The streetfighter’s lethal weapon and the surgeon’s abortion instruments.

As London-based newspapers noted with horror that the new year had been marred by yet more fatal stabbings, it was another statistic that really shocked me. And it’s one that points to what lies behind the eruption of violence on our capital city’s streets.

While we remain obsessed with focusing on the symptoms, rather than the causes, of our problems, we will get no closer to a solution.

Knife crime has risen to frightening levels which have left London’s streets apparently now more dangerous than those of New York, long notorious for its gang warfare. But this shocking dilemma is met only with cries for more police, and more funding for law enforcement generally.

And yet in the midst of this comes news that abortion remains the biggest cause of death by far in our blood-soaked world. Whereas 8.2 million people died from cancer in 2018, almost 42 million abortions were recorded. In other words, for every 33 live births, ten infants were aborted.¹

Violence Breeds Violence

The connection is obvious: violence breeds violence. We slaughter babies in the womb by the million – legally in most cases – and wonder why violence on an unprecedented scale has erupted on our streets. And I am aware that there are other, often related, factors such as broken homes causing lost and unloved young men to seek ‘family’ elsewhere.

At a time when there is a major focus on research into killer diseases – and there has undoubtedly been much success with discovering new cures for cancer – anti-abortion fundraisers would more likely be harangued or beaten up than receive open public support.

And yet the Bible says: “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it?” (Prov 24:11-12).

We slaughter babies in the womb by the million and wonder why violence on an unprecedented scale has erupted on our streets.

While every victim of senseless knife crime is a tragic statistic, the mass slaughter of innocents that goes by the euphemistic name of ‘choice’ for women whose lifestyle is unsuited to raising children, is a blot on Western civilisation in general, and British society in particular.

Abortion was the leading cause of death worldwide last year.After all, there was a time when we led the way with missionary zeal in proclaiming the efficacy of a Judeo-Christian culture based on the Ten Commandments, one of which states with the utmost clarity: “You shall not murder.” (Ex 20:13).

But as soon as we jettisoned our commitment to those values, many of the nations we have influenced followed suit.

Our only hope as a nation is in returning to the God-given laws Moses was given on Mt Sinai – laws that Christ subsequently enabled us to follow through his Spirit in our hearts.

Attempt to Thwart God’s Plans

The slaughter of innocents is essentially a mark of rebellion against God – and the devil himself is behind it.

In anticipation of the birth of Moses, the Egyptian Pharaoh tried to prevent God’s will from being fulfilled by murdering every male Jewish infant (Ex 1:22). Moses was a ‘type’ of the Messiah to come, in that he led God’s people out of slavery towards new life in the Promised Land. Jesus went further by redeeming all who trust him from slavery to sin.

But when Christ arrived on the scene some 1,500 years after Moses, King Herod ordered the slaughter in Bethlehem of every child under the age of two (Matt 2:16).

In both cases, God was about to usher in a wonderful new era – and Satan tried to stop it.

The slaughter of innocents is a mark of rebellion against God – and the devil himself is behind it.

In more recent times, when six million Jews were mercilessly slaughtered in the concentration camps of Germany and Poland, one-and-a-half million children were among them.

Once again, God was about to introduce a glorious new epoch for Israel, with Jews back in their ancient land and many recognising Jesus as Messiah. satan tried to stop it in an unspeakably monstrous way. Yet, even so, he failed in his ultimate objective, but at a terrible cost of precious lives because so few who were in a position to do so lifted a finger to help.

Devil Doomed to Defeat

It’s interesting that the legalisation of abortion in Britain in 1967 happened to coincide with a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the old established churches. Whenever God wants to do something special in revealing his presence and power to sinful humanity, satan seeks to spoil his plan.

Ultimately, however, the devil is doomed to defeat and will take all his allies with him into the pit of everlasting fire known as hell (see Rev 20:7-10).

St Paul writes: “The God of peace will soon crush satan under your feet” (Rom 16:20).

My new year message to abortionists, and all who support them, is: Stop this satanic slaughter!

References

1 Jerusalem News Network, 4 January 2019, quoting Life News. The estimate of 42 million abortions is conservative; the real number is likely to be higher - perhaps 56 million or more, according to WHO data gathered by Snopes.

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘The Robots Are Coming’ by Nigel Cameron (CARE, 2017).

Professor Nigel Cameron is a leading Christian thinker on new technologies and their impact on society.

In conjunction with CARE (Christian Action Research and Education) he has produced two significant books which are highly recommended - not just for those with a particular interest in technology but for all Christians who desire to know what will be affecting humanity in the near future. This week, we review his first book, on robots.

