores two key themes, Sabbath rest and Torah. The chapter on the Sabbath contains many useful insights. Rather than just being a repeat of familiar arguments, we are given a feel for the importance and potential impact of a Sabbath rest.

Teplinsky aims to prepare God’s people for the closing events of this age by providing insights into God’s heart and purpose for Israel and how these apply to us personally.

Her explanation of the role of Torah is one of the highlights of the book. Here is a brilliant exposition set within the context of the covenants. The level of understanding that comes through these pages is perhaps one that only a Messianic Jew can provide.

The Physical and the Spiritual

Chapter 8, ‘From Zion’s Battlegrounds’, is a fascinating description of the military pressures and battles that Israel faces, especially over Jerusalem. Teplinsky’s proposition is that we can only properly understand the physical warfare once we have grasped the nature and intensity of satan’s heavenly rebellion against the God of Israel.

She convincingly explores the link between what Israel has to face on the ground and what the Church faces in terms of spiritual warfare. “The Israeli Defence Forces have been called to fight battles in the natural that both prefigure and reflect battles the Church is called to fight in the supernatural” (p136). As Christians often don’t see these supernatural battles or feel called to engage in them, they remain largely unaware of the real aspects of ‘Zion’s battlegrounds’.

One interesting extra detail is Teplinsky’s link between the role of women in the IDF and that of women in the Church as intercessors. Whatever reaction this might cause amongst her readers, the whole chapter is nevertheless well expressed and thought out.

Encouragement to Stand Firm

In later chapters Teplinsky focuses on aspects of Jesus’ return and its aftermath. She maintains a steady position based upon a straightforward reading of the biblical texts. Jesus will set up a Messianic Millennial Kingdom in line with that of his role as the fulfiller of the Davidic covenant. Righteousness and peace will ensue and the earth will be progressively restored.

Teplinsky’s proposition is that we can only properly understand the physical warfare once we have grasped the nature and intensity of satan’s heavenly rebellion against the God of Israel.

The planet will be in tremendous need of rehabilitation after the havoc wreaked by the Antichrist during the Great Tribulation, and “resurrected saints will play a thrilling role in overseeing the millennial operation” (p166). Without trying to explain every detail of this, we are simply encouraged to stand firm to the end in order to have a part in this eternal destiny.

The book concludes with an extensive bibliography, end notes and index. Overall it succeeds in its aim of providing insights into God’s purposes for Israel and how individual believers can engage with this. It will enable both Gentile and Jewish believers to grow in maturity and come together as ‘one new man’ in Messiah.

'Israel’s Anointing' (215 pages, paperback) is available from Amazon for £7.99.

The Gospel message comes to Britain and beyond.

It began around 4,000 years ago. Abraham’s obedience to God was accounted as righteousness and God cut a covenant with him (Gen 15). At the time, though the nations who had scattered across the world from Babel knew nothing, God committed himself unconditionally to establishing for himself one day a community of faith drawn from every nation.

While Abraham was learning to be God’s friend, tribes who settled on the island later to be called Great Britain worshipped gods of their own imagination. They congregated for human and animal sacrifice at such structures as Stonehenge, without fellowship with the One True God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They were neglected and lost, like all other nations across the world.

History moved forward. As God strove with his chosen people Israel through the times of the judges, prophets and kings, the Celtic tribes of Britain warred with each other - sometimes, perhaps, looking up into the universe wondering if there was a great god of Creation, but still having no means of becoming included in God’s covenant people.

But God did not forget his covenant with Abraham. In the fullness of time he sent his Son into the world and, through his sacrifice for sin, made forgiveness and salvation available to all.

While Abraham was learning to be God’s friend, tribes who settled on the island later to be called Great Britain worshipped gods of their own imagination.

Had this not happened, the tribes of the earth, including those in Britain, would no doubt have moved ever further away from God, and more quickly towards an ungodly alliance like the one at Babel. But God restrained their decline, dividing the nations in such a way that there would be a readiness for multitudes through history to hear the Gospel message and receive the truth gladly, by the same faith through which Father Abraham received the initial covenant promise.

