Vol. 90 No. 1,056 January 2020 TESTIMONY For the study and defence of the holy Scripture 3 Male and female roles

Also in this issue: Inching towards Brexit 1 From death to life: Moses—and us 13 Israel and the nations—in the news 17 John the Baptist’s birthplace? 21 2019 Subject Index pull-out

Contents TESTIMONY

Publishing Editor: JEREMY THOMAS. 22 Kingswood Close, Kings Norton, Birmingham, B30 Contents 3NX. Tel. 0121 444 6810; email: [email protected]

Publishing Editor’s column 1 A new Russian empire? Section Editors: Male and female in the Lord (Review) DAVID BURGES. 7 Whitehead Biblical principles and Philip Weatherall 25 Drive, Wellesbourne, Warwick, instruction Harmonising Egyptian history CV35 9PW. Tel. 01789 842692; John Botten email: [email protected] 3 with the Old Testament Science; Archaeology The parables of the lost (2) 2. The historical background Simon Collard 7 to Genesis and Exodus REG CARR. York House, 34A Michael J. H. Brown 27 High Street, Tutbury, DE13 9LS. Behold, I come as a thief Tel. 01283 521463; email: 2. The way of the kings of “Weeping and gnashing of [email protected] the east teeth” Exhortation Mark Allfree 9 Grahame A. Cooper 30 SHAUN MAHER. 5 Birch Court, Your Letters The wedding at Cana Doune, FK16 6JD. Headcoverings 12 John 2:1-9 Tel. 01786 842996; Noah Vic Aucott 33 email: [email protected] 12 Watchman Moses and the serpent The great apostasy (2) Paul Tovell 13 Stephen Camplin 34 ERIC MARSHALL. The Pines, A type of the marriage of Ling Common Road, Castle Is seeing believing? Rising, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, 6. The visual cortex the Lamb PE31 6AE. Tel. 01553 631279; Peter Forbes 16 Richard Mellowes 38 email: [email protected] P.S. Exposition A window on Israel Shaun Maher 17 This is the Moses JEREMY THOMAS (see above) Mark Vincent 39 Principles, preaching and ­problems Israel-Russia joint stamp issue Bible trees 7. The palm GEOFF HENSTOCK. 13 ­Alpha John the Baptist Crescent, ­Panorama 5041, Paul Maplethorpe 21 Rebekah Dwyer II S. Australia. Tel. 8277-0730; email: [email protected] Testimony books Australia Editor; Prophecy; Reviews Articles for publication Articles to be considered for publication are welcome and should be Testimony website: forwarded to the Publishing Editor (in Australia, the local editor) in the http://testimonymagazine.com first instance.

Publication of articles in the Testimony does not presume editorial endorsement except on matters of fundamental doctrine, as defined in the Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith. I “Simon Peter said to [Jesus], ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus answered, ‘Where I go, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow later.’ Peter said to him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow you right now? I will lay down my life for you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny me three times’ . . . Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, ‘You are not also one of his disciples, are you?’ He denied it, and said, ‘I am not.’ One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, ‘Did I not see you in the garden with him?’ Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed” (Jno. 13:36-38; 18:25-27, NASB).

Cover picture: Rooster, Jim Willey. Publishing Editor’s column DON’T REMEMBER the last time that I stayed stand-off which had resulted, opposition parties up till 2 o’clock in the morning. I did so on Fri- essentially blinked first, and Britons were at last Iday 13 December, however, to listen to the early able to go to the ballot box. As exit polls predicted results of the United Kingdom’s general election, when polling stations closed at 10 o’clock in the which had been held on the previous day. evening on 12 December, Boris Johnson won (in This was the third UK election in less than his words) “a huge great stonking mandate . . . five years (something not seen since October to get Brexit done.”1 1974), so amongst the voting public there was an understandable sense of ‘election fatigue’ when Political post mortem the poll was announced at the end of October. I have found the post-election analysis by the Yet much more depended on the outcome this British media absolutely fascinating—indeed, it time than on previous occasions, for at stake was was the first stages of this analysis that kept me the UK’s 2016 referendum decision to leave the up so late on election night. One early prediction European Union. As is well known, progress on was that Mr Johnson would seek a much ‘softer’ implementing that decision had been painfully Brexit, since his “stonking” eighty-seat majority slow. By mid-2019, it had effectively reached an means that he no longer needs the support of impasse in the British House of Commons, where hard-line ‘Brexiteers,’ as he did in the previous a majority of MPs showed themselves unwilling parliament. At the time of writing, however, the to approve the withdrawal deal offered by the opposite appears to be happening. Concessions government of Prime Minister Theresa May, yet made to obtain the support of opponents of the unable to agree on a suitable alternative. Time bill have been removed—more British courts are after time, MPs had made clear what they did to have the power to overturn EU legislation, for not want, without being able to say what they instance. Also now proposed is an act of Parlia- did want. The general election was seen as the ment that will make it illegal to extend beyond only way of breaking the parliamentary deadlock. the end of 2020 negotiations over the UK’s future Calling the election was itself no simple matter, trade deal with the EU. In the face of this some- thanks to current UK legislation that fixes the date what ‘harder’ Brexit, one can imagine many MPs of elections at five-year intervals. Overcoming this (and certainly former MPs) now wishing that obstacle required a large majority in the House of they had voted for the deal that was on the table. Commons, something that had been impossible since Mrs May’s successor as prime minister, Boris 1. https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/12/a-huge-great- Johnson, lost his working majority. In the tedious stonking-mandate-boriss-tory-hq-victory-speech/ Testimony, January 2020 Contents 1 Practically speaking, agreeing a trade deal “Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, within twelve months looks a tall order, especially that the one who reads it may run. For the if EU negotiators decide to call Mr Johnson’s bluff vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens in the hope that he will back down. That strategy toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it has failed once, however; and, as the new govern- tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, ment has said, “the deadline will focus minds on it will not delay” (Hab. 2:2,3). both sides of the negotiating table.”2 Certainly, Meanwhile, while they await the fulfilment of that other noises from the EU since Mr Johnson’s promise, “the righteous will live by [their] faith” victory have been more conciliatory in tone than (v. 4). Although at times we can discern it only earlier statements during Brexit negotiations. very dimly, God’s purpose cannot be thwarted. Europe’s hitherto-tough negotiating position At the start of another year in His mercy, “let us starts to look like a deliberate attempt to thwart press on to maturity” (Heb. 6:1), confident in His Brexit entirely. Now that Brexit seems certain to will both for the world and for us His children. happen, however, no doubt minds are indeed * * * * * being focused—not least in financial terms, for it At the start of each new year, it is customary for is difficult to see how the EU could be anything me to take the opportunity to thank subscribers other than worse off, economically speaking, if for their support of the magazine, and to remind a mutually satisfactory trade deal is not agreed. readers of the make-up of the Testimony ‘team’: In the UK, too, individuals and groups who • Mark Allfree (Nottingham, Forest Road) had set themselves adamantly against Brexit • Mary Benson (Norwich) have effectively conceded defeat—some more • David Burges (Leamington Spa) graciously than others. • Reg Carr (Barton-under-Needwood) • Peter Forbes (Glenfield) Of God, not of man • Geoff Henstock (Happy Valley, Australia) But to whatever we might attribute the current • Trevor Hughes (Amersham) situation in human terms—however we think that • Shaun Maher (Stirling) things have got to where they are, and no matter • Eric Marshall (Kings Lynn) which events (and in what order) have led to the • Sarah Marshall (Nottingham, Forest Road) United Kingdom’s imminent departure from the • Gill Nicholls (Rayleigh and Southend-on-Sea) European Union, whether it be a matter of policy • Jeremy Thomas (Walsall) or personal popularity—we do well to remind • John Thorpe (Liverpool City) ourselves that events have at all times been under • Paul Tovell (Burton-on-Trent) the all-wise, all-knowing control of “the Most • Jordan Walton (Walsall) High [who] is ruler over the realm of mankind” • Jamie Whittaker (Morpeth). (Dan. 4:17,25,32).3 And so they will remain, as I thank these brothers and sisters, and others who we progress towards the day on which it will contribute to the work of magazine. May 2020 be be said, “The kingdom of the world has become the year of our Lord’s return.—Jeremy Thomas the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). If, 2020 Special Issue as many brothers and sisters believe from Bible Work is well in hand for this year’s Special prophecy, Britain has a future role separate from Issue of the Testimony. As usual, and if the that of mainland Europe on the journey towards Lord will, this will be a double-length issue God’s Kingdom, then perhaps the right time has of the magazine published to cover May and now come for God’s purpose in this regard to June. Subscribers will receive this as part move forward. of their annual subscription—no action is Those whose daily reading of Scripture follows required. Additional copies will be available the Bible Companion may have noted the poign- for sale in printed and electronic formats. ancy of this passage on the day that the election This year’s theme is “The Commandments of result was confirmed: Christ.” The Special Issue will consist of about thirty articles from a wide range of authors. 2. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/17/ The editors hope that it will be of help and why-does-boris-johnson-want-to-prevent-a-transition- encouragement to readers of the magazine as period-extension we await the coming of the Lord from heaven. 3. Bible quotations are from the NASB. Testimony, January 2020 2 Contents Principles, preaching and problems Male and female in the Lord Biblical principles and instruction John Botten

Whatever our instinctive views about the issue of male and female in the Lord, the only arbiter of the truth which should govern our actions is God’s Word. It does not matter what the world around us thinks or does—indeed, there are many warnings that in the last days there would be a serious departure from God’s Word, and that men and women would value their own views more highly than those set out in Scripture. But no opinions are worth more than the straightforward teaching of Scripture. So what does the Word of God say?

HE PRINCIPLES underlying the male/ Male leadership female relationship are first set out in the Nonetheless, even in Genesis, God’s plan of sal- TBook of Genesis. Adam was created and vation began through men and women of faith: given responsibility for the wonderful world Noah and his family, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac which God had made. But that creation was in- and Rebekah, Jacob and his wives. But throughout complete without the companionship and love of the book, the responsibility for the faithful obser- Eve. Adam and Eve had different roles from the vance of God’s ways clearly belonged to the male start: Adam’s primary responsibility was to till line, with Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob acting the ground, and to dress and keep the garden that as the spiritual leaders of their families. After God provided. Eve would help in this; but she the Exodus, a formal priesthood was established, would also be the one who would bear children through the appointment of the Levites as a tribe to populate the earth. specially dedicated to God, replacing the eldest The first man and woman were given one sons who had previously borne this responsibil- simple command: there was one tree of which ity. The principle of a male priesthood was very they were not to eat. The temptation came in a clearly laid down; and in formal worship, both phrase which rings down the ages: “Did God say in the tabernacle and in the temple, only males . . . ?” (Gen. 3:1).1 Does God really mean this, or took part in leading the worship. could we interpret it in some other way to allow This is not to diminish the importance of us to do what we want to do? mothers and daughters in the Old Testament, nor Both Adam and Eve disregarded what God to deny the value of the many women of faith had said, Eve in taking the fruit from the tree whose deeds are recorded in Hebrews 11 and in and Adam in taking the fruit from Eve. Both the Old Testament. A few are recorded as leaders were guilty, but it was Adam whom God called and prophets; many of the most faithful kings to account. His responsibility was for his wife’s owed much to their mothers; yet those mothers, spiritual welfare, but in this he failed. Eve’s leaders, and even prophets, are not shown as responsibility should have been to listen to her taking any leadership role in formal worship. husband. Both failed to submit to the clear com- There were no women priests of the Lord in the mandment of God. Both lost their exalted status Old Testament. This divine order for worship was of access to the Lord. Both shared the status of sinners, excluded from the presence of God and 1. Bible quotations are from the RSV except where other­ subject to mortality. wise stated. Testimony, January 2020 Contents 3 firmly established in the Old Testament; and it is As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives repeatedly endorsed in the New Testament, even also be subject in everything to their husbands. though in every age God’s offer of salvation has Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the been the same to both male and female. church and gave himself up for her” (5:21-25). However unfashionable these commands may New Testament principles be, they are part of God’s inspired Word, given In the natural order of things only a woman could for our salvation. give birth to the Messiah; and this was seen by every Jewish woman as the greatest thing that Lost in translation? could possibly happen to them. During his minis- The Greek words adelphos and adelphē are re- try, Jesus depended on the willing service of many spectively translated “brother” (346 times) and women among his disciples; but the apostles were “sister” (twenty-four times) in the AV, and this exclusively male, and there is a continuity in God’s was how the words were consistently translated instructions for worship running through from until the twenty-first century, even in versions the Old Testament into the New. like the NIV. Compare, for example, these two Everyone, whether male or female, has the translations of 1 Corinthians 15:1 from different same access to salvation in Christ Jesus—the same editions of the NIV: opportunity to become sons and daughters of “Now brothers [adelphoi]2 I want to remind God, and on the same terms. It is in this respect you” (NIV, 1984 edition) that there is “neither Jew nor Greek . . . slave “Now brothers and sisters I want to remind nor free . . . male nor female” (Gal. 3:28). This is you” (NIV, 2011 edition). a description of our equal status before God: it So why the change? The original Greek word is not speaking about males and females having has not changed—it was understood to mean the same roles. So Paul says: “I would have you (male) ‘brothers’ by just about every translation, know, that the head of every man is Christ; and including the New Living Translation in the late the head of the woman is the man; and the head 1970s, by J. B. Phillips, and by most others into of Christ is God” (1 Cor. 11:3, AV). There is no the start of this century. Even today some of the suggestion here that this statement was specific more honest gender-inclusive translations trans- to Corinth, or to the first century alone: it was a late it as “brothers,” with “brothers and sisters” general principle. in a footnote; or with “brothers and sisters” in The Apostle Peter makes a related statement: the text, while admitting in a footnote that the “Likewise you wives, be submissive to your Greek simply means “brothers.” husbands” (1 Pet. 3:1). Peter says this, not because What happened, then? The advent of assertive husbands are superior in status, but because this feminism, and the desire to justify female priests, is part of the established divine order. The prin- in the interests of conforming to twenty-first- ciple is submission to, and acceptance of, God’s century ideas, have overwhelmed the translators’ commands. The thinking of the modern world is loyalty to accurate translation. As a direct con- of no consequence, especially as the beliefs of the sequence of this, the current editions of the NIV world around us go further and further from the give misleading impressions regarding the roles ways of God as revealed in Scripture. Peter goes of male and female in the church, for example, in on to exhort sisters to dress discreetly, to adorn 1 Corinthians 14:26,27: “What then shall we say, themselves with “a gentle and quiet spirit, which brothers and sisters? When you come together, in God’s sight is very precious” (v. 4); and he each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruc- quotes the example of Sarah, who willingly sub- tion, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. mitted herself to Abraham in recognising him as Everything must be done so that the church may the head of the family: “So once the holy women be built up” (NIV, 2011). This translation implies who hoped in God used to adorn themselves and that both brothers and sisters were in the habit of were submissive to their husbands” (v. 5). addressing the congregation. The RSV, however, In Ephesians Paul mentions this hierarchi- faithful to the Greek text, translates the passage: cal aspect again, and gives God’s reasons for it: “What then, brethren? When you come together, “Be subject to one another out of reverence for each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body . . . 2. This is the plural form of adelphos and means ‘brothers.’ Testimony, January 2020 4 Contents for edification.” This makes it clear that these are Female roles in the early church male responsibilities. And, lest there should be In the Acts of the Apostles and the Letters, any doubt, a few verses later this is said: “Women leadership in public preaching, worship and the should remain silent in the churches. They are organisation of the ecclesias was undertaken by not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, the brethren. This is not to discount the very as the law says” (v. 34, NIV). valuable work done by sisters; but there is no evidence that it included these particular roles. A further error Sisters were highly valued as fellow-workers; and It is also incorrect to suggest that adelphoi was there is one case of a sister (Phoebe, in Romans used in Greek routinely to describe brothers and 16:1) being described, in some translations, as sisters, either in the New Testament or in Greek a “deacon.” There are also references to sisters’ secular writings. Here are a couple of Biblical houses being used as meeting places; but none of examples: this suggests that they undertook the male leader- “And every one who has left houses or broth- ship roles mentioned above. Synagogue worship ers or sisters [adelphos kai adelphē] or father or was led by males at that time and followed the mother or children or lands, for my name’s patterns of worship set out in the Old Testament. sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit The evidence is that the early church followed the eternal life” (Mt. 19:29); same patterns of worship, led by males. “Then came to him [Job] all his brothers and Passages that confirm all this include the fol- sisters [Septuagint Greek, hai adelphoi autou lowing: kai hai adelphai autou] and all who had known “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, him before, and ate bread with him in his prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be house” (Job 42:11). made for all men [anthrōpos = humankind] There are also several other instances where the . . . I desire then that in every place the men distinction is clear. In secular Greek there are oc- [anēr—always specifically used of males] casional usages of adelphos to describe a brother should pray . . . Let a woman learn in silence and a sister where they are blood relatives; but with all submissiveness. I permit no woman this does not occur in normal usage, where adel- to teach or to have authority over men; she is phos and adelphē are used to distinguish between to keep silent” (1 Tim. 2:1,8,11,12). brothers and sisters.3 This teaching is very straightforward and does not assign any formal role in the leadership of Why this matters worship to sisters, then or now. It is worth noting The inspired exhortations and practical and doc- that the Greek word used in relation to keeping trinal teaching of the New Testament letters were silent is hesuchia, which is also used to describe intended for all the members of the first-century the “great hush” which came over the crowd when ecclesias. In addressing letters to brethren spe- Paul asked to speak to the Jews after his arrest cifically, Paul, Peter and the other writers clearly in the temple (Acts 21:40). expected their messages to be shared with the “. . . the women should keep silence in the whole ecclesia—indeed, it was the responsibil- churches. For they are not permitted to speak, ity of the brethren to ensure that this was done. but should be subordinate, as even the law When Paul told the Colossians, “And when this [accepted by almost all commentators as letter has been read among you, have it read also referring to the Old Testament] says. If there in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you is anything they desire to know, let them ask read also the letter from Laodicea” (4:16), he was their husbands [anēr—men] at home. For it is clearly asking the “faithful brethren” of 1:2 to carry out this task. There is no justification to assert that every 3. “It seems clear from the usage of adelphoi in the New time adelphos and adelphoi are used they are to be Testament and ancient literature that the word was taken to mean ‘brother(s) and sister(s).’ Misleading normally understood as brothers.” (Information taken translations based on this false premise should from www.bible-researcher.com/adelphos.html, where more detail can be found.) There is also an exhaustive not be used to ‘prove’ that passages setting out examination of the suggestion that adelphos should roles reserved to brothers may also be interpreted normally be taken to refer to both brothers and sisters as exhorting sisters to undertake these roles. This at http://cbmresources.org/index.php/index.html/_/stud is contrary to the text of Scripture. ies/rightly-dividing-the-word-a-review-of-argumen-r25 Testimony, January 2020 Contents 5 shameful for a woman to speak in church” change, the writers of the New Testament con- (1 Cor. 14:34,35). stantly warned against it. Again, this is very straightforward. There is noth- ing in the text to suggest any other meaning—the Paul’s final counsel to Timothy Greek word laleō means ‘to talk’ or ‘to utter words,’ “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is and the same word is used to describe Zechariah’s in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from inability to speak after his encounter with the me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men angel in the temple (Lk. 1:22). There is no reason [Gk. anthrōpoi] who will be able to teach others to believe that Paul’s comment refers to a specific also” (2 Tim. 2:1,2). problem of Corinthian sisters heckling speakers It has been suggested by some that anthrōpoi or chattering in the meeting. should always be interpreted as meaning ‘men and women’ or ‘people.’ But there is no justifica- Ecclesial leadership in Paul’s letters to tion for this in New Testament Greek, as the Timothy and Titus following extract shows: Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus contain the “. . . when anthrōpos is used in reference to most detail in the New Testament about ar- a particular individual, that individual is rangements for the organisation of the ecclesias. always male. The word anēr emphasizes the Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Paul sets masculinity of the referent (often the best con- out clearly who should be responsible for the textual translation for this word is ‘husband’), leadership of ecclesial life. The detail is found but anthrōpos is the word ordinarily used to in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. In each case it is refer to a male human being in Greek. The quite clear that those described in 1 Timothy 3 student may easily confirm this by consulting as bishops are male, married and of good report a concordance of the Greek New Testament, (vv. 1-7). Those described as deacons are also and this masculine sense is duly indicated in spoken of as husbands (v. 12) and are therefore all the standard Greek lexicons. But anthrōpos also male. This confirms the record in Acts that is not used in reference to an individual the church leaders in Jerusalem were men, and female . . . Whenever a particular person is that those who led the preaching as it spread introduced as an anthrōpos, that person is outwards from Jerusalem were also men.4 Some, invariably male.”5 like Phoebe, Priscilla, Mary and Julia are espe- Timothy was to pass on the responsibility for cially commended for their work in the Lord. guarding and disseminating the treasure of the But this does not suggest that they had formal gospel to “faithful men” (2 Tim. 2:2). roles in worship and preaching. Those who were appointed as elders, too, were men. Conclusion Even those who advocate that sisters should The argument for sisters speaking, reading, pray- speak, take part in formal worship, and have ing, and leading ecclesias has no justification from leadership roles within the ecclesia, accept that the Scriptures. Instead it is a prime example of there is little evidence that this happened in the the temptation to amend our beliefs in order to first century. The suggestion that there was a fit in with the world around us. The whole of ‘golden age’ of male/female equality in formal Scripture teaches us that we will never fit into preaching, teaching and worship in the early this world. On the contrary, in that same last let- church is not borne out by the biblical evidence ter the Apostle Paul warns that in the last days or by secular histories. we must expect to be persecuted for our faith by It is also suggested that this was the result of those who do not wish to accept it: the culture of the time, and that, as times change, “evil men and impostors will go on from so should our interpretation of Scripture and our bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. But as teaching on the roles of sisters. But Paul and the for you, continue in what you have learned other apostles were very clear that the greatest and have firmly believed . . . All scripture is danger to the early Christians was that the gospel which they had received from Jesus Christ would be changed by the infiltration of more ‘modern’ 4. There can be no doubt, however, that each baptised ideas. They described these ideas as disastrous sister would be expected to preach individually. heresies which, if left unchecked, would destroy 5. Michael D. Marlowe, “The Ambiguity of ‘anthropos,’” the church. Rather than advocating fundamental 2003. Testimony, January 2020 6 Contents inspired by God and profitable for teaching, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. for reproof, for correction, and for training 3:13-17). in righteousness, that the man of God [in We need to hold fast to the Scriptures, in this as the first instance Timothy] may be complete, in all other matters. Contents

