Hebrews 9:1-10

The writer now moves on to show how the earthly tabernacle has been superseded. This is the tabernacle which Moses set up. The consecrated bread provided the entrance to the Most Holy Place, this was called the Holy Place. Likewise, the sacrifice of Jesus provides the entrance to God's presence. Just as the Holy Place was the entrance, the sacrifice of Jesus is clearly important and vital, but we must never lose sight of the fact that it is the entrance to something even greater.

Under the Law only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place. This contained various holy items from the exodus.

The normal priests carried out their duties in the outer room, only the high priest could enter the inner room, and he could do that only once a year. Each time he entered, a sacrifice had to be made, both for the sins of the people and for his own sins. This severe restriction on entrance was used by the Holy Spirit that entrance to the presence of God was not made possible by the Law. You see, the goal of God is that we live in His presence. It is God's goal that we are in His presence. Whatever circumstance we are going through in life, we should remember and be encouraged by the fact that God wants us to know His presence.

Hebrews 8:7-13

Having dealt with the need for a new priesthood, the writer now turns to the need for a new covenant. Equally importantly it shows that God always intended there to be a new covenant. The recurring message of Hebrews is that the Old Covenant was always intended as an overture to the main event. It contained the themes of the real thing, but was never intended to be the finished article.

To demonstrate this the writer quotes from Jeremiah 31:31-34. In this God declares that He will make a new covenant, and why there was a need for a new covenant. The problem with the Old Covenant was the sin of the people. Sin had to be dealt with because the result of sin was that God turned away from the people. A common misconception is that the gospel says that sin does not matter, nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus had to go the cross because it was the only way to deal with the problem of sin.

The two key features of the new covenant would be (i) God would put His laws on our hearts and minds; and (ii) He would forgive our sins. This is what the gospel is about, and it is crucial that it is about both. It is not just about being forgiven, and it is not just about becoming a better person. It is about both of these, and we become better because of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Hebrews 8:1-6

An ounce of common sense should have made them realise that the old covenant could not have been what it was all about, it could not have been the ultimate goal. Likewise in life we go through many experiences, which may contain many good things, but they also contain many imperfections. These things are staging posts on the way to the final destination.

Jesus Christ is the High Priest who serves in the very presence of the Father. He serves in the sanctuary created by God, not in one created by man. It was right and proper for the man-made sanctuary to be set up, for God had commanded it, but it was only for a time. In the church there are times when it is right to set up organisations or missions, but they are only staging posts, and become a hinderance if we make them into an idol. For instance, a new church or grouping may be set up for it allows some aspect of God's glory to be demonstrated, but then we make it the be all and end all, and instead of being a help it is a hinderance. We need to realise that God's plans are infinitely greater and better than ours.

So the earthly sancurary was a mere shadow. In the same way the new covenant is infinitely better than the old one, as we shall see in the next section.

Hebrews 7:20

The writer emphasises the superiority of the new priesthood by drawing attention to the fact that God swore an oath. The new priesthood would last forever.

Jesus is the guarantor of the better covenant. When we look at things and they seem grim, and we cannot see how things will work out, we must llok to Jesus. He is the guarantee.

All the Levitival priests died, so they had to be replaced. Jesus rose from the dead and is priest forever. Today He fulfils the function of bringing us into the presence of God. And Jesus is able to ave uc completely. There are all sorts of ways in which we need saving, and Jesus saves us in every one of them. Whatever our need we can be confident in Christ.

Moreover Jesus is perfect. Any other human being may, indeed will, let us down at some point. At some point they will fail. We need to remember this in our relationships with each other. By the grace of God we can do great things to help each other, but none of us is Christ. Christ, on the other hand, will never let us down.

Hebrews 7:11-19

We now come to the nub of the argument. The Law could not make people perfect, ie it could not deal with the problem of sin. Instead it pointed the way to the solution. In a similar way Paul argued that the Law could not make anyone righteous, instead it highlighted the need for salvation.

The writer argues that if the Levitical priesthood (ie the priesthood of the Law) could make people perfect, then there would have been no need for another priesthood. Moreover, this other priesthood (Melchizedek) was mentioned before the Law came. This is similar to Abraham being counted as righteous by faith before the Law came. Salvation by faith and Jesus as high priest were principles established before the Law came. Sometimes we lazily think of Jesus being God's response to the failure of the Law. This is not so, the Law was never intended to be the means of salvation.

Furthermore, Jesus, the great high priest, was not from the tribe of Levi. This is further confirmation that the priesthood of the Law is dead. Just as Paul argued that the faith did away with the Law as a way of life, so Christ has done away with the Law as a priesthood.

Jesus was declared a priest because He rose from the dead. So the old way of the Law is discarded for it did not and could not work. We now have a better way, and this enables us to draw near to God.

Hebrews 7:4-10

Abraham was vitally important for Israel, he was the father of the nation. So if he gave Melchizedek a tenth, then Melchizedek must have been very important.

Under the Law the people had to give a tenth to the Levites, even though the Levitical priests descended from Abraham. Melchizedek, on the other hand, did not descend from Abraham. Indeed, highly unusually in the Bible, has no genealogy. As well as receiving a tenth from Abraham, he also blessed Abraham. Now the Levites did not bless the people, but Melchizedek blessed Abraham in his own right. So Melchizedek must have been greater than Abraham.

