Job: finding the end of yourself

God seems to use suffering in our lives to make us see the limits of our own strength. Look at Job: he was a righteous and wealthy man. But the danger of this is that you can too easily trust in your own resources and character as a protection from trouble. Job discovered his righteousness did not bring him immunity from suffering, and this is the big theological problem of the book: Job's friends reason (and with good Scriptural foundation) that God is just and will bless the righteous, therefore Job must have sinned to bring about this calamity. The reader -and Job- knows this is not the case, and yet how could God still bring about this suffering?

In a good sense, Job's friends' knowledge of the truth (that God is good and will punish the wicked) gives reassurance in the topsy-turvy time of trial that the righteous will be blessed and the wicked will be cut off. But their understanding is limited, and their theology doesn't have room for innocent suffering, ultimately experienced in the cross of Jesus.

However, even though Job is right in speaking of himself as innocent before God, he still needs to acknowledge God's right to be God. God doesn't owe us anything. The things Job has lost were gifts in the first place. Even in our piety, we can't save ourselves; we need a mediator. Job needed to realise that his sacrifices weren't enough; he couldn't make his own atonement, let alone for others. His suffering drives him to realise his own neediness, as he says 'Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?' (Job 6:13).

When God does something we don't understand, the temptation is to give up on the divine plan and see God as a human adversary who doesn't do things logically or rationally (see the imagery in Job 16). In suffering, you are forced to see the 'otherness' of God. You understand more that you don't understand Him. God is just, but His justice is deeper than straightforward rewards and punishments in this life.

'My days have passed, my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart' (Job 17:11).

Job reaches the end of himself, but then begins a journey to seeing the hope of resurrection.

Daniel: shining like stars

'Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky' (Philippians 2:14-15).

'Christ is the light of the world, and good Christians are lights in the world. When God raises up a good man in any place, he sets up a light in that place.' (Matthew Henry)

I've been reading the book of Daniel, and this New Testament verse from Philippians really sums it up for me. With the nation of Israel in pieces and the cream of the crop in exile in Babylon, Daniel and his friends shine like stars in the darkness of a pagan land. Their situation speaks strongly to me of our position as Christians, 'elect exiles' (1 Pet 1:1) in this corrupt world, waiting for the return of Jesus Christ and the beauty of the new creation in its stunning absence of sin. I think I often read the Bible and think, how am I supposed to do this? How am I supposed to live in this world, full of temptations and pulls, and manage to obey God? Surely it can't be possible? Now I'm not an advocate of Christian perfectionism, but sometimes I worry we go too far the other way. We are so caught up with emphasising our sinfulness that we forget that God has given us commands, and the power by His Spirit to obey them. Otherwise, if it was not possible to obey, how could we be held accountable and responsible for our sin?

Looking at the heroes of the Bible, like Abraham, Noah, Moses, Job, David, they were not sinless. They could not redeem us like Jesus. However, they did have a valid righteousness that came from their obedience through faith in God's promises. They did live exemplary lives amongst a warped and crooked generation. And it has to be possible for us to imitate them -and ultimately Christ Himself- and live righteously so that we can fulfil our function of illuminating to the world how far from their Creator they have fallen, and draw them back to Him. (1 Pet 2:9)

So let's look at Daniel and see what we can learn from his behaviour in Babylon:
He was unshaken, despite living in an extremely turbulent time. He was exiled from Israel to be educated for three years in the literature and language of the Chaldeans (Dan 1:5) - essentially a re-education to make these exiles conform to the Babylonian ways. But Daniel resolves not to defile himself with the king's food (Dan 1:8), which seems to be a way of taking a stand that he won't be ensnared by the new culture he is living in. The distinctive diet which he and his friends adopt serves to emphasise their distinct faith and identity as God's people in a foreign land. From the beginning of the book, then, Daniel is distinctive. He deliberately does not seek to 'blend in' seamlessly with his pagan surroundings. He was therefore not a people-pleaser. He wasn't willing to sacrifice his closeness to God and obedience just to win favour with others.

In the close fellowship he shared with Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, Daniel avoided spiritual isolation. He knew his own need for like-minded believers around him to encourage him and share truth in the midst of a crazy time, full of tests, betrayals and amazing miracles too. In his lifestyle, both words and actions, Daniel showed outstanding wisdom (Dan 1:17). Unlike Solomon, he was faithful to the end. He was gifted by God in exceptional ways, and placed in a context he almost certainly found uncomfortable, difficult and at times life-threatening, in order to be used by God in extraordinary ways. He was happy to be a prophet in a pagan place, one who spoke the words God wanted him to speak, in the situations he was placed into. His boldness was balanced with a wonderful calmness and humility; Daniel does not come across as gung-ho (in Dan 2:14 he hears of the king's command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon, which includes himself, and speaks to the captain of the king's guard with prudence and discretion). In each situation he faced, he determined to seek God and had faith that God would answer (Dan 2:16-18). He was a regular and seasoned pray-er, refusing to quit his habit to fall in line with the king's orders, regardless of the cost (Dan 6:10).

