The Persecution of Kristen Hodges

On 20th June 2019, a woman named Kristen Hodges made a statement on Twitter. This is what she said:

You can’t be a Christian and think these are okay and/or are not sins:

– Being LGBT

– Sex before marriage

– Being lustful

– Mastubation [sic]

– Getting drunk/high

– Cheating/lying

– Cursing/quick to anger

People c’mon. God loves everyone but not everyone will go to Heaven!

https://mobile.twitter.com/KHodgess/status/1141759699622252545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The tweet provoked such a storm of outrage that it was reported on by some semi-mainstream online media outlets. Some headlined the story as being about an “anti-LGBT tweet”. The response to Kirsten’s tweet encapsulated the attitude of the world today towards believers who hold to scriptural truth and aren’t afraid to express it.

Many of the baying mob that rounded on Kirsten were mockers. Some were simply vicious. What was so striking about the shower of insults and mockery was the astonishing level of Biblical illiteracy shown – verses quoted completely out of context being a common feature. A crowd which clearly had no interest in Christianity or the Bible was using the scriptures to attempt to tear down a woman who knows the truth and loves the Lord Jesus.

Another striking feature of the vitriolic response was the lack of basic literacy of the attackers. Many objected to Kirsten’s ‘judging’ others. There were numerous references to self-righteousness. Several challenged her for apparently claiming who will and will not go to heaven, and who is or is not a Christian. A rational, unbiased observer, reading Kirsten’s tweet in an analytical way, would have seen very clearly that no claims of personal righteousness were made, and neither were any claims as to who is or isn’t a Christian. It was simply an appeal to those occupying Christian ground to hold to the principles of Christianity – in other words to be true to the Name that they bear.

However, logic and reason is foreign to the Twitter lynch-mob. In an unbelieving world where logic and reason are cited as the sources which disprove the truths of Christianity, those elements are entirely absent. All that is sacrificed to the relentless, implacable hatred of true Christianity in this world. As a sympathetic Twitter user, ‘Caleb’, responded, “It’s lack of good sense “folly.””

Everyone – believer and unbeliever alike – should be worried by this unreasoning, hate-filled persecution of those who dare to express their belief in Christian principles. The illiberalism of the Twitter mob is undoubtly a harbinger of things to come – when this violent speech on the Internet will spread and change into violent action on the streets of the western world.

Praise Amidst Adversity

Arise, my soul, present your psalm
To Chief Musician’s gaze,
In pressure Thou enlargest me,
Turn suffering into praise.

Rejoice, my soul, in trial and pain:
The Hand that tunes the strings
Is that of He who leads the praise
‘Tis in the midst He sings.

Awake, my soul, and greet your Lord
In darkened midnight jail,
Praise Jah with prayer and joyous song
When best laid plans have failed.

Sweet Psalmist thou of Israel blest
Who taught these hands to war,
Teach this heart to hymn thy Name
To praise Thee, ever more.

Man’s Glory and God’s Glory

“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If a man or a woman have vowed the special vow of a Nazarite, to consecrate themselves to Jehovah… All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head; until the days be fulfilled, that he hath consecrated himself to Jehovah, he shall be holy; he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.” – Numbers 6 v 1, 5

“For man indeed ought not to have his head covered, being God’s image and glory… Does not nature itself teach you that man, if he have long hair, it is a dishonour to him?” – 1 Corinthians 11 v 7, 14

I have a simple impression regarding man’s glory and God’s glory. In the chapter of Numbers quoted above we have the law concerning one who has vowed the special vow of the Nazarite – a word which comes from the Hebrew nazar, which is the root of the words which are translated ‘consecration’ and ‘separation’. The vow of the Nazarite represents a special, deep soul exercise in relation to separation and consecration to God. The whole section is very instructive, but I want to highlight just one of the conditions of the Nazarite’s consecration: letting his hair grow freely.

