The laying on of hands (Part 1).

Lessons from the life of Moses.

In the eighth part of our series, Fred Wright considers the lessons we can learn from the life of Moses.

Although in Christianity Moses is generally considered as a non-writing prophet, in some Judaic circles he is credited, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, with the reception and transmission of the Torah. This includes the pre-historical sections, which he received by divine revelation. Both the external and internal evidence of the texts illustrate that Moses was accredited with these writings from the earliest of times.

Moses is considered to be the greatest of the prophets and a model for those who came later. He also pre-figured the Messiah. In Second Temple Judaism, the messianic hope was in one who would be the true prophet that Moses had spoken of (see Deut 18:18, cf. Acts 10:43). Paul often referred to the whole of the Torah as 'Moses’ (2 Cor 3:15).

The Call of Moses

Moses presents a clear picture of the prophet as an intercessor. He illustrates an intimacy with the Lord which is second only to that of Jesus.

Moses was a Levite who could trace his lineage back to Levi through Amram (Ex 6:16f). After fleeing the Egyptian court (Ex 2:15f), he dwelt in the land of the Kenites, marrying into the family of the priest Reuel/Jethro. The Kenites were a people who could also trace their descent back to Abraham (Gen 25:1-6). One can therefore assume that their religion was a continuation of pre-Egyptian Yahwism.

Moses is considered to be the greatest of the prophets and a model for those who came later.

It was during this period, while tending his father-in-law's flocks in the vast wilderness of Midian, that Moses began to develop an intimacy with God. God appeared to him in a burning bush (Ex 3:6) and revealed that he was the God of the Patriarchs and not simply the God of the Kenites.

Furthermore, he had not forgotten his people despite their slavery and wanted Moses to be the instrument of their deliverance. Moses’ initial reaction to this was one of awe quickly followed by procrastination — no doubt due to the enormity of the task that had been placed before him.

Although the Lord gave him miraculous signs to perform, Moses was concerned about not being properly equipped to present his case before the ruler of Egypt. So God commissioned his brother, Aaron the Levite, to speak on his behalf. This reminds us that although an intercessor may be called to be an instrument in one area, the Lord may use another to augment, enhance or present the fruit of their intercessory labours.

The Honour of the Name

Having received his commission, Moses was sent forth in the authority of the Holy Name which had been declared to him (Ex 3:14f). The commissioning of Moses clearly illustrates that his mission was to be undertaken in the name and power of the Lord. In the ancient Near East, possession of a holy name was believed to be a token of power. It was thought that the utterance of that name would bring forth the spirit known by that name. This spirit could then be manipulated or worked alongside. This explains the Lord's enigmatic reply to Moses.

Moses illustrates an intimacy with the Lord which is second only to that of Jesus.

Today, it is sad to observe that the names of the Lord and, particularly, the name of the Messiah — Jesus — are often regarded as words of power. They are recited as a mantra, rather than the objects of devotion and as the expression of a relationship (Ps 9:10).

The degree to which Moses understood the honour of the Name was clearly illustrated whenever Israel lapsed into idolatry. Moses' intercession, at those times, was that God would refrain from destroying his people for the sake of the honour of his Name (for example, see Num 14:5-19, cf. Ezek 36).

An interesting aside is that on one occasion the Lord stated that he knew Moses' name. Today that may seem a little trite and obvious, but at the time names were more than a simple label of identification. They were either titles of honour or descriptions of character. The comment about the Lord knowing Moses’ name simply means that God knew Moses' character. We might well ask the question today: as well as knowing God personally, are we prepared for God to know us?

A Model Intercessor

Faith was the driving force in Moses’ life (see Heb 11:23-29). It was through his faith that Moses gained the increasing certainty and confidence he needed to build his relationship with the Lord.

Moses was familiar with apparent failure. His initial approach to his people fell upon deaf ears, due to their broken spirit and cruel slavery (Ex 6:9). Meanwhile, his words were treated with disdain by Pharaoh.

Moses’ family were not the strength he could have hoped for. The people’s apostasy to the golden calf involved Aaron (Ex 32:1), while both Aaron and Miriam rebelled against Moses’ authority because of his marriage to an Ethiopian (Num 12:1). In the midst of all his tribulations Moses received wonderful strengthening from the Lord. The challenges and setbacks were all attended by reassurances from the Lord of his person and character, together with assurances about the future.

In the midst of all his tribulations Moses received wonderful strengthening from the Lord.

Throughout the wilderness wanderings Moses was the only one qualified to intercede for Israel because he was the only one who was not involved in the sin of idolatry. Moses’ concern for his people was so great that he put all thoughts of personal glory aside (Ex 32:32, cf. Phil 2). In particular, he was willing to forfeit his life (cf. Paul in Romans 9:3) and did not consider personal gratification above the good of the nation (Deut 9:14).

Knowing God’s Character

Moses showed his skills of advocacy (Ex 32:11-15) by praying God’s promises back to him. Whenever he faced rebellion against either his spiritual leadership (Num 14:3) or his secular authority (Num 16:41-50), he appealed to the Lord’s honour (Name).

In response to the calamity brought about by a later revolt, the people began to realise that the one who had a personal relationship with God and kept their faith intact was the one who had authority to enter into the presence of the Lord to intercede on their behalf. This is a penetrating truth for the leadership of today who get discouraged in their standing for truth. He who prevails will overcome.

Such prayer requires an intimate knowledge of the character of God. For Moses, this knowledge came from both regular and extended times spent in his presence (Ex 33:7-11). On one occasion, Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights alone with the Lord on top of a mountain. It was during this time that he received the tablets of the Law (Ten Commandments) and the instructions for building the Tabernacle (Ex 24:12-18).

Moses knew God personally and had the distinction of being referred to as God’s friend. He was a person with whom God communicated ‘face to face’ (Ex 33:11), whereas others only knew of him (his acts).

If you know God’s character, then you should not fear for the future. Fear is a manifestation of unbelief which implies no knowledge of the character of God. God keeps his promises and never lies (Num 23:19). Irrational fear is an idol, since the fear has more influence than God’s ability to deliver.

Moses knew God personally and had the distinction of being referred to as God’s friend.

The intercessor needs to develop a personal relationship with God. Moses knew God’s character - therefore he could pray back to the Lord his own promises. A further example of this type of intercession is found in Isaiah, where the Prophet calls upon the reader to remind the Lord of his promises concerning Jerusalem (Isa 62:6-7).

Anyone who aspires to be an intercessor should attempt to develop such a relationship with God. God’s character will be discovered as one studies the Bible and spends time in his presence.

A Warning from the Life of Moses

The record of Moses’ ministry ends on a sad but apposite note. Intimacy, if one is not careful, can lead to a degree of unacceptable familiarity. When the people were camped at Rephidim, they complained about their condition because of their lack of water. They were even ready to stone Moses. Moses called out to the Lord and was commanded to strike a rock in the presence of the elders. He was to use the rod that had parted the Red Sea. This action would bring forth water (Ex 17:1-7).

Later, at Kadesh Barnea, when the people were again complaining that there was no water (Num 20:3), Moses appealed to the Lord. On this occasion, he was instructed to speak to the rock. While it is not our place to judge Moses, it seems that he committed two cardinal errors in the way that he dealt with this problem.

First, along with Aaron, he took the place of God by declaring: “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” (emphasis added). Secondly, he recalled the former incident and relied on his previous experience by choosing to strike the rock, rather than speak to it. The result was that neither he nor Aaron was allowed to enter the Promised Land (Num 20:9-13). This is a salutary lesson for us to take God’s instructions seriously!

Who has the authority to interpret God's teachings into everyday living?

We have discussed how Torah and halakhah are dependent on one another. In plain language the former is the instruction of God and the latter is the way to apply this instruction in all aspects of life – what the Jews would call a Torah lifestyle and what we could also meaningfully call a biblical lifestyle.

As Yeshua (Jesus) reminded those who questioned him, the Torah hangs on two commandments: to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbour as ourselves. We infer that all else that God teaches us in our Bibles leads us to understand how these two commandments are fulfilled.

There is much to consider: things that apply to our personal walk with God and witness to the world; things that apply to our families; things that we share together as a community. But who has the authority to interpret God’s teachings into everyday living?

Israel Under Moses: Torah, Mishnah and Talmud

Moses received the Ten Commandments and began to teach these and other instructions from God in order to lead Israel to be a Torah-observant community. These were later written down and have been passed on to us in our Bibles as what is called the written Torah.

There is also the oral Torah, which became codified by the Jews into the Mishnah, which is traditionally thought to contain other aspects of Torah passed on from generation to generation beginning with Moses – teachings of Moses that were not written down, but passed on orally.