Smarter Than You

Many will be familiar with scenes of robots in factories, making cars and putting together electronic equipment, often doing routine jobs, but now the whole area of robotics is getting more sophisticated – some might say smarter - and more widespread. You may have such a device in your home. You may talk to one regularly. In fact, you will certainly have talked to one over the phone, even if you weren’t aware of it. And one day everything will be ‘smart’: not just your phone or TV but your car and maybe your whole house.

As the author states in his introduction “Every single day that passes, our ability to make these super-intelligent machines even smarter increases. And they get smaller. And cheaper. Every day” (p.viii). So what are the benefits and dangers of such an increase in technology? What are the practical problems and ethical issues? Indeed, what will being human mean in the 21^st Century? These are just some of the questions considered in this fascinating book, as well as the important question of ‘Is there a Christian view of robots?’

One day everything will be ‘smart’: not just your phone or TV but your car and maybe your whole house.

The most fundamental question to address, however, is what exactly is a robot? What is meant by such a term? Cameron explains that they come in six main kinds, not just those that look like robots. Some just look like machines. Others look like toys or pets. And then there are a multitude of ‘invisible assistants’: algorithms, with a voice and without. And finally there is the ‘Internet of Things’, a new term for the way everything is becoming interconnected via the internet, for instance, smart meters that communicate directly with energy companies.

After asserting that humans are special as created beings in God’s image, Cameron asks where what we are creating is taking us – are we moving further away from God or in line with his will? For the first time we now have the ability to create something smarter than we are. So what will happen to humanity as we hand over more power and control to these new ‘beings’ which will be able to think and learn faster and better than us?

Future Prospects

Cameron provides some historical background into automation and robotics, and also reminds us of some of the spookier stories that appear in film and fiction, which now seem eerily predictive. But it is the here-and-now, and the immediate future, that grabs our attention.

There is an interesting section on bio-technology and the creation of cyborgs, as well as how cognitive science or neuroscience will transform humanity once we are ‘plugged in’ to all that the new technologies offer.

Cameron discusses prospects for jobs, and the use of robots in the lives of children. ‘Talking’ dolls have been around for decades, but now there are ones that ‘see’ and ‘sense’ the child and can react to a conversation that the child initiates, or even start one based upon the observable mood of the child. If such a doll becomes a special friend, how will this impact the child’s emotional and psychological development? Robots of all kinds are becoming common toys – perhaps you bought one for a Christmas present? Parents need to be aware of what they are giving to their children. Who has produced it and programmed it?

Cameron asks where what we are creating is taking us – are we moving further away from God or in line with his will?

Robo-therapy is new territory but one which is attracting more and more attention. For instance, can robots provide care and companionship for the elderly? Will replacing human carers by robots solve our care crisis?

The author raises many other intriguing aspects of the likely development in robotics. What relationships will develop between robots and humans, and even between robots and robots? How will they be programmed to behave in certain situations? As they become more like us, will we need to provide them with a code of ethics, or a system of ‘robot rights’?!

God is Not Surprised

When considering what God thinks about all this, Cameron stresses that it is important to realise that God is not taken by surprise by what we are doing. We may be surprised by it, but he is not! Cameron points out that God is already “out there in the future” (p 106), always ahead of us. However, whether he is pleased or not is another matter. Whether we are heading towards a self-made catastrophe is left open to debate, but the author is prepared to contemplate another thousand or even another million years of technological progress rather than an imminent end-of-the-world scenario. Discuss!

Overall, the book contains 17 short chapters, easily digestible, and with some questions at the end of each chapter for further thought. There is some repetition as you reach the end, however the book ends in a most intriguing way. The epilogue consists of two imagined future scenarios, set in 2040. The author engages in a bit of fictional speech-writing, suggesting what a future Prime Minister and Archbishop of Canterbury might have to say in two decades’ time!

The book is a glossy production with colour photos and set out in a most accessible way. It is a ‘must read’, for we cannot ignore how our world is already changing. We must become more aware and better informed, and then share with others. The robots are coming – in fact, they’re already here…

‘The Robots Are Coming: Us, Them and God’ (148pp) is available from CARE for £9.99 + P&P. Find out more about CARE at https://www.care.org.uk/. Next week, we review Nigel Cameron’s second book, God and My Mobile.

Torah Portion: Exodus 6:2-9:35

Coincidentally, as we enter a new year on the Roman calendar, when we traditionally look forward with resolution, our Torah portion for this week contains a key reminder of God's promises. 