Now, we learn from 1 Corinthians 11 that it is a dishonour to a man for him to have long hair. This is the context in which we understand the instruction to one who had vowed the Nazarite vow and wished to consecrate himself to let his hair grow. In doing so, he would be dishonoured – he would give up what distinguished him as a man. I think this suggests the giving up of man’s glory. If we truly have a desire to be consecrated and separated to God, then it’s essential that all thought of our own natural glory is done away with. If I’m occupied with and take pride in some distinguishing natural feature, then that shows that I’m occupied with man’s glory, and can’t really be occupied with God’s glory. We must come to a judgement of the flesh – we must come to it, as the apostle did, that “in me, that is, in my flesh, good does not dwell” (Romans 7 v 18). More than that, we have to see that everything which marks us out naturally which is to our glory is of no use to God. We would be reminded of Paul, recounting all his natural accomplishments and qualifications to the Philippians, and his conclusion: “but what things were gain to me these I counted, on account of Christ, loss” (Philippians 3 v 7). I think that would be Paul “let[ting] the locks of the hair of his head grow”.

Moving on to 1 Corinthians, we see here man as God’s image and glory. This, I believe, is man viewed as divine workmanship, reflecting the glory of God. This is something which can’t be covered up or surrendered, and so here the dishonour of a man having long hair is spoken about. The glory of God is something that we need to take account of, and which God loves to take account of in His saints. What is to the glory of God would be formed in us as we take account of Christ. As having Him before us as our sole object, not hindered by any thought of self or man’s glory, we can feed on Him and be built up spiritually. So, we see how necessary it is that all thought of self should be done away with, so Christ can fill our view, and what corresponds to the image and glory of God is produced in us by the Spirit’s operations. We would be reminded of the words of John the baptist: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3 v 30). May it be so, with each one of us.

“God loves a cheerful giver”

An elderly brother – whom I’d never met but have heard others speak about – was taken to be with the Lord recently and was buried in Aberdeen last weekend. This brother was known for his unselfish generosity, particularly to young couples setting up households, and so at his burial that scripture was read which says, “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9 v 7).

This touching reflection on the life of a brother in which features of Christ shone out reminded me of the conversations I’ve had recently with advocates of the so-called ‘social gospel’ and ‘progressive Christianity’. I, and others who hold to the truth of the scriptures, were accused of not caring for the poor and needy, and being hard, legal and Pharisaic. So, let’s talk about giving.

Christian giving, like every other manifestation of Christian life, results in glory to God. Much giving in man’s world tends to have an element of self-glorification about it – so the Lord speaks about the hypocrites sounding a trumpet before them in the streets and in the synagogues, to be praised by men. This is contrasted with the way that the disciple of Jesus gives: “But thou, when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand does; so that thine alms may be in secret, and thy Father who sees in secret will render it to thee” (Matthew 6 v 3-4). So, Christian giving is discrete. You may not even know about the wholehearted generosity of a brother or sister. In my experience, we often learn about these things through the benefactor’s appreciation of how the Spirit of Christ shone in the giver – and so Christ is magnified.

When the apostle writes to the Corinthians about giving in 2 Corinthians 9 v 7, he writes that giving – or “sowing” – should be “each according as he is purposed in his heart; not grievingly, or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver”. The well-spring of Christian giving isn’t some legal compulsion or set taxation – it’s the spontaneous response of a heart which is satisfied with Christ and is occupied with Him. This is the very opposite of the self-centred man in Luke 12, who thought, “I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much good things laid by for many years; repose thyself, eat, drink, be merry” (Luke 12 v 19). He became his own object, and spoke to his own soul instead of speaking to God, so self-absorbed was he. Our absorption must be with Christ – if we’re occupied with Him, we’ll find ourselves being formed after Him, and formed in His compassion for others.

We must understand, however, the vital matter of God being our Object in giving, and His glory being before us. Unregenerate men can be prompted by a tender conscience or natural compassion to give to their fellow man, and this is good in its place. There’s no thought of God’s glory in it, though. Christian giving is on a whole other level. Christianity is a heavenly system, and all that’s involved in it is in relation to heaven, and not to the world. I would like to look at Exodus 35 which I believe would illustrate this. The chapter describes the highest form of giving – giving in view of the service of God – but I believe all our giving should take character from it.

