Real Riches - page 3Real Riches - page 3The Reliability of the Gospels - page 7The Reliability of the Gospels - page 7

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❖ The English Standard Version is published by Harper CollinsPublishers © 2001 by CrosswayBibles, a division of Good NewsPublishers. Used by permission.

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GladTidingso f t h e K i n g d o m o f G o d

132nd Year 1584A monthly magazine published by the Christadelphians (brothers and sisters in Christ) andavailable throughout the world.

Acknowledgements

Photographs:

Cover: Clipart.com Other Illustrations:

Pgs. 7, 11 Wikipedia Commons; pg. 9 Ritmeyer.com;all others Clipart.com.

E16

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Real Riches.................................3

The Essential Links ..................5

The Reliability ofthe Gospels ...............................7

Barak’s Victory with God .....10

Unity..........................................12

Faith and Repentance ............14

Bible History - The ‘Ages’ ....17

Its objectives are – to encourage the study of the Bible as God'sinspired message to mankind; to call attention to the Divineoffer of forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ; and to warnmen and women that soon Christ will return to Earth as judgeand ruler of God’s world-wide Kingdom.

ContentsContents

132nd Year 3

and bought it. Now this was a man whoknew his business, who was alreadytrading in pearls, and recognisedsomething so exceptional that it wasworth all of his goods and wealth puttogether. The cool, calculating busi-nessman had made the deal of his lifeand committed everything to it.

The Real Value

Jesus told these stories as parables ofthe kingdom of God, starting each with“the kingdom of heaven is like”. Theycome in a sequence of parables aboutthe response, lifestyle and prioritiesnow, of those people who will form partof the future kingdom of God (or ‘thekingdom of heaven’, the two terms areinterchangeable) when Jesus returnsto the earth.The good news (the ‘glad tidings’) of

the kingdom of God is shown as som-ething of huge value to those who findit. Some of us find it almost by acci-

Today’s world places great value onmoney and its close relative ‘celebrity’.From films and TV shows we hear“Show me the money!”. Whatever our aspirations, we are

encouraged to know what we wantfrom life and then to go after it. In fact,this also applies to very worthy perso-nal goals, such as helping the needy,being a good parent or supporting thecommunity. In each case, we are usedto the idea of putting effort and focusinto the right things – getting our prio-rities fixed.

Stories of Discovery

In Matthew 13:44–46, Jesus intro-duces us to two men who did just this.They saw something of real worth anddid what they needed to, in order to gethold of it.The first man found treasure in a

field, seemingly by chance. He recog-nised its value and quickly made surethat he wouldn’t lose it while he pur-chased the field. It’s clear that hereally wanted the treasure; he went offwith excitement and joy, and didn’thold back when he had to sell every-thing he had so that he could afford tobuy the field. Can we imagine anythingso precious, that we would exchangeeverything we have to get it? He did,and he was happy about it, thankful hehad come across this wonderfulfortune.The second man was actually

looking for something of value. He wasa specialist merchant, looking forbeautiful pearls. When he came acrossthat particular pearl, the amazinglyvaluable one, he too sold all he had,

Real RichesReal Riches

4 Glad Tidings

But what things were gain to me, theseI have counted loss for Christ. Yetindeed I also count all things loss forthe excellence of the knowledge ofChrist Jesus my Lord, for whom I havesuffered the loss of all things, andcount them as rubbish, that I may gainChrist (Philippians 3:7–8).

Paul had a great profile in the reli-gious world of the Jews, and wouldeven have enjoyed a certain celebritystatus. Yet he turned his back on allthat because his priority was to ‘gainChrist’.

Being Valuable to God

In the Old Testament, God spokethrough the prophet Malachi to givecomfort to people who were trying todo the right thing. We are told that theyfeared and respected God and Hismessage. They spoke to one anotherabout their faith. God heard and Hepromised to remember them, especial-ly when He sends Jesus to set up thekingdom.

“They shall be mine,” says the Lord ofhosts, “On the day that I make themmy jewels. And I will spare them as aman spares his own son who serveshim” (Malachi 3:17).

Let’s give the Lord Jesus the finalword on this. He tells us not to worryabout life now, but to focus on thekingdom of God and to trust Him:

Seek first the kingdom of God and Hisrighteousness, and all these thingsshall be added to you (Matthew 6:33).

Editor

dent, through a casual word from afriend or something we happen toread. Others of us may search foryears, sure that there is something ofworth but taking time to identify it. However we come across the Bible’s

true message, we find something ofinfinite worth, far more precious eventhan treasure or pearls. Why can wesay this?