Reminders still exist of Britain's pagan beginnings.Soon after the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, apostles trod the Roman roads in obedience to God, who had remembered his oath to Abraham. The history books are not clear just how and when it happened, but before Christianity was systematised in Britain by the Romans, the Gospel began its work of salvation among the Celtic tribes, having been brought to our shores perhaps barely a century after Jesus walked the earth.

This Sceptred Isle

Surely in this time of accelerating spiritual decline in Britain, which seems increasingly tribal and prone to strife, it is honouring to God for us to remember the great act of grace that established our nation, transforming it from pagan tribes to a kingdom avowedly under God. So magnificent was this transformation perceived that Shakespeare by the 16^th Century could describe our country as ‘this sceptred isle’.

Putting aside the often lukewarm or shallow responses our island people have displayed through the generations, there is nonetheless a thread of God’s grace that can be traced through 2,000 years to the present day. God found sufficient faith among our people to raise our nation high in the world. Is it not time to remember this and to study our history to uncover the multitude of testimonies of God’s goodness, putting aside all our pride, so that we might thank him afresh?

Going to the Nations

Not only did God bring the Gospel to Britain, but he also used our nation as a staging post to pass it on to other nations. There are many examples of the missionary zeal cultivated among those saved by grace in Britain. We can hear too much about the achievements of men in the establishment of the British Empire, but it was often despite man’s best efforts that God used us to take the Gospel to the rest of the world.

Consider, for example, the contending for the faith that led to the ‘Pilgrim Fathers’ abandoning Britain to set up new colonies in what was called the ‘New World’, later the United States of America. The Mayflower Compact illustrates the way the truths of the Bible were by then so ingrained in the consciousness of British people that men and women would not settle for anything less than the pursuit of purity and the establishment of a truly Christian nation.

In this time of accelerating spiritual decline in Britain, it is honouring to God for us to remember the great act of grace that transformed our nation from pagan tribes to a kingdom avowedly under God.

The Pilgrims on board the Mayflower signed a document before landing on the shores of America. William Bradford was a key leader who recorded the resolution of intent regarding the new colony, which in more modern English reads:

The Mayflower at Plymouth Harbour (Halsall, 1882)."IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620."

In the following decades thousands more followed, among whom was the future first Governor, John Winthrop, on the ship Arbella. The passengers of the Arbella who left England in 1630 with their new charter had a great vision, which could be built on the foundation of the first pilgrims. They were to be an example for the rest of the world in right living according to biblical teaching. Referring to the Sermon on the Mount, John Winthrop stated their purpose quite clearly: "We shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us."

The Mayflower Compact became a foundational document that inspired the writers of the American Constitution over a century later, when the first 13 colonies along the east coast, from New Hampshire to Georgia, became the forerunner of the USA.

Not only did God bring the Gospel to Britain, but he also used our nation as a staging post to pass it on to other nations.

In Praise of God

Surely we can see God in all of this, not leaving us as pagan warring tribes to unite in some new form of Babel-worship one day, but to send us his Gospel and privilege us to be those who passed it on to others.

There are multitudes of details and testimonies from history which, if we remember them together, might fill us with a new humility and zeal of faith in this generation of decline.

Let us record our remembrances together in praise of God.

It is time to remember what God has done for Britain.

When Judah returned from Babylonian captivity under the ministries of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Prophet Malachi rebuked the nation for the corruption of the priests, the wickedness of the people and their presumption towards God. Some responded to the Prophet; they were those who feared the Lord, who spoke to one another and to the Lord and who recalled what God had done for them in times past. They wrote a book of remembrance that was pleasing to God (Mal 3:16-18).

There has been tremendous decline in our own nation over the present generation. Yet we have been a nation greatly blessed by God for hundreds of years of our history – blessings beyond our deserving.

Week after week, we bring warnings to the nation. Perhaps it is time, as in the days of ancient Judah, to write our own book of remembrance – a book of remembrance of what God has done for both Britain and us personally.

