Among the ancient civilizations there are myths about dragons. The Babylonian creation myth contains a battle between Merodach and a dragon (Tiamet). The destruction of this dragon turns into the creation of the earth and the ascendancy of Merodach.

Another of these myths is about a seven-headed dragon named Lotan or Leviathan. During excavations at a site called Ugarit (modern day Ras-Shamra) there was a tablet found bearing a story concerning “Baal and Anat” which dates back to 1400 BC. In the text there is found this ref to the Leviathan: “Didst thou not smite Leviathan, the swift serpent, even the crooked serpent? Didst thou not break in pieces his seven heads?” (Marston, The Bible Comes Alive, 54).

This creature is probably to be associated with the Canaanite god, Yamm, who is the god of seas and rivers. He does battle with Baal and is destroyed. This battle is thought to be represented by winter storms that subside in the spring time.

This passage is cited — almost verbatim — in Isa 27:1,2. Isaiah must have been familiar with this text and here he is using it for God’s own purpose. Taken in context with Isa 26:21, Yahweh is planning the punishment of the people of the earth, the nations. That leviathan sig the nations (or a nation) is to be deduced from Psa 74:14. Here again the knowledge of the seven-headed dragon myth is revealed because of the mention of leviathan’s heads (plural!). This passage is talking about Egypt. The Psalmist is referring to the greatest political power at that time, Egypt, and likening it to this mythological dragon. God is the true king (v 12) and the One to bring judgments upon the Egyptians. “Leviathan” is given for “food for the creatures” (RSV, NIV) — ref the dead bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the shore as being meat for the animals. This is a common idea in the latter day prophecies which speak about the bodies of the destroyed nations (ie Gog in Eze 39).

“Very remarkably, identical language to Isaiah’s has been found in one of the Ugarit religious tablets: ‘Didst thou not smite Leviathan the swift serpent, even the crooked serpent? Didst thou not break in pieces his seven heads?’ This inscription dates back to 1400 BC; so there is the remarkable phenomenon of an inspired prophet of Jehovah quoting from what was evidently familiar literature of an earlier pagan religion. Presumably in the first instance some Ugaritic priest wrote the words to celebrate an earlier period of Assyrian expansion… which suffered a serious reverse. Now Isaiah picks up the familiar words, rightly attributing this latest mighty Assyrian disaster to the angel of the Lord (Isa 37:36)… One is sorely tempted to read these serpent allusions as a sidelong reference to the brazen serpent, made by Bezaleel and smashed up in the fervor of Hezekiah’s reformation (2Ki 18:4). If Ahaz had encouraged his people to associate that image with the power of the Assyrian overlord, its destruction would be an open flouting by Hezekiah of the authority of the bully of Nineveh, and then it is understandable why Sennacherib made such a vicious onslaught on the tiny state of Judah… Sennacherib was not amused!” (WIsa 279).

There can be no denying the political nature of this symbol in the OT. Is it any wonder that the book of Rev also picks it up as a symbol of paganism (Rev 12:3)? God is using this common idea among the nations to show His superiority over these “no-gods”. Instead of denouncing the concept of “Leviathan” outright he develops it for his own purposes and symbology. There can be no credence given to a literal dragon with seven heads, yet the symbology can be used for the nations.

Even outside of the canon of Scripture this dragon was used to represent political powers: “Of particular interest is the ancient Babylonian myth of a combat between the divine Creator and a great sea monster. This myth finds echoes in a number of passages in the OT where the monster is variously described as the Dragon, Leviathan, Rahab or the Serpent. In Babylonian and Hebrew forms alike it symbolizes the chaotic deep or cosmic ocean (Heb “tehom”, Babylonian “tiamat”) which is regarded as a place of mystery and evil. Elsewhere it is identified with Egypt (cf Psa 87:4) which in several places is described under the figure of a great sea monster (cf Psa 74:13…; Eze 29:3; 32:2). This same monster reappears in apocalyptic form in several writings of various dates. In the Testament of Asher, for example, the writer tells of the coming of the Most High to earth and of his ‘breaking the head of the dragon in the water’ (cf Psa 74:13). There is a tradition that this dragon, described as Behemoth and Leviathan, is to be devoured at the Messianic Banquet by those who remain in the Messianic Age (2 Esdras 6:52; 2 Baruch 29:4). In the Zadokite Fragments the same figure is used to describe ‘the kings of the Gentiles’ (9:19-20), whilst in the Psalms of Solomon the ref is to the Roman general Pompey (2:29), no doubt under the influence of Jer 51:34, where Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is referred to in similar terms” (DS Russell, Between the Testaments 98,99).

In the OT there are a number of references to Yahweh’s conflict with the dragon and the sea, the dragon sometimes being named as Leviathan or Rahab. The theme is also seen in the NT in the book of Rev. The imagery is sometimes associated with the creation of the world. Sometimes it is historicized, so that the dragon symbolizes a foreign nation such as Egypt, and sometimes the divine conflict is projected into the future as the final, Last Days battle. The background of this mythological imagery was previously believed to be Babylonian, but since the discovery of the Ugaritic texts it has become apparent that the more immediate source of the Biblical allusions is Canaanite mythology (ABD).

A. Creation

A number of poetic OT passages describe a conflict at the creation of the world which pit Yahweh against the dragon and the sea. The clearest instances are in Psa 65:6,7; 74:12-17; 89:9-14; 104:1-9; Job 9:5-14; 26:5-14; 38:8-11. This conflict also seems to form the background of Psa 93:3-4; Job 7:12; 40:15-41:34, while Job 3:8 seems to allude to the reversal of the process of creation.

It has been long assumed that these OT allusions constituted an Israelite appropriation of the Babylonian myth of Marduk’s defeat of the sea monster Tiamat recounted in Enuma Elish, the so-called Babylonian creation epic. This view continues to find support, but the discovery of the Ugaritic mythological texts has shed new light on the question. In addition to a detailed account of Baal’s defeat of the sea-god Yamm, there are allusions to another conflict between Baal or Anat and the sea monster Leviathan (also known as the twisting serpent, the crooked serpent, and/or the dragon, in addition to other monsters). These indicate a Canaanite background for the allusions to Leviathan (Psa 74:14; Job 3:8; 40:25-41:34; Isa 27:1) and the twisting or crooked serpent (Isa 27:1; cf Job 26:13). Since Rahab seems to be another name for Leviathan, this too was presumably a Canaanite dragon name, though it has not yet appeared in any extra-biblical text (See Lesson, Rahab (Egypt)).

It seems likely that the theme of Yahweh’s conflict with the dragon and the sea was a motif in the celebration of Yahweh’s kingship at the Feast of Tabernacles. Just as the kingship of Marduk was associated with his defeat of the sea monster Tiamat in Babylon, and Baal’s kingship was connected with his defeat of the sea-god Yamm at Ugarit, so perhaps Yahweh’s kingship was associated with his victory over the sea. This is explicitly the case in Psa 29; 74; 93. In Babylon the imagery was associated with the Akitu festival, the Babylonian spring New Year festival, and it appears that in Israel this imagery had its setting at the turn of the year — at the feast of Tabernacles. Such a setting is in keeping with the creation context of the theme — the obvious connection between creation and the New Year. Moreover, Psa 65, which has the chaos conflict theme, not only has the creation context (vv 6-7), but is also a harvest hymn (vv 9-13), and the Feast of Tabernacles was a harvest festival. There is strong evidence that Yahweh’s kingship, which was associated with the conflict with the chaos waters, was an important theme at the Feast of Tabernacles (cp Zec 14:16-17; later Jewish tradition associating Yahweh’s kingship and the New Year; the LXX heading associating Psa 29 with Tabernacles; etc).

There are several allusions to Yahweh’s conflict with the dragon and the sea in the book of Job (Job 3:8; 7:12; 9:8,13; 26:12-13; 38:8-11; and 40:15-41:34). There are also references to Rahab (including the helpers of Rahab), Leviathan, Behemoth, the twisting serpent, the dragon, and the sea. In some of the passages the creation context is clear (cf Job 9:8, 13; 26:12-13; 38:8-11) and, in the absence of more plausible settings, the creation context is reasonably assumed in the others. In Job 3:8, when Job laments the day of his birth, he cries, “Let those curse it who curse the day, who are skilled in rousing up Leviathan.” This appears to involve the reversal of the process of creation. Two reasons may be suggested to explain why this imagery is so frequent in Job. First, Wisdom theology is preeminently creation theology, and the dragon/sea conflict passages in Job have a creation context. Secondly, the conflict between the dragon and God provides an appropriate parallel to the theme of Job’s conflict with God (Job 7:12; 9:13-14; 40:15-41:34).

