Daniel - AP · LITHOGRAPH BY MARC CHAGALL, 1960. D r Tremper Longman III is the Robert H Gundry Professor of ... The Song of Songs, and a soon-to-be released vol-ume on the Proverbs

Tremper Longman III • Proper protection • On the fault line

november 2005

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DANIEL

Sovereign Lord: Tremper Longman III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Irresistible grace: Peter Hastie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Cleaning up: Mike Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

BIBLE STUDY

Wonderful wisdom

20 Bible studies in Daniel 1-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

NEWS

Across Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Around the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

On the Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

FAITH

Proper protection: Nancy Guthrie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

MISSION

New meets old: Martin de Pyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

ETHICS

On the fault line: Peter Barnes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

LETTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

PRAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

BOOKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Let’s Study Luke: Douglas J. W. Milne

Ruth: Bruce Christian

Reflected Light: Noel Weeks (ed.)

The Word and the Spirit: Charles Spurgeon

REFLECTION

Perfect timing: Sinclair Ferguson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

A U S T R A L I A N P R E S B Y T E R I A N November 2005 • 3

November 2005

No. 576

Our sense of stability in Australia has been rocked inthe past five years by a string of sudden, traumaticand catastrophic events that has raised internationalanxiety to new heights. Television screens are now

dominated by images of terrorist bombings, kidnappings,escalating nuclear tensions and natural disasters on anunprecedented scale. The flood of bad news is even prompt-ing Christians to ask: “What is God doing? Does He reallycare about the victims of famines, floods and earthquakes?And is He concerned about the suffering and oppression ofHis church in so many parts of the world?”

Christians should have an answer to such questions. Weare not made to live in uncertainty for very long. We need toknow whether God is really in control of the world andwhether He can be trusted to protect us in the midst of suf-fering and adversity. Trusting God in these sorts of circum-stances is not easy.

This is where the book of Daniel is of real help to the mod-ern church. It reminds us that we are not the first generationof believers to have passed through national and personalupheavals of seismic proportions. Nor are we alone as we bat-tle the “culture wars” of the 21st century. Others of like faith,such as Daniel, have trodden that path before us.

Can we trust God in a world that is so unfriendly to theChristian faith? Can we be assured that God’s purposes willprevail? All six stories in the first half of the book and all fourof the visions in the last few chapters confirm that Godremains firmly in control of the nations and will triumph overevil. Further, the account of Daniel’s life reminds us thatthough we may lose our names, cultural identity, family,home, and all that’s precious to us, God can still sustain us.The Lord can comfort us in the midst of loneliness, child-lessness and when we lose our jobs. Daniel experienced allthese things, but he was sustained for more than 70 yearsunder an oppressive and persecuting regime in a foreign landthrough knowing that God was in charge of history and thatHe will bring good out of the evil that touches our lives.

Peter Hastie ap

THE AUSTRALIAN PRESBYTERIAN (ABN 81 498 399 755): The national magazine of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. Editorial committee: Peter Hastie (NSW) Themes Editor;Barney Zwartz (Victoria) Production; Stuart Bonnington (West Australia) News Editor; Tracy Gordon (NSW), World News Editor. Graphic Design: Sandra Joynt for A&J Moody Design:www.ajmd.com.au. Advertising and subscription inquiries: Walter Bruining, PO Box 375, Kilsyth 3137; Phone: (03) 9723 9684. Subscription: $35.20 a year inc. GST; bulk (etc)$31.90 each inc. GST. Office: PO Box 375, Kilsyth 3137. Phone: (03) 9723 9684. Fax: (03) 9723 9685. Email: [email protected] Printed by Adept Mail & Print Services,Boronia, Vic. Published: Monthly except January by the National Journal Committee of the Presbyterian Church of Australia; Convener Peter Hastie. Opinions expressed are those of thecontributor and not necessarily those of the PCA, the editor or the committee. Acceptance of advertising does not imply endorsement. Contributions: Submitted articles are welcome. The deadline is the first of the previous month. Donations are always welcome. Print Post approved 34918100384. www.ap.presbyterian.org.au

editorial

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Dr Tremper Longman III is theRobert H Gundry Professor ofBiblical Studies and head ofdepartment at Westmont College

in Santa Barbara, California. He also lec-tures part-time in Old Testament forFuller Theological Seminary. He is anacclaimed Old Testament scholar who haswritten numerous books, including Howto Read the Psalms and, more recently,How to Read the Proverbs (IVP 2002).

He holds a PhD from Yale Universityin ancient near-Eastern languages and lit-erature. Prior to his appointment atWestmont in 1998, Dr Longman had beena professor of Old Testament atWestminster Theological Seminary inPhiladelphia since 1981. He is recognisedwithin academic circles as a leadingscholar in Hebrew wisdom literature andhas published a number of significantcommentaries on Ecclesiastes, The Songof Songs, and a soon-to-be released vol-ume on the Proverbs. He is the author ofthe acclaimed NIV ApplicationCommentary on Daniel and the consult-ing editor of the series on the OldTestament. He and his wife, Alice, live in

Santa Barbara, California.

Tremper, when did you first becomeinterested in the book of Daniel andwhy did you find it so appealing?

Well, I first became interested in Danielwhen I was relatively young, even before Ibecame a Christian. I wasn’t thinkingabout religion at the time. Actually, I hadn’t grown up in a Christian householdso I had no real spiritual interests. It wasaround this time that Hal Lindsey wroteLate Great Planet Earth. When it came outa friend gave it to me. I read it and wasshocked. Although I don’t shareLindsey’s interpretive principles now, hisbook confronted me with the Bible’steaching on the final judgment. I am notsure why it had such a marked impact onme, but it almost scared me to death. SoLindsey’s book really started me thinkingabout whose side I was on and whether I

was facing a rather terrifying future. Iknew back then that if I continued on as Iwas, things weren’t going to turn out well.So I became intrigued in prophecy, partic-ularly Daniel and the book of Revelation.

What’s the outstanding theologicalmessage of the book, and how wouldthis have helped Daniel’s originalaudience?

I think there’s one central message ofthe book of Daniel and it’s this: in spite ofthe terrible suffering and oppression ofGod’s people, God is still in control andwill triumph over all the powers of evil.God will have the victory. All six of thestories and all four of the visions at theend of the book share that commontheme.

Of course, what that shows to Daniel’saudience, who were living underBabylonian and Persian oppression, is thatwhile life is full of struggle and hardship,God remains sovereign and His purposesfor them will not fail. The same messagewould have been true for the Jews whowere living under the cruelty ofAlexander’s successors, the Seleucids. The

D A N I E L

Sovereign LordThe message of Daniel is God’s triumph over evil.

Tremper Longman IIItalks toPeter Hastie

4 • A U S T R A L I A N P R E S B Y T E R I A N November 2005

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message of the book of Daniel would havebeen a comfort to them in that it wouldhave reminded them that no evil power orregime can thwart God’s purposes.

Why do some scholars think that thebook was written in the 2nd century?What do we lose if we surrender a 6thcentury date for the prophecy?

This is a major issue between evangeli-cal and liberal scholars. However, quite anumber of evangelical scholars seem to bemoving in the direction of accepting a 2ndcentury date and I think this unfortunate.They try to argue that this is an acceptedform of ancient writing; a kind ofprophecy after the fact and that everyonewould know that it wasn’t really anattempt at prophecy.

Frankly, I’m unpersuaded by that view-point. Why? Many of their arguments arebased on comparisons of Daniel withother ancient texts such as the so-calledAkkadian prophecies. I worked veryclosely on those Akkadian texts in mydoctoral dissertation so I know the areawell. Many of these texts were specificallydesigned to deceive their audience. So it’snot a very good argument by analogy.

The problem, as I understand it, is this:they say that when you come to Daniel 11and you are reading about a king of thenorth arising, then a king of the south,you are reading what in retrospect is avery precise history. Now liberal scholarswho don’t accept the supernatural natureof prophecy have to date it to the 2nd cen-tury BC because it’s so accurate with whathappens in the 2nd and 3rd century. Forinstance, W.S. Towner says in his com-mentary that no human being could everprophesy anything this precisely, so it hasto be 2nd century. Obviously, this meansthat he is not taking into account the pos-sibility of God telling Daniel what is goingto happen beforehand. But this is sheerbias on his part.

However, there’s still a problem forthose of us who accept the 6th centurydate. When Daniel mentions the last andmost prideful king from Daniel 11:36-45,he starts out clearly describing AntiochusEpiphanes who lived in the middle of the2nd century BC. He reflects certainthings about his life that we know aretrue, but when he talks about his death, hedescribes a death that we are pretty sureAntiochus didn’t die. Based on otherrecords we have, Antiochus didn’t die theway the text seems to say he did. At thispoint some scholars say that this is anattempt at actual prophecy that fails.Naturally, this is a problem for most of us

who still affirm the 6th century date. Welook at Antiochus Epiphanes as a type ofthe antichrist. He is such an evil man thathe becomes a representative of the finalevil that comes upon the world. Somescholars, and I include myself here, wouldargue that there is a subtle transfer in thetext to actually talking about the endtimes in Daniel 11.

The problem you face if you abandon a6th century date for Daniel is that the textof the prophecy is nothing more than anexercise in deceit. Scholars who argue a2nd century date try to avoid that conclu-sion, but theyhaven’t done itsuccessfully. Soa 2nd centurydate is very the-ologically prob-lematic, to saythe least. It’s inthe same cate-gory as the criti-cal theory aboutthe 7th centurydating ofDeuteronomy. Critics often claim thatJosiah didn’t really find the book ofDeuteronomy; what happened was that itwritten during his own reign. So the claimin the Bible that it was discovered in thetemple during his reign is really nothingmore than a pious fraud.

The apostle Peter said that theprophets, which includes Daniel,searched intently with the greatestcare trying to find out the time andcircumstances to which the Spirit ofChrist in them was pointing whenHe predicted the sufferings of Christand the glories that would follow. Inwhat ways does Daniel bear witness toChrist?

Well, my own view is that the wholeOld Testament looks forward to the com-ing of the Christ. This was certainly whatJesus taught in Luke 24:44. What I findinteresting in this passage is that Jesus isirritated with His disciples for not recog-nising Him as the Christ. None of Hisdisciples seem to pick up the clues.

The most pointed way in which thebook of Daniel bears witness to Christ isin its expectation of a future divine deliv-erer. The book tells us Messiah will deliverHis people from their oppression, andone text that is cited a number of times inthe New Testament in Daniel 7:13. Therewe read of one “like a Son of Man comingon the clouds of heaven”. Jesus is the ful-filment of that expectation when He

comes for the first time; it’s a rather unex-pected way, because even John the Baptistis expecting a violent Messiah. He usesmetaphors of burning the chaff and takingan axe to rotten wood. When he hearsabout Jesus he’s a little put off; he asks, “Isthis the right guy?” So in Matthew 11 hesends up a couple of disciples to questionJesus, and what Jesus says is “Yes, I am theDivine Warrior who was expected in textslike Daniel 7, but I have heightened andintensified the efforts against the powersand authorities”.

So John the Baptist isn’t wrong about aviolent Messiah; he just sees the comingof Jesus Christ as one event, whereas wehave the advantage of realising from theNew Testament that it’s a two-part com-ing. Incidentally, this is why the book ofRevelation so often alludes to the imageryof the book of Daniel. John, under theHoly Spirit, sees that book of Daniel has areference to ultimate fulfilment. Godcomes and ultimately defeats evil at thesecond coming.

The stories of Daniel are very com-pelling. What lessons are we meant todraw from them? How is Daniel arole model for us today? Should webe vegetarians or pray at open win-dows?

The stories in Daniel certainly containmoral lessons and they’re couched in thatway. They are particularly addressed forbelievers who are living under persecu-tion. They are also helpful in pointing outhow believers need to remain faithful inspite of that persecution and they alsoshow that believers, in my opinion, canfaithfully integrate and work to transformthe culture from the inside. We don’talways have to withdraw or attack our sur-rounding culture aggressively.

One of the messages of Daniel is thatwe, like Daniel, can survive and prosper inperiods of oppression. Do you noticehow Daniel keeps getting promoted as thestory goes on? On the other hand, themoral emphasis is not the only message inthe book. There is an important redemp-tive, historical and theological message tobe learnt from the book. The problem isthat some people will read the OldTestament and only derive moral stories,whereas others will read it and only lookat redemptive history. We need to remem-ber that both are legitimate aspects of theOld Testament for Christians today.

One of the difficulties that interpretersface is that when they discover morallessons, they have to draw the right con-clusions. For example, we have to be care-

Revelationalludes to theimagery ofDaniel becauseJohn sees thatDaniel has areference toultimate fulfilment.

D A N I E L

ful in what ways we adopt Daniel as a rolemodel. We need to take into account thediscontinuity between the Old Testamentand the New Testament and their culturaldifferences and so forth. For instance,should we be vegetarians like Daniel?That’s a good question! First, we shouldnotice that Daniel was only a vegetarianfor a limited time, probably for the threeyears he was being trained while he was incollege. We know from Daniel 10 thatwhen he receives a startling vision he givesup rich food. That obviously means thatafter he got out of college he was eatingthe rich food. There is nothing inherentlyevil about the food, therefore, eventhough he chose to eat the vegetables fora limited time. He obviously had specificreasons for doing so which may not beshared by us today. There are some issueshere to think through: Is Daniel’s examplenormative? Or, is it special to his circum-stances? Or, is it special to Old Testamenttimes? We need to answer those questionsin applying the lessons of the book.

The opening scene is a picture of fouryoung men whose world and idealshave collapsed around them. Is thereany encouragement for believers herein a time of unprecedented world cri-sis and chaos?

I think any encouragement is tied tothe major theme that I have referred toearlier – that God is in control. Let megive you a concrete example of how thetext demonstrates that. We find it in thevery first few verses of the book. HereDaniel talks about Nebuchadnezzar’ssiege of Jerusalem when he took the tem-ple vessels and the young exiles back toBabylon. From a human perspective itlooks like Nebuchadnezzar is very muchin control. But the text itself is very care-ful to pull back the curtains and tell usabout what is really going on. It lets usknow that God has allowed this to hap-pen. That’s the first thing we can learn,that even though the world may seem inchaos, God is not in heaven franticallysaying “what’s going on in the world?”He’s in control.

Further, we also know that the ultimatedestination of world history will beChrist’s return and the establishment ofHis kingdom. That should give us greatconfidence and hope. If we know that asan assurance, it helps us as we work to bet-ter the world around us.

Daniel found himself in captivityunder a foreign power because hisnation had been unfaithful to the

Lord. Are there any warnings herefor the church?

That’s a good question. We know thatIsrael was a nation-state when it wasinvolved in the captivity in Babylon; butthey were in covenant relationship withGod. They were His people. In that sensethey were like the church today. Ofcourse, God’s people today would be thechurch. So the church can learn lessonsfrom what happened to Israel in Babylon.One of those lessons is that the churchneeds to be faithful to the Lord.Sometimes Christians, especially in theUnited States, seem to be very anxious

about the nation obeying God. They areworried about the nation being judged byGod. I think they are wrong in this; thereal need is for the church to be worriedabout being faithful to God.

How does the book of Daniel help usin our struggle with the world? Whatstrategies does it offer for culturalengagement as well as for protectingour identity in a modern secular envi-ronment? To what extent should weembrace, resist or transform our cul-ture?

This is a crucial issue that deservescareful reflection. It’s hard to answer itwith a blanket statement.

What we learn from Daniel is interest-ing. Like Daniel in his own time,Christians today find themselves living ina “toxic” secular culture which is at oddswith their faith. While the lines are notalways clear, most Christians can see aclear difference between their beliefs andthose that are held by the wider culture.Many Christians feel that there is a defi-nite clash of values taking place in the areaof family life, education, law and the pop-ular media. I hear lots of Christians talk-ing about “culture wars”. And this iswhere I think the book of Daniel can helpus. It reflects a similar struggle that wasgoing on in Daniel’s time between God’s

people and the “world”. I think one of itsmost important contributions is to showus how to interact with the world – and itdoes this by offering Christians a numberof different strategies to deal with the cul-ture in which they live.

As I see it, one of the main problemsChristians face as we engage the world isthat we are too limited in our responses.Our main way of dealing with modernculture is to resist it. This is the usualresponse of evangelicals in America today.We protest, we picket, and we boycottthings in the hope that we can resist them.But that’s not the only way Christians canengage with the world. Richard Niebuhr,in his book Christ and Culture reminds usthat the church has identified a number ofpossible ways to engage with the culturein which we live. Resistance is only one ofthose options.