Jesus reminded us that the Torah hangs on two commandments: to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbour as ourselves.

Commentaries were later written on how to interpret the Mishnah. These commentaries, which include the Mishnah itself, make up the Talmud, of which there are two versions - one written in Babylon and the other in Jerusalem. This led to various branches of Judaism considering Torah, both written and oral, to be a complete set of teachings passed on from generation to generation as ongoing instruction from God. It also resulted in a legal form of halakhah.

However, all this lacks the flexibility that we discussed in the last article in this series. Indeed, my view is that some Christians in search of their Jewish roots have ended up taking this rather legalistic route in their re-discovery of Torah. To me, to a high degree, the Talmud is the alternative to the New Testament for Jews who have not yet accepted Yeshua as Messiah.

Torah Before Moses: The Walk of Abraham

Let us, therefore, retrace our steps to the time that Torah was given by God through Moses and see if there is continuity in God’s purposes and teachings for his people throughout Scripture, leading up to the New Covenant and even today.

Let us also recall that Enoch, some centuries before, had walked with God achieving a lifestyle that pleased God without, as far as we know, having being told what was later revealed through Moses regarding Torah. We might also recall that Abraham walked with God in faith before the giving of the Torah of Moses. Nevertheless, regarding Abraham we are told that God said of him (Gen 26:5) “Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my Torah.”

So how did Abraham, and possibly Enoch as well, obey God’s Torah prior to the time it was given to Moses? If we interpret Genesis 26:5 through the spectacles of the legal codification of written and oral Torah of the Talmud and Jewish halakhah, we might think that Abraham was told in advance what Moses later wrote down - or at least the relevant parts of the written Torah. But I find this hard to accept, particularly in the light of my view of halakhah as walking with God by the inspiration of his Spirit, as I outlined in a previous article.

The account of Abraham shows him to be a man who learned to walk in personal relationship with God so that he obeyed all that God instructed him according to the circumstances through which he was taken. Among the clearest of instructions were the command to leave Ur, to trust God for the birth of Isaac, and to take Isaac onto Mount Moriah as a sacrifice.

How did Abraham, and possibly Enoch as well, obey God’s Torah prior to the time it was given to Moses?

These were not instructions of the nature of the Torah of Moses, but specific to Abraham’s own personal walk. Indeed, we would be unwise to take the sacrifice of Isaac into our own written or oral Torah for literal application! I would, nevertheless, believe that all Abraham was commanded and taught by God came from the two great commandments and would have been compatible with any of God’s later teaching through Moses. Indeed, we perceive shadows of the birth of Yeshua and of the New Covenant in Abraham’s walk of faith.

We also know that Abraham was familiar with the principle of tithing (Gen 14:18-20), but this seemed more spontaneous and from the heart than legalistic, similar to Jacob’s response at Bethel (Gen 28:18-22). Is this not an indicator of Torah being written on the heart, where God prompts a person to walk faithfully and obediently to him through all the circumstances of life that we encounter on our personal walk with him?

Is this not an indication of what God intended for Torah, rather than the legalistic framework that we can fall into so easily?

Authority to Interpret Torah

So on to Moses. With all the detail that was given through Moses encoded into the written Torah, there was still the need for interpretation into every aspect of life. Questions arose for individuals, families and in the more general aspects of community life. This multitude of questions was beginning to wear Moses out until his father-in-law told him to appoint elders to teach and interpret the easier aspects of Torah, as deputies (Ex 18:1-27). They were given a share of authority to interpret Torah.

That same authority was passed on to successive generations through the priesthood, down to the Sanhedrin and to the Rabbinic schools of Yeshua’s day. The point is that however many individual commands one can count in the written and oral Torah, there is always a new personal application that is a current manifestation of Torah principles, and the authority to interpret this application is given to those who are appointed as teachers. This cannot be fully codified and is part of our personal walks with God – just as for Abraham.

That Authority Transferred

Yeshua’s Sermon on the Mount was an extensive teaching from the heart of God which seemed something fresh and different to those listening, whilst also being fully founded on the Torah of Moses. Yeshua’s entire ministry was founded on Torah, whether through word or deed.

Yet so ingrained were some of the religious leaders in their traditions by this time that to some he seemed a heretic. Much of the interaction between Yeshua and the teachers of Torah involved him challenging them (e.g. Matt 23). By contrast to the Rabbinic schools, however, the authority of Yeshua was clear (Matt 7:29).

Yeshua’s Sermon on the Mount seemed fresh and different to those listening, but was also fully founded on the Torah of Moses.

When Yeshua cursed the fig tree (Matt 21:18), I suggest that this was not a sign of cursing Israel as a whole, but a sign to the teachers of the Torah. He was telling them, in a symbolic way that they would have understood, that authority would be taken from them and given to others (Matt 21:43).

The authority to teach and interpret Torah was going into other hands. The New Covenant in Yeshua’s blood was soon to be made manifest, whereby the Gospel would go to the entire world. Torah, the teaching of God, was still to be interpreted into the lives of all who would have faith in him, but a new authority would be released among the disciples of Yeshua, both Jews and Gentiles.

The Authority of the Holy Spirit

The new authority is given to all believers according to the promise of Jeremiah 31:33, that the Torah will be written on our hearts, free of the curse for disobedience (Gal 3:13), giving freedom to learn and to walk (halakh) with God (Rom 8).

This takes us back to the model of Abraham. Our Bibles give us the root and foundation through which our lives are to be built, but through a living relationship rather than through ritual observance. Instead of the elders at Moses’ time, we now have God’s Holy Spirit to give us meaningful interpretations of Torah principles and truths in every area of our lives - personally. Each of us can walk with God as a disciple of Yeshua. Obeying the call and teaching of God along this walk is to be Torah-observant, or biblically observant.

Authority is also given to Bible teachers to help disciples on this walk of faith. I wonder if more Bible teachers should think in these terms, because they have both a great privilege and responsibility. In New Covenant terms they inherit the ministry passed on through Moses to successive generations of God’s covenant family.

The Budding of the Fig Tree

I suggest that the budding of the fig tree in Luke 21:29-31 is not only related to the re-gathering of Israel in the end times but also to a re-awakening of the authority to interpret Torah amongst Yeshua’s disciples. If the cursing of the fig tree denoted a change at the time of Yeshua, the re-budding is a sign of restoration in our day.

Our Bibles give us the foundation for our lives, but through a living relationship rather than through ritual observance.

As there is a call to renewal in the Gentile Church, so a new authority to interpret Torah will coincide with the re-gathering of Israel in the days preceding the return of Yeshua. There can be a new co-operation between Christians and Messianic Jews. Surely this will also result in the provocation of Israel to jealousy as described by Paul in Romans 11:14.

In the excitement of these days, let us not revert to ritual and over-fascination for Jewish traditions so much that we miss this fresh move of God’s Spirit. Will this be revival, rooted as never before in biblical truth? Surely that is God’s plan.

Next time: Community

David Bivin considers Jesus’s background in the first of a two-part study.

It is rather surprising to discover how many Christians are not aware that Jesus is Jewish. In Israel, for example, there are entire communities of people – Christian, non-Jewish people - who do not believe that Jesus is Jewish.

A friend of mine was attending an Ulpan (a Hebrew language school) in Jerusalem. At one point in a conversation with a young Christian woman from Bethlehem who was also learning Hebrew, my friend said: “Well, you know Jesus was Jewish after all,” to which the woman replied, “He wasn't Jewish.” So my friend countered, “Well, go and ask your priest and see what he says.” She did not ask her priest, but went home and asked her parents. Her father said “Yes, she's right. He was Jewish.” But her mother said “No, he wasn't Jewish,” so it turned out to be a tie!

We might be very surprised to learn how many Christians have never really grasped the fact that Jesus was Jewish, not only in Israel but in Europe, Britain and in the United States. Christians still have difficulty in believing that Jesus was Jewish. So perhaps we have to say a few words about Jesus's Jewishness, even if it means stating the obvious.

It is rather surprising to discover how many Christians are not aware that Jesus is Jewish.  

Jesus’s Family

It is not hard to find evidence in the New Testament for Jesus's Jewishness. For example, his genealogy is clearly Jewish. In the gospels of Matthew and Luke, his lineage is traced back to the patriarchs in typical Jewish fashion.

Jesus's family was also completely Jewish. Joseph, the name of his earthly, supposed father, was the second most common name of the period for Jewish men, and his mother's name, Mary, was the most popular name for Jewish women.

Inscriptions dating from the 1^st Century indicate that the name Yeshua, Jesus, was itself the fifth most common Jewish man's name after Simeon, Joseph, Judah and John.