But where to start! There is a multitude of possible things to call to memory, including:

• How the Gospel came to our island in the early days of the Apostles and how God prepared people to accept its truth.
  
• How the truths of the Bible gradually took root and became part of our island culture.
  
• How the nation was united and increasingly governed through the laws of God.
  
• How many of our leaders gave personal witness to their faith in the God of Israel.
  
• How, at times of decline, God sent revival after revival.
  
• How God prospered our nation.
  
• How God protected our nation.
  
• How God used Britain to translate the Bible so that every person could read it in the English language.
  
• How God raised up British missionaries to send the Gospel across the world.
  
• How God gave British Christians insight into the significance of Israel, resulting in the Balfour Declaration.
  
• How God gave Britain custody over the Land of Israel, called the British Mandate, to prepare her for the return of her people.
  
• How God taught us how to care for one another through such institutions as the NHS and through protective laws.

The list is immense.

Over the remaining weeks of August at Prophecy Today we will replace the normal Editorial with extended versions of our ‘Thought for the Week’, our writers concentrating on a selection of themes such as those above.

We would like readers to respond by sending in other points of remembrance so that this can be our Book of Remembrance, through which we can join together to thank God for what he has done for Great Britain over many years.

Derek Bownds and Paul Luckraft review ‘The New Creationism’ by Paul Garner (Evangelical Press, 2009).

Topics like Creationism can often be daunting to many, including those with a strong desire to understand but who lack a scientific education. Here is an accessible book on the topic - although, by the author’s own admission, it is still challenging in places. However, on the whole Garner has succeeded in laying out an oft-confusing topic in a digestible way for lay readers, providing a sufficient summation without overplaying the detail.

Dual Approach

His general approach is to start with the scientific evidence and ask which worldview it best fits: Creationism or evolutionism. For instance, he tackles the Big Bang by outlining the three main pieces of evidence that support this generally accepted theory (weak radiation, red shift expansion, the light elements) and then explaining deficiencies – often overlooked - which cast doubt on it. He follows this up by proposing a Creationist theory of cosmology (pp23-31).

His secondary approach is to start with statements proposed by evolutionists and test them - scientifically, critically and objectively. Together these two strategies provide a very satisfactory methodology which every reader should be able to appreciate.

Topics of Interest

As part of his overall argument in support of a Creationist worldview, Garner provides several smaller sections on specific topics. There is a useful summary of the uniqueness of the earth (the ‘Goldilocks planet’ – with conditions ‘just right’ for life) and its atmosphere relative to other planets in the solar system.

There is also a helpful mention of the RATE (Radioisotopes and the Age of The Earth) project – perhaps unfamiliar to many, but undoubtedly of great importance in shedding new light on the problems with radiometric dating techniques. In Garner’s words, RATE is “one of the most ambitious creationist research initiatives ever undertaken” (p98).

Garner has succeeded in laying out an oft-confusing topic in a digestible way for lay readers.

The chapter entitled ‘A Youthful Creation’ is particularly helpful, easy to understand and convincing. In this section the author argues that an average population growth rate of just 0.5% (half of what it is today) “is sufficient to generate the present world population from just two people in a mere 4000 years” (p116).

Two chapters are devoted to the Flood as a global catastrophe, with a robust defence of the biblical record. The Ice Age is also examined in detail - it is fascinating to be taken through the argument for just one Ice Age, post-Flood (as opposed to the common view of multiple ice ages). Garner concludes that the pattern of extinctions in the scientific record is more consistent with a single ice age, casting doubt on the idea that these creatures survived up to 50 earlier ice ages before becoming extinct in the last one.

Regarding the origin of life, the author includes some interesting observations from those engaged in such research but who discount the biblical position. For some, the search for the origin of life is ‘a kind of religion’ in itself, albeit an immensely frustrating one, since it remains one of the great unsolved riddles of science. Every step forward simply creates another alternative theory instead of a solution. All that is gained is a greater sense of the magnitude of the problem of explaining the origin of life without reference to God.

The book ends with a short epilogue reminding us that there are over 200 New Testament quotations from, or references to, Genesis, many from Jesus himself, with 63 being concerned with its first three chapters. There follows an extensive glossary (to help with scientific terms), good endnotes, a substantial bibliography including websites, and an index.