In the opening chapter of the bookDaniel is placed under an enforced regi-men of education and of food.Nebuchadnezzar’s object is to make thesefour young Jewish men paragons ofBabylonian culture. He wants them to be“wise men” according to Babylonian stan-dards. To be a wise man in ancientBabylon wasn’t a matter of just beingintelligent; it meant you could interpretdreams, read omens from sheeps’ liversand all that sort of thing. So that is whatDaniel was being trained in. Now inter-estingly, he doesn’t resist; he doesn’t goon strike and say “I’m not going to classtoday”. He’s not out there protesting.Admittedly, he didn’t have much of achoice about it. However, he wasn’t likeOrigen, the third century theologian, whoas a young man was going to throw him-self under the Emperor’s chariot pro-claiming Christ so he could achieve a mar-tyr’s death. Daniel didn’t do somethingdramatic like that – at least not over theissue of education. Daniel learned his cul-ture well and seems to have used everyopportunity to advance his knowledge.He probably didn’t agree with a lot ofwhat he was taught, but he was preparedto study it nonetheless.

Of course, there are some situations inthe book where there is a life-and-deathchoice that has to be made. We know thatthese men were prepared to die over theissue of idolatry. You can read about it inDaniel 3. They refuse to bow the knee.Although they know that God can savethem, they are still prepared to die forrefusing to worship the golden statue.

The issue of food is an interesting one.Daniel and his three friends decide thatthey are going to draw the line on the


Like Daniel,Christianstoday findthemselves living in a

“toxic” secular culture

at odds withtheir faith.


food issue and so they ask for permissionto refuse the king’s food. I argue in mycommentary that there is nothing inher-ently wrong with the food. I am not con-vinced that the food was defiled; wine iskosher, and yet they even refuse the wine.The other thing to notice is that theymake their stand privately; they don’tstage a public protest. They are discreetand respectful about their desire not to eatthe king’s food. In fact, they go to greatlengths to work within the system to befaithful to God. I think that is a strategythat we don’t hear too much about today.

Basically, I think the message of thebook is that Christians have to thinkthrough each issue carefully when theyfind themselves in conflict with the cul-ture. In other words, I am not sure thereis a simple, clear-cut answer to the ques-tion, “Do I send my children to a stateschool or a Christian school?” You haveto ask a range of questions that take intoaccount many other issues such as: “Whatis the school like? What are my childrenlike?” Unfortunately, there is not a for-mulaic answer to this problem.

Daniel is the archetypal wise man.What do we mean by Biblical wis-dom?

Although Biblical wisdom and humanwisdom have some common areas ofagreement, Biblical wisdom differs fromhuman wisdom in that it is ultimatelyrooted in the “fear of the Lord”. We seethis in the wisdom tradition in Proverbs,for example. There we discover that “thefear of the Lord is the beginning of wis-dom” (Proverbs 1:7). Proverbs 9 remindsus that there are two sources of counselupon which people can rely – either “Ladywisdom” or “Woman folly”. Lady wisdomrepresents the wisdom of God. Her homeis on the highest point of the city wherethe Lord’s temple was normally located.This image serves to remind us that truewisdom is found in God and His revela-tion. The choice that faces us all iswhether we will receive God’s wisdom,revealed in His Word, or human wisdom,that is, the commonly agreed observationsabout life throughout the ages.

Again, in Job 28 we learn that true wis-dom is found only in God. Interestinglyenough, this doesn’t mean that you can’tlearn anything from pagan people. If youstudy the book of Proverbs closely, you’lldiscover that there are a number ofproverbs that are very similar to wisdomfrom earlier Egyptian texts. However, thesimilarities arise from the fact that theEgyptian wise men received their wisdom

by watching how the world works, theway God put it together, and then theycame up with some concise way of cap-turing that. We would expect that unbe-lievers would get some, or even manythings, right. But they can’t get everythingright because they don’t start in the cor-rect place with the fear of the Lord. Danieldid. He understood that his wisdom camefrom God. And in the case of the variousdreams or signs that he was asked to inter-pret, he knew that God had specificallyrevealed their contents to him.

Does God still speak directly to peo-ple today through dreams andvisions?

I think we are living in the period afterthe biblical canon has been completed.This means that we have a very suresource of God’swisdom inScripture. This isreally the onlyplace we shouldbe looking tofind God’s per-spective onthings. I guess Iam somewhatopen to the pos-sibility that Godmay revealHimself to peo-ple throughdreams andvisions as well, but never in contradictionto Scripture. Paul seems to have had anumber of visions or dreams in whichGod gave him direct guidance.Missionaries and others have reportedsimilar things today, particularly wherepeople don’t have access to the Scriptures.Nevertheless, I remain fairly sceptical thatit ever happens. Again, I wouldn’t placevery much weight on a dream or a vision,especially if it seemed to be contrary toGod’s Word. The problem about relyingon these things is that you never reallyknow how authoritative they are. Forinstance, is a dream affected by what youwere eating or drinking the night before,or personal traumas you may have experi-enced? If there’s the possibility that suchis the case, then they really can’t holdmuch weight at all.

There were some issues over whichDaniel was prepared to go to the wallwhen the government passed lawsaffecting religion. Are there anyguidelines here to guide ourresponse?

Well, that’s an interesting question.Let’s say our government made a similardecree saying you are not allowed to wor-ship God or pray to Him. As far as I cansee, that’s an issue to go to the wall for;you have to be ready like Daniel to getthrown into the lion’s den.

However, I think it’s a different matterwhen we’re talking about things likeprayer in public schools and the TenCommandments in our courthouses. Ireally don’t feel strongly about thoseissues. As far as the American constitu-tion is concerned, I am not sure that thegovernment should be legislating on spir-itual issues affecting prayer and the like. Iknow these are very emotive issues. I amas concerned as anyone about the erosionof moral values in the United States. Butagain, I think the erosion of moral valuesin the church is of greater concern.Indeed, I am convinced that one reasonwhy the nation is sliding into relativism isthat the church is so weak on these veryissues. In his little book, Faith on Trial,Martyn Lloyd Jones says something tothe effect that the New Testament doesnot make an appeal for good behaviour toanyone but Christians. The NewTestament is not particularly interested inimproving the general morality of theworld. Its only message for unbelievers isto turn to God in repentance. In otherwords, we shouldn’t be so concernedabout the government legislating to havenon-Christians acting like Christians.Our focus should be on non-Christiansbecoming Christians. I think that’s theprinciple the church needs to keep inmind.

This whole area is a difficult issue and Idon’t know that I can give a general rulethat covers all cases. I think we need tolook at them one by one.

Is there any connection between anation’s sin and national disasters?Jerry Falwell linked the Twin Towersdisaster with America’s sin? Babylonfell because of the sin of its rulers(Daniel 5). Can we draw similar linkswhen other disasters strike?

The short answer is no. The problemwith Falwell’s comment is that it is alwayswrong to pronounce God’s judgmentapart from some kind of revelation fromHim. And if we try to read a message inGod’s providence we can sometimesmake some very hit-and-miss judgments.Personally, I think it’s quite dangerous andunhelpful. Jesus reminds us in the storyabout the collapse of the tower of Siloam(Luke 13) that it’s unhelpful to “read” dis-

They go togreat lengths towork within thesystem to befaithful to God.That’s a strategy wedon’t hear toomuch abouttoday.

asters as the punishments for specific sins.The simple fact is that not all catastrophesare the result of sin. I’m not saying thatFalwell’s wrong in every case; I’m just say-ing that in general he’s not right.

How does the image of certain rulersand kingdoms as beasts in Daniel 7shape our view of government? Is itever safe for the church to have tooclose a relationship to the state?

I think it serves as a reminder thatChristians have to be realists in their deal-ings with government. I think anyonewho has a utopian view of the world islooking at life through rose-colouredglasses. In the light of all that has hap-pened over the last century, you’d have tobe crazy to be a utopian.

My own view is that the beast inDaniel 7 doesn’t represent four distinctnations; I think the ‘beast’ stands for allnations. There is no pure nation. Everynation has oppressors. In other words,any grouping together of sinners is goingto intensify and concentrate sin. Thismeans that the state, if it is governed bypeople who lack scruples and conscience,can easily become oppressive. However,this doesn’t mean that Christians shouldabandon government as a lost cause. Ibelieve that the Bible calls upon believersto be active citizens and not withdrawfrom the political process. Nevertheless,the beast image in Daniel should defi-nitely remind us that utopianism is unjus-tified and that we mustn’t put our hope innation-states as our saviours.Government may be able to do a lot ofgood things, but we must always be waryof it. It certainly can’t save us or redeemthe human race.

Do you think people are lookingmore and more to the modern wel-fare state as a sort of messiah who hasthe power to rescue our culture andlook after everyone? For instance, inAustralia the government looks afteryour health, you get free education,unemployment benefits, disabilitypensions, the old age pension,defence etc?

We don’t have that problem in theUnited States, because our governmentdoesn’t do it. I know Australian govern-ments are more benevolent in that regardand look after their disadvantaged citizensbetter. However, there are a lot ofAmericans who want to move in thatdirection although the Bush administra-tion believes that that’s not the responsi-bility of the state. Whether it’s right forgovernment to get involved in more wel-

fare or not is one debate; whetherChristians should put their hopes in themodern welfare state is quite another. Ithink the warning that comes from thebook of Daniel is that Christians shouldn’tput their hope in the government. Ourhope should be in God alone and weshould look for the blessings of salvationin the fellowship of God’s people. Theworld can’t deliver these. I think that it’sin the gospel and the church that we aregoing to find our hope in this world.

What about politicians? How didDaniel survive as a believer over somany decades in such a dirty game ofpower politics?

I think politi-cians have animmensely diffi-cult task inremaining faithfulas Christians anddoing their politi-cal work.Personally, I havebeen disap-pointed with a lotof them in recent

times. I think they are failing miserably. (Idon’t want to name names at the moment– but I am not very happy about the sortof witness that Tom DeLay has been giv-ing recently.) Their task is certainly diffi-cult; I’ll be the first to admit that. But ifthat’s their calling from God, then theyhave to struggle to remain faithful to Godand not give up. That’s all I have to say onthat. I think the book of Daniel does pro-vide some useful clues on how Christianscan participate in the affairs of the stateand still be a good witness.

What do we learn about spiritual war-fare in the book?

We probably learn more from the bookof Daniel about the place of spiritual war-fare than we do in any other place in theOld Testament. In Daniel 10 we movebehind human events where the curtainsare pulled back on the spiritual realm andyou see a battle raging in the heavens. Oneof the angels, Michael, is engaged in con-flict with the spirit-prince of Persia andthere is talk about a coming conflict withthe spirit-prince of Greece.

While the Old Testament tends to con-centrate on God fighting against flesh andblood enemies, the book of Daniel andseveral other Old Testament textsstrongly hint that there is a relentless,ongoing struggle between God and Satanthat is rooted in the prophecy of Genesis3:15. This passage refers to a conflict aris-

ing out of enmity between God and Satanand the seed of the woman and the seed ofthe serpent. Augustine referred to it as thestruggle between the City of God and theCity of Man.

What are to make of apocalyptic?There are some extravagant claimsmade about it by people such as HalLindsey. What are we to think?

Well, the first thing that I should say isthat apocalyptic is interesting, exciting,enigmatic and intentionally so. And thesecond thing I would say is that we oughtnot to use it to establish some sort ofblueprint or calendar of the end times.The numbers and images that are used inapocalyptic are deliberately symbolic.And because they are symbolic they arenot meant to be used to produce preciseinformation such as the timing of the endof the world. We simply don’t knowenough in these areas to know when thecounting starts. Are we meant to take thenumber seven literally or symbolically?There are all those sorts of problems.

In my view, what the numbers tell us isthat God has a predetermined time in Hismind. However, He hasn’t given us a key,so to speak, to figure it out. I think thatpeople like Hal Lindsey, or HaroldCamping, whom I debated in 1994, useapocalyptic in different ways. Basically,there are two types of people who talkabout the end-times. One camp says “Wedon’t know when it’s going to be exactly,but all the signs are beginning appear soit’s likely to be very soon”. Then you getthe Hal Lindsey type who says the end ofthe world is going to take place on 15September 1994. There have been some-thing like 300 major predictions about theend of the world since World War Two.Sooner or later people start to think aboutall this. And the conclusion they draw isthat these people are either misguided orfrauds.

What place do prayer, confession andrepentance have in the book?

This is an important subject. Daniel 9has a lot to say about prayer, confessionand repentance. We tend to concentrate onthe exciting bits of prophecy but Daniel’sprayer for Israel plays an important role intheir final return to their land. In that par-ticular chapter it’s important to noticewhy he begins to pray. He begins prayingbecause he is reading the prophecy ofJeremiah. So Scripture reading and prayergo hand in hand. A lot of Christians justpray and do very little Scripture study.Daniel shows us that an active prayer life iscultivated by Scripture reading. ap

E V A N G E L I S MD A N I E L


The NewTestament is

not particularlyinterested in

improving thegeneral

morality of the world.

However we explain the declininginfluence of Christianity inAustralia at present – whetherwe attribute it to the failure of

church leaders to fashion a meaningfuland compelling message in the modernworld, or the overpowering influence ofsecularism, or the cumulative effect ofscandal and sex abuse – the result has beenthat many Christians have lost confidencein the power of Christianity to changepeople’s lives.

Often this loss of confidence is rein-forced by preachers who paint such ahopeless picture of secular society thatbelievers are led to think that evangelismis a doomed exercise because the secularmind is so resistant to spiritual truth.

If you have ever been on the receivingend of a hostile response to yourChristian witness, you will know howsuch an encounter can dent your confi-dence that God can transform a person’sheart. I still have vivid memories of abruising pastoral experience shortly after Ibecame a minister. While I was visiting aman in his home I endured an agonisinghour of tirade on everything that waswrong with Christianity and thePresbyterian Church. I left his house feel-ing thoroughly dejected.

Sadly, in my immaturity I gave up onhim at that point. I was wrong. AlthoughI saw no significant change in his attitudesthroughout the following five years, sometime shortly after that God renewed hisheart and left him a thoroughly changedman. He joined the church and subse-quently served as an office-bearer. Hisconversion taught me an important les-son. As a Christian I should never doubtthe miracle of grace. No one is beyond thereach of God.

Ithink this is one of the most importantlessons of the book of Daniel. The

fourth chapter of the book is a reminderof the irresistible nature of God’s graceand his love for sinners. Daniel 4:1-33 is inthe form of a tract written by KingNebuchadnezzar. It is substantiallyrecorded in the first person. The tractdescribes how an ancient tyrant came toknow the true God and it outlines the var-ious spiritual processes through which he

passed before he was truly converted. It isthe record of how a tremendously proudand self-centred man was brought torepentance and a saving knowledge of theLord.

What spiritual lessons does this tractteach us? I think Nebuchadnezzar’s testi-mony serves to remind the modernchurch of God’s long-suffering mercy andlove for sinners. God’s grace is notrestricted to one nation. It reaches out toeveryone. TheLord saves sin-ners in Nineveh,Babylon, andeven hard-bittens e c u l a r i s t s in modernAustralia. Thereis no person, raceor culture that isbeyond God’sreach. Becausethis is so, God’slove reaches eventhe worst of sin-ners for “where sin abounds, graceabounds even more” (Romans 5:20).

The amazing thing about Daniel 4 isthat it describes how the grace of Godsuper-abounds to the most wicked ofmen. God shines a light inNebuchadnezzar’s soul so that his heartis transformed. He becomes a new manwho delights to tell others what Godhas accomplished in his life (Daniel 4:2-3). This glorying in the Lord is a charac-teristic of everyone whose heart hasbeen touched by God’s grace (Rom.11:33).

The extraordinary thing that occurredto me as I read this tract is that Godextends His grace to a vile man such asNebuchadnezzar. There seems littledoubt that he is one of the most violentand cruel men known to the human race.He lacked a due sense of self-restraint.When he was angry, his disdain for othersknew no limits. His cruelty was legendary.

He was prepared to slaughter his entireroyal court because they could not fulfillone of his whimsical demands (Dan. 2:5).Again, he gave not a moment’s hesitationto cremating three loyal Jewish subjects inan oven not too different from a blast fur-nace (Dan. 3:19). He did the same tosome other Jews, Zedekiah and Ahab (Jer.29:22). He added to his acts of notorietyby blinding King Zedekiah after he hadfirst slain his two sons before his veryeyes.

