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A physician identifies the source of true healing

The promise of a new covenant

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Choosing the way of the world or the way of the Lord. 

Jeremiah's insight into the Father's heart.

“I myself said, ‘How gladly would I treat you like sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation’. I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me. But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 3:19-20)

This is another lament expressing the grief in God’s heart as he reflects on the history of the people of Israel, from the time he made a covenant with Moses, drawing together the tribes of Israel into a special relationship with himself.

That special relationship was, “I will be your God and you will be my people”, and from that time they became a family created by God, with a beautiful land in which to live together with a rich inheritance. Every true family has a father to whom they look for love, protection and provision. In the same way, God expected the people of Israel, his family, to regard him as their Father, so that he could treat them like sons.

Sadly, they had turned away from the truth that he had presented to Moses for their health and security, and to enable them to follow him so that he could work out his purposes for the world through them. Israel had never been faithful: they had never fully put their trust in God and, like an adulterous marriage partner, they had been unfaithful to him, causing untold grief in God’s heart.

Idolatrous, Unfaithful Israel

This is what Jeremiah discerned in his times of entering into the council of the Lord and he broke entirely new theological ground in daring to put words into God’s mouth, “I thought you would call me ‘Father’” (v19).

None of Jeremiah’s forebears – the 8^th-Century-BC writing prophets such as Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Nahum – would have dared to make such a statement. Priests and prophets alike in pre-exilic Israel/Judah all avoided the word ‘Father’ in relation to God, because of their fear of idolatry. The Canaanites had introduced Israel to the Baals (local gods who supposedly owned the land) as the fathers of the people, who had to be worshipped in order to produce the fruits of the soil upon which the people depended for their sustenance.

Jeremiah broke new theological ground in daring to put words into God’s mouth, “I thought you would call me ‘Father’”.

Many of the local shrines, under groups of trees or on high places in the countryside, were occupied by altars to Baal. For the sake of peace and harmony, many of the priests of Israel and Judah practised at these shrines, offering thanksgiving to the God of Israel but also paying respect to the local Baal. It was against this practice that Amos was sent to protest at Bethel, where Amaziah ordered him to leave:

Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. Don’t prophesy any more at Bethel, because this is the King’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom. (Amos 7:12-13)

Jeremiah saw exactly the same thing happening in the countryside of Judah that had been denounced by Amos: the mixing of Baal worship with the worship of the God of Israel. He spelt out his complaint in one of his earliest statements: “As a thief is disgraced when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced – they, their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets. They say to wood, ‘You are my father’, and to stone, ‘you gave me birth'” (Jer 2:27).

The Abomination of Syncretism

Jeremiah continued this theme when explaining why there was a drought covering the land of Judah in the late 7^th Century BC (this has enabled us to date this pronouncement to early in Jeremiah’s ministry): “You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen” (Jer 3:3).

In the next verse he spelled out the theological error that was being encouraged by priests and prophets: “Have you not just called me: ‘My Father, my friend from my youth, will you always be angry? Will your wrath continue for ever?’ This is how you talk, but you do all the evil you can”.

In these words, you can feel the horror that Jeremiah was experiencing, perhaps reflecting his own suffering at the hands of his father, brothers and sisters, who had publicly denounced him and were even threatening his life. He saw the people, and probably some priests from his own family, officiating at the shrines on the high places where they were actually offering sacrifices to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, on an altar dedicated to Baal.

Jeremiah’s horror at what God was experiencing was reflected in his own suffering at the hands of his family.

It was the abomination of people publicly acknowledging a pagan god as the father of the nation that Jeremiah found almost beyond description. It caused him so much grief because he himself had come into such an intimate relationship with God, the Creator of the universe, who was the true Father of the nation of Israel and his own precious Heavenly Father.

Our Father in Heaven

Jeremiah was the first in the history of Israel to recognise the Fatherhood of God. None of the pre-exilic writings in the history of Israel mention it; the other references are all post-exilic, such as Isaiah 63:16 and 64:7, and Malachi 2:10.