What Garner does so well is to make it legitimate to query some of the fundamental claims of evolution, while positioning Creationism as a truly viable alternative.

A Welcome Addition

Overall, what this book does so well is to make it legitimate to query some of the fundamental claims of evolution, while positioning Creationism as a truly viable alternative. Although mostly concerned with scientific arguments, Garner ventures a little into the field of biblical interpretation, though his use of the King James Version for Scripture quotes may not help in communicating to a more modern generation.

Garner is humble and gracious when it comes to big, divisive issues, recognising that “there are fellow believers who see these matters differently” (p74). He is also realistic about the nature of scientific enquiry, acknowledging that there are often scientific arguments and observations that support a different view from the one he is proposing, and that in many areas “there are bound to be large gaps in our understanding” (p87).

The New Creationism is a welcome addition to the ongoing debate and should help put the topic back on the agenda for the whole Church community.

‘The New Creationism’ (300pp, RRP £10.99) is available here for £7.79 – also on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.

The laying on of hands (Part 2)

Editorial Comment: Campbell McAlpine was a good Bible teacher from solid Brethren stock. He wrote the little booklet First Principles, which we are serialising today, back in the 1960s. At that time of its publication by PWM Ministries (1992), none of the charismatic phenomena that we saw later in the 1990s had yet been experienced. Today we have a very different view on the laying on of hands. We have therefore carefully revised Campbell’s teaching in line with current biblical scholarship, so that the teaching given below represents that of Prophecy Today UK and Issachar Ministries.

***

We have already seen that the laying on of hands is a practice with significance running right through the whole of Scripture. It was not only used to set people apart for certain ministries, but often as human authority was given to them to fulfil their calling or role within an institution. In this second study, we turn to how the laying on of hands can be important (or misused) in blessing, healing, and receiving the Holy Spirit.

Laying on Hands to Bless

It is important to understand that the act of laying on hands is not a magical formula or ritual to obtain automatic blessing – indeed, it can have rather undesirable results, as we will see. It is, however, a public statement: an act of faith to which God responds when done in line with his word. It is God alone who can bless, heal and fill with the Holy Spirit – and yet, in his grace and mercy, he chooses to allow us, his children, to take part in the process of blessing others with our personal faith.

In the Old Testament we read of fathers laying hands on their sons and blessing them. In ancient times, the practice of fathers blessing sons was part of the procedure through which inheritance was formally transferred. This does not mean that they imparted God’s blessing to them – no-one can give God’s blessing to someone! It is only God who can give his blessing.

Isaac blessed his son Jacob, and he was blessed, but this was Isaac’s own personal blessing upon his son, which God then honoured. Jacob in turn blessed each of his sons, and they were blessed, but again, it was not God’s blessing: it was the personal-yet-prophetic blessing of a father to his sons, which the Lord accepted.

What we learn from these examples is that laying on hands to bless is a practice that must be done with God-given authority and in line with God’s will – but that any resultant blessing comes from God. In the same way, the Apostle Paul talks about spiritual gifts and ministries in his letters but makes it clear that it is God who gives these, not people (see Eph 4:11; 1 Cor 12:28).

Laying on hands to bless is a practice that must be done with God-given authority and in line with God’s will - and any resultant blessing comes from God.

A Word of Caution

But passing on evil spirits is another matter. Although we cannot pass on pure things like the Holy Spirit to others by laying on hands, we can pass on evil spirits. The Prophet Haggai spoke to the Temple priests about passing on things from one body to another by touch. He stated emphatically that we cannot pass on holiness to someone else but we can certainly infect them with defilement (Hag 2:10-14).

This is why we should always be careful about who we allow to lay their hands on us – and this is the sad story of the charismatic movement of the 1990s, which was marked by all sorts of spirits being passed on from one to another, with people barking, laughing uncontrollably and falling around like drunkards. This was wrongly attributed to the Holy Spirit.