On the biblical calendar, according to the three main Feasts of the Lord, Sukkot (Tabernacles) is behind us and Pesach (Passover) lies before us. Exodus 6:6-7 gives God's fourfold promise to the Children of Israel:

• To bring them out from under the burden of their oppressors;
• To rescue them from bondage;
• To redeem them with an outstretched arm and great judgments;
• To take them as His people and be their God.

The four promises are recalled by the drinking of four cups of wine during the Passover Seder. These four cups were shared by Yeshua with His disciples at what we call ‘The Last Supper’. Two of the cups are specifically mentioned in Luke 22:15-22, when Yeshua reinterpreted the Passover as a remembrance of Him. What was accomplished in the deliverance of Israel from bondage to Egyptian slavery became a foreshadow of Yeshua’s deliverance of His people from this world of bondage to sin.

The recent celebrations of the birth of Yeshua are now behind us, so it is fitting to focus on the more important remembrance of our Lord. The Bible contains the account of the birth of Yeshua, so it is fitting to remember His coming as a man, but more important is it to remember Him as our Saviour who gave His life for us. As the Apostle Paul said, when we remember the Lord's sacrifice through the sharing of bread and wine, especially at Passover, we proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

The promises of God in Exodus 6 preceded the ten great plagues of which we begin to read this week. That is what it took to free the Israelites from Egypt. Likewise, such immense earth-shaking events will take place prior to Yeshua's return to complete our redemption: the great woes recorded in the Book of Revelation.

As we enter this new year, the signs of His coming are all around, so let us go forward to Passover in remembrance of Him. Let us not be so preoccupied with the things of this world to miss out on these days of preparation. Yeshua Himself said:

Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. (Luke 21:28)

Author: Dr Clifford Denton

Torah Portion: Genesis 47:28-50:26.

Jacob spent the last part of his life in Egypt, a total of 17 years, but did not forget the promise of God that the land of Canaan would be given to his descendants, who would become a community of peoples. He asked for Joseph’s assurance that he would be buried with his forebears in the little bit of the land that they did own: the cave near Hebron.

As a young man, Jacob had tricked his blind father into blessing him above his older brother, Esau. Now his own sight was poor and Joseph brought his two sons to him for blessing. Joseph had a prominent position in Egypt but bowed down before his father, Israel, who deliberately crossed his arms to raise the younger Ephraim to the position of firstborn, above Manasseh. This was God’s intention. Again and again we see that the Lord changes the expected order of precedence: Abraham, Isaac, Moses and David were not eldest sons. Sometimes we need to stop and realise that what the Lord is doing may not match our expectations.

Looking Ahead

Israel knew he was about to die but looked ahead to when the Lord would take his family back to the land of their fathers. Later, when it was time for Joseph to die, he also asked his family to see that he was buried in the Promised Land. They would take his bones with them when God led them out of Egypt. Joseph believed God’s promises and knew that God would one day come to their aid and lead them home to Canaan.

For now, Joseph and his brothers had settled in Egypt and were thriving. They were comfortable and experienced the favour of the Egyptians because of Joseph’s high position. This was seen in the large number of officials and servants who accompanied Jacob’s sons to his burial and mourned with them (Gen 50:1-14). But as foreigners in another land, their 400-year stay would eventually deteriorate from a position of favour into one of bondage, as God foretold to Abraham (Gen 15:13).

Learning to Trust

As shepherds and slaves, the Israelites were kept apart from the Egyptian population as they grew from a family into a people. They were not allowed to integrate but remained ‘set apart’. But why did the Israelites submit to mass slavery? As their treatment went from bad to worse, why did they not leave for their homeland?

Was it because they had become too accustomed to the comforts of Egypt? Indeed, though God surely came to their aid and delivered them, they continued to hanker after Egypt while they wandered in the wilderness. It takes time to break the habits of Egypt. We, too, are called to live as aliens and strangers in the land, ‘in the world but not of it’. That requires constant vigilance and dependence on our Lord so that we are not drawn into the compromise and bondage that can creep in so subtly.

It also requires us to trust completely in God’s purposes. This is something Joseph knew how to do. After Jacob died, Joseph was grieved that his brothers were still thinking that he might want to punish them now their father was gone. Joseph knew that while they had tried to kill him and intended harm, “God intended it for good” to accomplish what was later done in the saving of many lives. The brothers still struggled with guilty consciences but Joseph had learnt the secret of being content whatever the circumstances, walking faithfully with his God. Like his father, Jacob who became Israel, Joseph remembered the Lord’s promises and looked ahead to their fulfilment.

Author: Catharine Pakington

Torah Portion: Genesis 44:18-47:27.

God is Sovereign - He really is in control, of everything.