Exposition The parables of the lost (2) Simon Collard

HE THREE PARABLES in Luke 15 were the sheep knows no bounds. He carries the animal basis of the Bible Workshop questions in the on his shoulders and brings it to his home. This Tprevious issue of the magazine. This article surely reflects the effort that is made by the Good begins to consider an understanding of these Shepherd on behalf of his sheep: “I am the good parables based on the questions posed in part 1. shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (Jno. 10:11). The account in Matthew The Lost Sheep 18 is preceded by the words, “Take heed that ye Before we launch into the parable itself, we should despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto note the context of the whole chapter, which helps you, That in heaven their angels do always behold to explain why Jesus told these parables. Verses the face of my Father which is in heaven” (v. 10). 1 and 2 describe the fact that the publicans and This is a further warning to the Pharisees and sinners were listening to Jesus, whereas the scribes, who despised such repentant sinners. It Pharisees and scribes were murmuring. Their also suggests that the angels are not just passive discontent was based on a judgmental attitude observers in their rejoicing, but that they are ac- to publicans and sinners. They criticised Jesus tively involved in seeking, finding and bringing for even talking to these people, who, they con- back sinners to God: “Are they not all minister- sidered, were ‘beyond the pale.’ So we can now ing spirits, sent forth to minister for them who understand that Jesus spoke this parable to the shall be heirs of salvation?” (Heb. 1:14). Through Pharisees and scribes. Armed with this piece of whatever means, the angels are bringing us to the information, we can see that these parables have shepherd’s home, and they rejoice in this work. an objective in mind other than just the rejoicing of those who have recovered their lost property. The Lost Coin We are therefore to understand the lost sheep When we start to compare this parable with the as a sinner who has wandered away from God previous one, some obvious contrasts emerge. and is in need of rescue. The shepherd goes off The shepherd says, “Rejoice with me; for I have in search of the sinner and, after a lot of trouble, found my sheep which was lost” (Lk. 15:6). The finds him. In Matthew 18 we find the detail that woman says, “Rejoice with me; for I have found the shepherd eventually locates the sheep in the the piece which I had lost” (v. 9). It was clearly the mountains.1 In contrast, the ninety-nine are left woman’s fault that the coin had been lost: it was in the wilderness. This must surely evoke the her carelessness, not the coin’s fault. But the idea of the children of Israel in the wilderness. shepherd seems not to be culpable for the loss These Pharisees and scribes were still spiritually in the wilderness! They considered that they had not gone astray but looked down on sinners. Like 1. Perhaps there is significance in this fact too. The the ninety-nine they were “just persons, which sheep is far away from the flock, just as Jesus often [needed] no repentance” (v. 7). climbed a mountain to be apart from the world, and from the Pharisees in particular. Jesus’ teaching in The excessive rejoicing over the sheep that was the mountain (Mt. 5–7) was designed to bring many found is explained by comparison with the joy sinners to repentance, and contrasts the attitude of in heaven over the repentance of a sinner. The the true disciple with the attitude of the Pharisees trouble the shepherd goes to in bringing back the and scribes. Testimony, January 2020 Contents 7 of the sheep, such creatures being prone to go remove evil, whereas in the parable the reason for off on their own. sweeping the house is to find the lost item and The sheep wandered far away from the flock, restore it to its rightful place. We will need to be whereas the coin was no more than a few metres careful not to confuse the one type of sweeping away at most. The coin was lost in the house. with the other. We can all relate to the plight of the woman. We should note the use of the candle to search Which of us has never lost anything of impor- out the missing piece. As Jesus teaches in Mat- tance? The Greek word for the coin is drachma, thew 5:15, a candle should not be hidden but a silver coin that was apparently no longer in should be placed “on a candlestick; and it giveth general use in Jesus’ day, but which was ap- light unto all that are in the house.”3 As Jesus proximately equivalent to a denarius, or a day’s continues, “Let your light so shine before men, wage—a significant sum in a poor household. that they may see your good works, and glorify However, the frantic search for this missing your Father which is in heaven” (v. 16). This ap- coin suggests it is more important than just the plies in the house as well as outside it. monetary loss. The coin was part of a set of ten, which was incomplete without the missing one.2 Seeking the lost now So whom does the woman represent? The refer- In both these parables we are left in no doubt ence to the house and the woman points us in the that much effort is required to find an erring direction of the ecclesia. There is an implication person, and that everything else has to be put of negligence on the part of the woman—surely a on hold until the search is complete. This is warning for each ecclesia. It is our responsibility surely an exhortation for us in our ecclesial lives. to look after all the members. Those who wander How much effort do we put into finding those off, like the lost sheep, are more obvious by their who have wandered off or who are lost within absence. But what about those members of the the ecclesia? Similarly, how much do we rejoice ecclesia who are lost in the house? These may when one such person has been recovered? Are even meet with the ecclesia periodically, but, in we latter-day Pharisees? Do we reluctantly have reality, they are no longer a part of the ecclesia. such a person back, or do we rejoice with them Perhaps they have lost their first love (Rev. 2:4). at their restoration? Our efforts to ‘find’ such members should be as The next article considers the Parable of the urgent as the woman’s. Lost Son. There does appear to be more than one reason (To be concluded) for sweeping the house. In Matthew 12:43,44 the house has been cleansed of an unclean spirit and is now empty, swept and garnished. In Zepha- 2. Some have suggested this was part of a bridal orna- ment, which strengthens the idea of the ecclesia, the niah the city is searched with candles to root out Bride of Christ. leaven, like the preparation for Passover time 3. Such light originates in the Word of God. God’s Word (1:12). In these two examples the sweeping is to is a lamp to the feet (Ps. 119:105).

Biblical worldview “How do you get past the roadblock of an antibiblical worldview? . . . It’s obvious that the issue was never the ‘best evidence.’ We can pile up details from science—as creationist debaters have done for decades—but those alone don’t change minds. Unless someone is willing to look at history from God’s perspective—the Bible—he won’t change. Indeed, he can’t. The Bible says, ‘The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God . . . nor can he know them’ (1 Cor. 2:14). They are foolishness to him . . . We face a philosophical and spiritual problem, not a scientific one. The same conflict over worldviews drove Adam to rebel against God in the first place. He refused to trust God’s Word. The solution for people today is the same as it was then. Point people back to God’s Word, speaking in love and pray- ing fervently. We enjoy amazing technology. A slew of evidences are at our fingertips, never before available. Yet we can’t forget the basic need. Share our faith in God and His Word. After all, ‘faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God’ (Rom. 10:17).” Mike Matthews, “The Debate Has Changed,” Answers in Genesis. Full article available online at https://answersingenesis.org/creation-vs-evolution/the-debate-has-changed/

Testimony, January 2020 8 Contents Prophecy Behold, I come as a thief 2. The way of the kings of the east Mark Allfree

N THE FIRST article we saw that the sixth vial came into the land of the people [children, RV] period in Revelation 16 spoke of the drying up of the east.” In the Hebrew this phrase is bene of the River Euphrates, and that this represented kedem. The bene kedem were nomads who occupied I 1 the gradual but inexorable decline of the Otto- the region of the Fertile Crescent. They engaged man Empire. But why is the Book of Revelation in trade using camels as beasts of burden, and so concerned with the downfall of this empire? they travelled with their caravans along well- What relevance did this have to the fulfilment established trade routes: of the purpose of God? Revelation 16 tells us 1 the King’s Highway, which runs from south- exactly why God’s purpose required the drying ern Arabia up to Petra up of the Ottoman Empire: verse 12 says that it 2 the Way of the Philistines, that went from was “that the way of the kings of the east might Petra down into Egypt be prepared.” Who are these kings of the east? 3 the course of the Euphrates to the tip of the Brother John Thomas believed that the kings Persian Gulf of the east were the saints—the ‘kings from the 4 a shorter route to Babylon from Petra that sun’s rising’—and drew a connection with Mala- went across the desert via Dumah. chi 4:2, where Jesus is described as “the Sun of So, these people travelled freely all the way from righteousness [who would] arise with healing in the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, and down part his wings.” Brother Thomas expected the return of of the western coast of Arabia. the Lord Jesus, and the gathering of the saints, to take place soon after the demise of the Ottoman 1. For more on the bene kedem see: Treasure . . . New and Empire. This has not happened. Old, Ray Walker, The Testimony (2018), pp. 7–14. Let us look at this phrase afresh, by using a Bible principle which should be obvious to us all: when trying to un- derstand the meaning of symbols in Revela- tion, always look in the Old Testament.

