The ‘mark’ represents being under authority

Paul Luckraft reviews 'The Gospel of the Kingdom' by Alex Tinson (GospelRevolution, 2010).

Maureen Trowbridge reviews ‘What’s Wrong with Human Rights?’ by David Cross (Sovereign World Ltd, 2018).

Do human beings possess certain rights simply because they are human? In this ground-breaking book, David Cross contends that they do not. Furthermore, he claims, contemporary human rights ideology has become a false religion.

Beginning with the US Declaration of Independence of 1776, Cross questions boldly the fundamental idea that humans can have certain ‘self-evident’, ‘inalienable’ rights (p16) without those rights being conferred by a higher authority. He explains that, biblically, rights are not automatic; rather, true rights can only come “through the terms of a specific covenant relationship with [God]” (p18).

Religion of Rights

The book does not primarily address legal entitlements granted by a government to its citizens or specific ‘human rights issues’; rather, it delves deeply into the belief system behind “the rights which have historically and progressively been assumed to belong to everyone, simply by virtue of their being born human” (p13).

Ever since the Enlightenment, when man declared himself the ultimate arbiter of truth, these so-called ‘basic’ rights have formed the basis for a secular humanistic “religion of rights” (p18), filling “the void left by progressive abandonment of [Europe’s] Christian heritage” (p18).

In ten chapters, Cross traverses this history to arrive at our present-day culture of entitlement and licentiousness, where the claiming of rights is emphasised over and above the acknowledgement of wrong-doing, and where those who dare to question the new religion’s mantras of “equality, inclusivity and liberty” (p20) find themselves accused of discrimination.

Biblically, true rights can only come through the terms of a specific covenant relationship with God.

Entitlement Culture

Cross explains that without the unchanging ‘plumb-line’ of biblical morality, which alone provides the foundation for true justice, the definition of human rights can only be based “on a moving pendulum of public opinion” (p13) – which in turn causes conflicts between competing interest groups.

Thus the West’s “culture of entitlement” (p20) has given rise to an ever-increasing plethora of self-proclaimed ‘rights’ such as “children’s rights, women’s rights, body rights, gay rights, workers’ rights, transgender rights, consumer rights” and so on – all of which lack an “external code of morality on which the concept of rights is based” (p20).

Ultimately, ignoring God’s sovereignty over human rights leaves us “vulnerable and confused” about where ultimate authority lies. Cross acknowledges that the human spirit is created to depend upon the sovereignty of our Creator; relying on the sovereignty of created humans makes us feels intrinsically unsafe.

Individual Value

At the end of the book Cross clarifies the difference between respecting a person’s right to live sinfully (which is unbiblical) and respecting their value as an individual (which is entirely legitimate and affirmed by God).

Ignoring God’s sovereignty over human rights leaves us “vulnerable and confused” about where ultimate authority lies.

These are complex theological, legal and ethical issues, but the author, who is also Deputy International Director for Ellel Ministries, has put them into a form which can be read by anyone – regardless of background or education level – who is interested in discovering the difference between what the world calls ‘human rights’ and what the Bible says.

Described by Andrea Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, as “a must read for anyone interested in today's culture wars”, this well-researched book will help lay believers and church leaders alike as they seek to deal biblically with secular humanistic ideology.

‘What’s Wrong with Human Rights?: Uncovering a False Religion’ (paperback, Kindle, 185pp) is available on Amazon for £11.99 (paperback). Click here to hear the author speaking about the book, and click here for an online preview.

From hyper-grace to healing vibrations: how the NAR is leading charismatics astray.

*Longer article*

“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” (Psalm 143:10)

At Prophecy Today UK, we believe that the Pentecostal movement of the early 20^th Century and the charismatic renewal movement of the 1960s and 70s were moves of God to equip his people with a greater understanding and appreciation of the Holy Spirit. We have often said that this equipping was intended for a specific purpose: to prepare the Church for effective witness in the 20^th and 21^st Centuries, during which time the global population has boomed and the religious map has changed dramatically.

However, we recognise the danger of such moves of God being hijacked and corrupted by human sin and satanic deception, and that this danger is no less today than it was in the days of the early Church. Then, the infiltration of the new-born Christian community by false teachers and false prophets led Paul and the other Apostles to speak often and passionately about the importance of guarding against deception.

It is in this context, and with regard for recent concerns surrounding David Hathaway’s January prayer day at Wembley Arena, that we feel a broader statement (perhaps the first of several) is also necessary on a particular movement infiltrating the Western charismatic Church.

We believe that this cluster of ministries, teachings, practices and attitudes, often referred to through the short-hand phrase ‘the New Apostolic Reformation’ or ‘NAR’, has the potential to steer charismatics completely off course. But what is the NAR, and how can we combat its teachings with biblical truth?

A Brief History

The NAR is today’s expression of the same teachings that birthed the Latter Rain Movement of the 1940s, the subsequent ‘Manifest Sons of God’ movement, the Kansas City Prophets, the Toronto Blessing (1994 on), events at Brownsville/Pensacola (1995-2000) and the Lakeland Florida ‘outpouring’ (2008).

During the mid-1990s, Dr Clifford Hill together with several other British church leaders joined to sound the alarm about events in Toronto, the outcome of which was the 1995 book ‘Blessing the Church?’, serialised in 2018 on Prophecy Today UK.¹ But though the alarm was sounded, the NAR movement has since only grown in reach and influence. Through the 2000s and 2010s, teachings that were once the domain of fringe itinerant revivalists filtered into the mainstream charismatic world.