Nebuchadnezzar was no less heart-less than many modern dictators. Hewas engaged in the same sort of ethniccleansing and state-sanctioned violenceas Robert Mugabe, Slobadan Milosevicand Saddam Hussein. And yet to thisman, the worst of sinners, Godextended mercy. That is why this tract isa remarkable example of how God’ssovereign grace reaches down andtouches the hearts of people who leastdeserve it.

Mind you, the process by which Godchanged Nebuchadnezzar’s heart wasrather painful. Elihu, in the book of Job,reminds us that God often confronts us intraumatic ways when He wants to reformus. “For God does speak – now one way,now another – though man may not per-ceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the nighthe may speak in their ears and terrify themwith warnings to turn a man from wrong-doing and to keep him from pride, to pre-serve his soul from the pit” (Job 33:14-18).

The book of Daniel records that Godfirst humbled Nebuchadnezzar with a

number of terrifying dreams and thenafflicted him with a prolonged period ofmental suffering (Dan. 4:31-33). Whenpeople won’t heed dreams, visions anddirect rebuke from God, He often bringssomething worse into their lives. It maybe a sickness or a mental condition.Whatever it is, God can reach down intoHis bag of afflictions and produce some-thing that will completely unnerve us – astock market crash, a health crisis, a hurri-cane, a tsunami, or a terrorist bombing.God knows what is necessary to bring usto our knees.

In Nebuchadnezzar’s case, he was

PeterHastie


Irresistible graceNebuchadnezzar proves that no one is beyond God’s reach.

D A N I E L

The Lordsaves sinnersin Nineveh,Babylon, andeven hard-bitten secular-ists in modernAustralia.

deeply troubled by mental affliction. Hetells us that his mind suddenly snappedand he lost his sanity (Dan. 4:34). In hiscase, he suffered from a disorder knownas lycanthropy, in which he thought ofhimself as a beast. Incurable pride can dostrange things to us. In Nebuchadnezzar’scase he was emotionally and psychiatri-cally unhinged.

Fortunately, that is not the end of thestory. When he had passed through a

dark night of the soul for a little overseven years (Dan. 4:25), God was finallypleased to restore his sanity. He did it atthe moment that Nebuchadnezzar turnedfrom his self-obsession and focused histhoughts on God’s sovereignty. From thatmoment he underwent an extraordinaryrecovery. It seems that his new spiritualperception of God’s sovereignty andgrace played a significant role in his returnto health. Interestingly, he completelyovercame his mental disturbance and lossof personal identity when he yielded him-self to God and confessed His absolutesovereignty.

His tract makes it clear that he reachednew heights of personal accomplishmentand happiness when he abased himself andcame to the point where he could glorifythe one, true and eternal God. A pro-found change came over him which freed

him to confess God’s majesty with glad-ness. His sense of exultation – “I blessedthe Most High and praised and honouredHim who lives forever” – is of a kind rem-iniscent of Jonathan Edwards, who wrote:“But I have often times, since that firstconviction, had quite another kind ofsense of God’s sovereignty, than I had

then. I have often since, not only had aconviction, but a delightful conviction.The doctrine of God’s sovereignty hasvery often appeared an exceeding pleas-ant, bright and sweet doctrine to me: andabsolute sovereignty is what I love toascribe to God.” Nebuchadnezzar con-curred: “I praise, exalt and honour theKing of heaven … For His dominion is aneverlasting dominion, and His kingdomendures from generation to generation”

(Dan. 4:34, 37)Nebuchadnezzar’s conversion is a sig-

nificant account for Christians who areworking on the front-line in evangelism.It serves to remind us that each person’sconversion is a miracle and that only Godcan change the human heart.

Nebuchadnezzar representshumankind in a state of hopeless spiritualbondage. He stands for every self-mademan who is secure in his own conceit. Yetwhile such a person may give the impres-sion of being unreachable for Christ, inDaniel 4 we learn that God has His ownterrible disciplines that bring recalcitrantsinners to heel. The Lord did somethingin this dictator’s soul that opened hisheart in joyful praise. This memorableaccount of Nebuchadnezzar’s conversionshould breathe new hope into everyChristian that there is no one beyond thepale. Even a hardened atheist can bebrought to the Lord. It gives freshpoignancy to Paul’s words: “Therefore,my beloved brothers, be steadfast,immovable, always abounding in the workof the Lord, for you know that yourlabour in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor.15:58).

Peter Hastie is minister of AshfieldPresbyterian Church, Sydney, and issueseditor of AP. ap

D A N I E L

1 0 • A U S T R A L I A N P R E S B Y T E R I A N November 2005

Nebuchadnezzarstands for

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When I think of keeping clean ina dirty place the image thatpops into my head is that ofJames Bond as played by Roger

Moore. His suit is always in immaculatecondition even if he’s just had a deadlyfight with baddies or rolled out of theback of a moving van. Keeping clean in adirty place might seem to be the stuff offiction. But it is not. Daniel and his threeJewish friends provide us with models ofpeople who manage to keep their moralsand faith clean amid the filth of a worldthat was devoted to magic, idolatry andboot-scraping subservience to powerfulpagan rulers.

In 605 BC Nebuchadnezzar defeatedthe Assyrians at Carchemish. TheAssyrians had vainly tried to protectEgypt. Now Nebuchadnezzar wasassured of being able to control access tothe Mediterranean Sea with all the massiveeconomic benefits this involved. As far asNebuchadnezzar was concerned,Jerusalem was little more than a speedbump on his march to the Mediterranean.The northern kingdom, Israel, had alreadybeen utterly destroyed by the Assyrians in722 BC. All that was left was the southernkingdom, Judah.

You can hear the swish of the broom asNebuchadnezzar sweeps away Jehoiakim,the king of Judah and desecrates the tem-ple. There seemed to be nothing left forDaniel and his friends to stand on.

Upon migrating to Australia, manypeople from other cultural backgroundsfeel like they are in very deep waters. Theymay cling to their own traditions and cul-ture as to a life raft. However, Daniel andhis friends were severely limited in theirability to cling to their own cultural her-itage. Nebuchadnezzar sought to enforcea thorough assimilation policy. He wasdetermined to sweep away from their liveseverything that made them distinctive asGod’s people.

Daniel’s impressive character isgrounded in a fundamental decision

he made while still a teenager. He“resolved not to defile himself with theroyal food and wine, and he asked thechief official for permission not to defilehimself this way” (1:8). The same

Hebrew word is used to make a classicpun. It is immediately after the chief offi-cial “set for” them Babylonian names, thatDaniel “set” upon his heart (“resolved”)that he would not defile himself with theking’s food or drink. It is the assignmentof a new identity which spurs Daniel toresist Nebuchadnezzar’s indoctrinationprocess.

Nebuchadnezzar was trying to makeDaniel his puppet. He determined

Daniel’s hairstyleand clothes. Hemade him learnthe Chaldean lan-guage (v4). Hemapped out thefuture for Daniel– a future of serv-ing himself (v5).He even gavethem new names(v7).

In the ancientworld a name was

not just a label. The new broom tried tocompletely change the essential identityof Daniel and his friends. He called Daniel“Belteshazzar” which means “Bel protecthis life!” Nebuchadnezzar is saying that ifDaniel is going to survive in Babylon itwill be because his god, Bel, has protectedhim. The last verse of the chapter reads:“And Daniel remained there until the firstyear of King Cyrus.” Daniel is still inBabylon after Nebuchadnezzar is deadand gone. Daniel is a better survivor thanNebuchadnezzar. But as Daniel 1 teaches,this is not because Nebuchadnezzar’sgod, Bel, protects Daniel, but becauseGod Himself protects Daniel.

G.K. Chesterton quipped, “I believein getting into hot water; it keeps youclean.” Daniel deliberately stepped intopolitical hot water when he asked not tobe given the royal food and wine. AsAshpenaz explained with fear, noneother than king Nebuchadnezzar himselfhad assigned Daniel’s food and drink.

But Daniel had set his heart on remainingpure. Repeatedly in the book of Danielwe see that the refusal of Daniel and hisfriends to avoid political hot water iswhat keeps them clean. These menrefused to compromise their standardseven when by standing their ground theysigned their own death warrants. InDaniel 3 Meshach, Shadrach andAbednego refuse to defile themselveswith idolatry and are thrown into thefiery furnace. In Daniel 6 Daniel refusesto defile himself with the idolatry ofreplacing the worship of Yahweh withthe worship of king Cyrus and he isthrown into the lion’s den.

Daniel and his friends were “Israelitesfrom the royal family and the nobil-

ity” who “showed aptitude for every kindof learning, well informed, quick tounderstand”. But no matter what acade-mic qualifications they had earned at theUniversity of Judah, no cross-creditingwas allowed. Nebuchadnezzar was deter-mined to thoroughly indoctrinate Danieland his three friends. We are told they“were to be trained for three years”. KingNebuchadnezzar insisted that they do thestandard, full three-year Babyloniandegree course.

In Australia doctors do an MBBScourse – Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelorof Surgery degree. Nebuchadnezzar set anMBBS course for Daniel and his friends:Bachelor of Magic, Bachelor of Servicedegree. This degree program was intendedto produce wise men described as “magi-

A U S T R A L I A N P R E S B Y T E R I A N November 2005 • 1 1

Cleaning upDaniel kept himself undefiled, and reaped the reward.

MikeWilson

D A N I E L

“I believe ingetting intohot water;

it keeps youclean.”

G.K. CHESTERTON

VisitingMelbourne?Worship with us at South Yarra

Presbyterian Church

621 Punt Road

Every Sunday 10.30 am. & 5.30 pm.

Session Clerk: Mr Jack Adlawan

Phone: (03) 9808 7391

(Less than 3 kms from CBD)

cians and enchanters”. Ashpenaz was theDean of Studies and his job was “to teachthem the language and literature of theBabylonians”. Babylonian literatureincluded omens, magic spells, prayers,hymns, myths, legends, “scientific” for-mulae for skills such as glass-making,mathematics and astrology, and law code.But the very nature of ancient thoughtprevented any field of study being sepa-rated from religious and magical concep-tions. Consequently, Daniel and hisfriends were forced to study literaturewhich was full of idolatrous and occulttalk.

Ionce taught a course on biblical ethicsto students in Pakistan, many of whom

were serving as pastors. Then I listed onthe board about 20 different areas of ethi-cal concern: embezzlement, church lead-ers acting like politicians, sexual immoral-ity, etc. I asked them to select the oneissue which particularly troubled them.Do you know what they chose? Magic!Many people come from cultures inwhich people take magic very seriously.There are many people now living inSydney who believe strongly in the powerof the evil eye. In Pakistan I learnt neverto say, “What a beautiful child!”. I learnt itwas appropriate to say instead, “What adear or precious child!” It is not onlyMuslims and people from certain othernon-English speaking cultures who prac-

tise various forms of magic, but there aremany Anglo-Celtic Australians in Sydneywho are heavily into New Age magicalpractices, into astrology, tarot cards, for-tune telling, psychic powers and theoccult.

God enabled Daniel and his friends tograduate as Nebuchadnezzar’s top stu-dents: “To these four young men Godgave knowledge and understanding of all

kinds of literature and learning.” They sothoroughly understood and masteredBabylonian literature that in verses 18-20we read, “At the end of the time set by theking to bring them in, the chief officialpresented them to Nebuchadnezzar. Theking talked with them, and he found noneequal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael andAzariah; so they entered the king’s ser-

vice. In every matter of wisdom andunderstanding about which the king ques-tioned them, he found them 10 times bet-ter than all the magicians and enchantersin his whole kingdom.”

Astonishingly, though immersed inliterature which was dripping wet withidolatry and magic, Daniel and hisfriends came out perfectly dry. In theBook of Daniel God twice delivers Hisfaithful servants out of situations of cer-tain destruction. In Daniel 3 Meshach,Shadrach and Abednego are thrown intothe fiery furnace. But an angel is withthem in the fire and when they come outof that fire, all of the important politicalfigures in Babylon crowd around themand “they saw that the fire had notharmed their bodies, nor was a hair oftheir heads singed; their robes were notscorched, and there was no smell of fireon them” (3:27).

Similarly in Daniel 6 Daniel spends awhole night in the lions’ den. But

when Daniel was lifted out of the den, weare told, “no wound was found on him,because he had trusted in his God” (v23).These are not just accurate records ofGod’s saving power. They are also para-bles which explain how it was that Danieland his friends could be immersed in a sit-uation which from a human point of viewwas certain to destroy their faith in God,and yet emerge morally blameless,morally clean and pure, without any hintof compromise or disloyalty to God. Andit all goes back to that fundamentalresolve on Daniel’s part.

This is the challenge which faces us asGod’s people. Not to be ships in drydock. We need to be like ships that sail inthe water, but we also need to keep thewater out of our ships; to be in the worldwithout being of the world. We are con-stantly pressured to conform to thisworld. Our minds are constantly assailedby images and ways of thinking thatthreaten to compromise our relationshipwith God. At the foundational level ourintegrity depends not so much upon ourability to think our way through this orthat difficult situation. Rather, it isrooted in a fundamental resolve madewithin the depths of our hearts toremain true to our Lord. May the Lordhelp each of us to set our heart againstdefilement and keep clean in a dirtyworld.

Mike Wilson is a Presbyterian minister whoworks in multi-cultural outreach and train-ing. He also lectures at the PresbyterianCentre, Burwood, Sydney. ap

D A N I E L


Thoughimmersed in

literaturewhich was

dripping wetwith idolatry

and magic,Daniel and his

friends cameout perfectly

dry.


E V A N G E L I S MB I B L E S T U D Y

This month’s notes on Daniel are a jointeffort and I am indebted to PaulBeringer for sharing the writing of them with me.

Daniel is a difficult but rewarding book. Writingthe notes has been frustrating because there are somany issues to deal with, but so little space to doso. It would have been good to deal in greaterdepth with the “four kingdoms”, the “son of man”,and the meaning of “time, times and half a time”(7:25 – Does it mean some specific 3.5 years inhistory, or just a cutting short of God’s peoplebeing “down for the count”, “1-2-...” but rescuedjust before “3”?). Those who want to take thesethings further will have to refer to commentaries.

What is important is that we don’t ignore this partof Scripture just because it has difficulties. It contains a wealth of material to “teach, rebuke,correct, and train in righteousness” (2 Timothy3:16). Daniel and his three friends are great rolemodels for our sanctification; and it is comfortingtoday to know that God is still in control of humanhistory, bringing it to the vindication of truth.

As John Calvin wrote in the 1561 Preface to hisDaniel commentary, dedicated to the persecutedHuguenot churches of the kingdom of France: “We need to be reminded that this book of Danielis a book where God with wonderful wisdom hastaken care to strengthen the minds of believers byancient examples, so that they should never beweakened by the concussion of the severest stormsand tempests, or at least, if they should totter, theyshall not finally fall away.”

Bruce Christian4

Wonderfulwisdom20 daily Bible studies

in Daniel 1-7


B I B L E S T U D Y

THE PASSAGE DANIEL 1:1-7

THE POINT Daniel and his 3 friends in Babylon will epito-

mise the striking, irreconcilable difference between God’s ways

and the ways of the world. Nebuchadnezzar’s strategy will

bring this out fully.

THE PARTICULARS• In the second half of 605BC Jehoiakim was coming to the end

of his 3rd year as king of Judah. He’d aligned himself with Egypt,

but now Babylon, after the decisive Battle of Carchemish, was

pursuing its old enemy south through Palestine, taking its terri-

tories. Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem was part of this (1).

• What seemed like a victory for the Babylonian gods was in

fact the disciplinary action of the sovereign Creator of the uni-

verse – as had been predicted by Isaiah (29:1-4) and Jeremiah

(6:6-8) (2).

• Nebuchadnezzar’s strategy was to assimilate the “cream” of

the nations he conquered into his own elite leadership team; he

was willing to commit time and costly resources to achieving

this (3-5).

• The attempted assimilation extended to allocating new names

that didn’t contain Hebrew references to God (“el”/“iah”) (6-7).

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• What resources/time/expense are we as a Church prepared to

devote to training good, young leaders for the future, to teach-

ing them “the language and literature” of the Kingdom of God?


THE POINT The Church is under constant pressure to com-

ply with human wisdom – be it in the therapy group, or the

market place, or the science lab. The world bases its wisdom on

what works, or at least seems to; God calls His Church to obe-

dience to His ways, and to trust Him with the outcome (cf 1

Corinthians 1:20-29).

THE PARTICULARS• Daniel resolved from the very first not to compromise in any

way with the Babylonian formula for success, no matter how

attractive and convincing it might have appeared to be (8).

• Ultimate success in any venture is in the hands of our sover-

eign God alone; He can move men’s hearts to achieve His pur-

pose (9).

