Season of Mists Season of Mists –– page 3page 3Bibles and Bible Study Bibles and Bible Study –– page 5page 5

The Journey of Life The Journey of Life –– page 16page 16

OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD 1530GladTidingsGladTidings

Bible Talks, Study Classes, Sunday Schools and Youth Clubs areheld regularly by Christadelphians worldwide. The address ofyour nearest group can be obtained either from one of the Glad Tidings Distributors listed above, or from one of thecontact addresses listed on the back cover.

Bible VersionsThe version most used in this issue isthe New King James Version (NKJV)

but other versions are sometimesused.

D The New King James Version iscopyrighted by Thomas Nelson.

D The English Standard Version is published by Harper CollinsPublishers © 2001 by CrosswayBibles, a division of Good NewsPublishers. Used by permission.

D The New International Version is copyrighted 1978 by New York Bible Society

GladTidingsO F T H E K I N G D O M O F G O D

127th Year 1530A monthly magazine published by the Christadelphians (brothers and sisters in Christ)and available throughout the world.

Acknowledgements

Photographs:

Cover:Kitchen Wood, Nr Dronfield,Derbyshre, UK

Ken Hardy

Other Illustrations:

Clipart.com

ContentsL11

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Publisher: The Glad Tidings Publishing Association A registered charity – Number 248352

ContentsSeason of Mists............3

Bibles and Bible Study ...................................5

In the Temple ..............9

Not Alone ...................10

Jesus and Racism ......11

The Chronicles ..........13

The Journey of Life ...16

Always just right.......18

True Happiness .........19

Its objectives are – to encourage the study of the Bible asGod's inspired message to mankind; to call attention to theDivine offer of forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ; andto warn men and women that soon Christ will return toEarth as judge and ruler of God’s world-wide Kingdom.

127th Year 3

Notice the contrast! Mankind wouldbe unreliable with a persistent tenden-cy to go away from God; but God wouldalways be constant and dependable. Ina changeable world, you could alwaysrely upon the fact that the sun wouldrise and set, that day would alwaysfollow night, and that the harvestwould always come if the seed hadbeen sown at the right time and thencarefully nurtured.

Sowing the SeedWhat is true in the natural world is alsotrue in the spiritual sphere, as theBible carefully points out. If you sowwheat you cannot expect to reapmaize. The seed carries the potentialto produce fruit, but only of a particu-lar sort, and it needs to be sown inappropriate soil – something thatJesus explained in the Parable of theSower. There he emphasised that if we wantto be fruitful for God, so that we canshare in the Harvest celebrations Hehas planned, we have to avoid beingtoo hard, too busy, or having too manydistractions in life. Instead we should

It was John Keats who penned the nowfamous phrase: “Season of mists andmellow fruitfulness” in his poem “ToAutumn”, written in 1820.

In it he captured the essence of aseason brimming with the fruitfulnessof harvest when vines, apples and nutsabound and late flowers bloom to givebees one last taste of summer beforethey hunker down for the winter.

Mist is a phenomenon caused whenwater droplets are suspended in air,and this is usually caused when colderair comes into contact with ground orwater that has been warmed by thesun during the day. When visibility issubstantially reduced we call it fog andwhenever we encounter mist or fog, itis a gentle warning that colder weatherlies ahead.

SeasonsLong ago God promised Noah and hisfamily that the seasons would remainconstant and that they could dependupon this element of stability, giventhat everything else had been over-turned by the waters of the Flood. Hemade a covenant – a lasting agree-ment – with mankind at that time and,as you would expect, has remainedfaithful to that binding set of promises,and always will. This is what the Lordpromised at that time:

“I will never again curse the ground forman’s sake, although the imaginationof man’s heart is evil from his youth;nor will I again destroy every livingthing as I have done. “While the earthremains, seedtime and harvest, coldand heat, winter and summer, and dayand night shall not cease” (Genesis8:21–22).

Season of MistsSeason of Mists

4 Glad Tidings

will reap what that lifestyle deserves –corruption! But if you live a God-centred life, making the things thatGod has revealed your priority you willbecome fruitful in the way He wantsyou to be. And the fruit that God wantswill be every bit as beneficial to you asit will be to those who live with you, orwho are influenced by you. Paul else-where describes it as the fruit of theSpirit, and he catalogues what thatfruit will be in teh way you feel, thinkand behave.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,peace, longsuffering, kindness, good-ness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.And those who are Christ’s have cruci-fied the flesh with its passions anddesires (Galatians 5:22–24).

Everybody should want that sort oflife, here and now, and it can beachieved when we let the message ofsalvation, contained in God’s Word,influence and change the way we thinkand feel. But we need to open our earsand our hearts to this wonderfulmessage if we are to be changed by it.