All of his known relatives were Jewish, namely Elizabeth (a relative of Mary's), her husband Zechariah the priest, and their son John the Baptist, as well, of course, as Jesus' own brothers, James, Joseph, Simeon and Judah (Matt 13:55).

Torah-Observant Parents

The gospels document the fact that Jesus and his family were observant Jews. Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day and, as is still the Jewish custom for male children, at his circumcision ceremony he was formally given his name (Luke 2:21).

His parents also performed two other Jewish ceremonies in Jerusalem during that time. The first of them was the pidyon ha-ben (the redemption of the first born), specified in Numbers 18:15-16 - which Joseph symbolically performed on Jesus' thirty-first day, by giving five silver coins to a priest.

The name Yeshua, Jesus, was the fifth most common Jewish man's name of its day.

The second took place on the forty-first day after Jesus's birth, when Mary performed the ceremony for her purification by bringing two offerings to the temple (Lev 12:8). The offering by Mary of two birds rather than a lamb would indicate that they were not a wealthy family (Luke 2:24).

Jesus’s parents, we are told, went up to Jerusalem every year to observe the Feast of Passover (Luke 2:41). This devotion is exemplary and unusual, because most people living outside Jerusalem (as they did) made a pilgrimage to the Temple only a few times in their lives, and some only once. Making such a pilgrimage was a major expense for people who had to pay for the cost of the journey, for the stay in Jerusalem, and for the sacrifices offered in the Temple during the festival.

Although the biblical commandment of Deuteronomy 16:16 states, “Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose; at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles”, it was not interpreted literally by the rabbis of Jesus's time. Pilgrimage was encouraged by them but not made mandatory.

The fact that Jesus's parents went all the way to Jerusalem every year shows how obedient they were to the Torah of Moses. The evidence in the gospels indicates that Jesus was no less observant than his parents and that he went up regularly to Jerusalem for the Feasts (John 7:10, 12:12). It was while he was in Jerusalem for Passover that he was arrested.

Jesus's parents went all the way to Jerusalem every year, showing their obedience to the Torah of Moses.

Jesus the Rabbi

How did Jesus appear to the people of his time? How differently did they see him from the many other teachers (rabbis) who went around Judea and Galilee with their bands of disciples?
By the time Jesus began his public ministry he had received not only the thorough religious training typical of the average Jewish man of his day, but had probably spent years studying with one of the outstanding rabbis in the Galilee.

We cannot at this point detail that preparation, of which we know a great deal from rabbinic sources, but we know that Jesus, who did not begin his ministry until a rather mature age, appeared on the scene as a respected teacher or rabbi.

To understand the significance of the title 'rabbi', as applied to Jesus, one must first grasp the significance of a rabbi of the 1^st Century and how he functioned in that society.

The term ‘rabbi’ is derived from the Hebrew word rav which in biblical Hebrew means 'great.' Originally it was not used as a title or as a form of address. By Jesus's time, however, it was used to refer to the master of a slave or the master of a disciple, thus 'rabbi' literally meant 'my master' and was a term of respect.

It was not a formal title, but was used to address a teacher and Jesus was recognised as such by his contemporaries, as many passages in the New Testament illustrate: “Jesus answered him, ‘Simon, I have something to tell you.’ ‘Tell me, rabbi,’ he said” (Luke 7:40). And, “A lawyer asked him a question to test him: ‘Rabbi, which Is the greatest commandment in the Torah?’” (Matt 22:35-36). Also, “A rich man asked him, ‘Rabbi, what good thing must I do to inherit eternal life?’" (Luke 16:16).

We should note the diversity of those who addressed Jesus as 'rabbi': a Torah expert, a rich man, and a Pharisee. Other scriptures illustrate that the Sadducees and ordinary people were part of a broad cross-section of people in Jesus's day who saw him as a rabbi.

Many scriptures illustrate that a broad cross-section of people in Jesus's day saw him as a rabbi.

Teaching Style

From the gospel accounts, Jesus clearly appears as a typical 1^st Century rabbi. He travelled around from place to place in an itinerant ministry, depending for food and shelter upon the hospitality of the people.

He did much of his teaching outdoors, but he also taught in homes and in village synagogues. He even taught in the Temple in Jerusalem, and was accompanied by a band of disciples who followed him around as he travelled.

Perhaps the most convincing proof that Jesus was a practising rabbi was his style of teaching. He used the same methods of instruction that characterised the rabbis of his day, such as the use of parables to convey teaching. The sort of parables that Jesus used were extremely common among the rabbis of 1^st Century Israel and over 4,000 of them have survived in rabbinic literature.

It is significant, perhaps, that among the thousands of parables to be found in rabbinic literature, not one is written in Aramaic; all are in Hebrew. Even when, a few hundred years later (500 to 600 AD), the main texts are written in Aramaic, the parable is always given in Hebrew.

Jesus’s Observation of the Law

There can be no doubt that Jesus observed the written law of Moses in its entirety. The New Testament clearly states that, having been born under the law, he committed no sin (Heb 4:15). Jesus was never charged with breaking any part of the written law, although his disciples were occasionally accused of disobeying aspects of the oral law.

Only one such accusation was brought against Jesus, and this was, of course, that he broke the Sabbath by healing the sick. In fact, Sabbath healings were permitted under official rabbinic ruling, so the only way we can understand this protest is to see it as the response of a narrow-minded ruler of a local synagogue.

There can be no doubt that Jesus observed the written law of Moses in its entirety.

Perhaps at this point we need to understand that in Jesus' day the Pharisees (with whom Jesus had more in common in belief and teaching than the Sadducees) believed in two 'versions' of the law.

First, they believed in the written law (the Torah, the five books of Moses), but they also believed in a second law (called the oral law), which they said had also been given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai and handed down through the generations by word of mouth. So perhaps a more pertinent question to ask is to what extent Jesus observed the practices of the oral law.

On Baptism

There may seem, at first glance, to be a shortage of hard evidence in the New Testament concerning Jesus' religious observance. But one must remember that the New Testament was written by Jews, for Jews. The normal Jewish religious practices were so well-known to the writers and to the readers that it would have been considered superfluous, perhaps ridiculous, to explain in detail how particular commandments were carried out.

That is why, for example, we have such a dearth of information in the scriptures about the practice of Jewish baptism. This was not conducted as we Christians do it today, but as the Jews still do it.

The earliest representation of Christian baptism in the catacombs in Rome shows John the Baptist standing fully clothed on the bank extending an arm to Jesus, who is undressed, coming up out of the water. John is helping him up the bank. So the one who was baptised or 'immersed' was not dipped under the water by some officiating minister, but rather walked down into the water alone, gave his testimony and dipped himself, just as it is still done today in every Jewish mikveh (ritual immersion bath).

The person officiating was there only to give his or her stamp of kashrut (official approval), to make certain that the hair of ladies, for instance, was completely immersed.

On Using God’s Name

Another example of Jesus's obedience to Scripture is his adherence to the rabbinic prohibition against using the unutterable name of God. The original understanding of the third commandment, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God” (Ex 20:7), was probably that one should be careful not to break one's vows when one has sworn in God's name. However, the rabbis eventually came to interpret this commandment to include using the Lord's name frivolously or lightly. To avoid the risk of employing the divine name irreverently, the rabbis ruled that one should not utter it at all.

Jesus seemingly adhered to the rabbinic prohibition against using the unutterable name of God.

The divine name, written as the yod hay vav hay (YHVH) and called the ‘tetragrammaton’, could be pronounced only in the Temple, in the daily priestly blessing, and in the confession of the high priest on the Day of Atonement. When reading or reciting Scripture, one was not to pronounce the unutterable name but rather had to substitute with Adonai (Lord). In time, this substitute name of Adonai itself came to have such a sacred aura that it was used only in Scripture reading and prayer.

When it was necessary to refer to God in everyday speech, one sought other substitutes or euphemisms such as ha-Makom (the Place); ha-Kadosh (the Holy); ha-Gavohah (the High); ha-Lashon (the Tongue); ha-Gevurah (the Power); Shamayim (Heaven); ha-Shem (the Name). Even the less distinctive Elohim (God), which could refer to the God of Israel or to false gods, was avoided in conversation.

So serious was the prohibition against pronouncing the tetragrammaton that the rabbis included among those that have no share in the world to come, “He who pronounces the divine name as it is spelled.” The avoidance of the tetragrammaton began quite early, although there was no hesitation in pronouncing the sacred name in the Old Testament period. In the time of David, everyone went around saying YHVH (however they pronounced it), but already by the 3^rd Century BC, Adonai was being substituted for the yod hay vav hay (YHVH).