In this chapter we see Moses collecting all the children of Israel before him with a view to gathering up all the necessary materials for the construction of the tabernacle and all the things relating to its service. He says to them, “This is the word which Jehovah has commanded, saying, Take from among you a heave-offering to Jehovah: every one whose heart is willing, let him bring it, Jehovah’s heave-offering” (Exodus 35 v 4-5). Here we have the willingness of heart without which Christian giving is an impossibility. What’s required is a heave-offering, which speaks of energetic movement Godward.

And so the result of what Moses has to say is that “all the assembly of the children of Israel departed from Moses” (v 20). They had been in the presence of Christ, in type, and they went out as having had their affections engaged with Him. This is the beginning of all Christian giving – having our affections engaged with Christ. It doesn’t begin with natural feelings for our fellow man, such as an unbeliever might have – the impulse is heavenly.

In our chapter we see the result: “And they came, every one whose heart moved him, and every one whose spirit prompted him; they brought Jehovah’s heave-offering for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women; every one who was of willing heart brought nose-rings, and earrings, and rings, and bracelets, all kinds of utensils of gold; every man that waved a wave-offering of gold to Jehovah” (v 21-22). Here we have a movement and prompting of heart and spirit, the inward working of affection coming into outward expression. The whole of this chapter is full of the most affecting detail, but for the sake of brevity I’ll stop at verse 22. Here we have men and women bringing what might have brought glory to themselves and their dwellings – that jewellery and those utensils of gold – and giving it up for the glory of God. The result is a wave-offering of gold to Jehovah – a movement of the affections Godward, affections in which Christ is cherished and waved before God to His utter delight and satisfaction.

This, dear brethren, is the height and glory of what we’ve been brought into as believers in the Lord Jesus. Everything we do, however humble and seemingly insignificant, is connected with the glory of God. The Lord could say, “Verily, I say to you, Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to me” (Matthew 25 v 40). The fact that our Christian giving is so intimately connected with and appreciated by the Lord Jesus should be a great stimulus to our affections and our giving.

I don’t want to end on a negative note, but I feel it must be said – is the so-called ‘social gospel’ marked by this heavenly energy and dignity? I fear not. Christ as the heavenly Man is not known by many who call themselves ‘progressive Christians’, and so their deeds don’t flow from the heaven with a view to the glory of God. The result is false charity which lulls the conscience to sleep regarding sins. So let us turn away from all that’s false, and do what we do with Christ as our Object, as loving Him and ministering to Him with willing hearts and divinely prompted spirits.

A Poem

Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, whom Jehovah hath afflicted in the day of his fierce anger. – Lamentations 1 v 12

Who has known sorrow like Thy sorrow,
Earth’s rejected King?
Thou didst secure our bright tomorrow
Through Thy suffering.

What is it to us, all we who pass by?
Words of untold pain,
“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”
Thy forsaking is our gain.

Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief,
Thou hast borne it all:
Wrath of God without relief
Result of Adam’s fall.

The bars of the earth, closed upon Thee,
Thou didst enter death’s dark sphere
Death and grave, they bowed before Thee
Perfect love has cast out fear.

We hail Thee, Victor, Lamb once slain,
Day’s returning Lord,
Thou comest, joyful saints in train,
Honoured and adored.

We soon shall enter, blest Lord with Thee
Into eternal rest,
Joys won for us whom love did free,
In Thee, so richly blessed.

“Day’s Returning Lord”

“Then Jesus was carried up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted of the devil:… Then the devil leaves him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him… And walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother… and he says to them, Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they, having left their trawl-nets, immediately followed him. And going on thence he saw other two brothers, James… and John his brother… and he called them; and they, having left the ship and their father, immediately followed him. And Jesus went round the whole of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every bodily weakness among the people. And his fame went out into the whole of Syria, and they brought to him all that were ill, suffering under various diseases and pains, and those possessed by demons, and lunatics, and paralytics; and he healed them.” – Matthew 4 v 1, 11, 18-24

“Or how can any one enter into the house of the strong man and plunder his goods, unless first he bind the strong man? and then he will plunder his house.” – Matthew 12 v 29

“When the strong man armed keeps his own house, his goods are in peace; but when the stronger than he coming upon him overcomes him, he takes away his panoply in which he trusted, and he will divide the spoil he has taken from him.” – Luke 11 v 21-22

With some reluctance, I’ve quoted very selectively from Matthew 4 for the purposes of this brief OP. I’d encourage each one of us to read that wonderful chapter in full.

