Reading 1 – Lev 15:2,7

“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any man has a bodily discharge, the discharge is unclean… Whoever touches the man who has a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening” (Lev 15:2,7).

“Not only a leper, but any man having a running issue out of his flesh, was to be regarded as unclean till he was cured — unclean in himself and defiling to others. All contact with him in any way was forbidden. Everything he used or touched was to be considered as defiling, whether saddle, crockery ware, chair, or bed; and any one touching any of these, was to be considered unclean for the whole day, and compelled to wash, both himself and clothing. The advantage of such a law as a hygienic protection, is self-manifest, but it is the spiritual significance we are in search of. There are moral lepers and men whose mouths are a fountain of uncleanness — men comparable only to running sores in the community. ‘Avoid them’ [Rom 16:17], says Paul: ‘turn away’ [2Ti 3:5] — ‘Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them’ [Eph 5:11]. Their company — their very touch — is defiling. Men of God may be thrown into contact with them, as the Mosaic type contemplates: but they have a resort for cleansing which is also figured in the type: they bathe themselves in the water of the living word, and wait with a sense of contracted uncleanness till the next day, when sleep and prayer will bring a return of the purity that is native to the mind in which God dwells” (Robert Roberts, “Law of Moses” 260).

Reading 2 – Psa 118:22

“The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone” (Psa 118:22).

This “stone” is specifically interpreted as the Messiah in Mat 21:42-44: “Jesus saith unto them, ‘Did ye never read the scriptures, “The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes”? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder’ ” (cp Mar 12:10,11; Luk 20:17).

To his quotation of Psa 118 Jesus adds (in Mat 21:44) an allusion to the “stone of stumbling” of Isa 8:14,15 — equating both the rejected stone and the stone of stumbling to himself. Peter confirms this, and also joins Isa 8 together with the tried and precious cornerstone of Isa 28:16: “To whom [ie, to the Lord] coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed [ie, rejected: Psa 118:22] indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, 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. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded’ [Isa 28:16]. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious {Isa 28:16]: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner [Psa 118:22], and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence [Isa 8:14], even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient” (1Pe 2:4-8).

The repeated use by Jesus and the apostles (cp Paul in Rom 9:32,33 and Eph 2:20-22) of these Old Testament “stone” prophecies calls for special attention. Undoubtedly they saw the great altar-stone of Zion as emblematic of the sacrificial work of the Messiah.

The One who came to offer his life as the perfect sacrifice was rejected in that task by the would-be spiritual heads of Israel (Act 4:11); but it was through that very rejection, and only because of it, that Jesus was actually offered as the sacrifice for the sins of all men. And so the cross of Christ, while precious to some, became at the same time a source of confusion and offence, or stumbling, to others (1Co 1:18-29, especially v 23). But, like the original altar-stone, Christ too can never be moved or replaced (1Co 3:11). He is, and will be, the sure foundation of all the apostles and prophets, and in and around him the whole “building” of God’s holy temple has been, is being, and will be framed (Eph 2:20-22; cp Dan 2:34,35,44).

Reading 3 – 2Co 10:12

“We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise” (2Co 10:12).

Let us not compare ourselves with one another — that is, with the brethren and sisters around us; that is not wise. Such actions foster judgmentalism and pride. By this course, a community’s standards of conduct and holiness and service and sacrifice gradually and imperceptibly sink lower and lower toward the way of the flesh, in blind complacence.

Let us rather constantly and honestly compare our service and way of life with the holy precepts of the Word, and with the humbling and mortifying examples of Christ and of Paul; these are specifically set before us as patterns to copy and standards of comparison (cp 1Co 11:1). This way a community’s devotion and service are gradually lifted higher and higher, growing and developing toward the Spirit of God, going on “from glory to glory” (2Co 2:18).

Reading 1 – Lev 10:1-3

“Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Moses then said to Aaron, ‘This is what the LORD spoke of when he said: “Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored” ‘ ” (Lev 10:1-3).