This is why Jeremiah was such a theological giant. Not only was he the first to recognise the Fatherhood of God, he was also the first to hear God’s plan to create a new covenant relationship with the houses of Israel and Judah (Jer 31:31) that would one day be extended to people of all nations through Messiah Jesus.

This is why there is such affinity between the ministry of Jeremiah and the ministry of Jesus, who sometimes quoted Jeremiah word for word, such as when he said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest your souls” (Matthew 11:29, from Jeremiah 6:16). Much of John’s Gospel is about the Fatherhood of God, first revealed to Jeremiah, especially Jesus’ teaching at the Last Supper (John 13-17), which centres around his statement, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

Jeremiah’s Personal Anguish

It may have been because of Jeremiah’s own experience of rejection by his own family, and the intense sorrow that this brought to him, that he was able to perceive the depth of suffering in God’s heart at his own ‘covenant people’ being so unfaithful to him. Jeremiah’s personal anguish came tumbling out of his mouth a number of times when, in mid-flow, he was describing the terrible consequences to the people of Israel of deliberately turning away from God and forfeiting his covering of protection.

Not only was Jeremiah the first to recognise the Fatherhood of God, he was also the first to hear God’s plan to create a new covenant with Israel, and with all nations.

A good example of this is Jeremiah 15:10 where, in the midst of describing what was going to happen to Jerusalem, he suddenly broke off and proclaimed, “Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth, a man with whom the whole land strives and contends! I have neither lent nor borrowed yet everyone curses me.” In the very next verse, Jeremiah returned to the theme of declaring God’s willingness to protect his people from disaster and drive out their enemies, if they would only repent and return to him.

It is Jeremiah’s own close relationship with God, reflected in his affliction even more than in his bold and fearless declarations of the word of God, which makes his teaching of such value for us today. He reflects to us the grief in God’s heart at those who have his truth but deliberately reject his word, thereby forfeiting the wonderful benefits of God’s loving intention to treat us as precious sons and daughters in his own special family.

This article is part of a series. Click here to read other instalments.

Official EU policy has been to sacrifice Israel for oil

The secret is out. Britain has been locked into an anti-Israel agreement ever since we first entered Europe in the early 1970s – a policy likely to consign us to the dust of history.

But a successful Brexit could allow us to repair the damage.

Writing for Heart newspaper,¹ which circulates in churches throughout the south of England, film-maker Hugh Kitson has revealed the real reason for the mess we’re in over Europe.

In a devastating article, he says that Britain, along with its European allies, has effectively sacrificed Israel on the altar of expedience and economic survival.

By signing up to the so-called Euro-Arab Dialogue (EAD), we capitulated to the Arab political agenda in exchange for oil, literally allowing the rich Arab nations to hold us ‘over a barrel’.

Economic Blackmail

The historical background to this little-known arrangement was Arab frustration at Israel’s resilience in surviving a succession of wars against the odds. Having failed yet again to defeat Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, they dispensed with brute force in exchange for undermining the political will of the West by imposing an oil embargo.

This led to severe restrictions that brought Britain to its knees, as a result of which European countries led by France agreed to the EAD agenda which ensured that Israel – the Middle East’s only democracy (holding elections again on Tuesday) – would have her actions and borders constantly challenged.

Shockingly, we agreed further that Islam and its human rights abuses could not be criticised, while Muslim immigration into European society was to be welcomed.

The EAD has changed shape over the years, but has continued to meet to this day; its most recent gathering, in February, was attended by Theresa May.

By signing up to the so-called Euro-Arab Dialogue (EAD), we capitulated to the Arab political agenda in exchange for oil.

Distortion and Deception

Hugh Kitson writes: “This explains the anti-Israel bias in the Western media, which leads to a completely distorted view of the Arab-Israeli conflict…”

See Photo Credits.And he adds: “This policy is obligatory on member states of the EU to this day if they are to have favourable economic relations with the Arab world. Basically, the European nations decided that there has to be a Palestinian state with ‘East Jerusalem’ as its capital, no matter what, even if it means the demise of the Jewish state.”