For Today and the Future

The Apostle Paul helps us here whenhe writes that trying to be godly has“the promise of the life that now is andof that which is to come” (1 Timothy4:8).The Bible message gives us purpose,

direction and perspective in this life.We can understand the world and ourplace in it, and we can face whateverdifficulties it presents with perspectiveand the knowledge that a loving Godcares for us.Then the gospel gives us hope for

the future, to be part of the kingdom ofGod and to worship Him for ever in aperfect world.

Hold On To It

Having found this precious hope, weneed to follow the example of the menin Jesus’ parables and do whatever weneed to take hold of it.Later in the first letter to Timothy,

Paul has this advice: “lay hold oneternal life” (1 Timothy 6:12). It is astrong phrase and means to seize,hold on to or take possession of;exactly what Jesus was talking about.A modern example might be a rugbytackle, where the person throws them-self into it and holds on until they havefull control of their target. Paul refersto his own experience:

132nd Year 5

Helen was talking about her new Bible.“How is this different from my oldschool Bible?” she asked.“Unfortunately, your old Bible isn’t all

there”, was the reply. Helen giggled at this: “What do you

mean, ‘not all there’?”“Well, your old Bible contains the

New Testament and the Psalms, butnot the whole Old Testament. The Bibleconsists of 66 different books writtenby a variety of people. The Old Testa-ment comprises 39 books writtenbefore Jesus was born. They do teachabout Jesus, but in prophecy. This waswhat Jesus had as his Bible, which hereferred to as ‘scripture’. The New Tes-tament contains the four gospels…”“Ah – Matthew, Mark, Luke and

John”, said Helen. “Yes, that’s right; then Acts which is

about the spread of the gospelmessage, letters to various churchesand individuals in the first century, andfinally the book of Revelation. The NewTestament has 27 books, but it isimpossible to fully understand themwithout the Old Testament.”

Jesus and the Old Testament

The Old Testament records the historyof the Jews, with important promisesfrom God and prophecies about worldhistory. These centred on Jesus Christ,and we cannot make proper sense ofthe New Testament without the OldTestament. In fact, the very first versein the New Testament says:

The book of the genealogy of JesusChrist, the son of David, the son ofAbraham (Matthew 1:1).

Without knowing about Abrahamand David from the Old Testament, wecannot appreciate why this was impor-tant enough for God to inspireMatthew to record them. Christiansclaim to accept the teachings of Jesus,and there are many, many occasionswhere Jesus was referring to the OldTestament. Here are some examples:

❖ King Solomon’s royal glory(Matthew 6:29).

❖ Judgement on Sodom, and itsdestruction (Matthew 11:24).

❖ The sign of Jonah the prophet(Matthew 12:39–41).

❖ The words of the prophet Daniel(Mark 13:14).

❖ Old Testament prophecies aboutJesus himself (Luke 24:25–27).

There are other instances. Forexample, Jesus told many parables,and one of these, recorded in Matthew21:33–41, is about a vineyard. It isbased on a prophecy in Isaiah 5:1–7which explains exactly what the vine-yard represents, providing the key to aproper understanding of the parable.We cannot fully understand what

Jesus said without the Old Testament.

The Essential LinksThe Essential Links

6 Glad Tidings

His words, like all words in the Bible,had a meaning and we are not atliberty to put our own interpretationson them. Bible expressions have bibli-cal meanings, not man-made ones. Inorder to understand the gospelmessage in the New Testament wemust look at the Old Testament.

The New Testament Letters

We need the Old Testament to properlyunderstand the letters to the firstcentury churches. This applies espe-cially to Romans, Galatians andHebrews with their extensive refer-ences to Adam, Abraham and the Lawof Moses.The table below shows more exam-

ples of words or people mentioned inthe New Testament, which refer backto the Old Testament. For each, itshows how many New Testamentverses refer to it, and in how many dif-ferent New Testament books theexpression or name appears.

Totally Connected

Some Bibles have notes down themiddle or at the bottom of the page,

containing cross references. These areconnections between the particularverse and other verses, identifyinglinks with an idea, event or word.These notes show how often the NewTestament refers to the Old Testament.Just dipping into the New Testament

is not like reading volume two in aseries of novels, where each book isself–contained. It is more like trying tostudy stage two of a college subjectwithout having done stage one. TheOld Testament is no easier than theNew Testament, but it is certainly thefoundation for it.Nearly all of the New Testament was

written by Jews familiar with the OldTestament. So the teachings in theNew Testament are based on, andmust be interpreted in the context of,Old Testament teachings. Misunder-stand the Old Testament and you willmisunderstand the New Testament.Reading the New Testament withoutthe Old Testament will lead to bias andfalse beliefs.

How to Start

However, if you are new to the Old Tes-tament, there is a better way thanreading straight through from Genesisto Malachi. It is better to use a readingplanner to break it into more easilydigested sections. This will also getyou into the habit of regular Biblereading.Such a planner is available in each

December issue of Glad Tidings. Youcan request this, or indeed a full BibleReading course, on our web site or bypost – all the details are on the back ofthis magazine. Whichever way you do itwe urge you to prayerfully read thewhole Bible.