A number of passages in the OT speak of Yahweh controlling the waters at the creation of the world rather than in conflict with them (most importantly Gen 1:2,6-10; but also Psa 33:7-8; Pro 8:24,27-29; Jer 5:22; 31:35). Perhaps these are a demythologization of the conflict myth. It has often been thought that Gen 1 is intended as an argument against the so-called Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elish. The Heb word translated “deep” (tehom) in Gen 1:2 is a cognate with Akkadian Tiamat, the name of the chaos monster overcome by Marduk in connection with the creation in Enuma Elish. However, though cognate, there is no reason to believe that the word “tehom” is actually derived from Akkadian Tiamat. Also, although there are some points in common in the order of creation in Gen 1 and Enuma Elish, these are not compelling enough to demand the dependence of one upon the other. Instead, it appears that the same chaos conflict myth ultimately lies behind the account in Gen 1 as well as the poetic passages elsewhere in the OT discussed in this article — ie, that the myth is ultimately Canaanite, not Babylonian. More immediately, it seems likely that Psa 104 is one of the sources behind Genesis 1. The order of creation in Genesis 1 corresponds very closely with the order cited in Psa 104; the psalm even has the word “tehom” in the context of Yahweh’s battle with the sea (v 6), as well as other parallels.

Finally, it should be noted that Psa 29:3,10 and Nah 1:4 seem to speak of Yahweh’s victory over the sea as part of his present lordship over the world of nature.

B. Conflict in Nature

In Job 40-41 Yahweh asks Job if he is able to capture the beasts Behemoth and Leviathan. The most common view is that Behemoth and Leviathan denote respectively the hippopotamus and the crocodile. However, they are probably instead chaos monsters. The description of neither Behemoth nor Leviathan corresponds to any known creature, and certainly not the hippopotamus and crocodile. It seems fundamental to the argument in Job 40-41 that the beasts in question can be captured by God alone; otherwise, Job might have replied that he could have captured them, and then God would lose the argument! The hippopotamus and crocodile were, however, captured in the ANE. Leviathan, moreover, is said to breathe out fire and smoke (Job 40:18-21), strongly suggesting a mythological creature, and Leviathan is elsewhere a mythological sea serpent or dragon in both the Ugaritic texts and the OT, including the book of Job (Job 3:8). Apparently Yahweh’s subduing of Leviathan and Behemoth at creation forms the presupposition of His speech. Job is, in effect, asked if he can play the role of God. Thus God asks Job (Job 41:5), “Will you play with him as with a bird…?”, which must reflect Psa 104:26, which may be read, “There go the ships, and Leviathan whom you (ie Yahweh) formed to play with”, or alternatively, “There go the ships, and Leviathan whom you formed to play in it (ie, the sea).” Leviathan in Psa 104:26 has often been thought to be some creature such as the whale, but it may be a mythical monster.

Similarly, Behemoth is no hippopotamus, for its tail is high and lifted up (Job 40:17), not short and curly, and Behemoth clearly cannot be captured by man (Job 40:24). It is most likely another chaos monster, oxlike in view of its name (lit “great ox”), and also capable of living in the water (Job 40:23). Twice in the Ugaritic Baal myth there is a mythological beast, “El’s calf”, answering to this description, and on both occasions it is mentioned alongside Leviathan (dragon). This is likely to be the prototype of Behemoth.

The point of Yahweh’s speech about Behemoth and Leviathan seems to be that since Job cannot overcome the chaos monsters whom Yahweh has overcome, how much less can he hope to overcome Yahweh in argument. It is therefore appropriate that following this speech Job humbles himself before God.

C. OT History

The dragon imagery in the OT is also used metaphorically to denote earthly powers hostile to Yahweh. In particular, it is applied to Egypt (so Rahab, Isa 30:7; and quite possibly Isa 51:9, cf v 10; Psa 87:4) or Pharaoh (Eze 29:3-5; 32:2-8; reading tannin or “dragon” for MsTx tannim or “jackals”). Since Egypt oppressed the Hebrews prior to the Exodus, and the heart of the Exodus was the deliverance at the Reed Sea, it is understandable how Egypt would be singled out for special designation as this mythical sea monster. The imagery seems to apply to Egypt in connection with the Exodus deliverance in Isa 51:9 (cf v 10), and Psa 77:16-20 likewise uses Exodus imagery, but with no reference to the dragon. The same imagery is also employed in the so-called Song of Moses in Exo 15:1-18 in a transformed sense, namely that the battle is no longer with the sea but at the sea.

The imagery of the chaos waters is also applied to the Assyrians (Isa 17:12-14; cf Isa 8:5-8; Psa 46), and the waters and the dragon are both used to denote the oppressive Babylonians (Hab 3; Jer 51:34,44). See also Psa 46; 48; Joel 3; Zec 12; 14. It seems probable that the motif of nations coming to attack Zion who are then miraculously defeated by Yahweh constitutes a development of the divine conflict with the dragon and the sea.

In Psa 44:19 the MsTx tannim or “jackals” possibly should be emended to tannin or “dragon”, though it is unclear which political entity is meant. It is also unlikely that Psa 68:29 refers to a chaos monster in its allusion to “the beast of the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.” It more probably uses animal names to denote leaders and warriors (eg, 1 Sam 21:8; Job 24:22; 34:20; Lam 1:15).

D. Last Days

The original conflict with chaos at the creation of the world is also associated with the Last Days, in which a “new creation” is being born. The so-called Isaiah apocalypse reads: “In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the twisting serpent, Leviathan the crooked serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea” (Isa 27:1). This passage depicts Leviathan in terms similar to the Ugaritic Baal myth almost a thousand years earlier: “Because you smote Leviathan the twisting serpent [and] made an end of the crooked serpent…”).

One of the most interesting instances of the influence of the myth of the divine conflict with the dragon and the sea appears in Daniel 7, the chapter about the “one like a son of man.” Not everything in this chapter can be explained from the Canaanite myth, but only the Canaanite myth can adequately explain the combination of the following three factors: (1) in Dan 7:9, God is called “the Ancient of Days” and he has white hair, which is reminiscent of the Canaanite supreme god El, whose stock epithet was “Father of Years” and whose position as an aged deity is also indicated by his gray beard; (2) the “one like the son of man,” who comes with the clouds of heaven and is exalted to kingship by the Ancient of Days (Dan 7:13,14), may be compared with the Canaanite god Baal, who is often called “Rider of the clouds”, and whose rule ultimately depended on El’s authority; and (3) the “one like the son of man” rules after overthrowing the beasts of the sea — which may be compared with Baal, whose kingship resulted from his victory over Yam, the god of the sea. Thus the chaos monster imagery is unique in Dan 7 in that it reflects the underlying Canaanite myth, in which a distinction is still made between the supreme God and the one who is exalted over the sea.

In the present form of the text the “one like a son of man” may denote the angel Michael (cf Dan 12:1). One may compare Rev 12, where Michael defeats the seven-headed dragon. Interestingly, the next chapter, Rev 13 (cf Rev 17:3) presents another creature derived from Leviathan, the seven-headed beast, symbolizing Rome (Rev 13:1-10) as well as another beast, symbolizing the false prophet, who appears to derive from Behemoth (Rev 13:11-18).

“Listen up!”

If God doesn’t exist, there’s no problem. If God does exist, then He either somehow communicated to and revealed Himself to men, or He didn’t. If He didn’t, there’s no problem. If, however, God HAS spoken to mankind, then we had better listen up!

This short, colloquial argument gets right to the heart of the matter. If God has spoken, men and women — for their own sakes — ought to listen to what He has said, and respond accordingly.

The Bible purports to be God’s message to mankind. Of the many lines of evidence brought forward to support that claim, consider those portions of the Book that are regarded as prophecy. There are four things that set Bible prophecy entirely apart from other writings:

• First, the Bible unequivocally declares “Thus says the LORD”, the only God (eg, Nah 1:12; 2:13; 3:5; etc). It claims absolute and infallible divine authority. Very few others make such a claim — for the very good reason that such a claim would require a perfect track record to be credible.

• Second, Bible prophecy presents moral imperatives. It says you MUST change your behavior as a result of what is revealed — man dare not ignore the message of his Creator (eg, Joel 2:11-17; Amos 4:1 — 5:8). Others who claim to be prophets gain fame and sometimes wealth, and in general put no demands upon their listeners. Again, there is good reason for this difference. The Bible prophets who took a stand for their God and preached His message were often killed for what they said (cf Mat 23:37).

• Third, there is a sensible reason given for what is going to take place. It is not a matter of gazing into the future to see what will be. Rather, it is a declaration of what the God of heaven will CAUSE to be. He gives His reasons, and offers in most cases to alter the outcome based on how people respond (eg, Isa 46:10-11; 55:10,11; Jer 25:3-6; 38:17-23).

• Fourth, Bible prophecy is specific. It names people, places, events and sometimes even elapsed time (eg, Dan 2:36-40; 4:19-27; 5:24-28; 7:23-27; Jer 25:8-26; Isa 7:1-8; Eze 24:15-18). Therefore, it is measurable and capable of being disproved. But Bible prophecy has proven to be so completely accurate in its details that people who refuse to believe it have had to resort to the argument that Scriptures predictions were written after the fact.