The NAR today encompasses a loose collection of charismatic ministries, leaders and teachings without a central organising body or statement of beliefs, and defying traditional denominational categories. Many within it do not recognise the term ‘NAR’, though it was coined by one of the movement’s core founders, C. Peter Wagner.² It has also been termed ‘network Christianity’³ because of its nebulous, relational nature.

Today, NAR power-houses include Bill and Beni Johnson’s Bethel Church in Redding, California (formerly AOG, now independent), Hillsong Church in Australia (also formerly AOG, now independent), Catch the Fire in Toronto (formerly Toronto Airport Vineyard, now independent), Heidi Baker’s Iris Ministries and Rick Joyner’s Morningstar Ministries, amongst many others. You will find songs, teachings, books and events connected with these and other NAR ministries being promoted in most charismatic churches in Britain, at inter-denominational conferences, in Christian bookshops and on Christian TV and radio.

This ‘networking’ has been accomplished through a combination of music, literature, sympathetic publishing houses and media platforms,⁴ training programmes, social media use and platform-sharing/collaborations with well-respected ministries and leaders. The NAR now also has its own Bible ‘translation’ to boot.⁵

The global reach of this movement and the endurance of its core beliefs through time seem all the more insidious because of its lack of official organisation, prompting many to see a spiritual driving force behind it. So, what exactly do NAR proponents believe?

What are NAR Beliefs?

In many ways, the NAR borrows from biblical Christianity and most within the movement would still accept the basic tenets of the Gospel. It is evangelistic and charismatic; it believes the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. It also usually takes a conservative stance on moral issues, values prophecy, promotes social action and can encourage support for Israel. However, there are important aspects of the NAR which are inescapably unbiblical, which pollute and redirect genuinely-felt love for God.

Indeed, while we are not disputing the sincerity of ordinary believers caught up in the NAR movement, we believe that, followed thoroughly and consistently, it promotes ‘a different Jesus, a different spirit and a different Gospel’ (2 Cor 11:4).

The US General Council of the Assemblies of God wrote in their official denunciation of the Latter Rain Movement in 1949 that its theology “claims prerogatives to human agency which belong only to Christ”.⁶ This remains a good summary of the NAR movement today which, though now evolved beyond these roots, still bears similar hallmarks.

In short, the NAR movement encourages believers to claim for themselves things that belong only to our sovereign God and remain His to bestow as He wills: things such as power and authority, control and dominion, supernatural ability, blessing and success, health and prosperity. It is a Christianity that doesn’t know when or where to stop: an over-zealous movement of theological and spiritual excess characterised by a lack of biblical checks and balances.

With the caveat that the NAR is a loose movement that encompasses a lot of internal variation, and to which proponents may only subscribe partially or inconsistently, core NAR beliefs include:

1. The leadership of modern-day ‘apostles’ and ‘prophets’
   
2. Dominionism: the teaching that ahead of Jesus’ return, the Church will become all-powerful on earth and make it ready for the Lord⁷
   
3. The belief that unlimited divine power and blessing is available to believers to equip them for this task
   
4. An over-emphasis on the supernatural and extra-biblical revelation
   
5. An over-emphasis on power and human agency
   

In the remainder of this article, I will take these five NAR creeds and discuss briefly why each is attractive, deceptive and contrary to Scripture.

1. The leadership of modern-day ‘apostles’ and ‘prophets’

The NAR movement distorts Ephesians 2:20 to claim that God is raising up end times ‘super-apostles’ and prophets – equal to or greater than the original Apostles commissioned by Christ - who will lead the Church to this-worldly victory. The appeal of strong, charismatic leadership in an increasingly uncertain world, particularly to young people, should not be underestimated.

While Christians disagree about whether the biblical offices of Apostle and Prophet are still current today, what is certain is that an elitist movement of self-appointed, celebrity leaders claiming divine authority is thoroughly dangerous, as well as antithetical to Scripture.⁸ The cult-like focus on personality in the NAR has led some believers to travel the world in order to sit under the teaching of specific people, desperate to receive some personal blessing and accepting their words unquestioningly.

The highly concentrated power of this relatively small group of men and women – now commanding global influence and millions of dollars every year, while being treated as infallible superstars - can easily be (and has been) abused, as with the well-documented examples of Paul Cain and, more recently, Todd Bentley. Both of these men fell from grace spectacularly but were quickly ‘restored’ with a conspicuous absence of deep grieving and true repentance.

All this is a world away from the New Testament ekklesia, the community of faith built on one name alone: that of Jesus Christ. The original Apostles were team-playing ambassadors of the Gospel who placed high premiums on humility and servant leadership, not self-promotion and gaining a following (e.g. 1 Cor 3:4; 15:9). Their teaching emphasised the importance of weighing and testing all things (e.g. 1 Thess 5:21) and watching keenly for false teachers and prophets, as Jesus commanded (Matt 7:15-20). Those in positions of leadership knew they would be held to a higher standard because of their greater influence (James 3:1).