Jesus’ Ministry of Blessing

When we read in Matthew 19 of Jesus taking little children and laying his hands on them and blessing them, we are dealing with a different dimension. One thing is sure, these children would have been truly blessed – not least because of Jesus’ direct relationship with the Father.

Jesus said “anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”, but he also acknowledged that he could do nothing on his own initiative: he could only do what he saw the Father doing and what he heard from the Father (John 5:19, 8:28) and he always obeyed the Father’s commands (John 15:10). So a blessing from Jesus was a direct blessing from God the Father.

There is also the wonderful story in Revelation 1 where John, on the island of Patmos, had a sight of the glorified Lord Jesus. So overwhelming was that sight, that he “fell at His feet, as though dead.” Then Jesus laid his right hand on him and said, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades” (Rev 1:17-18). Immediately John was strengthened and enabled to be Jesus’ messenger to the churches in Asia.

A blessing from Jesus was a direct blessing from God the Father.

Healing and the Laying on of Hands

The scriptures give several accounts of people being healed when hands were laid on them. This was evidenced in the ministry of Jesus:

• In Nazareth: “He laid His hands on a few sick people, and healed them” (Mark 6:5).
  
• A blind man: “Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly” (Mark 8:25).
  
• A disabled woman: “When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set free from your infirmity’. Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God” (Luke 13:12-13).
  
• A paralytic man: Jesus said “Friend, your sins are forgiven”. In dealing with this man’s sins before his healing, Jesus demonstrated that he was not just a faith healer. His mission set him apart from the rest of humanity. He was “the word made flesh…who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
  
• After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to the 11 disciples and commissioned them to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”, giving them this promise, “These signs will accompany those who believe. In my name they will drive out demons, they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (Mark 16:17-18).
  
• When the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked on the island of Malta, he laid hands on the father of the chief citizen of the island who was ill with a fever, and he was healed (Acts 28:8).

The question we have to ask is whether ordinary human beings were given the power to heal by laying on their hands. There is no evidence of this in the New Testament. There are instances of the apostles laying hands upon the sick and praying for them and they were healed. But there is no evidence of healing being transmitted from the well person to the sick person through the laying on of hands. The healing was received in answer to prayer.

So again, we have the laying on of hands being an act of faith, done by those with God-given authority and in line with his word; an act to which God responds with power.

The scriptures give several accounts of people being healed when hands were laid on them.

The Holy Spirit and the Laying on of Hands

When Peter and John went down to Samaria, after hearing of the many who were being saved through the ministry of Philip, they ministered to the new converts and, “they placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:17). When Paul was in Ephesus, it is recorded that after baptising some believers, he “placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:6).

These verses are often misunderstood as meaning that the Holy Spirit was somehow imparted or transferred to the believers through the laying on of hands. But the Greek does not say that. It simply records that ‘this happened, then that happened’ – without any causative interpretation.

In the teaching of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is the gift of the Father. Jesus said “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth” (John 14:15). It is essential to understand that we cannot impart or pass on the Holy Spirit to anyone. He is entirely in God’s hands to give or to withhold as he chooses. In the Old Testament, Elisha had to learn this. He asked the dying Elijah for a double portion of his spirit - but Elijah made it clear that it was not his to give (2 Kings 2).

A particular passage that needs careful interpretation is Paul’s advice to Timothy: “Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you” (1 Tim 4:14). It is evident that one day while Timothy and the elders were waiting on the Lord, someone prophesied indicating the ministry the Lord desired Timothy to have. In response to this, the elders laid hands on him.

We can be certain that the elders prayed for him; but what is even more significant in the context of Paul’s words was that the elders recognised the ministry Timothy was to exercise in the ‘ekklesia’ – the scattered congregations around the Empire that made up the Church at that time. The laying on of hands was a sign of this recognition. It was not giving the Holy Spirit or any ministry gifts – Timothy had already received these. The laying on of hands was a sign of their blessing - giving Timothy the authority to go and exercise his ministry gifts amongst the various congregations.