The children of the east There are a number of Old Testament refer- ences that speak about “the children of the east.” These were Arab peoples. The first time we meet these peoples is in Genesis 29:1, which tells us that “Jacob went on his journey, and Testimony, January 2020 Contents 9 Historically, the bene kedem were descended British and French—domination of the Arab from Abraham through Ishmael and Keturah. countries, so that by the end of the First World Genesis 25:18 tells us that the descendants of War almost every lever of power in the Arab Ishmael “dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is world was operated by European nations. But the before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria.” Verse rising tide of Arab nationalism was unstoppable. 6 tells us that the sons of Abraham by Keturah Interestingly, the success of the Zionist move- were “sent . . . eastward, unto the east country.” In ment at the very same time in history stimulated process of time, Esau and his descendants inter- the Arabs in their own quest for independence. In mingled with them, giving rise to the Edomites. the early stages of the resettlement of Israel, Arab At some time, the descendants of Lot, Ammon leaders were sympathetic to the Zionist cause be- and Moab also occupied part of this area. cause it acted as a spur to their own nationalistic Job, who lived probably at the time of the ambitions. But, as Arab nationalism progressed, Patriarchs, is described as “the greatest of all moderates were replaced by extremists, encour- the men [children, RV] of the east” (Job 1:3). So aged by aid supplied by fascist Italy and Nazi there were some of the children of the east who Germany as they encouraged Arab rebellion were God-fearing people. They were renowned, against the British Government in Palestine. too, for their wisdom, for “Solomon’s wisdom By 1945, not long after the Ottoman Empire excelled the wisdom of all the children of the fell, seven independent Arab states had come east country” (1 Kgs. 4:30). Yet in the Book of into existence: Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Judges we read of a number of conflicts that took Arabia, Yemen and Trans-Jordan. This develop- place between Israel and “the Midianites . . . ment was presided over by the British and the the Amalekites . . . and the children of the east” French. Indeed, Winston Churchill is said to have (6:3,33; 7:12; 8:10). Zebah and Zalmunna and their commented that he created Jordan one afternoon hosts, who fought with Gideon, were children of with the stroke of his pen. the east. These were Arab peoples, and evidently The development of Arab identity has contin- there was considerable hostility between them ued to our own days. Recent years have witnessed and the children of Israel. the dramatic ‘Arab Spring,’ in which individual Ezekiel 25 records a couple of prophecies Arab nations sought to embrace democracy, about Moab and Ammon; the prophet says that giving their people a voice and shaking off the they were going to be given into the hands of shackles of their former despotic leaders. All of “the men [children, RV] of the east for a posses- this, I believe, is what we are to understand by sion” (vv. 4,10). This happened when the ancient Revelation 16:12. The way of the kings of the east countries of Moab and Ammon were overtaken is being prepared. It began with the removal of by the Nabatean Arabs in the first century BC. the Turkish Empire, and it has continued into “The children of the east” are the Arabs, and our own days. I believe that this is who we are to understand by “the kings of the east” in Revelation 16:12. In Kings subservient to Israel geographic terms, today they would represent It is interesting, and surely significant, that the the occupants of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. development of Arab nationalism has taken The evaporation of the Ottoman Turkish power place at the very same time as the revival of the in the first half of the twentieth century paved State of Israel, which came into being in 1948. the way for the rise of kingdoms among the men The two events parallel each other. This is not a of the east in the latter days. coincidence. As time has gone on, there has been considerable hostility between both parties, lead- The Arab Nationalist Movement ing to open conflict on several occasions, just as We now need to consider exactly how this situa- there was in the time of the Judges. For example: tion arose. I believe that this prophecy in Revela- • the Jewish war of independence (1948) tion 16 has been fulfilled in a most remarkable • the Six-Day War (1967) way. The drying up of the Ottoman Empire • the Yom Kippur War (1973). coincided with the development of the Arab More recently, there has been war in Lebanon. Nationalist Movement, which had as its objective Yet from the prophetic Scriptures we learn the liberation of the Arab peoples from Turkish that this state of hostility between Israel and her oppression. The removal of Turkish power from immediate Arab neighbours must come to an the east was followed by European—especially end—and that this must take place before Israel Testimony, January 2020 10 Contents is invaded by Gog. Ezekiel chapters 25–28 con- is to dwell safely in the midst of the nations round tain a series of prophecies concerning judgments about, then the nations round about must be in that are to fall upon Edom, Moab, Ammon, the existence first. Philistines, Tyre and Sidon. These correspond largely to the Arab countries that we have been ‘They shall spoil them of the east’ considering: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria. The prophet But there is more to it than this, for it seems that speaks of a time when these people “round about” the children of the east have a particular role to will no longer be a threat to Israel, and she will play in the fulfilment of God’s purpose after the dwell safely in the land: return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth. We “And there shall be no more a pricking brier learn this from Isaiah 11:12: “And he shall set unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble thorn of all that are round about them, that the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the despised them; and they shall know that I am dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the the Lord GOD. Thus saith the Lord GOD; When earth.” This is a prophecy about the Kingdom I shall have gathered the house of Israel from Age, when Jesus will restore the kingdom to the people among whom they are scattered, Israel. Jesus is the “ensign” mentioned here—the and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of banner. Therefore, this prophecy has not been the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land fulfilled; but the revival of the nation of Israel in that I have given to My servant Jacob. And 1948 paved the way for its fulfilment. This was they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build an outstanding sign of the times. Many Jews have houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall gone back to the Land, but the majority still do dwell with confidence, when I have executed not accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. They judgments upon all those that despise them still need to be converted and brought into the round about them; and they shall know that bonds of the covenant—this will be the purpose I am the LORD their God” (Ezek. 28:24-26). of the future ministry of Elijah. But the revival of Israel has made the fulfilment of this verse Israel to dwell safely possible. Although Israel have been regathered to the But then Isaiah says: “But they shall fly upon Land and are building houses and planting the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; vineyards, clearly they are not ‘dwelling safely.’ they shall spoil them of the east together: they The surrounding nations are still pricking briers shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and and grieving thorns. So there is work yet to be the children of Ammon shall obey them” (v. done in the Middle East. According to the Word 14). This verse is telling us that Israel will gain of God, Israel must dwell safely. Whether this supremacy over all the Arab nations mentioned will be achieved by peaceful negotiation or by here. The children of the east, together with the conquest remains to be seen. But this must take Philistines in the west, are going to become sub- place before Gog comes down upon the mountains servient to Israel in the Kingdom of God. For this of Israel, because of Ezekiel 38’s description of to be possible, these nations must be in existence. Israel at the time of Gog’s invasion: Now we see why it was so important for the Ot- “Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come toman Empire to fall and for these Arab nations to pass, that at the same time shall things once more to come into existence. While ever the come into thy mind, and thou shalt think Ottoman Empire was in existence, this prophecy, an evil thought: and thou shalt say, I will go and others like it, could not be fulfilled. up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go The stage is now set. The final chapters of the to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all purpose of God are unfolding before our very of them dwelling without walls, and having eyes. Let us make sure that we are ‘watching, neither bars nor gates” (vv. 10,11). and keeping our garments,’ so that we will be Now we can begin to see why “the way of the ready for Jesus when he returns. kings of the east” has had to be prepared. If ­Israel (To be continued) “. . . it is possible to show from Scripture that there has been a race of people apart from Israel in which a tradition of worship of the true God existed. This race was called in Scripture the ‘Children of the East,’ or the ‘Bene Kedem.’” Ray Walker, Treasure . . . New and Old, The Testimony, 2018, p. 7

Testimony, January 2020 Contents 11 Your Letters

Headcoverings act accordingly. If our brethren have their heads uncovered in representation of Christ, then they I have been following with interest the discussion must endeavour to think, speak and act as Christ. on headcoverings in the pages of the Testimony If our sisters cover their heads in representation resulting from Brother Mark Vincent’s “P.S.” ar- of the covering of the glory of man, then they ticles in the August and September issues. must give to the ecclesia a good example of the I thank Sister Rachel Green for her contribution submission and humility that the whole ecclesia in the November magazine,1 and would like to of- should show to Christ and our Father. fer a few thoughts in reply. She raises the issue of Mary Benson practice under the Law of Moses, saying, “If there Norwich is a general principle regarding headcoverings, we would expect to find it in the Old Testament. For more on this topic, see the article “Male and female However, there is no specific teaching under the in the Lord,” on p. 3 of this issue.—J.D.T. Law of Moses, or indeed anywhere in the Old Testament, about all women wearing headcover- ings in worship.” This is certainly true. However, 1. “Your Letters,” Testimony, vol. 89, no. 1,054, Nov. 2019, it does not seem to me that we can always use p. 421. what was done under the Law to inform us as to what should be done in Christ. This can be seen Noah clearly when we consider the instructions for men. In Christ the men are told specifically not to cover In the article “Noah and his employees”1 refer- their heads, since that would be to dishonour ence was made to Noah as “preacher of right- Christ; yet priests under the Law of Moses did eousness” (2 Pet. 2:5). I was reminded of a recent cover their heads, with turbans. If the practice is discussion. The AV has “Noah the eighth person, different for men under the two covenants then a preacher of righteousness,” which makes one there seems no reason why it should not be so wonder why the most important person in the for women too, since the reasons for covering or ark is described as “the eighth,” while noting not covering are different. that “person” is italicised. William Tyndale’s final Secondly, in response to Sister Rachel’s com- revision of the New Testament, as incorporated ments about headship within the ecclesia, the in the ‘Thomas Matthew’ Bible of 1537, has what general principle is given in 1 Corinthians 11:3: is perhaps a more accurate rendering: “Noah the “I would have you know, that the head of every eighth preacher of righteousness.” Genesis 4:26 man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the explains: “And to Seth, to him also there was man; and the head of Christ is God.” I would like born a son; and he called his name Enos: then to suggest that this is not speaking of individual began men to call upon the name of the LORD.” families, where wives must be subject to hus- Here is shown a distinction between the sons bands, but about the ecclesia itself as a family. of God and the sons of men that began with When the ecclesia meets together to worship, Enos. Genesis 5 shows that in Enos’s line the each member has his or her own role. The head eighth generation was Noah. Is 2 Peter 2:5 one of of each man represents Christ, the true head of those inspired detail-filling statements, telling us the ecclesia, and must therefore not be covered. that for eight generations this family had been Each woman’s head represents the glory of man, preaching righteousness—albeit to little effect— and should therefore be covered. Symbolically, demonstrating both the longsuffering of God and then, the glory of Christ and God is displayed the increasing depravity of their neighbours? within our worship, whereas the glory of man is covered. This is wholly appropriate. Displaying these things within our worship, 1. Philip Jones, “Noah and his employees,” Testimony, of course, brings responsibilities to think and vol. 89, no. 1,054, Nov. 2019, p. 433. Testimony, January 2020 12 Contents Modern translations miss this point complete- obscured by their successors. These early works ly, but try to emphasise the importance of Noah are readily available in electronic form, usually by using “Noah and seven others” or similar free of charge as they are out of copyright, and wording, so forsaking accuracy. Some of the early they can be of great help in Bible study. English translators were very perceptive, and are Peter Banyard worth consulting for points which may have been Bury St Edmunds

Contents

Exhortation Moses and the serpent Paul Tovell

Like Moses, we are born in slavery to sin and death. But Sin needs to be controlled the story of Moses shows us the way out. Redemption is To demonstrate this principle, God available if we acknowledge our position and our need for will bring Moses to a point where he understands his dependency on God Christ. to redeem him. Before he can lead his S WE BEGIN READING the account of people out of slavery to sin and death, he needs Moses in the early chapters of Exodus, we to see the problem of sin ruling in people’s hearts, A find him presented to us as a man who is the way it makes slaves of them, the result, and thee times ‘dead’: the way out. He needs to know the enemy before • all the males born to the Hebrew families he can fight it. God will do this for him in three were to be killed (1:16) pictures, provided in chapter 4. • his mother puts him into the river and aban- The first lesson is that God wants us to respond dons him (2:3) with self-control to our tendency to sin. We see • he kills an Egyptian and becomes an outcast this in the episode of the snake that Moses is under sentence of death (v. 15). asked to pick up: “And he cast [his rod] on the These three episodes are the stark coverage of ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled the first forty years of his life, and the strong link from before it. And the LORD said to Moses, Put with death in each of them is very clear. Here is forth thine hand, and take it by the tail” (vv. 3,4). a powerful picture of bondage to sin and death, The snake is a symbol of sin, yet the rod is suggesting that Moses is introduced as a figure associated with Moses’ livelihood. We assume for the whole nation of Israel, who were suffer- that he had it at the beginning of chapter 3 as his ing a miserable existence in slavery at this time. shepherd’s staff; it is part of his identity before But then, in the episode of the burning bush God first speaks to him. God could have used in chapter 3, we see God’s love in His unwill- any stick lying on the ground, of course, but it ingness to destroy the bush which should have is surely significant that he uses Moses’ own: been consumed. God has mercy on the bush, as it “What is that in thine hand?” (4:2). It is as if God were, as He will have mercy on Israel and Moses. is showing Moses that the potential for sin is part He says, “I have surely seen the affliction of My of our identity, integral to who we are. We need people which are in Egypt, and have heard their to be wary of it. cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know Moses is told to grasp the snake’s tail. The one their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver who would crush its head and destroy it is not them” (vv. 7,8). here yet. For now, all that can be done is to grasp We too are born into Moses’ situation—in slav- it, to understand it and to control it as best we ery to sin and death. But in the story of Moses is can. It is valuable for us to appreciate and grasp shown the way out. Before we can be redeemed, what sin is like. Why do we always want what we we have to comprehend our true position and cannot have? Why is it that if God says, ‘Do not our need for Christ. touch,’ then we want it even more? So persuasive Testimony, January 2020 Contents 13 is the human heart that it makes rational thinking the kind of instinctive reaction our Master had disappear, leaving us to justify any means if we when he was tempted in the wilderness. His first desire the result strongly enough. The subtlety of reaction every time was to remember, at speed, the serpent in Eden is something that plays out in what Scripture says: “It is written . . .” (Mt. 4:4,7,10). our hearts, and this is what we need to control. Sin is a curse that invokes God’s judgment Sin leads only to death The final picture we have in Exodus 4 is some- The second lesson for Moses comes when his thing that Moses appears not to enact: “if they will hand becomes leprous. This type of skin disease not believe also these two signs, neither hearken is a picture of decay, as the flesh dies on a living unto thy voice, [then] take of the water of the river, body. Moses here is being shown sin’s ultimate and pour it upon the dry land: and the water end—it leads to death. The solution this time is which thou takest out of the river shall become for Moses to put his hand inside his cloak: “And blood upon the dry land” (v. 9). Moses does not the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now do this in chapter 4, yet the action has a strong thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand parallel in the first plague, where Moses takes into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his rod, stretches it out over the waters, and they his hand was leprous as snow . . . And he put his become blood, resulting in the pollution of the hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of entire river system. Both episodes are indicative his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as of a curse upon the entire land of Egypt—both his other flesh” (vv. 6,7). the dry land and the river system—for having not Just as the nakedness associated with sin had listened to the first two signs. Sin brings a curse to be covered in Eden (Gen. 3:21), so his hand is upon the people as a whole: “. . . that there may healed when covered the second time. The one be blood throughout all the land of Egypt” (7:19).2 who came to remove sin altogether has a differ- The lesson for Moses was that God’s judgment ent remedy for the man with the leprous hand upon sin is to be feared. For us, too, God still hates who stands before him: “he saith unto the man, sin; but we are again reminded of Jesus, and how Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: the pouring out of his blood unto death would and his hand was restored whole as the other” provide the water of life to us, almost a reversal of (Mk. 3:5). No covering is needed here; the man’s what we see in Exodus (see Jno. 4:14). God’s curse leprous hand is healed when it reaches out to has been taken away in him. We remember his Jesus in faith instead. Under the New Covenant, blood in the cup we share week by week, which sin is ultimately taken away rather than merely is become for us a cup of salvation or blessing (Ps. covered. 116:13; 1 Cor. 10:16) rather than one of judgment, There is another lesson in how quickly these by God’s mercy. two signs take place. The speed with which temptation and lust arise is extremely fast; in It’s a part of us fact, they are instinctive in us. Our brains have But there’s another challenge left for Moses. He been designed to automate as many of our daily needs to remember that the desire to sin never actions and thoughts as possible, to increase their leaves us. This is suggested in the command to efficiency and allow us to devote mental energy take his morphed and remorphed rod with him: to other things. It has been estimated that forty “thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith per cent of our actions are automatic;1 we do not thou shalt do signs” (Ex. 4:17). This is a huge act think about them. There are good examples of this of faith; might not the rod have turned back into a from the world of sport. A tennis player does not snake at any moment? Yet by verse 20 it is called have enough time to process all the steps he needs “the rod of God,” because it was to become the to take to return a ball which is coming towards instrument which God would use to bring about him at more than 100 miles per hour. Instead, he must make his actions automatic, which is why he spends so many hours practising the same moves. 1. For more on this, see D. Eagleman, Incognito: the secret The question for us is, what are our automatic lives of the brain (Canongate, 2011). 2. A similar judgment from God, and a curse on those instincts? How do we react in certain situations who defy Him, is vividly seen in Revelation: “And the that tempt us? And can we try and make godly second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it thoughts automatic by an increased familiarity became as the blood of a dead man: and every living with the Word of God? After all, this is exactly soul died in the sea” (16:3; see also v. 4). Testimony, January 2020 14 Contents the wonders upon Egypt, and the means by which of Israel come to Moses and ask for the problem God would signal and commence His work (such to be removed: “We have sinned . . . pray unto as the parting of the Red Sea in 14:16). We too, the LORD, that He take away the serpents from despite our inherent tendency towards the flesh, us” (v. 7). But, in type, sin cannot immediately can be instruments of God, who is working in be removed, for the Law, represented by Moses, this world to make up His elect. was ultimately powerless to save from sin. Mo- ses could not remove the effect of the serpents’ Jesus repeats the lessons venom. In type, he had no remedy to remove Throughout this chapter Moses is being shown the inherent problem that lay within the people: what sin is, and what it leads to. Jesus will later the poison of sin. Instead, it required God to draw on these same lessons. Jesus’ life appears intervene to provide the method of healing. The to allude to the things we have seen in Exodus: Israelites needed to look in hopeful faith to God’s • he cleansed the man’s leprous hand when it solution, just as we do today. The key is to know was stretched out, not covered what to look for, and to believe: a serpent model, • his own body did not decay, but rather was lifted up on a pole—a symbol of a serpent under raised and made incorruptible control. • he poured out his own blood and water (Jno. Jesus brings us to this incident so that we might 19:34) to achieve salvation. understand better the power of our own nature He also made a further reference to the idea of and the perils of letting it run loose. He compares Moses and a serpent. He said: “as Moses lifted up himself to the bronze serpent, the pattern made the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the which resembled the fiery serpents that plagued Son of man be lifted up” (3:14). This is a link back the children of Israel—in effect, he was the one to another incident in Moses’ life, when “the LORD who was in the likeness of sinful flesh yet without sent fiery serpents among the people, and they its poison. Matthew Henry’s Commentary on this bit the people; and much people of Israel died” passage says: “that which cured was shaped in (Num. 21:6). The remedy was for Moses to “make the likeness of that which wounded.” We read . . . a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it that Jesus “redeemed us from the curse of the shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, law, being made a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13; see when he looketh upon it, shall live” (v. 8). Why also 2 Cor. 5:21). would Jesus liken himself to this strange object? With so much potential within us to do wrong, let us keep focused on Christ, “lifted up” and In the likeness of sinful flesh exalted because he fulfilled all that was required. The people were unable to grasp the serpents by May we strive in our lives to grasp sin by the their tails, as Moses once had, as if their nature tail, to understand truly how it works and how and temptations had got the better of them. to control it, and so wait for the one who crushed Many lives were lost as a result. The children its head to return again as our King. The Comforter An intriguing parallel between the prophecy of Haggai and John 14,15 points to the conclusion that the ‘Comforter’ of John’s Gospel was an angel, parallel with the angel of God’s presence in Old Testament times (cf. Ex. 23:20). Both passages are about the Father’s house.—Mark Allfree Haggai John “Because of Mine house” (1:9) “In my Father’s house are many mansions” (14:2) “I will be glorified” (1:8) “that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (14:13) “Herein is my Father glorified” (15:8) “fear ye not” (2:5) “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful” (14:27, RV) “in this place will I give peace” (2:9) “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you” (14:27) “according to the word that I covenanted “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you with you when ye came out of Egypt, and another Comforter, that he may abide with you for My spirit abode among you” (2:5, RV) ever; even the Spirit of truth”“ (14:16,17)

