Testimony Magazine July 2014

Vol. 84 No. 995 July 2014 TESTIMONY For the study and defence of the holy Scripture 287 Reasons for believing in God Also in this issue: – New mini-series: Understanding Beelzebub and demons 269 – God’s care for the rejected 261 – Papal interventions? 272,290 – Practical lessons in Isaiah 280 Contents TESTIMONY Editors: DAVID BURGES. 7 Whitehead Drive, Wellesbourne, Warwick, CV35 9PW. Tel. 01789 842692; Contents email: [email protected] Science; Archaeology Publishing Editor’s column 253 The Letter to the Hebrews SHAUN MAHER. 5 Birch Court, 13. Hebrews 7:4-22 Doune, FK16 6JD. Meditations on the Psalms Peter Caudery 277 Tel. 01786 842996; Psalm 121 email: [email protected] Mark Vincent 255 Isaiah in daily living Watchman The vision The faithful of old—studied Trevor Hughes 280 ERIC MARSHALL. The Pines, by the young Ling Common Road, Castle Barnabas: son of The power of God unto Rising, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, consolation salvation PE31 6AE. Tel. 01553 631279; Paul Evans 257 Geoff Henstock 282 email: [email protected] Exposition; Principles, preach- Hagar the invisible Science snippets ing and problems (pro tem.) Rachel Madden 261 The greenhouse plant David Burges 286 The humanity of Jesus JOHN NICHOLLS. 17 Upper Believing that He is Trinity Road, Halstead, Essex, CO9 John Mitchell 264 Daniel Weatherall 287 1EE. Tel. 01787 473089; email: A stone’s cast (1) [email protected] Joe Mullen 267 “And he shall . think to Reviews change times and laws” The master of the house Geoff Henstock 290 JEREMY THOMAS. 22 1. Beelzebul, the prince of Kingswood Close, Kings demons Why I fear Almighty God Norton, Birmingham, B30 David E. Green Adah Jones 290 3NX. Tel. 0121 444 6810; 269 email: [email protected] ‘Jerusalem our heart’ Reflections Exhortation Shaun Maher 272 Exceedingly good bread Margaret Bilton 291 GEOFF HENSTOCK. 13 Alpha “The LORD shall roar out of Crescent, Panorama 5041, Zion” (Review) Bible coins S. Australia. Tel. 8277-0730; email: John Nicholls 274 5. The widow and her mites [email protected] Simon Dean XII Australia Editor; Prophecy Your Letters The Euphrates 276 Isaiah Special Issue 276 Testimony books Publishing Editor: JEREMY THOMAS (see above) 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 www.testimony-magazine.org 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. XI “When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head: and in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head. And TESTIMONY Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days: yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee. And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and . he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them” (Gen. 40:16-22). Cover picture: “Baskets, bakemeats and birds,” Dreams series, Abigail Halstead Publishing Editor’s column E HUMANS LIKE to think of ourselves or how much time is left before we must leave the as rational creatures. Equipped with house to keep an appointment. On a larger scale, Wa range of faculties unequalled in the tremendous achievements have been made as a animal kingdom, man has the ability to make result of humans observing the world that God sense of his surroundings in a way that no other has created (whether or not they acknowledge creature can. Every day we reach conclusions, God’s involvement in that, or even His existence). thanks to our ability to observe the environment Science, at its core, concerns observations. Infor- in which we live, and automatically make deci- mation is gathered and analysed; a hypothesis is sions based on those conclusions. Our faculty formed based on the initial conclusions drawn; for gathering and processing information is so predictions are made and tested; the hypothesis intimately bound up with being human that we is adjusted as necessary in the light of further may seldom stop to think about it—it is just part findings; the test is repeated . And so the of who we are. process continues. Man’s ability to observe and to make informed From such observation countless benefits decisions is God-given. Unique amongst the Al- have accrued to mankind. Whenever we swal- mighty’s handiwork, man was made “in [God’s] low a headache tablet, board an aeroplane, or image, after [His] likeness” (Gen. 1:26). In an turn on the radio to check the weather forecast, inspired allusion to this phrase and to other we expect certain things to happen—because of events in early Genesis, the Apostle Paul amends observations that people have made. We live in a the wording very slightly to speak of man being rational world, in which men and women reassure “the image and glory of God” (1 Cor. 11:7). This themselves that they have cast-iron reasons for suggests that the word “image” has more to do thinking what they think and doing what they with physical appearance, and that “likeness” is do. All that we need to know, about the universe about moral capacity and, ultimately, character. in which we live and about our very selves, we Being made in a form that resembled his Creator, may discern from what we are able to observe—so man was intended to aspire to being like Him man thinks. In precisely this spirit many have in other ways too, and his ability to reason was reached the conclusion that there is no God. central to that. Another kind of evidence Micro and macro When we open the Holy Bible, however, our hu- Man observes things at every level. Everyday man powers of observation face a challenge, for observations might include what the weather is the Bible claims to record the words and actions like, whether our next meal is properly cooked, of a God who does not oblige man by conforming Testimony, July 2014 Contents 253 to modern human thinking. He cannot be ob- development. As the visible universe did not take served in the same way as the weather, or put its being out of what was apparent, so what from under a microscope, or subjected to testing and time to time is seen does not arise of itself out man-made hypotheses. Indeed, the fact that God of what is manifest to man’s natural perceptions cannot be seen features prominently amongst the . from the beginning a warning has been given reasons given for not believing in Him. Yet God against a materialistic philosophy.” Although does not apologise to man for being invisible to these words were published in the late nineteenth him. A number of Bible passages state explicitly century, there is an arresting, up-to-date feel to that He cannot be seen by mortal eyes. “[God] them. They encapsulate accurately the message alone possesses immortality and dwells in un- of Hebrews 11:3, a verse which perhaps more approachable light, whom no man has seen or than any other checks any temptation to place can see” (1 Tim. 6:16, NASB), Paul writes. Even too much confidence in man’s powers of observa- Moses, who spoke with the Almighty on terms tion. For many readers of this magazine, the most of unparalleled familiarity, was told, “Thou canst perplexing aspect of a belief that “the heavens not see My face: for there shall no man see Me, and the earth” came into being otherwise than and live” (Ex. 33:20). as testified in Scripture is that such a belief is en- According to the Bible, then, man cannot come tirely dependent on a “materialistic philosophy.” to correct conclusions about God, or, by implica- We should reflect carefully whether this way tion, about what He created, by observing Him of thinking is a reasonable one for enlightened and subjecting Him to scrutiny in the way that believers in God’s revelation—whether His Word we are accustomed to doing with so many other should be interpreted according to principles things. In fact the Bible deals a knock-out blow to which that Word explicitly refutes. such an approach: “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, A surer foundation so that what is seen was not made out of things The faith that Scripture defines—an unshakeable which are visible” (Heb. 11:3, NASB). This first conviction in what God says—is life-changing. In- item in the chronological list of Old Testament deed, “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7), examples in Hebrews 11 takes us back to the for not only is faith the basis for our individual Genesis account of “the beginning” (1:1) when, forgiveness and justification, but it also leads to a by means of the tenfold expression “And God way of life acceptable to God. Hebrews 11 is proof said”, the heavens and earth were created. It is a of this, being a chapter as much about works as conviction concerning God’s testimony of Himself it is about faith.

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