“I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power. Though I am less than the least of all the saints…” Apostle Paul, Ephesians 3:7-8

“He must become greater; I must become less…the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all.” John the Baptist, John 3:30-31

2. Dominionism: the teaching that ahead of Jesus’ return, the Church will become all-powerful on earth and make it ready for the Lord

Popular within the NAR movement are teachings like the Seven Mountain Mandate (the idea that Christians are supposed to take over the ‘seven mountains’ of culture in order to transform the world) and the concept of ‘bringing heaven to earth’, reclaiming society and Creation for the Kingdom.⁹

The biblical hope that believers will become bearers of light and blessing to their communities and nations through the transformative power of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit, and the understandable desire for revival, are extrapolated to such a degree that the responsibility for establishing a physical Kingdom of God on earth is transferred from Christ onto the shoulders of the Church.

The goal of re-establishing Christendom has obvious appeal to Christians in the West, who have hitherto watched their nations despise God and spin into terminal decline. But dig a little deeper and NAR Dominionism usurps Christ’s Lordship, wresting from him the mandate to redeem, restore and judge.

Indeed, the ‘Kingdom Now’ culture promises the victory of Christ’s return and the blessings of Heaven to believers in this life, creating false expectations that ‘things can only get better’ and that the next big revival is just around the corner. This stops people from truly seeking the Lord and understanding his purposes. It also blinds them to vast swathes of Scripture which speak of dreadful days of deception and persecution ahead of the Lord’s return.

When difficult times do come, or when wild predictions of revival don’t come true, expectations are disappointed and believers can be driven either into denial, or away from faith altogether.

“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” Jesus, Matthew 24:12-13

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” Apostle Paul, Philippians 3:20

3. The belief that unlimited divine power and blessing is available to believers to equip them for this task

Taking its cue from the Manifest Sons of God movement, NAR teachers emphasise that as God’s children destined to do great things in the world, believers can claim in faith lives of abundant blessing, health, supernatural power and infinite grace from God.¹⁰ Some, notoriously, have even argued that believers are ‘little gods’ who can attain to divinity and physical immortality.¹¹

The fleshly appeal of such promises of abundance is obvious (cf. Genesis 3:5). Deceptively, they take truths about the love, goodness, grace and blessing of God and blow them out of all proportion, well beyond scriptural boundaries. The life of faith is reworked around pursuing and ‘claiming’ this promised abundance, more than around growing in maturity and holiness. As such, NAR teaching de-emphasises concepts like discipline, judgment, sin and human weakness. It blurs the fundamental differences between God and humanity, exalting believers far above their given place.

Believers are told that illness and suffering are always consequences either of a lack of faith or of spiritual attack (rather than for any other reasons) while concepts such as repentance and denying one’s flesh are side-lined, as are scriptural injunctions to admonish, discern and warn.

The result is an entitled, spoilt Church culture – congruent with the consumeristic West at large. The NAR is known for its insatiable cry of ‘more!’

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Jesus, Matthew 16:24

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

4. Strong emphasis on the supernatural and extra-biblical revelation

The NAR movement puts a premium emphasis on an experiential relationship with God, including miraculous healings, the imparting of spiritual gifts/anointing through the laying on of hands, tangible experiences of God’s glory, words of knowledge, angelic visitations, supernatural manifestations and miscellaneous signs and wonders (notorious examples of the latter include the appearance of gold dust, gold teeth and feathers).

Biblical accounts of Jesus and the Apostles speak of miracles which are rarely seen in today’s unbelieving, hyper-materialist West. Ordinary Christians are understandably hungry for the supernatural – not only for proof of God’s existence but in order to ‘walk as Jesus walked’. However, this biblical desire for authentic New Testament Christianity is taken too far by the NAR, with cries of ‘relationship not religion’ quickly becoming a reaction against all forms of biblical authority, order and structure (save for the authority of the ‘anointed’ apostles and prophets!) and a privileging instead of the spontaneous, the ‘reckless’, even the ‘out of control’.

Such a postmodern theology of experience fits right in with millennials, but comes with a low regard for Scripture and the basic tenets of the Gospel, as somehow insufficient. Instead, a gnostic pursuit of the spiritual and of ‘new’ knowledge opens believers up to spiritual influences and grand prophetic claims that are simply not of God. In the name of faith, discernment is abandoned and thinking is suspended.

Unsurprisingly, the NAR movement has been marked from the start by strange manifestations, esoteric experiences and an abundance of provably false ‘prophetic’ words – all encouraged by a church culture predisposed to unquestioning acceptance, with criticism shut down as ‘judgmentalism’.

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Apostle John, 1 John 4:1

“…there has emerged a famine of the Word of God…[which] has left large numbers of Christians without the capacity to judge for themselves from Scripture whether a thing is from God or not. They are defenceless from error, both in the form of doctrine and practice…” Peter Fenwick¹²

5. Therefore, given the above, the NAR places a strong emphasis on power and human agency

NAR-influenced church culture today emphasises the spiritual ‘authority’ of believers and NAR teaching often purports to help people ‘trigger’, ‘activate’ or ‘awaken’ blessing, revival and supernatural experience. NAR language is suffused with authoritative terminology such as ‘releasing’, ‘imparting’, ‘anointing’, ‘activating’, ‘breaking’, ‘declaring’ and ‘pronouncing’.

Being clear on the nature and limits of our authority in Christ is vital if we are to avoid usurping his role and claiming power for ourselves that is not ours to claim. In the NAR, this desire to wield spiritual power sometimes fosters a militant emphasis on spiritual warfare, particularly the practice of ‘taking’ territories for the Kingdom in prayer by engaging with territorial demonic spirits.¹³ Faithful proclamation of the Gospel is superseded by a dangerous desire to engage with spiritual principalities, while a concern to deal with sin is replaced by a pre-occupation with enemy activity.