Through the MistNot everyone sees things clearly, of

course, which is why there is so muchconfusion in religious matters, and inthe world in general. Not everything isyet revealed by God, so we have towait for the time when He will act toredeem and rescue our troubled world.It was the apostle Paul who explainedthese limitations when he said:

Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but thenface to face. Now I know in part, butthen I shall know just as I also amknown (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Editor

give the Word of God a fair chance inour lives to grow and develop. The aim,as Jesus expressed it, is as follows:

He who received seed on the goodground is he who hears the word andunderstands it, who indeed bears fruitand produces: some a hundredfold,some sixty, some thirty (Matthew13:23).

At the end of the parable he addedthese important words:

“He who has ears to hear, let himhear!” (Matthew 13:9).

Parables were given by Jesus tomake people think about themselvesand their life choices. Many of thosepresent would return with just a fewstories and no real idea what he wastalking about. Others would take thetime to think about what they hadbeen told and would find a deepermeaning in the words, understandingthat Jesus was not advising aboutfarming, but about living.

The Right SeedYears later the apostle Paul used thesame idea of sowing and harvestingwhen writing to believers in Asia Minor– a Roman province which is now partof Turkey. This is what he said;

Do not be deceived, God is notmocked; for whatever a man sows,that he will also reap. For he who sowsto his flesh will of the flesh reap cor-ruption, but he who sows to the Spiritwill of the Spirit reap everlasting life.And let us not grow weary while doinggood, for in due season we shall reapif we do not lose heart (Galatians6:7–9).

Everyone has a choice of what toplant in their lives. If you live in a self-indulgent way, seeking only to satisfyyourself and your fleshly desires, you

127th Year 5

Spreading the WordThe Spanish Armada was defeated bya combination of the hand of God inthe weather and the British fleet underSir Francis Drake. From then on Britishnaval power began to grow. The impor-tance of the development of this powerwas recognised by successive rulerswho needed to ensure that the tradeand supply routes around the worldwere maintained, in order to ensurethe survival and prosperity of GreatBritain.

This also made possible the spreadof the Word of God around the worldand the King James (or Authorised)Version had an important part to playin that development. There were threefactors which proved important.v English Navy1. 1514 – King Henry VIII invested inmaintaining a permanent Navy ofabout 30 ships. By 1544 the numberof ships had increased to 50 vessels.Queen Elizabeth I continued to developthe Navy through improved efficiencyand promoted the global ambitions ofher merchants and seamen. v English Bible2. 1611 – God had overseen thedevelopment of a version of theEnglish Bible that was destined toendure and be in use for at least 400years.v British Empire3. During the seventeenth and eight-eenth centuries British power andinfluence spread round the globe. It

has been said that during the reign ofQueen Victoria, when the empire wasat the zenith of its power, the sunnever set on the British Empire. Historyshows us that the British Empire wasto fulfil a unique role determined byGod. It was by this means that the KingJames Bible was distributed to theEnglish speaking peoples of the world.

Other Empires and trading powershad existed, for example, Spanish,Portuguese, Dutch and French. Theyhad Bibles in their mother tongues andthey had their missionaries. However,none can be compared to the rigourwith which Great Britain took to thework of distributing the Word of Godaround the world.

Bible Societies

v 1698 The Society for PromotingChristian Knowledge was foundedwith the purpose of the distribu-tion of the Scriptures. In the early1790s they distributed 500 WelshBibles with a further 10,000Welsh Bibles in 1799. Thedemand for Bibles in Wales wasso great that there were wholedistricts where the demand couldnot be satisfied: Mont-gomeryshire, Cardiganshire andCarmarthenshire!

Many other Societies were formed tospread the Word of God.v 1701 The Society for the Promo-

tion of the Gospel in Foreign Partswas founded. Through the com-munication routes of the Empire

Part Ten: The Bible, Appointed to be Read …

Bibles and Bible StudyBibles and Bible Study

6 Glad Tidings

they distributed Bibles in manyplaces beyond the shores ofEngland.

v 1709 The Society for PropagatingChristian Knowledge (in Scotland).

v 1750 The Society for PromotingChristian Knowledge among thePoor.

v 1780 The Bible Society (forsoldiers and seamen).

v 1785 The Society for theSupport and Encouragement ofSunday Schools.

v 1804 The British and ForeignBible Society (BFBS).

Many LanguagesBibles were printed in many languagesand millions of copies were distributedthroughout the world. Between 1804and 1853 the BFBS printed 8.3million Bibles in the United Kingdomlanguages of English, Gaelic, Irish,Manx and Welsh. A further 1.45million Bibles were printed for distribu-tion covering 26 languages. The workwas funded by annual and lifetimesubscribers.

The ‘Laws and Regulations of theBFBS’ included one important rule thatheld the society together and con-tributed to its longevity. The BFBS’s“sole object shall be to encourage awider circulation of the Holy Scriptureswithout note or comment: the onlycopies in the languages of the UnitedKingdom to be circulated by theSociety shall be the AuthorisedVersion.” In 1901 the rule wasamended to include the RevisedVersion of 1881.