Jesus frequently used euphemisms for God, and his audiences would have been shocked if he had not. The most common word for God used by Jesus was 'Heaven'. This occurs, for example, in the phrase 'Kingdom of Heaven', the term Jesus used to describe his community of disciples, or his movement.

Jesus frequently used euphemisms for God, and his audiences would have been shocked if he had not.

To those in the Temple who questioned his authority, Jesus asked: “John's baptism - was it from heaven, or from men?” (Luke 20:4). In other words, was John's baptism of God or of men? In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus had the prodigal say to his father, “I have sinned against heaven” (Luke 15:21). As for making oaths, Jesus commanded his disciples not to swear at all, not even using substitutes for God's name such as Shamayim (Heaven).

One other euphemism for God's name used by Jesus was ha-Gevurah (the Power). When interrogated by the High Priest, Jesus was asked for an admission that he was the Messiah. His answer was a classic example of rabbinic sophistication: “From now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” (Luke 22:69). This proclamation hints at two different Messianic passages, Daniel 7:13 and Psalm 110:1: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

To be continued in Part II, next week.

Clifford Denton unpacks God's vision for knowledge, understanding and wisdom.

"Education, education, education", said Tony Blair as he entered 10 Downing Street for the first time. It sounded good at first. Now, our new Prime Minister Theresa May has raised education to a high priority once more, with a fresh focus on grammar schools. With standards under scrutiny as each year passes, whether it be through Ofsted reports, or exam results, our attention is never far from how our children are being taught in school.

But how close are we to a biblical pattern for education? It is not so much the efficiency and funding of our national programmes that should be our priority, but the foundations on which we are raising the next generation.

The Jesuits have been credited with the maxim, "Give me a child for his first seven years and I'll give you the man", reflecting what everyone who wants to order society according to a certain world-view knows. If an education system is designed to conform to a certain philosophy or religion, then society can be changed in a generation – for good or bad.

If an education system can be conformed to a certain philosophy or religion, then society can be changed in a generation – for good or bad.

Back to our Roots

So what does the Bible say? That must be the prime focus for Christians.

First, the word education is not to be found. The biblical word is Torah. Yet even before the establishing of Torah through Moses, God's prime purpose for his people was shown – right back in the Garden of Eden. God created mankind to be in fellowship with him. Adam and Eve were given simple instructions to maintain that fellowship. The principles of Torah were given to them in basic form - they were told what not to do in order to maintain a close relationship with the Lord.

The Bible, in other places, describes this relationship as a walk with God. Through human weakness and a little input from the enemy, Adam and Eve could not maintain this walk and so the Fall occurred, followed by God's programme of recovery through covenant that is still going on today. Principles of biblical education, Torah, were made known through Moses so that the chosen people of God could live an ordered and blessed life in fellowship with him.

Torah: Principles and Purpose

The Hebrew word Torah refers to the teaching of God's people. Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, summarised the way God's people should be taught: "stand before God for the people...teach them the statutes and the laws and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do" (Ex 18:19-20).

The walk with God, highlighted here, was recalled time and again throughout Israel's history. It was a walk that could (and did) falter through disobedience, and so its principles were reiterated at key moments. For example, Ezra affirmed the principles after his return to Jerusalem from Babylon:

Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Torah of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach the statutes and ordinances to Israel. (Ezra 7:10)

Micah also was inspired to champion the balance and purpose of Torah:

He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? (Mic 6:8)

In considering what Christian education might look like, in contrast to what the world around us is establishing, we are wise to first look back to the Old Testament and consider how God intended his covenant people to walk safely with him.

Beware of dry legalism, however, in which Torah is reduced to a set of dos and don'ts, as if God desires only ritual observance. What he desires above all is relationship with us, as a father with a child, or a husband with a wife. The principles of Torah are for securing this walk, not replacing it.

Principles of biblical education, Torah, were made known through Moses so that the people of God could live a blessed life in fellowship with him.

Keeping on Track with God

The struggles of the Children of Israel to maintain a close walk with God demonstrate our need of principles to protect us along our way in life. As much as Adam and Eve were subject to the temptations of the evil one, so there are always ways in which evil is at work in the nations of the world to seduce God's people off track.

This principle is reflected in the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) and so is as valid for Christians as it was for Adam and Eve and for the Nation of Israel. The four injunctions of the letter written from the Council to new believers (Acts 15:28-29) were essential things to abstain from so that "if you keep yourselves from these things, you will do well."

So even though we live in days of the New Covenant where, according to the fulfilment of Jeremiah 31:33, Torah (God's educational programme) is put into the minds and written on the hearts of God's people, still there are warnings about being seduced away from a close walk with God.

Jesus Messiah the Goal

The ultimate goal of Torah (God's educational package) was to bring us to Messiah (Rom 10:4), like an escort taking a person to the place of his education (Gal 3:24). Jesus made it clear that he did not come to abolish Torah but to fulfil it (Matt 5:17-20), meaning that the goal of teaching within the Christian community is the interpretation of Torah by the Spirit of God, in the light of Jesus the Messiah, fulfilling the New Covenant announced first by Jeremiah (Jer 31).

This goal remains the same as in the days of the Old Covenant, though now it is enabled by the Spirit of God in the heart of every believer. Our teaching should encourage and establish this walk for all of Jesus' disciples. Matthew 28:18-20, the Great Commission, is Jesus' command that we do this - making disciples.

This walk is enabled through the Spirit of God and it is as much a spiritual battle today to gain and maintain it as it was for Adam and Eve and for the Children of Israel through the days of the Old Covenant. Our education programmes must have the objective of discipleship and growth to maturity in the Holy Spirit as their prime focus, to help others mature in their personal walk with God.

Summary So Far

In summary, from the time of Adam and Eve, God's plan has been to live in relationship with his own people. Since the time of Jesus, the invitation has gone out to the entire world for people to walk in this relationship. God desires this but also requires our complete commitment.

Torah is not to be reduced to a set of ritual dos and don'ts. Above all God desires relationship with us – the principles of Torah are for securing this, not replacing it.

Education God's Way: The Method

Whilst each disciple of Jesus has a personal walk and a promise of the Holy Spirit as our personal teacher, God has also appointed some to be teachers (Eph 4:11). We learn from Deuteronomy 6 that responsibility for Bible teaching is first through the example of parents. Biblical education is primarily to take place in the home – more so than in church!

Other Bible teaching is ordered around this, with the aim of raising up disciples of Jesus to personal responsibility and independence in their walk with God. The exhortation of God to the families of Israel (Deut 6:4-9) is still foundational to the teaching of our children today:

Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The importance of diligence is emphasised here; the minute care that is to be taken to remember, and always be alert to opportunities to teach God's ways. This shows that it is easy to slip into the ways of the world around. We must always remember what God has done in the past, in order to have a straight path into the future.

The goal of Torah, God's educational package, was to bring us to Jesus Messiah.

Education God's Way: The Content

If discipleship is the goal, what then of the content of biblical education? The Book of Proverbs emphasises the three key elements of knowledge, understanding and wisdom. These are three distinct elements usually considered key in any education system.

However, James warned us about demonic counterfeits (James 3:15). There is a wisdom that does not come from God. This is the danger inherent in education systems that are not founded on the Bible and are motivated in other ways (which James would call earthly, sensual and demonic).

Knowledge: Only the Start

Much education in our schools today is knowledge-based and much of it ends there, leaving the application of this knowledge open and vulnerable to the spirit of the age. Our children can be trapped within a system perpetuated by unbiblical objectives that are self-serving and at times dangerous. Thus, knowledge of nuclear power can be put to good use providing heat and light to enhance or lives – or it can be used to make weapons to destroy the world. This is just one illustration.

Knowledge from a biblical perspective, however, is far deeper than factual knowledge. The Hebrew word for 'knowledge' is the same word that describes the relationship between a man and his wife. As we study this we discover that all three of the key elements of biblical education are spiritual in nature. A prayerful reading of the Book of Proverbs will confirm this. So, whether we are speaking of factual knowledge or relational knowledge of God, we are designed and intended to exercise our spiritual nature in its acquisition.

Understanding: Releasing the Potential of Knowledge

But what of understanding? I have been a teacher and educationalist for many years, but it has taken me until recently to get a better grasp of what this is. Many of us use the words knowledge and understanding interchangeably, thinking we have grasped their meaning, but I would suggest there are hidden depths here that we did not realise existed.

Hebrew, the foundational language of the Bible, is verb-orientated: application is always paramount. Knowledge leads to action. One becomes intimate with information and with facts and the natural tendency is to do something as a consequence, to apply knowledge into some form of action or end result.

This is understanding in action, putting together diverse pieces of information to bring about a creative consequence. There is potential in knowledge - understanding releases that potential. How important, therefore, that understanding be properly directed, since the potential of knowledge can be released in so many different ways!