• The Babylonian official and the guard under him were

accountable to the king and each obviously had a strong attach-

ment to his job – and his head! Yet Daniel’s consistent personal

witness must have been impressive enough to persuade them to

allow a 10-day trial of the alcohol-free, vegetarian diet (10-14).

• The excellent outcome of the trial would have been due to a

combination of the sensible diet and God’s provision (15-16).

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Is the Church today guilty of adopting the world’s approach

to marketing in order to achieve success? What results? Why?

THE PASSAGE DANIEL 1:17-21THE POINT The truth of God’s pronouncement to Eli,

“Those who honour me I will honour” (1 Samuel 2:30) is

borne out in Daniel’s life and experience. Jesus makes the

same point in Matthew 10:32-33.

THE PARTICULARS• The outstanding knowledge and understanding exhibited by

the four men, especially Daniel, was a specific gift to them from

the sovereign Lord, not an automatic consequence of their diet.

The diet itself was just a demonstration of their commitment of

obedience to God’s ways and of their unwavering trust in Him

(17).

• The wisdom given to the 4 friends by God was not just a

slight improvement on the natural wisdom of the other partici-

pants in the grooming school; it was clearly from a completely

different source and impressed the King of Babylon to an

unprecedented extent (18-20). Look again at the sharp contrast

Paul draws between human and divine wisdom in 1 Corinthians

1:18-2:16.

• Those pursuing God’s wisdom should have absolutely nothing

to do with things such as magic, the Stars, Tarot cards, etc (20).

• Daniel’s influence lasted the 70 years of Babylonian captivity

(21, cf Ezra 1:1ff). God never leaves Himself without a witness.

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Do we make a clear stand for the Bible against human wis-

dom?


THE POINT Did you hear about the fortunetellers’ confer-

ence that had to be cancelled “due to unforeseen circum-

stances”? Nebuchadnezzar was shrewd enough to know how

to distinguish between true wisdom and the claims of charla-

tans, even if he didn’t know (as yet – cf verse 47) what the real

source of the true wisdom was.

THE PARTICULARS• God is able to use dreams and visions to reveal “mysteries” to

men (even unbelievers), but the means by which such revela-

tions are interpreted must be clearly seen to be His divine work.

• One thing the charlatans did get right was the fact that man’s

wisdom alone can never reveal the mysteries of God (10-11).

• Although Nebuchadnezzar had recognised the clear distinc-

tion between Daniel and friends and all the other “wise” coun-

sellors (1:19-20), he had not yet put them in a separate category

(13).

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Why do people in this “enlightened” age (including even pro-

fessing Christians!) fall for the idea that their lives are influ-

enced by the stars? What does Nebuchadnezzar teach them?

• Does the Church today need to take more seriously the task

of discerning between what is truly of God and what is Satan

masquerading as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:13-14)?

DAY 4 Frauds exposed.

DAY 1 More than he bargained for.

DAY 2 Trust God, and keep your diet dry.

DAY 3 True wisdom.


B I B L E S T U D Y

THE PASSAGE DANIEL 2:14-23THE POINT This passage is a model for the Church when we

are faced with a difficult situation. Sadly, we are more inclined

to panic and take things into our own hands to start with, only

resorting to what Daniel did here when all else fails! What a

lesson this is.

THE PARTICULARS• The first action Daniel took was to use both wisdom and tact

to make a balanced assessment of the overall situation; he did not

panic or act impulsively, but sought time for reflection (14-16).

• Daniel’s second action was to seek the help and support of a

few close trusted friends who shared his spiritual concerns (17).

• The third step was to unite together in prayer, to plead before

the throne of grace for the mercy of the God of heaven (18).

It is good to note that this was a pleading, not a demanding,

prayer!

• The fourth step was to give praise and thanks to almighty

God as the sovereign Lord over every aspect of Creation: the

weather, history, His covenant; and the one who is the source

of power, knowledge and wisdom (19-23). Modern, scientific

man in all his arrogant pride has much to learn from Daniel in

this passage!

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• What important lessons do we need to learn from Daniel

about how we should respond to the difficulties we meet each

day?

THE PASSAGE DANIEL 2:24-35THE POINT The lessons that Nebuchadnezzar had to learn

were lessons that every son of Adam must learn: this is God’s

world and we are only custodians of His gifts as He works out

His sovereign plan in the finest detail; He is the source of all

wisdom; and, in the end, even the greatest of human kingdoms

will turn to dust.

THE PARTICULARS• Daniel found himself in a position where he could gain great

advantage in the presence of the all-powerful King of Babylon.

The message he had for him was a very favourable one, which

would put Nebuchadnezzar in a good humour (cf 37-38); and

the fact that Daniel was gifted with such amazing insight would

guarantee him honour and recognition throughout the king-

dom for many years to come. But Daniel remained humble

and self-effacing, giving all the glory and praise to his God

alone (27-30).

• God rules in heaven. He can reveal mysteries concerning the

future (the “unknowable” from any human perspective since we

are confined by time/space) because he controls history (28).

• The correspondence in every specific detail between the

king’s dream and Daniel’s explanation proved God’s sovereign

rule.

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Does all your life reflect the fact that there is a God in

heaven?

THE PASSAGE DANIEL 2:36-49THE POINT Challenged with more evidence that the God of

Daniel is the one true God, Nebuchadnezzar is prepared to

acknowledge the fact, but he still has more to learn about total

and humble surrender!

THE PARTICULARS• The interpretation of the dream begins with what appears to

be overt flattery, but we know Daniel well enough to be confi-

dent that he was simply passing on what God had revealed to

him. It was true that, in His providence, and to achieve His

purposes, God had chosen Nebuchadnezzar to have such

supreme glory and power; but the king had to learn that God

was the giver (36-38).

• It seems the 4 kingdoms are Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece

and Rome. Opinions differ, but the important truth God is

teaching us in this part of His inspired Word is that whatever

worldly kingdoms might rise up against His Church, they will

ultimately all fail and the Church will remain, victorious, Rock-

solid forever. This will be God’s doing alone (39-45, cf

Matthew 16:18).

• In the imagery of the conquering rock, carved by God from

the mountain, it is difficult to ignore a reference to Jesus, the

Son of God born of a woman, risen and reigning for His

Church (44-45).

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• How does the king’s dream help the persecuted Church today?

THE PASSAGE DANIEL 3:1-15THE POINT Yesterday we saw King Nebuchadnezzar being

humbled before Daniel’s God, acknowledging him as Lord over

all (2:47). But the change of heart was short-lived, and the

king needs another lesson in who is really ruling the world.

Sadly, even this won’t be the end of the matter:

Nebuchadnezzar is a slow learner!

THE PARTICULARS• God’s purpose in the previous vision was to humble the king

of Babylon; Nebuchadnezzar read it as support for displaying

his own greatness for all to recognise – wasn’t he the head of

gold?

• Everything about this event points to Nebuchadnezzar’s

desire to bring absolutely everything in the kingdom under his

control: the repeated long lists of officials and musical instru-

ments, and of the heralded proclamation to all nations/peo-

ples/languages.

• The response was immediate and universal – almost! – which

made the stand of the 3 brave Jews more striking, and more

repugnant to those committed to the world’s values and way of

thinking (8).

• The king’s true spiritual colours are displayed in the form and

intensity of his reaction to the stand of the 3 Jews (13-15).

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• How much are we prepared to make a stand against humanism?

• Are we meeting increasing opposition to the Gospel today?

DAY 8 Things are hotting up!.

DAY 5 Wisdom, tact and prayer.

DAY 6 There is a God in heaven.

DAY 7 The Rock of Ages.


B I B L E S T U D Y

THE PASSAGE DANIEL 3:16-30THE POINT Nebuchadnezzar had set himself up for the

dump. He would use all the power at his disposal to teach

these upstarts from Judah a thing or two. Hadn’t he already

destroyed the city and temple of their God? So why did they

imagine this God, or any god, could possibly rescue them now?

But the king hadn’t allowed for the fourth Man in the furnace,

the One in whom the whole Creation and human history

found its meaning and purpose (Colossians 1:15-17), and

before whom, eventually, every knee would bow in full submis-

sion and praise (Philippians 2:9-11)! Plan A was intact.

THE PARTICULARS• The four parts of S, M and A’s defence before the king are

quite illuminating: God himself will always defend those who

are His so we don’t need to worry about defending ourselves;

God can do anything He wants; God will look after our well-

being; even if things don’t turn out as we’d hoped, He knows

what is best and is still the true God who alone is worthy of

our praise (16-18).

• Unwittingly, Nebuchadnezzar rightly identified the “visitor”

in the furnace as “a son of the gods” – the pre-incarnate Christ

(25).

• The 3 Jews’ brave stand in the face of danger paid off (26-30).

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Have you put your whole life in God’s hand (Romans 8:31-

32)?

THE PASSAGE DANIEL 4:1-18THE POINT It’s very easy for absolute monarchs to become

“too big for their boots” – contented, prosperous and totally

self-sufficient. Yet pride is the downfall of all of us unless we

too are humbled by God to acknowledge that “He is sovereign

over the kingdoms of men and He gives them to anyone He

wishes” (17b, cf 25b, 32). His kingdom (alone) is an eternal

kingdom and His dominion endures from generation to gener-

ation (3, cf 34b). Pride in the face of the Most High God is

madness, a lie, robbery and an utter abomination.

THE PARTICULARS• Nebuchadnezzar’s public declaration that the Lord alone is

King came only after his profound humbling – portrayed so

clearly and vividly in his terrifying dream of a mighty tree that

was felled, leaving only a stump, held together by metal bands.

• The suggestion of his becoming a demented and degraded

beast living in the wild, was as unthinkable as it was clear (15-

16)!

• God’s Wisdom says otherwise. Daniel (“God is my judge”),

even under his pagan title “Belteshazzer” (8, cf 1:6-7), was the

only one who could bring this reality home to the “Mighty

Monarch”.

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Did Nebuchadnezzar really need this nightmare interpreted?

Why are we sometimes so slow to understand God’s rebukes?

THE PASSAGE DANIEL 4:19-27THE POINT Although God’s decree concerningNebuchadnezzar was issued (24), and judgement was clearlyforewarned, the outcome was still in the balance. If and whenNebuchadnezzar renounced his wickedness, and determined torectify the injustice suffered by the oppressed, then all wouldnot be lost. Only when and if the Babylonian King trulyacknowledged that “The Most High is sovereign over the king-doms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes” (25b, 32),could there be the prospect of restoration.

THE PARTICULARS• Daniel, as a trusted advisor to the King, was terrified by theinterpretation that the Most High God had given him. BeingGod’s spokesman in a fallen world is often quite hard and

frightening.• Daniel’s concern for the king shows us that such judgementis not something to gloat over, even for our enemies or oppres-sors.• Daniel’s respectful appeal to the king to repent (27) remindsus of the Lord Jesus’ tender and heartfelt appeal to the peopleof Jerusalem (Luke 13:34f; 19:41f) and our God’s grace to ussinners.• The seven “times” (25) are most likely intended to mean“years”.

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• If God requires you to rebuke someone (cf Luke 17:3) whatdoes Daniel teach you about courage? ... speaking the truth inlove?

THE PASSAGE DANIEL 4:28-37THE POINT Sadly, but obviously, twelve months can erase

from the memory of the proud the nightmare that was a wake-

up call, and even the pleading of a trusted friend and merciful

God. In fact pride is a poison that blinds and sends a person

mad. It is clear to us that Nebuchadnezzar’s words in verse 30

are the words of an arrogant fool, and his inevitable downfall

was swift and great.

THE PARTICULARS• Even just simple respect for the Most High God did not

bring a change of heart. As Jeremiah (17:9) says, “The heart is

deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can under-

stand it?”

• Everything God reveals in His Word He carries out (33).

This truth should encourage and comfort His Church today

(especially in places where there is intense persecution) as we

wait for the Lord’s Return and the coming of the Kingdom of

God.

• Only the Lord can change the proud heart. Everything He

does is consistent with his righteousness and justice (37).

Amazingly, the real purpose of His humbling of us is to lift us

up (36).

• Being so full of ourselves always leaves no room for the Lord.

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Is the Lord God just someone you have great respect for, or

have you really turned to him in repentance with a contrite heart?

DAY 12 How the mighty have fallen.

DAY 9 Extra heat... extra Man.

DAY 10 Walking in pride.

DAY 11 The mercy of a warning.


B I B L E S T U D Y

THE PASSAGE DANIEL 5:1-12THE POINT The feast in the palace of the last king of the

Babylonian empire is dated precisely from the Nabonidus

chronicles on 14 October 538BC. This drunken orgy was a

deliberate “in your face” desecration of the true worship of the

Most High God. The goblets plundered from the Jerusalem

Temple fifty years earlier were commandeered for the praise of

the gods of gold, silver etc. It was time for the Most High

God to bring down his Judgement.

THE PARTICULARS• It seems that King Belshazzar had learnt nothing from the

life-changing experience of his ancestor, Nebuchadnezzar (cf

4:37).

• God chose to use a public, spectacular, supernatural means to

attract Belshazzar’s attention (unlike the dreams given to his

predecessor); it seems he had a harder, less sensitive heart!

• Daniel was still in the court of the king, but it seems he had

been totally disregarded and forgotten. It was only when ter-

ror once more gripped the royal household that his wisdom

was again sought. Many people treat the Bible, our source

book of God’s wisdom, in much the same way, to their own

peril!

• Desperate men resort to desperate measures.

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Why is it wise to read God’s Word each day? (cf 2 Tim.

3:16f)


THE POINT• The vast learning of the Babylonians (which the Bible uses as

a picture of the wisdom of a world in its opposition to God)

was totally confounded by the writing on the wall. The wise

men of that great empire didn’t have a clue. However, Daniel's

track record was remembered. He lost no time in reminding

the new king of his predecessor’s monumental fall when he

allowed his pride and arrogance to rob the Most High God of

his glory!

THE PARTICULARS• Daniel didn’t need any inducement to set the king straight.

Like the Lord Jesus before Pilate, he asserted that ‘you would

have no power over me if it were not given to you from above’

(John 19:11). The Most High God has His way of raising up

rulers for His purposes and He can depose them immediately

when power has gone to their head (cf 2:21, 4:17). This is a

lesson which the world always has been, and still is, very slow

to learn.

• We can sense a harsher attitude in Daniel towards Belshazzar

than was present in his earlier dealings with Nebuchadnezzar

many years before. God’s patience runs out when men fail to

learn anything from history. This ought to be a lesson to us all.

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• What important point was Belshazzar still failing to grasp?

THE PASSAGE DANIEL 5:22-31THE POINT Nebuchadnezzar’s experience of God’s interven-

tion in his life, and his public testimony to it (4:1-3, 34-37),

would have been well known throughout the whole kingdom.

Belshazzar had deliberately and conveniently chosen to ignore

all this (22), and, instead, had set himself up in open defiance of

the Most High God. This assured his downfall. God’s

inevitable judgement on such blatant arrogance was as swift as

it was certain.

THE PARTICULARS• Records show that Darius the Mede (Cyrus) captured

Babylon in a single night by diverting the Euphrates river that

protected the city and marching his army along the dry river

bed. With this advantage of surprise the city was taken over,

and the king and 1000 of his nobles never awoke from their

drunken stupor. The Lord’s golden cups they were mocking

became their downfall.

• Isaiah 200 years before (see 44:27-28), and Jeremiah 55 years

before (see 51:39,57) had prophesied this event in precise detail.

• Our God truly holds in His hand our life and all our ways

(23). We are weighed in His balance; not to honour Him is

craziness.

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Belshazzar honoured Daniel (29), but he failed to honour his

God. What important lesson can we learn from this?


THE POINT Promoted because of his loyalty and integrity,

Daniel became the target of a plot from those who were jealous

of the power this foreigner from among the captives was exert-

ing in the kingdom. However, Daniel’s faithfulness to the Lord

in the little things had prepared him for this ultimate test. In

this way he was the representative of the faithful remnant, of

the true Israel, and therefore a foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus

Christ.

THE PARTICULARS• No grounds for charges to secure Daniel’s removal could be

found; not even the slightest sniff of corruption or negligence.

• It was a wonderful and powerful testimony that even Daniel’s

enemies had to admit that the only place they could nail him

was in reference to “obedience to the laws of his God” (5).

• Knowing full well the consequences of the newly decreed law

forbidding worship of the only true God, Daniel maintained his

practice of daily prayers in open defiance. Like his 3 friends he

would not be intimidated, remaining faithful only to his God.