In the first hundred years of its exis-tence, the Society distributed 180million copies of the Bible in languages

spoken by seven-tenths of the popula-tion of the planet. In the early eighteenhundreds, Bibles were distributed toBritish and foreign mariners at portsaround the country includingPortsmouth, Whitby, Hull andAberdeen. The first systematic effort todistribute Bibles was started atGravesend. In 1818 an agent wasappointed to visit every outward-boundship from Gravesend to sell Bibles toseamen. In the first year the agentboarded 1681 ships at Gravesend todistribute Bibles to crew members.

Bible Prophecy FulfilledThus through its many Bible societies,Britain took the Gospel messagearound the world. It is a matter of his-torical fact that, in the purpose of God,Great Britain made a significant contri-bution to the fulfilment of the words ofthe prophet Jeremiah.

“Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,and declare it in the isles afar off, andsay, ‘He who scattered Israel willgather him, and keep him as a shep-herd does his flock’ (Jeremiah 31:10).

The Lord issued this challenge to thenations. He would scatter Israelbecause of their sins and their lack offaith. They were indeed scattered andevery nation had its Jewish community.The Lord also stated that He wouldregather them to the land of Israel. Thereturn of the Jews to the land is themost reliable witness for us that God isworking in the affairs of the nations asa prelude to the return of Jesus Christto set up the Kingdom of God on earth.

Britain was destined to play a role insupporting the establishment of theState of Israel. In 1917 the BalfourDeclaration expressed a commitmentby the British Government to supportthe establishment of the State of

127th Year 7

Israel, “His Majesty’s Governmentview with favour the establishment inPalestine of a national home for theJewish people…”. This declarationpreceded the birth of the State ofIsrael in May 1948 and the regather-ing of the Jews began, as spoken bythe prophet Jeremiah.

More Bible VersionsSince 1881 there has been a prolifer-ation of Bible versions. Many are par-aphrases or a mix of paraphrase withsome literal translation and are basedon manuscripts which some scholarsconsider to be corrupt.

Byzantine Text Alexandrian Text

From 1633, after the Reformation,the half dozen texts used to translatethe New Testament of the King JamesBible were known as ‘Textus Recep-tus’.

Many New Testament manuscripts(over 5,000) have been found sinceand the Textus Receptus may be saidto be representative of 90% of thembecause there are no variations thatchallenge or change Bible teaching.

These manuscripts were found overa wide geographical area and the con-sistency between them gives us confi-dence that the King James Bible wastranslated from reliable sources.

v King James Version (KJV)1611

v Young’s Literal Translation1863

v New King James Version (NKJV)1979

1881 Dr. Westcott & Dr. Hort pro-duced an eclectic Greek New Testa-ment text mainly based on twomanuscripts: v Codex Vaticanus, andv Codex Siniaticus.

Eclectic means, ‘free selection’. Thetwo scholars constructed texts frommanuscripts they preferred. Therefore,there is no single Greek manuscriptthat corresponds to an ‘Eclectic Text’.The work of Westcott & Hort has influ-enced the majority of modern versions:

v Revised Version (RV)1881

v American Standard Version(ASV) 1901

v Revised Standard Version(RSV) 1952

v New English Bible (NEB)1970

v New International Version (NIV)1973

v Good News Bible (GNB)1976

v Revised English Bible (REB)1989

v New Revised Standard Version(NRSV) 1990

vEnglish Standard Version(ESV) 2002

8 Glad Tidings

Bible Study ToolsToday we have the benefit of a wealthof different study aids to help us enrichour Bible knowledge and understand-ing.v Cross referencesMany Bibles have cross referenceseither printed in a centre-page columnor at the foot of the page. We shouldnot neglect this source of Bible links.Such references can be useful to us infinding links with other parts of theBible that build on what God hasalready said. Here is an example.

In the Book of Revelation we readthat a time is coming when:

“God will wipe away every tear fromtheir eyes; there shall be no moredeath, nor sorrow, nor crying. Thereshall be no more pain, for the formerthings have passed away” (Revelation21:4).

This Scripture tells us that God has aplan and purpose with mankind andthat the work of Jesus, when hereturns, will be completed when hefinally eliminates sin and abolishesdeath. But is this plan something thatis only revealed in the last book of theBible? Surely not! This is where crossreferences can help.

In the margin of my Bible there is across reference to Isaiah 25:8. Welearn from this that God is consistent,for He made this promise of a betterfuture for the earth in Old Testamenttimes and has repeated it in the NewTestament. This is what Isaiah saidthat God will do:

He will swallow up death forever, andthe Lord God will wipe away tears fromall faces; the rebuke of His people Hewill take away from all the earth; forthe Lord has spoken (Isaiah 25:8).

v Bible ConcordancesThe purpose of a Bible concordance isto enable you to find verses in theBible and then work out the meaningof words. The concordance is analphabetical index of all the words in aparticular Bible version. For the KingJames Bible, Young’s Analytical Con-cordance lists the different Englishwords and shows the different Hebrewor Greek words that are translated thisway. Strong’s Concordance lists theBible references in sequence for a par-ticular English word and gives aHebrew or Greek reference number.The meaning of the Hebrew or Greekword can then be looked up in theConcordance.