“The only acceptable way is the Lord’s way. No self-appointed means of worship can open the doorway to life. We cannot make ourselves holy: holiness comes from Him when we follow His path to forgiveness and sanctification. We can go further in understanding this matter. Nadab and Abihu died in their holy garments. The garments and act of consecration in which they had taken part did not afford safety. Safety lies in the Lord and not in any external things. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. These two men followed the way of Cain and provided their own mode of worship. The Lord was dishonoured by it. How can the sinner dictate to God the terms of his acceptance? ‘I will be sanctified…’ said God, and Moses knew exactly what He meant” (Harry Tennant, “Moses My Servant” 103,104).

Reading 2 – Psa 109:6

“Appoint an evil man to oppose him; let an accuser [or ‘satan’] stand at his right hand” (Psa 109:6).

The “satan” was Judas; Jesus used the word “diabolos” about him (John 6:70; 13:2, and cp v 26 there), who was to have been chief witness for the “prosecution”. (“Stand at the right hand” is legal language — cp v 7 here; Jdg 6:31; Zec 3:1. The RSV has: “Let an accuser bring him to trial.”) But at the last minute, apparently even after coming to the very scene of judgment (note the implication of “saw” in Mat 27:3), Judas refused to play his assigned, and paid-for, part. Thus he left the prosecution in a quandary with no organized case against Jesus (Mat 26:60). And instead of Judas standing at his right hand, Jesus had an angel there (Psa 109:31; 110:5)!

Reading 3 – 2Co 1:1,2

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2Co 1:1,2).

“I do not think we can ever do better in writing or speaking than to be practically followers of Paul as he was a follower of Christ. How excellent a beginning he makes of this second letter to the Corinthians. After stating who the letter is from and to whom it is addressed, he salutes the latter thus: ‘Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.’ There is great sweetness about that salutation. It is not an empty form of words; it is a genuine wish on the part of Paul, that grace and favour might rest on those to whom he was writing, and that peace might remain with them; peace from two sources which are yet one; God the Father, the Creator, the supreme head of the universe, and the Lord Jesus, who is the appointed channel of His dealings with our fallen race; peace outflowing from them in the tranquilizing influence of Divine favour; a real peace which none can invade, as saith the Scripture: ‘When He giveth quietness, who then can make trouble, and when He hideth His face, who shall behold Him, whether it be done against a nation or against a man only?’ [Job 34:29]” (Robert Roberts, “Seasons of Comfort” 30).

Reading 1 – Lev 19:18

“‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD” (Lev 19:18).

In answer to the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luk 10:25), Jesus cites this verse: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Luk 10:27). When this answer elicits the follow-up question, “And who is my neighbor?” (v 29), Jesus responds by telling the parable of the good Samaritan (Luk 10:30-37). In his parable Jesus makes it very plain that “neighbor” must not be restricted to ‘fellow believer’, but that it includes especially those with whom we feel we have little in common — even those whom the most “upright” Jews despised — the Samaritans!

In taking this broadly inclusive point of view, Jesus is only following the context of the Lev 19:18 citation: in Lev 19:33,34 it is clear that “neighbor” includes the “alien” — that is, the Gentile: “Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt.”

The final reminder in this verse, “I am the LORD”, has a two-fold significance here: (1) “I, the LORD your God, am holy” (v 2) — therefore you must be holy also; and (2) “I am the LORD”… who loved YOU when you, in Egypt, were no better than “aliens” to ME (v 34): you were worshipers of idols, and ignorant of My Name and promises; yet nevertheless I still loved you!

Reading 2 – Psa 119:83

“Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees” (Psa 119:83).

This refers to a dried, cracked wineskin, blackened with the smoke of affliction and suffering: compare Lam 4:8: “Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a stick.” Skins filled with wine were hung at the tops of tents, where it was smoky and hot, so that the wine might mature. This is a beautiful allegory: while the skin (the outward man) ages and grows less useful and more brittle and unsightly, the wine inside (the inner man!) matures and develops perfection of character.

In Christ’s parable, constructed along similar lines, the skin symbolizes the “outer man” of the believer, which is but the receptacle for the “wine” of the teaching and spirit of God: “Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved” (Mat 9:17).

Reading 3 – Luk 2:1

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world” (Luk 2:1).