Testimony, January 2020 Contents 15 Science Is seeing believing? 6. The visual cortex Peter Forbes

This series of articles is examining the various structures visual cortex will impact on vision. of the eye to encourage readers to decide for themselves There is no value in having a perfectly whether the eye, with all of its remarkably complex detail, functioning eye and retina unless the visual cortex is undamaged. Placing fits better with Special Creation, as described in the Bible, the visual cortex at the rear of the or with the theory of evolution. head reduces the likelihood of dam- age. However, the very structure of ISION ENTAILS distinguishing foreground the optic nerves further reduces the impact of from background, recognising objects damage to the eye and the visual cortex. Vpresented in a wide range of orientations, and interpreting spatial cues accurately. Visual The optic nerve perception begins as soon as the eye focuses light The amazing complexity of the visual pathway is onto the retina and continues through the optic seen when we consider the nerves passing from nerve to the visual cortex. the retina to the visual cortex, as shown in the The visual cortex is that part of the brain which diagram. This shows the way in which electrical interprets the electrical impulses from the retina, signals are transmitted from the retina to the enabling us to see the world around us. Given its visual cortex. Impulses from the left-hand side of close association with the eye, in particular the both eyes pass to the left-hand side of the visual retina, it might be assumed that the visual cortex cortex. The impulses from the right-hand side of was in an area of the brain close to the retina. In both eyes pass to the right-hand side of the visual fact, the visual cortex is about as far as possible cortex, so that which is seen on the right of the from the retina as it could be. field of view is processed by the left area of the This is not a random feature. It actually points visual cortex, and vice versa. to careful design, not to chance. Damage to the The amazing arrangement by which this is achieved again points to careful design. The fascinating point is the way that the nerves on the inner (nasal) side of each eye cross at what is called the optic chiasm, while the nerves on the outer (temporal) sides do not. As a result the whole left-hand area of the visual panorama is processed on the right-hand side of the visual cortex, and vice versa. This matches the way in which so many other functions in the brain oper- ate, with the left-hand hemisphere of the brain being responsible for controlling the right side of the body, and vice versa.1

1. It seems that the sense of smell is the only sense in which the ‘opposite side’ characteristic does not occur. The visual pathway The nerves from the nose travel immediately to the Miquel Perello Nieto/Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 4.0] forepart of the brain. Testimony, January 2020 16 Contents Simply stated, the image on the right is pro- ­example, a child has to learn coordination of eye cessed by the left-hand side of the brain and vice and hand movements, but any later disruption versa, thus preserving the ‘opposite sidedness’ of of this complex system reintroduces a learning the way in which nerve pathways work in the cycle. An example of this is seen in the removal rest of the body. Such detail points inescapably of the crystalline lens from the eye due to cataract towards design rather than chance. formation. Before the introduction of intraocular lenses during cataract surgery, the vision of the The visual cortex patient was corrected with strong convex lenses. In reality the retina, like the visual cortex, is A consequence was that the patient had to relearn functionally a part of the brain. The retina is not spatial coordination, as objects appeared nearer an independent part of the body that can operate than they were in reality.2 However, the patient separately from the visual cortex. soon learnt to judge distances accurately as the The combination of the retina and eye move- visual pathway was not damaged. ments gives us the ability we have to discern Much research—perhaps more than on any the distance of objects we see, their colour, and other part of the brain—has been conducted on their relationship to each other. The light that the the visual cortex and its association with the retina ‘sees’ on a flat surface is translated into retina via the optic tract. Yet it would be fair a three-dimensional coloured panorama of the to say that there is very much that is still not world around us. Nor is all of this a process we understood. We should each, with the psalm- consciously learn from birth. All the constituent ist, recognise, “I am fearfully and wonderfully parts are present together and work together. It made” (Ps. 139:14), and consequently should, as cannot be overstated that it was essential that the the psalmist did, praise God. retina and visual cortex were formed together, at the same time. Whilst there is a learning process from 2. Hand/eye coordination and eye movement will be birth, it is a process that enables us to use the considered in a later article dealing with the muscles fully formed features present from birth. So, for which control the eye. Contents

Watchman A window on Israel Shaun Maher

Gantz. He was given thirty days Mr Netanyahu saw off the chal- Political paralysis in to try to form a government, but lenge fairly easily, and the cor- Israel he too failed. This means that ruption charges seem relatively FTER A SECOND elec- Israel will return to the polls trivial, it may yet be that such tion in six months, nei- again (most likely in March) in an factors could do enough dam- Ather of the main political attempt to break the stalemate, age to allow opposition parties parties in Israel has been able but at the moment it is difficult to sneak ahead. to form a governing coalition, to see how anything will change. Another unintended con- leaving the country in political One development since the sequence of the ongoing par- paralysis and facing an unprec- more recent election is the of- liamentary stalemate is that it edented third general election in ficial indictment of Mr Netanyahu has allowed Naftali Bennett, a less than twelve months. After on charges of corruption. He has right-wing nationalist Zionist, the second election, Benjamin also had to deal with a mutiny to be appointed to the position Netanyahu’s Likud Party failed from within his party, which of defence secretary in the in- to form a government and the recently led to a leadership chal- terim government. For obvious baton was passed to the Blue lenge from fellow Likud Party reasons, this is an extremely and White Party leader Benny member Gideon Saar. Although important portfolio in the Israeli Testimony, January 2020 Contents 17 administration, which officially a hawkish Israeli government is recognised Jerusalem as the formed after the Israeli election capital of the Jewish State in in March 2020. 2018, and then in 2019 the Israeli However, whilst Mr Trump annexation of the Golan. has been supportive in respect The impact and significance of policy, there is no guarantee of these policy shifts from the that he, or any future president, world’s most powerful nation would assist Israel materially should not be underestimated. in the event of war. Indeed, we From a biblical perspective, expect Israel to be alone as the many have wondered why the return of Christ draws near. Full enigma that is Donald Trump story at https://www.washing was raised up to the presidency. tonpost.com/national-security/ As events have unfolded, there trump-administration-says-is can be little doubt that, regard- raels-west-bank-settlements- less of his personal motives, do-not-violate-international- Israel has been emboldened law/2019/11/18/38cdbb96-0a39 and strengthened as a result -11ea-bd9d-c628fd48b3a0_sto Naftali Bennett, Israel’s of his policies. It remains to be ry.html; http://www.israelna defence secretary seen what the impact of these tionalnews.com/News/News. (Public domain) changes will be in the longer aspx/272794 government. This particular ap- term. Perhaps the Israelis will pointment is significant because become more self-confident “The coming Middle of Mr Bennett’s hawkish stance, and trust even more in their own which is resulting in changes political and military strength— East conflagration” to Israel’s policy in Judea and a situation that might incite a HIS headline comes not from Samaria (the West Bank), em- response from their enemies. Ta religious writer interpret- boldened by strong pro-Israel We may already be seeing ing Bible prophecy, but from policy shifts from the Trump a glimpse of this boldness in a chilling article in the Atlantic administration (more on this Naftali Bennett’s recent threats magazine written by former below). Full story at https://www. to building projects that are being Israeli ambassador to the US theguardian.com/world/2019/ funded by the European Union in Michael Oren. In the article, dec/12/israel-heads-for-unpr area C of the West Bank. He has Oren describes the scenarios ecedented-third-election-in- informed the EU’s ambassador being prepared for by the Is- a-year-as-stalemate-continu to Israel that the Israeli Defence raeli government in the face of es?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other Forces (IDF) could destroy the growing Iranian aggression on EU funded projects, as they are their doorstep. He states that a “Trump administration illegal constructions, in contra- major Middle East war is only vention of the Oslo Accords, one miscalculated air strike, says Israel’s West and pose a defence risk. Under or one poorly judged political Bank settlements the Accords, area A of the West statement, away. The situation do not violate Bank is under direct Palestinian is further complicated by the Authority (PA) civil and security ongoing political paralysis in Is- international law” control, area B is under PA civil rael, not to mention the political PEAKING in November, but Israeli security control, and distractions in the government of SUnited States Secretary area C is under full Israeli civil Israel’s closest ally. When a US of State Mike Pompeo made and security control (see map president was fighting impeach- a statement declaring that his opposite). Arabs are free to live ment on another occasion, the government no longer considers in all three areas, but Jews are enemies of Israel used it as Jewish civilian settlements in the at extreme risk in areas A and an opportunity to attack. Israel West Bank to be illegal, rolling B. The type of bold behaviour emerged from the 1974 Yom back the policy of the Obama seen from Mr Bennett might Kippur War victorious—albeit years. This follows controversial become more common if Mr at great cost. The weapons ar- shifts in policy by the Trump Trump wins a second term and rayed against Israel are far more Testimony, January 2020 18 Contents Although Israel would be able www.jpost.com/International/ to strike back with great force Russian-Su-35s-scrambled- and intensity on her surround- to-stop-Israel-over-T-4-Russia- ing enemies in such a war, the Iran-media-claim-610329 infrastructure of this tiny country would be severely damaged, and United Nations bias its economy devastated. against Israel criticised We know that a time of dif- ficulty is coming for Israel, and OLLOWING on from the we see that the Syrian war has Fdiscriminatory ruling by the drawn the nations whom the European Court of Justice that Scriptures identify as enemies all Jewish products from the of Israel to the borders of the Israeli ‘occupied territories’ must Holy Land. They are surrounding be labelled as such, another Israel and plotting against her. supranational organisation has We hope and pray that these entered the fray to re-establish things will pass swiftly, and its anti-Israel credentials. At its that the reign of the Prince of November meeting, the United Peace will soon bring blessing Nations General Assembly and prosperity to the Land and (UNGA) passed a resolution to all those who love and obey refusing to recognise any Jewish the God of Jacob. Full story at claim to sovereignty, historical https://www.theatlantic.com/ or otherwise, over the Temple ideas/archive/2019/11/israel- Mount. Official UN policy is now preparing-open-war/601285/ to refer to the historic site by its Islamic name, Haram al-Sharif. West Bank administrative “Russian Su-35 jets The resolution was passed by areas: scrambled to stop 153 votes to eight, and was, Blue: annexed by Israel unsurprisingly, supported by Green: Area A Israel over Syria” all EU member-states including Dark pink: Area B OLLOWING on from the ac- the UK. The only major nations Pale pink: Area C count of the fragile situation to vote against the resolution (SoWhAt249/Wikimedia Commons) F currently surrounding Israel, were Canada, Australia and sophisticated today, and, despite reports in early December 2019 the USA, whose ambassador efforts in recent months by the described how Russian fighter spoke out against the resolu- IDF in carrying out hundreds of jets intervened to prevent an tion, expressing disappointment bombing raids on Iranian targets IDF air raid on Syria. Details “after recent reforms” that such inside Syria, Lebanon and Iraq were limited, but sources stated an overt anti-Israel resolution in an attempt to contain enemy that the Russians were work- should be passed. The UNGA activity, the Iranian build-up ing with the Iranians to protect passed eight more resolutions continues. the delivery of an unspecified critical of Israel in the assembly The article goes on to de- missile defence system to the meeting in November and has scribe how the sophistication, Syrian army. a further fifteen Israel-focused volume and range of weapons This is further evidence of the resolutions lined up for 2020. now at Iran’s (and increasingly build-up of weapons close to For a global organisation like Hezbollah’s) disposal means Israel and of nations working to- the UN, which should be rela- that Israel’s sophisticated missile gether to prevent her defending tively impartial, to have such a defence systems could quickly her territory. When the tension disproportionate focus on Israel become overwhelmed. In Octo- is high, and so many nations are is a stark reminder of the spirit ber 2019, an Iranian drone attack present with their armies and air present in human governments. on northern Israel—similar to the forces in such a small geographi- As Paul warned the Ephesian recent attack on a Saudi oil re- cal area, the risks of an acciden- ecclesia of the need to take up finery—was thwarted only at the tal spark starting a major conflict “the whole armour of God” in last minute by an IDF air attack. are high. Full story at https:// the battle “against principalities, Testimony, January 2020 Contents 19 are being meted out by govern- ments, is the UN so obsessed with Israel? This stance is likely to play out even more strongly as the return of Christ draws ever nearer. Full story at https:// unwatch.org/2019-un-general- assembly-resolutions-singling- out-israel-texts-votes-analysis/