This is what happens today in a service of ordination: the elders (or bishops) of the church lay hands on the ordinands and pray for them. Through this act they are not imparting any spiritual blessing upon him or her, but from their position of authority, they recognise the ministry to which the ordinand has been called by God. This recognition gives authority to the ordinand to exercise ministry within the organisation of the church in accordance with its rules. It does not confer blessing or spiritual gifts – it confers institutional authority.

The laying on of hands is an act of faith, to which God responds with power.

Impartation

The whole subject of ‘impartation’ has caused much division and confusion in churches in recent history. In the 1990s there were men who went around laying hands on people and causing them to behave strangely. One man even called himself a ‘Holy Spirit Bartender’ because when he touched people they behaved like drunkards. Clearly, the spirit he was passing on to others was not the Holy Spirit!

We believe that a true interpretation of biblical teaching on this subject is that we human beings can pass on evil spirits, but we cannot pass on the Holy Spirit or any of the spiritual gifts of God by laying hands on people. These gifts are entirely God’s to give.

This does not mean, however, that we shouldn’t lay on hands! It is undoubtedly a practice that God has ordained and to which he responds, when done in accordance with his word and will. As we have seen, laying on hands is an outward act of faith which can be used in certain circumstances to give a personal blessing, or as part of praying for healing or petitioning the Lord to pour out his Holy Spirit.

It is a lack of sound biblical teaching and interpretation of Scripture that has caused so much confusion about this issue in recent years. Further teaching can be found in the book ‘Blessing the Church?’ which we serialised on Prophecy Today earlier this year. The book, written in 1995, is currently out of print but may be digitalised by Issachar Ministries in the near future.

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘Wonders of Creation’ by Stuart Burgess, Andy McIntosh and Brian Edwards (Day One Publications, 2017)

This is an excellent and attractive production which combines hundreds of magnificent colour photos and diagrams with a clear explanatory text full of fascinating details.

On page after page we are shown the many incredible complexities of the world around us which point to the creative power and design of Almighty God. Across a multiplicity of topics, we gain not only a wealth of information but also a sense of awe at the amazing designs that our Creator has placed into his (and our) world.

Beauty and Functionality

The opening section covers land mammals – including the horse, kangaroo and sheep as well as man’s best friend, the dog (including information about how it smells!). Other groups within the animal kingdom (sea creatures, birds, insects) are equally well-documented, including the remarkable capability of birds to fly and whales to sing.

Leaving Earth for a while, we are taken into the mysterious realms of the other planets and stars. This section is full of useful information that is perhaps not usually known and adds to the sense of reverence and inspiration that the book as a whole induces.

Back in our own world we examine the beauty of flowers and trees, and learn about why certain colours are prominent and how birds manage to sing in the wonderful ways that they do (including in harmony). The next section, on mathematics and music, continues to fascinate - not just because of the patterns they display, which speak of the Lord - but also because of the ability of our brains, which he made, to enable us to understand and appreciate such things. Even if we are not particularly mathematical we can agree that the “Beauty and elegance in mathematics reflects the very wisdom of God” (p151).

Across a multiplicity of topics, we gain a wealth of information and a sense of awe our Creator’s amazing designs.

The sections on the human body and how it functions may contain familiar material, but this is also well-explained, and some of the facts and figures are quite startling. Clearly we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

The book also talks of other aspects of the natural world, rocks and minerals, fossils, dinosaurs and radioactive dating.

Inspiration to Gratitude

We are then told there is no doubt that everything we have been considering was created in six literal days and that the account in Genesis is definitely “history and not poetry” (p202). It is perhaps rather unnecessary to the aim of the book to insist on this, which seems like an intrusion especially as there is no discussion as to what ‘literal’ means in this context. There is also the unfortunate implication that anyone who thinks the time periods involved might not be exactly 24 hours each are classified as evolutionists.

Nevertheless, these few pages should not spoil the enjoyment of a book which is a convincing tour de force. It glorifies God on every page and should make us look around with more gratitude than ever. It should inspire us to say a big ‘thank you’ to God, not just once but several times each day.

A convincing tour de force that glorifies God on every page.