Three purposes are served by the words of the prophets. First, they encourage the faithful to keep the faith, not to lose heart (eg, Hag 2:1-9; Zec 8:9-13; Zep 3:18-20). The prophetic message itself is encouraging in this regard, and faith is also strengthened by seeing predictions accurately fulfilled. This purpose is applicable to people of all nations and all ages (cf Luke 21:28).

Second, the prophets warned the wayward that they need to get right with God before it is too late (eg, Joel 1:2-15; Amos 2:4-8; 3:1-12; Hos 14:1-3). There are specifics involved in many of these warnings: specific to the time of the prophets, and specific to the time often referred to as “the last days” — the time many people now call “the end of the world”. However, the general warning applies to men and women of all eras (cf Acts 17:30,31).

Finally, prophecies were given to vindicate the one true God. They were intended to show that His word is truth, and that what He utters COMES TO PASS (eg, Isa 45:18-25; Eze 38:14-23; 39:7,8). Thus Bible prophecy is powerful testimony that there is indeed a God, that He is involved with mankind, and that He cares about how we respond to Him (eg, Amos 5:4-6, 14,15; Hos 11:1-9; Eze 18:25-32). This third purpose — the vindication of a righteous, caring God — sets Bible prophecy apart from all others who claim to foretell the future.

Because God’s Book makes demands upon those who read it, or who hear its words, the temptation is very great just to dismiss the whole thing. That is a dangerous course. Scripture was given to help us be prepared when God sends His Son to earth again. We have a choice: it is up to us whether we will listen or not. Tragically, most people will not listen. The apparent silence and inaction of God during their lifetime has made a prediction of the apostle Peter come true:

“First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation’ ” (2Pe 3:3,4).

In other words, “I’m tired of waiting. I’ve never seen any divine intervention, and I never will. Every generation has been predicting the Second Coming! It’s all a bunch of myths from the ancient past.”

Peter goes on to say that this attitude is fostered by a deliberate refusal to acknowledge that God HAS intervened in human affairs in the past. Because He is forbearing, God is now deferring His intervention in order to allow as many as possible to repent, but the time will come when he WILL step in (vv 5-10). Peter’s conclusion is a serious warning and a very pointed question:

“What sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God?” (vv 11,12).

Believers, listen up! The Coming of Jesus the Christ back to earth is soon.

A little boy climbs a hill outside the village. With each step his horizons grow wider, and in joy and wonder he soaks up the scenes. Now he has reached the top.

What a view it is! To the north there is snow-topped Hermon, dramatic symbol of God’s stored-up blessings. One day those blessings will be lavished upon His people. To the east is the sea of Galilee, a translucent “sea of glass”. One day he will walk by its shores and call simple, humble fishermen to follow him. To the south, beyond the hills, lies Jerusalem the city of David. There, one day, crowds will shout his name, some in hatred, but others in love. To the west there is the Great Sea, and beyond — other lands where men have never heard of the God of Israel — but one day they will.

So much to do; but for now, he is only a little boy, a special little boy, obedient and intelligent, thoughtful and kind. He observes the clouds as they sweep like chariots across the sky, the flowers of the field in massed formation, and the birds as they fly overhead. He feels the wind upon his face.

Patiently he waits, a silent prayer in his heart:

“Speak, Father, for Thy Son heareth.”

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?… For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Rom 11:33,34,36).

There is obvious connection among Isa 7:14; Isa 9:6,7; and Isa 11:6-9.

The first two prophecies were, firstly and in a limited sense, about the child Hezekiah. in Isa 7, Isaiah is commanded to bring his message of hope to king Ahaz. The original “virgin” in the context would have been his bride-to-be. Ahaz seems to scoff at Isaiah’s offer of an encouraging message — he wants nothing to do with the God of Israel. But the child which his young wife would bear to him would be Hezekiah; this special child of promise was destined to deliver his people from the Assyrian threat.

Isa 9:6,7 — in the immediate historical context — carries forward the promises of Isaiah. The new child would become king, would be specially strengthened by Yahweh (as his symbolic name implied: “Immanuel” — “God is with us!”), and would be bring peace to a war-torn and broken land!

In these first two passages also, the connections with the coming Messiah are obvious and powerful — so much so that sometimes the original history and Old Testament connections are not given the full weight they deserve. But it is worth recognizing their primary — if only partial — fulfillment in the days of Hezekiah and Sennacherib. And seeing the “big picture” of Isaiah helps in this respect.

This brings us to the third “child” prophecy, in Isa 11. The words of Isaiah describe a scene of complete tranquility, when all the savagery of the beasts of the field has been removed:

“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:6-9).

It is certainly a picture, in broad and general terms, of man’s reclamation of dominion over the earth, and his subjugation of the animal kingdom (Gen 1:28).

But it is more than that; it is a picture, in specific terms, of Christ’s victory over sin and death. (And this is precisely what a failure to link together the Scriptures — and look for the larger context, the “forest” and not just the “trees” — may cause us to miss.) In the final and complete fulfillment, Christ is the son born of the virgin in Isa 7:14; he is also the child born “unto us” in Isa 9:6. Then, considering this context, he is just as surely the “little child” in Isa 11:6, and the “infant” (“sucking child”: AV) and finally the “young child” (“weaned child”: AV) in Isa 11:8. So the beautiful vision of these verses is not impersonal. It is not just about ANY young child — or even ALL young children; it is about Christ!

Isa 11:6 shows Christ as the “little child” because of his perfect trust in God (cp Mat 19:13,14); he is the “babe” ordained in strength to still the enemy and to have dominion over all creation (Psa 8:2,6-8).

Isa 11:8 shows Christ as the “sucking child” and then the “weaned child” — feeding first on the “milk” and then on the “meat” of the word, growing in spirit and wisdom and grace (Luke 2:40). Both “cobra” and “viper” belong to the “seed of the serpent” (Gen 3:15; Mat 3:7; 23:33). Jesus, under the nurture and admonition of his Heavenly Father, steadily grew in spiritual strength, and steadily faced one by one the trials of the “adversary” in his flesh. He had nothing to fear from the power of the serpent, for he faced it and overcame it with a greater power — faith in God’s word and promises. And, finally, in the kingdom age, the “den” of the serpent will hold no fear whatsoever for Christ, or for those who like him have become “little children” in faith!

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Note: Here is another question: is the description of the great predators lying down at peace with their prey, in Isa 11, to be taken literally, or only symbolically? While not ruling out some sort of more literal fulfillment, the context surely points toward a symbolic fulfillment:

• If the “little child” in Isa 7 and Isa 9 is, ultimately, Jesus Christ, then what is the real point of HIS proximity to the den of the poisonous serpent, without danger to himself… if it be not Gen 3:15? In other words, Jesus — the child born of the virgin (the “seed of the woman”: Gen 3:15!) — is the one who will bring true peace (Isa 9:6,7) by crushing the head of the “serpent” of sin. And if the “child” and the “serpent” are to be best understood figuratively, then what about the “wolf” and the “leopard” and the “lion” and the “calf” and the “yearling”?

• The whole of the immediate context — Isa 7-12 — pictures an imminent threat from the Assyrian invaders, and a people living in fear of their depredations: in effect, a flock of helpless sheep in dread of the wild beasts that will attack and devour them. Against this threat the LORD will raise up a “prince of peace” (Isa 9:6) — through whom these “wild beasts” will be themselves destroyed. Consider how closely these verses mirror the prophecy of Micah (a contemporary of Isaiah):

“But you, Bethlehem… out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times [cp Isa 9:6: ‘everlasting Father’]. Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth [cp Isa 7:14: ‘a virgin shall conceive’; also cp with Mic 4:9,10]… He will stand and shepherd his flock [as a shepherd protects his flock from wild beasts like the wolf or leopard or lion!] in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God… And he will be their peace [cp Isa 9:6: ‘prince of peace’]. When the Assyrian invades our land and marches through our fortresses, we will raise against him seven shepherds, even eight leaders of men. They will rule [or ‘crush’ — like Gen 3:15 again!] the land of Assyria with the sword… He will deliver us from the Assyrian when he invades our land and marches into our borders… The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep [cp the language of Isa 11:6-9], which mauls and mangles as it goes, and no one can rescue… I will take vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations that have not obeyed me” (Mic 5:2-15).

Bible teaching about the “little horn”:

1. It arises after the ten horns…
2. …but out of their midst;
3. it uproots three of the ten; and

4. it has eyes like a man, and a mouth speaking boastfully (Dan 7:8), against God (Dan 7:25).

5. It is a king, but different from the other kings (Dan 7:24).

6. It fights against the “saints” (God’s people, or Israel in this case) and defeats them (Dan 7:21).

7. It rules over them (Israel) until Christ comes (Dan 7:22).

8. it continues for “time, times, and half a time”, or 3 1/2 years (Dan 7:25).