“Boris Johnson fills cabinet with pro-Israel officials” ITH the resounding vic- Wtory of Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party in the United Kingdom’s general election, we may be about to enter a new era Aerial view of Temple Mount, now officially to be known as of pro-Israel British politics. The Haram al-Sharif, according to the UN. hard-left Labour leader Jeremy Andrew Shiva / Wikipedia Corbyn was soundly defeated, against powers, against the and aggression against Western in part because of the unre- rulers of the darkness of this nations and their economic and lenting claims of anti-Semitism world” (Eph. 6:11,12), so we see military assets. There have been surrounding him and his sup- the same dark spirit alive and no ongoing UN resolutions con- porters. well today. cerning the plight of Ukrainians Mr Johnson, who as a young Israel is far from being be- under Russian occupation in man worked on a kibbutz and yond reproach, but to have Crimea or eastern Ukraine, and whose great-grandfather was twenty-three resolutions criti- no mention of the imprisonment Jewish, appointed a pre-election cal of the Jewish government of the leaders of the Catalan cabinet that contained some alone is staggering. Even if one government by the Spanish of the strongest pro-Israel ad- focused solely on activities in government. Why, when so vocates in British politics—­ Israel, it is surprising that no many seemingly cruel injustices including Home Secretary Priti mention is made of abuses of human rights (of which there are many) by both the PA government of Mahmoud Ab- bas and the terror organisation Hamas that governs the Gaza Strip—no mention of children in state schools being dressed in military fatigues and acting out Jewish killings; no mention of the brutal oppression of Arab people by Hamas in Gaza. These are not small things being done in secret, but are being carried out in plain sight—yet ignored by the UN. As an example for comparison, there has been only one resolution against the Boris Johnson and his new cabinet, many of whom are Iranians, who around the globe supporters of Israel. have been fomenting violence © Getty Images/WPA Pool Testimony, January 2020 20 Contents Patel, who had been forced to of other cabinet ministers also ues. If it does, then we may be resign from a cabinet position have a strong track record of about to enter a new phase of two years ago for her enthu- support for Israel, including global politics in which Britain, siastic unofficial courting of Chancellor Sajid Javid, Environ- the Commonwealth nations and Israel. Foreign Secretary Domi- ment Secretary Theresa Villiers, the USA stand apart as Israel’s nic Raab is the son of a Czech and Chancellor of the Duchy of principal advocates on the global Jewish refugee, and Transport Lancaster Michael Gove. stage. As ever, we shall have Secretary Grant Shapps is a Mr Johnson is expected to to wait and see. Full story at former chair of B’nai Brith, an carry out a more extensive https://www.jewishpress.com/ organisation that supports the cabinet reshuffle after the UK news/global/uk/boris-johnson- security of Jews and their right leaves the EU on 31 January. It fills-cabinet-with-pro-israel-of to inhabit the land of Israel, and will be interesting to see if this ficials-liverpool-to-get-kosher- fights anti-Semitism. A number strong pro-Israel theme contin- meat/2019/07/31/ Contents

Israel Israel-Russia joint stamp issue John the Baptist Paul Maplethorpe

EADERS MAY BE surprised to know about ­Testament, she met her cousin St. Elizabeth a postage stamp issued jointly by the Israeli [sic] there, while she was also pregnant with Rand Russian post offices. Yet this issue, on her son, John the Baptist.” 14 November 2017, was not the first occasion on The bulletin states that the reason for the con- which the two postal authorities have co-operated struction of the convent church was to recall in this way. Their first joint stamp issue was to Mary’s visit to her cousin Elisabeth, and mentions commemorate the novel Eugene Onegin by the that the buildings around the site reflect the pres- Russian author Alexander Pushkin, which was ence of the Russian religious mission in the Holy translated into Hebrew in the 1870s. That stamp Land and their involvement in Eretz Israel during was issued simultaneously in Israel and Russia on 19 November 1997. The more recent stamp is very dif- ferent, showing the Gorny Convent at the alleged birthplace of John the Baptist, Ein Karem, a village five miles (eight kilometres) west of Jeru- salem. According to the notes in the accompanying bulletin produced by the Israeli Philatelic Federation: “Christian tradition calls the vil- lage of Ein Karem . . . the ‘City of Judea’ [see Luke 1:39]. The Virgin Mary visited Ein Karem while carrying her unborn child Jesus and according to the New Testimony, January 2020 Contents 21 Ein Karem, with the Church of John the Baptist. Ori229/Wikimedia Commons the closing days of the Ottoman Empire, when the philatelic bulletin accompanying the stamp tens of thousands of devout Russians annually again stated: made pilgrimages to the Holy Land. In 1871, the “Ein Karem . . . was known during the Byzan- head of the Russian mission purchased a large tine period as The City of Judea as mentioned plot of land in Ein Karem, and invited wealthy in the New Testament (Lucas 1, 39). This was women who desired to live out their lives in the the birth place of John the Baptist who her- Holy Land to build homes in the village. These alded the coming of Jesus, and who baptized homes were subsequently incorporated into the him in the Jordan River . . . It was built on the Gorny Convent. site identified as the home of Elizabeth, mother In 1910, a later leader of the mission decided to of John, who was visited by her relative, Mary, build an even larger church on the hillside, but the mother of Jesus (Lucas 1, 39-56).” his plans came to an abrupt halt when the First Mention is also made of remains dating from World War severed relations between Russia and the First Temple period and the Roman and Ottoman Turkey, and the Russian representatives Byzantine periods. were deported to Egypt. Construction work did Visiting Israel in 1972, one found very few not resume after the conclusion of the war, not references, outside so-called ‘Christian’ sites, to only because of the lack of finance, but more Jesus and the New Testament. From its inception significantly because of the atheistic attitude of in 1948, the Israeli state found it difficult to deal the new Soviet authorities in Moscow. Work re- with the personage of Jesus; for, not only did the commenced early in the twenty-first century, at New Testament appear to condemn the Jewish which time the church was named the Cathedral of All Russian Saints. The bulletin concludes by highlighting the increasing numbers of tourists and pilgrims who now visit the church, and how this illustrates Russia’s deep religious bond to Jerusalem.

Birthplace of John? Seventeen years earlier than the joint issue, in February 2000, another stamp showing Ein Karem was issued. This earlier stamp, one of three com- memorating pilgrimages to the Holy Land, shows the Church of the Visitation. The ­introduction on Testimony, January 2020 22 Contents leaders of Jesus’ day, but down the subsequent it is in the tribal territory of Benjamin and not centuries traditional Christianity—both Catho- Judah. Hebron meets this criterion, being located lic and Orthodox—has used the crucifixion of in Judah; it was given to Caleb of the tribe of Jesus as an excuse for their anti- Semitism. Even Judah when the children of Israel entered the today, many Jews find it difficult to identify with Promised Land. the man who walked their land two millennia Does it really matter? If it were of import, then ago. But times have changed, and continue to surely the Scriptures would provide a definite change, so that today the Jewish outlook on answer to the question of where John was born. Jesus is different from that of fifty years ago. More importantly, the Scriptures tell how Mary Israelis are increasingly prepared to mention left her home in Nazareth and went to visit her Jesus, Mary, John the Baptist and Elisabeth, and elderly pregnant cousin in her house in Judah. even to use the phrase ‘the New Testament.’ This Mary may have walked, perhaps alone, for there change of attitudes is shown by the stamps, is no indication that she had a companion on this which have been issued not for use by visitors long journey—if to Ein Karem, then of around and pilgrims but for general circulation, being ninety miles, or considerably further if to Hebron, available for purchase at post offices throughout approximately 130 miles. How many appreciate Israel. the length of that journey, the time that it must have taken Mary to reach her cousin, and the Old Testament connections return journey to her own home in Nazareth The New Testament does not mention the location three months later? of Ein Karem, whose name means ‘spring of the vineyard.’ There are, however, two possible Old Young meets old Testament references to this small town: Elisabeth was more than six months pregnant “O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves when her younger cousin arrived at her home. to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow Did Mary see the birth of her cousin’s child, the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of John? Did she leave shortly before John’s birth, fire in Beth-haccerem: for evil appeareth out as might be assumed from a cursory reading of of the north, and great destruction” (Jer. 6:1); Luke 1:56-58? “But the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son “And Mary abode with her about three of Rechab, the ruler of part of Beth-haccerem; months, and returned to her own house. Now he built it, and set up the doors thereof, the Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be locks thereof, and the bars thereof” (Neh. 3:14). delivered; and she brought forth a son. And It has been suggested that the name Beth-hac- her neighbours and her cousins heard how cerem is identical to Beth HaKarem, meaning the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; ‘place of the vineyard.’ Close to Ein Karem there and they rejoiced with her.” are several archaeological finds from the Second Sadly, the Scriptures give us no definite answer Temple period, including a well-preserved mikveh to this intriguing question. Whilst Mary lived a or ritual bath, confirming Jewish settlement in considerable distance from Elisabeth, presumably the area. there were other cousins, aunts and other close Luke, the only Gospel writer to record the relatives living in close proximity, and doubtless details of the birth of John the Baptist, refers to these gave help to the elderly new mother. This the place where John was born in Luke 1:39,40, as is the only occasion on which the Greek word he recounts Mary’s visit to the home of her older translated “neighbours,” meaning those living cousin Elisabeth and her husband Zacharias: in close proximity to Elisabeth and Zacharias, is “And Mary arose in those days, and went into found in the New Testament. Surely they were the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; thrilled to see their friend give birth to a son and entered into the house of Zacharias, and after so many years of barrenness. Perhaps they saluted Elisabeth.” discussed with Elisabeth the angel’s appearance Several suggestions have been put forward as to her husband in the temple, and pondered his to the identity of the city of Judah where Zacharias message concerning how this promised child and Elisabeth lived. These include Hebron, and would turn the hearts of the children to the Ramah in Benjamin (to be distinguished from the fathers and make ready a people for the Lord. Ramah in Ephraim mentioned in Jeremiah 31:15). Similar discussions would, in all probability, have However, whilst Ramah is close to Jerusalem, taken place between Zacharias, his neighbours Testimony, January 2020 Contents 23 and his fellow-priests. The reaction of this elderly in the 19th century, the pilgrimage movement couple, thrilled at the birth of their first and ap- reached unprecedented peaks.” parently only child, in talking to their neighbours Many of the pilgrims who visited the Holy Land of the work that this son was destined to carry returned home with paintings and etchings that out, is surely an example to us today. they had made while on their travels. In the pen­ ultimate paragraph of his notes, Dr Barkay states: A pilgrimage tradition “The paintings provide a picture of the past Six months before the issue of the Ein Karem scenery and of the sites, although they are not stamp in 2000, another series of stamps was issued always realistic; they were designed to create by the Israeli Post Office. These commemorated a direct link between the landscapes of the pilgrimages to the Holy Land. One of these Holy Land in the 19th century and those of stamps showed a depiction of the River Jordan, b i b l i c a l t i m e s .” The final paragraph concludes: “Pilgrimages and pilgrims’ travel accounts have contributed greatly to the study of the land of Israel and its history, the development of sites and a network of roads, and to the creation of ties between the land of Israel and its inhabitants and the countries of the world.”

Christadelphian connections Among those pilgrims and travellers at the end of the nineteenth century was Brother Charles Curwen Walker, who, partly at the urging of Brother Robert Roberts on his return from Aus- tralia in 1897, visited Palestine to supervise the taken from an etching by the English engraver use of funds donated by the brotherhood towards Edward Finden, from a drawing by Sir Augustus the Jewish settlement at Rosh Pinah. During the Wall Callcott, Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures following twenty years, Brother Walker, accompa- to Queen Victoria and a prominent landscape nied by Brother Frank Jannaway, made a further painter, who died in 1844. The accompanying four visits to the Holy Land, writing extensively notes to these stamps were written by the Israeli about events that were taking place in the land archaeologist Dr Gabriel Barkay, who received then occupied by the Ottoman Turk and subse- the 1996 Jerusalem Prize for his lifelong work quently by the British mandatory power. Sadly, in Jerusalem, and the 2014 Moskowitz Prize for he never saw the fulfilment of those events in the Zionism. The notes are most interesting. In his establishment of the Jewish state in Israel. opening paragraph, Barkay states: More than 100 years have elapsed since Brother “The roots of Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Walker’s visits to the Holy Land, and he could Land most probably originate in the Jewish never have visualised the events that have taken pilgrimage to the Temple of Jerusalem during place since his death in 1940. He would surely the days of the Second Temple. As part of have been surprised to witness Israel’s survival these pilgrimages Jesus arrived in Jerusalem as a national state for seventy years, during which for the celebration of the Passover.” her victories over her Arab neighbours have Dr Barkay outlines the expansion of the pilgrim- helped to establish her as a power in the midst age movement in the fourth century, following of the nations. Few born within the past sixty the Emperor Constantine’s accession and his years can have much appreciation of the thrill embracing of Christianity as a permitted religion that went through the brotherhood when Israel of the Roman Empire. After referring to other became a state in May 1948, or of the enthusiasm pilgrimages in the fourth, sixth and seventh emanating from the Six-Day War, when many of centuries, and to others which took place during us believed that the return of Jesus was imminent. the Islamic rule of Palestine, he states: “After Napoleon’s campaigns, which reopened A greater pilgrimage to come the East to the peoples of Europe, and with Israel’s stamps illustrate how the Jews have re- improvement of security and travel conditions turned to their ancient homeland exactly as their Testimony, January 2020 24 Contents prophets predicted. As for Israel’s short-term Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year future, no one can be certain; as these stamps to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and show, the most unpredictable events and friend- to keep the feast of tabernacles” (Zech. 14:16). ships between nations may occur. While many This surely echoes the wonderful message spoken in Israel are materialistic, even atheistic, having by Isaiah some two centuries earlier: no religion, no different from many Gentiles in “And it shall come to pass in the last days, the Western world, increasing numbers of Jews that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall in the Land are accepting that Jesus was one be established in the top of the mountains, of them, a man like the prophets, who foretold and shall be exalted above the hills; and all that they would return to the Land of Promise. nations shall flow unto it. And many people For the first time in nearly two millennia, they shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up are learning about his life, his death, and the to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of message he taught. Soon they will see him, and the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His then recognise him as their deliverer and Mes- ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out siah. Then pilgrimages to Jerusalem will become of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word annual events, for of those nations who fought of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isa. 2:2,3). against Israel and were defeated by the Son of Until that time, we ponder the events in the world God at his return we read: around, and pray, like the faithful of all ages: “And it shall come to pass, that every one that “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, is left of all the nations which came against as it is in heaven.” Contents

Review A new Russian empire? Philip Weatherall

Beyond Crimea: The dominions and in the majesty of her power.” By New Russian Empire. reading Agnia Grigas’s excellent book on very Agnia Grigas. recent Russian history, we see that not much Yale University Press, has changed regarding Russia’s foreign policy 2016. in nearly 170 years. 352 pages. Hardback. A wake-up call ISBN: 9780300214505. Beyond Crimea is a detailed analysis of Russian Available from strategy since the collapse of the Soviet Union. retailers and online. Written soon after Russia’s annexation of Crimea, it is a wake-up call to the West to be aware of the movements and machinations of the new Russia, which is nothing other than the old Russia in dis- guise, still with the same objectives of expansion HRISTADELPHIANS HAVE long shown of territory and strengthening of power. When an interest in the political movements and the Soviet Union fell in December 1991, the fifteen Cpolicies of Russia. Brother John Thomas countries forming that Union went their separate published an informative article by a New York ways and became independent states. Each of evangelist entitled “Present Aspect of Russia.”1 them had, and now has, varying attitudes towards To quote from the opening paragraph: “Rus- Russia itself. Agnia Grigas shows the interaction sia, with an ambition that knows no bounds, between Russia and all the former states, how far with resources almost inexhaustible, and secret policy intriguing at every court in Europe, seeks to extend her territory over all of central Asia, 1. “Present aspect of Russia,” Herald of the Kingdom and and to out vie ancient Rome in the extent of her Age to Come, vol. 1, no. 11 (Nov. 1851). Testimony, January 2020 Contents 25 each has travelled politically, and how Russia has once again precludes any moves directed towards applied the brakes when many of these countries the West. The position in Georgia’s breakaway leaned towards the West. ‘republics’ of South Ossetia and Abkhazia (also not recognised internationally, but recognised by Reimperialisation strategy Russia and a few friendly countries) is clearer, The author identifies “a seven-stage reimperiali- in that nothing is likely to change in the near sation policy” (p. 26) which Russia uses to exert future apart from closer ties with Russia. In fact, its influence in the post-Soviet ‘space.’ By looking Grigas points out that there are signs that South at individual states and groups of states with a Ossetia, originally part of Georgia and in dispute, similar outlook, Grigas shows how successful will eventually be merged with North Ossetia, Russia has been in seeking to control the politics part of Russia. of governments and the opinions of its compatri- ots. By means of inducements, some weaker states “. . . and many people with thee” have moved closer to their former ally without From a Bible perspective, Russia, whom many feeling wholly comfortable. These seven stages Bible students identify with ‘Gog, the prince of are: soft power, humanitarian policies, compatriot Rosh’ of Ezekiel 38, is of great interest, as we look policies, passportisation, information warfare, to her for signs characterising this invading pow- protection and finally annexation. Each of these er. In verse 7, the prophet says, “be thou a guard stages is well explained and documented in the unto them,” and this is exactly what is happening. book. Progress in the staged process has varied The Russian diaspora provides the circumstances in each of the former Soviet states. What is re- for such an event. Indeed, the penultimate stage markable, however, is the way in which Russian in the list shown above is protection. President Vladimir Putin views those who are Many Russians emigrated in the 1990s, taking Russian-speakers, using this as a lever to provide the opportunity to seek a new life in other lands. support to them through various policies. This A number of these have gone to countries uncon- feature is common to almost all the fifteen former nected with the former Soviet Union. This set of states, but is confined to specific geographical circumstances is not covered in Beyond Crimea, but areas in most. knowing that there are 1.5 million Russian Jews Whilst the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and in Israel, and also how Putin, who will remain Lithuania moved relatively quickly to the West in post until 2024, views his Russian-speaking and joined the EU and NATO in 2004, Russia still population, might this not be his motivation for exerts a degree of influence in each of them. Of invading Israel? There are, of course, several ad- prime concern to Russia, as Grigas points out, is ditional reasons that may be suggested for Putin’s the political stance taken by Estonia and Latvia future southern expedition; indeed, the prophecy not to grant automatic citizenship to Russians provides one in verse 13: “Art thou come to take a who emigrated during the Soviet era. This left a spoil?” Let us remember, however, that Zechariah sizeable part of their populations as non-citizens informs us that, when Jerusalem is taken, “half who were issued with ‘alien passports.’ This of the city shall go forth into captivity” (Zech. status “significantly restricted their civic rights 14:2). May this verse be telling us that Putin will compared to full citizens” (p. 152). Through this seek to take back his ‘lost people,’ diverting their situation Russia has increased its ‘humanitar- intelligence and expertise to enhance his ‘New ian’ policies in seeking to protect the compatriot Russian Empire’? Russian-speakers. Suspecting that other former Soviet states Conclusion showed leanings towards the West, Russia has I found this book fascinating and a clear insight interfered in creating unresolved internal prob- into Russia’s modern-day attempts to regain as lems, in particular in eastern Ukraine. By such much as possible of the former Soviet space. policies in Ukraine, Russia can interfere with “do- Whilst a little repetitive in places, it is undoubt- mestic affairs, torpedo Kiev reforms and hinder edly a thoroughly well-researched book sup- any plans to join the EU and NATO” (p. 133). In ported by references running to sixty-seven Moldova, although Russian troops are stationed pages. It is very readable and provides remarkable in the region of Transnistria, this self-proclaimed confirmation of our traditional understanding of ‘independent state’ is not recognised by Russia prophecy at the time of the end, and as such is or internationally. Nevertheless, Russia’s presence highly recommended. Testimony, January 2020 26 Contents Archaeology Harmonising Egyptian history with the Old Testament Putting the case for historical revision 2. The historical background to Genesis and Exodus Michael J. H. Brown

