Partakers Christian Podcasts

Job - Why God? - Part 3

Study 3 : Job 12 - 14

Job states his case.

 

Chapter 12 - after all his ‘friends’ have stated their cases and he has answered them Job makes a major statement in these 3 chapters of how he views the situation. Much of what he says could be regarded as very pessimistic as he expresses his, quite natural, unhappiness at what has happened to him and his family. But I think we are expected to learn several things from his experiences and what he says, so we will try to make the most of it!

To repeat yet again what was said in the introduction to the first study: behind all the arguments of the 3 friends is what we are calling a CEP, a cause-effect principle, operating in moral theology. They are all, his friends and Job, saying that everything that happens to a person has a moral cause hidden behind it. In essence: good things happen to good people; bad things happen to bad people. From that starting point his ‘friends’ have deduced that however much Job may protest otherwise he is not a good person because bad things have happened to him! This theology is still around both inside and outside the church. It appears every time someone says “he didn’t deserve that!” or “God’s not fair!”. In these chapters Job begins to understand and to argue that the world does not work that way. Life is just not as simple as that.

Question: Here is a question about those verses. What does Job really mean by what he says here? How would you describe his attitude expressed in these words?

Answer: Job is being very sarcastic. You have to be quite a clever person to be as sarcastic as this! He is clearly quite fed up with the way his so-called friends are treating him. He knows, as we know from having read the first 2 chapters of this book, that he is not guilty of serious sin; his experiences are not a reflection of who he is or what he has done; he is not being punished in any way for misdeeds he may have committed. What has happened is part of the NCL, the normal chaos of life.

Job is still being sarcastic through the rest of the chapter – the animals are wise, wiser than his friends, God treats the high and mighty, people like his friends, just the same as everyone else, nations rise and fall as God decrees. And we suddenly realise that, in being sarcastic, Job has actually moved forward to understand that life is chaotic, the NCL does happen, that is the way the world works.

The next step that he takes in the next chapter is to start arguing that he wants to appear before God in a court of law to argue his case. Job 13:1–19.

Job is starting to be a great deal more positive. I am no expert on the stages of grief but I think this might be regarded as a good sign – he is starting to think more forcefully and in it all he is still declaring his faith. He said ‘though he slay me, yet will I hope in him’. Well done Job – that sounds good.

He continues in much the same way in the remainder of the chapter – Job 13:20-28.

But it proves to be a false dawn. In the next few verses, 14:1–6, he slides back into despair. He wants God to leave him alone.

But then, equally suddenly, he thinks of a metaphor for his existence in 14: 7 – 9. READ. If a tree is cut down it is not finished – it will send out new buds, it will sprout again. It won’t grow to be the same tree it might have been before, but it will grow, more plant like, less tree like, but still alive and still valuable. There is something we call hope.

And yet again he changes direction in 14: 10 – 22. READ. He goes backwards and forwards. Humans die and that is the end of them unlike a tree. But perhaps that is a good thing because his sin, supposing that that is the problem after all, will be covered over. No – perhaps it isn’t because the Lord God destroys hope the way a stream in flood wll destroy the surrounding ground.

Make up your mind, Job. Which way is it?

It would be easy to get fed up with Job in his swinging backwards and forwards, his pessimism and his optimism, his inability to make up his mind about the future – is there hope, somewhere in the future, or is his future, our future, as black as he thinks in his down moments.

What positive, helpful, ideas can we get from this tossing and turning of Job. They are not immediately obvious but I think there are three.

The first is this. Job is becoming furious with his 3 friends because they have gone on blundering along with so many words using OK phrases as bandages to wrap around his wounds without healing them at all. Paul said the gift of prophecy is ‘to speak to people for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort’. It is all too easy to major on the first 2 of those and forget about the comfort bit. Not everyone is able to say the right words to offer real comfort to the suffering or struggling. It is a real gift for those who can. These 3 guys did not have it.

Question: what about you? Do you have this gift?

Answer: up to you, of course. If you do have it – use it. If not – don’t make the same sort of mistake these guys did.