Consider the Arab nations in prophecy:

1. the ten nations of Psalm 83, avowed enemies of God and His nation in Bible times;

2. their modern-day Arab counterparts; and
3. ten Arab nations surrounding Israel: These nations were “born” in the same generation as was Israel — from 26 years before 1948 to 23 years after: Egypt (1922), Jordan (1949), Syria (1946), Lebanon (1943), Iraq (1932), Saudi Arabia (1932), Kuwait (16963), Bahrain (1971), Qatar (1971), and UAE (1971). They are “all the trees” in the Middle East, to which Jesus referred when he prophesied of the Last Days: Luk 21:29-31.

Along with these, there is also a possible eleventh “horn” that may arise considerably after the other ten. This may well be the “little horn” of Palestine, newly struggling to independence in 1993, whereas the other ten “horns” have been independent since 1922 (the earliest) through 1971 (the latest). Now, more than 20 years later, there comes on the Middle Eastern scene an eleventh independent (or almost independent!) Arab nation. Does Palestine fit the Bible description of the “little horn”?

1. It does arise after the other 10.
2. It does arise out of their very midst.

3. Will it uproot three others? There are presently sizeable contingents of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. In Jordan, in fact, the Palestinians pose a serious threat to the stability of King Hussein’s government. In many ways, Lebanon has already been consumed, by the 1982 war and the subsequent takeover by Syria.

4. The leader of the Palestinians — at this time Yasser Arafat — has made a career of speaking “boastful” threats against Israel (and, by implication, against the God of Israel) — just as did Goliath, the Philistine (or “Palestinian”) enemy of Israel in David’s day. If Arafat and the PLO were displaced as the leadership of an independent Palestine by even more radical leaders out of Hamas or other Muslim fundamentalist groups, such “boastful”, threatening, blasphemous verbal attacks against Israel would escalate.

5. This “little horn” is different in the way it is established: it has been legitimatized by Israel, and it is not initially an official state.

6. This “little horn”, by its threats and bluster, will bring about the last great “holy war” against the Jewish infidels!

7. The war against, and victory over, Israel…

8. and a brutal oppression of 3 1/2 years… are, of course, yet future events. But who better than the Palestinians to trigger such a final Arab “holy war” against Israel?

The Beast of Rev 13: The “little horn” shares characteristics with the Beast of Rev 13:

The little horn (Dan 7)	The beast (Rev 13)
“Different” from the others (Dan 7:24)	“Different” from the others (Rev 13:8)
“A mouth speaking boastfully” (Dan 7:8)…	“A mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies” (Rev 13:5)…
“…against the Most High” (Dan 7:25)	“…to blaspheme God and to slander his name” (Rev 13:6)
“To wage war against the saints and defeat them” (Dan 7:21)	“To make war against the saints and conquer them” (Rev 13:7)

This leads to one of two conclusions: Either…

1. The “little horn” becomes the whole Beast — ie, assumes headship of the whole Arab confederation; or

2. The “little horn” works so closely with the Beast that their objectives and actions are interchangeable.

The characteristics and activities of the “latter day” “horn” described in Dan 8:9-12,23-25 reinforce this conclusion.

At the very least, the “little horn” takes precedence over the other horns and acts as a catalyst for the last great defeat of God’s people Israel.

The “Fatal Wound”

The Beast of Revelation will suffer a “fatal wound”, but will be healed “miraculously” (Rev 13:3,12). If the Beast and the “little horn” are equivalent, then what “fatal wound” has Palestine suffered? Possibly, the seemingly insurmountable defeats suffered by the PLO in the 1970s and 1980s should be considered the “fatal wound”, from which the “phoenix” Arafat has recovered (even literally rising out of a plane crash to resume leadership of the PLO). Some thought the PLO had been effectively destroyed by the Israelis’ 1982 invasion. Perhaps the “fatal wound” was the doldrums in which the whole of the Palestinian nation had fallen, with no real hope of statehood, until quite recently.

Or is the final “fatal wound” yet in the future for Palestine — one tremendous defeat from which the nation, with a special leader, rises up again, still speaking great and blasphemous words against Israel and Israel’s God?

Conclusion

It is obviously too early in the process for anyone to fully identify and explain all the details. Certainly no one has “all the answers”. However, it is possible that the PLO will be the primary candidate for the “little horn” of Daniel. By implication, the PLO is also a major factor in the interpretation of the Revelation beast.

Some questions to be considered in the upcoming months and years:

1. Will Arafat survive the challenges to his authority, or even the threats on his life?

2. Will Hamas supplant the PLO as the “legitimate” political arm of the Palestinian people?

3. Will the rich Arab gulf states support the “new order” financially?

4. Will the Palestinians continue to grow in power in Jordan?

5. Will the “peace treaty” inspire a militant Jewish backlash?
6. How will ongoing discussions about the fate of Jerusalem affect the total picture?

7. Will the U.S. continue to provide economic and military support to Israel?

Some areas to watch:

1. The Middle East in general, and Israel in particular.
2. Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, where the conflicting claims of Muslims and Jews will never be reconciled.

3. Arafat, the PLO, Hamas, and the Palestinian peoples in Gaza and West Bank!

Today, since we have been reading the gospel of John, I’d like to concentrate on a few of what I call “the little things of John”. These are simple statements — almost deceptively simple — scattered like so many bright jewels upon the fabric of John’s gospel. Statements that are so very simple on one level, scarcely noticeable except on a second glance. But when we pause and look a bit more closely, then these “little things” take on different meanings, having what we might call “heavenly insights”. And depths of meaning are gradually revealed in what seem at first to be the most unlikely places.

The second meaning, the almost hidden meaning is there also — and, almost invariably, it lifts the passage out of time and into eternity. Lights go on, trumpets sound, and we realize that God’s word reaches across the expanses of time, from a little land in Roman-occupied Palestine, in the first century… to you and me sitting here today, in the twenty-first century, and to multitudes besides — in every age. And we are invited — no, we are commanded — to take these words personally!

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John 2:5: Jesus and his disciples have been invited to a wedding in Cana, and it transpires that there is not enough wine. Mary approaches Jesus, as if to say, ‘Now is the time!’ At first he seems unsure, but then he seems to understand that, Yes, now IS the time to perform the first of the miracles by which he will be made known to Israel.

“His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you’ ” (John 2:5).

Here we have a statement that is true enough in the quite limited parameters of the wedding feast itself. But it is also a statement that echoes down the corridors of history. The essence of obedience; condensed into five little words: “Do whatever he tells you!” Not what you choose to do, not what you would like to do, not a little of ‘this’, but leaving ‘that’ undone. “Do WHATEVER he tells you!”

And, the implication is surely there also… “Do it NOW!” Not tomorrow, not next week, not when you get around to it, or feel like it. Do it… NOW! Do not question the reasonableness of it. Do not say, “Maybe later — when my affairs are in better order… or the children are in school… or I have retired… or I have graduated.” Do not say, “Let George do it!” As if Moses were to have said, “Here I am, LORD. Now, please send Aaron instead!”

“Do whatever he tells you.” And if it seems too hard, remind yourself that a life of faith is not for the faint in heart. And he that questions what Jesus says is unstable, of two minds, and halting between two opinions — he is like a wave of the sea, being pushed first one way and then another. Don’t wait to see which way the wind is blowing, don’t stop to check the weather, don’t say to yourself, “There may be a lion in the streets!” Just… DO IT.

These are the last recorded words of Mary the mother of Jesus. And we realize that she is speaking them to us!

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The next words are written by John the narrator; they were not spoken by Jesus. But they surely express the will of Jesus:

“The Lord… left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria” (John 4:3,4).

Notice this: he “HAD TO” go through Samaria. Not… he “chose” to go through Samaria; but he “HAD TO” go through Samaria.

And why was this so? On one level, as we study a map, we might think, “Well, of course he would go through Samaria — it was the most direct route!” But it was apparently not as simple as that. We are told that many Judeans circled through Perea, east of the Jordan River (taking the long way around), rather than simply travel through Samaria. Why did they take a detour? Because their hatred of the Samaritans was so great. This hatred is expressed time and time again in the teachings and writings of the rabbis; one common prayer was: “May I never set eyes on a Samaritan… May I never be thrown into company with one.” Other rabbis said that to partake of the bread of a Samaritan was like “eating swine’s flesh” (Edersheim 1:401).

So, if anything, we might think that a devout Jew like Jesus would not only not “HAVE TO” go through Samaria, but that he would “HAVE TO” go some other way!

But not Jesus! He takes his disciples and journeys directly into the heart of Samaritan territory, deliberately defying Jewish social conventions. Why does he do this? Is it for typical reasons — that is, to foreshadow the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles? That would certainly be a good reason.

But it is, I think, more personal, more immediate than that. He MUST go through Samaria because he MUST meet that woman at the well. It is God’s will that, at this time and in this place, he will meet this woman. Never mind that she is a Gentile, a despised Samaritan — never mind that she has been married five times and is currently living with a man who is not her husband. He is going to tell her that he, Jesus, is the Messiah, and to invite her to learn more of him, and to drink of the living waters that flow from him.