All three key elements of biblical education – knowledge, understanding and wisdom - are spiritual in nature.

Wisdom

Biblical education must develop a Godly mindset, so that our understanding (and therefore our doing) has the right motives. This can only be accomplished through a prayerful walk with God, who alone can lead us to apply what we learn rightly. That is why James says that we should ask God for wisdom in faith, in confidence that God will give it liberally.

The wisdom of God is not only concerned with abstract and spiritual matters. It is also concerned with practical outworking for the ordering of our society. In all ways, practical and spiritual, the goal of education is to fulfil the two Great Commandments: to love God with all our being and our neighbour as ourselves. It is no small thing to teach one another to walk with God in this way and it is clear that education in our nation's schools is likely, in the world as it is, to fall far short of this.

In Conclusion

Returning to the introduction to this article: "Education, education, education" rightly directed is an excellent maxim, but wrongly directed is worldly, blind and potentially dangerous. Surely we are at a period in history when we should consider carefully what God's plan for the education of his people should be, especially our children.

"Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body...here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." (Ecc 12:12-13)

When was the first national referendum in recorded history?

The answer is in Deuteronomy 30, where Moses had in front of him the whole nation of Israel. He knew he was near the end of his life and he called them to make a choice that would have a lasting effect upon the future of the nation. This was the choice he presented: "See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction."

A similar choice is being offered to the British people today, but it is being obscured by a multiplicity of opinion and a paucity of facts. There is grave danger of voter fatigue overtaking the Referendum campaign. We are already on overload with politicians, big business moguls and celebrities bombarding us with their versions of 'facts and figures'. A large portion of the population is still undecided, and is likely to be put off voting by the increasing intensity and nastiness of the debate.

Nasty Debate

The suggestion last week that the whole EU project is being driven by Germany's desire to control Europe under a unified structure, thus completing the work of Napoleon and Hitler, took the debate to a new level of nastiness. Historically, of course, there is a lot to support such a contention. But Germany's remarkable rise from the ashes of defeat and destruction in 1945 to its present prosperity is a demonstration that the Protestant Work Ethic is more powerful than military force.

It may well be Germany's aim to create a 'European Super-State' in which, as the largest economy, she will have the greatest share of power and will be able to dominate the rest of Europe. But our objective in this article is to point to issues that are being bypassed by campaigners on both sides of the debate. These are the spiritual issues at the heart of national identity.

The spiritual issues at the heart of Britain are being bypassed by campaigners on both sides of the debate.

Setting Out a Reminder

What Moses did in the formative days of Israel, in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt, was to remind the people of the spiritual journey that had brought them to this point. He said:

The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh King of Egypt. (Deut 7:7-8)

Moses not only reminded the people of the good things that God had done in the days of their forefathers, but he also reminded them of the teaching they had been given, including the 10 Commandments, setting out the standard of behaviour required if they were to continue enjoying God's blessing. He stated clearly the blessings of being in a right relationship with God and the inevitable consequences of forsaking God.

Each of these is clearly stated in Deuteronomy 28:16-29. In politics Moses said that disobedience would lead to "confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to" (28:20) and his final point in terms of relationships with other nations was: "you will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you" (28:29).

When Israel came out of Egypt, Moses reminded the people of the spiritual journey that had brought them to that point – and God's goodness to them along the way.

Reviewing Our Spiritual Heritage

Of course, we cannot compare our own nation with that of Israel. Britain was never chosen by God to be in a covenant relationship. But as a nation, historically, we have chosen to accept the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to be our God: and this is sealed in our Coronation Oath.

The status of adopted children is freely available to each one of us through faith in Jesus and this has been influential in the history of our nation. Under Greco-Roman Law, adopted children actually had closer ties to the father than putative children. They could not be reclaimed by their biological parents and they could never be rejected by their adoptive father.

Paul obviously knew this law when he told the believers in Ephesus (Gentiles and Jews) that God had "predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ" (Eph 1:5). He also wrote to the Galatians that God had sent Jesus so that Gentiles "might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out 'Abba, Father'." (Gal 4:6)

The Referendum debate gives us the opportunity of reviewing our spiritual heritage. We are a small nation and yet we have had the immense privilege of establishing the largest empire in world history that is now a commonwealth of free nations. Of course we must not overlook the many wrong things we did in the days of empire and colonialism, especially by tolerating and benefiting from the horrors of the slave trade.

But there were many good things our forefathers did in health and education and in opposing tyranny in countries that are now free to work out their own destinies. We can also thank God for the way he has blessed and protected our nation when he saved us from invasion in World War II, even though we stood alone against aggression.

The Referendum debate gives us the opportunity of reviewing our spiritual heritage.

Choose Life!

Moses urged his fledgeling nation to review their history and to re-affirm their relationship with God. He said "I have set before you life and death...Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him" (Deut 30:19-20).

Voting to leave the EU will not in itself bring peace and prosperity to Britain. But re-affirming a determination to seek a right relationship with God will undoubtedly bring an era of blessing. The great unknown is whether the faithful remnant of believers in Britain in the older generation and the rising tide of young people who are accepting Jesus as role model, Saviour and Lord, have sufficient strength to inspire the nation to embark upon a great adventure of faith.

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

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

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

Examples of the Prophets' Patience

1. Job

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

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

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

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

2. Abraham

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

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

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

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

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

3. Moses

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Simeon

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Written Prophets Teach Patient Waiting

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

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

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

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

Areas in Which a Prophet's Patience is Tested

The areas in which prophetic testing takes place are:

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

No 'Instant' Patience

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

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

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

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

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

God's character is unchangeable and absolutely dependable; this we learn through his covenants with his people. It is the task of the prophet to be an agent of God's covenant promises - but what does that mean?

The God whom the prophets of Israel proclaim is a God of order and settled purpose. There is nothing haphazard or uncertain about him. He is unchangeable and in consequence absolutely dependable. This attribute of his character is demonstrated by the way in which he relates himself to people, either as groups or as individuals (but always for the benefit of the whole), by means of covenants.

This is underlined by the division of the Christian scriptures into two sections that we call the Old and New Testaments (or, alternatively, covenants). An important aspect of the ministry of the prophet in the Bible as a whole and in the church of today is that of being agents of the covenant.

The Lord is the God of order and settled purpose. There is nothing haphazard or uncertain about him.

All Biblical Covenants Spring from the Divine Initiative

God's Covenant with Noah

When God decided that the whole of mankind had corrupted itself beyond redemption and must be destroyed by a flood, he said to Noah, "But I will establish my covenant with you, and you (and your family) will enter the ark" (Gen 6:18). After the flood had come and gone God spoke again to Noah and said, "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you...never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life" (Gen 9:9, 15).

This covenant was conceived by God himself. It was universal in its scope, unconditional in its nature, and formulated entirely at God's initiative. Man had no part in it, except to enter the ark. In his second letter Peter draws his readers' attention to the flood of Noah, saying "the world of that time was deluged and destroyed...the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment" (2 Pet 3:16-17).

An important aspect of the ministry of the prophet in the Bible and today is that of being agents of God's covenant.

Part of the solemn responsibility of today's prophets is to declare the coming destruction of the heavens and earth, when the very elements will melt in its heat. The tragedy of Chernobyl illustrates this ancient prediction. But the ultimate outcome of God's covenant is to be "a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness" (2 Pet 3:13).

God's Covenant with Abraham

The Hebrew word berith, which is translated 'covenant' in the Old Testament, means 'to cut' and gives rise to the expression 'cutting a covenant'. In order to confirm his covenant with Abram God told him to bring sacrificial animals and birds, to cut the animals in half and to arrange the birds opposite one another, leaving a path between the sacrifices. After dark that evening "a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram" (Gen 15:17-18).

In the more usual and secular use of this covenant-cutting ceremony, the two parties would have walked together between the divided animals. In effect they would be saying, "I would rather die like these offerings than break my word" (Jer 34:18). But this further illustration shows that in the matter of covenants the initiative is always with God. Abram did not walk between the pieces - he was sound asleep - but was assured of the divine promises to him through seeing God (symbolised by fire) pass through the sacrificial offerings.

God promised Abram possession of the land of Canaan, the multiplic¬ation of his descendants, and the blessing of all families of the earth through his seed (Gen 12:2-3, 15:18, 17:8). The sign of this covenant was circumcision, and those who refused it would lose their share of the blessings God had covenanted to Abram's descendants. But his promise would be fulfilled in perpetuity. God's purpose concerning the people and the land still holds good today, even though centuries have elapsed since the promise was made.

God promised Abram and his descendants possession of the land of Canaan, and this promise still holds good today.