Without discernment, these kinds of attitudes can worsen the ‘name it and claim it’ culture described previously and lead to all sorts of self-interested, unwise actions. Bethel Church in California provides plentiful examples of such behaviour: e.g. pacing around Temple Mount declaring ‘victory’ over the enemy, praying for a friend who fell down a cliff instead of calling the emergency services, and trying to stop the California fires by prophesying rain and commanding the wind.

We are not in any way denying the possibility of Holy Spirit-inspired declarations, or divinely-prompted acts of faith, or the power of intercessory prayer. However, NAR teaching wrests these things away from God and puts them solely in the hands of humans, as if the Holy Spirit is a force that man can learn to wield and bend to his will. This unhealthy attitude towards control, combined with the aforementioned preoccupation with the supernatural, opens a door for the New Age.

New Age terminology like ‘shifts’, ‘alignment’ and ‘destiny’ are common within the NAR, as are hypnotic music and mystical practices borrowed from the occult. One well-known example is The Physics of Heaven, a 2012 book by authors including Kansas City Prophets Bob Jones and Larry Randolph, with contributions from widely-followed NAR personalities Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton.

The book purports to ‘reclaim’ practices from the New Age like vibrations, healing energies, ‘dolphin therapy’ and ‘quantum mysticism’ to reveal secrets about how to achieve ‘personal transcendence’.¹⁴

“Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone.” Acts 19:18-19

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Jesus, Matthew 7:21-23

Conclusions

The above overview is not comprehensive, as anyone who has looked into these matters will know. However, it is intended to clarify Prophecy Today’s position on this movement. Our assessment is that it ducks and weaves through biblical Christianity, blending truth with dangerous distortions and downright falsities.

It is thus a prime example of a movement of ‘mixture’. Nobody is saying that NAR teachers don’t ever say anything true or worthwhile – that’s precisely the point. They sometimes do. It is extremely difficult to critique their material without appearing uncharitable towards the truth contained within it. More discerning Christians have therefore tended to be divided by the influence of the NAR - some see the good and are unwilling to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Others reject it completely as outright deception (2 Cor 11:4). Many are simply fearful of speaking out against a movement that may include things ‘of God’, in case they accidentally blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

As I said at the start of this article, we are not disputing the sincerity of believers caught up in the NAR movement. However, broadly speaking, when NAR teaching and culture is held up to the light of Scripture, it fails virtually every single test. The problem is that it has intermingled with and now suffuses mainstream charismatic Christianity in Britain, which is one reason why so many faithful charismatics find themselves unable to find a sound church fellowship.

The growth of the NAR must be weighed before the Lord, especially in the light of scriptures forecasting deception during the times of the end. I do not believe, however, that ‘retreat’ is the only option left for faithful believers. A systematic critique is desperately needed and we must search the scriptures carefully to find out the truth, and be ready to defend it, contending earnestly for the faith (Jude 3). If the NAR really is as deceptive as it appears, the future of the Western Church and its witness may just hang in the balance.

Paul’s instruction to Timothy is particularly pertinent for us today:

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

Our thanks to the many readers who have raised this issue with us.

References

1 Click here to read our serialised version, which provides a useful history of the whole movement.

2 Wagner, CP, 1998. The New Apostolic Churches. Regal, CA, p18.

3 See Christerson, B and Flory, R, 2017. The Rise of Network Christianity: How Independent Leaders Are Changing the Religious Landscape. OUP USA.

4 E.g. Destiny Image, Charisma Media, God TV and TBN.

5 The ‘Passion Translation’, though it is really a paraphrase. Read critiques here and here and note its NAR connections here.

6 See chapter by David Forbes in Blessing the Church?

7 There are other streams of Dominionist theology that transcend charismatic circles. Not all have the same perspective on the end times.

8 Some, like Bill Johnson, do not claim these things overtly. But neither does he stop people from claiming them for him.

9 This end goal of subduing the whole earth can precipitate some strange alliances, at great doctrinal cost.

10 This overlaps considerably with the ‘Word of Faith’ movement/the idea of ‘positive confession’ and has synergy with the prosperity gospel, also secular psychology.

11 This is a misappropriation of Psalm 82:6/John 10:34 and stems especially from Manifest Sons of God teaching. It can shade into New Age assertions about ‘the divine within’ and be coupled with a down-playing of Christ as the first of many sons, or as a human endowed with divine power, rather than THE only begotten Son of God, fully human but also fully divine.

12 Blessing the Church? p50.

13 We are not saying that prayer is not important or spiritually significant, nor that believers cannot be led by God to pray strategically – but this must be led by God and not assumed.

14 Bethel Church in California recently hit the news for supporting the use of Christianised tarot cards as a form of outreach, and are known for the practice of ‘grave-soaking’: visiting the graves of Christian heroes and physically trying to ‘soak up’ some of the ‘anointing’.

The laying on of hands (Part 1).

Part 2 of 2: Dismantling the lies.

Israel is so bursting at the seams with archaeological remnants from Bible times that it is remarkable that Palestinian denials of this record are not immediately laughed out of the room.

Every year new discoveries come to light – often by accident as evidence is so abundant - all of which prove that what God’s word says is true. Here are just a few examples.