For example, using Young’s Concor-dance, if we wanted to learn what theBible has to say about the life ofAbraham we can find where in theBible “Abraham” is named. We canthen follow the series of referenceslisted. The first reference to Abrahamis:

No longer shall your name be calledAbram, but your name shall beAbraham; for I have made you a fatherof many nations (Genesis 17:5)

Abraham was a man of great faithwho pleased God. Therefore Godchanged his name from Abram (‘fatherof height’) to Abraham (‘father of amultitude’).

Bible Concordances can be pur-chased in book form or can be down-loaded or accessed from the Internet.With the aid of a computer we cansearch for a phrase or find whereseveral different words appear within asingle verse.

Peter Moore

Next month: Comparing Bible Versions

127th Year 9

Jewish Law ordained that amale child should be circum-cised when he was eight daysold, and an offering was tobe made as atonement. This isspecified in the book ofLeviticus chapter 12.

For those who were well-off theoffering had to be a year-old lamb, butfor those who could not afford this, itwas to be either two turtle doves ortwo pigeons, one as a burnt offering,the other as a sin offering. So Josephcame with Mary to the Temple inJerusalem to make the necessaryofferings under the law about sixweeks after the birth of her baby, theLord Jesus.

“Righteous and Devout”Luke introduces us to a man who onlyappears at this point in the story of thelife of the Lord Jesus. Simeon lived inJerusalem and is described as “right-eous and devout”, and “waiting for theconsolation of Israel.” His namemeans “he that hears or obeys” andhe was true to his name.

Simeon was godly in everything hedid, and he had been told by the Holy

Spirit – in a way which is not explained– that he was not to die “before he hadseen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26).This tremendous promise meant thathe would see the Jewish Messiah, theperson the whole nation was lookingfor. There is a prophecy in the Book ofDaniel about the time when Messiahwould come (Daniel 9:24-27), andmany Jews suspected that the timewas right for that prophecy to be ful-filled.

Simeon “came by the Spirit into thetemple” at the very time when Maryand Joseph were coming to make theappropriate offerings for the LordJesus. As they arrived he came forwardand took the baby in his arms andgave thanks to God.

It must have been rather worrying forMary, seeing this old man with thismost precious child in his arms. Sheneed not have been concerned;Simeon was not going to drop the babyhe had waited so long to see. Now heknew that his own death could not befar off, but he would be fully content.He had seen the One he had so longedto see. His prayer is one of the mostbeautiful in all of Scripture:

“Lord, now You are letting Yourservant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salva-tion Which You have prepared beforethe face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to theGentiles, And the glory of Your peopleIsrael” (Luke 2:29–32).

Prayer in Luke’s Gospel – 3

In the TempleIn the Temple

The Promised MessiahSimeon was declaring that this babywas the Messiah – the long-awaitedDeliverer; the one “whose right it is” tosit on King David’s throne inJerusalem. In his prayer he gavethanks to the Lord God for revealingthis to him, and allowing him to seeand touch and hold the One who hadbeen promised for so long. He hadseen the salvation that God had pre-pared: the way that God would providereconciliation for men and women whohad been estranged from Him by sin.

Salvation for All In the middle of the Jewish Temple,Simeon declared that salvation to befor all people – Gentile and Jew alike.His coming was a light for the Gentilesand glory for the people of Israel. Thatvery wording pointed to the Lord Jesusas the fulfilment of the prophecy ofIsaiah:

“I, the Lord, have called you in right-eousness, and will hold your hand; Iwill keep you and give you as acovenant to the people, as a light tothe Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:6).

Simeon’s prayer was followed by ablessing for both Mary and Joseph, butalso a warning:

Then Simeon blessed them, and saidto Mary his mother, “Behold, this Childis destined for the fall and rising ofmany in Israel, and for a sign which willbe spoken against (Luke 2:34).

Solemn WarningThose who listen to and follow the LordJesus will be blessed, those whoignore his teaching will be judged forthat. It was a very solemn warning,presumably revealed directly toSimeon by the Holy Spirit. There was

another warning for Mary “A sword willpierce through your own soul also.”Mary would suffer many times throughher life, but especially so when shewatched her firstborn son dying on thecross, as a sacrifice for sin to redeemJew and Gentile who come to Godthrough him.

The warnings were primarily for Maryand Joseph and those who heard themthen. But they are recorded by Luke asa warning for us also. We need to takecareful note of them.

Mark Sheppard

10 Glad Tidings

Not Alone

I’m not alone: I live aloneBut that’s not what I mean;He’s always there, to show the way,All I have to do is pray.

So I sit and praise HimAnd thank Him for His gifts;Of food and shelter,But especially for His Son.

Although I live aloneMy comfort’s from above,From Him who always listensAnd showers us with His love.

So I live alone, but not alone:You know what I mean.

June Legett

Age OldThe problem of racism is as old as thehuman race. It existed at the time ofJesus but he combated it in a verypowerful and original way. Israel, inJesus’ time, was divided into threeareas. In the north there was Galilee,populated primarily by shepherds andfishermen. In the south there wasJudea, where the elite, the educatedand the ruling classes lived. Theylooked down on their poor relatives inthe north and regarded them as uned-ucated peasants.