In fact as Abraham was representative of the whole Jewish nation, he was representative of the Levites. So the Levites blessed Melchizedek. The point that the writer is making here is that the Levitical priesthood was not the be all and end all. There was a greater priesthood, represented by Melchizedek.

Christmas Message

A little break from the usual today with a few brief thoughts on Christmas.

Today is the day we celebrate the coming of Christ into the world. At the time the Jews were ruled by the Romans and wanted to be free. There was also an expectation or hope of a messiah. Yet when Christ came no one really expected this. No one expected God Himself to come to earth, far less as a human being. No one expected Him to come in the way He did.

We can all look at our own lives, and for most of us there will be situations in our lives where we need salvation, and we have a vague hope of God being able to do something to help us. The God we worship is the God who will come into our lives in unexpected ways. Sometimes we spend a lot of time wondering how He will come to our aid. We need to focus more on the who rather than the how. No man could have worked out how God would come 2000 years ago. In the same way He will intervene in our lives in ways we do not expect.

And when He came He had a much greater salvation in mind for the people than the one they had. In fact He seemed to ignore the salvation they were hoping for (release from the Roman oppression). Sometimes God may seem to be ignoring your problems. If He is, it is because He has something far greater in store for us.

As Jesus said once, do not be afraid just believe.

Hebrews 7:1-3

Melchizedek is mentioned twice in the Old Testament. First in Genesis 14 where he meets Abraham after Abraham has fought several kings and rescued Lot. Melchizedek brings bread and wine to Abraham and blesses him. Abraham gives Melchizedek one tenth of his takings. It also states that Melchizedek is priest of God Most High.

The other reference is in Psalm 110, the most messianic Psalm in the Bible. In verse 4 it says that "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek".

Apart from these references, Hebrews is the only other place where Melchizedek is mentioned, and the writer clearly sees him to be of great importance.

Interestingly in Genesis 14:18 it says that Melchizedek was king of Salem. Salem was Jerusalem. Melchizedek means "king of righteousness".

So there are clearly numerous allusions to Christ. He is a king and priest, he is king of righteousness, and of Jerusalem. The messiah would be in the line of Melchizedek. He blessed Abraham, and receives gifts from Abraham. We will see how the writer delves more into this in the succeeding verses.

Hebrews 6:13-20

Just to demonstrate that what he was just said is not meant to induce anxiety and uncertainty in us, the writer now emphasises the certainty of God's promise.

Abraham make frequent appearances in the Bible, especially the New Testament, as the one through whom God started His plan. Abraham is a key figure for Paul, and is no less so for the writer of Hebrews. When God made His promise He said "I will". Now God is God, so we can take Him completely at His word.

We forget how dangerous and radical a step the early Christians, and the early Jewish believers in particular, had taken in turning to Christ. They were going against the established religion of the time, which is why the writer here refers to them having fled. But they had fled to a certain hope. There are times when we can feel uncertain or feel ourselves to be at risk, but we can be completely confident. God has made a promise and He will keep that promise.

For the world the future is uncertain, for us it is sure. Our hope is an anchor. The guarantee of the final outcome helps us to remain true and steadfast in the present. And this hope goes into the inner sanctuary of God. This has been achieved through the priesthood of Christ, to which the writer will now turn.

Hebrews 6:9-12

Even though we speak like this ... The purpose is not to scare the readers to death, but to spur them on. His goal is that the people enjoy the salvation that Christ has won for them. If we take a casual attitude towards salvation we will never enjoy the riches that Christ gained for us, but if we take things seriously then we will. In particular if we take the consequences of falling away seriously, then we will enjoy the security of our salvation all the more, and will not fear falling away.

Verse 10 is yet another example from the Bible that there is no conflict between working hard for God, and salvation by faith. What we do with our lives matters, and it makes a difference to the way He treats us. Yet this in no way means that we earn His love. If you have children consider this. You love them, full stop. Yet the way you treat them, the way you can show your love to them is very much influenced by their behaviour and attitude. If one child is more badly behaved than another, it does not mean you love them less, but the way you interact with them will inevitably be different. So it is with our relationship with God.

So we are to be continually diligent, this will make our hope sure. We are to ensure that we are not lazy. If we want to experience the promises of God, then we need to continue on faith and obedience. When we do this, we will not boast about out works, but rejoice all the more in God's grace.

Hebrews 6:1-8

 The writer lists a few of the things he considers to be "elementary teachings". TNIV has "instructions about cleansing rites", other versions translate this as "instructions about baptisms". The TNIV has used this translation in order to clear up confusion about "baptisms", and is probably accurate. When we hear the word baptism, we normally think of baptism as the initiation into the church. However, at the time various religions had ceremonial washings of various types, and the teaching referred to here is probably about the different between Christian baptism and

Verses 4-6, and similar passages, cause some people problems because they ask "can people fall away?". Well the clear answer from the Bible is yes. From beginning to end it is full of people falling away. Adam and Eve fell. King Saul fell away, Judas fell away. Paul's letters refer to people who fell away. Bible passages on the last days talk about people falling away.