Whilst excavating in the Ophel area in 2015, just south of the Temple Mount an ancient rubbish dump was exposed, the contents of which were wet-sieved. What came to light was remarkable – 33 tiny clay document-seals, amongst them one bearing the Hebrew inscription “belonging to Hezekiah, (son of) Ahaz, king of Judah.”¹

A further exciting find was announced only a few days ago, on 1 January 2018. Beneath the Roman paving west of the Temple Mount, beside the ruins of a 7^th-Century BC house, another seal was identified, bearing the Hebrew inscription, ‘Governor of the City’ and depicting two men wearing striped robes.²

A 2,700-year-old seal bearing the mark of the governor of the city of Jerusalem has been discovered under the Western Wall plaza, at a site where a First Temple–period building has been found. https://t.co/bGS41jXoko pic.twitter.com/YkIXPBmvby

— Archaeology Magazine (@archaeologymag) January 2, 2018

There are two references to such a title, both during the reign of King Josiah, and both named – Joshua (2 Kings 23:8) and Maleah (2 Chron 34:8).

Among the finds for the Temple Mount Sifting Project, which sorted through the Muslim debris dumps referred to in Part 1 (last week), was a type of iron arrowhead complete with shaft which, according to Dr Gabriel Barkay, “was launched from catapults exclusive to the Roman army” during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD.³

Every year new discoveries come to light which prove that what God’s word says is true.

Also particularly striking has been the recovery of fragments of the coloured paving of the Herodian Temple courts, painstakingly reconstructed by Dr Frankie Snyder and announced in 2016,⁴ reminding us of the ‘beautiful stones’ of the Temple drawn to the attention of Jesus (Luke 23:5; Mark 13:1).

Yet another seal was found in the same Muslim debris removed from the Temple Mount. This one, although partly broken, is inscribed in ancient Hebrew, ‘(Belonging to) [….]lyahu (son of) Immer’.⁵ The Immer family was a well-known priestly family around the 7^th-6^th Centuries BC. “Pashur son of Immer” is mentioned in Jeremiah 20:1 as “Chief Officer in the House of God” – a clear reference to the Temple. Its reverse side shows that it was used to seal sacking, possibly a bullion sack of Temple taxes.

Rare seal impression from First Temple priest #FoundbytheSiftingProject pic.twitter.com/VFEnVinweu

— Temple Mount Sifting (@TMSifting) April 3, 2017

As for other examples, there are literally thousands from which to choose, ranging from a Jewish chalk-vessel factory near Nazareth,⁶ to the ruined city of Lachish, excavated in the 1930s by the British archaeologist James Starkey. The city has extensive remains from various biblical periods, and is famous for the letters written in ancient Hebrew on pottery fragments (ostraca).

One message reads, “May YHWH cause my lord to hear, this very day, tidings of good…And may [my lord] be apprised that we are watching for the fire signals of Lachish according to all the signs which my lord has given, because we cannot see Azekah.”⁷ As well as including the ancient unpronounceable name of the LORD, the message clearly ties in with the book of Jeremiah: “‘O you children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee…Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a signal-fire in Beth Haccerem” (6:1) and “when the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities” (34:11).

Other aspects discovered by British experts include the Lachish Reliefs, which are a set of Assyrian palace panels which narrate the story of the Assyrian victory over the kingdom of Judah during the siege of Lachish in 701 BC. Carved between 700-681 BC, as a decoration of the South-West Palace of Sennacherib in Nineveh (in modern Iraq), the reliefs are today in the British Museum, along with the ostraca and siege weapons. Sennacherib’s presence at Lachish is noted in 2 Kings 18:14.

Lachish ruins (author's collection) and the Lachish Letter 4 (see Photo Credits).There can be no question whatever of falsification of Jewish history in such cases! Archaeology speaks!⁸ It is high time to mount a widespread challenge to the kinds of rhetoric outlined last week – to educate the Church and to hold politicians and the media to account. To that end I offer the following further comments.

Understanding the Deception

Holding up Palestinian narratives to the light, one principle becomes stark – that of deception. There are those who deceive and those who are deceived.

As noted at the start of last week’s article, Palestinian deception is a complex, intricate web – but two simple, vital things can still be noted about it. The first is the spirit behind it, which is anti-Semitism. Indeed, the very definition of Palestinian nationalism and culture – the crux of what brings them together as a people – is anti-Semitism, or a hatred of Jews and a disavowal of Israel’s right to exist.

In 1977, Zuheir Mohsen, a member of the PLO Executive Council, articulated the goals of their ‘peoplehood’ strategy saying, “The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a distinct ‘Palestinian people’ to oppose Zionism.”⁹

The second thing to note about Palestinian deception is that the main framework through which it is delivered, its language and its cultural and political driving force, is that of Islam.

Here, most Westerners, including myself, are confronted with an impenetrable script - we cannot read Arabic! Establishing the truth about Islamic teaching often feels like trying to catch an eel with bare hands. However, the doctrine of taqqiya forms an important part. Raymond Ibrahim, an American Arabic linguist and political analyst, points out:

According to the authoritative Arabic text, Al-Taqiyya Fi Al-Islam, deception is of fundamental importance in Islam. Practically every Islamic sect agrees to it and practices it. We can go so far as to say that the practice of taqiyya is mainstream in Islam, and that those few sects not practicing it diverge from the mainstream...Taqiyya is very prevalent in Islamic politics, especially in the modern era. [my emphasis]

The very definition of Palestinian nationalism and culture – the crux of what brings them together as a people – is anti-Semitism.