What I have in mind is the way that the Lord Jesus met the enemy and overcame him utterly – how the perfection of His manhood shone out in that encounter. We can think of the scene that the Lord Jesus came into – a scene of sin and misery, “Disease, and death, and demon”, as J.N.D. says in his hymn. The strong man armed was keeping his own house, for sure! Men were in grievous bondage. And into this scene came a mighty Warrior. Not mighty in the flesh: in Matthew 4 we see Jesus hungering after forty days and nights of fasting, and this is when Satan approaches to tempt Him. And yet in the face of every temptation the Lord demonstrates His utter moral superiority to the adversary – He is surely one stronger than he! Matthew’s presentation (Matthew 12 v 29) speaks of binding the strong man, and we have that here in Matthew 4: Satan left the scene, a defeated foe, overcome.

And now, the Lord goes out in triumph to plunder his goods: first Peter and Andrew, then James and John. He comes in with great attractiveness and moral authority – He says, Come, and they immediately leave everything and follow Him, so affected are they!

Then He goes out in His sweeping victory through “Galilee of the nations”, preaching, teaching, healing – with the devil nowhere to impede the unstoppable work. The panoply in which the strong man trusted was taken away: illness, disease, torment, demon, lunacy, paralysis… the entire of Satan’s armoury was rendered ineffective. In His great love, mercy and compassion the mighty Redeemer divides the spoil, bringing relief to every man, Jew first, then Gentile.

What a Christ! What a Saviour. Day’s returning Lord.

“The strong man his armour
Thou mettest in Thy grace,
Didst spoil the mighty charmer
Of our unhappy race.

Disease, and death, and demon,
All fled before Thy word,
As darkness, the dominion
Of day’s returning Lord!”

– J.N. Darby

Lessons of the Sabbath

The following post was originally written in reply to a seventh-day sabbath keeper.

“Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, holy to Jehovah: whoever doeth work on the sabbath day shall certainly be put to death.” – Exodus 31 v 15

“Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings upon the sabbath day.” – Exodus 35 v 3

“And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to the whole assembly… the whole assembly led him outside the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.” – Numbers 15 v 32-33, 36

In Numbers 15 we have a man gathering sticks – not wood, but sticks – with the clear intention of kindling a fire. So here we have a double-infraction of the holy sabbath day: a man working on the sabbath, and also intending to kindle a fire.

Now fire, in the scripture, is often connected with judgement. We read that God rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19 v 24). The One whose winnowing fan is in His hand will burn the chaff with “unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3 v 12, Luke 3 v 17). Hell, we are told, is “fire unquenchable” (Mark 9 v 43-45). In the judgements that’ll come upon the earth in a future day, we read of the “third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone” issuing from the mouths of the horses with heads of lions (Revelation 9 v 18). Again, we find hell spoken of in the Revelation as “the lake which burns with fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21 v 8, &c). Peter testifies that “the present heavens and the earth by his word are laid up in store, kept for fire unto a day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3 v 7). Elijah called down fire to consume Ahaziah’s host (2 Kings 1 v 10-12). My point is that fire in Numbers 15 also speaks of judgement, and that what it teaches us is that we ought not to kindle judgement in a day of grace.

When the Samaritans refused to receive Jesus, James and John wanted him to call down fire, as Elijah had, and consume them, “But turning he rebuked them and said, Ye know not of what spirit ye are” (Luke 9 v 55). This is what we see in the actions of the man gathering sticks – a man entirely out of step with the character of the day, a man who didn’t have the mind of God. He had no appreciation of the sabbath, he had no idea of the character of the day he was in. This is the sabbath pre-figuring the day of grace in which we are – a day when judgement is held back, when the gospel is to be preached to all men. There will be a day of judgement, of fire and brimstone, but it’s not this day. We see in the Hebrew epistle that, “ye have not come to the mount that might be touched and was all on fire…” (Hebrews 12 v 18). Paul quotes the scripture, “for he says, I have listened to thee in an accepted time, and I have helped thee in a day of salvation: behold, now is the well-accepted time; behold, now the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6 v 2). This man had committed a double-infraction – not only was he intended to kindle judgement in a day of grace, he worked on the sabbath when work was forbidden. The writer to the Hebrews applies this to the day we’re in: “There remains then a sabbatism to the people of God. For he that has entered into his rest, he also has rested from his works, as God did from his own” (Hebrews 4 v 9-10).