The push for a so-called ‘two-state solution’ has been part of this mantra for years. Yet it flies in the face of international acknowledgement of Israel’s right to the land, particularly through the San Remo Treaty of 1920, and brazenly provokes the judgment of God, who states in his word: “When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and…enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land” (Joel 3:2).

So it seems that our 45-year dalliance with Europe has been marked by deception – not only that the liaison was never intended to be more than a trade agreement, but also over Middle East foreign policy, which the electorate will have trusted the Government to enact in good faith and for the benefit of both parties.

But this has clearly never been the case with Israel, whom we have betrayed – not once, not twice, but three times. First, we reneged on our 1917 pledge to prepare a home for them in their ancient land; then we refused immigration to many who were desperately trying to flee Nazi-occupied Europe and now, we discover to our horror, we have been sacrificing them relentlessly to the god of oil.

Deliberate Policy

Such a policy has long been suspected, as it has effectively been our practice, but it has only now become more widely known that this had been the agreed course of action all along, to which our Government has been committed.

This disgraceful treatment of God’s chosen people has sent us sliding down the slippery slope of godlessness, hopelessness and despair amid the chaos and confusion surrounding Brexit – unless, of course, we see the error of our ways and act upon it.

Our 45-year dalliance with Europe has been marked by deception.

Speaking of the future glory of Zion, the word of God says: “For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined” (Isa 60:12).

Although seen as a means of our short-term economic survival, the reality of the policy we have pursued over Israel is that it will ultimately lead to our destruction. We have cursed rather than blessed them, and will be judged accordingly (see Gen 12:3).

We’ve Lost the Way

And the result is that much of what we see happening in the Middle East is being replicated here – the death of democracy, for instance, seen in the huge crowds descending on London calling for a second referendum because they didn’t like the outcome of the first. They were, of course, reflecting the views of their politicians, foolishly ignoring the will of 17.4 million people.

Another feature of Middle East politics is the blatant propaganda which seeks to portray Israel as the unwilling party in peace negotiations, whereas in reality neither the Palestinian Authority nor Hamas is interested in securing a peace deal that doesn’t involve driving the Jews into the sea. The fact is, they don’t want part of the land; they want all of it.

In Britain too we are being bombarded by propaganda. It’s not enough that homosexuals have been ‘normalised’ into society. No, the government’s Department of Education email signature line now embeds a large rainbow flag with the logo ‘I’m an LGBT+ Champion’.²

We now hear how the general populace has fallen out of love with our politicians, but they only reflect the selfish, sinful and confused state of the electorate.

In a passage about wisdom, the Book of Proverbs offers us the choice of life or death: “For whoever finds me finds life and receives favour from the Lord. But whoever fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death” (Prov 8:35f).

Jesus is the way, the truth and ‘the life’ spoken of here (John 14:6). We have lost our way as a nation; we need to find Jesus again!

References

1 Heart newspaper, April/May 2019.

2 Christian Concern, 29 March 2019.

Prescribing an antidote for a troubled world bombarded by bad news

I read this week, with the faintest molecule of sympathy, of a 28-year-old film star who can’t seem to enjoy a day without being bombarded by the world’s troubles. Poor thing! How she would love to be permanently cocooned from reality in her make-believe world.

But yes, we are constantly assaulted by so much bad news, fake news, propaganda and general noise that we scarcely feel able to think. Mind-boggling.

But here is some good news you may not have heard. Amidst the horror of the Indonesian tsunami, I heard of a pilot who, prompted by God, took off from the very epicentre of the disaster three minutes ahead of schedule – not knowing what was about to happen – thereby saving his 140 passengers from certain death.¹ What made the difference? His mind was in tune with the Holy Spirit.

Sadly, however, that is not the norm. Both children and adults are spending a great part of their waking hours allowing their minds to be filled with so much that is destructive and unedifying. Even Christians have fallen for this. No wonder they are being so ineffective in winning a lost generation for Christ. Is there a way out? Well, switching off and allowing the Creator to speak into their lives would be a start.