God's Covenant with Moses and Israel

It was when the Children of Israel were in captivity in Egypt that God renewed his covenant with them through Moses. "I have heard the groanings of the Israelites...and I have remembered my covenant...I will take you as my own people...and I will bring you to the land I swore to give to Abraham" (Ex 6:5-8). It was not because the Children of Israel pleased their God that he gave them such wonderful promises, but because he loved them and had determined to save them (Deut 7:7-9).

As Moses commented, "He is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands" (Deut 7:9). At Sinai Moses ascended the mountain to hear God say, "I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now, if you will obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession" (Ex 19:4-5). But certain demands were made of those God had chosen as his special people. They were to be holy, just as he is holy, and they were to be obedient to all his requirements as laid down in the book of the Covenant (Lev 19:2; Ex 24:7-8).

When God renewed his covenant with the Children of Israel through Moses, he gave them wonderful promises and also laid out his demands for them as his chosen people.

Part of Israel's obligation to God in response to his sovereign activity on their behalf was to observe the sabbath: "The Israelites are to observe the sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant" (Ex 31:16).

God's Covenant with David

On one occasion, when at war with King Jeroboam of Israel, King Abijah of Judah expressed his understanding of the divine purpose to his adversary by saying, "Don't you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants for ever by a covenant of salt?" (2 Chron 13:5). Salt, specified for use with all the Levitical sacrifices, stands for permanence and incorruption. hence its use here to stress the unending reign of David and his descendants.

In its ultimate reference, the covenant with David is Messianic. For the Messiah is to be the embodiment of the covenant, as is expressed by Isaiah when he said, "I will make you to be a covenant for the people" (Is 42:6; 49:8). Jesus is the one in whom all the promises of God are "Yes!" (1 Cor 1:20).

God's Covenant with Levi

Scripture contains no record of any covenant with Levi, but Jeremiah and Malachi do contain references to such an accord. "If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night...then my covenant with David my servant - and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me - can be broken" (Jer 33:20-21).

According to Malachi, "'I have sent you this admonition so that my covenant with Levi may continue,' says the Lord Almighty. 'My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him'" (Mal 2:4-5). "But you have turned from the way and...violated the covenant with Levi" (Mal 2:8).

God's covenant with David emphasised permanence and incorruption, and heralded the coming Messiah who would embody all God's promises.

As is the case with all the foregoing examples of biblical covenants when God's people or his chosen individuals violate his covenant, judgment falls on the covenant-breakers, but his covenant promises stand firm.

God's Covenant with His Prophets Today

We live at a time when many of the promises of Scripture have already been fulfilled. One such fulfilment was the arrival of the forerunner, 'my messenger' (Mal 3:1), in the person of John the Baptist. It was immediately followed by the appearance of the King himself, the One for whom all had been looking. Before he was crucified, Jesus explained what was going to happen to him when he spoke of the blood of the covenant at the institution of the Lord's Supper.

We have seen examples of a covenant being established by the shedding of blood, and rejoice that the death of Jesus releases God's promises to all mankind. But there are millions of people in all parts of the world who still do not know that God has fulfilled all his intentions and that eternal salvation is available for all who believe.

This is what makes God's covenant gift - the Holy Spirit and the word of God to his church - so important. "'As for me, this is my covenant with them' says the Lord. 'My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever,' says the Lord" (Is 59:21).

Millions of people around the world still do not know about the eternal salvation available to them – which is why God's covenant gifts to the Church of his Holy Spirit and his word are so important.

Tasks of the Agents of the Covenant of God

1. To Proclaim the Covenant Purposes of God, Past and Present

As God's agents proclaim his purposes today, they will be able to ensure that his people do not pin their hopes on human effort but on the sovereign, unfailing power of the Almighty. So many churches now seem to be operating on a purely human level instead of manifesting the mighty power of God, which is his covenant gift to us and to all believers. They should be listening to and appropriating for their use the very words of God himself.

2. To Encourage and Correct God's People as the Prophets Did

God's agents can find help in fulfilling their task today, as they study their predecessors' obligations under the first covenant. Their role was:

• to remind the people of God that Jehovah's is an everlasting covenant (Is 55:3; 61:8; Jer 32:40). The final verse states. "I will never stop doing them good."
• to reassure God's people that they will never cease to be a nation before him. "He who appoints the sun to shine by day...the moon and stars to shine by night...the Lord Almighty is his name: only if these decrees vanish from my sight will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me" (Jer 31:35-36).
• to tell them that God is with his people. "This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear" (Hag 2:5).
• to require that the Lord's people face up to the demands and duties of the covenant. "The Lord said to me, 'Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem: listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them'" (Jer 11:6).
• to blow God's trumpet as a reproof to his people for breaking the divine covenant and thereby despising his oath (Is 24:5; Hos 8:1; Ezek 16:59, 17:19).

As well as speaking to the people for their good, the agents of the covenant played their prophetic role fully by interceding for them and by speaking to God on their behalf. "Remember your covenant with us and do not break it" (Jer 14:21). There is no better place nor more suitable an occasion to meditate on the blood of the covenant than at the Lord's Supper. This is where Jesus operated as the chief agent of God's covenant when he said, "This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many" (Mark 14:24).

God had remembered his holy covenant, as Zechariah had prophesied (Luke 1:72). All that had gone before finds its fulfilment at the holy table. There is no place for chance or uncertainty in our God's way of working. What he plans he carries out. How reassuring and worthwhile it is to be his agents!

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 6, No 4, July/August 1990.

Our God is a covenant-keeping God. But what do all the covenants in Scripture mean for Christians today?

Having spent several weeks considering the separation of the Christian Church from its Jewish roots, we move on this week to look at the fruitfulness that becomes evident when we recover our rooting. In this study we consider the most important principle, handed down through the nation of Israel: the Covenant with the One True God.

One New Man

When it comes to connecting back into the true roots of our faith and bearing fruit as a consequence, where do we start? One of the starting points, as discussed in a previous study, has to be Romans 11 - the unifying metaphor of the olive tree wherein there is one body of believers - some grafted in, being unnatural branches. That's one starting point. Another is Ephesians 2:12-22:

...at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

In this brief passage of the Bible many themes intertwine. There is the principle of the one new man, which expresses the unity that God intends among the body of his people. Originally, that body was the nation Israel - called out from the world for God's purposes. Into that covenant body come Gentiles, by faith in Jesus.

This raises many new questions, especially where the passage talks about abolishing an enmity in the flesh of Jesus. What is that enmity? What was it that happened on the cross in order that there could be reconciliation within him of people from all nations? Did it take away the Old Testament and bring in the New? Did it take away teachings that had failed, in order to replace them with teachings that would succeed, or should we look more deeply behind the scenes of these challenging verses to see just what is happening?

Living Temple, United Body

God did not suddenly take away the scriptures of what we call the Old Testament - those precious scriptures that the Hebrew people call the Tanakh, the scriptures of the Covenant Nation even before Jesus came to this earth. He did not take them away but instead made them a foundation for what would follow. He did take away the division that was in the Temple whereby Gentiles could not enter in. He made himself the cornerstone of the new and living Temple – his people.

Jesus did not abolish the Old Testament scriptures but instead made them a foundation for what would follow.

The metaphors merge and interchange as we try to imagine the picture of a united body with Jesus at the centre, bringing in the New Covenant. We must understand what this means. Even though the word 'New' is used, it is still a part of one continuing plan of God. In fulfilment of all the covenant principles he is bringing together one family from all the nations – it is a family and a community. This is the one new man to whom he has given the Holy Spirit so that we might all come into that unity.

Identity Crisis

These are important principles for us to consider carefully, but which also shed light on an identity crisis in the Christian Church. Who are we? We must look beyond both the historical Jewish response and the historical Christian response to reassess this, whilst also restoring our understanding of the relationship between the Church and Israel. There is much to learn and relearn from the life and history of the Jewish people to be put into the context of our scriptures.

The 'New' Covenant is part of God's continuing plan to bring together one unified, Holy Spirit-filled family from all nations.

We are seeking an authentic, biblical response to who we are as the Covenant People of God – one that unites Jews who have accepted Yeshua as Messiah with believers from the Gentile world, into One New Man. Let us look for a biblical response for that unifying purpose of God in our day, and then we can begin perhaps to bear the fruit of which we are talking.

The Covenant Purpose of God

There are at least five main aspects of God's covenant purposes in Scripture. That may seem strange to those who think there is just an old covenant and a new covenant – a two-stage plan. That is a misconception. Indeed, the word covenant is not just used once or twice in Scripture - it is used over and over again. Just as God has many facets to his character, so different aspects of his covenant purposes were given at different times and with different emphases. Within these different emphases, there is one overriding purpose.