The centre of the country, Samaria,was occupied to a large extent bydescendants of foreigners — peoplewho had been drafted in by foreignoverlords several centuries earlier. TheJews hated those foreigners inSamaria; they could not even be civilto them. So the people in the south ofthe country looked down on theirJewish brothers in the north and hatedthe Samaritans. The Jews in the northshared their contempt for the Samari-tans, and all Jews did their best toavoid contact with them.

Jesus and the SamaritansJesus did not try to avoid Samaria.Indeed the gospel writers record thathe needed to go through that part ofthe country (John 4:4). It was duringthat journey that he met a Samaritanwoman. Jesus and the disciples hadbeen journeying north from Jerusalem

127th Year 11

and had arrived in the Samaritan townof Sychar (John 4:3-43). There was awell on the outskirts of the town, sothe disciples left Jesus there to restwhile they went into the town. Shortlyafterwards a Samaritan woman arrivedto draw water. To her utter amazementJesus spoke to her, asking for water.

“How is it that you, being a Jew, ask adrink from me, a Samaritan woman?”,she replied. “For Jews have no deal-ings with Samaritans” (John 4:9).

Jesus side-stepped that questionand instead engaged in a profound dis-course about the Water of Life. Whilehe was thus engaged the disciplesreturned and, like the woman herself,they were astonished to see Jesustalking to a Samaritan. But they wiselyrefrained from comment. The finaloutcome of the encounter was thatJesus stayed in Sychar for two daysand many people believed in him.

The bitterness between Jews andSamaritans is vividly shown in thatstory. First there is the amazement ofboth the woman herself and the disci-ples that Jesus, a Jew, would conde-scend to speak to a Samaritan. Thenthere is the clear statement that “theJews have no dealings with the Samar-itans”. This was blatant racism. AndJesus cut straight through it. Heengaged in a profound discourse withthe woman, totally ignoring the ques-tion of race.

Jesus and RacismJesus and Racism

Nowadays racism is a problem that crops up all the time in one way or another. But wesometimes think that it is a modern problem and that difficulties between people of differ-

ent races never occurred in the past. By examining the New Testament, David Buddennow shows that racism was as much a problem then as it is now.

12 Glad Tidings

Good NeighboursOn one occasion Jesus was teachingand among the listeners was a lawyer— one of the elite people who regard-ed themselves as superior to everyone.When the opportunity arose he sprangto his feet and asked, “Master, whatshall I do to inherit eternal life?”. Ashe was a lawyer, Jesus asked him toexplain what the Law of God requiredand he answered correctly:

¶ You shall love the Lord your God,and

· You shall love your neighbour asyourself.

Jesus said that if he did that hewould live, but the lawyer pressed thepoint and asked a supplementaryquestion: “And who is my neighbour?”The response of Jesus was given inwhat has now become one of his bestknown and best loved of all his para-bles — the Parable of the GoodSamaritan. You can read the parable inLuke chapter 10, verses 25-37.

The utter simplicity of the storyenhances its appeal. A small child canappreciate the point that we should bekind and helpful to other people andthat the Samaritan gave us anexample of how we should behave byputting other people before ourselves.

Hidden MeaningsWe can see the story as a presentationof what Jesus himself has done — thatwe are like the traveller, going downhill,attacked by sin and left dying. Thepriest and Levite, representatives ofthe Law of Moses, gave no help. Butthe Samaritan, the one despised andrejected, did all that he could, soothingthe wounds, paying for whateverfurther care was required and promis-ing to come again. For Jesus has

soothed ourwounds withthe oil andwine of theGospel, hehas paid theprice for ourredemptionand he haspromised tocome again.

But thereis more. Thetraveller is presented as “A certainman” – nothing is mentioned of hiscreed or his race. Of all people, thegood neighbour was one of thoseloathed Samaritans. The fact thatJesus even mentioned the word musthave shocked the lawyer.

For when he was asked, “Which ofthese three was neighbour to him thatfell among thieves?”, he was careful toavoid fouling his mouth by mentioningthat it was a Samaritan. He replied,“He that showed mercy...” But worsewas to follow. For the lawyer thenheard Jesus holding up the Samaritanas a fine example that he himselfcould learn from and follow.

Jesus said: “Go and do likewise”(Luke 10:37). That was as shocking tothat Jewish lawyer as it would havebeen had Jesus said to a Nazi Officer“Follow the good example of that Jew”,or to a supporter of Apartheid, “Learnfrom the good example of that Negro”.

That is the very positive way in whichJesus dealt with the racism that hecame in contact with.

As ever, the teaching of Jesus givesus the clearest possible example tofollow if we want to live the life ofChrist.

David Budden

127th Year 13

In some respects, the two Books ofChronicles are a mirror image of theBooks of Kings. They reflect the eventsof the reigns of the kings who ruled thetwo-tribe kingdom of Judah, makingsome cross-reference to the kings ofIsrael on the north side of the frontier.