It is also a book that can be shared with friends, whether believers in Creation or not. The facts it contains will help with sharing and witnessing, and as a ‘coffee table’ book it could well spark conversations you might otherwise not have. As the subtitle ‘Design in a fallen world’ suggests, the authors do not shirk from saying that this world with all its brokenness and suffering is no longer the world that God originally intended. They do not hesitate to mention the Fall and salvation in Jesus, which brings the book to a satisfying conclusion.

Highly commended.

‘Wonders of Creation’ (216pp, hardback) is available from the publisher for £25. Also available elsewhere online with discounts for bulk buys.

The good news story that has captivated the world.

In the last week a breathless world has watched the astonishing recovery of 12 young boys and their football coach from a flooded cave system in Thailand. The daring rescue effort, dubbed Thailand’s ‘Mission Impossible’, relied on the co-operation of an international team of divers, medics, engineers and special forces.

As water pumps worked around the clock to clear the caves, experts from all over the world (including Israel!¹) and many ordinary Thais gave of themselves sacrificially, collaborating under enormous pressure and often at considerable personal risk. Meanwhile, as monsoon storm-clouds threatened, desperate families gathered nearby at makeshift shrines, petitioning their gods for the safe return of their loved ones.

Nothing Short of Miraculous

The chance of success was always slim, with so many potential risks. Even after the boys were found, concerns turned to the depth of the cave (3km underground), water and oxygen levels, the weather, the boys’ condition and their capacity to navigate complex, narrow, underwater tunnels – tunnels that had already claimed the life of an experienced Thai Navy Seal.

It is not surprising, then, that the successful rescue has prompted worldwide rejoicing, with many describing it as miraculous. "We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science, or what” effused the Thai Navy Seals. “Miracles may happen every day but this is one for the ages,” said a well-known rights campaigner in the US, and “it is not hard to believe that a higher power gave a helping hand,” said the Belfast Telegraph.² Even the BBC let themselves go, describing the rescue as “almost miraculous”!³

The successful rescue has prompted worldwide rejoicing, with many describing it as miraculous.

But not all who employed the term ‘miracle’ are willing to credit the real Miracle Worker. Globalists are waxing lyrical about the virtues of a common humanity - people from all over the world joining together in common cause, with no thought to race, nationality or ethnicity. Secular humanists are celebrating the ingenuity, bravery, selflessness and tenacity of humankind.

Bible-believing Christians, however, know that none of the above would have been possible without the gracious hand of God, moving in answer to the faithful prayers of the saints. Indeed, God’s presence in the rescue effort has been wonderfully apparent - for those with eyes to see.

God Was There

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there…” (Ps 139:7-8)

We can see the Lord’s loving-kindness running through the entire mission; drawing the right experts from around the world, prompting good decisions from leaders, fuelling the divers’ strength and encouraging prayer support from believers.

But we can also rejoice at a number of extraordinary ‘coincidences’ along the way that more-than-hint at his specific intervention, over and above the best efforts of the rescue teams. For example:

• ‘Chance’ discovery: The boys and their coach were located seemingly by ‘accident’ on Day 10 of the search, when British diver John Volanthen ran out of guide-rope and was forced to the surface. If his line had been longer, he would have missed them. If it had been just 15 feet shorter, he would have turned back and they would have been underground for at least another day.⁴
  
• Boys’ health protected: Amidst fears of physical weakness and illness after two weeks underground, the team surprised medics by being “in surprisingly good condition”, while a Thai governor said "We expected them all to have pneumonia…but most of them haven’t".⁵
  
• God did not leave himself without a witness: In a country that is 98.8% non-Christian (mostly Buddhist), the likelihood of a Christian being among those trapped in the Thai cave was extremely low. Yet it has now emerged that one of the 12 boys had given his life to Jesus just four months ago. His parents have publicly thanked people for their prayers and glorified God for his safe return.⁶
  

We can see the Lord’s loving-kindness running through the entire mission.