 

The second idea we can get from these chapters is this: We can go down like Job. Horrible things can happen to us, and to those whom we love, our world can crash round our ears but that is not the end. We should still have faith; we should still be faithful. ‘Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him’ said Job and that can and should be our statement too. I didn’t call it a prayer in that last sentence, but a statement, for fear that it might then be read as a possibility and not, as it should be, as a certainty.

We are all subject to the NCL, some of us more heavily, more dangerously, than others. We don’t know why that is the way the world is, we just have to accept that the world that our loving God, our Creator God, created is a world of chaos. He may know what it all means – he does know what it all means – but we do not.

And the third thing we have to learn from these experiences of Job is this: the nature of God is such that we may argue with him. He is that sort of God. No, shut away, unapproachable God is he. Job, like the psalmist, was allowed to complain, to lament, to grumble, to sulk, but God did not refuse to listen to him. Sometimes we are like that: complaining, grumbling, lamenting, sulking, but God is still our God, our loving, listening, hearing God. That is easier for us to understand, to grasp than it was for Job because we know about Jesus. We know that, although Jesus was the agent of creation, responsible for all that is, he was still prepared to listen to, even to argue with, the non-Israelite woman who was desperate to have her daughter healed. He said ‘it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs’ and she retorted ‘even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table’. And he accepted what she said and changed his mind so that her daughter was healed.

That is the sort of God with whom we have to do: a loving, caring, arguing, concerned God – in fact an amazingly human God (because we are made in the image of God so, to at least some extent, he has to be in the image of what is best in being human).

Jesus, God, walked on water in the midst of the storm that so upset the disciples in the boat. What a wonderful metaphor that is of how our God will walk with us in the midst of all the storms of life on this earth, the NCL. Job was struggling – very understandably. But by the grace of God he had some idea that he was not alone. In all his mood swings, God was with him. He might despair for the moment but that despair would pass because God was with him. That’s the way it is with us – if we are prepared to recognize it.

 

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Job - Why God? - Part 2

Study 2 : Job 3, 4, 6, 8

Job finds his voice; he and his friends argue.

 

The pattern of the book is simple. Within the frame given by the prose of the first two and the last chapters and following an opening speech from Job there are 3 cycles of speeches: Eliphaz, Job,  Bildad, Job, Zophar, Job and round twice more. That should be 3x6 = 18 speeches but the last speech of Zophar is lost, perhaps deliberately to show the answers are incomplete.

The next chapter after these cycles of speeches (28) is a poem to Wisdom. That is followed by a speech of Job and a lengthy rant by a 4^th guy, Elihu. Only then do we hear from the Lord God himself, pointing out how Job has failed to understand what has happened and to learn from it. Then, finally, there is an epilogue, probably drawn from the old tale, which is used to teach one final fundamental lesson about life.

The poetic dialogue begins after those first 2 chapters of prose we thought about last time. Job expresses his total horror at what has happened to him in chapter 3; his first friend, Eliphaz, tries to analyze what has happened to him; Job replies and then a second friend Bildad speaks, expressing his view of Job’s problems more openly and clearly than Eliphaz did. I will read chapter 3, then a little of what Eliphaz said in chapter 4,  and part of Job’s reply, then we will skip to what Bildad says in chapter 8 and Job’s reply.

Here is Job’s lament in chapter 3: 1 - 19. Note how striking the poetry is.

All that is very understandable. There is next to no sign in the Old Testament that they had any idea of a life after death except a descent to Sheol for an experience they knew nothing about. The NT is very different. There we find statements like “longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up in life” in 2 Cor 5: 4.

Question: why the difference between the OT ideas and those of the NT? What should our reaction be?

Answer: of course this all hinges on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. “Death is swallowed up in victory” as Paul says. We know that we should never share these negative attitudes of Job whatever happens to us in this life.

At this point I will skip to the next chapter because the last few verses of that chapter do not add much to the argument of the book. I will be doing this through these studies, picking out the most interesting and important bits of the book. That isn’t to say that it is not worth reading it all. It is. Here then is Job 4:1–9.