Names and more names1 Chronicles begins with a compilationof several sets of genealogies. Theselists of ancestors were important to theJews because they needed them toprove they were descended fromAbraham as members of God’s chosenpeople.

u Chapters one and two take us fromAdam through Abraham to Jacob(Israel) and concentrate on theancestors of King David.

u Chapter three lists David’s descen-dants down to the time of the Cap-tivity in Babylon.

u Four to seven run through the fam-ilies of all twelve tribes.

u Chapter eight and the end of ninefocus on the family of Saul, the firstking, while the beginning of chapternine lists those who returned toJerusalem after the Captivity.

Historical Account

v1 ChroniclesThe history starts in chapter ten,

where we are transported back in timeto the death of Saul, and the beginningof David’s reign. 1 Chronicles gives

more detail than the Books of Samueland Kings about the bringing up of theark into David’s city, the promise thatGod made to him, and his military con-quests. It focuses on the choice ofMount Moriah as the site for theTemple. Above all, it highlights theenergy of David in the last years of hisreign as he prepared for the construc-tion of a Temple he would never see.

David was determined that every-thing would be in place, right down tothe writing of the hymns that would besung, the training of the musicians,and the appointment of the doorkeep-ers. He held a national assembly toinvite others to donate money to theproject, supplementing his personalcontribution, which was worth millionsof pounds. He died 40 years after hecame to the throne.

v 2 Chronicles2 Chronicles, in its first nine chap-

ters, reviews the reign of Solomon, andtells us more about the Temple con-struction, his wealth and the extent ofhis power. After that, chapters 10 to36 repeat the history of God’s peopleup to the Captivity, but with muchmore information about the kings who

The Books of the Bible – 9

The Chronicles of theThe Chronicles of theKings of JudahKings of Judah

ruled in the south. The province ofJudah retained the Temple and theLevitical priesthood, and had manygodly kings who kept the way of theLord alive. Some of them were heroesof faith.

Good Kings of JudahAsa, in 2 Chronicles 14, went out toface an army of a million invaders withone-third the numbers on his side.And Asa cried out to the Lord his God,and said:

“Lord, it is nothing for You to help,whether with many or with those whohave no power; help us, O Lord ourGod, for we rest on You, and in Yourname we go against this multitude. OLord, You are our God; do not let manprevail against You!” So the Lordstruck the Ethiopians before Asa andJudah, and the Ethiopians fled (2Chronicles 14:11,12).

Then there was Jehoshaphat, whomarried his son to Ahab and Jezebel’sdaughter, and consequently feltobliged to aid evil Ahab in battle. Henarrowly escaped with his life. Theprophet of the Lord was waiting whenthe shaken king returned home. Jehuthe seer went out to meet him, andsaid to King Jehoshaphat:

“Should you help the wicked and lovethose who hate the Lord? Thereforethe wrath of the Lord is upon you” (2Chronicles 19:2).

It is a lesson in the dangers of com-promise. It is better to keep ourselvesentirely separate from those whodespise God, in spite of the potentialgains.

Little king Joash came to the throneat the age of seven, following the revoltagainst his wicked grandmother QueenAthaliah. His uncle, the high priestJehoiada, who had led the coup, was

his mentor and kept the young kingfaithful to the Lord until he died at theage of 130. Sadly, Joash then aban-doned his faith. Even uncles can havea good influence on the younger gen-eration.

Joash’s grandson Uzziah, whosereign is found in 2 Chronicles 26, wasanother young king, crowned atsixteen.

He sought God in the days of Zechari-ah, who had understanding in thevisions of God; and as long as hesought the Lord, God made himprosper (2 Chronicles 26:5).

Uzziah was something of an engi-neer. He loved building and farmingprojects, and invented new weaponsfor his army. Unfortunately successwent to his head. One day he decidedto go into the Temple to offer incense,which was the privilege of anointedpriests only. The High Priest bravelyconfronted his royal master, and in theensuing row Uzziah found himselfstruck down with leprosy.

He ended his days miserably in aleper house outside Jerusalem. It ispoignant to find that the prophetIsaiah, contemporary with Uzziah,builds up a refrain in his secondchapter against all those who are“proud and lofty”. By coincidence, in1931 a plaque was discovered inJerusalem stating “To this place theremains of Uzziah, King of Judah, weremoved. Do not disturb”. He is alsonamed on several Assyrian monu-ments.

More KingsTwo generations later we come to anoutstanding monarch named Hezeki-ah. Impatiently waiting for the death ofhis weak and idolatrous father, in thefirst year of his reign he introduces a

14 Glad Tidings

127th Year 15

sweeping reformation, restoring theLaw of Moses and the priesthood.Hezekiah was backed by Isaiah, hisclose friend. His true qualities shineforth when he is faced with the inva-sion of his country by the cruel andinvincible Assyrians under Sen-nacherib. They had already capturedall the walled towns of Judah usingrevolutionary siege warfare tactics, andnow threatened the capital, Jerusalem.It fell to Hezekiah to persuade hispeople that the living God of Israel wasstronger than the idols of the Assy-rians. Here are his words:

“Be strong and courageous; do not beafraid nor dismayed before the king ofAssyria, nor before all the multitudethat is with him; for there are morewith us than with him. With him is anarm of flesh; but with us is the Lordour God, to help us and to fight ourbattles” (2 Chronicles 32:7,8).