Does this mean that we should live in a state of constant uncertainty, wondering if we will manage to make it to the end? Absolutely not. That demonstrates a lack of faith. I can be absolutely sure that God will complete the work He has started in me. I need to continue in faith, but I will not succeed because I try, but I try because I have faith. The success depends upon Christ.

So people can and do fall away. The next problem is where the writer says it is impossible for them to be brought back to repentance. Does this mean that once someone has fallen away that is it, they are lost forever? Well we have to say no. For just as the Bible is full of examples of people falling away, it is even more full of examples of people coming back. Jesus Himself spoke about lost sheep. However, verses 4-6 make it clear that the writer is talking about people who have had a full experience of God. Some people who fall away, never really knew God in the first place.

The purpose of the writer here, as in the whole book, is to stress the importance of taking God seriously, and to warn against a fast and loose attitude. It matters how we live, it matters how we respond to the gospel.

Hebrews 5:11-14

The writer will shortly return to Christ's priesthood and Melchizadek, but before he does that he has some strong words for them.

Verse 11 contains a great point on learning. It has hard to teach them because they do not try to understand. This principle can be applied to all learning. Today there is constant emphasis on the quality of teaching in schools and universities, but very little on the quality if learning, very little on the approach of the students and pupils. I lecture in a University and constantly seek (well pretty often, maybe not constantly) to improve the quality of my teaching. However, I could deliver the most wonderful module ever, it would not guarantee that the students would learn anything. Conversely, I could make a complete Horlicks of the job, yet a student could be their own efforts still learn way more than the student with the excellent me.

If we are to learn then we need to make an effort. The writer then goes on to say that they ought by now to know quite a lot. We should seek to grow in faith. Note that the goal is not academic knowledge, but so that we can "distinguish good from evil".

"Teaching about righteousness". This is understanding how we come to have right standing with God. Many of us also lack this understanding. The two most common fallacies are (i) that we achieve it by trying our best; and (ii) that we achieve it by "faith". Now the last bit may upset some of you, but note that, before you decide to stone me, I put "faith" in inverted commas. We do not achieve it by simply having said the right words at some point in our life. The next chapters will reveal a lot more about this.

Hebrews 5:1-10

The writer now takes his first look at the priesthood of Christ, proving that it is far superior to that of the Levitical priests. First he reminds the readers of what a priest is. A priest is chosen from among the people; he represents them in matters related to God; and he presents gifts and sacrifices on their behalf for their sins. He must also be able to deal gently with people, understanding their weaknesses. He is able to do this because He is subject to the same things. The Levitical priests understood this because they were sinners like the rest of us. This also meant that they had to offer sacrifices for their own sins. Finally, a priest could not appoint himself, but must be called by God. Aaron, the first priest, was appointed by God, and the Levites were priests by birth, no one else could become a priest.

The writer then shows how this applies to Christ. God declared him to be a priest. He quotes again from Psalm 2, and from Psalm 110, making the first reference to the enigmatic Melchizadek.

Jesus offered prayers and petitions for people. And He did this with fervour, they were not always quiet prayers. There is also reference here to Gehtsemane. Jesus went through enormous agonies both before and during the cross.

Jesus learned obedience through suffering. This does not mean that He was disobedient before this happened. Jesus experienced things that we experience, He was fully human, but he overcame them. He did not overcome them because He was a superior being, but because He was the man that God always intended us to be. And so He became the great high priest, able to save us.

Hebrews 4:14-16

Normally we would be terrified at the thought of someone knowing every thought and motive that we have ever had, for all of us have some pretty awful thoughts that go through our mind. Yet the writer sees this as good news. Why? It is because the God who knows everything is the same God who went to the cross for us, knowing exactly what we were like, yet was without sin.

Moreover, He did not come to earth as some super being, but as a man, so He knows what it is like to be human. If anyone else did know all things about us then we would be right to be terrified, but in Jesus we have a great high priest. We can approach the throne of grace with confidence. For we do not need to fear that He might find out something terrible about us, He already knows it all. In fact He knows us better than we know ourselves. Yet knowing this He was still prepared to die for us. In fact it is because we are so much in need of salvation that He went to the cross for us.

We do not need to hide anything. Christianity is the only true religion, for it faces up to the real truth. So we can run to the throne of grace, looking to receive help and mercy in our time of need.

As a footnote, no one else could be trusted with the knowledge that God has of us. If anyone else had the same degree of knowledge they would either misuse it, or would not know how to handle it. That is why privacy is so important, and why prying governments are to be avoided.

Hebrews 4:12,13

Mention of the word of God links back to "today if you hear His voice". Religion so often treats the word of God as if it was dead, just something from the past. Or religion becomes merely a habit. This can apply equally well to traditional or less traditional churches. Likewise, people from traditional churches can know the reality of the living word of God as someone from a charismatic church.

The word of God affects our lives. More than that it gives life. Also its affect is not just dictated by our response to it (though this is of course very important!), it has a life of its own. At creation God spoke, and there was. The word penetrates deep into our soul. In the words of the old beer advert, it reaches parts that nothing else can. We can be aware of deep problems in our lives, rooted deep within ourselves. We should not feel hopeless or helpless, for the word of God can reach into the deepest parts of ourselves.