Mind Over Muscle

Also this week, I was travelling south by train sitting next to a young man reading a book called ‘Mind over Muscle’ - or something like that. I could see he was engrossed, so declined to interrupt and got out my Bible, reading through Paul’s letter to the Philippians, which speaks much of the importance of the mind – how we need to focus, concentrate and meditate on the word of God, the ultimate wisdom for living.

He writes about “being one in spirit and of one mind” and having “the same mindset” as Christ. He also talks of enemies of the Cross who have “their mind set on earthly things”. He pleads with those at odds with each other “to be of the same mind in the Lord” and adds that “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:2, 2:5, 3:19, 4:2, 4:7).

Both children and adults are spending a great part of their waking hours allowing their minds to be filled with much that is destructive and unedifying – even Christians have fallen for this.

In his letter to the Roman believers, Paul urges them not to conform to the pattern of the politically-correct world of their day (when homosexuality even among the emperors was particularly prevalent), but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds (Rom 12:2).

The Prophet Isaiah says: “You will keep in perfect peace those who minds are steadfast, because they trust in you” (Isa 26:3).

In Training

My fellow traveller and I were both getting off at the same station, so when he closed his book I asked him if he was a runner. He sure was; in fact, he was an ‘Iron Man’ competing around the world in extraordinarily tough triathlons (taking in a two-mile swim, a marathon and a lengthy cycling course). I have also run many marathons, so there was much to share in the few minutes we had left.

But the point is that we were both reading up on the importance of the mind in our respective commitments. As a runner myself, I know the importance of the mind in determining whether you make it – simply to the finish or to a medal perhaps. You have to jettison the negative thoughts and soak up the positive as you run the race with both body and mind.

The author completes a 10K trail at Castle Howard in Yorkshire in 2010.

It always worked with me – except once, in the Scottish Marathon of 1972, and that disappointment helped to bring me into an encounter with the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Mind over muscle certainly works; I have proved that in my own experience.

But a mind that is filled with negative news, soap operas from which you need spiritual cleansing and endless Radio 1 music, will rob us of peace. God wants to speak into our lives with his words of wisdom, insight and guidance, but most of us are shutting him out and paying the price as we reap the chaotic, meaningless and immoral harvest into which we have sown.

In Hebraic thinking, the heart is the seat of the mind – in other words, we dedicate our souls and desires to what we have been focusing our minds upon. What we have ‘worshipped’ with our time – be it TV, social media or music – will evolve into a ‘golden calf’ (idol or false god) that can offer us neither hope, direction, purpose nor stability in life.

Many of us – even those who sit in church pews – have effectively been brainwashed in our political, ideological and sociological thinking by BBC news bulletins, television dramas and the like, rather than having our minds informed, washed and cleansed by the word of God.

In Hebraic thinking, the heart is the seat of the mind – in other words, we worship whatever we focus our minds upon.

Passion and Teamwork

Back to a sporting analogy. I have enjoyed watching the Ryder Cup – and golf is another pursuit very much played out in the mind. Although my older brother Rob hit the ball further than me when we played together as youngsters, I would usually beat him in the end because when it came to the tricky, delicate play around the greens, he was generally not up to it.

At the Ryder Cup in Paris last weekend, Europe’s 12 heroes won convincingly (against the odds) thanks to what I’ve dubbed the ‘Poulter Passion’ – demonstrated by the total commitment and focus of mind of players like Ian Poulter, along with their obvious teamwork.

Today’s Church could well do with 12 ‘apostles’ of this sort of calibre, striving together as one with a burning passion to win as many as possible for Christ.

Finally, I was struck by the testimony of a man once heavily involved in satanism who was released from terrible darkness by an encounter with Jesus. After a difficult period of disappointment later on, he experienced a breakthrough when, on the advice of his pastor, he began ‘renewing his mind’ by immersing himself in God’s word.²

References

1 A Miracle In Indonesia. Pilot Says He ‘Heard God’s Voice’ And Saved Hundreds. Joy! News, South Africa, 4 October 2018.

2 The story of Pastor Greg Hibbins, HEART News, October/November 2018. For more information, see www.heartpublications.co.uk

Arabic message in tongues confirms calling for Jewish vicar.