N THE PREVIOUS article, it was claimed that appears to have been the inauguration of the the archaeological and historical background to Faiyum irrigation scheme . . . the waterway that Israel’s early history can be found quite easily is now known as the Bahr Yusef [Arabic: the Wa- I 1 in certain books on Egyptology. As a way of il- terway of Joseph].” lustrating this, the following quotations have been Foreigners were coming into the country: extracted from some reputable history books. The “by Senusret’s final Nubian campaign, in year principal sources are: 19 . . . there appear to have been large numbers of • The Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt (CAAE) by Asiatics in Egypt by this date; some of them were John Baines and Jaromir Malek (Facts on File prisoners taken earlier, but the biblical account of Inc., revised edition, 2000) Joseph’s brothers selling him as a slave to an Egyp- • The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (OHAE) tian master (Gen. 37:28-36) may suggest another edited by Ian Shaw (Oxford University Press, way in which some of these immigrants arrived.” 2 2000). These ‘Asiatics’ were foreigners who had come These were recommended by an Egyptology from lands north of Egypt. Another writer re- graduate as providing a good general introduc- ports: tion to Egyptian history. The passages below “‘Asiatic’ Aamu 3 settlers from Palestine had in- are mostly in chronological order. For the sake filtrated Egypt’s north-east border.” 4 of accuracy, the quotations are given in italics This, of course, is the same origin as the descend- and explanatory comments are in normal font. ants of Jacob, who migrated into Egypt and grew They describe life in ancient Egypt during what rapidly in number. is known as its ‘Middle Kingdom’ period, and Genesis tells us that Joseph was instrumental the subsequent ‘Second Intermediate’ period. in bringing about the centralisation of power in Conventionally thought to be prior to the time Egypt, through the troubles brought about by of the entry of Jacob and his family into Egypt, the famine: these can nevertheless be seen to reflect closely “Senwosret III made important reforms in internal the Genesis account. The authors can be consid- administration, which seem to have completed the ered as impartial. removal of power from nomarchs.” 5

The Middle Kingdom 1. OHAE, p. 164. These times were the appropriate setting for the 2. Ibid., p. 166. vizier Joseph, whose name appears to be com- 3. Aamu was the contemporary term used to distinguish the people of Avaris, the Hyksos capital in Egypt, from memorated in the name of a waterway which Egyptians. Egyptologists conventionally translate runs parallel to the River Nile: Aamu a s ‘A s i a t i c s .’ “The reign of . . . Sunusret II . . . was a time of 4. Joann Fletcher: The Story of Egypt, 2015, p. 114. peace and prosperity . . . his greatest ­achievement 5. CAAE, p. 36. Testimony, January 2020 Contents 27 “There is evidence from Tell el-Dab’a that a commu- nity of Asiatics, albeit very Egyptianised, existed there as early as the early 13th Dynasty . . . This is the only convincing archaeological evidence for a population of Asiatics within Egypt [but living differently from Egyptians] during the Middle Kingdom. There are also references in contempo- rary texts to ‘camps of Asiatic workmen.’ During the late 12th and early 13th Dynasties the site [of Tell el-Dab’a] expanded enormously, including the emergence of a settlement populated by Asiatics. Bahr Yusef (Waterway of Joseph) in Upper The non-Egyptian character of the community is Egypt. evident from . . . differences in material culture, Wikimedia Commons defined by pottery and weapon types . . . An/ ركبوبا يفطصم The nomarch was a chief magistrate of a territorial over-life-size limestone statue [shows] a seated division in Egypt known as a nome. However, the Pharaoh was not having an easy time: “the most striking visible legacy of Senwosret III is 6. Ibid., p. 32. 7. OHAE, p. 167. his royal statuary, which breaks earlier conventions 8. Ibid., p. 169. 6 in showing an aging, careworn face”; 9. Ibid., p. 174. “Senusret[’s] attempts to pull Egypt back into a 10. CAAE, pp. 41–2. more centralised form of government resulted in 11. OHAE, p. 187. significant political and social readjustment . . . Se- nusret’s only known son was . . . Amenemhat III”; 7 “. . . building activity . . . combined with a series of low Nile floods, resulted in political and economic decline. Ironically, the large intake of Asiatics . . . may have encouraged the so-called Hyksos to settle in the Delta, thus leading eventually to the eventual collapse of native Egyptian rule”; 8 “The vizier, was still the chief minister under the king [in the Middle Kingdom].” 9 Notice that the coming of large numbers of ‘Asi- atics’ preceded the ‘collapse of native Egyptian rule.’ This was a combination of events in Egyp- tian history that matches the events of Genesis and Exodus. But the collapse had not yet happened: “Many immigrants came from Palestine, appar- ently peaceful arrivals who were absorbed into the lowest levels of Egyptian society . . . Areas of the eastern delta that had been Egyptian in the 12th Dynasty were heavily settled by Asiatics; notable among these was Tell el-Daba’a-Qantir, which be- came the Hyksos capital of Avaris and much later the Ramessid capital Pi-Ri’amsese.” 10 The family of Jacob settled in Goshen in the eastern delta of the River Nile: “References to Asiatics are numerous in the Mid- dle Kingdom: they worked in a variety of occupa- tions, sometimes adopting Egyptian names while retaining the designation ‘Asiatic’ (Aamu). These Sphinx of Senwosret III. Note his apparently immigrants were thought to be economic migrants” careworn face. 11 (but some had also been brought as captives); Metropolitan Museum of Art (public domain) Testimony, January 2020 28 Contents man holding a throwstick; the artistic style and The Second Intermediate Period clothes are non-Egyptian, but the size indicates a After the end of the Middle Kingdom came the person of the greatest importance . . . The origins Second Intermediate Period, when Egypt became of these Asiatics . . . are not easy to determine . . . divided and was for a time governed by rival [they had an] idiosyncratic culture . . . The culture authorities: of the people of Tell el-Dab’a is not static [which] “By that time [Sobekhotep IV of the 13th Dynasty] leaves unanswered the question of why and how Middle Kingdom Egypt had broken up . . .”; 14 this cultural mixing and rapid development took “The Second Intermediate Period is defined by the place . . . settlers, first from the region of Lebanon division of Egypt—the fragmentation of the Two and Syria”; 12 Lands [and lasted for] approximately 150 years.” 15 “Tell el-Dab’a has provided hundreds of artefacts This break-up of the country was recalled in that can be recognised as . . . Middle Bronze Isaiah 51:9, as discussed in the previous article. Age II A-C of Syria-Palestine . . . [Comparisons It was an event so unusual that it makes a strong with] sites in Syria-Palestine . . . have sometimes case for the need to revise relative chronol- [produced] clashes with the existing chronology. ogy (somehow) in order to bring the collapse The resulting fierce debates, when resolved, will of Egypt’s Middle Kingdom into line with the eventually demand radical revision not only in the biblical Exodus. dating of strata at Tell el-Dab’a but in the methods On the question of the general (in)accuracy of used for dating the Middle Bronze Age over the Egyptian dates: “Dates from 664 BCE on are precise whole east Mediterranean region . . . The initial to within a year.” 16 This means, of course, that the expansion of Tell el-Dab’a was checked temporar- dates prior to this year may not be not precise! ily by an epidemic. In several parts of the site, Thus it is possible and reasonable to investigate Bietak has found large communal graves in which alternative dating schemes, which may make many bodies were placed, without any discernible better sense of all the evidence now available to ceremony. Thereafter [there was a less egalitarian us, when set alongside the Hebrew Bible. society] . . . At this point in the city’s history, its The dates employed in these textbooks have identification with the textually attested Hyksos of been deliberately omitted for the purposes of Avaris becomes clear. Sobekhotep IV was the last this exercise. They are not the dates we would really powerful king of the 13th Dynasty. After have expected from the biblical evidence, but are [his] reign, it is likely that the unity of Egypt around three hundred years or so earlier. The began to break up.” 13 resolution of the apparent discrepancy between It is fascinating to read of the “idiosyncratic” the Egyptian dates and the biblical dates has not culture of these “Asiatics” (who so clearly match been an easy problem to solve. But what can be the Israelites) being dynamic and not static. It ap- seen is how naturally the background uncovered pears that the Hyksos took over the site of Avaris by archaeology in these examples matches that after the Israelites had departed, taking advantage recorded in the books of Genesis and Exodus. of the power vacuum and thereby splitting the There seem to be too many parallels, in the cor- rulership of northern Egypt away from the na- rect sequence, to be mere coincidence. tive Egyptians. Note also the as-yet unresolved And the examples given above are not the arguments over chronology that have been taking only examples. There are other instances where place in academic quarters, which open up the biblical history is ‘mirrored’ in outside sources—if possibility of alternative dating schemes, such as only we look about three hundred years or so is argued for here. ‘earlier’ in time. There also appears to be archaeological evi- (To be continued) dence of a great plague, followed by a change in the population. We take this to be the death of 12. Ibid., pp. 188–9. the firstborn, the departure of the Israelites, and 13. Ibid., p. 190. the subsequent arrival of the Hyksos (the biblical 14. Ibid., p. 172. Amalekites) who took over their dwellings in the 15. Ibid., p. 185. land of Goshen, in the city of Avaris. 16. CAAE, p. 36.

“Now [Jacob] sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out the way before him to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen” (Gen. 46:28, NASB).