He is going to tell her that “I who speak to you am he [the Messiah]” (John 4:26). The first time Jesus directly proclaimed his Messiahship was to a woman, a Samaritan and a sinner! The devout Pharisee traditionally prayed, “I thank thee that thou didst not make me a Gentile, but a Jew… not a woman, but a man.” But Paul proclaimed that in Jesus there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither male nor female (Gal 3:28)! All, whatever their social status or race or gender, whatever their past sins, may share equally in the blessings of the Messiahship of Jesus.

Do we believe this? We should.

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“Study diligently the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life” (John 5:39).

Here is an interesting verse; it is often read (or misread): “Study diligently the Scriptures because by them you possess eternal life.” In other words, it is treated as a ringing endorsement of the Bible, as the only source of eternal life. And that’s the thing: such a statement is so close to being true that we readily accept it. “Yes, that’s right. Read the Bible. That’s all you need!”

But here it’s important to read every word of this verse. “YOU THINK that by these Scriptures you shall have eternal life!” Remember that Jesus was speaking directly to his enemies, those who were persecuting him, even seeking his life. It was not going to be enough for them to “search their Scriptures” — they were doing this already, more diligently than were any other people. But all they were doing was combing through their scrolls looking for ammunition to use against Jesus! All they were doing was looking for “proof texts” to show this Galilean preacher-upstart how wrong he was… and thus the Scriptures were going to be their downfall and not their salvation… UNLESS they did one other thing! And this is explained in the last part of v 39: “These are the Scriptures that testify about me.”

In other words, the Pharisees were avid Bible students, but with their self-righteous attitudes and Bible trivia mentality, they had overlooked the most important point of all — their need for redemption through the coming Messiah. Here in plain view of these Bible students, before their very eyes, was the personal culmination of scores of Bible prophecies, and yet this escaped the attention of their hardened hearts. “Yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (v 40).

It is never enough to be knowledgeable in the Scriptures in a theoretical sense. The study of God’s Word must lead us to embrace Christ, with our whole heart and mind. We must see… HIM… in every book of the Bible — for surely he is there. Knowledge by itself is sterile; it may even puff us up in pride (1Co 8:1). But intimate, personal experience of Christ brings about deep and lasting changes in our lives, and leads on to the eternal life that may be possessed only through him.

That is the message of John 5:39!

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After the miraculous feeding of the 5,000, Jesus told his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted” (John 6:12).

Here is the evidence that, in ministering to others, Christ’s followers lost nothing themselves. (In the sacrifice of Christ, there is ample provision for all to be filled. God’s grace is a stream whose blessings never fail, a sea without a shore, a pot of oil that is continually replenished.)

This he says more plainly later in the chapter, when he prays to his Father: “That I shall lose none of all that he has given me” (Joh 6:39). Here, in this enacted parable of the miraculous multiplying of the loaves, the “bread” (which represents the body of Christ) will not be broken up and scattered — no parts will be lost. At the last day, all the “fragments” will be gathered together into one! And again, later in this same gospel, John recalls the conversation between the High Priest and the Sanhedrin, in which (inadvertently) the High Priest “prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one” (John 11:51,52).

We should recognize that the words of Jesus here, then, were not just for the disciples who went about through the crowd, gathering up all the fragments of the miraculously created bread. His words are for us too: an exhortation: remember to “gather up the fragments” of the body of Christ, that might otherwise be lost. Seek out the lost sheep, and bring it back to the shepherd’s fold. Leave no one behind. Remember that we are all in this together, and each of us — even those who seemingly are most insignificant — are a part of the One Body.

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“The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63).

Here is perhaps the simplest answer to all the Holy Spirit “difficulties” and “questions” that occasionally arise. God’s Word, preached and believed, and acted upon, is the only real source of spirit-power and eternal life — and that of course, only if it leads us to Christ, and keeps us in the care of Christ.

But there is more to it than this. God’s spirit-word has the power to remake lives, to open the eyes of the blind, to open the ears of the deaf, and to raise the dead! Jesus performed no greater miracles, with the lepers, or Bartimaeus, or Lazarus at the tomb, than his “word” does every day, even today. There IS no greater “miracle” than a life recreated, and turned around, and lifted up from the natural to the spiritual realm — and this happens every time another person accepts Christ in baptism.

We come nothing short of the believers in the first century. True, we do not see the dead literally brought back to life — not quite yet, anyway! But we do see those who were dead in their sins raised up to walk in newness of life. Can we ever praise God enough for this most wonderful of all miracles? God’s Word — and God’s Spirit, through that Word — is just as powerful today as it ever was.

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The next “little thing” in John is the simple combination of two verses, one following the other. Why don’t we notice this as we should? Because the two verses are artificially separated by a chapter division:

“Then each went to his own home (John 7:53)… but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives” (8:1)!

In contrast to all the others, Jesus had no home to go to! “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Mark 8:20; Luk 9:58).

If we find our lives a complex of tensions and pressures, and a source of distress and uncertainty, let us learn this lesson of living with God. Let us see Him in every aspect of our lives, in every part of our day. This was the case with Jesus who, though he had no permanent abode, no established residence, was more surely grounded than any man who ever lived. He always dwelt with God, and God with him. Here, at the end of one of his long days, we catch a glimpse of the meeting between Father and Son, as the Son retires to the mount of Olives to spend the night with his Father. Even though he had no “home” in the accepted sense, not any more, even though he was a stranger and a pilgrim in the earth — yet he made the Almighty God his home, and pitched his tent under the sheltering wings of the cherubim. The words of the psalmist are his words: “LORD, YOU have been our dwelling place throughout all generations” (Psa 90:1).

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At the time of the last Passover, there came Greeks up to Jerusalem to worship. And while the Jewish leaders plotted and schemed as to how they might arrest Jesus, and kill him, these Greeks sought out Philip: “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus” (Joh 12:21).

What examples for us! While the Jews were rejecting their own Messiah, these Gentiles were humbly and diligently seeking him. Nothing else would do. They would not be put off.

Do WE desire to see Jesus… in every part of our Bibles?

Do WE desire to see Jesus… in every aspect of our lives?

Do WE desire to see Jesus… on Saturday night as well as Sunday morning?

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The Passover meal was ending; the lessons, and the warnings, had been given by Jesus. But Judas left early; his “cover story” was that he had some legitimate errand to accomplish; the other disciples supposed that — because he was the treasurer — he had business to attend to. But little did they know what that “business” was!

Now, “as soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out” (John 13:30).

Judas “went out” — there is such a finality in that simple declarative statement. In this he was like Cain leaving the presence of God (Gen 4:16). In this he was like the unforgiving debtor — like Judas, also obsessed with money — who went out to acquire more (Mat 18:28). And in this “going out” he demonstrated irrevocably that he did not belong with the others — all this John saw. And he recalled this very incident when, years later, he spoke of those who abandoned their faith, and the family of believers: “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1Jo 2:19).

And then John adds the powerful “And it was night!” (John 13:30).

It was an utterly self-evident statement, for only the Passover — of all the Jewish feasts — was always celebrated at night. Why did John bother with such a statement?

As at the very first Passover, when some Jews did not abide in their blood-sprinkled houses, Judas went out into the Egyptian “darkness” of death. Inside the upper room, there was truth and love and joy and light. Outside, there was only error and hatred and sorrow and despair and darkness and, at last, death. Judas abandoned the only true Light, and went out to the place where the darkness of night evoked the darkness of death. The shadows in the streets were the shadow in his soul. “He went out, and it was night.”

John hears the door close on that night with an absolute and tragic finality — like a prison gate slamming shut, or a great stone rolling across the entrance of a tomb. And he wants us to hear it too — and never to forget how awful it sounds.

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“I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name” (John 16:20-23).

It was true: “In that day you will no longer ask me anything” (v 23). When the glorified Christ revealed himself to his disciples, their joy was such that all previous doubts and misapprehensions faded away, and they basked contentedly in the radiance of his love. Well enough, that’s easy to understand, we think to ourselves.

But is there something more? Is Jesus speaking, down through the ages, to us as well? John seemed to think so, for he added his postscript to the book: “These things are written, that YE (the readers) might believe… and have life” (John 20:31).

Have we not all had the pestering little thoughts, of the right or wrong of some complex moral tangle, or perhaps of some puzzling verse that seems to defy exposition? Or perhaps spent countless hours with some of those favorite Christadelphian time-killers: as, for example, who were the angels that sinned? is Elijah dead, or alive? or who, if anyone, was the tempter in the wilderness? Then we tell ourselves, “Someday, when Christ comes, we’ll know all those things!”

But what does Jesus say? “In that day (when the glorified Jesus reveals himself to his disciples)… your hearts shall rejoice… and ye shall ask me nothing.” There is a profound reassurance in his words: not so much that our perplexing questions will all be answered, but that they will disappear! Nothing else will matter when that day comes. At that time we might have anything we desire from the Father, but no matter! We will already have everything we need: we will have Christ!

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Even a man like Pilate could, from John’s perspective, contribute “little things” which convey something of value to John’s readers. For the cynical, worldly Pilate could ask the most profound of all questions, when he asked Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). And then, in John’s narrative, he could answer his own question, when first he presented Jesus to the crowds: “Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man’ ” (Joh 19:5)… and yet a second time, when he said to the Jews, “Here is your king” (Joh 19:14).