Luke is an inspired historian, who can therefore look into the heart of things and think on a grand scale. The story he presents is a fascinating interplay of Roman imperial authority and obscure Jewish compliance. But even the decrees of mighty Caesar are bent to the Divine purpose. Augustus, with all his armies and bureaucrats, is no more than a servant of God. For centuries the religion of freedom was destined to contend against the despotic power of a great empire, a totalitarian state which never hesitated to make the lowly masses subservient to its own will. (Such states have not gone out of style, and will not, as long as man is left to rule his own affairs. They have changed their names and ideologies, but not their essential characters.) Even in his birth the founder of the new religion was tossed to and fro at the whim of the emperor.

When he went to his death thirty-odd years later, it was again as a mere random piece of humanity, to be “processed” by the same state, one among many misfits and criminals impaled by Roman nails on Roman crosses.

The state had its purposes, but God had His. Each purpose was fulfilled, but how different they were! In ordering the enrollment, the state was seeking to achieve greater control over its subjects, and to lay the groundwork for taxation. God made use of these materialistic enterprises to fulfill the prophecy given by Micah, that His Son would be born in the little town of Bethlehem, thereby becoming governor and shepherd of Israel (Mic 5 :2).

Reading 1 – Lev 20

“Having set forth moral principles for the observation of Israelites, Yahweh now proceeds to outline the penalties attached to disobedience in these several particulars. Discipline and punishment is necessary in an organized society, for otherwise, flesh being what it is, human nature would flout the divine will. The Land of Canaan was burdened with the vilest forms of wickedness, and rigorous, ruthless measures were needed to keep at bay the vices and immoral practises that were common throughout the land. Hence severe penalties were laid down, which the rulers were to carry out. The Law listed offences that could not be atoned for, and were not forgivable except by specific divine decree (as in the case of David), but in Christ there is justification for things ‘that could not be justified under the law’ (Mar 3:28,29; Act 13:39)” (HP Mansfield, “Christadelphian Expositor”).

Reading 2 – Psa 119:165

“Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble” (Psa 119:165).

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (Joh 14:27). “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

“Offend them” (KJV) should read — as in NIV — ‘make them stumble’ (compare “the stone of stumbling”: Isa 8:14,15; Psa 118:22). If a man’s faith is true, it supports him through all circumstances of strain or distress. Yet how often it happens that when times are rough, the first casualty is the steady observance of religious duties: perhaps mid-week classes are let go, and then some Sundays slide by without the Lord being remembered in the appointed manner. This is not a collapse of faith, but a revealing of non-faith: “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him” (1Jo 2:10).

“Be big enough never to be offended. It is the petty mind that takes offense. Be big enough to make allowances, to understand, to sympathize. If we are ‘touchy’, we have no solid, reserve power for good: things are fine, and we can do wonders, as long as our back is scratched, but we haven’t the maturity and stamina to face reality” (GVG).

Reading 3 – Luk 3:1,2

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar — when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene — during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert” (Luke 3:1,2).

In two verses only, Luke presents the great parade — of all the powerful and wealthy and prominent men of the world in his day. There they stand on the world’s “stage” for all to respect and admire! But God — being no respecter of persons, and desiring that no flesh should glory in His presence — now absolutely sets all the mighty to one side, passing them by entirely, and condescends to speak to a man of the wilderness — a man of simple food and simple clothes and simple habits. The Creator of heaven and earth has no need for lavish palaces or fine temples; instead, He chooses to dwell with shepherds in the fields (Luke 2:8-14), and a “wild man” on the river bank!

Reading 1 – Lev 3:2

“He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting” (Lev 3:2).

By laying his hand on the head of the sacrifice before killing it, the offerer was to establish a close, personal link between himself and the sacrifice. First of all, it was to be his property (Lev 1:2); and secondly, he was to touch it and handle it, thus identifying himself with it.

All this is figurative of our relationship with Christ, who is the true and complete and final sacrifice for all sins. First of all, Jesus is one of us: his Heavenly Father made him a man, born of woman, born under the law (Gal 4:4), and thus possessing our own sin-prone nature (Rom 8:3; Heb 2:14). The Father did this, so that the Son, in his perfect life and self-denying death, could overcome that nature that was subject to sin.