His faith was justified. The army ofthe enemy was decimated by a violentillness that left Sennacherib so short ofsoldiers he was forced to return home.His campaign monument, discoveredby the English archaeologist Sir HenryLayard, in the ruins of his palace inNineveh, is unable to record thecapture of Judah’s most important city.It can be seen in the British Museum.Another fascinating find was a watertunnel deep under Jerusalem con-structed by Hezekiah to protect the citywater supply from enemy action. It isdescribed in 2 Kings 20:20 and 2Chronicles 32:30. Visitors toJerusalem can still walk through thetunnel today.

Hezekiah’s son Manasseh turnedback to idolatry, and though his sonJosiah was a good man, idol worshipand the accompanying immorality andsocial injustice was spreading like a

cancer through the body of Judah. Thiswas the era of the prophet Jeremiah,who tried in vain to stem the rot. Thekingdom collapsed into ruins, with fourrulers in quick succession. The endcame when Zedekiah rebelled againstthe new emperor of the Middle East,Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, andbrought captivity upon his people andthe destruction of Jerusalem. Ezekiel,God’s prophet amongst the exilestaken to Babylon, warned that Zedeki-ah would be the last king.

“Remove the turban, and take off thecrown … Overthrown, overthrown, I willmake it overthrown! It shall be nolonger, until he comes whose right it is,And I will give it to him” (Ezekiel21:26–27).

The throne of David has stood emptyever since, awaiting the coming ofJesus, who will sit upon it forever,exactly as God had promised his fore-father King David.

David M Pearce

Gill and George emerging from Hezekiah’sTunnel in Jerusalem

16 Glad Tidings

At some time in our lives allof us have known what it is tobe utterly exhausted. Some-times we have been fright-ened, possibly so frightenedthat we feared that we mighteven die. Such feelings wereshared on more than oneoccasion by Jesus and his dis-ciples.

Busy DayIn Mark’s Gospel Jesus had beentalking to a large audience for a longtime from a boat on the Sea of Galilee.For exactly how long we are not told;whether there was any break we arenot told. It is difficult to believe thatJesus talked non-stop. Surely theremust have been some interaction. Weknow that the crowd was a large one.The effort of engaging the crowd for along time with or without a break wastiring and Jesus felt he just had to havea rest. So he asked his disciples to rowhim across the lake.

Jesus spoke from a boat a little wayfrom the shore to get away from thethronging crowd and perhaps to allowhis voice to carry to a wider audience.How long he was there talking to them;how suitable the conditions were forputting and answering questions isunknown. It is clear that at the end ofhis speech Jesus was tired out.

Storm BrewingSome were well acquainted with thelocal weather and may well havesensed the imminence of a storm.Jesus was the master however, and hisword was to be obeyed. That is still

true. If his teaching was obeyed world-wide just think how much better aplace it would be. Obeying their masterin spite of any misgivings, theylaunched forth accompanied by otherboats as Mark records. The phraseMark added that the other gospelaccounts omit seems to imply thatJesus had at some point come ashore,

“They took him along in the boat ashe was” (Mark 4:36).

This seems to suggest that Jesuswas tired out and that they had to helphim aboard. At all events he was nosooner in the boat than he fell asleep.So tired was he and so deeply asleepthat even the increasing turbulence ofthe water and in all probability the seaspray falling on him failed to awakenhim. As the storm became fiercer andthe ship began to take in water, thedisciples became more and moreanxious. Eventually the situationbecame life-threatening and as a lastresort the disciples woke Jesus out ofhis deep sleep.

The Journey of LifeThe Journey of Life

their childhood onwards. Jesus wasreally challenging them to rememberthe words of David in Psalm 107:

They cry out to the Lord in theirtrouble, and He brings them out oftheir distresses. He calms the storm,so that its waves are still (Psalm107:28,29).

Our JourneyBy the grace of God all of us are afloat,journeying on the sea of life. To his dis-ciples Jesus said,

“Lo, I am with you always even untothe end of the age.” Just as he was with his disciples on theSea of Galilee all those years ago sohe will be with us.

If we really believe in him and try toobey his teaching we have his promisethat he will be there to comfort,encourage and support us in all thedifficulties of life whatever they are andhowever severe they might be.

More even than that, there will comea day when, as he promised, Jesus willreturn to this earth, in power and greatglory, to sweep away man’s misrule,establish a new worldwide kingdomand rule the world justly for ever. Allwho have tried to serve him in the wayhe has shown us will be welcomed intothat kingdom.

As we look around us we seeincreasing corruption and lawlessnessin the world. Here, in Jesus’ teaching,is a prospect more glorious than any-thing this world can offer. Our appealto you is to examine the evidence, andmake the Lord Jesus your guide in yourjourney of life.