Testimony, January 2020 Contents 29 Exhortation “Weeping and gnashing of teeth” Grahame A. Cooper In several of his parables Jesus uses the phrase, “There be cast out because of their unbelief. shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” or—as in the The weeping and gnashing of teeth of case of his Parable of the Tares—“there shall be wailing which Jesus spoke will then be literal, and not just figurative; but the words and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 13:37-43). But why did he about the rejected being cast into say this? Were his words meant to be taken literally or “outer darkness” appear to have been metaphorically? a metaphor for “the second death,” which those who are resurrected but ILL THERE REALLY be weeping, not granted eternal life will suffer after their wailing and gnashing of teeth at the rejection (Rev. 2:11). WJudgment? And what about the “outer darkness,” of which the Lord spoke to the Roman The Parable of the Tares centurion and to others? Where and what is that? Matthew records that Jesus first told the Parable The table opposite summarises where we find of the Tares to the crowds that gathered to hear such expressions. All the passages quoted concern him (Mt. 13:2,24-30). After a while Jesus sent them the judgment to come and the reaction of those all away, at which point the Twelve asked him to who will be barred from entering the Kingdom explain the parable (v. 36). He responded: of God. It is clear from all this that there really “He that soweth the good seed is the Son of will be people cast out and weeping, wailing and man; the field is the world; the good seed are gnashing their teeth. the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy Responding to the centurion that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is The first passage in the table is not a parable: it is the end of the world; and the reapers are the part of an encounter that Jesus and his disciples angels. As therefore the tares are gathered had with a Roman centurion. The soldier had and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the sought Jesus because he wanted him to heal one of end of this world. The Son of man shall send his servants, who lay “at home sick of the palsy” forth his angels, and they shall gather out of (Mt. 8:6). Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal his kingdom all things that offend, and them him” (v. 7); and the centurion replied, “Lord, I am which do iniquity; and shall cast them into not worthy that thou shouldest come under my a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and roof: but speak the word only, and my servant gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shall be healed” (v. 8). Jesus was astonished by shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their this, and he remarked on the man’s faith to those Father. Who hath ears to hear let him hear” who were following him, “Verily I say unto you, I (vv. 37-43). have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And The Parable of the Dragnet is in the same chap- I say unto you, That many shall come from the ter (vv. 47-50), and it too says that those rejected east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, from the Kingdom of God will be “cast . . . into and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. the furnace of fire,” and that there will be “wail- But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out ing and gnashing of teeth.” Both these parables into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and show the rejected being cast into a fiery furnace; gnashing of teeth” (vv. 10-12). At ‘the last day’ and in both cases the recipients of this judgment many faithful Gentiles will sit down in the King- wail and gnash their teeth. Jesus may have told dom of God, but the heirs—natural Israel—will both parables on the same occasion, because the Testimony, January 2020 30 Contents Gospel Context Judgment reference Matthew 8:8-12 Jesus’ response to the “But the children of the kingdom shall be cast Roman centurion out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 12) Matthew 13:37-43 Parable of the Tares The tares: “they . . . shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (vv. 41,42) Matthew 13:47-50 Parable of the Dragnet The rejected fish: “and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (v. 50) Matthew 22:1-14 Parable of the Wedding Feast The rejected guest: “Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 13) Matthew 24:45-51 Parable of the Faithful and The wicked servant: his Lord “shall cut him Wicked Servants (“Therefore asunder, and appoint him his portion with be ye also ready: for in such the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and an hour as ye think not the gnashing of teeth” (v. 51) Son of man cometh,” v. 44) Matthew 25:14-30 Parable of the Talents The unprofitable servant: “cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 30) Luke 13:25-28 Parable of the Closed Door The disowned false disciples: “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out” (v. 28) judgment is the same in both cases (vv. 42,49), and The message reiterated both depict the angels gathering up the wicked at The subsequent passages in the table also state “the end of the world.” The prospect of being cast that “there shall be weeping and gnashing of alive into a furnace would make the rejected very teeth” (Mt. 22:1-14; 24:45-51; 25:14-30 and Lk. 13:25- afraid, hence their wailing and gnashing of teeth. 28), and each one deals with different aspects So did Jesus really mean that there will be a of being excluded from the Kingdom. Matthew literal “furnace of fire” for the wicked to be cast 22:11-14, for example, concerns the unprepared into at the end of the world? Probably not, from a wedding guest who has no “wedding garment” biblical point of view, since Jesus’ earlier remarks (v. 12). The guests at the wedding feast in the to the centurion suggest that when the rejected Kingdom age will all have to be properly dressed learn they are not to be granted immortality they in robes of righteousness. Any interlopers, with are left to die “the second death” (Rev. 2:11). But no business being at the feast, will be rejected: the wailing and gnashing of teeth will no doubt “Then said the king to the servants, Bind him be literal, because the outcasts will actually see the hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him righteous “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and of their Father” (Mt. 13:43), and they will be filled gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few with regret and great sorrow (wailing). Perhaps are chosen” (vv. 13,14). they will also experience self-anger at seeing this So was Jesus speaking literally or metaphori- great and wonderful blessing being bestowed cally here? As we have seen, the words “cast upon the faithful followers of Christ, in the full out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping knowledge they will never attain to it themselves. and gnashing of teeth” were used by Jesus more Testimony, January 2020 Contents 31 than once, which suggests that there really will of the Master—being cast out—and is similar to be an “outer darkness” where the weeping and the place of “outer darkness” of which Jesus spoke gnashing of teeth will occur. But perhaps this in the other passages. Contextually, this form of outer darkness will be spiritual rather than punishment of the wicked servants seems to be physical. literal. Those who are cut off will be in a place where they realise that they have been rejected “Outer darkness” from the Kingdom of God: they have missed the The first mention of darkness in Scripture is in chance they had in their lives to be one of the Genesis 1:2: “And the earth was without form, faithful servants of Christ—and they will see that and void; and darkness was upon the face of the their opportunity has gone forever. That is why deep.” This was a literal description, the earth there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” was empty and in chaos, with water covering the planet. It required the Spirit of God to “[move] The Parable of the Talents upon the face of the waters” to begin the six This parable (Mt. 25:14-30) is well known, and amazing days of Creation, which brought light it concerns servants left to get on with looking upon the world, and a separation between light after their master’s affairs during his absence and darkness. Being ‘in the light,’ spiritually, is on a long journey. Just as in the parable about where we need to be: walking with Jesus, and not watching for the master’s return, so these servants in the darkness of wickedness and ignorance of had responsibilities to meet; but, in this case, the God’s plan and purpose. unprofitable servant is thrust out of the Kingdom Ultimately, being in ‘outer darkness’ symbol- and is cast “into outer darkness,” where there ises being without God, and in the darkness of will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 30). death. We may therefore say, from the context, that the words of Jesus were a mixture of literal The Parable of the Closed Door and figurative, intended to create a picture in the The last parable in the table comes from Luke minds of his audience of the dire consequences of 13:24-28. It teaches an important lesson: if we are being rejected at the Judgment. The outer dark- to be allowed into the Kingdom of God, our faith ness, symbolically, is where those banished from and our righteousness (our ‘rightness with God’) the presence of the King will end up. For them must be genuine. the spiritual light has gone out and only eternal Jesus told this parable in answer to the ques- death awaits them, leaving them weeping and tion, “Lord, are there few that be saved?” (v. 23). gnashing their teeth. Those who find themselves locked out of the Kingdom will have had only a superficial faith: The Parable of the Faithful and Wicked they were right in their own eyes, but they failed Servants because Christ was not really in their hearts. Found in Matthew 24:45-51, this parable repre- The parable was directed particularly at the sents a warning to the Lord’s disciples to be ready scribes and Pharisees, who should have known at all times for his return. His servants must be better—which is why Jesus warned them, “there constantly and faithfully doing their Lord’s work; shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye otherwise, if they neglected their responsibilities shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all as servants of the Lord Jesus (vv. 48-50), they the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you would suffer the consequences at the Judgment yourselves thrust out” (v. 28). of being ‘cut asunder, and appointed a place with the hypocrites,’ where there shall be “weeping Literal or figurative? and gnashing of teeth” (v. 51). The most common phrase used by Jesus in all The AV margin for this verse has “cut off” these parables is the expression “there shall be rather than “cut asunder”; and the Emphatic Dia- weeping and gnashing of teeth.” He used it so glott renders verses 50 and 51: “the MASTER of often that it comes across as the description of that SERVA N T will come in a Day when he does a real situation. At the Judgment, there will be not expect him, and at an Hour of which he is serious consequences for the rejected; and those not aware, and will cut him off, and will appoint who are condemned are certain to experience his PORTION with the HYPOCRITES; there will be extremely strong emotions. Seeing Abraham, the WEEPING and the GNASHING OF TEETH.” This Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets raised from ‘cutting off’ means banishment from the company the dead and invited to live for ever in God’s Testimony, January 2020 32 Contents Kingdom will be a literal event; and it is certain By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not un- to be the cause of bitter grief to those who are derstand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not permitted to join them there. not perceive: for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and To summarise their eyes they have closed; lest at any time We have seen the forms of speech that Jesus used they should see with their eyes, and hear with to get his message across to his disciples and their ears, and should understand with their others with “ears to hear.” His words were meant heart, and should be converted, and I should to be understood clearly by those who listened heal them” (vv. 11-15). carefully, while for many they would be hard Many of the Lord’s sayings were seen as startling to comprehend, obscured as they were by his and hard to understand, and their effect was to deliberate use of parables and figures of speech. separate the true believers from the unbelievers We see this in Matthew 13:10, where his disciples (sadly, the great majority of his audience). This fact asked him about his preaching method: “Why is well illustrated by the Parable of the Sower (vv. speakest thou unto them in parables?” It was in 3-9,18-23), which shows that only a relatively small reply to this question that Jesus said: number will have the true faith. Their hearts are “Because it is given unto you to know the receptive to the words of Jesus, and they follow mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them through to fruition in their lives; these are them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to the “good ground” bearing fruit, “some an hun- him shall be given, and he shall have more dredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold” (v. 8). abundance: but whosoever hath not, from Jesus said, “If a man love me, he will keep him shall be taken away even that he hath. my words: and my Father will love him, and we Therefore speak I to them in parables: because will come unto him, and make our abode with they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, him” (Jno. 14:23). It is vital, therefore, to seek to neither do they understand. And in them is understand the sayings of Jesus, and to strive fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, to ‘keep’ his words in the way that he intended. Contents

Exposition The wedding at Cana John 2:1-9 Vic Aucott

HE MIRACLE OF the water into wine that they drew water out of the stone jars and prompts the question, When did the water poured it into other containers—say cups, jugs or Tchange into wine? It is certain that the Lord flagons—before they took these to the tables for did not leave the ruler of the feast the best part the guests. When the servants reached the tables of 120 gallons of good wine.1 and the contents were tasted, it was good wine.

The wine 1. Each of the six jars contained about two or three The answer lies in the words “fill”/“filled’’ (Gk. firkins apiece. It is generally accepted that a firkin is gemizō, v. 7) and “draw”/“drew” (Gk. antleō, vv. about eight or nine English gallons, giving a capac- 8,9). John is careful to tell us that Jesus instructed ity of between sixteen and twenty-four gallons per the servants to “Fill the waterpots with water.” jar. Taking the midpoint, twenty gallons, the six jars would provide a total quantity of approximately filled We are then told that “they them up to the 120 gallons. See: Brother John Hellawell, We Beheld brim.” So there are now six stone jars full of water. His Glory (CMPA, 2017), p. 95, quoting M. A. Powell, Next, the servants are told, “Draw out now, and “Weights and Measures,” The Anchor Bible Dictionary bear unto the governor of the feast.” This means (1992), vol. 6, p. 905. Testimony, January 2020 Contents 33 Although the ruler and the guests were unaware John referred in 1:45-51 before we are introduced of the origin of this wine (v. 9), the servants were to the proceedings at Cana. Nathanael came from not, for “the servants which drew the water k n e w .” and lived at Cana (21:2) and is the only one of This tells us that the servants drew water and the twelve disciples so described. The references not wine out of the stone jars, and it was during to Nathanael in John’s Gospel connect him with their walk to the tables that this water turned Cana where the wedding feast and the water into into the good wine. wine took place. Drawing out water is quite different from fill- It is also possible that the servants at the wed- ing the six stone waterpots with water, fitting the ding were the disciples whom Jesus had recently idea that the water represents the old covenant, called to his service. These would include An- which had become ‘tasteless’ as it was contained drew, Simon, Philip, and John and James (Mk. within the hardness of men’s hearts—the stone 1:19,20). 2 jars. The good wine taken to the tables represents Being party to the miracle would develop their the richness of the new covenant brought by the understanding of the person of the Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus and appreciated only when tasted. as well as the wedding being a celebration for Understanding and faith are needed to share in members of the wider family of Jesus, so account- the good wine of the new covenant—it has to be ing for Mary’s involvement. drawn out from the Word of God. 2. This is confirmed by the record in John 2:11: “This The bridegroom beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and It is possible that Nathanael was the bridegroom manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed at the wedding. He was the last person to whom o n h i m .” — E.D.M. Contents