Secondly, we emphasize this relationship in baptism, when we identify ourselves with his death, burial, and resurrection (Rom 6:1-4). Thus we show that he belongs to us, and we belong to him. In this way, and this way only, his sacrifice will have meaning for us — figuratively, we lay hands on Jesus, and he becomes OUR offering!

And thirdly, we remember that great sacrifice, and renew our connection with it and our dedication to it, in the regular breaking of bread. Thus — in a spiritual sense, we lay hands on Christ as we partake of the bread and wine — and he becomes “that… which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched” (1Jo 1:1).

Reading 2 – Psa 104:15

“Wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart” (Psa 104:15).

This could be better rendered: “And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, MAKING HIS FACE TO SHINE AS WITH OIL, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.”

Following the AV mg (and other authorities), this verse describes not three products, but two: (1) wine that gladdens the heart of man, “to making his face shine; and (2) bread that strengthens man’s heart. Thus this verse mentions the two great gifts — bread and wine — by which we remember and celebrate our fellowship with the Father through His Son. Each Sunday the bread and wine are the means of memorializing the strength and joy of our new life in Christ.

Reading 3 – 1Co 12

“The body is one” (1Co 12:12). It is the Father’s wisdom generally to place believers together in “families”. The ecclesia is more often the object of concern than is the individual standing alone. We are all, whether we like it or not, members of a body. No man should live to himself; that would be selfishness, stagnation, sterility, and a direct contradiction of Paul’s elaborate allegory. The most important lesson of our spiritual education is to learn to think and to act unselfishly as part of the One Body, and not selfishly as a separate individual, even as regards our own salvation.

The body is one, yet it has many members (1Co 12:14). Some are less beautiful or more feeble than others (1Co 12:22,23), but these too are necessary. “God hath tempered the body together” (1Co 12:24); these individuals have been welded together with the ecclesia. In faith and obedience they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. Those for whom Christ died must not be treated haughtily or indifferently.

Reading 1 – Num 4

“Previously the Levites were counted from a month old and upwards because they were to replace the firstborn of the other tribes. However, now they are to be numbered for service, and accordingly the count is to be from thirty years and upward. This denotes a measure of maturity, and whilst it is not obligatory on Christ’s followers that they should await the age of thirty before ministering before him, it does show that maturity is required of all his followers. The duties of the various families of Levites are set forth in proper order, revealing that each has his work to do in the “ecclesia in the wilderness” in a co-operative service. Hence, as each group arrived at a new site the tabernacle was reared up in a regular and orderly fashion with the least trouble. Co-operation and order are the keynotes of effective ecclesial service today as well” (HPM, “Christadelphian Expositor”).

Reading 2 – Pro 1:20-22

“Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech: ‘How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?’ ” (Pro 1:20-22).

“We very rarely have a literal shouting of words of wisdom in the streets of a city, or in the broad places of human activity, but when we remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, we can see a definite meaning in the saying. In ancient Israel and in the modern world the idea of God is before men all the while even though human thoughts fail to turn to Him. In our time we can hardly live for a single day without Christ being brought before our minds, and through Christ, the Father who was manifest in him. Even the daily newspaper utters the call of wisdom in spite of its low aim and its native foolishness. The date it gives is from the birth of Christ, the record of human vanity confirms the teaching of Christ, while often, especially in these latter days, there is an item of news which shouts of the purpose of God to those who can understand.

“Even apart from these matters the call of wisdom can surely be heard in the ordered wonders of the universe in which we live. Man’s cheerful acceptance of the earth as his home proclaims that in his heart he recognizes that there is a Creator. Would he feel comfortable on a ship with no captain? A hundred thousand tons of metal and wood driving through unknown seas at thirty miles an hour and no one in control? How then should he feel when he realizes that he is all through life on a vessel weighing millions of tons and going through space at sixty thousand miles an hour? Of course men believe that someone is in control. The stability of the earth and its long continuance, the facts of human consciousness and human ideals, the wonders of chemistry and the wonders of life all combine to prove that there is a mind far above that of man. Human intelligence is just sufficient to contemplate these things and to make some response. Wisdom is thus calling to the sons of men in the streets, in the broad places and at the entering in of the gate” (Islip Collyer, “Principles and Proverbs”).