The word then sorts out what is really what in our lives. And God knows everything about us, every thought, attitude, motive and fear.

Hebrews 4:6-11

The reasoning used seems rather strange to us, but we need to think about the problem the writer was trying to address. Before Jesus came the Jews (or at least the religious types) had a great tendency to be self-satisfied and smug about their belonging to God. They thought that because they were "children of Abraham", and God had brought them out of slavery in Egypt they were "in" with God, and that one day He would rescue them. Of course, when He did come to rescue them they nailed Him to a cross. The writer is keen to dispel any notions of complacency. For even those who had now become "Christians" could make the same mistake as their forbears. The writer is trying to get over the message that it is essential for them to actively believe.

This message, of course, applies to all peoples. All of us need to ensure that we take faith seriously. God's call is to actively believe.

In referring to Joshua he is saying that if the promised land had been "it", then God would not have spoken about "another day". The promised land was not the final destination, but a shadow of God's intention for mankind. So we need to "make every effort" to ensure we enter the true rest of God.

Hebrews 4:2-5

The writer now draws the explicit parallel with the Israelites who died in the desert. They heard the word, but did not obey the word. So hearing on its own is not enough, we need to believe the word. Belief is not just a mere intellectual or emotional response, true faith is demonstrated by the fact that it leads to obedience.

If we believe then we do enter into God's rest. We enter into right relationship with Him, and it starts to affect our whole life. But we cannot enter His rest without faith.

God's work was finished on the seventh day. Now we need to be careful how we read this, for it does not mean that God has been sitting around twiddling His thumbs for thousands or billions of years! Indeed in Christ He completed the work of salvation. But the rest we are to enter is not something we need to create, for it has been ready since God completed creation. We do not need to make something, rather we need to enter His rest.

In life we encounter all sorts of problems and go through various agonies. In the midst of them we think we have to create something, but the truth is that the solution is already there. We need only to enter into relationship with God.

Hebrews 4:1

This promise to "enter His rest" seems strange to us, producing images of passivity in our mind. In the same way we have very little concept of what Sabbath is all about, tending to (i) think of it just as a day when we go to church; (ii) think it irrelevant; or (iii) change it into a legalistic nightmare. It is interesting that so many of Jesus' conflict with the religious authorities happened on the Sabbath, and centred on the Sabbath. Jesus saw the Sabbath as a day on which to set people free, not to bind them up.

Entering His rest means entering into peace with God. Life for the most part is, to varying degrees, a battle. This is because we are not at peace with God. We need to rest from our own work and trust in Him. Now all went wrong because of our sin, hence the battle. We do not achieve perfect unity with God in an instant. When we are united with God we will still do stuff. Jesus had perfect peace with His Father, and He did a lot, and achieved more than any of us.

We need times of rest. Times when we deliberately set aside all our concerns. This is an act of faith, saying that even though we rest, we know that God still provides. Note that this is just for one day. Resting from our labours every day is not faith, it is laziness!

However, the main point here in Hebrews is that the promise of entering God's rest still stands, the way is still open, so we had better make sure that we do not miss it.

Hebrews 3:14

We have come to share in Christ. We are part of Him, and we share in what He achieved, but we have to hold firmly. People sometimes debate about "once saved always saved". This really is a lot of nonsense.  There are two things that the Bible is absolutely clear about:

• We are to live with a confidence and peace in Christ.
• We must persevere, and it matters how we live.

One side of the debate worries about us living in fear that we might not be saved, or might lapse into earning our salvation. The other side worries about people thinking they can live however they like. We get into a problem because we elevate intellect above faith. We think that if we have absolute peace about salvation we will live however we like, or if we persevere we will not have peace. We should do both.

The writer draws attention to the experience of the Israelites, and draws two clear warnings. They had been with Moses, yet still died; and they had heard the word of God, yet still died. Hearing and being in the right company is not enough. We need to believe for ourselves. Then we will enter the life that God has for us.

Hebrews 3:12,13

Having quoted from the Old Testament the writer now applies the message to today. We are to guard against having a "sinful, unbelieving heart". Unbelief is sin, and we need to guard the condition of our hear. As it says in Proverbs 4:23 we should guard our heart above all things for it is the wellspring of life.

The first way of doing this that he mentions is to encourage one another. When we are discouraged we are more prone to sin's deceitfulness. Now it is clearly best to never be discouraged, and we can reduce the number of times we feel discouraged by encouraging each other. Never draw back from discouraging someone else, it is always good to be encouraged, and to encourage someone else. However, there will still be times when we become discouraged. In those times we must be on our guard, knowing that our heart and mind will lie to us. We must have a healthy distrust of thoughts and feelings that we have in those times.

Hebrews 3:7-11

The writer now turns to some harsh warnings. Why does he do this at this point? In our society we are obsessed with everyone making up their own mind, saying that everyone must come to their own conclusions and beliefs. In fact this is seen as the most important thing, but this is nonsense. Now it is true that people do have the "right" to believe and think what they want, and you cannot and must not force someone to believe something, but it is vitally important what we believe. The choice is to believe and obey the truth, or to believe a lie. If we live by te truth we will live, if we follow a falsehood we will die.