What I wanted to demonstrate by drawing attention to this typical teaching is how the sabbath given to Israel pre-figures the character of the day in which we are. It was intended for our education in divine principles, which is a recognised use of the Old Testament scripture. As Paul writes of those that perished at Kibroth-hattaavah, “all these things happened to them as types, and have been written for our admonition” (1 Corinthians 10 v 6) and again he writes as to the law concerning oxen, “Is God occupied about the oxen, or does he say it altogether for our sakes? For for our sakes it has been written…” (1 Corinthians 9 v 9-10).

Now, it has been said that God’s commandment is eternal or everlasting. I agree with that entirely. However, if we look on to heaven in the eternal day, we find a difficulty with holding the commandment regarding the sabbath in the literal way that Israel did. For one, there’ll be no work from which to rest, and for another, there will be no days. We read in the symbolic description of the holy city, where God will tabernacle with men, “And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon, that they should shine for it; for the glory of God has enlightened it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb” (Luke 9 v 56). Without sun or moon, there’s no way to mark a sabbath day, even if there were such things as days when time has ceased to be. Let us, then, retrace our steps from the eternal day to our day. We have it written, as has been quoted, “There remains then a sabbatism to the people of God”. One question which occurs is why this would need to be stated, most especially to the Hebrew believers, if they continued to keep the sabbath days as they had before the revelation of Christ? They would have no need to be told that there remained a sabbath-rest to the people of God. However, perhaps the writer is merely putting them in mind of the holy rest-day? No so – Hebrews 4 shows, very clearly, that another sort of rest is spoken of. The chapter begins in this way: “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left of entering into his rest, any one of you might seem to have failed of it. For indeed we have had glad tidings presented to us, even as they also; but the word of the report did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard. For we enter into the rest who have believed; as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, If they shall enter into my rest; although the works have been completed from the foundation of the world” &c. So we have a rest which is clearly not the literal cessation from labour on a sabbath day – we have a rest contingent on hearing the glad tidings, and the report of those glad tidings being mixed with faith in those who heard. This is far from a literal sabbath rest – don’t unbelieving Jews, going on religiously, rest on the sabbath? What we have here is the sabbatism which remains to be entered into – the rest of God in the glad tidings. This is God’s rest, as opposed to man’s rest.

Could there be any rest for God in the seventh-day sabbath, when the world was in a state of sin and desolation? It is a scene like we see in the second verse of the scriptures: “the earth was waste and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”. There could be no rest for God in a scene wasted and darkened by sin. The Lord worked on the sabbath – he healed, undid the works of the devil. The Jews persecuted Him and sought to kill Him for it, but He answered them, “My Father worketh hitherto and I work” (John 5 v 17). The was no rest for God before the incoming of Christ. On His birth we have the angelic host announcing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men” (Luke 2 v 14). Here there was to be rest for God, and men were to enter into that rest. So we have our sabbath-rest. Not the sabbatism that Israel knew, which was only a pre-figuring of this one: one of a heavenly and eternal character. We must be sure to enter into it in this, the day of salvation. We have the warning, “Let us therefore use diligence to enter into that rest, that no one may fall after the same example of not hearkening to the word” (Hebrews 4 v 11). The man in Numbers 15 didn’t hearken to the word, and he fell. He presumed to continue in his works and kindle judgement. As the scripture says, “For where we sin wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains any sacrifice for sins, but certain fearful expectation of judgment, and heat of fire about to devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10 v 26-27). What wilful sin does the writer have in mind? “Of how much worse punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy who has trodden underfoot the Son of God, and esteemed the blood of the covenant, whereby he has been sanctified, common, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10 v 29). The sabbath-breaker of Numbers 15 did just that. In going out to labour in dead works instead of entering into God’s rest, he trod the Son of God underfoot and deemed the blood of the covenant unclean, and by collecting sticks to kindle a fire of judgement, he insulted the Spirit of grace. All that he could expect was unsparing judgement. We must be sure that our conduct is not on that line in this, the well-accepted day of God’s salvation.