Eliphaz asks a very sharp and important question to all those of us who make a Christian profession. “Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope.” In other words he is asking whether Job was righteous just because it was the best thing to be from his point of view. Are we Christians because this is the best option – we can live more comfortable lives as Christians, or as sometime Christians (when it suits us) - we can keep the family happy – it sounds good in the community – we want to go to heaven when we die?

Question: are you a Christian for these or any other selfish ‘you based’ reasons.

Answer: the answer is yours, obviously. We should be Christian - we should be following Jesus -because we feel compelled to do so by who he is and what he has done for us, oblivious to our own immediate comforts. 200 years ago those who went on mission to the west coast of Africa lived on average for only a few months before they caught one of the lethal diseases of that area to which they had no natural immunity. They did not consider themselves, their own comforts and even their own lives, as of any significant account in the service of the King. Neither should we.

Eliphaz continues in 4: 12 – 21. In a very striking passage he says he has had a dream which introduces the idea that will persist throughout all the speeches of all Job’s four friends (if friends they can be called) that Job must have done some thing very wicked for all this to have happened to him.

Part of Job’s reply is in chapter 6: 2 - 4, 14 – 17, 21 – 30. That brings a reply from his second friend Bildad in chapter 8.

It is now clear that the friends, and even Job himself, are working from the assumption that bad things only happen to bad people. Therefore Job must be in so much trouble because he is a bad person, having undisclosed sin in his life, which he is hiding from them and even from himself. We know what they don’t know, that that is not the case. Job has experienced all his troubles only as a result of what the author has described as a discussion in the heavenly counsel. Or in other words he is experiencing what I called the NCL, the normal chaos of life. We have to accept that sometimes things just happen for no reason that we can discern. Sometimes things happen because of other people – it was the Sabeans and the Chaldeans that stole all Job’s huge herds of oxen, donkeys and camels. But sometimes it is natural forces - it was lightning and storm that killed his sheep, his servants and his children.

That is our experience too. Some of the chaos of life we experience is because other people, unwittingly or deliberately, have disturbed the even progress of our existence. Some of the chaos is because of all sorts of natural things, tsunamis and storms, illness and accident, which may have deeply affected our lives.

That is the way the world is – for us as for Job. We don’t know why the world is this way, why it is so full of chaos, though we may think that a world in which there were no storms, no winds, no floods, would be a very boring and uninteresting place. God, the Lord has never promised to protect us from such things. He has promised to protect us through them. Isaiah said, speaking for the Lord to his people,

” When you pass through the waters,
 / I will be with you;


and when you pass through the rivers, / they will not sweep over you.


When you walk through the fire,
 / you will not be burned;
 / the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the Lord your God,
 / the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour;

 

He does not say I will help you to avoid the rivers and dodge the fires. But when you are in them, battling with them, I will be with you.

Job will eventually understand, by the end of the book, but he is not there yet. He does not understand about the NCL – the normal chaos of life; nor does he realise that the CEP does not work – there is no cause/effect principle operating in moral and ethical life. Our piety does not protect us from what Job calls ‘the arrows of the Almighty’ in chapter 6 (which possibly gave rise to Shakespeare’s phrase ‘the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’.)

 

Jesus clearly agrees. When told about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. He says ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.’

 

We simply have to accept that the world we are in, the created world, created by our loving God, is subject to the Normal Chaos of Life and that no Principle of Cause/Effect  operates.

 

Too many people, too many Christians, try to convince themselves that there is no such thing as NCL. They say that the Lord is in control so there cannot be chaos. He is indeed in control but we do not know what he is doing, or why, so we are far better to accept that it looks like chaos to us and get on with living in our chaotic looking world.

 

Too many people, too many Christians, think that the CEP does operate and get very upset, sometimes even losing their faith, when it doesn’t work the way they think it should. They say things like ‘my lovely son or daughter died – life’s not fair – so I can’t believe in God any more.’ Why do they do that? He never promised a CEP. Why should he be blamed when it is clear there isn’t one?