The writer quotes from Psalm 95. The Psalm begins with acclamation of praise for God and His great creating acts, and then says let us bow down before Him for we are the sheep of his pasture. This is followed by the warning quoted here. The Israelites who came out of Egypt saw God do many mighty acts, yet they refused to believe in Him. So they failed to enter the Promised Land.

Note why they failed to enter. It was not because God said "you shall not enter". In fact God took them to the border and told them to go in, but they refused to enter, refusing to believe that God could give them victory over the enemies. Likewise, every man and woman is invited into God's kingdom, people only fail to enter if they make the wrong choice.

Hebrews 3:2-6

Moses was a forerunner, or type, of Jesus. He illustrated some of the features that Jesus would have, but, like the law, he was only a shadow of the real thing. This is a helpful way to view much of the Old Testament, it hints or foreshadows at what was to come.

Moses brought the people out of slavery in Egypt, and led them to the promised land. He took them to a Sabbath rest. This latter point will be focused on in the next chapter. Jesus brought us out of slavery to sin and death, and into a new life.

Both Jesus and Moses were faithful to God's calling, but Jesus was more faithful. Moses had failings, and ultimately was not allowed to actually take the people into the promised land. Jesus completed everything to perfection. Jesus is the builder of the house, Moses was part of the house.

We too are part of the house that Jesus is building. Moses was a servant, Jesus is a Son. He owns the house He is building. But we need to hold on to our hope and confidence.

Hebrews 3:1

Having demonstrated that Jesus is greater than the angels, the writer now turns to demonstrating that He is greater than Moses, then Joshua, and then all the high priests. Any thinking that sees Jesus just as a good man is utterly deluded and mistaken.

We share in the heavenly calling, This means we have been called to enjoy the presence of God. We are to focus above all else on Jesus. He is our apostle and high priest. Apostle means one who is sent. In the  gospels Jesus makes repeated reference to the fact that He was sent by the Father. The high priest was the only one who could enter into the holy of holies. Under the Jewish law the high priest did this once a year on behalf of the people. Later in Hebrews the writer will show that this was only a shadow of what was to come. Jesus is the true high priest. In life we may sometimes think "if only we had someone to speak on our behalf" in some situation. In Jesus we have One who speaks to the Father on our behalf, and does so continuously.   This should change our perspective on life.

Hebrews 2:12-18

Verse 12 quotes from Psalm 22:22. This is a Psalm that tells of great suffering, but of ultimate victory, and contains many allusions to the crucifixion. So the writer is combining both the suffering of Christ and the fact that He calls us brothers.

The next two quotes come from Isaiah 8:17 and 18. In this passage God tells Isaiah not to fear what most people fear, but to fear only Him. Then Isaiah declares his faith in the Lord. It is not clear whether the writer is using it here as indicative of the response we are meant to have, or of the response that Jesus had. Both are true. Jesus did trust only in the Father, and presents us to the Father. Likewise we are meant to trust the Father, and to bring other people with us.

Jesus became human just as we are human. It was necessary for Him to do this in order to achieve the victory of the cross. The cross was not a mere demonstration of love, nor was it merely symbolic, rather it achieved something concrete. It changed the "laws" under which life works. Now the power of death has been broken, and we are free from the fear of death.

Jesus did not come to save angels, but to save people, so He became fully human. Only then could He act as our great high priest and make payment for our sins. Moreover, He is able to sympathise with us as well when we are tempted. For though He did not sin, He knows the pain of temptation.

Hebrews 2:10,11

Jesus became like us, and we will become like Him. We will share in His glory and we will become holy like Him. When it talks of us being brought to glory it includes many things, but one of the most important is that God will brings us to the same degree of moral excellences that Jesus has. Jesus was perfect, He loved us perfectly, He loved the Father perfectly, He trusted perfectly. We will be brought to the same level of faith.

Why is it "fitting" that God should make Jesus "perfect through suffering"? First, this does not imply previous imperfection. Think of it like this. Consider a mathematics graduate, they will be able to do all sorts of maths that they could not do when they were ten years old. This does not mean they were less mathematically able at that age, just that they hadn't studied lots of things yet. The suffering brought Jesus' work to completeness. The prime problem with bringing us to glory was our sin, Christ's death on the cross was the solution to this sin.

Verse 11 is amazing. We are of the same family as Jesus. Jesus is pleased to call us His brothers. Through Christ we are brought into unity with God.

Hebrews 2:8,9

At the moment we do not see everything subject to man. In fact we see man subject to all sorts of things. However, we do see Jesus. When we see Jesus we see what we should have been like, and we also see what we will become like.

Jesus is representative of man. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians, He is the second Adam. Jesus was made lower than the angels. He was subject to all that we are subject to, even to death. But now He is crowned with glory and honour. He received this honour because He was prepared to go the cross. When He went to the cross He tasted death for all of us.