Reading 3 – Luk 15:20

“But while he [the prodigal son] was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him” (Luk 15:20).

There is a great urgency of love and reconciliation in Christ’s picture of the waiting and watching father, as he daily and even hourly stares down the road, looking for the familiar figure. There is not one shred of formality or legality in his reception of his returning son. Even while he is a great way off, his father sees him, and with compassion, runs and falls upon his neck and kisses him.

He did not stand upon his dignity, or remain coldly aloof — demanding some formal or elaborate proof of repentance. He did not coerce an apology. He loved him and he wanted him back and he was willing to forget the past and hope for the future. He showered every display of affection and attention upon him, in his intense joy at reconciliation.

Here is the divine example for the ecclesial attitude toward any sinning brother who makes the first, faltering steps toward repentance. The members should never question the sincerity of those who seek to return (for they would not like their own sincerity to be questioned), nor should they make the barriers to fellowship more difficult for such than for new converts. The ecclesia should rejoice in that the withdrawal of fellowship collectively administered has by God’s grace achieved its hoped-for outcome: the reclamation of the one who has strayed.

Reading 1 – Num 26

“At this stage, a further census of the people is ordered. In view of the severity of the plague following the folly at Baal-peor, this is necessary, and it reveals some interesting facts. The first census (Exo 30:12) was basically for the purpose of organising the religious life of the people. The second (Num 1;2) was principally for military purposes, to ascertain the number who were ‘able to go forth to war’ (Num 1:28). The third census, whilst in a measure military, is also political. Its purpose is to prepare the tribes for occupation of their respective inheritances in Canaan.

“This chapter [Num 26] records in detail the results of the census. It lists, tribe by tribe, the numbers which each contained ‘from twenty years and upward’. The sum total is slightly less than were obtained in the earlier census. In large measure the wastage is made up, so that a new generation has replaced the old” (HP Mansfield, “Christadelphian Expositor”).

Reading 2 – Pro 18:12

“Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor” (Pro 18:12).

“It is an old and common saying, that ‘coming events cast their shadows before them;’ the wise man teaches us that a haughty heart is the prophetic prelude of evil. Pride is as safely the sign of destruction as the change of mercury in the weather-glass is the sign of rain; and far more infallibly so than that. When men have ridden the high horse, destruction has always overtaken them. Let David’s aching heart show that there is an eclipse of a man’s glory when he dotes upon his own greatness (2Sa 24:10). See Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty builder of Babylon, creeping on the earth, devouring grass like oxen, until his nails had grown like bird’s claws, and his hair like eagle’s feathers (Dan 4:25)” (CH Spurgeon).

Reading 3 – Phi 1:21

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phi 1:21).

Paul may be paraphrased here: ‘If I survive this possible martyrdom, it will mean opportunity for further fruitful activity. And for that I will be thankful.’

‘But if I am to die now, then I will consider that “gain” too… because, so it will seem, I will all the sooner see my Lord.’

For no other sort of life could death be a “gain”!

And so we may, each one of us, pray: “Lord, accept me; I here present myself, praying to live only in Thee and to Thee. Let me be as the bullock which stands between the plow and the altar, prepared either to continue working or to be sacrificed; and let my motto be, ‘Ready for either’.”

Reading 1 – Num 35:6-34

Six of the 48 Levitical cities — three east and three west of the Jordan — were set apart as “cities of refuge,” for the unintentional manslayer. These cities were for the protection of the accidental manslayer, but it must not be imagined that the simple plea of unintentional homicide afforded safety. The law specified that the roads to these cities were always to be kept in good repair. But, according to v 25 (cp Jos 20:4), a seeker for sanctuary would, on arriving at the gates of a city of refuge, first have to plead his cause before the elders of that city. If they accepted his case, they would give him provisional protection. If, however, afterwards, the “avenger of blood” claimed his extradition, the accused person would be sent back under proper protection to his own city, where the whole case would be thoroughly investigated. If the homicide was then proved to have been unintentional, the accused would be restored to the “city of refuge,” and enjoy its protection, till the death of the high priest set him free to return to his own city.