United Community

There is a sense in which the covenant purposes of God began before the creation of the world. God had covenant principles in his heart at the time of the creation of the universe, when he created people like you and me. Indeed, before Creation there was a family and a community of angels in heaven. The created order became an extension of God's kingdom, not an entity on its own.

We do not know all there is to know about angels and demons, nor do we know everything about the oneness of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There was a fall of angels – we know that from Scripture. Satan leads a legion of fallen angels – we know that too and feel its impact in the world today. There are also worshipping angels - a community in Heaven. The scriptures begin with what seems to be a plural word for the One God (Elohim is a Hebraic plural). Father, Son and Holy Spirit existed together in community - the most united community possible - before creation.

God's covenant purposes began before the creation of the world – the created order became an extension of his kingdom, not a separate entity.

We see in this sense of united community the deep purpose of God that transcends even the created universe and the time that it will exist. There is a greater purpose here - a greater end God has had in view since before creation – than most of us have realised. It is greater than the 'Old' covenant with Moses and greater than anything that we have experienced on this earth.

Covenant Principle 1: Life and Provision Until the End of Days

The first easily identifiable covenant references in the Bible come at the time of Noah. At the time of Adam and Eve there was a fall but God did not intend this to be permanent. All mankind came into this fallen situation and, indeed, men and women went further and further from God until, at the time of Noah, came the judgment of God. A catastrophic flood shows us what the consequences of sin really are, but all was not lost - even then. God made a covenant with Noah which appears in Genesis 6:18 and 9:9:

But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark - you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female...

God promised that there would never be a flood of this proportion again. Mankind should have changed after Noah - we might have expected Noah to start a new generation who would no longer sin. That is not the case; the case is that mankind's sins have equaled those of people before the flood, but God had made a covenant promise. He had promised that never again would he wipe out mankind with a flood. So, despite sin, the covenant remains.

Since the flood, mankind's sins have equaled those of people before – but God's covenant promise to never flood the earth again remains.

Perhaps we can begin to feel the sad heart of God as we consider these things. Here is God who is absolutely pure and holy - a holiness we have never experienced in our own lives, absolutely clean and pure - nevertheless, promising that he will overlook sin to a certain degree, preserving the earth, and for a certain purpose, namely to complete the whole covenant plan.

Later he told Noah and his family that there would be seed time and harvest, winter, spring and summer - all the seasons will come and go, and there will be food on the earth for all generations - it will be a place in which you can live until the end of time. There will be an end, and there is coming a new heaven and a new earth, but in the meanwhile - that promise is part of God's overall covenant plan.

Covenant Principle 2: God's Unconditional, Costly Commitment to Us

The next easily identifiable focus on the covenant is at the time of Abraham. In Genesis 17 we read:

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.

As we study the covenant made with Abraham, we see cost. There is the cost of the animals - the covenant was cut and blood was shed. It was a great commitment done in a very dramatic way. God overshadowed Abraham who was in a deep sleep - it was an awesome time that we can picture from the description in the scriptures.

Something new happened in the mystery of God's purposes and Abraham became the central father figure for the covenant from then on. This covenant was unconditional. God swore with an oath as he bound himself to the promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations - not just of one nation, Israel. He gave a promise to Israel, the physical offspring, including a land promise to them.

God bound himself by costly, unconditional oath to make Abraham father of many nations.

This parallels, to some extent, aspects of the covenant with Noah, where there was to be a practical provision from God – a land to live in. Israel, the physical nation, had God's special call until, later, the call went out to all nations to add to those from Israel who lived by faith, making up one Covenant community in fulfilment of the eternal promise to Abraham.

Covenant Principle 3: Our Response and its Consequences

The covenant with Abraham best summarises God's overall covenant purposes - an unconditional, personal commitment from God. The Abrahamic Covenant came before the time of Moses and was set in place before all those further lessons that God taught through him. What God brought through Moses, therefore, is in the context of what he had already promised to Abraham. In Exodus 34 we read:

And He said: "Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst.

God was beginning to call for a response from his people. Already he had made an unconditional statement of what he would do, but now he was drawing forth a response from the Nation of Israel. He was to be their God, the one true God, and they were to have no other gods before him. The conditions of blessing and curse in the land of promise were also given. These conditions did not take away from the overall, unconditional promises of God given through Abraham, but there were now to be consequences for obedience and for disobedience for the nation.

The covenant God brought through Moses was in the context of that brought through Abraham. It did not take away from those unconditional promises, but added in consequences for obedience and disobedience.

We are all to learn from this, not just Israel. Through Israel we learn that we cannot achieve righteousness through our own efforts. That is why he called Israel – to be a representative nation, knowing God's righteous laws. Sin still needs a remedy. Laws will not be enough. Israel as a whole failed just as we would fail, but nevertheless, God has made Israel special and will not forsake them even though they failed.

Covenant Principle 4: Salvation from David's Line

A fourth stage in the outworking of the covenant plan comes at the time of David. Psalm 89 is a very relevant passage for this:

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, "Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens. I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: 'Your seed I will establish forever, And build up your throne to all generations'.

Here we see the relevance of covenant again, a covenant made with the line of David, promising a future king. We later understand that the seed is the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Yeshua Ha-Mashiach.

It is not the first time we see this prophecy. Jacob prophesied over Judah and foresaw the coming of the Messiah. Other Messianic promises are scattered through Scripture. In fact, as we read Scripture we see that it all ultimately points to Jesus. Nevertheless, here, in very clear detail, a covenant is made with David. There will be a king who will come from the nation of Israel, the tribe of Judah and from the line of David.

Covenant Principle 5: A Covenant by Faith

The need of mankind was shown through Israel's reaction to God's covenant through Moses. The heart of mankind was shown - the heart of fallen man, studied through the history of this small nation Israel. God's purposes are stated clearly through Moses in the laws and principles by which a people should live.

Another way had to be revealed, because even when they know right from wrong, people will fail because of their sinful nature. Therefore, with the covenant promise to Abraham in mind, a better provision was made. It was promised through Jeremiah - in Jeremiah 31:

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.

The term 'new covenant' is first written here, as a promise to Israel and Judah. The context of Ephesians 2 is Jeremiah 31. God centred the New Covenant on Israel, sealing his family as those who will live by faith in Jesus the Messiah. Those who came to faith from the Gentile world join an already-existing community of faith going back to Abraham. The word 'new' refers to a new way that God will make sure that he has a people according to the promise he made with Abraham and according to the provision for the ongoing lifespan of this earth he made through Noah.

The context of the 'New' Covenant is the fulfilment of the 'Old' Covenant: God is providing a new way to bring together his covenant people according to the promise made to Abraham.

One Overarching Plan

God is calling one people out. He did not give up on mankind when Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, but kept going with what he purposed - and because he purposes it he sealed it with a covenant and an oath made most profoundly to Abraham, which then overarches all of history, so that all who will can be gathered into this one covenant family.

In our day we need to look at this and rediscover who we are as we look back to where we separated from our roots – and as we look forward to the repair work to be done, as well as to our witness to a world that needs to know who God's people are.

We do not join the covenant family through the rituals of Judaism, but by faith. Indeed, the rituals of religion in and of themselves do not ensure membership of the community of God. Nevertheless, the root of our faith was manifest first in the faithful of Israel and we receive their heritage when we join the one family. In Isaiah 66 we read:

I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem," says the Lord, "as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites," says the Lord.

Surely the sign referred to in this passage was the sign of Messiah's coming. After that came the gathering from all nations. Israel was still in the heart of God, central to the covenant community - without compromise to his principles - together with those from the nations who would come in by faith.

Every Tribe and Tongue

The final picture of the covenant is in Revelation 7 where we see some from every tribe and tongue - among them some from every tribe of Israel, and then some from all the tribes of the world. That is the end point of the covenant promise, when all are gathered into that one family.

All are gathered around the throne worshipping the Saviour, Jesus the Christ, Yeshua Ha-Mashiach. Through our studies we must understand that only in him is the unity that identifies who we are, the covenant people of God.

The final picture of covenant is the whole family of God, gathered around the throne worshipping the Saviour. Only in Jesus is true covenant unity to be found.

For Reflection and Comment

How is God's covenant with Abraham to be seen as one integrated whole into which Gentiles can also be called by faith?

How are we to see God's covenant with Israel in the light of his overarching covenant purposes that pre-date creation itself?

Next time: Torah Foundations

Series note: 'CIJ' (Christianity, Israel and the Jews) is a study series about the relationship between the Church and its Hebraic heritage.