John wants us to see that the man who is king of the Jews IS also the “truth” — and that there is no other. “Truth” in Greek, and as used by John in his gospel, means “that which is real, in contrast to that which is but a shadow or a pattern”. There is no other reality but Christ — he is “the real thing”! When gems and monuments and, yes, even royal crowns are all decayed into dust, Christ will remain. When all the accomplishments, all the buildings, and all the great projects of mankind are practically forgotten — a dim memory in the collective consciousness of a world that has been redeemed — Christ will remain. When sin and death are no more, and every tear has been wiped from every eye, and when God’s glory will fill the earth, Christ, and nothing else, will remain.

What is true? What is real? What is enduring? What will never fail?

The man who is King of the Jews.

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“Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (Joh 21:25).

At first glance this is a bit hard to swallow, and one good-naturedly dismisses it as a well-meant but extreme exaggeration.

But perhaps our failure to appreciate the greatness of Jesus’ work arises from our subconscious insistence on placing limits on this man. And here is THE ONE MAN who cannot be limited by time and space. His work continues to this very day, in all those who believe. Here we have the plausible explanation of what first seemed to be John’s rather silly attempt at exaggeration.

It is a real jolt to realize that WE are the “books” that are being written, every one of us who has chosen to follow Christ. There are so many of us, in fact, that the “world” could scarcely contain all of us; but nevertheless it will on the day of the saints’ glorification!

God has spoken and, miraculously, His word has been made flesh and dwelt among men, and does so still by the added force of the written word, in which are recorded the words and works of Christ. This incarnation of the Word of God, the man Christ, has worked within us, impressing upon the fleshly tablets of our hearts the principles of godliness. At the judgment seat Christ will open up each one of us and read us like “books”, to see if the word of God has indeed been imprinted in our lives.

If it has, then each one of us will become an individual, unique “gospel” of the Son of God, bound and stamped with the seal of immortality: “Herein is the word of God, which lives forever! Herein are the further works of Jesus!” “The Gospel according to Glenn… or Margaret… or Robert… or Ellen.”

And the “books” that have been “written” will then fill the earth with the living glory of God.

Brothers and sisters, we come together again today for our Memorial Service, to remember the death of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. One of the commandments which we are given in conjunction with this is to “examine ourselves”. In 1Co 11:

“Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup…”

This naturally has very little appeal for us; we are afraid of what we might find in ourselves if we look too closely. But it can be very beneficial if we do look closely, and if we make an effort to correct the flaws which we find. For “If we would judge ourselves, we shall not be judged.”

Rom 12:1 is an often-quoted statement concerning our duties as brethren of Christ: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

When we think of sacrifices, we normally think of the slaying of animals under the Law of Moses — something which has long since ceased. Therefore, we may (wrongly, of course) remove the idea of sacrifices far from our own times and circumstances — and feel prone to ignore the topic. But we must not forget what Jesus called “the weightier matters of the law”, which are still with us today. Among these matters is the lesson of the Mosaic sacrifice: It was in most cases first of all representative of the sacrifice of Christ, but secondly it stood for the services rendered by the offerer — his state of mind and devotion to his God, or his “living sacrifice”.

Peter speaks of this same type of sacrifice in 1Pe 2:5: “Ye also, as lively (living) stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

And David, as well, expresses a similar thought in Psa 69:30,31: “I will praise the Name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.”

If the past sacrifices of the Jews can represent our present duties and services for the sake of the Truth, we should study them closely to see if we may gain other lessons from them which may apply to our “sacrifices” now.

One of the foremost characteristics of any animal sacrifice under the Mosaic Law was that it be “without blemish” — faultless, perfect, and of the best and strongest and most valuable of the herd or flock. The lesson here is so obvious that it scarcely needs to be mentioned. We are our own offerings. Are we “without spot or blemish” in God’s eyes? Of course, we recognize that we are all very much short of perfect, that we all have sinned and come short of the glory of the Lord. But this does not mean that we cannot try to come up to this ideal. And our imperfections will be overlooked if we ask forgiveness for them and if we work diligently to correct them. Also, we always have before us the spectacle of Christ and his spotless, life, for example and for encouragement.

A half-hearted effort

The Jews in the time of Malachi were condemned by God. The reason is given in Mal 1:7,8:

“Ye offer polluted bread upon My altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted Thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts.”

When we give a half-hearted effort to some service of the Truth, or no service at all — are we not simply offering the blind, and the lame, and the sick to the Lord? Common sense dictates that, if we are working for a tough and exacting boss, we will give him the best possible work — or else we should find an employer who will be more lenient toward us. If this is true in the natural sense, it is much more true in the spiritual sense: If we are not willing to give God the best effort we are capable of, we might as well renounce the truth altogether and make the best of the present life, for that is all we will have.

Our service

We shall examine briefly a few services, or sacrifices, which we should render to God — which we must render to Him.

One of the best and simplest services we can give to the service of God is to speak of the truth to our friends and neighbors. We should certainly never be ashamed of our beliefs, and we should never make lame excuses to ourselves for failing to mention some point of the Truth at a good time. Perhaps we will not be listened to. Perhaps we may even be ridiculed. But in view of what happened to Christ and the disciples — who died for what they taught — we would be getting off light, in comparison, even if we suffered loss of friendship or persecution. We must always be a “peculiar people, zealous of good works”.

In 1Pe 3:15, “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”

In Jude 1:3, “Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

The best way to make someone we know understand and appreciate the Truth is to live the Truth ourselves. Peter speaks of this especially concerning wives and their unbelieving husbands, but it may apply as well to others:

“Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation (or, entire way of life) of the wives.”

Paul has the same thing in mind when he speaks in Rom 12:20 —

“Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head.”

That is, the person will recognize his wrong. He may be regretful for opposing the Truth, as Paul was, and he may decide to change his ways — which is the desired result. Or he may remain unrepentant, and perhaps be punished — but at least we have fulfilled our duty to him and to Christ.

Inside the Ecclesia

If giving witness to the Truth to outsiders is important, then our service to the Truth inside the ecclesia is even more important. There are many positions to fill, and many services to perform. We must remember that “God loveth a cheerful giver.” Any service we do — such as speaking, presiding, acting as treasurer or secretary, playing the piano, or singing -any of these services is important. They should be done graciously, enthusiastically, even eagerly.

There are many ways in which we might try to avoid serving in some capacity. We may try to fool others, and we may do it successfully. We might oven fool ourselves into actually believing that we have a very good excuse. “Let us examine ourselves” in this matter:

Maybe we feel that we are too busy, or that we are being saddled with too big a burden of the duties. And we try to put work off on others in this way. Are we being honest in this? How much time do we spend on useless activities? Are we “always abounding in the work of the Lord”?

One of the most common means that we use to avoid tasks is one in which we often fool even ourselves. This is by false humility — believing that we lack the necessary ability, or that someone could do it better. But everyone has some special ability or capacity. Usually we just do not look close enough to find it. If we hid behind such a pretense to avoid work for the Truth, can we honestly say that we are presenting ourselves as “living sacrifices”?

Finally, we should mention also that there are many services which the sisters can perform — even if they cannot take a part in speaking, presiding, and so forth. And there are many things which they can do far better than the brethren. Being a woman is no excuse either not to “abound in the work of the Lord”.

The presiding brother

One of the biggest burdens in the ecclesial meetings — whether the Memorial Service or the other classes — is upon the presiding Brother. There are two rules to follow especially:

“Let all things be done unto edifying” (1Co 14:26); and

“Let all things be done decently and in order” (1Co 14:40).

Only when the presiding brother follows these rules will the meeting have any spiritual benefit. In a Bible class, he must keep worthless discussions from taking up valuable time. And he should turn the attention of the class to the most profitable aspects of the lessons. And in the breaking of bread especially, he should follow a set pattern and not let himself or others be distracted by unimportant details. He should conduct the service with dignity and solemnity. But he should not be showy, or else he will detract from the message of the speaker and the meaning of the service. Finally, any Bible readings or announcements should be done with interest and enthusiasm.

Regular attendance

One of the worst faults of which we can be guilty is to be absent from meeting without a good excuse. (Also, other meetings are just as important in this respect as the Memorial meeting.)

The ecclesia as a group may possibly withdraw from a brother who is habitually absent from the Table of the Lord. But if this is not warning enough, we should consider that Christ will certainly withdraw from those who thought so little of Him and of his death — that they could not remember these things even once a week.

Bible study

One of the many ways in which we can offer sacrifice to God is to demonstrate our “delight in the law of the Lord”, to study His word at all times and especially be prepared for the Bible classes. Why is study of the Bible so important? There are many reasons. It is the means whereby we may cleanse our ways and draw nearer to our Heavenly Father:

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed according to Thy word. With my whole heart have I sought Thee: O let me not wander from Thy commandments” (Psa 119:9,10).