Anna Hart

Word or Person NT Verses NT Books

‘written’refers to OT text

85 11

Moses 78 11

Abraham 65 11

David 54 9

‘fulfilled’refers to OT text

32 6

Jacob 25 7

Isaiah 21 6

Isaac 18 8

Ancient Egypt 16 3

132nd Year 7

External Evidence

Let’s think about what kind of evi-dence exists. There is direct evidenceof accuracy which comes from makinga comparison of the accounts in theGospels with evidence gathered fromexternal sources. One can comparethe details of places, people, eventsand customs written in the Gospelswith what archaeologists have excava-ted. One can also compare thelanguage in which the Gospels arewritten with what one knows of theplace and time where the events tookplace. This kind of evidence is knownas external evidence.

Internal Evidence

There is also internal evidence, whichcomes from the text of the Gospelsthemselves. This helps us to identifywhether they are just fictitious inven-tions or genuine eyewitness accounts.

Consider these two views about theGospels.

❖ They are eyewitness documentswritten by people who were thereat the time and who gave an accu-rate account of what they saw andheard, or

❖ They are documents written longafter the event by a group ofpeople who had only a vague ideaof what had happened but whoused their imagination, and thoseof other people, to produce anessentially fictional account.

Traditionally the Gospels wereviewed as very accurate eyewitnessrecords. However, in the 19th century,sceptical scholars theorised that theywere written in the second century bycommunities of Christians after theyhad been passed on through genera-tions of oral transmission. Theyclaimed the records were altered bythe community that passed them onand sometimes were completelyinvented.This critical idea was not based on

evidence, but on supposition.Never-theless, it has proved attractive tomodern sceptics, and is often found inpopular culture and even among someacademic scholars.The evidence points in a quite differ-

ent direction. This series of articlesexamines the evidence and will lead tothe conclusion that the Gospels are,indeed, eyewitness records which givea very reliable and accurate record ofwhat Jesus did and said.

The Reliability of the Gospels - 1The Reliability of the Gospels - 1

Introduction Introduction

8 Glad Tidings

Fictional accounts tend to have par-ticular characteristics which are notshared with eyewitness evidence. Infictional accounts there are few detailsand those details which exist usuallyhave a direct bearing on the main plotand characters in the narrative. Eyewit-ness accounts tend to be detailed andto contain incidental details.

Topical, Honest Content

Accounts which were made up by theearly Christian community would beexpected to deal with the topics thatthe early church considered important;they would not deal with out–of–dateissues. Of course we know what was ofinterest in the early church from theletters of Paul, Peter, James, John andJude; later we have the writings ofother early church leaders. It is inter-esting that these are very differentfrom the words and teaching of Jesus.Fictional accounts made up in com-

munities founded by the Apostles,which produced traditions based ontheir memory, would have a certainbias. No matter how garbled, theywould not contain material whichshowed these Apostles in a bad light.The denials of Peter, the constant bick-ering of the disciples and their failureto understand Jesus’ teaching wouldhardly have appeared in a fictionalaccount.

Undesigned Coincidences

Sometimes, insignificant details inclu-ded in one account match insignificantdetails in other accounts, to showsome fact which is incidental to thereal narrative. This is described as an“undesigned coincidence”. Unde-signed coincidences are very difficultto invent, even in the work of a single

writer. They are features of detailedand accurate accounts of real–lifeevents such as court proceedings ordetailed diaries. The Gospels containthese in great quantity (and they arefound throughout the rest of the Bibleas well).

Eyewitness Accounts

It is clear that the real Gospels reallyare eyewitness accounts. In general,they contain detailed accounts,although there are places where asequence of events is summarised forbrevity rather than recounted in detail.They contain details which are not partof the main narrative and sometimesthey are critical of the Apostles orcontain statements which would havebeen completely irrelevant in the earlychurch.These are hallmarks of eyewitness

accounts and are very unlikely thingsto find in fictionalised or traditionalaccounts. Coupled with the externalevidence, internal evidence that theGospels are factual is very strong.

A Worked Example

After his arrest Jesus was taken to thehouse of Caiaphas the high priest(Matthew 26:57; Mark 14:53). Peteralso went into the house and remainedin the courtyard, where he denied thathe had known Jesus.

Now as Peter was below in the court-yard, one of the servant girls of thehigh priest came. And when she sawPeter warming himself, she looked athim and said, “You also were withJesus of Nazareth” (Mark 14:66, 67).