Moses prophesied that a prophet like himself would one day be raised up by the Lord. This prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus – but does it end there?

It was Moses who prophesied that the Lord would raise up a prophet like himself, a prophet descended from the race of Israel who would be given God's words to proclaim. As one authorised to speak in God's name he would do so with divine authority, and God promised that he would punish anyone who refused to obey his message.

This provision was made when, on Mount Sinai, the people begged Moses that they would not again have to listen to God himself or to behold his fiery presence. God commended them for this request and promised instead that he would raise up in their nation a prophet who would mediate God's word to them (Deut 18:16-19).

God's Alternative to the Occult

The promise to send another prophet like Moses was (and is) given as an alternative to seeking guidance and help through witchcraft and spiritualism:

Don't let your people practise divination or look for omens or use spells or charms, and don't let them consult the spirits of the dead. The Lord your God hates people who do these disgusting things...in the land you are to occupy, people follow the advice of those who practise divination and look for omens, but the Lord your God does not allow you to do this. Instead, he will send you a prophet like me...and you are to obey him (Deut 18:10-15).

God's views do not change with the passing of time. He is still absolutely opposed to witchcraft, spiritism and any other kind of occult practices. Those who do these things arouse his anger. Such steps are in any case, unnecessary for his people because he has made provision for their guidance and well-being through the prophet like Moses.

God's Promise Fulfilled

The promise of God to send a prophet like Moses was fulfilled in two ways. Every time a prophet emerged in the course of Israel's history he would be seen to be the fulfilment of God's promise through Moses, even if only partially. Speaking to those who had witnessed the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, Peter referred to God's promise of a prophet like Moses and saw its fulfilment in "all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken" (Acts 3:22-24).

An oft-repeated question down the years was, "Are you the prophet?", the question that was asked concerning John the Baptist and Jesus himself (John 1:21-25, Matt 16:14).

None of the succession of prophets that brought God's word to Israel down the years completely fulfilled Moses' promise - until the coming of Jesus. They spoke the words God gave them to speak, but he was the word, the complete speaking forth of the word of God. "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in many ways, but in these last times he has spoken to us by his Son..." (Heb 1:1-2).

None of the prophets through the years completely fulfilled Moses' promise – until Jesus. The prophets spoke the words of God - he WAS the Word of God.

After the crowd had witnessed the miraculous feeding of 5000 people they drew the conclusion, "Surely this is the prophet who is to come into the world" (John 6:14). The sermons preached to the early church show that Peter and Stephen believed that Jesus was the complete fulfilment of God's promise to raise up a prophet like Moses (Acts 3:22-23; 7:37).

Jesus is Like Moses

There are a number of fascinating parallels between the life of Moses and that of Jesus. Their young lives were spared in infancy (Ex 2:9-10; Matt 2:13-14). They both renounced a royal court to share their brothers' sufferings (Acts 7:22-23; Phil 2:6-8). Both were said to be meek (Num 12:3; Matt 11:29). Both were said to be faithful (Heb 3:2). Both were men with the compassion of a shepherd (Num 27:17; Matt 9:36). Each had the supreme privilege of beholding the face of God (2 Cor 3:7-13; John 1:18).

They were the ministers of covenants (Deut 29:12; Heb 8:6). Their ministry was to reveal God's will to his people (Deut 6:1; Matt 5:21-48) but where his will had been rejected both had a mighty ministry of intercession on behalf of those people (Deut 9:18-19; Heb 5:7 and 7:25).

Those with a prophetic ministry today do well to cultivate the qualities revealed in this summary of the characteristics of Moses and, supremely, those of the "greater than Moses" (Heb 3:3). Among the prophets heard today there are too many who have forgotten the warning "if I have no love my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell" (1 Cor 13:1).

There are many fascinating parallels between the lives of Jesus and Moses, including character qualities that those with a prophetic ministry today would do well to imitate.

Jesus Spoke Only God's Words

The most important characteristic of 'the prophet like Moses' that the Lord promised to raise up for his people is this: "I will put my words in his mouth and he will tell them everything I command him" (Deut 18:18).

Jesus claimed that the initiative in his speaking always came from the Father, and that he never opened his mouth to say what he wanted to say: "I do nothing on my own initiative but I speak these things as the Father taught me" (John 8:28). "For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the Father himself who sent me has given me commandment, what to say and what to speak" (NAS) or, as the NIV helpfully translates, "what to say and how to say it".

If it is still true that "man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matt 4:4) (and we can be sure that the Lord has not changed his ideas on the subject), then we must face up to the fact that the well-being of God's people depends upon their regular attention to his word, spoken through his prophetic messengers.

It is still true that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word from the mouth of God. The well-being of God's people depends on their regular attention to his word.

How tragic that so many of the Lord's people have dished up every Sunday the latest theories and ideas currently being circulated in their particular group of churches; the experience and theories of their leadership or the latest humanistic conclusions of their Bible critics. God's people need his word spoken in the power of his Spirit, for there is no hope of their spiritual growth if this element is missing from their diet.

Jesus is THE Prophet

Although Moses' promise that God would raise up a prophet like him was partially fulfilled in the prophets subsequently sent to Israel and Judah, it was not until the coming of Jesus that Moses' promise was finally fulfilled. Those who heard him and watched what he was able to do came to the unanimous conclusion that he was THE promised prophet.

When Jesus raised the son of the widow of Nain from death: "They were all filled with awe and praised God. 'A great prophet has appeared among us' they said" (Luke 7:16). When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey "the whole city was stirred and asked 'Who is this?' The crowds answered 'This is Jesus the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee'" (Matt 21:10-11).

After Jesus' crucifixion two disconsolate followers journeying to Emmaus nevertheless said of him: "He was a prophet powerful in word and deed before God and all the people" (Luke 24:19). Later on a New Testament writer compares and contrasts Moses and Jesus. He declares them both to have been faithful but expresses the difference between them: "Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house...but Christ is faithful as a son over God's house" (Heb 3:5-6).

Proclaiming God's Standards

If we ask the question 'What is a prophet?' we find many aspects calling for attention in order to reach a complete definition. One aspect which stands out in any study of Moses or Jesus as examples of what a prophet should be is that they took a courageous stand for God's standards. One answer to the question 'What is a prophet?' must therefore be 'someone who makes God's will known and who makes obedience possible'.

God's laws are not designed to make life as miserable as possible but to open our lives to the fullness of his blessing. Hear the heartbeat of God in the words: "Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!" (Deut 5:29).

God's laws are not designed to make life as miserable as possible, but to open our lives to the fullness of his blessing.

Prophets Like Moses Today

If a knowledge of God's standards and his will are the secret of his blessing in the church and in society as a whole, where are we to find those authorised to get the message over? There were prophets in the early church (e.g. Acts 11:28, 13:1-2, 15:32, 21:10). They were not office-bearers limited to one Christian community, neither were they elected to office or set apart by an ecclesiastical ceremony; they simply received a word from God and then proceeded to speak it wherever he sent them. They came and went as the Spirit moved them. The local church was required to test them and then to receive or reject their message.

The picture of these wandering prophets, unburdened by pastoral duties and uninvolved in ecclesiastical responsibilities, coming into a fellowship, speaking what God had given them to say and then departing elsewhere is one we need to recover today; that is, if we have the courage so to do.

Moses Spoke to the Nations

The word ecclesia is used in the Greek version of the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 18:16, where Moses refers to the 'church' of his day. What he said, however, was intended not just for a restricted community, but also, for all mankind.

In Old Testament days Nathan spoke to King David about his treatment of Bathsheba's husband (2 Sam 12:1-15); Elijah spoke about the way King Ahab and Queen Jezebel had appropriated Naboth's vineyard (1 Kings 21:17-29); Amos addressed the pampered women of Samaria who caused their husbands to oppress the poor so that they could sleep on ivory beds, over-eat and spend a fortune on beauty preparations (Amos 4:1 and 6:4-6); and Jonah was told to rebuke Nineveh (Jonah 1:2).

We accept that Old Testament prophets spoke the word of the Lord to rulers, cities and nations. Why then do prophets today operate almost exclusively in Christian circles?

In New Testament times, John the Baptist not only sought to prepare the hearts of the faithful for the coming Messiah but also rebuked Herod Antipas for his immorality and gave guidance to soldiers and tax-collectors (Luke 3:12-14, 19). We accept that Old Testament prophets spoke the word of the Lord to rulers, cities and nations. Why then are New Testament prophets today operating almost exclusively in Christian circles? In their day Chrysostom and Ambrose did not hesitate to speak God's word to emperors and others in authority. May God raise up prophets like Moses who will fearlessly declare God's standards to our rebellious, sick world.

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 4 No 2, March/April 1988.