“Called Saints”

“Paul, a called apostle of Jesus Christ, by God’s will, and Sosthenes the brother, to the assembly of God which is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all that in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…” – 1 Corinthians 1 v 1-2

“Grace to you, and peace, from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, so that he should deliver us out of the present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father…” – Galatians 1 v 3-4

I was told a story recently about a brother who had gone to preach in a certain place. He preached powerfully, and those listening were deeply affected. After the preaching, as the brother was leaving the hall he overheard a comment by one of those who’d been listening: “Well, after a preaching like that, we must go on”. The preacher stopped, and said, “No. We must come on”.

Dear believer: God, in His grace and mercy, has secured us for our blessing and His glory and pleasure eternally. He has moved from His own side, acting in all power and wisdom, to bring about His purposes. Our place in all this is to “come on”, to enter into all that God has treasured up for those He foreknew and loved before time was. That scripture comes to mind, “For we enter into the rest who have believed” (Hebrews 4 v 3). We are “called saints”, literally, “saints by divine calling”. God has said to us, “Come on”. That is a wonderful assurance to the heart of the believer.

I’m sure we’ve all had times in our lives when our state wasn’t what it should be. Perhaps we haven’t done the things that Paul had to write to the Corinthians about, but there have been times when we dropped below the height of our calling. At these times, perhaps the enemy of our souls has caused us to question the security of our salvation. The way that Paul addresses the Corinthians when he writes his first epistle should set our anxious souls at rest. He takes the divine view of the Corinthian saints, viewing them at the height and dignity of their calling. He would remind them of that, recall them to it, before he takes up the serious matters that needed to be dealt with. He would say to them, “Come on”, come on and be livingly in all that God has purposed for you, put aside all the weights and sins that would hinder you from being true to your calling.

I quoted from Paul’s address to the Galatians as well – there we have another corrective epistle. Again though, Paul begins with the calling: “our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, so that he should deliver us out of the present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father”. It is the Lord Jesus Christ giving Himself for us, delivering us, according the inexorable will of our God and Father. The purpose of God stands, unchallengeable, unchanging. The Galatians were getting entangled in the world, giving an ear to a false gospel, subjecting themselves to earthly ordinances – the apostle has to take that up with them in the strongest of terms. But first he would remind them that it’s the will of their God and Father that they should be delivered out of the world – a perfect will which won’t be turned aside. Before taking up the side of responsibility, Paul would always impress our hearts with the sovereignty of God and the immutability of His purpose. So, though I might fail, and do fail, and fail grievously, He never fails. His word will not return unto Him void, but it shall do that which He pleases, and it shall accomplish that for which He sends it (Isaiah 55 v 11). We can rest in that sure knowledge, with the confidence that Paul had: “having confidence of this very thing, that he who has begun in you a good work will complete it unto Jesus Christ’s day” (Philippians 1 v 6).

Keeping the Dietary Law

I thought it might be interesting to look at the dietary law – and to suggest how the believer in the Lord Jesus keeps this law.

Sadly, many religious persons – and some true believers – are under the misapprehension that God requires that His people to have a restricted diet. They’ve not understood, or have set aside, the Lord’s words in Mark 7 v 18-20, and the apostle’s confirmation in Hebrews 9 v 9-10, where he says of such restrictions that they were “imposed until the time of setting things right”. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with not eating certain foods – many of us avoid certain foods for reasons of health or ethical principles – but to impose the literal dietary law on ourselves or others is to deny the vital moral teaching of scriptures such as Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. To rob the souls of believers of this vital moral instruction is undoubtedly the work of the enemy. With that in view I wondered if it might be profitable to look into that moral teaching.

The chapter begins with God speaking to Moses, and telling him to, “Speak to the children of Israel”. What was to follow was to be addressed to those whom God had delivered out of Egypt. They were going to be introduced to a new standard, one which they hadn’t known among the fleshpots of Egypt. They may not have grasped the moral significance of this law, but I believe that God had the believer in Christ in mind, and their education in divine principles, when He gave this law.