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Job - Why God? - Part 1

Study 1 : Job 1 - 2

Terrible disasters hit Job. The book of Job is totally fascinating – but difficult. It is deeply concerned with the question of wisdom – how does one live well – but we will leave consideration of that to later in our studies when the question rises to the surface.


In particular the book deals with the questions that arise when disaster strikes. There are no clear answers to the questions it poses. Instead there are lengthy dialogues between Job and his three friends, then between him and a rather brash young fellow and only finally with God. We are left to think and puzzle over what is said and draw our own conclusions rather than treating it as an authoritative text that tells us things we should believe or do. One commentator says “we need to be transparent about the hazards of being human and teach the full witness of Scripture, which is messy, complex and, ultimately, wonderfully true.” That is nowhere more the case than in the book of Job. This is an attempt to teach that full witness as we are given it in this book.

Job Chapter 1

What a situation! Before looking at it in any detail here is an overview of what is to come.

The book tackles two major questions in particular:
Question 1: why is it not true that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. A Psalmist realised that when he said “For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills. This is what the wicked are like –
 always free of care, they go on amassing wealth. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
 and have washed my hands in innocence”


Then the major question 2) is: how can it be that our world, and our life in it, is subject to so much chaos.


It also raises two other questions that follow from those two: 3) how can we live wisely in this difficult environment and 4) how can we trust in the reliability of God if he presides over such an erratic world.


We will not get complete and totally satisfactory answers to those questions but we will be forced to think through our attitudes towards them and come to a deeper appreciation of this world we live in and the God who created and now controls it.


Question 1 revolves round one false idea that was common in those days and is still very common today. That is that everything that happens to us has a moral cause behind it leading to the effect we see. We will call this a CEP – cause/effect principle. It suggests that if I am good only good things will happen to me; if I am bad then bad things will happen to me. That leads to commonly heard statements like “he didn’t deserve that”, implying that something terrible has happened to an essentially good person and that it shouldn’t have done. The CEP does, of course, operate in the physical world: if you put salt in water you get salt water; if you kick the table leg you will get a bruised toe. The book of Job teaches us that a principle like that does not operate in the moral and ethical world.


Question 2 revolves around what we will call the NCL – normal chaos of life. Many Christians would query use of the word chaos in relation to the way the world works but it does seem to be the right word to use in this book. We will question the use of it more closely in study 9. As we shall see the book of Job teaches us that life is not well ordered. It hasn’t been since the Creation. However difficult it may be to accept that God did not create a neat and well ordered world but one that appears to us to be a thoroughly erratic one that is what he did and we have to live in it.


To move on to the detail of chapter 1, here it is.


Job was probably a real person who gave rise to many stories. He lived in the Middle East, but not in Israel, sometime about the same time as Abraham. The book was written by an Israelite much later, probably about 700 BC possibly using an old beginning and the end as a frame into which he put the lengthy poetical dialogue which is the main part of the book. The obvious intention was to do something to answer some of the questions raised by the old tale. We will look at selected sections of the book, not all of it, which can be thought a bit repetitive.


The Satan of this chapter is not the devil of later books of the Bible. He is a member of the Angelic Council (1: 6). He is the Accuser, the prosecuting counsel before the Lord, a sort of Attorney-General so we are straight into a courtroom type of thinking. We shall soon find that much of the book is concerned with Job wanting a judicial review of his case. He wants to be able to argue his case before the Lord.

Chapter 2

The challenge and counter-challenge between the Lord and the Satan in these first 2 chapters are curious to our eyes. The point in that culture is that if Job does not love God for his own sake, but for what he can get out of it, the honour of God is severely damaged. He would be shamed. To explain that: if a woman loves a man, not for his own sake but because he is rich we – in the Western world anyway – would not think well of the woman. But in this ancient culture it would bring more shame on the man. Similarly if Job does not love God for his, God’s sake, that brings shame on God rather more than on Job.

I’m going to ask some questions, pause briefly to let you think about them – and possibly use the pause button to do so – then pass comments on them.