As for the duty of “avenging blood,” its principle is deeply rooted in the Old Testament, and traced up to the relation in which God stands to our world. For, the blood of man, who is made in God’s image, when shed upon earth, which is God’s property, “cries out” to God (Gen 4:10) — it claims payment like an unredeemed debt. Hence the expression “avenger of blood,” which should be literally rendered “redeemer of blood.”

Symbolically, the cities of refuge are the place of God’s merciful protection. There, the manslayer was to find a refuge, sheltered, as it were, under the wings of the grace of God, till the complete remission of the punishment at the death of the high priest. This death foreshadows the death of Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, who has made a perfect covering for all sins.

Reading 2 – Pro 26:17

“Like one who seizes a dog by the ears is a passer-by who meddles in a quarrel not his own” (Pro 26:17).

“Adults often reveal less capacity for learning than children. They have the advantage of books containing all the accumulated wisdom of mankind, and beyond all this and permeating a great deal of it, there is the instruction that has come direct from God, yet the knowledge is very little used. Life is full of avoidable evils through men ignoring principles or rules of conduct which are perfectly well known, and which have had their wisdom demonstrated in every generation.

“Sometimes the individual failure is so obvious that almost all observers smile at it. I recall… instances of this kind in which the facts were related by the victim when sufficient time had passed for him to join in the amusement… a young man, when returning home one night, chanced to pass a low part of the city where there was a quarrel between man and wife. The young fellow, perceiving that the woman was being ill-treated, gallantly went to her assistance. He was, as he expressed it, ‘getting on very nicely’ in his contest with the man when the ungrateful woman came up behind and hit her champion on the head with a saucepan. According to his own account, the young man spent a carefree hour in the gutter before he came back to consciousness of this painful life. Then, as he limped slowly homeward, he began dimly to recall to memory certain maxims regarding the unwisdom of meddling with strife that does not belong to us” (Islip Collyer, “Principles and Proverbs”).

Reading 3 – John 8:29

“The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him” (John 8:29).

“Have only one motive in life: to please God. Get all your pleasure and satisfaction from that. It will, at one stroke, eliminate 90% of your ‘problems,’ and ALL your inner ‘unhappiness.’ Don’t seek praise. Don’t seek status with others. Don’t seek advancement. Don’t seek THINGS. All these pursuits are happiness-robbers. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor pride with praise, nor lust with possession. All these are ashes in the mouth at last. Even of themselves they are stupid, but as set against and displacing spiritual motives and pursuits, they are pure suicide. Check every thought and word, and ask: ‘Will this please God? Could I at this moment be pleasing Him better?’ This wonderfully pacifies and harmonizes and unifies life, and gives it purpose. Set the goal of your life to bring every thought into harmony with this, and to eliminate everything out of harmony with it. This is success” (GVG).

Reading 1 – Num 13:31–14:4

“But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.’ And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, ‘The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.’ That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, ‘If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!’ ” (Num 13:31-14:1).

Spiritually, they did “die in Egypt”, for they never completely left. Physically, they died in the wilderness, short of the Promised Land (Num 14:28,29) — all that generation, except for Joshua and Caleb, perished before reaching the land God had promised to them.

*****

” ‘Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?’ And they said to each other, ‘We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt’ ” (Num 14:3,4).

Egypt was the symbol of sin and bondage (Joh 8:34; Rom 6:16; Tit 3:3; 2Pe 2:19). It had held their fathers in bondage, until death, and now although this generation was “free” of Egypt — physically — it still held their souls, their minds, and their hearts in bondage; and they would never really escape!

“One bold push forward, and their feet would tread on their inheritance. But, as is so often the case, courage oozed out at the decisive moment, and cowardice, disguised as prudence, called for ‘further information,’ that cuckoo-cry of the fainthearted” (J Sidlow Baxter, “Explore the Book” 1:179).

Reading 2 – Pro 10:22

“The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it” (Pro 10:22).

Does this mean that there will be no trouble in life for those who are blessed by God? Of course not! It means that — while there will inevitably be troubles in life for EVERYONE — the special spiritual blessings that come from God will never add more troubles to those which must come.