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Satan gains much mileage from the public exposure of cor-

rupt behaviour of God’s people. What safeguards should we

put in place to prevent him from getting a foothold (Ephes.

4:25-28)?

DAY 16 Squeaky clean.

DAY 13 Writing on the wall.

DAY 14 Godly wisdom vs pagan wisdom.

DAY 15 Weighed in the balance.

E V A N G E L I S M



THE POINT Like many other prominent figures before and

since, Darius had succumbed to flattery, and without carefully

considering all the consequences, had made an irrevocable law

that sealed the fate of his respected friend. The king, along with

Daniel, was caught in the trap. The king’s distress, and attempts

to get Daniel off the hook, demonstrated his immense esteem

for this man of God.

THE PARTICULARS• The forces of evil often unite against God’s people (15, cf the

combined action of the Pharisees and Herodians against Jesus).

• Since no loophole could be found, Darius was forced, against

his better judgement, to give in to the pressure being applied by

his officials and have Daniel interned with the ravenous lions.

• Apparently some of Daniel’s confidence in the greater power

of the Most High God had rubbed off on Darius (16).

• The ultimate vindication of those who are faithful to the

Lord is a recurring theme in Daniel, as it is throughout

Scripture.

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Was Darius involved in some “face saving” here? It is hard

to imagine that he, as king, could not have altered his decree in

the light of new evidence he’d overlooked when signing. Do

we at times tend to “save face” rather than do what we know is

just?

THE PASSAGE DANIEL 6:19-28THE POINT A sleepless night, racked by the relentless

thought “What have I done?” in the royal palace, was matched

by an early arrival at the lion’s den with the equally anguished

question “Daniel ... has your God ... been able to rescue you?”

Unsure of what he would find, the impressive implied epitaph

that he includes in his cry, “servant of the living God whom

you serve continually”, though fitting, is premature. Daniel

lives to serve another day!

THE PARTICULARS• Only when Darius overstepped the mark did Daniel defy that

illegitimate command. Otherwise his loyalty to Darius, as one

of the “governing authorities ... which God has established”

(see Romans 13:1) was not in question (cf 21). In this matter,

Daniel was innocent before God, as the king knew only too

well (22).

• “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29) must

remain the catchcry of believers in every age and in every situa-

tion.

• Men and women of steadfast faith and trust have been

thrown to the lions since the time of Daniel, and have not

escaped. V. 23 must be seen as God’s providence in that situa-

tion; he may have other purposes at other times – and even in

death we are safe.

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• Are you trusting God with the “lions” you might face today?

THE PASSAGE DANIEL 7:1-14THE POINT This is the greatest judgement scene in the OT.

It is impossible to construct a moral universe without an ulti-

mate judgement day. Vivid picture language is employed to

convey to us the beastly nature of these earthly kingdoms – and

the terror they struck in the hearts of men. But, like the colos-

sus of chapter 2, no matter how impressive they appear now,

these kingdoms are destined for dust. The stone (eben) grew

to a mountain and smashed that man-made image. The son

(ben) of man (adam), the only faithful, ideal man, was granted

total authority over all nations forever.

THE PARTICULARS• Daniel’s dream starts out as a picture of absolute chaos on

the earth. Since his deportation, 55 years have elapsed. He

has seen one tyrant after another arise to set up a ferocious

empire, with more to come. (The 4 great beasts probably repre-

sent the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek and Roman

Empires.) Each one impacted directly on the lives of God's

people (“saints”, 18).

• The scene changes (9) to order in heaven. Over all the king-

doms of men the Most High God, the Ancient of Days, reigns

supreme. Judgement of the nations is imminent and inevitable

(10-12).

• The “son of man” figure in the dream is clearly the Lord

Jesus, the Messiah. To him is given all authority in heaven and

earth.


THE POINT Much has been written on how to “interpret”

the interpretation of the dream given to Daniel. This isn’t the

place, nor is there space, to deal with all these, but the basic

message is clear: man-made tyrannical kingdoms opposed to

God will rise and fall; the opposition to God will be expressed

in the harsh treatment of God’s special people; God will pro-

vide His own King, from heaven but like a “son of man”

(human) who, in the nick of time, will destroy all the other

kings and will reign forever on behalf of God’s saints. This

Son of Man is representative of God’s faithful people; hence

His dominion is also theirs (18, 27).

THE PARTICULARS• Daniel never saw his power to interpret dreams as being

vested in himself; it was always God he depended on, and this

in itself was a struggle as he wrestled with strange revelations

(15-16, 28). We ought to approach such Scripture with the

same awe and humility as Daniel did, being careful not to be

overly dogmatic. Even the interpretation given to Daniel was

teasingly vague!

• Only Jesus used the title “Son of Man” for himself; His king-

dom consists of believers, not only from the Jews, but every

nation.

TO PONDER ... AND TO PRAY• What have you learnt this month from Daniel and his 3 friends?

DAY 20 Comfort for the Saints.

DAY 17 Read before you sign!.

DAY 18 Can your God rescue you?.

DAY 19 Beasts... and a “Son of Man”.

B I B L E S T U D Y


Appointments

The Presbytery of Torrens has reap-pointed Rev. Stefan Slucki to Seacliff(SA) from 1 February 2006 for a furtherthree years.

At the end of August the Presbytery ofSydney North inducted Rev. Myeong-Gu Lee into the Sydney Young-NakKorean Pastoral Charge. Rev. IanMcKendrick preached the sermon andRev. Dr C.S. Park led the prayers.

The 2006 exit appointments of theo-logical students in the PresbyterianChurch of Victoria have beenannounced: Evan Prentis – Caulfield-Elwood; Gary Stephens – Bairnsdale;Tony Johnson – Balaclava; Ian Hutton –Ararat; Bill Medley – Frankston andDavid Assender – Geelong West.

Scots move

The Scots Church, Sydney (founded in1823 by Rev. Dr. John Dunmore Lang) ishoping to move back into the refurbished“old” Assembly Hall in Margaret Street,Sydney by Christmas. The congregationis currently worshipping in the Crypt ofSt Patrick’s Catholic Church.

New website

Mission Partners (the AustralianPresbyterian World Mission) has a newweb site, www.apwm.presbyterian.org.au

Reformed to gather

The second General Assembly of theWorld Reformed Fellowship will be heldin Johannesburg, South Africa in March.The Presbyterian Church of Australiawill be represented by Moderator-General Bob Thomas who will lead asmall delegation from the church.

Victorian assembly

Presbyterian ministers, chaplains, elders,missionaries, ladies of the PWMU, leadersof PYV and others from all over Victoriagathered in Warrnambool last month forthe Victorian General Assembly. TakingRev. Bill Lutton’s themes from Psalm 96,the assembly heard them again and again

as speakers told of “His salvation fromday to day”. Each day a steady stream ofgospel workers came to the lectern to tellof the “marvelous works of God” over thepast year. The whole week focused on thegospel of Jesus Christ touching the heartsof men, women and young people. In fact,there was so much testimony to thegospel that almost the entire business ofthe assembly was left to the last day! Oneperson said: “We celebrated so much inthe gospel we forgot to do any work!”

Generous bequests

The Victorian Assembly has receivedsome generous gospel donations, mostlyfrom Thompson bequests. $500,000 wasgiven to kick-start the building of a newstudent and visiting staff accommodationcentre on-site at the PresbyterianTheological College; $500,000 to help theBundoora congregation purchase a prop-erty for their use; $500,000 was put asideto earn income to fund new initiatives incross-cultural ministries; and another$500,000 was put aside to earn income tofund the new Evangelism Officer. $50,000was given to the PWMU to provide bur-saries for overseas students at thePresbyterian Theological College;$25,000 was given to the PresbyterianTheological Seminary, Dehra Dun,India; $50,000 was put aside to earnincome to support the funding of overseasspeakers visiting and ministering to thePCV; and the assembly gave on-goingfinancial support for Bill Muehlenberg,Saltshakers and the Australian ChristianLobby. The assembly was greatly encour-

aged by the work of the Church &Nation Committee, and particularlygrateful for the initiatives of convenerDavid Palmer and moderator AllanHarman in representing the PCV at highgovernment levels and lobbying for alter-ations in the Racial and ReligiousTolerance Act 2001.

New moderator

Rev. Graeme Weber of St George’sGeelong, was inducted as PresbyterianChurch of Victoria moderator for 2005-06, signing the same Bible signed by everymoderator of the PCV since James Clowin 1859. Greetings came from Rev. PeterBoyd, moderator of Grace PresbyterianChurch, New Zealand; Rev. KeithMorris, moderator of the PCWA andRev. Peter Hastie of AustralianPresbyterian.

The assembly farewelled the Very Rev.Ted Pearsons, who retired as assemblyclerk after 31 years. He has not beenreplaced, but Rev. Peter Phillips wasappointed deputy clerk. Mrs ElizabethWard was warmly thanked for her eightyears’ leadership as principal of thePresbyterian Ladies College.

The assembly launched a range of newbooks, including a new Sunday Schoolcurriculum See For Yourself, a new com-mentary on Luke by Dr Douglas Milneand a new commentary on Isaiah by DrAllan Harman.

Rt. Rev. Ron Traill was congratulatedon reaching the 50th anniversary of hisordination; he reflected on the privilege ofserving Jesus Christ for so long and

N E W S

AcrossAustralia

reminded ministers of the importance ofvisiting and loving people.

Games team

The Victorian Assembly resolved tosupport Quest Melbourne (ministry toathletes at the 2006 CommonwealthGames) and asked Rev. Richard O’Briento represent the PCV. It also launched acontainer appeal for “resources and relief”for the benefit of our partner church,CCAP Blantyre Synod, Malawi; and asimilar launching of an appeal for theassistance of the Presbyterian Church inSudan.

The Wednesday evening mission rallyheard from much loved “elder statesmen”missionaries Robert and Leonie Betts,together with Rev. Bob Thomas’s andRev. Allan Lendon’s report of theirrecent trip to Malawi, and from PastorChoul about the needs of Sudan. Elevenmembers of Eltham PresbyterianChurch plan to visit Malawi to help nextJune.

Strategic decisions

The Victorian Assembly made a num-ber of strategic and bold decisions. It splitthe role of Home Mission into two newcommittees: a Church Planting &Evangelism Committee and aMaintenance of Healthy ParishesCommittee. It approved a new trainingofficer of the PCV, a PYV youth worker,and an evangelism officer to help churchesfocus on outreach to the un-churched and

the non-Christian. It also approved theapprenticeship scheme which helps iden-tify and train future leaders and ministersof the PCV.

Rejecting God

Australians are “deeply unwilling” tocommit to religion and have also beenturned off the church by child sex abusescandals and cover-ups, Sydney’sAnglican Archbishop Peter Jensen toldthe Sydney Anglican Synod last month.

Dr Jensen said society had becomeresistant to the gospel. He said busy liveswere also at fault, with families underincreasing pressure to meet financial andsocial demands. “Our prosperity has beenpurchased at a fearful price to relation-ships,” Dr Jensen said.

He said he had recently raised concernsabout the Howard Government’s work-place relations reforms and would watchthe impact of the changes carefully.“What concerns me is the need for pre-serving shared time for children, families,relationships for all Australians.”

Dr Jensen said Australians, particularlythose in their teens and 20s, show a “deep,deep unwillingness to commit”. “Forthem, accepting Christ would mean atotally unacceptable restriction on theirmoral freedom – unacceptable andunimaginable,” he said.

Bad experiences and bad publicity hadalso discouraged membership, Dr Jensensaid. “The bad name of the churchAustralia-wide (has made) people want todissociate the church from Jesus,” he said.

Last rites

Britain’s churches are in such seriousdecline that if they were shops, theywould have been declared bankrupt longago, according to Lord Carey, the formerArchbishop of Canterbury. In a bleakassessment of the future of Christianity,he said that the churches were approach-ing meltdown and the “last rites” could beadministered at any moment.

Dr Carey expressed his exasperationthat his efforts to revive the Church ofEngland in the 1990s had been frustratedby lack of support from the clergy. Hewarned his successor, Dr RowanWilliams, that his initiatives could meet asimilar fate. However, the former arch-bishop argued that it was still possible toturn the tide if the Church did not “throwup its hands in despair”.

“No Anglican can be satisfied that onlyone in 50 people attend this nationalchurch,” he said. “The picture I havedescribed is of churches approachingmeltdown rather than on the cusp ofrenewal.” However, Dr Carey said therewas also good news. He cited the 2001census, in which 72 per cent of the popu-lation described themselves as Christian,and said that there was still a “deep alle-giance” between nation and Church.

Daily Telegraph

Christians protest

An organisation representing nearly 2000lawyers demonstrated outside the Britishparliament last month in protest againstthe government’s racial and religioushatred bill.

Members of the Lawyers’ ChristianFellowship claim that the bill contravenesthe European convention on humanrights. “If the bill is passed, it is likely tohave the opposite effect to that intendedby setting one faith community againstanother in court,” spokeswoman AndreaWilliams said. It would seriously affectthe rights of religions to criticise eachother.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reportedthat a Protestant evangelical pressuregroup has warned that it will try to use thegovernment’s racial and religious hatredlaw to prosecute bookshops selling theKoran for inciting religious hatred.

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Around the World

Mr Richard SpiteriManager

Christian Voice was among the evangeli-cal organisations demonstrating at parlia-ment.

Its director, Stephen Green, said: “Ifthe Koran is not hate speech, I don’tknow what is. We will report staff who sellit. Nowhere in the Bible does it say thatunbelievers must be killed.”

Evangelism grounded

A New Mexico parent of an Air ForceAcademy cadet filed a federal lawsuitagainst the US Air Force last month,claiming that the religious toleranceguidelines established in August have notbeen implemented. “The guidelines areworthless,” said Mikey Weinstein.“They’re making it up as they go along.”

Weinstein is asking a federal judge toorder the US Air Force not to allow anyAir Force member, including chaplains, to“evangelise, proselytise, or in any relatedway attempt to involuntarily convert,pressure, exhort or persuade” any USAFmember to accept their own religiousbeliefs while on duty.

Weinstein said he felt compelled to filethe lawsuit after seeing a statement madeby Brigadier General Cecil R.Richardson, the Air Force deputy chief ofchaplains, in the New York Times.Richardson was quoted as saying, “We willnot proselytise, but we reserve the right toevangelise the unchurched.”

Rocky Mountain News

American Baptist exodus

The Pacific south-west region of theAmerican Baptist Churches USA(ABCUSA) has begun defecting in thelargest church exodus from any denomi-nation over homosexuality. Underlyingissues, according to leaders, include theauthority of Scripture and church disci-pline. Representing more than 300churches, the region’s board of directorsvoted in September to begin withdrawal.At least four other regions are consideringleaving the ABCUSA.

The ABCUSA officially states that“the practice of homosexuality is incom-patible with Christian teaching”, but gay-affirming congregations remain affiliatedwith the denomination. When conserva-tive regions have disfellowshiped suchcongregations, those congregations havesimply affiliated with a more liberalABCUSA region.

Some, such as Tony Campolo, a pro-fessor at Eastern University, argue thatthe denomination should let local congre-

gations decide how to handle homosexu-ality. The denomination of 1.5 millionmembers and 5800 congregations,founded in 1907 as the Northern BaptistConvention, allows for wide diversity.Homosexuality “shouldn’t be a definingissue”, Campolo says. Those leaving arguethat something more crucial is at stake:biblical authority. A new association ofthose who have departed might includebetween 1500 and 2000 churches.

Christianity Today

Fears for Iraqi Christians

The lay leadership team of Baghdad’s St.George’s Anglican Church is missingafter being attacked. The attack occurredon the road as the team returned from aconference in Jordan. “They are presumeddead,” said Canon Andrew White of theFoundation for Reconciliation in theMiddle East. White is the Anglican repre-sentative in charge of St. George’s, one ofthe largest churches in Baghdad.

The last time anyone heard from thegroup was after they had been attacked onSeptember 12 on the treacherous roadbetween Ramadi and Fallujah. “It is themost dangerous area in Iraq,” White said.“One of two things must have happened.They either got kidnapped, or they died.But we have had no ransom demand oranything.”

Ruth Gledhill of The Times reports,“The loss brings to 12 the number ofIraqis that Canon White has lost in hisreconciliation work in Iraq, althoughthese are the first connected to thechurch.”

Hindus attack Christians

Hindu fundamentalists attacked a mis-sionary group for a second time inSeptember. Several Christians from theGospel Echoing Missionary Society(GEMS) compound in Bihar state, India,were severely injured in a previous attackin August. This time about 16 peoplecame from two nearby villages and brokeopen the gate of the compound, said arepresentative of GEMS. “They pulledout some of the GEMS staff (from thecompound) and brutally beat them. Theyalso robbed them of their belongingsbefore throwing them into the fields.”