The Qur’an’s Sura 3:28 is acknowledged as the primary source for this doctrine, regarding which Raymond Ibrahim says, “…the Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir (1301-1373) wrote: ‘Whoever at any time or place fears their [infidels'] evil, may protect himself through outward show.’ As proof of this, he quotes Muhammad's companions. Abu Darda said: ‘Let us smile to the face of some people while our hearts curse them.’ Al-Hassan said: ‘Doing taqiyya is acceptable till the day of judgment.’ [i.e. in perpetuity]”.¹⁰

For the Bible-believing Christian, it is not difficult to see that deception goes back to the very foundation of Islam. While Mohammed was in contemplation in 600 AD, allegedly the Archangel Gabriel appeared before him and instructed him to recite verses, which begin with:

In the name of thy Lord and Cherisher,

Who created man, out of a clot of congealed blood… (Qur’an, Sura 96:1-2)

If the Archangel Gabriel really appeared to Mohammed, he would only have spoken the truth. Instead, the apparition’s statement flatly contradicts the word of God (man was created in the image of God from the dust of the earth, Genesis 1:27, 2:7).

Who was the very first to contradict the word of God? Satan himself (‘Did God really say…?’ and then ‘You shall surely not die’, Gen 3:1-4)! And in 1 Corinthians 11:14 we are told that “Satan transforms himself into an angel of light” – not Gabriel then! Poor Mohammed!

Not only does the Qur’an contradict the Creation account, but it strikes at the very heart of the Gospel. According to Surah 4:157-158, speaking of the Jews, “…they said (in boast), ‘We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of God’; but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not…”.

The main framework through which Palestinian deception is delivered, its language and its cultural and political driving force, is Islam.

Commenting on Sura 3, Al-Tabari (9^th Century) says that the deceit of Allah applies to the time where the Jews wanted to kill Isa the son of Mary. In order not to be killed, Allah put the appearance of Jesus' face on someone else, who was crucified instead of Jesus. This is how Allah had everybody, even Jesus, deceived.¹¹

Dealing with Deception

The ultimate source of all this is clearly Satanic, “that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Rev 12:9).

For all of us who believe in Jesus Christ, in Yeshua haMaschiach, our starting point in responding should be the recognition that, as Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:12ff, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore put on the whole armour of God…” [my emphasis].

Remember that in applying the verses which follow there has often been an overemphasis on personal, individual equipment and action, whereas battle between armies is rarely, if ever, settled by single combat.¹² We must work together.

In addition to the defensive equipment, there are the weapons of offence: “take…the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end…” [my emphases].

‘All prayer’ is a potent weapon: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…” (2 Cor 10:4-5).

So, too, is the word of God, the Sword of the Spirit, long neglected and ill-treated in many of our churches (and outside them a veritable desert!). Precious though the New Testament is, it cannot stand without the Old. Those scriptures were the only ones available to the first generation of Christians. Those were the scriptures familiar to Jesus and used by him, of which Paul said to Timothy, “from a child you have known the Holy Scriptures” and “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Tim 3:15-16, my emphases).

For those of us who believe in Jesus Christ, our starting point in responding to Palestinian narratives must be a recognition that we do not battle against flesh and blood.

Those are the scriptures which have been undermined and devalued in the West, including within the Church. How the people of God need to recover confidence in his word – especially if they are to recognise and counter the lies of the enemy! How we need to appreciate that, as archaeologists physically dig into the layers of the past in the Holy Land, thrilling us with insights into God’s dealings with Israel, they are confirming the truth of Scripture and prophecy!

The hour is late. There is a desperate need for teaching on these matters. Well-guided tours of Israel are an enormous help. From such a broad basis we may become better equipped to witness more effectively, speak out publicly, and hold our politicians and the media to account, “speaking the truth in love, [growing] up in all things into Him who is the head, Christ…” (Eph 4:15, my emphasis). God grant that truth prevail!

References

1 For more details, click here.

2 Schuster, R. Governor of Jerusalem's Seal Impression From First Temple Era Found Near Western Wall. Haaretz, 1 January 2018.

3 Artifacts with links to Bible unearthed. Washington Times, 2 January 2006.

4 Flooring from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Ritmeyer Archaeological Design, 12 September 2016.

5 Archaeological Evidence of the Jewish Temples on the Temple Mount. Temple Mount Sifting Project, 14 October 2016.

6 Ngo, R. Jewish Purification: Stone Vessel Workshop Discovered in Galilee. Bible History Daily, 25 August 2016.

7 For more details see ‘Lachish Letters’ on Wikipedia.

8 To explore this further, I suggest the following sites: Associates for Biblical Research, Bibleplaces (for frequent updates), Israel’s Antiquities Authority, Ritmeyer Archaeological Design.

9 As quoted from: Dorsey, J. Wij zijn alleen Palestijn om politieke reden. Trouw, 31 March 1977.

10 Ibrahim, R. Islam's doctrines of deception. Middle East Forum, October 2008.

11 Deception in Islam. Muslim Hope, December 2008.

12 Interestingly, the shield of faith mentioned by Paul is the thureos of the Roman armies, a curved door-shaped shield, which did more than provide personal protection. Its most effective use was in forming the testudo: “The first row of men, possibly excluding the men on the flanks, would hold their shields from about the height of their shins to their eyes, so as to cover the formation's front. The shields would be held in such a way that they presented a shield wall to all sides. The men in the back ranks would place their shields over their heads to protect the formation from above, balancing the shields on their helmets, overlapping them” (see here). In a sense, it was the forerunner of the tank! And it is a powerful reminder of the corporate nature of spiritual warfare!