“Material blessings, however real and desirable they may be, always bring an accompaniment of sorrow. It is a blessing to live as a human being, but ‘man is born to trouble’. It is a blessing to have good parents, but the better they are the sadder it is to lose them, and go they must. It is a blessing to have health and strength, some say the greatest of personal blessings, but the strong man who has never ailed feels most keenly the loss of strength when his time comes. It is sad for a man to be cut off in his prime while still he had seemed capable of doing good work, but it is still sadder for him to live on until all powers have failed. Yet in merely human life it is one end or the other for all of us. It is a great blessing for a man to find a ‘help’ ‘meet for him’. The Proverbs express this thought more than once. ‘Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.’ Yet from this blessing arises the most poignant sorrow that a human being can experience, for the years pass by like the turning of the pages of a book, and the time of inevitable parting is only a few leaves further on.

“It is a great blessing to have children, yet all parents experience the addition of sorrow, for even if the children all live, even if they are strong, virtuous and fortunate, they have nevertheless entered an evil world, the way cannot be all smooth for them and parents must share their troubles and anxieties as long as life may last. So even at the best there is an addition of sorrow and too often we do not experience the best. Disease and death or folly and misfortune so often add to the sorrows of parents.

“If we wanted to imagine a human being who should be free from all such pain, we should have to think of one without blessings, without friends or companions; one leading an animal life and finding it hard work to live at all. He would have no real sorrow because he had no real joys, and death would not be an enemy, because life had never been a friend.

“Sometimes we have seen the close of an unusually serene and happy life. It seems that nearly all possible blessings have attended. Husband and wife have spent an ideal married life and have grown old together without any serious failing of their mental powers or any of that hardening angularity which so often mars the last chapter. They have grown mellow with the advance of years, and when nearly all of their generation have passed away, they have lived feebly on, commanding the love and respect of all who knew them. Then one day the messenger of death has arrived, hastening as if to make up for delay. One of the lives is taken by disease and the other nickers out through the shock of parting. ‘They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in death were not divided’, as we heard quoted over the grave of such a pair. A sympathetic observer remarks on the sadness of the end. The one spared by disease could not survive the shock of separation after so many years of close companionship, and so quickly followed to darkness and silence. It is rightly described as sad, and yet it is the best that human life has to offer. It is far more sad to be torn in two while there is still sufficient strength to survive the shock and so live on. Saddest of all perhaps for life to become so painful that death is a release…

“It is so with all ordinary blessings of life, but not with the special blessing offered by God to all who will hear His call. Spiritual riches which can be ours even now, bring no conclusions of disgust or sadness, nor any fear of being robbed. They will not save us from the sorrows of human life, but they will help us to bear the pain. They do not arrest the process of decay in the dark streets of a Gentile city, but they give us hope of a better city to come” (Islip Collyer, “Principles and Proverbs” 191-194).

Reading 3 – Luk 23:11

“Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate” (Luk 23:11).

The KJV calls these soldiers “men of war” — a phrase which is true enough to the original text, but is especially apt, as an example of supreme irony! What “men of war” they were! Courageous and unrelenting in their mockery of a man who could not — or, more precisely, would not — defend himself!

We cannot help but remember that an earlier Herod — father of this one — had sent his “men of war” out to the village of Bethlehem, where they seized the babies from their mothers, and butchered them (Mat 2:16)!

The world has such “men of war” today — they may be seen executing innocents and raping young women, stealing from the poor, and polluting themselves with every vice, in the “third-world” backwaters of the world… whose sole claims to legitimacy are cheap uniforms and deadly weapons, who serve men every bit as vile as the Herods.

May the true “Man of war” return soon, riding on a white horse, and leading the armies of heaven, to destroy once and for all such would-be “men of war” (Rev 19:11-14)!

Reading 1 – Num 10:2

“Make two trumpets of hammered silver…” (Num 10:2).