GEMS is the largest indigenousChristian missionary agency in Bihar andhas around 100 families, including a totalof 900 children, living in the compound.The mission contains a school, student

hostel, orphanage, hospital and othersocial service facilities.

Compass

Mexicans expelled

About 150 Mexican evangelicals – 40families – are to be expelled from theirhomes in San Nicolas, near Ixmiquilpanmunicipality in Hidalgo state, accordingto a town council decision last month. SanNicolas leaders charged that evangelicalsin the town of 8000 were not participatingin area work projects. The day after thecouncil decision, townspeople blockedaccess to land belonging to evangelicalsand forcibly took away tools and materialsto be used for constructing a churchbuilding.

Compass

Christian under sharia

Judges in Malaysia’s Court of Appealannounced in September that Lina Joy, aformer Muslim who converted toChristianity in the late 1980s, must apply


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Penrith Presbyterian Churchis seeking to employ a part-time assistant minister to beinvolved in leading our youthwork, and to help plan out-

reach to young families, lead-ing towards the commence-ment of a contemporary ser-

vice in the future. We arelooking for someone whopreferably has theological

training and is seeking ordi-nation within the Presbyterian

Church of Australia.

Part Time Assistant Minister

All enquiries to Rev William Morrow

(02) 4721 2440 or 0415 255 472or

[email protected]

to a sharia (Muslim) court for permissionto legally renounce Islam. The courtclaimed Joy, 41, was constitutionally freeto practise the religion of her choice.However, the Muslim designation on heridentity card prevents her from marryinga Christian and places other restrictionson her everyday life. Article 11 of theMalaysian Constitution gives every per-son the right to change his or her religion;but Article 3 declares Islam to be the offi-cial religion of the state. The dual courtsystem in Malaysia also complicates mat-ters.

Compass

Disappearing Christians

When we think of the Arab world, wegenerally think of Muslims. But accord-ing to Egyptian political sociologistSaadeddin Ibrahim, around 21 million to30 million Christians live in the Arabworld, which is between 7 and 10 per centof the total population. Most are the rem-nants of indigenous ethnic groups whosurvived Islamic conquests, whilst othersare converts from Islam. They are Copts,Armenians, Syrians, Maronites,

Assyrians, Chaldeans, Aramaeans, Arabsand others. From the 7th to the 20th cen-turies they lived as conquered, subjugateddhimmis (second-class citizens) or werekilled as apostates. However, their rightswere restored and protected by law whileArab lands were under Western man-dates, for about four decades after WorldWar One. But these rights have beenwhittled away as the Arab states havegained independence and progressivelyrallied around Arab nationalism andorthodox Islam.

The Egyptian author Magdy Khalilwrites that Christians living in the Arabworld are locked in a downward spiral.“Christian populations are declining,resulting in an erosion of their politicalpower, which in turn causes their condi-tions to worsen and ultimately drivesthem out of their own homeland.”

In recent decades the Christian popula-tion among Palestinian Arabs has droppedfrom 17 per cent to less than 2 per cent,according to Khalil. He says, “The Israelinewspaper Badiut Ahrunut reported thatentire neighborhoods in Beit Gala, BeitLahm and Beit Sahur have been emptiedof Christians because of the overwhelm-ing Islamic tide that has turned thePalestinian cause into an Islamic issue, andthe growing power of the fundamentalistswho are imposing their rules and views onthe Palestinian community.

Attacks against Palestinian Christianshave been increasing despite repeatedrequests to the Palestinian Authority(PA) to rein in Muslim gangs. In

February, a group of influential PalestinianChristians wrote to the PA president,Mahmoud Abbas, documenting abusesagainst the Christian community. Theydetailed 93 incidents since 2003, includingmurders and rapes. Some 140 cases ofapparent land theft also were listed, inwhich Christians in the West Bank wereforced off their land by a “Muslim landmafia” operating in league with Islamistmilitants and backed by corrupt PA offi-cials.

There has been no response fromPresident Abbas and Christians are grow-ing increasingly concerned.

One of the greatest difficulties forChristians in the Arab world is their pre-carious, vulnerable position. Challengingthe status quo can be fatal, so Christiansdare not speak out about their suffering.While they have to appease, side with, andeven flatter their persecutors to preservelife, the suffering and fear is very real.They desperately need our solidarity andprayers. In the words of Habib Malik,who teaches history at a University inLebanon, “the future will remain bleak forChristian Arabs if their plight continuesto be neglected by the rest of the world.”

World Evangelical Alliance

Alert but not alarmedBy Barney Zwartz

Jesus told his followers to love theirneighbours, but most Australians have ahandicap – they don’t trust them.

A new report by Christian researcherPhilip Hughes suggests that only a thirdof Australians have a high level of trust inthe residents of their neighbourhood, andless than half really trust work colleagues.

The research by the National ChurchLife Survey and Perth’s Edith CowanUniversity found that older Australians,the well-educated and married are moretrusting than younger or less-educatedAustralians or those in defacto relation-ships.

But Dr Hughes said yesterday that lackof trust might be related to experience.Trust was the evaluation that people onehad experienced would act in a trustwor-thy way, and distrust might arise whenthey didn’t.

Nearly 90 per cent of people trustedmembers of their immediate family.

The report suggests that commonground between people builds trust,including race and religion. Unlike over-seas studies, which found religious peopleless trusting, religious Australians were

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On the Agenda

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little different from the non-religious, DrHughes said.

“If you see the world as a good place,you are more trusting. If you see it as evilyou are more suspicious. ConservativeChristians are slightly less trusting thanmore liberal Christians.”

On lack of trust among young people,he said they might stay suspicious as theyaged, or – once they joined a stable com-munity and started having families – theirlevels of trust might rise.

The report found that professionalpeople had the highest levels of trust,while manual workers and farmers had thelowest. Also very low were people wholived in public housing, followed byrenters.

He suggested higher trust among olderAustralians might reflect the strongersense of community among those whogrew up before, during or just after WorldWar II, and also the fact that older peopletended to spend more time in their localneighbourhoods.

Dr Hughes said researchers sampled arandom group of 1514 Australians as partof the 2003 well-being and security survey.

Barney Zwartz is religion editor of The Age,where a shorter version of this article firstappeared.

Doubts about DarwinBy Michael Powell

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolutioncame under sustained attack in federalcourt in Pennsylvania last month as bio-chemistry professor Michael J. Beheargued that the theory fails to account forthe complex biological machinery that sci-entists find in the corners of the humancell.

Behe, who teaches at LehighUniversity, is one of the intellectualfounding fathers of “intelligent design”,which holds that aspects of life are socomplex as to be best explained as thework of a super-intelligent designer.

“The appearance of design in aspects ofbiology is overwhelming,” Behe told thecourt. “Intelligent design is based onobserved, empirical, physical evidencefrom nature.”

Behe is the lead defence witness in atrial that has drawn national attention.Last year, the school board in Dover – asmall town south of Harrisburg – voted torequire high school biology teachers toread to students four paragraphs that cast

doubt on Darwin’s theory of evolutionand say that intelligent design offers analternative theory for the origin and devel-opment of life.

Eleven parents sued to block theschool board’s action. The parents’lawyers, along with prominent scientistsand philosophers, have argued that intelli-gent design is biblical creationism drapedin new clothing. They note that the U.S.Supreme Court has ruled – most recentlyin 1987 – that religion-tinged scientifictheories have no place in public schools.

But the Thomas More Law Center, aconservative, religiously grounded non-profit group that represents the Doverschool board, has argued that this case isabout freedom of speech. The law centrehas relied on the work of a small band ofscientists and philosophers who take theposition that Darwinian theory has gapsand unanswered questions, and that intel-ligent design is a respectable alternativeexplanation for the origin of life and thedevelopment of new species.

Behe noted in court that a number ofprominent scientists, many of whom arenot advocates of intelligent design, havequestioned aspects of Darwinian theory.Most criticism concentrates on Darwin’stheory of natural selection and variation.Some scientists say that although there is

ample evidence of small, evolutionarychanges, there is less proof of the grandleaps needed to progress from one-celledlife to modern man.

Some scientists argue that life appearsto adhere to grand mathematical princi-ples and perhaps inevitably evolves towardcomplexity and intelligence. “IfDarwinian theory is so fruitless at explain-ing the very foundation of life ... one canreasonably wonder if there is some otherexplanation,” Behe said.

The question of religion came up sev-eral times. Behe freely acknowledged thathe is Roman Catholic and believes thehand of the intelligent designer belongs toGod. But he emphasised that this was apersonal, philosophical belief. Intelligentdesign, he argued, must succeed or fail asa scientific theory.

More school boards are consideringmandating mention of intelligent design.

Washington Post

Married priests By David C. Steinmetz

The acute shortage of Roman Catholicpriests worldwide has made the questionof whether to allow priests to marry apressing issue for the synod of Catholic

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2006

bishops who met in Rome last month. Of course, some Catholic priests are

already married. Anglican priests whoconvert to Catholicism while married arealmost routinely accepted by Rome forre-ordination as Catholic priests.

They are not alone. Priests in EasternRite Catholic churches may also marrybefore ordination. Roughly half of theCatholic priests of the Maronite church ofLebanon elect to marry.

Eastern Rite Catholics like theMaronites and Melkites are followingrules that would be familiar to any GreekOrthodox Christian. Priests may marrybefore ordination, but not after. If theirspouse should die, they may not remarry.Furthermore, bishops are chosen fromthe ranks of celibate clergy.

However, the vast majority of RomanCatholics follow the Western or LatinRite. These Western Rite Catholics havenot been served by married clergy —except for Anglican converts — for a verylong time.

It was not always so. Priests in Anglo-Saxon England were allowed to marry,though the practice was stopped after theNorman invasion of 1066. The Normanban on clerical marriage was reinforced in1139, when the Second Lateran Councildeclared priestly marriage invalidthroughout the entire Catholic Church.

Of course, there were people, then asnow, who broke the rule of celibacy —some of them quite spectacularly. But therule itself was clear. No celibacy, nopriestly ordination.

Catholic bishops understand this rule.

It is a constant theme of their lives aspriests. But they also know that celibacy isnot an unchangeable theological dogma.Patriarch Gregorios III Laham of theMelkite Catholics put it bluntly at an earlysession of the current synod: “Celibacyhas no theological foundation.” It is alongstanding discipline that could bemodified by Pope Benedict XVI, if hedeemed it appropriate to do so.

Working against the possibility ofchange is the fact that the practice ofcelibacy is deeply rooted in the asceticimpulses of Christianity. Catholics are notalone in thinking that self-denial is animportant step in the human quest for acloser relationship with God. Self-denialmay, in fact, be particularly important in aWestern culture that denies itself nothing.

But celibacy also has a more pragmaticroot. Priests who are single can be movedfrom Boston to Los Angeles within 24hours. Priests who are married cannot.This is particularly true if the marriedpriests have working wives and children inschool.

Pope Benedict can, of course, elect toreaffirm tradition and avoid experimenta-tion. However, if he simply reaffirms thestatus quo, he faces a tough dilemma. Heis convinced that the Catholic Church canonly be renewed by a fresh dedication tothe eucharist, but the eucharist can onlybe offered to the laity by priests. And theshortage of priests stands in the way ofthe fulfillment of Benedict’s dream ofrenewal.

The pope could, of course, authorise theordination of celibate women, but that is

the least traditional, and therefore leastlikely, solution to his problem. Or he couldincrease the rate at which priests are trans-ferred from dioceses where there is a sur-plus of clergy to dioceses in which there isa shortage, a timid strategy that may proveinadequate to meet long-term needs.

He might also turn to married ex-priests for help. Former priests areallowed under canon law to function aspriests in an emergency. An ex-priest whois a stockbroker or car mechanic canabsolve a dying Catholic colleague, if noother priest is present. Does the currentshortage of priests constitute in itself acontinuing emergency?

Or the pope could authorise the ordi-nation of the kind of mature married mennow sometimes chosen as deacons. Theseseasoned men could be ordained aspriests, but restricted in their functions tooffering the eucharist when celibatepriests are not available. Such a policywould be a limited Western adaptation ofEastern Rite practice.

What is clear is that the RomanCatholic Church cannot have it bothways. It cannot claim that devotion to theeucharist is vital to the renewal of its lifeand fail to provide priests to offer it regu-larly to every Catholic. If the eucharist istruly vital, then it must be available. Thereis no alternative.

David C. Steinmetz is the Amos RaganKearns professor of the History ofChristianity at Duke University’s DivinitySchool. This article is reprinted from theNews and Observer, North Carolina.

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st. andrews church, launceston, tasmania[A congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Australia]

ministry opportunityThe large, established city-centre church of St. Andrews in Launceston is actively seeking to appoint a full-time

assistant to the minister (ministry to youth)

To work in conjunction with the senior minister in the specific areasof ministry to Young People and Christian Nurture. The successful applicant will possess the following:• A clear Christian testimony

• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills and the ability to relate to and motivate young people

• A firm commitment to the inerrancy of Scripture

• Tertiary qualifications from a Bible or Theological College

• A positive understanding and appreciation of theology from a reformed evangelical perspective

• The ability to communicate the gospel clearly

• The ability to train, develop and nurture others

• Evidence of previous experience in related fields

It is anticipated that the successful applicant will commence in late January 2006. The term of the appointment will be for 3 years. Further information is available on request.

Applications to arrive no later than 21st November 2005, addressed to:The Minister, St.Andrews Presbyterian Church, P.O.Box 294, LAUNCESTON, Tas 7250Ph: (03) 6331 5412 Fx: 03-63343090 email: [email protected]

We are praying for the Lord to sendworkers for a Gospel Church ministryfor the many towns and suburbs inSouth Australia and Adelaide.Approved PCA Ministries Workersserve on a faith-plus-support basis asa House Church Planter, or shepherdof a small existing Church, or assist ina Parish, or become a HomeMissionary.To assist for these ministries, PREZRAoffers the ThA and ThL Diplomas (ACT)free as well as the Home MissionaryCertificate (HMCertif).Contact: PREZRA / PCA Ministries

Rev Dr Reg Mathews

18 Aragon Road,

Ingle Farm, S.A. 5098

PREZRA

Christian

Training Centre

and

PCA Ministries

My Bible study group assignmentwas to read Psalm 91 andexpress how it had been true inmy life.

“He will rescue you from every trapand protect you from the fatal plague…For he orders his angels to protect youwherever you go. They will hold you withtheir hands to keep you from strikingyour foot on a stone.” [All Scripture cita-tions from the New Living Translation.]

At first blush it sounds really good, butthat day I had to say what I really thought.Through tears I told the group, “I don’tget how this is true. He did not rescue usfrom a fatal plague. He did not keep usfrom striking our feet on a stone but, infact, allowed much worse than that.”

In the year preceding we had buriedmy daughter, Hope, who was born with arare metabolic disorder and had a shortand difficult life. At that low point in mygrief, I simply wasn’t willing to gloss overthe nice-sounding verse. I couldn’t recon-cile this passage with my experience, withreality. But I wanted to. I wanted to figureout how the scriptural promises of pro-tection apply not only to me, but also toanyone who suffers, especially now, thethousands who have endured homeless-ness, disease, and death in the wake ofHurricane Katrina. I wanted to know, CanI expect God to protect me? And if not,what are these promises of protection inthe Bible all about?

I began in the Psalms, because they arefilled with requests for and proclamationsof divine protection. Most of them haveto do with protection from “my enemies”.For example, Psalm 59:9-10 reads, “Youare my strength; I wait for you to rescueme, for you, O God, are my place ofsafety. In his unfailing love, my God willcome and help me. He will let me lookdown in triumph on all my enemies.”

Frankly, I have often been confused.Some of the things the biblical writers askGod to do to their enemies, I wouldn'twish on anyone! A sermon I heard onIsaiah finally helped me to make sense ofthis. Because the children of Israel andtheir God-appointed leaders were God'schosen people, friends of Israel werefriends of God, and enemies of Israel wereenemies of God. God’s enemies are those

who love themselves more than God,those who reject and refuse the gift ofGod in his Son, Jesus. Throughout theOld Testament story of God dealing withHis chosen people, God reveals Hispower and His will to protect His chil-dren from enemies who would seek to dothem harm.