We could consider Leviticus 11 for the fullest exposition of this law. First, we have the beasts which are on the earth. The clean beasts were marked by certain characteristics: “Whatever hath cloven hoofs, and feet quite split open, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts – that shall ye eat”. It was vital that all these characteristics were present. The camel, the rock-badger and the hare were excluded: they chewed the cud, but they didn’t have cloven hooves. The swine was also excluded: it had cloven hooves, but didn’t chew the cud. The thought of “cloven hoofs, and feet quite split open” suggests a certain kind of walk – a morally separate walk. Chewing the cud is rumination: taking something in and thoroughly digesting it, which suggests the ability to take in the truth and assimilate it. A separated walk and reception of the truth are both “clean” features for the believer. One without the other is “unclean”. A person who takes in the truth but doesn’t have a separated walk – like the camel, the rock-badger and the hare – is not “clean”: they clearly haven’t been at all formed by the truth they’ve received. James warns us, “be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, beguiling yourselves” (James 1 v 22). Likewise, someone who has a separated walk but doesn’t ruminate on the truth isn’t “clean” either – going on like that is bound to result in pride, hardness and legality. Paul writes that “knowledge puffs up, but love edifies” (1 Corinthians 8 v 1). The kind of person described in Colossians 2 v 18 is marked by the features of the “swine”.

These animals – or moral features – are to be clean or unclean to us, respectively. When we move on to “all that are in the waters”, we find things that “shall be an abomination unto you”. We come across features here which are to be judged even more deliberately and strongly than what’s merely “unclean”. We are to eat “whatever hath fins and scales”, and those that “have not fins and scales” are to be abominable to us. Fins are a method of propulsion, and scales are a form of defence. The believer goes through an adverse scene, the direction of which is to destruction, and is the object of the attacks of the enemy. We need fins to swim against the tide of the world, and scales to repel the attacks of the enemy. These features are set together in the scripture – we need both. C.A. Coates has remarked that Lot, in going down to Sodom, lacked fins, but he had scales. He had a “righteous soul” and was credited with being a righteous man. However, we know that although Lot was preserved, he suffered a good deal of loss because he was unable to swim against the tide of the world. The state of being carried by the world’s currents and susceptible to the wiles and suggestions of the enemy – without fins and scales – should be “an abomination” to us.

Then we move on to fowls. In Leviticus 11 we find no mention of clean fowls, as there is in Deuteronomy 14. This would make us especially wary of what we’re commanded to “have in abomination” here. All these birds or winged creatures are marked by one or more features: birds of prey, carrion birds, scavengers, or nocturnal creatures. Many of them are high fliers, and would speak of “reasonings and every high thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10 v 5). We see in Luke 8 v 5 and 13 v 19 how the Lord uses “fowls of the air” in his parables as represents of the activity of the wicked one – stealing away the seed of the gospel and infiltrating the kingdom like the tares of another parable. These creatures represent all that is pretentious and high-flown, but subtle, carnal and fleshly nonetheless. All these birds and creatures, without exception, kill when they feed.

“Every winged crawling thing that goeth upon all four shall be an abomination unto you” – and yet there’s an exception – “Yet these shall ye eat of every winged crawling thing that goeth upon all four: those which have legs above their feet with which to leap upon the earth”. There are those winged crawling things which have the power and the energy to get free of the earth. They aren’t settled on the earth – just as the believer isn’t settled in the scene of Christ’s rejection – they “leap upon” it!

We have another exception next – this time a negative one. “Every beast that hath cloven hoofs, but not feet quite split open, nor cheweth the cud, shall be unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean”. What is in view here is persons who have ‘one foot in the world’ – they have a kind of a separated walk, but not fully. Such people characteristically don’t take in the truth and digest it fully. With other unclean and abominable creatures, eating them or touching their carcase would make a person unclean – with these creatures, even touching a live animal would cause uncleanness. This would be a warning for us not to associate with those who are marked by this feature. Paul writes that if “one called brother” is marked by certain grossly immoral behaviours that we are “not to mix with him; with such a one not even to eat” (1 Corinthians 5 v 11).

We are warned about what “goeth upon its paws”: soft-footed, subtle creatures. Jude writes about “certain men [who] have got in unnoticed… ungodly persons, turning the grace of our God into dissoluteness, and denying our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude v 4). We should be wary of such persons.