A Jewish follower of Jesus was having second thoughts about being ordained into the Church of England ministry when he got the surprise of his life.

A message in tongues¹ was given during a home meeting which Ralph Goldenberg immediately recognised as Sudanese Arabic.

Having grown up in Sudan with the ability to speak several languages, he knew exactly what it meant. And it could not have been a clearer confirmation of his calling.

“Allah be’hebak – Inta min al dam beta Ibrahiem – Al Angiel fi fomak” translates as: “God loves you. You are from the blood of Abraham. The gospel is in your mouth.”

The messenger, who hadn’t even realised he had spoken a real (as opposed to angelic) language, subsequently interpreted what he had said (as instructed by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:27) as: “You are to proclaim the gospel and bring my people to the kingdom.”

Holy Spirit Empowerment

As recorded in his autobiography, Find the Truth and Lock it in Your Heart,² that miraculous incident sparked the beginning of a very fruitful 20-year ministry for the Rev Goldenberg, a former optometrist who has since been helping people to see spiritual truths.

Now 72 and retired, Ralph led churches in various parts of England, including the Jewish community of Edgware in north London, where he encountered opposition as well as interest.

Rev Goldenberg’s fruitful 20-year ministry was sparked by a miraculous confirming of his calling in tongues.

At his first church, in his home town of Bournemouth, he witnessed the miraculous healing of a missionary to China who had come home for back surgery which was cancelled after prayer and anointing with oil.

The Holy Spirit, who had so empowered the first believers on the Day of Pentecost that they spoke in the languages of Jews from many nations who were staying in Jerusalem for the festival (also known as Shavuot),³ has clearly played an essential role in Ralph’s ministry.

He recalls the time when, during a Pentecost Sunday service, “nearly everyone received the Holy Spirit and children spontaneously started praying and prophesying over the adults.” His final Pentecost service turned into an impromptu full immersion baptism and lasted four hours.

Find and Follow the Truth

Ralph was among 40 grandchildren to a Chief Rabbi sent to lead the Jewish community in Sudan, and both his grandparents told him to ‘find the truth and lock it in your heart’ – hence the book’s title. So imagine his surprise when the vicar in charge of the church⁴ where he was married a golden 50 years ago told him to “search for the truth and follow wherever it leads you”.

Ralph was sent to a Jewish school in Brighton, England – and seemed to meet Christians at every turn of his life from this point on. He had also, in fact, attended a Catholic school in Sudan.

He followed his father into optometry, meeting wife Helen at the City University in London where she was also an optometry student. When he joined an optician’s partnership, he too was a Christian! Ralph and Helen had three lovely boys, a beautiful home and in time seemed to have everything, but still felt empty inside. They made friends with a Christian couple and soon became connected with St Mary’s, Ferndown.

“I am a Jew but I want to know about Jesus,” Ralph told the vicar. Helen meanwhile had already been persuaded that Jesus was knocking on the door of her life just waiting to be invited in (Rev 3:20) and Ralph was duly challenged to read the New Testament, which he found ‘mind-blowing’.

His Jewish grandparents told Ralph to ‘find the truth and lock it in your heart’.

But he needed to be sure that Jesus was divine. So he challenged God to send at least one person – perhaps even six – to say “Jesus is alive!”

He subsequently felt drawn to attend church with Helen, and was blown away when a new song was introduced which repeated the line ‘Jesus is alive today’ several times! He never looked back, and it was ten years later, while experiencing pre-ordination nerves, that he got the knockout confirmation of his calling in Arabic!

Ralph has certainly found the truth his grandparents encouraged him to seek and is currently part of the leadership of the Church’s Ministry among Jewish people (CMJ), an international body dedicated to the spiritual rebirth of Israel.

References

¹  A New Testament phenomenon foretold in the Tanach (Old Testament) – see Isaiah 28:11, Acts 2:4, 1 Corinthians 14:21.
² Creative Book Solutions
³ Acts 2:4-5.
⁴ St Anne’s Bagshot in Surrey.