Question: Some people’s first reaction to extreme trauma would be like Job’s; tearing his robe’s and shaving his head (but perhaps not worshipping as Job did). Stop and think for a moment: how would you react to extreme trauma? Would you let everyone know about your grief or would you bottle it all up inside? How long for? Would this be a healthy thing to do?

Answer: Of course I don’t know what your reaction would be. Possibly you don’t either as we often don’t know ourselves very well in situations like this until we actually experience them. The way we react to such things is very dependent on the culture of our society. Westerners tend to bottle things up. Other cultures are often more open about grief and better at sharing it.



Question: Which of the 3 friends actions here would you think most helpful to Job? How would you act in such a situation? How should you act?

Answer: Their silent sharing of his grief would most helpful to him. There would be a great temptation to say all the culturally approved things, many of which are not very helpful. It is a great gift to be able to say truly helpful things in a situation like this.



The Lord said to the Accuser “you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”



Question: What are the implications of that statement? What does it tell us?

Answer: all things are in the hands of the Lord, both good and bad. The Bible never teaches the existence of a good God and a bad Satan, or nature, or anything with a power that God does not control. Even when Paul talks about “the devil’s schemes. … the powers of this dark world … the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. … and the evil one” he is talking about powers that are acting only with the express permission of the Lord God. That is hard to understand, but it is the way the Bible speaks of such things throughout.

The most stunning statement in these chapters is Job’s reaction to what has happened: the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

Question: What does this tell us about Job’s view of God and his relationship to him – and therefore of what ours should be?
Answer: Job had a deep sense of relationship with God that had not been shaken by the appalling external events. For those of us (Westerners in particular) who are encouraged to seek our own good before anything and everything else, thus doing things like divorcing a spouse who no longer seems best for us, this approach to our own gratification is a fundamentally important lesson.

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Bible Thought - Understanding the Kingdom of God

Understanding the Kingdom

John 3:1-18

I wonder what you think the Kingdom of God is.  In the Old Testament we learn of all kinds of different earthly kingdoms. Each one of these kingdoms were doomed to fail from the start, because of the promised commencement of a new and everlasting kingdom. Perhaps by having a brief overview of what Jesus in the Gospels said about the Kingdom will help us understand more about it before we focus on just a couple of aspects. From what Jesus said, we learn that:

• The kingdom had small beginnings.
• It advances slowly and unspectacularly.
• It works in an unseen way, like yeast in dough.
• It grows side by side with evil and error.
• The members are drawn from every part, for it is a universal part.
• When discovered, it is the source of true joy and fulfilment.
• It requires sacrifice, submission and surrender.
• It ends in an eternal separation of the good from the evil, of the true from the false.
• It centres only on Jesus Christ (Luke 9:28-36).

So having seen these descriptions, mainly from Matthew 13, we can now go on to a main definition of the kingdom. We find this ultimate definition in Romans 14:17 'For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.'

This is the experience of salvation. Every believer, all those who trust in Jesus Christ, has entered it and been accepted by Jesus when He died on the cross. So, having described it and then defined it, the next question we ask is how do we enter the Kingdom of God. Well, after such a long introduction, we are going to look at this aspect of the God's Kingdom based on our reading of John 3:1-18.  So, if you haven't done so already please do have your bibles open at that passage - John 3:1-18.

1.      Birth (vs. 1-7).

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."

In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'

2.      The wind (vs. 8-13).

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.

"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven-the Son of Man.

3. The snake on the pole (vs. 14-18).

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

Conclusion

The definition of the kingdom of God is exposed from Romans 14:17 which we also see as the experience of salvation. "For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." The path into the kingdom of God, was defined in the 3 distinct pictures Jesus told to Nicodemus. Firstly in the picture of new birth from above, secondly in the picture of the blowing wind or spirit and thirdly in the Old Testament picture of the snake on the pole.

For those of us who are in the kingdom of God: are you growing in your faith and immersing more of yourself into the Kingdom of God. Is your story or testimony of what Jesus is doing in your life up to date, or are you living on past memories, last Easters' prayers and past Sundays' sermons. The testimony of how we are living in the Kingdom of God is vital for our witness in the Kingdom of God.  Jesus commanded us to go and tell, so go and tell the wondrous news of an eternal kingdom - one which will never end! God has promised and He always fulfils His promises.