The whole message here is that Jesus is representative of us all. We are not to focus on angels. If we look at angles we beings that are different from us, and that we can never become like. When we see Jesus we see what we will become like. Moreover, Jesus is greater than angels.

Hebrews 2:5-8

Having exalted Christ, the writer now turns to the humanity of Christ. Most errors boil down to either saying that while Christ is God, He was not fully human, or that while Christ was fully human, he was not God. Either of these is a perversion of the truth. Christ is both fully human and fully God.

First we come to Psalm 8, which speaks of man and his position. Man was made lower than the angels, yet is crowned with glory and honour, and everything will be put under his feet. False views of Christ also arise from a false view of man. We are the pinnacle of God’s creation. Man forgot this when he sinned, and people often desert God out of despair. We need to remember the goal that God has for us.

It is also significant that Psalm 8 uses the term son of man, for this is the somewhat ambiguous term that Christ used to refer to Himself. He did this deliberately, because anything else would have led people to day He was just a man, or that He was not really human.

Hebrews 2:1

The letter now has a series of warnings. The first one is to pay careful attention to what we have heard, ie to the message of the gospel. Some people rebel openly against the gospel, but many people just drift away. They don't deliberately reject it, they just drift. Jesus told the parable of the seed, with the two groups that started off well and then died away. One died because of opposition, the other because other things in life crowded in. The gospel affects absolutely every aspect of our lives, it has implications for everything. So we need to listen carefully.

The Law was believed to have been given by angels, hence the mention here. This does not necessarily mean that the writer is confirming this view. What he is saying is that his readers knew the law was important, and that was only given by angels. How much more important is the good news given to us directly by the Son of God?

We say that people are free to accept or reject the gospel, and this is true. But it is also true that there are consequences to our decisions. Whether we accept or reject the gospel has eternal consequences. The message was initiated by the Lord Himself, and then confirmed by the apostles who had heard Him. It is further confirmed by God Himself with signs and wonders, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Bible actually knows very little about blind faith, God repeatedly provides "proof". Nor is there any conflict between miracles and the message. The Biblical pattern is that the word is preached and taught, and God confirms it by signs and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 1:10-14

Verse 10-12 quote from Psalm 102. The words are directed to Yahweh in the original, but the writer applies them to Jesus. The Psalm also speaks of suffering, so it is apt that it is then applied to Jesus. Jesus brings together both humanity and divinity.
The Lord is eternal, whereas creation is not. There will be a new heaven and a new earth.
Finally the writer quotes form Psalm 110, the most messianic Psalm of them all, and one quoted by Jesus Himself.
The point of all these quotes is not so much to “prove” that Jesus is the Messiah, he takes that as read, but to tell the readers to stop being so stupid and stop being fixated by angels. Angels are only ministering spirits, and, moreover, they have been sent to serve us, who are inheriting salvation. We need to have a right perspective.

Hebrews 1:7-9

The quote in verse 7 comes from Psalm 104. This Psalm is all about God and His plans, and angels are merely the agents of His purpose. The people needed to have a right perspective on angels. Yes they exist, and yes they are important, but they are servants of God. Christ is the one we should worship. In Revelation the angel tells John that he is only a servant and must not be worshipped.

In contrast, he then quotes from Psalm 45. In the quote these is an ambiguity between God and the king, but this is fitting, for Jesus is both fully human and fully God. Jesus is the centre of it all, and He is exalted by the Father. The purpose of God’s plans is to glorify the Son, not angels.

We may find some of these quotes a little frustrating, for we would like a nice neat logical proof that Jesus is the Son of God, but the quotes do not provide that to our Western ears. However, to Jewish ears the quotes would be conclusive.

Many of these quotes had an immediate partial fulfilment, eg either in David or Solomon, and then their complete fulfilment in Christ. We were made in the image of God, but sin corrupted that image. Jesus showed us the man we were always meant to be, and that, in Him, we will become. So the quotes follow a pattern. We can see a glimmer of fulfilment in men, but we see the total fulfilment in Christ.

Hebrews 1:5

The writer now quotes from a number of Old Testament passages, especially the Psalms to demonstrate the superiority of Jesus. The first is from Psalm 2:7. Now we need to remember that often when a writer quotes a single verse, they may have a larger passage in mind. So it is useful to look at the whole of Psalm 2. In this Psalm David speaks of God installing His King in Zion, and making the nations an inheritance for Him. The whole Psalm is full of the idea that the king is the source of salvation, he is the one to be worshipped. The Messiah is the Son of God. Sonship here involves relationship, but also unity of purpose.
The next bit of verse 5 quotes from 2 Samuel 7:14 and 1 Chronicles 17:13. In these verse God tells David that he is not the one to build the temple, but one of his descendants. The second part of 2 Samuel 7:14 says “when he does wrong I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men”. We find this difficult, for it seems to say that the son will sin. But that is to read too much into the quotation. It is also worth noting that Jesus was punished with the rod of iron, but for our transgressions, not His own.
In verse 6 the writer quotes from the Septuagint (Greek) version of the Old Testament, showing that God wants us to worship Jesus.

Hebrews 1:1-4

Hebrews is different from most of the other New Testament letters in that there is no formal introduction. There are no greetings nor indications of who the letter is addressed to. In the opening section the writer quickly establishes what the letter is primarily about, namely the supremacy of Christ.