Then we have “crawling things which crawl on the earth”, which would suggest earthly-mindness and an attachment to the earth, an inability to get free of it – unlike the creatures which were able to leap upon it. We have here “the mole, the field-mouse, and the lizard” – all creatures which either tend to disrupt settled conditions or destroy crops. These would perhaps speak of elements which would hinder the progress of the work of God among His saints. We find various kinds of lizard identified here, and perhaps it’s best to take each individually:

– “the groaning lizard”, suggestive of “murmurers, complainers, walking after their lusts” (Jude v 16)

– “the great red lizard”, the distinctiveness and glory of the flesh, drawing attention to itself

– “the climbing lizard”, ambition, “their mouth speaks swelling words, admiring persons for the sake of profit” (Jude v 16)

– “the chomet”, a burrowing lizard, perhaps suggestive of thorough immersion in earthly things

– “the chameleon”, a creature which changes its pattern according to its surroundings, one who is all things to all men, a hypocrite

For the sake of brevity (I know this post is far too long already), I’ll pass over the no doubt instructive section of verses 32-40. We now come to “every crawling thing which crawleth on the earth”, which shall be an abomination – “whatever goeth on the belly”. Paul speaks about those “whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and their glory in their shame, who mind earthly things” (Philippians 3 v 19), and these crawling things would be the epitome of that.

I’m sure that every believer can see the moral necessity of the lessons of this chapter, and how much we would lose by reverting back to the terms of the old covenant. Much of the teaching is negative, but we can learn by contrasts and – freeing ourselves from any trace of these features with the help of the Holy Spirit – think on “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are noble, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are amiable, whatsoever things are of good report” (Philippians 4 v 8). Even if these negative features do arise in our lives or associations, there is a remedy. Throughout the chapter we have references to being “unclean until the even” – it isn’t in the divine mind that we should be left contaminated by these things for a much as a single day, never mind two. There is “water for purification” available, as we see in the type of the red heifer. Our God and Father has seen to it that every resource has been made available for our preservation, and liberty in and enjoyment of His presence.

A Time To Keep Silence

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens:… A time to keep silence, and a time to speak.” – Ecclesiastes 3 v 1, 7

There are times in my life which are exceedingly dark. Times when I’ve so selfishly and unrelentingly catered to the flesh and neglected the things of God, that I’m brought to the point of utter misery. Sometimes God gives us what our flesh desires, to show us that it cannot ever satisfy, and eventually it becomes sickening. It was His way in response to the murmuring and weeping of the children of Israel in Numbers 11: “… and Jehovah will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. Not one day shall ye eat, nor two days, not five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; but for a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it becomes loathsome unto you; because that ye have despised Jehovah who is among you…” (v 18-20).

A moment of self-examination shows the same ungrateful flesh in me – the flesh which hankers after spiritual Egypt, and despises the spiritual manna. The flesh has no taste for Christ. I have to confess that all too often I’ve murmured inwardly against God’s blessed provisions. In Numbers 11 the culmination of God’s dealings is a righteous judgement of evil, unsparing and final, so that the place came to be called Kibroth-hattaavah, ‘graves of lust’. Thanks be to God that there’s One who is infinitely greater than Moses, making intercession on my behalf, a patron with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2 v 1) – One Who has borne the wrath I so richly deserve, made propitiation for sins.

Having been brought through one of these dark times of waywardness and neglect, it’s often my first instinct to get on my knees before God, to confess my sins, lament my weakness, beg the Spirit’s help, and to pour out all my misery. A right instinct, I should think, but sometimes it’s “a time to keep silence” in the presence of God. Sometimes He would say, “Enough. Now, you will listen to what I have to say to you.” After a time of distance and turning away, it’s a wonderful relief, having come to myself like the younger son (Luke 15 v 17), and repented, to simply spend a moment at the feet of the Lord and hear what He would teach me about what has happened. There is always a lesson to be learned in these incidents – often a deeply humbling one. Every failure of mine and the consequent discipline is part of my education. The failure is allowed, and the discipline administered, by a God and Father Who loves me far beyond my feeble ability to comprehend.