Now finally, what stops people from entering into the Kingdom of God?  People want to continue to do things against God, and this keeps them from coming out of darkness into the light of the Kingdom of God. This is because the closer someone who loves darkness gets closer to light, the more their evil ways are exposed to the light of God. It is not any intellectual problems that keep people out of the Kingdom. It is a moral and spiritual problem. It would involve a change of lifestyle, of being 'born again' as it was.

What is your reason, for not being yet a believer and follower of Jesus Christ? If for some reason, you are not part of God's kingdom yet, then your opportunity is here. You may not get another chance. You might just walk on out of here tonight, not having entered into the eternal Kingdom of God, and die. It really could be that shocking and happen. Take your opportunity now.  Please do come and see one of the leaders about how you can enter the Kingdom of God this very night!

Grab your Bible, and listen to the podcast to find out more about this intriguing and wonderful piece of Scripture!

 

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Bible Thought - Why I am a Christian

Why I am a Christian!

The Apostle John, writing:

"We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." 1 John 5:9-12

 

Today I share the reasons I am a Christian, a follower of Christ. Come and hear my story!

 

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Pulp Theology 25 - God Gets His Hands Dirty

PulpTheology Book

"God Gets His Hands Dirty: The Story of Christmas"

Free on Kindle until end of Wednesday 27th December 2023. Click or tap here!

G’day! The book this week is "God Gets His Hands Dirty: The Story of Christmas". Inside this little book, there is something for you to learn afresh or be reminded about, regardless of who you are.

Ahhh Christmas. When people around the world remember that moment in time when God Himself, got his hands dirty and entered our world. Christmas is the most wonderful time of year! Christmas, where the birth of Jesus Christ is celebrated around the world - by Christians and others of all faiths and none. That is how God got his hands dirty. These celebrations are diverse and transcend cultures, peoples and languages.

Of course, most people stop with Jesus being a baby and continue no further with Him. Christians believe that Jesus’ birth was the culmination of thousands of years of God telling the world that He was coming and coming to show that God gets his hands dirty - transcending time and space.

In the Bible, the whole Old Testament is a united story which speaks about this event - the coming of the baby we know today as Jesus Christ. Written in short chapters and accessible language, we inspect together Christmas future through the eyes of Isaiah and Zechariah, before going on to look at Christmas past and Christmas present. Come inside to either learn afresh or be reminded of the people and events of the Christmas story - the why, how and who.

Whether you have not started the Christian journey yet, you are just starting your journey as a Christian, or have been a Christian for a while, you can either learn afresh or be reminded about the Church. Come on in!

"God Gets His Hands Dirty: The Story of Christmas" available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle with ISBN: 978-1506104348

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Pulp Theology - Robbo the Rev Remembers Christmas!

Our latest Partakers PulpTheology "illustrative theology book" tis free on #Amazon #Kindle until 22nd December... The Reverend Robbo and Alphy bring to mind some basic things about #Christmas. Can you figure out how Joseph is Mr Sensitive? What gifts did the Shepherds gave the baby Jesus? Merry Christmas to all because Christmas is for all!

Also available in paperback for £5.99

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Christmas - Who is He - 7. Messiah’s Leadership

Messiah's Leadership

10:1 Ask of Yahweh rain in the spring time, Yahweh who makes storm clouds, and he gives rain showers to everyone for the plants in the field. 10:2 For the teraphim have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and they have told false dreams. They comfort in vain. Therefore they go their way like sheep. They are oppressed, because there is no shepherd. 10:3 My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the male goats; For Yahweh of Armies has visited his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as his majestic horse in the battle. 10:4 From him will come forth the cornerstone, from him the nail, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler together. 10:5 They shall be as mighty men, treading down muddy streets in the battle; and they shall fight, because Yahweh is with them; and the riders on horses will be confounded. (Zechariah 10:1-5)

During the time of Zechariah, the Temple was being rebuilt.  The Temple was central to Jewish worship.  But who would help give advice and solve the multitude of problems they were facing? Who cared about them?  Well, Zechariah speaks into their situation with wise words.  He has already likened the nation of Israel as being like sheep, and that God is their shepherd (Zechariah 9:16) "Yahweh their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people; for they are like the jewels of a crown, lifted on high over his land. ".  Throughout Chapter 10, it is repeated again and again, that God will care for and bless them.  But in order to receive the blessing and care, the nation of Israelites must seek, turn and follow.