Ultimately, Daniel had a firm understanding of the sovereignty of God. He knew that Yahweh's power was not restricted to the borders and boundaries of Israel. He knew that he was where he was for a reason in a divine purpose, even if he didn't always complete understand that purpose. He was thankful, offering praise to God and refusing to take God's favour for granted (Dan 2:21-23). He spoke truth without compromise to kings who held a huge amount of worldly power, knowing that their power was given to them by an almighty God who would hold them accountable. Despite his unique abilities and the prominence he held under Nebuchadnezzar, by Belshazzar's reign, Daniel seems to have been overlooked or forgotten (see Dan 5:11-12). He obviously wasn't one to put himself forward and cling on to power for the sake of it. He knew if God wanted him to be in the spotlight again, He would make it happen - and when He did, Daniel didn't shrink from speaking some hard words to the proud and arrogant king who had not learnt from the mistakes of his father (Dan 6:17-23). He refuses earthly rewards because he sees their true value in the light of eternity.

What encouragement for us! It is possible to live an exemplary life in a world that is fundamentally hostile to God. As Simon Guillebaud observes, we are to insulate ourselves, not isolate ourselves, from the world. What situations has God placed you in, to be a witness to the world around you? Pray that He would help you to stay faithful!

Noah, a preacher of righteousness

With the recent film release of 'Noah', it seems like our attention is being drawn again to the account in Genesis of the Flood. The film, with obvious film-makers' poetic license, explores what this epic event in human history may have looked like (or, from the director's perspective, imagines how a myth would have looked in reality). I was thinking a few months ago about Noah as I was reading through Genesis, and thinking through what we are meant to make of him and the story of God decisively acting to wipe out every living creature except those on the ark - essentially, to bring chaos and de-create what was created, ready for a new beginning solidified in the call of Abram in Genesis 12. The great thing about the Bible is that it offers its own commentary on these events, and 2 Peter 2 is really helpful in thinking over Genesis 6-9. Peter is looking ahead towards the future judgement that will come upon the false teachers who have been plaguing the church, and he draws upon several accounts in Genesis to illustrate his point that 'the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.' (v9) In mentioning the Flood, Peter says that God 'protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness' (v5). So let's unpack exactly what that might mean, and then think about how it applies to us today.

1. Noah knew God was righteous
To be a 'preacher of righteousness', Noah would have had to have known that it is a key aspect of God's character and very nature and being. Genesis 6:9 says that 'Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.' The last clause of that verse, that he walked faithfully with God, is not detachable in meaning from the description of Noah as righteous; they are intrinsically linked. It wasn't that Noah was a decent guy, so God decided to save him and his family. Noah knew God, and although we aren't given much detail as to how he related to God on a daily basis or how he knew what he knew about God, we can surmise that God had revealed something of His character and heart to Noah. God had shared His hatred of sin and His plan to destroy His creation with Noah, but He had also shared a promise to establish His covenant with Noah and save him and his family. (see Genesis 6:11-21). As a result, Noah knew God was a righteous God. He must have known about God's role as Creator and sustainer of the whole earth, and therefore God's power to destroy it as well. He must also have known that God would never lie but always keep His word. His knowledge of these truths resulted in his obedience when God told him to build an ark. He acted in faith, because he knew God was righteous and would keep His promise to save him.

2. Noah knew God's righteousness meant impending judgement
As a necessary consequence of God's righteousness, He has to judge sin. Noah warned his generation that there was a God who saw their sin and was imminently about to bring cataclysmic judgement upon the whole earth. The fact that only 8 people were saved on the ark was not due to a lack of mercy on God's part, but of humanity's stubborn refusal to repent and believe. The description of Noah as a 'preacher of righteousness' encapsulates what it must have meant to be someone living in such a fallen world, with the certain knowledge of God's coming judgement, and to have a godly desire to see men saved. The film has been criticised for showing Noah to be increasingly vindictive against humanity, more concerned about saving animals than men's souls. I don't think that can match up with the biblical description of this righteous man.

3. Noah lived a righteous life of faith
Noah's own righteousness came by his faith and the way that he lived his faith out. He found grace in the eyes of the Lord and God gave him the privilege of His covenant and of being the father of all future generations. It must have been a fearful thing to be on the ark, knowing you were the only survivors of a world-wide catastrophe. Perhaps Noah and his family heard the people outside the ark perishing, who once scoffed at what he was doing. Perhaps there was also an element o relief, that all the ungodly enemies of God, who would have been enemies to Noah too, were now destroyed.
Noah was human and flawed as his drunkenness after the Flood shows, but still he demonstrated a life of faith, which made him righteous in God's eyes.