This account contains several itemsof evidence. The fact that Peter was

132nd Year 9

below in the courtyard suggests thatJesus was upstairs. We know fromelsewhere in the Gospel that the roomhe was in contained various priestsand scribes, some guards and poten-tial witnesses. This suggests it was alarge upper guestroom.The room in which the Last Supper

was held was also a large upper gue-stroom (Mark 14:15; Luke 22:12). Thisshows an unmentioned detail of thearchitecture of the houses of wealthymen in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus;they tended to have large upstairs gue-strooms. The correspondence of thistiny detail is an undesigned coinci-dence, and it is confirmed byarchaeology. Various houses from theperiod, excavated in Jerusalem, had

large upstairs rooms. You can seethis in the detailed diagram above.The denial of Jesus by Peter is a

narrative which would have beenembarrassing to Peter, the Apostlemost closely associated with Mark’sGospel. It is unlikely that this wouldhave been allowed to stand in a fic-tional account; it is only therebecause it really happened.Thus we have several reasons for

accepting the reliability of these twoverses in the Gospel of Mark (and ofcourse the parallel verses in otherGospels). And there is much, muchmore.

John Thorpe

Plan of palatial mansion, Jerusalem (1st Century). Courtesy of Ritmeyer Archaeological Design: http://store.ritmeyer.com

God wants us to worship Him, and Himalone. So He gave Israel clear instruc-tions when they had completed theirjourney to the promised land: drive outthe occupants from the land anddestroy their worship and culture, or“those whom you let remain shall beirritants in your eyes and thorns inyour sides” (Numbers 33:55).Why? Because God did not want

Israel to become like the inhabitantsof Canaan, who worshipped almostanything except God Himself. Sadly,Israel did fail to drive them out, and sotheir neighbours were often theirenemies.

Oppression

We take up the story in Judges chapter4, when Israel had had peace for 80years. They started worshipping idols,so God ‘sold them’ into the hand ofKing Jabin, whose capital city was nearMount Carmel. The land becamedepopulated, and marauding bandsstole any goods or crops. Today wewould call it guerrilla warfare. Jabin’s garrison town was Hazor, the

military hub of Canaan and the largestof Biblical towns, numbering 40,000inhabitants. They had chariots of iron,and were quite ruthless. Imagine beingarmed only with a sword or javelin,standing on your own two feet inopen–toed sandals, with an armycoming towards you. That army has900 chariots of iron, each with twohorses and a driver, plus a marksmanwith bow and arrow! With this powerfulforce, it is easy to picture how theCanaanites were able to oppress Israelfor 20 years.

Now Jabin, with his commanderSisera, was going to launch a full–scale attack on the Israelites.Israel did not have a king at this

time: ‘Judges’ ruled them. The currentJudge was a lady called Deborah. Shewould sit under a palm tree andpeople came to her with their dis-putes. When Deborah gave her verdict,the people accepted it.

A Challenge

Deborah sent for Barak and told himthat God had commanded him to go toMount Tabor with 10,000 soldiers.God would bring Sisera there so thatHe could help Barak defeat theCanaanite army. Barak was completely taken aback

and very frightened, but obeyed thecommand. He told Deborah that hewould go into battle, but only if shewent with him. She agreed to accom-pany him telling him that Godpromised he would win the battle.However, because Barak was afraid,God would sell the captain of theenemy into the hands of a woman, andshe would get the glory. Deborah wentwith Barak, but she did not lead thebattle: she supported Barak as heassembled his army.Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army,

gathered his troops and his 900 chari-ots of iron. Being informed whereBarak and his ill–equipped army werecamped, they came to the river Kishonto do battle. Barak, meanwhile, was camped

near the top of Mount Tabor, and sowas able to see Sisera with his greatarmy and chariots in the valley below.

10 Glad Tidings

Barak’s Victory with GodBarak’s Victory with God

Barak would have a perfect view: infact he would be able to see rightacross the plain to Mount Carmel,some ten miles away. It would nothave been a comforting sight: archae-ologists have discovered pictures andfragments of these chariots and theywould have been terrifying.

God’s Battle

So, Sisera mustered his forces, but sodid God! Deborah says to Barak, “TheLORD has delivered Sisera into yourhand” (Judges 4:14). God was going to defeat Sisera, his

army, and his chariots. This was God’sbattle, on behalf of His people. And Hewould do so in an amazing way. Firstly,He gave Barak’s army the upper handand they thoroughly defeated theCanaanites. Then nature played a part:Deborah and Barak’s song records inJudges 5:21 that “the torrent ofKishon swept them away”.The river Kishon, meandering gently

along the flat and level Esdralon plain,is unpredictable. It is often dry, butliable to swell and flood very suddenlywithout warning, especially in springafter the snow melts from MountTabor. The result is mud that is justimpassable. Sisera tried to get awayand had to flee on foot, maybebecause his chariot was caught in the

torrent, or in the boggy morass causedby the sudden flooding.This actually happened in the Battle

of Mount Tabor in April 1799. Themuddy ground on the banks of theKishon flooded and became impassa-ble, so many of the Turkish army weredrowned.So maybe Sisera’s chariot, along

with the rest of his forces, was boggeddown by a storm deliberately sent byGod. Judges 5:22 describes how thehorses’ hooves pounded and the char-iots and army of Sisera werecompletely destroyed by Israel.