Seek God

If the people need advice and help in times of trouble and need, the first place they should look, is to the Lord their God.  They must seek and ask of Him! (10:1)! God can provide all things! He can control the weather, but these people need to stop being so independent, self-sufficient and start to rely on God and His infinite wisdom and resources.

Turn to God

In 10:2, Zechariah reminds the people of Israel, that following idols and false gods is foolishness.  These idols are self-seeking, liars and deceivers.  Israel needed to turn back to the One True Almighty God! Instead of following the glory of the Almighty God, they were turning to idols for worship, advice and listening to superstitious nonsense. And of course idols and false gods are mute! They cannot speak or give advice because they are not Gods at all!!  The sin of idolatry particularly broke the second commandment!  The people were to turn away from false gods and return to worship the One True Almighty God. They were also to listen to the true prophets of God instead of the false prophets who deceived by speaking words they wanted to hear.

Follow Me

These sheep, the nation of Israel were to follow God.  Instead of wandering around aimlessly, they were to follow and obey God Almighty.  The Jewish leaders and teachers were supposed to be leading the nation in worship of Almighty God, but were not doing so.  Hence God in 10:3 being enraged at those who were in positions of trust who were deceivers, liars and only looking out for their own interests.  Ezekiel 34 expounds this out in much further detail! 

So who were the people of Israel to follow?  They were to follow the coming Messiah.  Not only was the Messiah a King, Prophet Servant and Disciple but He would also be a Shepherd: the Good Shepherd!  From the lowliest tribe of Judah, will come this Good Shepherd "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting." (Micah 5:2)

Messiah Cares

This Good Shepherd will be utterly reliable, responsible, faithful and being the sure foundation that the people of Israel need, particularly in a time of crisis. In 10:4 God will send this Good Shepherd to also be a cornerstone, nail or tent peg, battle bow and a source of all ruling authority. Cornerstone:  all ancient buildings needed a chief cornerstone to ensure a sure foundation so that the building could not fall down easily.  It held two walls together.  The imagery fits in well with the building of the Temple.  If you want to continue worshipping God, then you must get the foundations right. 

The chief cornerstone of the building holds the building together.  Not only that, it gives the building shape, strength and all other stones are adjusted by it. Nail: Another translation is that of tent-peg. Just as the chief cornerstone holds the building together, so does a tent-peg ensure that the tent stays fastened down during storms!  This Good Shepherd would ensure that everything is held together if they stick to Him. Battle-bow:  Probably referring back to 9:13, Zechariah now likens this Shepherd Messiah to a battle-bow!  This Good Shepherd will fight to keep the wolves from harming His sheep.  He will battle for them.  This Good Shepherd will be brave, courageous and strong as he leads his people to victory!

How is Jesus this Messiah?

Jesus said in Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened."  In other words, ask of God your heavenly Father and your needs will be supplied!  That was how Jesus lived and obeyed, by being in constant communication with God the Father.  That is how he could live a life of utter obedience to God, because He always asked, sought and knocked.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd, hence Him saying in John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." Again in John 10:14-17 "I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I'm known by my own; even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd. Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again."

Jesus is the Good Shepherd only through the sacrifice he must make for His sheep. Here Jesus is looking ahead to the sacrifice He makes on the Cross. His love for all of humanity compels Him to make the ultimate sacrifice. Just as all shepherds will endanger themselves for the safety of their sheep, so too will Jesus endure the pain and suffering of the Cross, so that people can be led into safety of God's kingdom. It is in this role of the Good Shepherd, that Jesus exhibits true leadership, which is self-less and sacrificial. Ezekiel 34:11 tells of God searching out for his sheep among all nations, and this is fulfilled through Jesus.