How can we be preachers of righteousness?
As Christian believers, we have a fuller revelation of God's righteousness and the righteousness that is ours by faith: in Jesus Christ. In Christ we see God-in-flesh, His holiness lived out perfectly in human form. On the cross we see the righteousness of God punishing sin, and the righteousness of Christ as the innocent, perfect sacrifice. If we are in Christ, our sins have been dealt with, the penalty has been paid, and His righteousness is credited to our account (2 Cor 5:21).
In our generation, we see evil and wickedness just as Noah did- perhaps with some new outlets due to modern technology. Pornography and sexual immorality are facts of modern society which have escalated far beyond control, to the growing anxiety of politicians. We have saved thousands of childrens' lives through vaccinations and medical advances, yet we kill 500 unborn children every day through abortion. Our generation needs to hear the truth about God's righteousness and the coming Day of judgement when Christ will return. They will only be saved from an eternity in hell if they repent and believe the gospel of Christ. Are we boldly proclaiming this word of truth? And are we modelling in our lives the righteousness of a life of faith, as we seek to imitate Christ? There is much challenge in the story of Noah, this hero of faith, and perhaps this element of challenge gets overlooked because we are too busy fussing about the historicity of the account and the hows and whys of the earth being deluged. Let's not get distracted from the main point: Noah was a preacher of righteousness. We should be too!

'The Reader' reviewed

Yesterday I took some students to a public-speaking competition in London. There was a lot of waiting around... But I managed to get through Bernhard Schlink's 'The Reader' AND do my marking, which was quite satisfying!

'The Reader' has recently been made into a film with Ralph Fiennes and Kate Winslet- I wanted to read the book before seeing the film because my friends recommended it. It is a very compelling read- all about how the protagonist struggles to come to terms with the fact that his past lover was an SS guard in Nazi Germany.

The book raises so many interesting questions. For example, Michael says 'I was guilty of having loved a criminal', but what he is really saying is that somehow his generation is implicated and involved in the Holocaust. He struggles to reconcile Hanna's crimes with the person he once knew, and it raises the issue, as the reading-group questions in the back articulate: 'How can we explain why ordinary people commit atrocities without resorting to calling them monsters?'

The Bible has an answer to this: it teaches that we often try to measure up ourselves against others in order to justify ourselves and pat ourselves on the back for our superior morality. Actually that is fruitless, because our righteousness is filthy rags to God (Isa 64:6). Instead of creating an 'us' and 'them' scenario where the murderers and rapists are on one side of the fence, ourselves on the other, we should accept that every single one of us is capable of 'atrocities' if placed in the right (or wrong) time or place. We should acknowledge that often our thoughts are atrocious, even if our deeds are respectable. And it is our sinfulness that sent Jesus to the cross, so that we could be forgiven.

Our human sense of justice -our desire to see Nazi war criminals pay for their deeds- is a gift from God. He will hold everyone accountable for the wrongs they have done- against other people but also against Him. If you're trusting in Jesus, be glad and look forward to the day when there will be no more injustice and no more suffering. If you're not trusting in Jesus, don't be too quick to call down the wrath of God upon the 'sinners' of our society. Get your rags replaced with the riches of Jesus Christ!

Psalm 15: The need for holiness

Lessons from David: Psalm 15
This psalm reminds us that God is holy and requires holiness from us. Only one whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous can dwell with Him. He wants us to speak the truth from the heart, be careful not to speak ill of others, and seek the good of others too.

God wants us to honour those who fear Him and keep our promises 'even when it hurts'. If we do these things we will 'never be shaken', and the Bible gives us so many examples of people who were shaken by sin (such as David in his encounter with Bathsheba).

Even though Jesus has saved us by His righteousness, our holiness is important to God. Our conduct should reflect the kind of God He is and what He has done for us- purified us from all sin.

Psalm 4: Giving Him the glory

Lessons from David- Psalm 4

The secret of David's success against Goliath was that he recognised that God deserved glory, and Goliath was trampling that glory. David trusted that God would act for His own glory, and this Psalm explains more about how this relates to our relationship with God.

David's prayer shows that God is a righteous God who demands righteousness from His people. He gives relief from distress and mercifully answers prayer (1), but expects men to give Him glory and worship Him instead of false gods (2). The Lord has set apart the godly for Himself (3)- they are His and He defends them.

So if we seek to glorify God, we experience His protection and care. If we ignore Him, then we forfeit this blessing, and true joy. Our sin becomes a barrier between us and the God of holiness. This is why David says:
'In your anger do not sin... Offer right sacrifices (for us this means believing in Jesus) and trust in the Lord' (4-5).

Only God can show us what goodness is (6), and only He can give us soul-satisfying joy and peace:
'You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.' (7)