Exposition The great apostasy (2) Stephen Camplin

HE FIRST PART of this article1 looked at heaven, and destroyed them all” (v. 29). In both the parallel between the apostasy that arose cases, after the faithful had been removed to Tin the early part of the wilderness journey safety, all their contemporaries were destroyed. But and its counterpart in the apostolic age. Christ God had promised after the Flood, “neither will and the apostles had a great deal more to say I again smite any more every thing living, as I about that first-century apostasy than we might have done” (Gen. 8:21); so any future judgments of have supposed; and New Testament passages that nature would be on a more limited scale—as that relate particularly to the unique events of the example of Sodom illustrates. that time period are robbed of their meaning There is, however, a parallel between the Jew- when we seek to make them directly applicable ish world in the first century and the days before to our own day. the Flood. The death of Christ (in type, Abel) at the hands of unbelieving Jews (Cain) was not As in the days of Noah the victory that they imagined it to be. After the For example, it is widely assumed that Christ’s risen Christ (Seth) founded his ecclesia, the Jew- prediction, “And as it was in the days of [Noah], ish world became divided into two camps: the so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man” unbelieving majority (the descendants of Cain) (Lk. 17:26), can refer only to his latter-day appear- and the faithful remnant (the descendants of ing. But is that the case? Referring to the days of Seth). However, as in the days before the Flood, Noah and of Lot, Christ drew attention to one the ecclesia became almost totally apostate: “And common feature: “the flood came, and destroyed God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was them all” (v. 27); “but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from 1. Vol. 89, no. 1,055, Dec. 2019, p. 444. Testimony, January 2020 34 Contents corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the only a remnant was saved. Every vestige of Israel’s earth” (6:12). The divine remedy was the same as national identity was destroyed. in the days of Noah: total destruction. All these events were entirely retributive. Neither the Flood nor the destruction of Sodom “Ye shall all likewise perish” was followed by anything that might plausibly Another scriptural parallel reinforces this conclu- typify the dawn of the Kingdom age. In marked sion. Just as in the beginning the dry land had contrast to the Flood, the judgments of the latter been formed by parting the waters of the sea days will not result in the total destruction of (1:9,10), so at the dawn of Israel’s history God all Gentile societies. Christ will be “higher than parted the ‘sea’ of Gentiles (the Canaanites) to the kings of the earth” (Ps. 89:27) and “all kings allow the ‘dry land’ (Israel) to appear. As the shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve children of Israel prepared to cross the Jordan, him” (72:11); so Gentile kings and nations will Joshua was told that “as soon as the soles of the still exist, albeit subject to Christ’s rule. And for feet of the priests” touched the river, “the waters many Gentiles the Kingdom age will represent of Jordan shall be cut off” (Josh. 3:13) and the the first, not the last, opportunity to respond to priests would stand “on dry ground in the midst the gospel message. However severe the latter- of Jordan” (v. 17). It would require similar faith day judgments on the Gentile world may be, the for Israel to march into a land occupied by their ultimate outcome will be very different from the Gentile enemies. But Joshua had been assured, days of Noah and of Lot: ”O let the nations be “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread glad and sing for joy: for Thou shalt judge the upon, that have I given unto you” (1:3). As the people righteously, and govern the nations upon children of Israel moved forward into Canaan, earth” (67:4). Nothing remotely comparable to the Gentile ‘sea’ indeed receded and the ‘dry this ensued from the Flood and the destruction land’ appeared. of Sodom. Christ was warning his disciples that this process was about to be reversed. The Gentile Wheat and tares ‘sea’ (Rome) would flood the ‘dry land’ (Israel) The early part of the wilderness journey, typifying and utterly destroy that apostate society. Had the apostolic age, saw the unfaithful barred from he not already warned them, “except ye repent, the Promised Land and the faithful assured of ye shall all likewise perish” (Lk. 13:3,5)? A flood ultimately entering it. Christ predicted that such a is a threat to those who live on land, but not to judgment would take place at the end of the Jew- creatures in the sea: “all in whose nostrils was the ish age: “As therefore the tares are gathered and breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died” burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this (Gen. 7:22). The event that Christ was warning world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, of would prove catastrophic to those on the ‘dry and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things land’ (Israel) but would have little effect at that that offend, and them which do iniquity; and time on the “sea” (the Gentile world). shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the What did they have in common? righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom In both precedents—the Flood and the destruc- of their Father” (Mt. 13:40-43). John the Baptist tion of Sodom—all those involved were either saved spoke of one “that cometh after me . . . whose or destroyed. There were no exceptions. In each fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge case the faithful, and only the faithful, were first his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; removed to safety. The remaining population but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable had no further opportunity to repent, and all fire” (3:11,12). And Jesus warned, “All these things subsequently perished. The judgment of AD 70 shall come upon this generation” (23:36). conforms precisely to that pattern. Whether they The harvest would take place at “the end of succumbed to famine or disease during the siege the world” (13:39). This refers to the end of the of Jerusalem, were cruelly put to death by the divinely ordained ‘heavens and earth’—the ‘King- Romans, or died later as slaves in various parts dom of God’ as founded on the basis of the old of the Roman Empire, almost an entire generation covenant—that came into existence at Sinai and of unfaithful Jews perished without hope, just as ended in the desolation of AD 70. The predictions did their forefathers in the wilderness. The Roman that “Heaven and earth shall pass away” (24:35; flood “came, and took them all away” (Mt. 24:39); 2 Pet. 3:10), and the warning that “the end of all Testimony, January 2020 Contents 35 things is at hand” (1 Pet. 4:7), refer to this event. as their unfaithful brethren were condemned to This is consistent with other New Testament us- die in the wilderness. Similarly, the antitypical age: “[God] hath in these last days spoken unto us “sons of Levi” in the apostolic age, purified by by His Son” (Heb. 1:2); “but now once in the end their “fiery trial” (1 Pet. 1:7; 4:12), were deemed of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by worthy to “stand before the Son of man” (Lk. the sacrifice of himself” (9:26); “they are written 21:36) and thus became “the firstfruits unto the for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the LORD,” well in advance of the great national in- world are come” (1 Cor. 10:11). gathering that will commence when a repentant The “time of harvest” (Mt. 13:30) denotes a Israel acknowledges her Messiah. single event: the wheat harvest. When would Christ told the Jewish elders: “The kingdom this occur? Since the “field” (v. 24) contained only of God shall be taken from you, and given to a wheat or tares, the tares could not be singled nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Mt. 21:43). out for destruction without also identifying the Although it was taken from them in AD 70, wheat. And the tares were burned when the King Christ will “restore again the kingdom to Israel” “destroyed those murderers, and burned up their (Acts 1:6) in the latter days. This was foreshad- city” (22:7). This is manifestly not the time, yet owed when the Kingdom was “taken” from the future, when the gates of that same city will be unfaithful majority—“ye shall not come into the opened wide in welcome “and the King of glory land” (Num. 14:30)—and “given” to the faithful shall come in” (Ps. 24:7). remnant—“but My servant Caleb . . . him will I bring into the land” (v. 24). At the end of the “A kind of firstfruits” wilderness journey, the greater part of a later How did Christ “gather his wheat into the gar- generation of Israelites crossed over Jordan, and ner” at that time? James, addressing first-century the Kingdom was “restored again” to Israel. Jewish believers, declared that they were “a kind of firstfruits” (Jas. 1:18). These firstfruits were Judgment the “elect,” counterparts of the “sons of Levi” at The judgment that took place at the end of the Sinai, who remained faithful as their brethren Jewish age entailed, at the very least, a distinc- lapsed into apostasy. The allusion is to the two tion being made between the righteous and the wave loaves of Pentecost, “the firstfruits unto wicked. This is in keeping with the fact that God the LORD” (Lev. 23:15-17)—the firstfruits being has used temporal judgments as precursors of those of the wheat harvest, as in the Parable of “the judgment of the great day” (Jude v. 6). Peter’s the Tares. Both Pentecost generations, in the assertion that “the Lord knoweth how to deliver wilderness and in the apostolic age, produced the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the a harvest of firstfruits. It was to this that Christ unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished” (2 Pet. referred: “and in the time of harvest I will say to 2:9) was made after he had cited the examples the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and of Noah and Lot. In both cases the righteous bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the and wicked were identified—and judgment was wheat into my barn” (Mt. 13:30). This is confirmed subsequently meted out, without any formal ar- by a later passage in James’s epistle: “Be patient raignment before a judgment seat. therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. God told Noah: “thee have I seen righteous Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious before Me” (Gen. 7:1); but He had already de- fruit of the earth” (5:7). This harvest was then cided that “the wickedness of man was great in imminent: “for the coming of the Lord draweth the earth” (6:5). Abraham’s plea, “Wilt Thou also nigh” (v. 8). destroy the righteous with the wicked?” (18:23) in- The “sons of Levi” were rewarded immediately dicates that God was making the same distinction after the apostasy at Sinai: “Consecrate yourselves with respect to Sodom (v. 20; 2 Pet. 2:6-8). At that to day to the LORD . . . that He may bestow upon time the angels did, visibly and publicly, “come you a blessing this day” (Ex. 32:29). And what was forth, and sever the wicked from among the just” that blessing? “At that time [i.e., at Sinai] the LORD (Mt. 13:49; cf. Gen. 19:15,16). separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the Perhaps even more pertinent to the judgment covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to of AD 70 is the vision that Ezekiel saw, imme- minister unto Him, and to bless in His name, diately prior to an earlier Gentile desolation of unto this day” (Deut. 10:8). The Levites became Jerusalem, of the man “clothed with linen, with part of God’s “kingdom of priests” (Ex. 19:6), even a writer’s inkhorn by his side,” who was told to Testimony, January 2020 36 Contents go through the city and “set a mark upon the “Written for our admonition” foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for The events at Sinai are echoed elsewhere in Scrip- all the abominations that be done in the midst ture, as we noted in the first part of this article. thereof” (see Ezek. 9:1-7). Those who had that For example, Moses “ascended up on high” (Eph. “mark” were saved from the ensuing slaughter. 4:8), typifying Christ’s ascension to heaven. In A similar process took place at the end of the his absence, the covenant people decided that he Jewish age. Hence Christ’s prediction: “the one would not soon return—“My lord delayeth his shall be taken, and the other left” (Mt. 24:40,41). coming” (Mt. 24:48)—and began to “eat and drink The wicked were “taken” (by the Roman flood); with the drunken” (v. 49). His coming “as a thief” the faithful were “left” (spared). caught an apostate ecclesia unawares. Then the None of those who perished in the Flood or in “sons of Levi” (Mal. 3:3), who alone had remained the destruction of Sodom, nor any of the “tares” faithful, proceeded to “tread down the wicked” that were burned in AD 70, had any prospect (Mal. 4:3).2 And Paul declared that “all these of rising to eternal life. But the judgments that things happened unto them for ensamples: and befell them did not preclude a later appearance they are written for our admonition, upon whom at the judgment seat—just as “the angels which the ends of the world are come” (1 Cor. 10:11). So kept not their first estate” are “reserved . . . unto these “ensamples” were divinely arranged as a the judgment of the great day” (Jude v. 6). Such pattern of future events, and, as such, they were judgments were evidences of a verdict that had al- particularly relevant to first-century believers. ready been reached, without actually constituting Consider just one of these scriptural echoes: “the judgment of the great day.” Those who “fell “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watch- away” in the apostolic age, like their counterparts eth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, in the wilderness, were irrevocably condemned. and they see his shame” (Rev. 16:15). The allusion to the apostasy at Sinai is unmistakable: “Moses “Your redemption draweth nigh” saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had On the other hand, as his martyr’s death ap- made them naked unto their shame among their en- proached, Paul was confident that “henceforth emies:) . . .” (Ex. 32:25). The ecclesia at Sardis was there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness” given a similar warning: “If therefore thou shalt (2 Tim. 4:8; contrast Phil. 3:12). His confidence not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou was based on the fact that “I have fought a good shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee” fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the (Rev. 3:3). This has traditionally been understood faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). Faithful martyrs, like Paul and as referring to a temporal judgment on ecclesial Stephen, were assured of their reward: “be thou apostasy, which is broadly in keeping with the faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of precedents that we have considered. life” (Rev. 2:10; cf. Jas. 1:12). Thus the ‘souls under Whatever we decide that Revelation 16:15 is the altar’ had their reward confirmed—“white referring to, the language is certainly appropriate robes were given unto every one of them” (Rev. to the events foreshadowed at Sinai. Christ would 6:11)—even though their “fellowservants also and not come like a thief but as a thief, with unfortu- their brethren” had not yet been killed. nate consequences for those to whom he came. When Christ promised, “he that shall endure Thus “if the goodman of the house had known in unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Mt. 24:13), what watch the thief would come, he would have he was referring to “the end of the world” (v. watched, and would not have suffered his house 3)—the end of the Jewish age. This “end” would to be broken up” (Mt. 24:43). Christ did indeed come after the “gospel of the kingdom [had been] come “as a thief” in AD 70, and those to whom preached in all the world” (v. 14)—something he came had their house “broken up” and the that was accomplished in the days of the apos- kingdom “taken” from them. And the wilderness tles (Rom. 10:18; Col. 1:23). Christ could therefore journey, which precisely foreshadows that first- comfort his disciples with the assurance, “when century apostasy, also anticipates the resulting these things begin to come pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption 2. It may not be readily apparent how this found a draweth nigh” (Lk. 21:28). When the kingdom counterpart in the apostolic age, but what are we to was taken from their apostate brethren, those make of Paul’s assurance to first-century believers who had ‘endured unto the end’ would have their that “the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your inheritance made sure. feet shortly” (Rom. 16:20)? Testimony, January 2020 Contents 37 judgment. For as Moses descended from Sinai “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief to confront an apostate ecclesia, he shattered the in the night; in the which the heavens shall tables of stone on which the Law had been written pass away with a great noise, and the elements (Ex. 32:19), thereby—perhaps unwittingly—signi- shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and fying that, when the antitypical judgment took the works that are therein shall be burned up” place, the ‘heavens and earth’ that were based on (2 Pet. 3:10). that covenant would be destroyed. (Concluded) Contents A type of the marriage of the Lamb HE TIMING of the days in the early chap- restless sea (Isa. 57:20), no longer exist. However, ters of John’s Gospel identifies the day of it would appear that during the Millennium the Tthe marriage at Cana as the seventh in a nations do still exist, albeit in a totally calm state, sequence. This suggests that, not only does this subservient to the rule of Christ and the saints. point to the day of the marriage being a sabbath, They are ‘a sea of glass.’ Consider the whole con- but it is also a type of a greater marriage to come text of the following passage, which describes the on the seventh ‘day’ of a thousand years’ dura- sea in this way: tion in the earth’s history since Creation. That “I saw another sign in heaven, great and marriage is the union of the Lamb of God with marvellous, seven angels having the seven his redeemed and immortal bride: last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, mingled with fire: and them that had gotten and his wife hath made herself ready. And to the victory over the beast, and over his image, her was granted that she should be arrayed in and over his mark, and over the number of fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto the harps of God. And they sing the song of me, Write, Blessed are they which are called Moses the servant of God, and the song of the unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are Thy he saith unto me, These are the true sayings works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are of God” (Rev. 19:7-9); Thy ways, Thou King of saints” (Rev. 15:1-3). “I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, com- Against this view of the timing of 21:2 is the fact ing down from God out of heaven, prepared that the previous verse, in referring to “a new as a bride adorned for her husband” (21:2). heaven and a new earth,” is quoting from Isaiah Without question both these passages are set in 65:17: “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new the context of the Millennium, the one-thousand- earth: and the former shall not be remembered, year reign of Christ and the saints, before God nor come into mind.” This verse is clearly in the is “all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28). However, the precise context of events relating to the establishment of timing of these two passages is worth consider- the Kingdom, the start of the Millennium, which ing in a little more detail. The first is clearly at is confirmed by a subsequent statement: “They the start of the thousand years, as Christ, the one shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall who sits on the “white horse” has still to “judge not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a and make war” in righteousness (see Rev. 19:11). tree are the days of My people, and Mine elect However, there is reason to suppose that 21:2 shall long enjoy the work of their hands” (v. 22). may be set at the end of the Millennium. First, “The days of a tree” points to the longevity of the the preceding chapter sets out the detail of the mortal population in the Millennium. thousand years through to its end. Secondly, the What conclusion can be drawn from these ap- opening of chapter 21 says that at this point there parently slightly conflicting statements? Perhaps is “no more sea”: “I saw a new heaven and a new what we are being taught is that the whole of the earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were Millennium will in effect be a celebration of the passed away; and there was no more sea” (v. 1). marriage of the Lamb to his bride. It will certainly The fact that there is no more sea indicates that be something worthy of an extended celebration! at this point the godless nations, which are like a Richard Mellows Testimony, January 2020 38 Contents P. S . This is the Moses MUST CONFESS to feeling that I’d never quite hand (why Jesus came) (v. 25); Moses appeared ‘got’ Stephen’s long speech in Acts 7. I’d under- to them and tried to reconcile them (like Jesus) Istood its usefulness as a compact recap of some (v. 26); Moses was sent by God to Pharaoh (like of the salient moments of Israel’s history (rather Jesus’ mission against sin) (v. 34); Moses was sent like the other ones recorded in Psalms 78, 105 and by God as ruler and deliverer (like Jesus) (v. 35); 106); I’d appreciated some of the nuggets of addi- Moses led Israel out, performing wonders and tional inspired detail that expand and illuminate signs (like Jesus) (v. 36); Moses received living the Old Testament account here and there (like oracles to give to people (Jesus was the living the extra information about Abraham’s calling Word) (v. 38). in Ur); and I’d been stunned every time I read No wonder, then, that Stephen records that this the devastating critique Stephen unleashes on is the Moses who said, ‘God will raise you up a the Jewish leaders as the crescendo of his speech prophet like me!’ (v. 37). But this is only half the (“You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and parallel. The irony is that such a great prophet— ears . . . !”). But I always felt that I didn’t quite this very Moses—was the one rejected by his own understand why he feels the need to summarise people (vv. 25-27,35,39,40). This is brought out Israel’s history in the way that he does (wouldn’t by the threefold repetition of the idea of Moses they already know all this?). And what would being a ruler and judge—appointed by God, yet have been so offensive about it other than those challenged and rejected by his people (“Who last few verses (vv. 51-53)? made you a ruler and judge?”, vv. 27,35 (twice)). Rereading the chapter recently, I was struck by The point, of course, is that the Jews had rejected the seemingly pedantic attention drawn to Moses Jesus in exactly the same way—a worse way, in in verse 35–40—an emphasis so notable that it fact, because Jesus was and is greater than Moses. felt like this must be a pointer to what Stephen is This perhaps explains why their blood may driving at, at least in this part of the speech: this have begun to boil long before Stephen rails at Moses (v. 35); this man whom God sent (v. 35); them in verses 51–53. The speech may have begun this man led them out (v. 37); this is the Moses innocuously enough as he describes Abraham who said . . . (v. 38); as for this Moses . . . (v. 40). and how he had been called to leave his house; At the point where Stephen begins this sequence this, along with the account of Jacob and Joseph (v. 35), he has already been talking about Moses and the sojourn in Egypt, would lure them in with for fifteen verses, so it is not as though we would its familiarity. But even here the point is being have been unclear who was being referred to. So made that Israel only has her place by privilege; the insistence must serve another purpose. there is nothing that is hers by right. Indeed it does. The fulcrum of the discourse on Once we get into the main body of the speech, Moses seems to be that the Moses whom God had which deals with Moses (vv. 17-44), the pattern so clearly ordained is the very same Moses (‘This of rejection is established and continues una- is the Moses’!) whom the Jews thrust aside and bated through the rest of the speech (vv. 45-53). rejected. It is the fact that the one God has chosen Though the tabernacle was made, and David and is the one who is rejected that is the key—both Solomon built Him a house, this is ultimately not in Moses’ day and in Christ’s. where God dwells; He wants to dwell with those Both sides of that fulcrum need to be explored. people who will receive Him. Conversely, He First, Stephen is at pains to point out the remark- cannot dwell with those who reject Him, and the able features of Moses’ ministry, and point by example of the people’s interaction with Moses is point these match off against the Lord: Moses the perfect case study of this. Even Moses, sup- born beautiful in God’s sight (like Jesus) (v. 20); posedly their greatest hero, they rejected: “Our Moses is mighty in words and deeds (like Jesus) fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, (v. 22); Moses went to visit his brothers (like Je- and in their hearts they turned to Egypt” (v. 39). sus) (v. 23); Moses defended the oppressed (like Our responsibility is to ensure that, whatever our Jesus) (v. 24); Moses supposed his brothers would outward displays of religiosity, we do not do the understand, and God would deliver people by his same.—Mark Vincent Testimony, January 2020 Contents 39 SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS for 2020 Subscriptions Secretary: SOUTH AFRICA Mrs Sarah Marshall, 2 Longridge Road, Please apply for rates and method of Woodthorpe, Nottingham, NG5 4LX. payment to the Subscriptions Secretary Tel. +44 (0)115 859 9297 (see left). email: [email protected] Remittances payable to THE TESTIMONY (CHRISTADELPHIAN) Subscriptions are obtainable from our website, http://testimonymagazine.com, through the USA agents listed below, or from the Subscriptions Surface mail US$52 (student rate $26; airmail Secretary, to whom all correspondence $100); e-magazine $31 (student rate $16). relating to the issue of the magazine (including Mrs Celia Coleman, 22450 Schoenborn change of address) should be addressed. 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(6) 354 0396; Fax (6) 354 0395 OTHER PUBLICATIONS email: [email protected] For a list of previous years’ Special Issues Remittances payable to available, please apply to the Subscriptions TESTIMONY MAGAZINE Secretary, to whom all orders should be sent. Published on behalf of The Testimony Committee (Christadelphian) by Jeremy Thomas, 22 Kingswood Close, Kings Norton, Birmingham, B30 3NX, UK • Printed by Reflex Litho Ltd., Thetford, Norfolk. Registered Charity No. 225908. Testimony, January 2020 40 Contents Bible trees 7. The palm

OR AS THE rain and the snow come where the river goes” (v. 9). The effect this has down from heaven and do not return on the trees planted here is wonderful: “And on “Fthere but water the earth . . . so shall the banks, on both sides of the river, there will My word be that goes out from My mouth” (Isa. grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will 55:10,11).1 God’s Word goes forth from Him and not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear waters the righteous, making them like “the palm fresh fruit every month, because the water for tree . . . They are planted in the house of the them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God” be for food, and their leaves for healing” (v. 12). (Ps. 92:12,13). It is perhaps this symbology that explains why In Scripture, the palm tree is characterised by its palm branches were used in the feast of booths. association with water. In Exodus 15 the people The people were commanded to make booths complain about having no water, and God heals from palm branches (Lev. 23:40) to remind them the waters so that they can drink. The Israelites of the time when they were brought out of Egypt then travel to Elim, where there are twelve wells of and of what they could hope for in God’s King- water and seventy palm trees. This is a place so dom. There’s an interesting detail when this feast rich in water that there’s enough for seventy trees. is celebrated in Nehemiah: many of their booths were made “in the courts of the house of God, and In Ezekiel 47 we can see why the trees planted in the square at the Water Gate” (Neh. 8:16). For in the house of the LORD flourish so abundantly. those who understood God’s plan, they had the They are planted where the river flows from the opportunity to enact what is described in Psalm temple of God: “And wherever the river goes, 92 and Ezekiel 47. It is fitting, then, that “there every living creature . . . will live . . . For this was very great rejoicing” (v. 17).—Rebekah Dwyer water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh [lit. healed]; so everything will live 1. Bible quotations are from the ESV.

A booth made of palm trees and branches at Neot Kedumim in Israel. Tony Benson

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