Complete Victory

Sisera fled for his life and came to thetent of his ally, Heber. Heber’s wife,Jael, saw him coming, went out tomeet him, and invited him into her tentfor ‘safety’. Having covered him with arug, she gave him some fermented(slightly intoxicating) milk and he fellinto a deep sleep.It is possible that Jael, having heard

of the amazing defeat of Sisera’s army,decided to side with the victors, and sowith God. Certainly, as the commanderslept, she drove a tent peg right intohis head with a hammer. She thenshowed Sisera’s body to Barak,proving correct Deborah’s prophecythat the glory of success would go to awoman. Israel then had peace, at leastuntil the next time they disobeyed God.God wants us to be His children, and

obey Him, just like Israel should havedone. If we choose not to, then wemust bear the consequences. Our onlyhope of deliverance from death isthrough the victory of the Lord JesusChrist. That battle has been won: ourjob is to have faith in God’s savingpower, just like Barak.

Peter Hale

132nd Year 11

12 Glad Tidings

The Bible is absolutely clear: there isonly one God. It is our only source ofinformation about Him, and it is expli-cit on this point. Early in the OldTestament we read:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, theLORD is one (Deuteronomy 6:4).

This is reinforced in the New Testa-ment by the Apostle Paul.

Therefore, as to the eating of foodoffered to idols, we know that ‘an idolhas no real existence’, and that ‘thereis no God but one’ (1 Corinthians 8:4).

Dangerous Mistakes

The Religious Dictionary (ed. LymanAbbot) states that belief in a God ofthree persons came long after theBible was completed. It was not untilthe beginning of the fourth centurythat the trinitarian view began to beelaborated and was formulated into adoctrine. Then efforts were made toreconcile it with the church’s belief inone God.There is a serious issue here. The

notion of a ‘trinity’ is not found in theBible, and there is no mention of theword or the idea all the way through it.So to introduce such a concept is to tryand redefine what the Bible says – anapproach which is both wrong anddangerous. It is condemned in theBible itself:

I warn everyone who hears the wordsof the prophecy of this book: if anyoneadds to them, God will add to him the

plagues described in this book, and ifanyone takes away from the words ofthe book of this prophecy, God willtake away his share in the tree of lifeand in the holy city, which aredescribed in this book (Revelation22:18–19).

This means that we have to acceptwhat is found in the Bible as God’sfinal revelation to us. We cannot add tothe words of Scripture, nor can we takeaway from them. Our understanding ofGod must conform to what is in HisWord.

A Father and Son Relationship

So we must also try to understand therelationship between the Lord Jesusand Almighty God. Again the Bible isquite specific. Jesus is the Son of God,and never, ever described as ‘God theSon’. The gospel of Luke uses these words

in recording the message which theangel Gabriel gave to Mary, the motherof Jesus, telling her that she wouldhave this remarkable son:

Thinking About God - 2Thinking About God - 2

Unity Unity

132nd Year 13

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,and the power of the Most High willovershadow you; therefore the child tobe born will be called holy — the Son ofGod (Luke 1:35).

The Bible also makes it quite clearthat Jesus is of lower rank than hisFather.

If you loved me, you would haverejoiced, because I am going to theFather, for the Father is greater than I(John 14:28).

These are words of the Lord Jesus,and clearly the person in the best posi-tion to know about the relationshipbetween Father and Son, and toexplain it to us, is Jesus himself. The Apostle Paul also makes a very

clear statement about the differentstatus and roles fulfilled by Jesus andhis Father, this time in respect to therelationship they have with men andwomen:

For there is one God, and there is onemediator between God and men, theman Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).

This is the clear understanding ofthe New Testament writers followingthe Lord Jesus, though they saynothing which demeans him in anyway. Here is a further comment byPaul, looking to the future:

When all things are subjected to him,then the Son himself will also be sub-jected to Him who put all things insubjection under him, that God may beall in all (1 Corinthians 15:28).

The whole of the teaching of the NewTestament is that the Lord Jesus isvery much the son of his Father, but

that he is not the same as or equal toGod. We shall return to this later in thisseries.

Unity of Purpose

The anonymous writer who penned theletter to the Hebrews put it this way:

Long ago, at many times and in manyways, God spoke to our fathers by theprophets, but in these last days He hasspoken to us by His Son, whom Heappointed the heir of all things,through whom also He created theworld (Hebrews 1:1–2).