Jesus told his followers, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3).

It is not enough either to simply read a little of the Bible every day or so, like we might glance through a newspaper. If we are not careful, our daily readings may come to be only a chore, to be done quickly and forgotten. We must study God’s word carefully, and work at it. Solomon said in Pro 25:2: “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.”

Our hope is that we may become “kings and priests with Christ”, and reign on the earth. It is therefore our duty to search out the matters contained in the Scriptures. Many important lessons are contained in the writings of the Bible. These writings are unique among all the writings of the world, not only because they are God’s word, but because of their remarkable unity and the great depth of their subjects. They are unique also in that they require no special intellectual or educational training to understand. They merely require constant effort, and a willing heart. Many valuable thoughts lie just below the surface, and they require only some attention to discover. Jesus spoke to his fellow Israelites through many parables. He did this, he said, because it was not given unto them to understand such things. At first glance, such a statement might seem cruel — until we remember that the people’s understanding was darkened only because they wanted it that way.

Christ’s disciples, just like the others, did not at first understand the significance of many of his statements. But they had a deep, continuing interest in his words, and they asked questions and received explanations. As Peter asked Christ, “To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” The disciples, although they were far from perfect in their knowledge, did not turn away from Christ, as the others did, at the first sign of difficulty.

We too, like so many before us, may turn away from the Bible. We may become discouraged quickly at what seem to be difficulties in the word of God. Let us not forget that we can pray to God to give us understanding and support in such matters as Bible study:

“Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you…” (Mat 7:7).

“Give me understanding, that I may learn Thy commandments” (Psa 119:73).

We should always prepare for a Bible class by reading the lesson beforehand. And not only reading it, but studying it. Try to resolve the difficulties in your mind. Decide upon good questions to ask or good points to bring up and discuss. If we cannot think of anything to say upon a chapter or even a verse of the Bible, then we are just not trying hard enough. And it will be our own fault if we learn nothing from the lesson.

Some of the things mentioned here can apply to the sisters. Although they may not be allowed, to speak in the class itself, they should certainly study beforehand to be in a better frame of mind to appreciate what the brothers might say upon the lesson.

Finally, our Bible classes should be only the beginning. Most of the profit of a class is determined afterward, in whether we remember and apply what we have heard. It is often good to follow up in more detail what has been said in the class. The things that we remember best are Chose things which we have learned well, and have thought about a lot, and have become thoroughly convinced of — for ourselves!

***

So we have tried briefly to examine ourselves and to learn how we may become “living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto God”. While we sit in our meeting, let us remember what Christ tells us:

“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mat 18:20).

We have no greater incentive than to know that we are actually in the presence of Christ, and that he can see everything we do, and even know our thoughts.

And let us remember, as we leave our meetings, that Christ is still with us — and that he is observing whatever we might be doing, and thinking:

“These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks: I know thy works” (Rev 2:1,2).

The Greek for “Word” is, of course, “logos”. As this phrase occurs in the Gospel records. it doesn’t mean the whole Bible. It means clearly enough and without any dispute the Gospel message (eg Mar 2:2; 4:33; 16:20; Luk 3:2; Joh 12:48; 14:24; Acts 4:4; 11:19). The Gospel was preached to Abraham in that it comprises the promises to Him and their fulfillment in Jesus (Gal 3:8). That word of promise was “made flesh” in Jesus; “the word of the oath” of the new covenant, of the promises made to Abraham, “maketh the son” (Heb 7:28). This is just another way of saying that the word of the promises, of the Gospel, was made flesh in Jesus. Note how in Rom 9:6,9 “the word” is called “the word of promise” — those made to Abraham. John’s Gospel tends to repeat the ideas of the other gospel records but in more spiritual terms. Matthew and Luke begin their accounts of the message by giving the genealogies of Jesus, explaining that His birth was the fulfillment, the making flesh, of the promises to Abraham and David. And Mark defines his “beginning of the gospel” as the fact that Jesus was the fulfillment of the OT prophets. John is really doing the same, in essence. But he is using more spiritual language. “In the beginning” there was the word — the word of promise, the word of prophecy, all through the OT. And that word was “made flesh” in Jesus, and on account of that word, all things in the new creation had and would come into being. Luke’s prologue states that he was an “eyewitness and minister of the word from the beginning”; he refers to the word of the Gospel that later became flesh in Jesus. John’s prologue is so similar: “That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld — the word of life” (1Jo 1:1 RV). Joh 1:14 matched this with: “The word was made flesh, and we beheld his glory”.

“Was made flesh”

“The word” is often put for the preaching of the word (Acts 6:2,4,7; Tit 2:5; Rev 1:9; 6:9; 20:4). The man Christ Jesus was the word of the Gospel made flesh. He was and is the epitome of what He and others preached. This is why another title for Jesus was “the Kingdom” — he thus described himself when He said that he, the Kingdom, was amongst them in 1st century Israel (Luk 17:21). “The word of the Kingdom” is paralleled with “the word” (Mat 13:19; cp Mat 13:20-23). The things of the Kingdom and the things of Jesus are inextricably linked. Likewise John calls Jesus “the eternal life” (1Jo 1:2). The life that he lived was the quality of life which we will eternally live in the Kingdom. The personality of Jesus was the living quintessence of all that he preached — as it should be with the living witness which our lives make. To preach “Christ” was and is therefore to preach “the things concerning the Kingdom of God”, because that Kingdom will be all about the manifestation of the man Christ Jesus (Acts 8:5,12). So Jesus was “the word” in the sense that He epitomized the Gospel. This is why Jam 1:18 says that we are born again by the word of the Gospel, and 1Pe 1:23 says that the word who begets is the Lord Jesus.

“The word was God”

“The word”, the “word of the Kingdom”, “the Gospel”, “the word of God” are all parallel expressions throughout the Gospels. The records of the parable of the sower speak of both “the word of God” (Luk 8:11-15) and “the word of the Kingdom” (Mat 13:19). The word / Gospel of God refers to the message which is about God, just as the “word of the Kingdom” means the word which is about the Kingdom, rather than suggesting that the word is one and the same as the Kingdom. “The gospel of God” means the Gospel which is about God, not the Gospel which is God Himself in person (Rom 1:1; 15:16; 2Co 11:7; 1Th 2:2,8,9; 1Pe 4:17). So, the word of God, the Gospel of God, was made flesh in Jesus. “The word of Jesus” and “the word of God” are interchangeable (Acts 19:10,20; 1Th 1:8; 2:13); as is “the word of the Gospel” and “the word of Jesus” (Acts 15:7,35). The word was not directly equivalent to Jesus; rather, he manifested the word, he showed us by his life and words and personality what the Kingdom was like, what God is like; for the word which he “became” was about God, and about the Kingdom. He was the entire Gospel, of God and of His Kingdom, made flesh. And our witness should be modeled on his pattern — we should be the living embodiment of the doctrines we preach.

“He came unto his own”

The context here speaks of both the word which was “in the beginning”, and of Jesus personally, whom John had witnessed to. Acts 10:36-38 RV puts this in simpler terms: “He sent the word unto the children of Israel, preaching the gospel of peace by [in] Jesus Christ — that word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; even Jesus of Nazareth”. The sequence and similarity of thought between this and Joh 1:1-8 is so great that one can only assume that John is deliberately alluding to Luke’s record in Acts, and stating the same truths in spiritual terms: In the beginning was the word of the Gospel which was with God. And then John came witnessing to Jesus, and then the word as it was in Jesus came to the Jews. Paul pleaded with his fellow Jews: “Brethren, children of the stock of Abraham to us is the word of this salvation sent forth” (Acts 13:26 RV). Yet he also wrote that in the fullness of time, God “sent forth His Son, made of a woman” (Gal 4:4). The Son of God was “the word of this salvation” / Jesus.

“All things were made by him”

By the time John was writing his Gospel [somewhat later than the others], the idea of believers being a new creation in Christ would have been developed in the early ecclesia. The Greek translated “made by” occurs often in John’s Gospel. It clearly describes how the Gospel of the Lord Jesus made new men and women; lives were transformed into something new. The phrase is used in the immediate context of John 1: “to become [be made] the sons of God” (Joh 1:12), in that grace and truth came [were made] by Jesus (Joh 1:17). “All things” therefore refers to the “all things” of the new creation. Note how Jesus came unto “his own things” (Joh 1:11 RV mg), ie to the Jewish people. “All things” therefore comfortably refers to the “all things” of the new creation — which is just how Paul uses the phrase (Eph 1:10,22; 4:10; Col 1:16-20). Quite simply all of us, in “all things” of our spiritual experience, owe them all to Gods word of promise and its fulfillment in Christ. This is how totally central are the promises to Abraham!

Consider other occurrences of “made by” in John’s Gospel: (a) Joh 4:14: The water of the life of Jesus shall be [made] in the believer “a well of water springing up into everlasting life”; (b) Joh 5:9,14: the lame man “was made” whole; (c) Joh 10:16: the believers shall be made (RV shall become) one flock; (d) Joh 12:36: may be [made], RV become, “the children of light”; (e) Joh 15:8: So shall ye be [made] my disciples; (f) Joh 16:20 Your sorrow shall be turned [made] into joy.