All Scripture quotes NKJV.

In the next of our series on the relevance of the message of the prophets for today, Fred Wright looks at Isaiah and his call for a return to the Word of God.

Isaiah ben Amoz, according to the superscription of the prophecies bearing his name, lived during the turbulent rule of three kings - four if we include the apostate Manasseh (whom in Rabbinic tradition had Isaiah put to death by being sawn asunder). His messages of warning, impending judgment, salvation and restoration are as relevant today as they were in the late 7^th Century BC.

Time of Skewed Priorities

Uzziah's death around 742 BC seems to have had a remarkable effect on Isaiah and opened the way for his commissioning (Is 6:1). The death of Uzziah marked the end of a period of wealth, strength and glory, as the shadow of Assyrian aggression fell over the land. Materialism and self-interest had overshadowed spiritual considerations; the wealthy had dispossessed the poor and the venal nature of the courts meant that there was no redress (Is 5:8-10, 10:1-4, cf Micah 2:1f, 3:1-3).

The national religious leaders and the believing community had become so involved with themselves that they raised little or no protest, centring their thoughts only upon lavish ritual and a misguided belief that their assumed special position with God protected them from all external matters (Is 1:10-20, cf Micah 3:9-11).

Isaiah was commissioned at a time when materialism and self-interest had overshadowed spiritual considerations.

This mirrors the situation today within the believing Christian community; little is said about the plight of the poor within the nation and minimal attention is paid to the suffering church in real and concrete terms. What concern is being shown for the remnant in the Middle East, Libya and other persecuted areas today?

Modern Rebellions

At the present time there has been a dangerous shift of emphasis, especially among charismatics, to focus attention on personal 'felt needs' and pragmatism, rather than on the scriptures and on seeking the Lord in prayer and intercession.

Isaiah's initial complaint was that Israel did not know their own Lord (Is 1:2-3). Even two of the dumbest animals, the ox and the ass, are in a better position than the people. The ox rejoices in the knowledge of his master and even the donkey knows his place of security, comfort and nourishment.

The people, on the other hand, are in rebellion. Though they have received nourishment and been made great by the Lord (Heb = gadal has several applications, 'make great' being an appropriate use here), they have turned away. This begs the question, what in our modern context is rebellion?

There has been in a shift in the Church, especially among charismatics, towards personal 'felt needs' rather than the scriptures and seeking the Lord.

Departure from Scripture

One important manifestation of rebellion is a move away from the scriptures and their authority.

Similarly, today there is a departure from the scriptures, as seen in the ministry of some charismatic leaders, both in the UK and USA. The Old Testament is regarded by some as a record of divine revelation to Israel and therefore ipso facto located in time and space; likewise, the New Testament is regarded as revelation to the early Church. The scriptures are seen simply as a record of events that involved an interaction between God and man at a specific time. The consequences of such a viewpoint inevitably lead to deviant teaching.

When looking at any written sources one should always look for internal testimony. The scriptures quite clearly express their own divinely given authority. Two passages of special application are Luke 4:4, where Jesus refers to the Old Testament writings with the preamble "it is written", and in John 10:35, where he states bluntly that the scriptures cannot be broken, that is to say they have an eternal application.

Paul claimed divine authority for his own writings (1 Cor 2: 4, Rom 1:11) which was endorsed by Peter (2 Pet 3:15). As there was no canon of New Testament writing for the first believers, they drew their understanding from the Hebrew scriptures. It is interesting that the early Jerusalem church also continued in their Judaic practices.

One important manifestation of rebellion in the Church is the move away from Scripture and its authority.

Pathway to Error

The trend of departure from the scriptures was noted in the mid-1970s by the one-time vice-president of Fuller Theological Seminary, Harold Lindsell. Lindsell's two books, The Battle for the Bible (Zondervan, 1976) and The Bible in Balance (1979), sounded an early warning that some evangelicals and Pentecostals were departing from their traditional stance on the scriptures.

In Isaiah's time the drift away from the Lord and his instructions on worship and devotion, which were given by divine revelation through the law and the prophets, was typified by reliance on self, elaborate rituals and occult practice (Is 2:6, 8:17f). A move away from the scriptures today may lead believers into the same errors.

History and Experience

Christianity is both an historical and experiential faith. Historicity (or historical truth) enables our faith to be objective, in that it has sources that may be studied, researched, analysed, and tested. Without historicity we are left with subjectivity which centres around emotions, bias and experiences that may only be compared with similar experiences that have little or nothing to draw upon outside of the events themselves.

Wolfhart Pannenberg suggests that the history of Israel (and this may include the early church) consists of a series of special events "that communicate something special which could not be got out of other events. This special aspect is the event itself, not the attitude with which one confronts the event" (Revelation in History, p132, London, 1969). Following Pannenberg, we can suggest that, as the events of salvation fall into this category, and the scriptures are a record of these events, the casual attitude towards the scriptures exhibited in some charismatic circles can only lead to a lack of knowledge of God (Is 1:2).