Through His perfect, obedient and voluntary sacrifice on the Cross, not only will salvation be available to the Jews but also to those of other nations. And Jesus is willing to fight for His people! He gives spiritual armour for all those who follow Him to wear.  Christians are in a spiritual battle reminds Paul in Ephesians 6, and as the Good Shepherd, Jesus will fight and battle for us through His indwelling Holy Spirit!  For as the Bible says in 1 John 4:4 "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world."

Jesus Christ is, as Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 2:8, the Cornerstone of faith - referring back to Isaiah 8:14.  Jesus Christ is the dependable, sure foundation that all faith is to be ground upon.  All Christians are living stones, but should be living on the dependability of Jesus Christ the chief cornerstone alone!  It is only Him, who can give direction, assurance and be relied upon.  It is Him that calls all people everywhere to seek for, turn to and follow obediently. Jesus Christ, Servant King, Servant Prophet, Servant Disciple, Servant Shepherd.  Follow Him as the great leader He is and victory is assured!  Whatever you are struggling with today, turn it over to God and ask for His help!  He has promised to help! Remember that the battle belongs to the Lord!  Amen!  Just as Jesus said to Peter in John 21:19 "Follow Me!", so Jesus calls all those willing to follow Him, to follow Him for life.  Follow and be led by Him and Him alone, regardless of what and where that might be.

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Psalm On Demand - Psalm 51

Psalm 51

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

51:1 Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
51:2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.
51:3 For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me.
51:4 Against you, and you only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight; that you may be proved right when you speak, and justified when you judge.
51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity. In sin my mother conceived me.
51:6 Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
51:7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
51:8 Let me hear joy and gladness, That the bones which you have broken may rejoice.
51:9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities.
51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
51:11 Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your holy Spirit from me.
51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.
51:13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners shall be converted to you.
51:14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation. My tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
51:15 Lord, open my lips. My mouth shall declare your praise.
51:16 For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it. You have no pleasure in burnt offering.
51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
51:18 Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.
51:19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings. Then they will offer bulls on your altar.

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Psalm on Demand - Psalm 22

Psalm 22

(as read by Kathrine D)

For the Chief Musician; set to “The Doe of the Morning.” A Psalm by David.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer;
in the night season, and am not silent.
But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel.
  Our fathers trusted in you.
They trusted, and you delivered them.
They cried to you, and were delivered.
They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.

But I am a worm, and no man;
a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
All those who see me mock me.
They insult me with their lips.
They shake their heads, saying,
  “He trusts in Yahweh; let him deliver him.
Let him rescue him, since he delights in him.”

But you brought me out of the womb.
You made me trust at my mother’s breasts.
I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb.
You are my God since my mother bore me.
Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near.
For there is none to help.
Many bulls have surrounded me.
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.
I am poured out like water.
All my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd.
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You have brought me into the dust of death.

For dogs have surrounded me.
A company of evildoers have enclosed me.
They have pierced my hands and feet.
I can count all of my bones.
They look and stare at me.
They divide my garments among them.
They cast lots for my clothing.
But don’t be far off, Yahweh.
You are my help: hurry to help me.
Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog.
Save me from the lion’s mouth!

Yes, from the horns of the wild oxen, you have answered me.
  I will declare your name to my brothers.
In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you.
You who fear Yahweh, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him!
Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted,
Neither has he hidden his face from him;
but when he cried to him, he heard.

Of you comes my praise in the great assembly.
I will pay my vows before those who fear him.
The humble shall eat and be satisfied.
They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him.
Let your hearts live forever.
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh.
All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.

For the kingdom is Yahweh’s.
He is the ruler over the nations.
All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship.
All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him,
even he who can’t keep his soul alive.
Posterity shall serve him.
Future generations shall be told about the Lord.
They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a
people that shall be born, for he has done it.

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