• Monsoon rains held off: Dreaded monsoon rains were predicted to arrive days before the rescue began, threatening the entire mission. But the expected deluge was delayed, creating a limited window of opportunity. A spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization said “I’ve been looking at the weather forecast there for Chiang-Rai, for the region, every day for the past week. Every day it has consistently shown the risk of thundershowers; now they haven’t, fortunately, materialized.”⁷
• Water levels held steady: Despite overnight rain after the first day of rescues, the water level inside the cave system did not rise,⁸ meaning that the mission was not further hampered and oxygen tanks could be replaced for the following day.
  
• Just hours after the final evacuation…: Not long after the final boy had been evacuated and with 100 rescue workers still up to 1.5km inside the cave complex, the main pump system failed and water levels began rising again rapidly, prompting a frantic scramble for the exit.⁹ The pump had been working non-stop for seven days, removing some 200 million litres of water. Needless to say that if it had failed just hours earlier, it could have thwarted the entire mission and cost lives.
  

Some Thoughts

Surely this inspiring story shows just how much God loves each one of us – not forgetting even the smallest or the least – over-ground or under it! When we see pictures of the rescue effort, do we see the lengths to which the Lord is willing to go to rescue each of us from the depths of sin and the danger of death? Psalm 18 puts it beautifully:

The ropes of death entangled me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me. The cords of Sheol entwined me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to the LORD and I cried to my God for help…He reached from on high and caught me; He pulled me from deep waters…He brought me into the open; He rescued me because He delighted in me. (Psalm 18:4-6, 16-19)

Contained in these verses is one of God’s great purposes in the midst of disaster: to cause believers and unbelievers alike to cry to him for help, recognising our need of divine deliverance.

When we see pictures of the rescue effort, do we see the lengths to which the Lord is willing to go to rescue each of us from the depths of sin and the danger of death?

The same is true of the terrible floods and landslides that have this week been devastating Japan, claiming over 200 precious lives – more than ten times the number trapped in the Thai cave. Surely God holds all our times in the palm of his hand – as the sobering example of Sanam Gunan, the diver who lost his life inside the caves last week, shows. Disaster can be turned for good or for ill – so our best response is to entrust ourselves completely to God’s loving, sovereign protection and humbly seek his help.

Finally, the cave rescue may provide an inspiring symbolic picture of what can happen when, in the face of darkness and death, the best efforts of humankind combine with the supernatural power of God, bolstered by prayer, to bring many out of darkness and into the light. But perhaps the real ‘rescues’ are yet to come! Can we join Thai pastor Kaui-Pai¹⁰ in praying that over and above all the false gods in Thailand, the Lord would be glorified and use this event to draw many to him? Can we rejoice not only in the safe return of the team, but also in its inclusion of a Christian lad whose new testimony may yet give him enormous opportunity to pass on his hope to others?

References

1 Winer, S. Israeli technology providing vital communications link to cave-trapped Thai boys. Times of Israel, 5 July 2018.

2 Editor's Viewpoint: Thailand cave rescue was nothing short of a miracle. Belfast Telegraph, 11 July 2018.

3 Head, J. Elation at Wild Boars team HQ. BBC News, 10 July 2018.

4 Paddock, R and Suhartono, M. Thailand Cave Rescue Turns to How to Extract Trapped Soccer Team. The New York Times, 3 July 2018.

5 Aussie doctor’s genius move in Thai rescue. Central Telegraph, 11 July 2018.

6 Thailand Cave Rescue: Parents of Rescued Compassion-Sponsored Boy Say “Thank You”. Compassion International Blog. and Bourdon, J. Soccer team found safe in Thailand cave, another rescue hurdle arises. Mission Network News, 4 July 2018.

7 Thai cave boys spared thundershowers, highlighting extreme climate disruption: UN weather agency. UN News, 10 July 2018. Emphasis added.

8 Thai caves latest: Four more boys extracted on second day of rescue operation. Belfast Telegraph, 9 July 2018.

9 Safi, M. Thai cave rescue: water pumps failed just after last boy escaped. The Guardian, 11 July 2018.

10 Mbakwe, T. Pastor in Thailand praying for cave rescue to be used as evangelism tool. Premier News, 9 July 2018.