In the Old Testament there are all sorts of writings: history, prophecy, poetry, etc; and it covers a vast time scale. In all this God was speaking to His people. Now He has spoken through his very own Son. There is a different order of magnitude in the nature of the revelation given in Christ and all that went before. Christ is the heir of all things, and through Him all things were created (note that Paul says the same things in Colossians).

The prophets and other godly people in the Old Testament represented something of the character of God, but all were flawed. Jesus is the exact representation of God. When we see Jesus we see exactly what God is like. Moses reflected the glory of God, but Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory.

Jesus provided purification for sins and then sat down at the right hand of God. His work was completed. So He became as majestic as His name was majestic. There was a tendency in those days to venerate angels, hence the references to the supremacy of Christ over the angels. Indeed, false teachers today will sometimes talk a lot about angels. We should always beware of someone who talks more about what they have “seen” rather than about Christ Himself.

Hebrews - Introduction

From 400 to 1600 AD the letter was known as Paul’s letter to the Hebrews. However, there is actually very little evidence that the letter was written by Paul, and it certainly does not claim to be written by him. The content and style of the letter is very different from Paul’s letters, and 2:3 seems to indicate that Paul could not have written the letter. There have been theories that Paul originally wrote the letter in Hebrew, but then Luke translated it into Greek.
The earliest indication of authorship comes from Tertullian in 200 AD saying that Barnabas was the author. The letter does indicate that the author had authority and had good understanding of Hebrew Christianity, Barnabas would fit these criteria. Martin Luther later suggested that Apollos was the author, and he too would fit the criteria. The long and the short of it is that we do not know who wrote it.
Whoever the author might be, the key things is that he had a deep understanding of the relationship between the old and new covenants.
The letter was almost certainly written before AD70, for there is no mention of the destruction of the temple, and given the nature of the letter it is likely that the author would have mentioned this.
The primary themes in the letter are:

• The supremacy of Christ
• The relationship between the old and new covenants.

Genesis 11

This section explains the scattering of the peoples and the vast differences between peoples. They worked together, building and planning. There goal was to exalt themselves in the earth.
God thwarts man’s plans by throwing them into confusion by giving them different languages. Our initial reaction to this might be that it is rather a mean reaction on God’s part, so why did He do this? The reason is that sin resides in the heart of man, and sin will inevitably come to the fore. So if they had been allowed to continue then, whatever their intentions, the result would have been an evil kingdom.
We can see this same trait in many enterprises to day. Nuclear power was discovered and has great capacity to do good, but also to do evil, and so we try to constrain access to nuclear power. Institutions are set up, and they inevitably become corrupt.
After this we get the genealogy of Abraham. This is the setting of the scene for God’s plan of salvation for mankind, for all of mankind.

Genesis 10:1-32

The various nations that came from Japheth, Ham and Shem are listed. Japheth was possibly the oldest of Noah’s sons, though in some ways the least important. It is a common feature in the Old Testament that the younger brother ended up being the most important.

Ham gave rise to various kingdoms, several of them becoming enemies of Israel. Shem gave rise to a large number of peoples. In all this the command to multiply and fill the earth was being fulfilled.

The picture given is that all the nations were descended from Noah. Later God will promise to Abraham that all nations will be blessed through him. Jesus came to save all peoples and Revelation speaks of multitudes from every nation, tribe and tongue. The ultimate purpose of God is that all peoples should be saved.

Genesis 9:18-28

The sons of Noah produced the descendents who were scattered throughout the earth. Noah himself was a farmer and planted a vineyard. Having drunk some of the wine he became drunk, this is the first recorded incident of drunkenness. As a result he was naked (and presumably asleep or unconscious) in his tent. There is no hint of why he was naked. Ham found him and told his two brothers. The two brothers walked backwards into the tent and covered their father’s nakedness.

The common interpretation is that Seth and Japheth were guarding their father’s dignity, while Ham broadcast the news. Now this is a good lesson, and a good way to approach life, but it has to be said that this is reading things into the story. From the bare bones of the story it may be that Ham was just shocked and embarrassed and wanted help from his brothers, and it may be that they just did not want to see their father naked.

However, the traditional interpretation is consistent with Noah’s words on waking. He was certainly angry with Ham, but then these could be the angry ramblings of a man getting up with a hangover.

Now Ham was the father of the Canaanites, and Israel did descend from Seth. The incident does not really cover anyone in glory.

Genesis 9:8-17

God makes a covenant with Noah and all his descendants, and also with all the animals. There are two equally wrong views of the place of nature and animals in the scheme of things. One is to say that animals are exactly the same value as humans, and that we are just a different type of animal. Along with this can go a worship of nature. This is totally unbiblical. The other erroneous view is the one that says we can exploit nature and animals to our heart’s content. This is equally unbiblical.

God promises never again to destroy all the earth by such a flood. As a sign of the covenant God gives the rainbow. After rain the rainbow is the sign that the sun will shine again. Dark days do come, but they do not last forever. Again we have the emphasis on God remembering.