J. Michael Buckler

127th Year 17

Problem SolverQuite what they expected Jesus to beable to do we cannot be certain. Cer-tainly they had seen him cure people.The very first chapter of Mark’s gospelcontains the account of how Jesuscured Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever.So completely was the fever cured thatno period of convalescence wasrequired. Immediately “she servedthem,” as Mark records (1:31).

Could a man who did such thingshelp them here on a small boat indanger of foundering amid this ragingstorm? He was their last hope.

But he was in the stern, asleep on apillow. And they awoke him and said tohim, “Teacher, do you not care that weare perishing?” (Mark 4:38).

Jesus now thoroughly awake,rebuked the wind and said to the sea,“Peace, be still.” The ensuing suddencalm left the disciples almost speech-less. Healing of bodily ailments theycould accept but this, control over thevery forces of nature, was somethingaltogether on a different scale.

Who is This?The exclamation from the disciples isunderstandable, given what had hap-pened. Their question was:

“Who can this be that even the windand the sea obey him?” (4:41).

Another account tells us that justbefore he stilled the storm Jesusrebuked the disciples for their lack offaith. He asked them,

“Why are you fearful, O you of littlefaith (Matthew 8:26).

They might have been solid, practicalmen but when put to the test they hadforgotten or chose not to believe whatthey had heard in the synagogue from

18 Glad Tidings

Earth’s atmosphere also protects usfrom falling rocks. Every day these raindown from outer space, and we canoften see them brightly burning up atnight time. We call them shootingstars, but we would call them some-thing else if there was no protectionfrom such missiles.

Our atmospheric pressure of 14.7psi, is also comfortably just right for us,as also is our average temperature,and because the axis of our planet istilted about 23 degrees from vertical,the temperature changes around, fromseasion to season. This is somethingwhich plants and animals take fulladvantage of, and without it somewould not exist.

Most of us live reasonablycomfortably on Planet Earth,especially since, of all theother planets in the solarsystem only ours is able tosustain life.

Our world just happens to orbit theSun in the middle of a band called“The Region of Tolerance”, where thetemperature is just right for us. Takeour two neighbouring planets, Venusand Mars:

There could be no possible life onVenus, for it is far too hot, having asurface temperature of 900 degrees F.Furthermore, it is surrounded by athick cloud of 90 % CO2 gas, and hasan atmospheric pressure of 100 timesthat on Earth.

Life on Mars would be equallyimpossible; it would be far too cold.The daytime temperature rarelyreaches 25 degrees Farenheit and atnight it plunges to minus 80 degrees.Mars has very little atmosphere, thepressure being about a fiftieth that ofPlanet Earth. But the most seriousproblem is the total lack of water, foron Mars it never rains.

Just Right!Now, Planet Earth just happens to beright for human life. Our atmosphereconsists mainly of 78% nitrogen and20% oxygen; an excellent mixture forbreathing.

Because we have an atmospherethe Sun’s rays fill it to give us daylight,and by means of it, we can hear eachother speak.

Always just rightAlways just right

127th Year 19

Just Happened?So how did we all get here? And why isit that we happen to exist where every-thing is so suitable for life? For somescientists to say that all thesefavourable conditions came about bysheer chance, including life itself, isjust non-scientific talk. True Sciencedeals with facts not airy speculation.

Our existence on this planet justcannot be because of a long string ofcoincidences. We have to introduce aword which atheistic scientists do notlike to hear: Intelligence. Yet theconcept of our existence being due tointelligent design is much more likely,than a succession of chance acci-dents.

The uniqueness of our planet shoutsintelligence. There are too many “justhappens to…” That is not a goodenough answer, besides being mostunscientific. Nature itself screamsdesign, wherever one looks, and evenmore so through a microscope. Designsuggests Creation, and Creationmeans God.

Factor God In!With God in the equation, the prob-

lems dissolve, and we are led to HisWord, the Bible.

We are on this planet because Godwishes us to know something aboutHimself. There is something we canlearn to our eternal advantage. It isabout Salvation.

Without Him, this wonderful planethas no meaning whatsoever. WithGod’s teaching about salvation welearn that Planet Earth is yet to enjoy aglorious future, of which you canbecome part.

This is now about your future. What-ever else you do, please make sureyou investigate this Good News, andplease do it soon.

Malcolm Edwards

The world’s idea of happinessIs when all is going well,When lives are filled with sunny skiesThen happiness can dwell.

Spiritual happiness is differentIt’s far deeper: more profound;And not touched by circumstance,Or by what we have around.

Regular readers will be sorry to hearthat Malcolm has fallen asleep inChrist after a long illness. He now

awaits the time when, at the Comingof the Lord Jesus, he will be part of the

new creation when “all things aremade new” and the earth is trans-formed once again into a paradise.Then everything will always be “just

right”.

Happiness comes when we embraceGod’s Word, and then obey;Then His peace will fill our heartsWhich naught can take away.

Colleen Simons

True Happiness

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