So the chal-lenge is to figureout, Who are ourenemies? Whenwe think aboutenemies, wethink aboutbosses who seemout to get us, for-mer spouses whowant to ruin us,rivals who wantto defeat us, andpeople who have hurt us. We think ofthose with ideologies and agendas atcross-purposes with ours. The truth is, weare much more concerned about havingGod on our side to protect our own inter-ests and reputation than we are aboutbeing on God’s side, seeking after Hisglory and ultimate victory.

I figured out that God has notpromised to protect me from everyone Imight define as my enemy. But He haspromised protection from my ultimateenemy — sin — which, because of Christ,no longer has the power to enslave me ordetermine my eternal destiny. We canentrust ourselves to this just, strong God,who has gone to the lengths of the Crossto protect us from any enemy that seeksto alienate us from Himself.

My problem is not so much a lack ofprotection from God. My more signifi-cant problem is that I’m sleeping with theenemy, justifying and enjoying my sinwhen all along He offers me protectionfrom its damning power.

As I listened to the words of Jesus, myunderstanding of protection became

clearer. Honestly, it wasn’t necessarilywhat I was hoping for.

Imagine the scene as Jesus prepared tosend out his disciples in twos for ministry(Matt. 10). Far from a pump-you-up peptalk, he seemed to be preparing them forthe worst. “When you are arrested, don'tworry about what to say in your defence,”he said. “Everyone will hate you becauseof your allegiance to me,” he predicted.And then he encouraged them not to fearthose who wanted to kill them. “They canonly kill your body, they cannot touchyour soul” (Matt. 10:28). Gee, I think,they can kill only my body? And thisshould be a relief?

The fact is, God cares more about ourspiritual health than our physical health.Our bodies are going to die. Our soulsare going to live forever. And God’s abil-ity to protect our souls from eternal judg-ment and eternal death is more significantthan His ability to protect our bodiesfrom disease or death. Trapped in thesebodies and in this time, it is hard for us tograsp.

So in our prayer requests for safe traveland physical health, and in our more des-perate prayers amid great difficulties, wetry to apply to our bodies His promises ofprotection for our souls, and we’re leftdisappointed, accusing Him of fallingdown on the job. But we will continue tobe disappointed in Him until our valuesystem lines up with His, until we valuethe eternal life of our souls more than thelimited life of our mortal bodies, until weunderstand that God’s primary agenda iskingdom building. It may cost us our verylives, and He is okay with that.


Proper protectionDivine promises in the midst of suffering.

NancyGuthrie

F A I T H

We will continue to bedisappointedin Him untilour value system linesup with His.

When we read the prayer Jesus prayedin John 17, a prayer of protection for hisdisciples, we can’t help feeling hopeful.Jesus prayed, “Holy Father, keep themand care for them … keep them safe fromthe Evil One” (John 17:11b, 15b). SurelyGod answers the prayers of Jesus with aresounding Yes!

As we listen in on this prayer, we canassume that God heard it and that Jesusalways prayed in complete accordancewith His Father’s will. So we might expectthat God's affirmative answer to Jesus’prayer would mean that the disciplesnever faced any harm, right? But we knowthat isn’t what happened. History recordsthat all but one of the disciples were killedfor their allegiance to Christ. Only John issaid to have lived to old age, and he wasseverely persecuted for the sake of thegospel. Most of the disciples spent yearsin prison and were stoned, beheaded, orcrucified.

So how do we reconcile Jesus’ prayerof protection for the disciples with thereality that nearly every one of them dieda martyr's death? Is that how God pro-tects those He loves?

Jesus asked his Father to protect thedisciples and us from the Evil Onebecause he knows that the Devil wants todestroy us. In fact, according to 1 Peter5:8, Satan “prowls around like a roaringlion looking for some victim to devour”.Satan brings suffering to diminish ourfaith, he brings temptation to deceive us,and he brings doubt about God's love andgoodness to estrange us from God.

But since Jesus prayed for us, askingHis Father to protect us from the EvilOne, we are not at Satan’s mercy. God hasanswered the prayer of Jesus with a

resounding Yes! While Satan may win abattle or two in the life of the believer, hewill never win the war against the soul.Jesus has prayed for His own, and we areprotected.

Certainly one of the most politicallyincorrect words in the English languagetoday is “judgment”. And to say thatGod will judge sin is considered an old-fashioned scare tactic. But Scripture isclear that judgment for sin is certain andwill be terrifying for those who are notprotected from it. Paul writes in

Romans, “There is going to come a dayof judgment when God, the just judge ofall the world, will judge all peopleaccording to what they have done… Hewill pour out his anger and wrath onthose who live for themselves, whorefuse to obey the truth and practice evildeeds” (2:5-6, 8). We would much rathertalk about God’s love than God's wrath,but isn’t it a relief to know that evil inthis world will not go unpunished, thatjustice will be done? At least it’s a reliefuntil I look into my own heart andrecognise that the evil within medeserves nothing less than judgment.

God knows that you and I need pro-

tection from judgment, which is going tofall, flowing out of divine justice. So Hesent us a Protector in the form of a vul-nerable baby, a Savior who is no less thanHis own Son. “For God did not send HisSon into the world to condemn the world,but to save the world through Him”(John 3:17). As we hide ourselves in theperson and work of Jesus, we find shelterfrom the sure and certain judgment of thelast day.

But Jesus is able to protect us fromjudgment only because there was no pro-tection for Him. As Jesus hung on theCross, He absorbed judgment in ourplace so that we might be protected fromit. “Since we have been made right inGod’s sight by the blood of Christ, Hewill certainly save us from God’s judg-ment” (Rom. 5:9). When I see Him there,no longer can I harbor resentment thatHe hasn’t come through for me in theway I have wanted. I realise He has paidthe ultimate price so that I might be pro-tected from the judgment I deserve.

So can I expect God to protect me, andanyone devastated by a tragedy as big asKatrina? Absolutely! I've come to see thatHis “protection plan” is more vast and far-reaching than my shallow expectationsonce defined. I see now that God’spromises for protection go much deeperthan protecting my body or my agenda ormy plan for my life. I can rest easy. I’mprotected.

Nancy Guthrie is the author of Holding onto Hope: A Pathway Through Suffering tothe Heart of God, as well as the newlyreleased One-Year Book of Hope, a dailydevotional. Reprinted from ChristianityToday, October 2005. ap

F A I T H


But Jesus isable to protect

us from judg-ment only

because therewas no protec-

tion for Him.

Visiting West

Australia?Worship with us at

FREMANTLE Scots Presbyterian Church

90 South Tce. Worship & Sunday School

10.00am.Rev Stuart Bonnington

(08) 9319 2208 Off. (08) 9336 6542

It’s four months since I deployed toIraq. Much is happening opera-tionally and I am pleased to say thatthere is also much that is happening

in the Kingdom of God.Apart from the constant opportunities

to defend the gospel, I have settled into aweekly program of discipleship, Biblestudies, pastoral counselling and preach-ing. Possibly one of the weekly highlightsis the Sunday night service, where wealways finish with an open question time.The questions are colourful and variedand certainly reflect some enquiringminds.

I am presently conducting three sepa-rate discipleship studies, one with a sol-dier who has completed a ChristianityExplained course and who was really keento go on and learn more. He continues tobe amazed at the truth that there is noth-ing he has done to earn God’s favour orlove. On a number of occasions he hasraised this point and says “I just don’tknow what to say to that”.

Dan Brown’s book The Da Vinci Codehas generated much discussion. I had

not read it before my deployment butafter I was asked questions on it almostevery day I soon made it a priority. I haveused it as a springboard to talk about arange of issues that relate to the gospel. Iam having repeated discussions with onesoldier who, as a result of reading thebook, is really struggling to know howanyone can really trust the Bible. Pleasepray for him that God’s Spirit would con-tinue to work in his heart.

One of the unexpected opportunitiesto speak about Old Testament Biblicalhistory has come from the ancientZiggurat of Urwhich is insideTallil Air Base,about an hourand a half ’s drivefrom our camp. Ihave takengroups of sol-diers to theZiggurat and thenon to the excava-tions of theancient city of Ur,uncovered in thelate 1920s by renowned British archaeolo-gist Sir C. Leonard Woolley. It has beengood to lock some of the events in theOld Testament into their geographicaland historical contexts. It has also been agreat opportunity to drive home the truththat the Bible is not myth and legend but

real people who lived in real places.The weather over here is still hot. Every

day we are in the high 40s or low 50s. Atnight we can get down to a cool 30degrees but by nine in the morning themercury is back to at least 40. If you haveany doubts, just watch the temperaturefor Baghdad on the SBS news and add twoor three degrees. And just to make ussmile the locals tell us that August is thehottest month. I am coping OK with theheat but am still not used to the sandstorms and the desert dust. My camerahasn’t coped too well either. It filled upwith sand and now doubles as a baby’s rat-tle.

Please continue to pray that Godwould continue to build His church

among all those that I am living and work-ing with. Pray also for ongoing safety aswe work in this troubled area of the worldand for all the families of the soldiers whoare deployed.

God is and will continue building HisKingdom throughout the entire world, toHim alone be the glory.

Martin de Pyle is the Army Chaplaindeployed with Australian soldiers workingin the Al Muthanna province of Iraq. ap


New meets oldProclaiming a new song in an ancient land of the Bible.

Martin de Pyle

M I S S I O N

The Bible isnot myth andlegend butreal peoplewho lived inreal places.

Martin de Pyle at the Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu located beside the ancient city of Ur,with 33 Troop, led by Lt Andrew Christie (centre back).

Iwas travelling by train into the city tospeak on this very topic: “What is thefoundation for ethics?” The soft sunshone through the train window, as I

tried to finish off a book I was reading.Before I was fully aware of it, I was drift-ing between reading and dozing, until thetrain stopped at one of the stations beforemy destination. I vaguely looked outside,and the train began to depart. For a sec-ond, it seemed to me that the platformwas moving, not the train.

Then the brain kicked in rather moredecisively, and I realised, of course, that itwas the train that was moving. It isbecause there is a point of reference – animmovable platform – that we can be surethat it is the train that is moving. Thisillustrates the ethical problem of today:How do we find an immovable standardby which to judge all other standards? Tochange the imagery, Blaise Pascal asked inthe age before railways and trains: “Whereare we going to find a harbour in morals?”

Today’s problems have a long pedigree.In the year 1875 an Anglican clergyman,Leslie Stephen, decided that he had lost hisfaith completely, so he solemnlyrenounced his Anglican orders in the pres-ence of Thomas Hardy, the novelist.Stephen wrote: “I now believe in nothing,to put it shortly; but I do not the lessbelieve in morality ... I mean to live and dielike a gentleman if possible.” That raises amost important issue. If we do not believein a God who has made known His will,how can we believe in a morality that isbeyond mere opinion? And what does itmean to live and die like a gentleman? Inshort, can faith be replaced by moralism,and people still live and die morally?

The fiercely anti-Christian philosopherFriedrich Nietzsche, who died in

1900, lampooned those whom he calledthe “English flatheads” who thought thatthey could have morality without faith.He went insane but was sometimes full ofinsight, as when he wrote: “When onegives up Christian belief one therebydeprives oneself of the right to Christianmorality … Christianity is a system, aconsistently thought out and completeview of things. If one breaks out of it a

fundamental idea, the belief in God, onethereby breaks the whole thing to pieces:one has nothing of any consequence leftin one’s hands.”

Leslie Stephen was saying that onecould “jump off the platform”, and still bea gentleman. Of course, that can be true ina sense in some cases. But at the morefundamental level, Nietzsche was correct:

if you abandon the Christian faith, youabandon the right to Christian ethics. Ifyou reject the Christian view of God, youlogically reject the Christian view of man,and there is no necessary reason why youshould try to love your neighbour asyourself.

If there is no absolute platform onwhich to stand, then all is relative. If all isrelative, then it is offensive to say thatthere are absolutes. The one absolute leftis that there are no absolutes! The oneoffence left to relativism is discrimination,– saying that another group is wrong andshould be deprived of some rights forbeing wrong. If everything is relative, onlydiscrimination is wrong. Those whobelieve that there is no immovable plat-form in ethics tend to become rather lameat times when they come to evaluatingright and wrong. Bertrand Russell, forexample, argued that Hitler was wrong“by my own feelings”.

For generations now, Western societyhas mocked the notion that there is a Godwho has made His will known in HisWord. The result is as C. S. Lewis said:

“We make men without chests and weexpect of them virtue and enterprise ... Wecastrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.”

Can we live easily on a movable plat-form? If sexual discrimination is notallowed, then what is wrong with pae-dophilia or with national service applica-ble to men and women, serving in equalnumbers on the front line? What aboutPeter Singer who argues for no discrimi-nation, even against animals? To favouryour child over your dog is to be guilty of“speciesism” in Singer’s view.Furthermore, there is no real distinctionbetween human beings and rabbits.Hence a child who lacks the so-calledindicators of personhood – freedom, self-determination, rationality, the ability tochoose either means or ends, knowledgeof circumstances, the use of language, andautonomy – has no inherent right to life.Therefore, Singer argues that “infanticideis compatible with a stable, well-organisedhuman society”, and considers that itought to be allowed until the infant is 28days old. Since self-awareness is part ofthe definition of personhood, Singer com-placently asserts that “Infanticide threat-ens none of us, for once we are aware of it,we are not infants”.

Yet Singer could not live with his ownphilosophy. When his mother came

down with dementia, Singer refused toconsider euthanasia for her. The point isthis: once we get off the platform, wherewe end out is anybody’s guess, and theresult is inconsistency and/or inhumanityof some kind or another.

To return to the story of LeslieStephen, his daughter was the novelistVirginia Woolf. She records that after hisrenunciation of faith, Stephen’s friendsfeared that, such was his deep depression,he would commit suicide. The outcomewas more tragically ironic than that. Itwas, of course, Virginia Woolf herself whocommitted suicide. To get off the plat-form of revealed truth is to wander, lost inthe woods of a culture of death. That iswhere we are today.

Peter Barnes is minister of RevesbyPresbyterian Church, NSW. ap


On the fault lineMorality without a secure foundation has no compass.

Peter Barnes

E T H I C S

To get off theplatform of

revealed truthis to wander,

lost in thewoods of aculture of

death.


Spiritual warfare

Peter Dunstan raised some good pointsin his letter in the September edition.Having a background in missions, I amsurprised at the lack of review of our tac-tics and strategy within the PresbyterianChurch.

Having been associated with thePresbyterian Church for more than 20years, I feel two things seem to be lacking.The first is an acknowledgment of the roleand provision of the Holy Spirit. If He isthe One who empowers us to be bothwitnesses for Jesus and with our giftingwithin the body, surely to ignore Him isto have a powerless Church. If we havegrieved Him in our quest for doctrinalcorrectness, then repentance is the onlyway to restore His fellowship.

The second missing thing is a practicalunderstanding of spiritual warfare.Having lived and worked in Canberra fora number of years, we were fully awarethat there are more than 30 witch’s covensoperating in the area. To blindly think weare operating only in relation to theunsaved and not recognise that we are vio-lently opposed, is to lose the battle eventhough the war was won at Calvary.

Colin SteeleHome MissionaryGunnedah, NSW

Hear no evil

I am disappointed that a magazine of thestandard of the Australian Presbyterianwould print a letter that makes severe crit-icism of another’s ministry without ashred of evidence (“Forget Day 41”, AP,September). I am all for examined andthoughtful critiques of all aspects of theChristian life. Unfortunately this lettershowed neither examination nor thought-fulness.

Serious charges were made against RickWarren including the following: thatWarren promoted New Age views in hisPurpose-Driven books, and that he is an“agent for the Satanic deception of evan-gelicalism”. These things may or may notbe so (they didn’t jump out to me in myreading of the books), yet this letterincludes no proof of these bold claims,only a reference that someone elsethought the same. It wasn’t clear whetherthe writer had actually read the bookshimself.

Hearsay does not count as reasoneddebate. I conclude with the last sentenceof that letter. “Presbyterians, especially,should know better.”

Tony Archer,Warburton, Vic

Inmates in charge?

Peter Mullen’s farewell to the Church ofEngland (AP, October 2005) seemed tobe unduly offensive to lunatic asylums.There is no lunatic asylum known to manwhere the “not” has been taken out of thecommandments and put in the creed.

Peter BarnesRevesby, NSW

Bouquet for AP

AP in October addresses the question“What makes a healthy church?”

While I realise that this refers to theindividual local church family, I amprompted to write and express the viewthat the ongoing excellence and relevanceof AP to current issues gives a strong sig-nal of a vibrant, healthy denomination.Please encourage those responsible tokeep up the great work!