God communicates with us throughthe pages of the Bible, but we learnmost about Him when we read aboutthe work and words of the Lord Jesus,His Son. It belittles both the Lord Godand the Lord Jesus to suggest thatthey are the same person. There isunity between them in the sense thatthey are both of the same mind andpurpose, not because they are thesame person. This is what the LordGod says of himself.

I am the LORD, and there is no other,besides me there is no God; I equipyou, though you do not know me, thatpeople may know, from the rising ofthe sun and from the west, that thereis none besides me; I am the LORD, andthere is no other. I form light andcreate darkness, I make well–beingand create calamity, I am the LORD,who does all these things (Isaiah45:5–7).

Mark Sheppard

Bible Quotations from the EnglishStandard Version.

God made men and women with theintention that we should become likeHim. He described His own characterto Moses in these wonderful words:

The LORD, the LORD God, merciful andgracious, longsuffering, and abound-ing in goodness and truth, keepingmercy for thousands, forgiving iniquityand transgression and sin, by nomeans clearing the guilty (Exodus34:6–7).

Men and women have the potentialto behave like that, but He also gaveus free will, and so how we live is ourown responsibility. We have a duty tolive in the way that pleases God, butHe wants us to do so by our ownchoice. From the beginning, men andwomen showed a strong preference forpleasing themselves rather than God.Left to ourselves, we mostly do not liveto please God, and that is whyhumankind as a whole is astray fromHim, suffering and dying.

Without Hope?

Paul tells some new Christians inEphesus to remember that beforeaccepting the Gospel and becomingpart of God’s family, they were in a verydifferent state:

At that time you were without Christ,being aliens from the commonwealthof Israel and strangers from thecovenants of promise, having no hopeand without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12).

14 Glad Tidings

In this series so far, we have surveyedthe message that God has given to usin the Bible. Across its pages we haveseen consistently that He plans to setup a kingdom which will last for ever,that He will make this earth a place ofpeace and joy, with no sin, disease orunhappiness; and finally, not evendeath. Now we look at how God wantsus to respond.

A Choice to be Made

We read that nothing is too hard forthe Lord (Genesis 18:14), so Godcould have made us like robots,keeping His laws by animal instinct.But He had a higher plan. After He hadmade the animals God said:

“Let us make man in our image,according to our likeness; let themhave dominion over the fish of the sea,over the birds of the air, and over thecattle, over all the earth and over everycreeping thing that creeps on theearth.” So God created man in His ownimage; in the image of God He createdhim; male and female He createdthem (Genesis 1:26).

A Christadelphian’s Faith - 35A Christadelphian’s Faith - 35

Faith and Repentance Faith and Repentance

132nd Year 15

This is the natural position of all menand women unless we accept God’sway. If we desire to be amongst His

people, we have to ‘opt in’. By our-selves we cannot solve the problem.Even if we could live perfect lives start-ing today, we could not earn theeternal life that God wants us to have.In New Testament times there werescholars who thought that if they keptall of God’s laws from the Old Testa-ment they could be sure of eternal life.But Jesus told them that although theywere obeying details they were failingto exercise the big things like justice,mercy and faith (Matthew 23:23). TheApostle Paul shows from the Old Testa-ment itself:

By the deeds of the law no flesh will bejustified in His sight, for by the law isthe knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20).

If you look at the earlier verses(Romans 3:10–19) you will see thatPaul quotes from Psalms 14, 53, 5,140, 10, 59 and 36 in that order.These show that humans, left to them-selves and without guidance fromGod’s Word, do not please Him.

The Importance of Faith

The Lord God is merciful and gracious:

As a father pities his children, so theLORD pities those who fear Him. For Heknows our frame; He remembers thatwe are dust (Psalm 103:13–14).

Therefore, God does not demandperfection from us, which would beimpossible. What He does demand isfaith – He expects men and women tobelieve what He says, and then to tryhard to please Him.

This is what we learn from Abraham.God promised a child to him althoughhe and his wife were very old:

He believed in the LORD, and Heaccounted it to him for righteousness(Genesis 15:6).

Abraham was not perfect, but Godwas pleased with him because heshowed faith. In Romans 4:23–5(ESV), the New Testament explainshow important this is:

The words ‘it was counted to him’ werenot written for his sake alone, but forours also. It will be counted to us whobelieve in him who raised from thedead Jesus our Lord, who was deliv-ered up for our trespasses and raisedfor our justification (in other words, ‘toput us right with God’).