The sound of the trumpet, in the Bible, suggests many things. Its blast was powerful, disturbing to the natural order, and designed to attract the greatest degree of attention. It was to inspire to action. It was to call attention to the coming of a great personage. It was to announce the time to stand before the great God in judgment. There are rich fields to explore here…

The trumpet was sometimes a summons to Israel, to assemble before their God: “Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set out. When both are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting” (Num 10:2-4,7). And in Jesus’ prophecy it is the sound of the trumpet which will assemble the “elect” to the throne of judgment at his return (Mat 24:31). Trumpets signaled the beginning of the Feast of trumpets, on the first day of the seventh month (Lev 23:24). “Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast” (Psa 81:3). Trumpets will signal the coming day of resurrection: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (1Th 4:16; cp Rev 11:15,18; 1Co 15:51,52). The great Day of Atonement was inaugurated with a trumpet blast (Num 10:10; Lev 25:9; Joel 2:15; Isa 58:1). Trumpets warned of approaching war (Eze 33:1-6). The trumpet was sounded to assemble an army (Num 10:9; 31:6; 2Ch 13:12,14; Jdg 3:27). The blast of a trumpet announced the coronation or approach of a king (1Ki 1:34,39; 2Ki 9:13; 11:12,14; Psa 98:6)… as well as… The coming of the ark of God (portraying God as king!) (1Ch 15:24,28; 16:6,42).

The blowing of seven trumpets all together — or in rapid succession — has special reference to the destruction of Jericho (Jos 6:4-20; cp 2Co 10:4-8; Rev 11:15,18).

Reading 2 – Pro 6:1-3

“My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another, if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor!” (Pro 6:1-3).

“In this matter adults often reveal less capacity for learning than children. They have the advantage of books containing all the accumulated wisdom of mankind, and beyond all this and permeating a great deal of it, there is the instruction that has come direct from God, yet the knowledge is very little used. Life is full of avoidable evils through men ignoring principles or rules of conduct which are perfectly well known, and which have had their wisdom demonstrated in every generation.

“Sometimes the individual failure is so obvious that almost all observers smile at it. I recall two instances of this kind in which the facts were related by the victim when sufficient time had passed for him to join in the amusement. The first was of a capable business man who lightheartedly put his name to paper and became surety for another without even knowing the full extent of his commitment. As is usual in such cases, the one thus assisted failed to pay his way, and the guarantor was for some weeks on the verge of ruin, not knowing when the crushing blow would fall. While in this worried condition he one day opened the Bible to find a little consolation, and almost the very first passage he read was one in Proverbs warning men against the very folly he had committed. ‘What a foolish man I am’, he thought. ‘I have carelessly brought myself into this trouble, when all the while the whole matter is explained in the Bible in the most up-to-date manner. If I had read it before I might have been warned.’

“It is interesting to note the expression ‘strike hands’ in this connection. It suggests that without any signature, the offering and acceptance of the hand would constitute a bond which no one would repudiate. We may sometimes see in English cattle markets a custom which is probably a survival of that to which the wise man refers. Two men will be haggling over the price of a beast. Finally the vendor, having made a concession, declares that he will take nothing less. He holds out his right hand, stating the price, and perhaps with quite a dramatic indication of finality. The buyer, with no show of enthusiasm, and without saying a word, strikes the outstretched hand with his own palm and the sale is effected. Surely a survival from three thousand years or more” (Islip Collyer, “Principles and Proverbs”).

Reading 3 – Luk 20:17

“Jesus looked directly at them and asked, ‘Then what is the meaning of that which is written: “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone” [Psa 118:22]?’ ” (Luk 20:17).

“Men were engaged in the building of a house for the accommodation of the government of a state. They had made their plans, and were gathering the material. Many were engaged in the work; but as was usual in the East, the master-builders alone knew the plans and others worked to their directions. In every worthwhile building, just above ground level at the principal comer, a special stone was placed. It was selected for its freedom from flaws, and was carefully prepared — its sides being accurately squared. It was, more than any other stone in the building, a ‘tried stone.’ All other stones would be built in alignment with it. A stone was offered the master-builders about which exceptional claims were made. The stone was examined, but certain prejudices in the builders prevented them from discerning its qualities. They rejected it. But another Master-builder knew of the stone and its perfect suitability for a building he was erecting. He obtained the stone, and it was placed in a structure of unique characteristics. The building was erected in line with the stone, and men marvelled at the beauty and grace of the building” (John Carter, “Parables of the Messiah” 150,151).