Don Black, Tanilba Bay, NSW

Designer genes

I’m glad that your contributor, J.P.Moreland, believes in a literal Adam andEve (AP, August). His reasons seem the-ological rather than scientific, althoughthe science all agrees.

I’m sorry he does not yet believe in aliteral six days. I trust that soon he maybecome aware of the science that agreeswith the Bible on this point. Perhaps APcould follow his recommendation by ask-ing the scientists what are the four or fivebest arguments for this point, and by

devoting another issue of AP to it – seeingas there seems to be some concern beingexpressed by a number of your corre-spondents.

I thought the August issue of AP did agood job of demonstrating the relevanceof the arguments of irreducible complex-ity and the anthropic principle to the cre-ation debate. However, might not theintelligent design movement be justanother naturalistic approach like evolu-tion is?

Keep up the good work!

Janet CowdenNeerim South, Vic

Code-busters

Congratulations to AP for its contribu-tion towards exposing some of the fallac-ies cleverly disguised as fact in DanBrown’s book, The Da Vinci Code. If thethousands of non-Christians that I dailyrub shoulders with are representative of awider readership, then many have read thenovel and readily embraced Brown’s sus-picion of history and reinterpretation ofBiblical truth.

There is now increasing suspicion thatthe church has rewritten history to suit itsown agenda. The divinity of Jesus hasbeen attacked, His disciples and followershave been mocked and doubts about thereliability of the Scriptures have been pre-sented. More reasons have been spoon fedout into the community to justify unbe-lief.

Two points. First, could AP considerputting some of the articles on to the webso that they can be accessed by a wideraudience? Second, can I also recommendtwo books that I found helpful and havegiven out to help rechallenge people’sthinking. They are: Breaking the Da VinciCode by Darrell L. Bock and Cracking DaVinci’s Code by James L. Garlow andPeter Jones.

Martin de Pyle,Australian Army Chaplain, Iraq

L E T T E R S

Letters

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NOVEMBER 200521 Crossroads special parish (home mis-

sion) Hobart with about 200 c&a(communicants and adherents), 15 yf(younger folk – Sunday School andyouth) and 8 e (elders); MichaelLynch.

22 Inverell parish northern NSW includ-ing Ashford and Mandoie, with about160 c&a, 75 yf and 14 e; Peter andLillian Greiner.

23 Thank God for 7 years service ofRobert and Leonie Betts fromAshburton and Canterbury Vic.Mission Partners (APWM) workers inSudan with Wycliffe Bible Translators(WBT) and pray for God’s guidancefor their future.

24 Riverwood parish southern Sydneywith about 65 c&a, 40 yf and 5 e;Nello and Narelle Barbieri.

25 Nerida Bell from Ashfield NSWMission Partners (APWM) worker onhome assignment from thePresbyterian Church of Japan; her workis in hospitality and evangelism throughEnglish teaching and friendship.

26 Narrandera home mission stationsouthern NSW with about 35 c&a, 5yf and 4 e; Alan and Jenny Horsburgh.

27 Graham and Irene Hayward fromHurstville Sydney Mission Partners(APWM) workers at WBT HQKangaroo Ground Vic in purchas-ing/maintenance and librarianshipafter many year in PNG.

28 The GAA committee studyingwomen’s ministries within the church– John and Jan Langbridge.

29 Presbytery of Kilnoorat western Vic, 6parishes totaling 14 congregationswith about 990 c&a, 135 yf. and 1school principal. Philip Burns clerk.

30 Praise God for the long heritage ofreformers, martyrs, missionaries, the-

ologians and humble Christians inScotland and pray for renewal andrevival in its churches.

DECEMBER 20051 Naracoorte parish South Australia

with about 125 c&a, 20 yf and 5 e;Andrew Gall, recently ordained, andKareen.

2 Kiama parish NSW Illawarra withabout 130 c&a, 40 yf and 4 e; Noeland Fleur Creighton.

3 Ashleigh and Sarah from CroydonHills, Melbourne Mission Partners(APWM) workers in the Middle Eastin computing, administration and hos-pitality with MECO.

4 Ruth Myors and Kath Donovan fromGosford, NSW Mission Partners(APWM) workers counselling mis-sionaries in transition through theChristian Synergy Centre.

5 The World Reformed Fellowship (towhich we now belong) preparing forits second Assembly in Johannesburgin March 2006 – Rick Perrin,Chaiman; Sam Logan, executiveSecretary.

6 Pray for the Interim moderator,preachers and filling of the vacancy inYoung parish NSW with about 105c&a, 8 yf and 5 e.

7 Terang-Camperdown parish westernVic. including Garvoc with about 75c&a, 15 yf and 4 e; Bernie and MareeThomas.

8 Christian ministry to prisoners andtheir families by chaplains and thePrison Fellowship.

9 Dr. Jacquie McLeod from ArmidaleNSW Mission Partners (APWM)worker who has been paying visits toWest Africa for medical work withSIM.

10 Presbytery of Moree NW NSW, 2parishes and 3 home mission stationstotaling 16 congregations with about690 c&a, 165 yf, 1 PIM patrol worker.

Elizabeth Styles clerk.11 Bassendean home mission station

Perth with about 50 c&a, 3 yf and 2 e;Ross Fraser, recently ordained.

12 Alex and Sybil Shaw from Epping,Sydney Mission Partners (APWM)workers with Global RecordingsNetwork (since 1969) involved intraining recordists and distributingrecordings by “Wokabauts” in PNGand the Solomon Islands.

13 Alex and Tracy Banks fromStanthorpe, Qld Mission Partners(APWM) workers in Pusan, Korea inevangelism through English teachingand friendship with OMF.

14 Pray for the Interim moderator,preachers and filling of the vacancy inWaratah home mission station ,Newcastle NSW with about 35 c&aand 8 e.

15 Harland & Marie Kerr from UlladullaNSW, veteran Mission Partners(APWM) workers with WBT; prayfor their health and completion of theWiru Old Testament for PNG.

16 Castle Hill parish Sydney with about125 c&a, 12 yf and 11 e; pray for thehealth of Pete Playstead and forMerilyn.

17 Patrick and Jennie Fung from SydneyChinese Church Mission Partners(APWM) workers as he prepares toassume the leadership of OMFInternational at the Singapore HQ inthe new year.

18 St. Andrews, Newcastle parish withabout 164 c&a, 15 yf and 10 e; Davidand Carolyn Campbell.

19 Michael Graham from SouthYarraMission Partners (APWM) worker inMill Valley, California ministeringamong people involved in Eastern reli-gions.

20 Presbytery of Penola SA, 4 parishestotaling 11 congregations with about485 c&a, 85 yf. Brian Johnson clerk.

E V A N G E L I S ME V A N G E L I S MP R A Y E R

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Let’s Study LukeDouglas J. W. Milne

Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2005.

Reviewed by Peter Barnes

Douglas Milne writes that “Luke’sGospel is like an extended story made upof a patchwork of many shorter storiestaken from the life of Jesus, who is thecentral figure through every narrative”. Itis always good to have a sure guide inreading the Scriptures, and Douglas issurely that. He takes us through Luke in away that is helpful, scholarly and devo-tional. He is especially adept in Luke 9:51-18:14, which is Luke’s “great insertion” inhis gospel – essentially the records that arenot found in Matthew and Mark.

Douglas has developed a fine turn ofphrase, and provides neat summaries ofbiblical truth. For example, “We love littlebecause we do not grasp the wonder offorgiveness.” Another is: “Our love forGod is worshipful, our love for others isministerial.” All this makes for easy read-ing, as the commentary illumines the bib-lical text.

Occasionally, Douglas intrudes intocontroversies. He links Jesus’ promise toHis hearers about not tasting death untilthey see the kingdom of God (Luke 9:27)with what immediately follows, namelythe transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36). Manyothers would link it to the resurrection orwith Pentecost. It may be somewhat pickyto object to the description of the bat-tered Jew in the parable of the GoodSamaritan as “luckless”. More substantialmight be the reference to the “one thingnecessary” in Luke 10:42 as the meal,whereas the context favours the view thatit is to hear the word of Christ. Finally,Luke 21:32 is translated as “begin to cometo pass”. This is somewhat unlikely, and itis better to solve the problem by referringthe saying to the destruction of Jerusalem.

This is a lucid and godly piece of work,which can be used as a commentary bypastors and teachers, and also, because ofits accompanying study guide, as a basisfor group Bible study. This is all done in alittle over 400 pages – Joseph Fitzmyerand Darrell Bock please take note!

Peter Barnes is books editor of AP.

RuthI’ll Bless the Hand ThatGuided

Bruce Christian

Box Hill North: PTC Media, 2005.

Reviewed by Peter Barnes

I used this booklet as a stimulus in read-ing through Ruth in my morning devo-tions. It did everything I could have askedof it – it prodded, it encouraged, it chal-lenged, it comforted, and it taught. Hereare a clear and useful set of notes, plus sixor seven questions on each of the fourchapters. For individual or group Biblestudy on a most heart-warming book ofthe Bible, this is ideal, and is much recom-mended. It is available from PTC Media(phone 0400 880 515) for $6.

Reflected Light:Essays in Christian SocialPolicy

Noel Weeks (editor)

Box Hill North: PTC Media, 2005.

Reviewed by Greg Goswell

The seven contributors to this volumeare not willing to remain silent in the faceof the persistent and accelerating shiftaway from Christian values in Australiansociety. The writers are by no means arm-chair theorists, a number being vocalChristian advocates involved in the roughand tumble of social action, with regulardealings with government agencies andmedia outlets. They include an economist,a solicitor, an educationist and a politicalscientist. Peter Barnes in his prefacequotes Alexis de Tocqueville: “How is itpossible that society should escapedestruction if the moral tie is notstrengthened in proportion as the politicaltie is relaxed?”

Democratic freedoms require moralboundaries, and the “invisible hand” ofmarket forces is not above Christian cri-tique. This volume reminds us thatChristian ethics has a social dimensionand cannot be limited to private moralchoices. The only possible foundation forthe state and its laws is the God who hasrevealed His goodness and justice in theperson of His Son, Jesus Christ. Themoral education of voters is necessary to aproperly functioning democracy. Theenvironmental crisis cannot be blamedupon Christianity.

The division of powers in theWestminster system between parliament,executive and judiciary has biblical roots.The biblical duty to care for the poormeans that market forces are not value-free. There is the urgent need to reviewanti-discrimination policy, and currentfaddish educational ideas are exposed toscrutiny. This book promotes a robustChristian re-evaluation of current socialtrends in Australia. Reflected Light is avail-able from PTC Media for $12.50 (phone0400 880 515).

Greg Goswell lectures in Biblical Studies atthe Presbyterian Theological CollegeMelbourne.

The Word and the Spirit

Charles Spurgeon

Evangelical Press, 2005.

Reviewed by Stuart Bonnington

This book contains 10 sermons by thefamous 19th century Baptist preacherdealing with the Word of God and thework of the Holy Spirit. The sermonscome from Luke 11:29 (1869), Ephesians4:3 (1865), Acts 2:36-37 (1889), 1 Kings19:11-13 (1873), Ephesians 1:13-14(1876), Ephesians 6:17 (1891), Isaiah 8:20(1858), 1 Timothy 3:15 (1856), Zechariah4:6 (1857), and Hebrews 4:12 (1887).These messages are easy to read and con-tain much important and profound teach-ing for the Christian today. They are pre-ceded by an introduction by Dr MichaelHaykin which sets out in brief compassSpurgeon’s teaching on the Holy Spirit.

Stuart Bonnington is minister of Scots Kirk,Fremantle.

B O O K S


B O O K S

Books

Spring came today, and I venturedout to the local driving range to hitmy first golf shots of the year.Twenty years ago I was competent

enough to play on my university team;today I sprayed balls to left and right ofthe target, only accidentally hitting anoccasional “dream shot”. What had gonewrong? Basically, what sportsmen refer toas their “timing”. In golf, as in most ballgames, “timing” is more important thansize or strength. Having hands, or feet, orclub in the right place at the right timemakes up for numerous other weak-nesses.

God’s timing is, of course, impeccable.What divine behaviours at first sightappear to be slow, or even late, are in factright on time: “When the time had fullycome, God sent his Son” (Gal.4:4); “Atjust the right time, when we were stillpowerless, Christ died for the ungodly”(Rom. 5:6).

Like so many other divine perfections,it is in the life of Jesus that the accuracy ofthe divine timing is most evident. Hencethe refrain that punctuates John’s Gospel,that our Lord’s “time” or “hour” had notyet come. When it did come, God’s per-fect timing enabled His “weakness” toovercome the “strength” of evil. In thefuture, the sovereignty of God’s timingwill once again be made obvious, for theman of sin will stand revealed only “at theproper time” (2 Thess. 2:6), when Christis ready to utterly defeat him. God isnever too early, nor too late. His timing isperfect.

What is true in redemptive history isalso true in the individual lives of

God’s children. He has remarkable waysof synchronising the various strands inHis providence. He keeps back answersto prayer until the precise moment theyare needed; He reserves blessings for dayswhen His grace will meet us in weakness.Think of His timing in the lives of Joseph,or Ruth and Naomi, or David, or Daniel.So too, in the New Testament, God’sangel delivers Peter at the 12th hour (Acts12:1).

Our timing must be synchronized withGod’s, “in tune” with rhythms of His

grace to us. God’s wind blows where itwills (Jn.3:8). How then are we to developa sense of timing in our lives in order tocatch the divine wind in our sails? TheScriptures hold out several principles:

1. Familiarise yourself with therhythms of divine timing by exposingyour thinking constantly to biblical teach-ing, and framingyour life withinthe bounds of itsmoral directives.Just as the acidtest for Jesus was,“Will this fulfillScripture?,” sotoo, in a sense,must Scripture befulfilled in ourlives. God’s tim-ing now is neversyncopated withHis timing inScripture, even ifit seems to be!

This principle is important, because weare often faced with opportunities thatwould be wrong for us, simply becausethey come at inappropriate times. Thesense that we currently have certain basicbiblical responsibilities gives us stability ina world of options; it will also safeguard usfrom taking specific blessings of God(marriage partner, sphere of service)before His time. Think, for example, ofDavid’s restraint when he had two oppor-tunities to slay Saul (2 Sam. 24 and 26),but rightly recognised that moral respon-sibility said this could not be God’s time.The throne was indeed to be his; but Godmust be allowed to do His work in Hisway, in His time, not ours.

2. Learn to wait for God, not becauseHe is slow, but because we are not natu-

rally synchronised with Him. We need tocurb our fleshly tendency toward impa-tience. In our instant society, learning towait for God — patiently accepting thelong-term, the unspectacular, the hiddendisciplines, the divine ploughing andtraining whose harvest is known only“later on” (Heb. 12:11) — is set at a dis-count. Not so in the society of God’skingdom. There, if we do not grow wearyin well doing, a harvest will surely be pro-duced “in the proper time” (Gal. 6:9).

3. Nourish your ability to wait on God.When we are in love, the waiting for love’sfulfillment seems shortest when we are inthe other’s presence. Yes, we look to com-pleting our desires; but for the momentthe joy of the present sustains us. So thosewho wait on God, in intimate commu-nion with Him, find satisfaction in pre-sent duties and leave future fulfillment inHis hands.

Thus it was for Paul. While others fret-ted anxiously over his imprisonment, hewaited in the Lord’s presence, assured thatHis timing was perfect. So it proved to be.His sufferings were productive of bothwitness and glory. Those who humblethemselves under God’s timing experienceexaltation at the right time (1 Pet. 5:6).

The problem with my golf these days isthat I no longer sense what has gone

wrong with my timing. I have lost the“feel” I had when I played much eachweek. It is the same in the Christian life.Perhaps the truth about your Christianlife is that a long “lay-off” has diminishedyour feeling for the Lord’s timing; yourlife is no longer synchronised with theSpirit. Why not get back to some basics?Restore Bible reading and obedience totheir rightful places. Patiently submit tobasic spiritual disciplines again; nourishyour fellowship with God. You will beginto sense afresh His timing, and your ownspiritual timing will be renewed.

This article was previously published inEternity Magazine, April 1987. ap


SinclairFerguson

E V A N G E L I S M

Perfect timingChristians should synchronise their watching with God’s.

R E F L E C T I O N

He keeps backanswers toprayer untilthe precisemoment theyare needed;He reservesblessings fordays when His grace willmeet us inweakness.

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Daniel - AP · LITHOGRAPH BY MARC CHAGALL, 1960. D r Tremper Longman III is the Robert H Gundry Professor of ... The Song of Songs, and a soon-to-be released vol-ume on the Proverbs