Another key scripture says “the justshall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4)and this is quoted three times in theNew Testament (Romans 1:17; Gala-tians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).When we have been put right with

God by faith in this way, God willresume His work of making us likeHimself – ‘in His image’ as our Englishtranslation puts it. Paul wrote to themembers of another church:

Do not lie to one another, seeing thatyou have put off the old self with itspractices and have put on the newself, which is being renewed in know-ledge after the image of its creator(Colossians 3:9–10, ESV).

When we really try to do that, westart to realize how far from God’sways our lives have been. This is thebeginning of what the Bible calls‘repentance’.

16 Glad Tidings

God Desires to Forgive

Six weeks after Jesus was crucified inJerusalem, the Apostle Peter stood upboldly in the city and accused thecrowd of murdering the Son of God.There could not be a worse sin. Petersaid:

“Let all the house of Israel knowassuredly that God has made thisJesus, whom you crucified, both Lordand Christ.” Now when they heard this,they were cut to the heart, and said toPeter and the rest of the apostles,“Men and brethren, what shall we do?”Then Peter said to them, “Repent, andlet every one of you be baptized in thename of Jesus Christ for the remissionof sins; and you shall receive the gift ofthe Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:36–38).

Even a sin as bad as that can be for-given, if we can truly repent and do asthese people did. The word ‘repent’means ‘change your mind, think differ-ently’. It means being truly sorry for thewrong we have done and the good wehave failed to do, and then making upour minds to start again, living a newkind of life.Although we cannot possibly earn

eternal life and we depend completelyon God’s grace (meaning His favourand forgiveness), God expects us toshow our appreciation by doing ourbest to live in His way.

Facing Up to our Faults

Before Jesus began to teach, John theBaptist was sent to show people theway back to God, to be reconciled toHim.

The beginning of the gospel of JesusChrist, the Son of God. As it is written

in the prophets: “Behold, I send mymessenger before your face, who willprepare your way before you. The voiceof one crying in the wilderness:‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make hispaths straight.’” John came baptizingin the wilderness and preaching abaptism of repentance for the remis-sion of sins. Then all the land of Judea,and those from Jerusalem, went out tohim and were all baptized by him inthe Jordan River, confessing their sins(Mark 1:1–5).

They had to be honest with John theBaptist, and with themselves, in con-fessing their sins. Indeed, when peoplecame to John with the wrong attitude,he turned them away:

When he saw many of the Phariseesand Sadducees coming to his baptism,he said to them: “Brood of vipers! Whowarned you to flee from the wrath tocome? Therefore bear fruits worthy ofrepentance” (Matthew 3:7–8).

It must be the same with us, whenwe desire to be associated with Jesusby baptism into his name, to share thehope of eternal life. We must look atourselves honestly, facing up to thefaults we have.

Saul the Pharisee learned the samething. He converted to Christ, and

they worship, and that they do so sin-cerely:

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me,the hour is coming when you willneither on this mountain, nor inJerusalem, worship the Father. Youworship what you do not know; weknow what we worship, for salvation isof the Jews. But the hour is coming,and now is, when the true worshiperswill worship the Father in spirit andtruth; for the Father is seeking such toworship Him. God is Spirit, and thosewho worship Him must worship inspirit and truth” (John 4:21–24).

God calls us to have faith in Hispromises and to believe that He wantsus to be part of His kingdom. When wedevelop this faith, we realise our short-comings and so repent, changing ourmind and outlook to follow theexample of the Lord Jesus Christ.

John Woodall

132nd Year 17

became the person we know as theApostle Paul. He spent the rest of hislife preaching and teaching people“that they should repent, turn to God,and do works befitting repentance”(Acts 26:20).

In the Old Testament

In earlier studies from this series, wewere thinking about the sacrifices andother rituals of Old Testament times.One important fact we learned wasthat these practices had no value inthemselves. Their purpose was toteach men and women about how farthey had gone from God’s standardsand to make them aware of their needfor forgiveness. In other words, theywere to bring people to this state ofmind that the Bible calls ‘repentance’.The prophet Joel explained it in thisway:

“Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turnto Me with all your heart, with fasting,with weeping, and with mourning.” Sorend your heart, and not your gar-ments; return to the LORD your God, forHe is gracious and merciful, slow toanger, and of great kindness; and Herelents from doing harm. Who knows ifHe will turn and relent, and leave ablessing behind Him? (Joel 2:12–14).

The Invitation of Jesus

John chapter 4 records a wonderfulconversation about the state of mindthat God wants us to have. A womanwanted to know whether it was best toworship God on a mountain in hercountry (Mount Gerizim, see Joshua8:33), or in Jerusalem. Jesus carefullyexplained to her that where believersworship is not the important thing.What matters now is the way in which

18 Glad Tidings

The Stone Age

The Stone Age lasted until about3,000 BC. In biblical history thesedates relate to the time of Adam andEve right through to the birth of Noah.The main events under the Stone Agecan therefore be listed as:

Adam and Eve, Garden of Eden•Their sons Cain and Abel: Cain •killed his brother, the first murderSeth, their third son, who Eve said•replaced the deceased AbelEnoch, whose writings are quoted•later in the BibleMethuselah – the oldest man who•ever lived (969 years old!)