There is little doubt that the church needs the prophetic revelation of the quality of Isaiah today and the full operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The Austrian philosopher Freidrich Heer, writing in the late 1960s under the shadow of nuclear conflict, suggested that the Christian church had withdrawn from the historical process (God's First Love, London 1970). By this, Heer meant that the Church had chosen to concentrate upon its inner self rather than real and concrete events. In turn, this irresponsibility towards the Jew, the other person, and even the Christian was the ultimate cause of past catastrophes in human behaviour and might well be the cause of a final catastrophe in the future. By the historical process we mean events involving mankind, including current affairs.

The failure of the Church to stand for righteousness and justice, which establish the throne of God in a nation (Ps 97:2; Prov 16:12), is a direct cause of its ineffectiveness in missions both at home and overseas.

Lack of Theological Training

The inherent danger of a move away from the Bible is exacerbated by a lack of proper theological training of leaders and Bible study in some new independent churches. The move towards the pragmatic notion that 'if it works then it's OK', accompanied by practices that have no biblical foundation, inevitably leads to a man-created security and dependency upon experience rather than on God. The fact that something works does not mean that it is an initiative of the Lord.

At a recent Christian gathering it was suggested by an international speaker that there was now no real need for a full-time ministry as it was virtually redundant; the Holy Spirit was doing it all. The notion that teaching and intercession are of less importance than experiential gatherings leaves believers in a vulnerable position as they have no means of testing the spirit, neither will they be able to reach maturity.

Meaningless Worship

Isaiah lamented that the people were about to depart into exile because of their lack of knowledge (of the Lord) (Is 5:13 cf). In a similar way, the prophet brings the painful rebuke of the Lord (Is 1:10-20) that the people were involved in religious activity (worship) that was meaningless. The lives of the worshippers were making their offerings unacceptable. We may well ask ourselves today if our worship – regarded as a sacrifice of praise – is acceptable to God? What, in reality is being worshipped - God or an idea about God?

The failure of the Church to stand for righteousness and justice, which establish the throne of God in a nation, is a direct cause of its ineffectiveness in mission.

There is a lack of respect for God (in opposition to Ps 5:7; Prov 1:7, 8:13, 9:10, 14:27) which is so vividly illustrated in some worship meetings. It is alarming to realise that some leaders feel that they are in a position to elevate their opinions over those who wrote the scriptures under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (2 Tim 3:16), especially those who were personally acquainted with Jesus!

With them, we find ourselves in a position where not only is our activity of worship unacceptable, it is despised by the Lord (Is 1:11). A convergent tension is that the worship service often centres around the event rather than the reason for the event; the worship and adoration of the Lord. Isaiah pleads with the people to walk by the light of the Lord as they have forsaken the ways of their own people. By the expression 'your people' is meant the people living under God's rule.

This call to return to the ways of the Lord rings powerfully in our ears today as we may observe all manner of alien practices finding their ways into Christian activities in similar manner to the tensions faced by Isaiah (2:6).

Leaders as Babes

Isaiah laments that the leaders were as babes (Is 3:12) which reflects the leadership situation in some circles today. The lack of theological training which we have already noted among charismatic leaders has caused a double tension.

First, there has been a move to pragmatism instead of working from a biblical base. Secondly, many leaders have expended their energies on management of resources and programmes that owe more to secular management studies and psychology than to theology and pastoral practice.

Professor Carson, in Hermeneutics, Authority and Canon, remarks that the diminishing authority of the scriptures reflects the 'anti-authoritarian' position generally taken in the Western world. The other side of the coin is that, within the circles of those who have departed from the scriptures whilst giving lip service to them, there has been a strong line taken on the authority of the leader and his opinions.

In much modern worship there is a lack of respect for God, and services often centre around the event itself, not the worship and adoration of the Lord.

Ways Out Offered

For every proclamation of impending disaster, the Lord spoke through the prophet to offer a way out, and continually points to repentance, restoration and redemption. Throughout the writings of the prophet the reiteration of the Lord's promises to David may be found. "Come now let us reason together" (NIV), or "reach an understanding" (JPS) declares the Lord (Is 1:18).

The loving call of the Lord echoes through the centuries to the believing community today. How can one enter into a meaningful dialogue with the Lord unless one has something more than an existential knowledge of what is assumed to be his power? A part of the current battle for the Bible is knowing the character of God.

Hope for Refining

When Isaiah received his commission (Is 6:1f) it was with the knowledge that he would need to be faithful as his message would be ignored (Is 6:9ff). The people were blind and deaf, suffering a wholesale deception that they were in some way inviolable.

Isaiah, throughout his long ministry, nourished a hope – often frustrated, that the calamities would be as refiner's fire from which a purified remnant would emerge who would put their trust in the Lord (Is 1:24-26, 10:20f). The unswerving dedication of Isaiah and the other prophets was due to their knowledge of the character of God. The question for the intercessor is what will God do at this time to refine his Church?

There is little doubt that the Church needs prophetic revelation of the quality of Isaiah today and the full operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The painful lesson to be gained from the prophecies of Isaiah is that there needs to be reliance on the revealed character of God, which can only be found through the scriptures and in prayer. Worshipping an idea about God can only lead to disaster.

Judah ignored the warnings and were taken into exile by the Babylonians in 587 BC, from whence came the lament "How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land" (Ps 137). Christians who leave the scriptures might well find themselves in a strange land, albeit the land in which they dwell.

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 12 No 5, September 1996. Revised July 2016.