In this sense Jesus can be described as the creator of a “new creation” (2Co 5:17). But in practice, it is the word of the Gospel, the message of Jesus, which brings this about in the lives of those who hear and respond to it. We are born again by the word, the “seed” of the living God (1Pe 1:23 RV mg). In this arresting, shocking analogy, the “word” of the Gospel, the word which was made flesh in the person of Jesus, is likened to the seed or sperm of God. We were begotten again by “the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creations” (Jam 1:18). In God’s word, in all that is revealed in it of the person of our Lord Jesus, we come face to face with the imperative: as we know of him, then we should be like him. In this feature of God’s word, as it is in the Bible record and therefore and thereby as it is in and of His Son, we have the ultimate creative power, the dynamism so desperately needed by humanity, to transform lives. (DH)

Paraphrase of John 1

Initially there was a pattern for everything. The pattern was God’s; God was the pattern. The pattern was always God. Everything came from that pattern. There isn’t anything else. The pattern is both the source of life and the meaning of life. It is a way of being alive in opposition to death, and death cannot overcome it.

God sent a man named John to tell people about the possibilities of this way of being alive in opposition to death so everybody would trust the source of life. John wasn’t the source of life; he taught how to recognize the pattern. The true pattern, the source and meaning of everybody’s life, was coming to people.

To some people, however, life, and what life is all about, is unrecognizable. Some who could be expected to see the possibilities of this way of being alive select death instead. Others embrace life. They trust what life offers.

Life offers something more intense than the strongest family ties: obtaining a new parent, God, the source, the meaning of life itself. The initial pattern for everything that is became a human being and lived among us. We experienced how awesome that is: as awesome as a newborn baby is to its daddy, the gift of life and all its possibilities.

“It is not good that a man should be alone” (Gen 2:18).

How true these words are. With the exception of the hermit or proverbial “loner”, nearly all human beings crave the comfort of companionship. In fact, it has been common throughout history to punish people by depriving them of companionship and human interaction. They call this solitary confinement. This punishment is so devastating and severe that it is used on only the most uncontrollable and incorrigible inmates as a matter of last resort.

Everyone has at some time in his life experienced the emotion we call loneliness. For a few, the experience is short-lived and insignificant, while for others the experience is a tremendous burden and seems to last forever. There is a difference between being alone and loneliness. Being alone simply means not having anyone else around. This can be a very positive experience. A young mother may cherish a few hours alone to recharge her batteries. Jesus himself on several occasions left the crowds to go into the mountains to be alone. In contrast, loneliness is a feeling. You can be in a room full of people and still feel lonely.

Since loneliness is a feeling, it is a mistake to project our definition and concept of loneliness upon other people. Loneliness is really our need for human interaction minus the interaction we actually get. It is as individual as the individual. For some it is the depth of relationships that is missing from their lives, while for others it is the breadth of relationships.

It is intuitive for us to think of a certain type of person as lonely: a person who has been searching for — but never found — a mate, a person who after years of raising children finds herself in an empty house, a person who has physical limitations which do not allow him to get out much. Yet, many of these people might be quite content in their condition. On the other hand, some whom one might assume to be anything but lonely may be the loneliest people of all: the young mother who craves adult conversation, the leader on whom everyone depends, but who has no one to which to turn, the ‘life of the party’ person who never develops deep friendships, or the spouse in a loveless marriage.

The ecclesia should be a haven for the lonely. The ecclesia is supposed to be one big family. As anyone knows who ever grew up in a big family, being alone is difficult in a house full of people. Too often we fall short of this ideal. People get busy with their lives and fail to realize that an ecclesial member is lonely. People tend to hide things such as loneliness fairly well — so that to the casual observer everything seems fine. You don’t have to pry into people’s personal lives to see if they are lonely. If you suspect someone is lonely and you wish to help, even the smallest efforts can make a huge difference. Invite the older widow to come with you to your child’s soccer game. Ask the young mother if she would like to grab some lunch and chat in a place where the kids can play. See the young man who is far from home if he has plans for the coming holiday, and would like to spend it with your family. Tell your friend in the difficult marriage that you are there for them if they ever want to talk.

If you are one of those lonely people, perhaps the best way to relieve your loneliness is to find a way to help people in an interactive way. Go and serve once a week in a soup kitchen, nursing home or orphanage. Get involved with the youth at your ecclesia by taking them on outings or helping with your youth group. Think specifically what it is that you feel you are missing from your life and what behaviors contribute to that state — and put a plan in place to change it.

No, it is not good that man should be alone. Maybe TOGETHER we can overcome it.

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“And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” Following this observation, God created woman and thus the institution of marriage. From this simple chain of events, we could easily draw the conclusion that marriage is the Divine answer to loneliness and since loneliness is “not good” in the eyes of God, everyone should marry. It is the highest ideal for which we should all strive.

If this is true as a blanket statement, it seems odd that the Apostle Paul would suggest to us that, “I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn” (1Co 7:7-9). The Apostle has suggested to us that remaining chaste and single is a higher calling than being married. Doesn’t this fly in the face of what we have read in Genesis?

We can’t make that judgment without examining Paul’s reasoning.

So what are Paul’s reasons for remaining single?

• It is a matter of TIME. He tells us in v 29 that the time is short. One can sense in Paul that things concerning the Son of God and the Gospel message are incredibly urgent as we are racing forward toward the culmination of human history — the Kingdom of God on earth.

• It is a matter of PRIORITY. Things of this life, including taking a wife or husband, are wasting precious time and energy that could be devoted to “the Lord’s affairs”. Paul declares, “What I want is for you to be free of concern. An unmarried man concerns himself with the Lord’s affairs, with how to please the Lord; but the married man concerns himself with the world’s affairs, with how to please his wife; and he finds himself split. Likewise the woman who is no longer married or the girl who has never been married concerns herself with the Lord’s affairs, with how to be holy both physically and spiritually; but the married woman concerns herself with the world’s affairs, with how to please her husband. I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to put restrictions on you — I am simply concerned that you live in a proper manner and serve the Lord with undivided devotion” (vv 32-35, Complete Jewish Bible).

• It is a matter of WILL. Some people are stronger than others and more ready to endure suffering for the sake of Christ. There is no sin in “doing well” (marrying) and doing better (not marrying). Paul makes the distinction very clearly when he states, “Now if a man thinks he is behaving dishonorably by treating his fiancee this way, and if there is strong sexual desire, so that marriage is what ought to happen; then let him do what he wants — he is not sinning: let them get married. But if a man has firmly made up his mind, being under no compulsion but having complete control over his will, if he has decided within himself to keep his fiancee a virgin, he will be doing well. So the man who marries his fiancee will do well, and the man who doesn’t marry will do better” (vv 36-38, Complete Jewish Bible).

• Finally, it is a matter of FEELING THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD. Paul does not deal with it in the 1Co 7 passage, but he does deal with it elsewhere. We are the bride of Christ. We are to be to Christ as the wife is to the husband. If we feel the real and tangible nature of this relationship, we are never truly alone. Jesus has promised us that “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb 13:5). The good shepherd is always with us. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me” (Psa 23:4). Yes, it is true that it is not good for man to be alone. Yet, once we come into the saving name of Jesus Christ, how can we ever again be truly alone? (KT)

LAW: The orderly means by which a society enforces its will. A law not enforced is simply not a law. Based on accumulated experience of past.

COVENANT: A binding promise in a relationship between individuals and groups. It has far-reaching effects on behavior and attitudes. Based on loyalty and love in future.

In both cases, where there is no relationship, there is no obligation — and no security.

COMPARATIVE STUDY:

(A) PURPOSE: Law/to regulate existing relationships by orderly means; Covenant/to create new relationships (ie marriage).

(B) PENALTY: Law/punishment defined by and administered by society’s means (police/military); Covenant/punishment and reward meted out by God (curses/blessings).

(C) NORMS: Law/formal rules defined by society; Covenant/precepts and principles developed by God.

(D) BINDING: Law/by enactment of legitimate social power, regardless of individual’s attitude; Covenant/by voluntary commitment of individual (ie baptism).

(E) VALIDITY: Law/territorially bound, not valid beyond territory; Covenant/unlimited, bound to the individual wherever he might be.

(F) TIME REFERENCE: Law/past; does not operate until a violation has taken place; may deter bad behavior; Covenant/ future; a solemn promise concerning future behavior.

“The primary function of any political system is to secure and maintain its own power… All that any legal system in normal human society can expect to do is to secure its own continuity by maintaining a delicate balance between conflicting interests.”

“It is clear that in Biblical usage love is first of all a label for the fact that persons have established and continue to maintain personal relationships with others, in which the concern for the wellbeing of the other is recognized as an obligation that takes precedence over other concerns such as the exercise of power or profiting at the other’s expense.”

(Adapted from NZ)