We should not make the mistake ofthinking that these people were primi-tive cave–dwellers. They wrote, keptflocks, built cities and made technicalprogress. Genesis 4:22 says that aman called Tubal–Cain worked inbronze and iron, which illustrates thatthere were some people who wereahead of their time. The very fact thatthis is recorded proves that theseperiods did not suddenly stop, andanother one begin. The change camegradually over time.

The Bronze Age

The accepted dates for this Age are3,300 BC to 1,200 BC. This equates tothe time of Noah right through toSamuel, the last of Israel’s judges.The Bible account tells us that after

the Flood, people again turned awayfrom God. So the Lord chose Abrahamand made a covenant with him. The

A useful way to understand Bibleaccounts is to place them in thecontext of historical periods. Historianstend to divide human developmentinto three main ‘Ages’: the Stone Age,the Bronze Age and the Iron Age.If we compare historical books and

commentaries, we soon see that theseAges occurred at different datesaround the world as nations developedat varying rates in the areas wherethey lived. An expert in archaeology (Leen Rit-

meyer, Archaeological Architect) hasgiven us the following dates whichrefer to the lands of the Bible in theMiddle East:

• Stone Age: prior to 3,000 BC• Bronze Age: 3,300 BC to 1,200 BC• Iron Age: 1,200 BC to 586 BC

We notice that some dates overlapeach other. This is because no ‘Age’had a clear–cut beginning or end. Amodern day illustration of this can beseen in how many people today woulduse the internet for reference andresearch, whereas others still refer tobooks. In some countries, youngerpeople are likely to measure in metresand centimetres, or grams, but theolder generation often still prefer feet,inches and ounces. The modern worldis changing, but there is no actual cut–off point for certain methods orsystems.We will now concentrate on the

dates which concern Israel and theMiddle Eastern lands where the Biblenarratives took place. We can relatethem well to these periods in history.

Bible History - The ‘Ages’Bible History - The ‘Ages’

132nd Year 19

rest of the Bible deals with Abraham’sdescendants, known as Israel or theJews. ‘Testament’ is the same as‘covenant’: the Old Testament relatesto God’s promises to Abraham, andthen the New Testament shows theirfulfilment through Jesus.The main Bible events under the

Bronze Age are:

Noah’s ark and the Flood•Tower of Babel – the rebellion•against God soon after the FloodAbraham and his son Isaac•Isaac’s son Jacob – whose name•was changed to IsraelJoseph – sold as a slave into•Egypt, but rose to be governorIsrael as slaves in Egypt •Moses – the deliverer who led•Israel out of Egypt (the Exodus) Joshua – succeeded Moses and•led Israel into the Promised LandCapture of the Promised Land –•promised by God to AbrahamThe judges (leaders) until Samuel•

Some interesting exceptions againshow the gradual transition from this‘age’ to the next. Og, an enemy king,had an iron bedstead (Deuteronomy3:11). This was before the Iron Age,but the very mention of it shows thatadvances were being made, and that itwas exceptional in its time. Similarly, while Joshua was helping

the people of Israel to occupy the Pro-mised Land, the following complaintwas made:

All the Canaanites who dwell in theland of the valley have chariots of iron(Joshua 17:16).

This was obviously to pose a hugeproblem to those who did not possessIron Age vehicles.

The Iron Age

The last of these three Ages lastedfrom about 1,200 BC to 586 BC. Thistime period takes us from the start ofthe kings of Israel through to their lastking, and the subsequent captivity inBabylon. It includes much of Israel’shistory and a large proportion of theirwritings, the Kings and Chronicles,Psalms and Prophets. It should beunderstood that the Psalms andprophetic books fit in alongside thehistory of their kings, so that the twosections run in parallel. The principalBible events under the Iron Age cover:

Samuel – the last judge•Saul – Israel’s first king•David – the godly king who wrote•many of the PsalmsSolomon – the king who had huge•wealth and wisdomRehoboam and Jeroboam – in•whose reigns the kingdom dividedinto North and South – and thesubsequent kings Prophets – the teachers who tried•to turn the nation back to GodCapture of the Northern kingdom•in 722 BCCapture of the Southern kingdom•in 586 BC – they would return 70years later and their descendantswere the Jews living in Israel whenJesus was born.

All of this helps us to see that the Bibleis a reliable document which corre-sponds well to the historical periods inwhich it is set. More importantly, itshould give us confidence that it willcontinue to be accurate and to lookforward to the ‘Age’ still to come – theAge of the Kingdom of God.

David Simpson

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