Who could have perceived God's purposes when the teenager Joseph was sold by his brothers for 20 shekels of silver to a caravan of Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt; when he was mistreated by Potiphar and his wife, then imprisoned and forgotten for years? Where was the golden thread of His working in all of that?

Stepping back to look outside the immediate events of Joseph's life, over the generations, God was in the process of revealing Himself to the growing nation of His people Israel, leading them to know Him as all that they needed in every way. He took them first to a land of plentiful provision, but then into slavery and finally out into a deserted wilderness where there was nothing else but Him, before He guided them to the beautiful land of His promise.

Joseph’s story was but one thread in this developing tapestry – but nevertheless an important thread that God took great care weaving in.

Conviction of Calling

From his youth, Joseph had a deep sense of identity. Apart from being so favoured by his earthly father, his sovereign Heavenly Father had equipped him through two dreams, giving Joseph a profound conviction of His call to serve Him through leadership. This call was founded so deep down in Joseph’s spirit that it later sustained him through the pain of separation from his father's house, as well as the privations of years in prison and profound injustices he suffered and survived.

Before all this, as a shepherd, Joseph would have learned to be tough and resourceful, especially when far from home. Protecting and providing for a wayward flock was far from a walk in the park but it must have provided him with transferable skills for his future work 'shepherding' people. He would have acquired cultural, administrative, practical and domestic skills in Potiphar's house and in jail. In both places, many people were entrusted to his care and direction.

But, first and foremost, Joseph's identity and sense of belonging was rooted in the community of his large family. Later, becoming a husband and father himself, the fulfilment of his dreams unfolded as he became the administrator of God's plan to save nations – including his own - from famine.

Joseph’s attitude shows that he had fully accepted God's sovereignty in his life. Having taken office as Prime Minister of Egypt, he was able to say to his brothers, "But God sent me ahead of you…it was not you who sent me here but God…" (Gen 45:7-8). What a man that he could eventually forgive his brothers and send them back to their father with joy and even humour: "And don't quarrel on the way!" (Gen 45:24).

Endnote: The Importance of Family

Human family ties run deeper than explanation or description can tell. Even in the grip of worsening famine, when he was experiencing its devastating effect on his whole family of 70 people, Jacob flatly refused to allow Joseph's brother Benjamin to go with the other brothers to buy food in Egypt - such was the extent of his grief over Joseph's apparent death.

When Jacob finally permitted Benjamin to go, they returned with the news, "Joseph is alive! In fact he is ruler of all Egypt." Jacob was stunned in disbelief. "But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived: 'I'm convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.'"

Not a comfortable prospect when you're 130 years old, but blood was thicker and stronger than comfort and convenience and the toll of decades of sadness rolled steeply away. It meant everything to Jacob to know that his son Joseph, eldest son of his most dear wife Rachel, still belonged to their unique family.

How like our loving God to weave into His greater plans for Israel this small-scale family reunion – and how beautiful a picture it presents of Israel’s drawing near and eventual reuniting with their ‘Brother’, Yeshua.

Author: Sally Bolton

Torah portion: Genesis 41:1-44:17

In Zechariah 3:1-4 we read of High Priest Joshua, back from exile, standing before the Angel of the Lord (Yeshua/Jesus) with the Accuser (satan) standing at Joshua’s right to accuse him. But apparently before this can happen, Yeshua calls upon God the Father to rebuke satan. Joshua was indeed “a burning stick snatched from the fire”. Matthew Henry in his commentary deduces that the fire was Babylon from which Joshua had literally been delivered. Joshua, High Priest, carrying all the sin of the remnant of Israel returning from Babylon, was covered with dung / animal filth / excrement.

But Yeshua has the authority and chose to use it to have Joshua’s filthy garments of sin removed, to take away his guilt and to Himself dress Joshua in fine robes with a turban (endorsing Joshua’s office).

Joseph: A Similar Picture

I see a similar picture in this week’s Torah portion. In Genesis 41:14 Pharaoh summoned Joseph out of the dungeon. That he had to shave and change his clothes tells us that Joseph was in no state to stand before a king. From our vantage point we can see that the survival of all Israel rested upon how Joseph would act at this pivotal moment.

Where satan was ready to accuse Joshua in Zechariah, Pharaoh threw down the gauntlet to Joseph: “You’re a dream interpreter? Do it!” If Joseph got this wrong, Israel would be doomed. But Joseph got it right! He very clearly and deliberately called God into the situation: “It is not me but God will give Pharaoh an answer…” (v16).

In v25-32 Joseph continued, “God has told Pharaoh what He is about to do…God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do…because the matter has been fixed by God, and God will shortly cause it to happen”.

Pharaoh accepted God’s interpretation of the dreams and then like the Angel of the Lord in Zechariah, using his authority, placed his signet ring on Joseph’s hand (endorsing Joseph’s office), and had him clothed in fine linen with a gold chain around his neck (v42).

In these accounts, both Joshua and Joseph were lifted out of a place from where they had been badly soiled, to a place of responsibility where the survival of both themselves and Israel was on the line. And in both instances it was God who chose and saved!

Jesus: The Branch

These are vivid pictures of God’s ultimate act of redemption through Yeshua. Continuing Zechariah’s vision in 2:8, God the Father went on to tell Joshua that He would send his servant, ‘The Branch’, who would remove the guilt of His land (Israel) in one day. We now know that Yeshua is The Branch. He came and took on Himself the sins of all of us who put our trust in Him.

In Romans 5:6 Paul says, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time, the Messiah died on behalf of ungodly people”. That includes you and me. But so what? You will likely know the saying “He’s come up smelling o’ roses”. My point is that if God hadn’t chosen and shown me mercy, I would have remained to this day in a life covered with dung, just as in Zechariah’s vision of Joshua.

As the passage goes on in v9: “therefore, since we have come to be considered righteous by means of his bloody sacrificial death, how much more will we be delivered through him from the anger of God’s judgment”!
Like Joseph and Joshua, I have been exonerated, given a new set of clothes. I am, and will be, one of the “huge crowd…standing in front of the throne and in front of the lamb, dressed in white robes…” (Rev 7:9).

There is a rider to these thoughts. Joseph was given a job to prepare for saving many through the coming famine. Joshua was given a job bringing Israel back to the ways of God (Zech 3:7). You and I have also been given jobs, each unique, but all bound up in Yeshua’s Great Commission at the end Matthew 28. Let us each continue daily to seek and do that which God has given us, so that one day we might hear from Him “Well done good and faithful servant!”

Author: John Quinlan

Torah portion: Genesis 32:3-36:43

Through just two weeks we have covered more than 20 years of Jacob’s life. The majority of that time he was in Padan Aram. At the beginning of the account Rachel was a young girl, and Leah her older sister. Jacob served Laban for 14 years for his two wives. His sons and his daughter were born and Jacob acquired large flocks and enough servants to help him, and then began his journey back to Canaan.

This week we pick up the story of the journey back to the Promised Land. It was not an easy journey in the physical sense with such a large community and such large flocks, and it was not an easy journey in the spiritual sense either. God was moulding the character of Jacob.

Caught in a Crucible

He had made an enemy of his brother Esau 20 years previously and now he had to face him. He had made an enemy of Laban over the 20 years in Padan Aram and now he had to escape from him. He had family enemies behind and before him. He was in a crucible. But this was surely God’s doing.

Jacob had met with angels at Bethel (Gen 28:10-22) and angels were with him on his journey home (Gen 32:1). He had a supernatural experience wrestling with a ‘man’ at Peniel, through whom he was blessed but by whom he walked with a limp for the rest of his life.

Later, his much-loved wife Rachel died in childbirth at Ephrath (Bethlehem). What earthly sorrow to achieve the higher purposes of God!

As it turned out, despite all his fears and human scheming, Jacob was able to come to an agreement with Laban and was reconciled with Esau. Despite his humanity, which God was moulding along the way, Jacob was brought out of these seemingly impossible circumstances, though crucially this was via a period of brokenness.

Being Moulded by God

We too are moulded by God through circumstances - and let us not forget that God’s purposes are higher than our survival on this earth. We are being prepared for a heavenly Kingdom where all the striving will cease, where all the evils of this world will be gone and where we will be made perfect.

Jacob had a significant role in the covenant purposes of God. Like Isaac and Abraham before him he was the bearer of the covenant promises. God’s working in the lives of these three patriarchs was different for each one, but to the same purpose: of making them the forefathers of all who live by faith.

Each of us personally is called to enter into this family of faith and be moulded by God according to His purposes for us. This takes us to the teaching of the Apostles in the New Testament where we are reminded constantly that our characters are being moulded to be more like our Saviour Yeshua (Jesus). For example, Peter exhorts us in 1 Peter 4:12-19), beginning:

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

The whole world is suffering many trials and we can compare this with the crucible in which Jacob found himself with Laban behind and Esau before him. This is especially so for Jacob’s physical offspring Israel (named after Jacob’s new name given at Peniel, which has the connotation of struggling with God).

God is fulfilling His covenant purposes and that is the chief reason for all earthly struggles. All who are called into covenant relationship with Him are gradually being perfected through a walk of faith in Yeshua, and one day will emerge through these struggles into glory: that is the chief goal of God.

Author: Clifford Denton