Genesis 9:1-7

Again the command to multiply and fill the earth is repeated. As Christians we too are meant to multiply and fill the earth. Not in a military or political way (as the church has sometimes been guilty of), but as members if His kingdom, living renewed lives. This is not to say that Christians should not be in involved in politics, but our weapons are not the weapons of the world.

At this point the animals too were given to man to eat. It is not clear why this happens at this point.

Human life is precious and anyone that takes human life is to be punished. Some see the death sentence as being un Christian, but this is a mistaken view. If someone is executed for murder it is not man taking revenge, it is God’s judgement being exercised. Now at the same time great care has to be taken, for all men are sinful and all are fallible. Moreover, it is clear from the life of Jesus that the letter of the law does not always need to be exercised. So there maybe good reasons for not having the death sentence, and certainly good ones for being very cautious in its implementation, but there is no absolute moral reason for not having the death penalty. Notice also that the reason given here for the death sentence is the sanctity of human life.

Genesis 8:1-22

God remembered both Noah and the animals. We often think that God has forgotten about us, but we can always be confident that this is not so. God remembers all the promises He has made to us, and He will keep those promises. This should be a source of great encouragement to us.

The waters started to recede, though very slowly. Noah sent out various birds to see if dry land had appeared yet. Eventually it did. We too can be like this, trying various tests to see if God has answered our prayers, and receiving gradual confirmation that the answer is on its way.

Noah did not come out until God told him to do so. Why is this? My natural inclination would have been to keep looking out and rush out the minute that I could see that the land was dry. Noah, however, waited until God commanded him. Perhaps he knew now that his life was utterly dependent upon God.

The command to multiply, originally given to Adam and Eve, is repeated. Likewise the blessing given to Abraham was repeated to his descendents.

Noah offered a sacrifice to the Lord. God promises never again to curse the ground in this way. The problem of man’s sin remains, but God promises never to bring a catastrophe of such a scale again. We are not at the mercy of chance.

Genesis 7:1-24

Having completed the building work Noah is instructed to take 7 pairs of every type of clean animal and bird. Noah does this, and he and his whole family enter the ark.

When they were all in the ark, God shut them in. Just as the Lord had said, the flood waters came. This was a flood like no other, for even high mountains were covered.

Everything that was not in the ark perished, and the flood lasted one hundred and fifty days. Likewise, at the final judgement only those who are in Christ will survive, and the old heaven and earth will be done away with.

Genesis 6:9-21

Judgement is what we deserve, but salvation is what we can have if we trust the Lord. Noah had to trust God and do what He said, otherwise he would not have been saved. Peter, in particular, was very impressed by the story of Noah.

Noah lived a faithful life, even though he lived amongst wicked people. No matter what out circumstances, we can live a godly life in the midst of them, and should do so. As evangelicals we tend to get hung up by anything that might seem to hint that someone, in this case Noah, earned their salvation. We should not do so, but just take the Bible as it stands and learn from it.

Many other civilisations have a story of a flood. There are two ways of taking this. One is to assume that the writers of the Bible were borrowing from these other “myths”. The other (and I believe to be the correct way) is to take this as backing for the truth of the Bible story. All the world of the time experienced the flood, but only Noah understood it.

God told Noah what He was going to do, why He was going to do it, and what Noah had to do in response to this. God would establish a covenant with Noah. Note also that creation itself in the form of livestock is also saved with man.

Genesis 6:4-8

Now we get the next strange reference, namely to the Nephilim. There are several traditions amongst middle eastern peoples of an early race of giants, but archaeologists have found no hard evidence for their actual existence. The long and the short of it is that no one has a clue who they were. By the way, if you do a search in Google you will find all sorts of weird and wonderful explanations.

Verse 5 brings us back to more solid ground. God sees the wickedness of men’s hearts, and God regrets having made man. It also says His heart was deeply troubled. Now we do need to be careful with anthropomorphic description of God’s thoughts and emotions (i.e. expressing them in purely human terms), as there is bound to be a degree of approximation. However, verse 6 does sum up a lot of what the Bible is about. On the one hand justice demands that God condemn sinful men, on the other we are His creation and He loves us. Ultimately the cross was the answer to the dilemma.

So God decides to wipe out most of mankind and a lot of creation, except for Noah. The fate of creation is tied up with the moral state of man. This has relevance for environmental concerns. I believe we should manage resources wisely and with care, but the environment will only fully function as it should when we turn to God.

Genesis 6:1-3

This chapter begins by telling of the increase in wickedness in the world. Some aspects of this chapter are rather strange, starting with the “sons of God” marrying human daughters. Some take it as referring to angels, citing Job 1:6 & 2:1; Psalm 29:1; and Jude 6-7, along with extra-Biblical Jewish literature.

Others reject this on the grounds that angels cannot marry humans, and that the Bible sometimes refers to men as the sons of God (Deut 14:1; 32:5; Psalm 73:15, Isaiah 43:6; Hosea 1:10; 11:1, Luke 3:38; 1 John 3:1,2,10). Some argue that “sons of God” refers to the descendents of Seth, who were godly, and the daughters to the descendents of Cain who were not.

A further suggestion is that “sons of God” refers to royal figures.

God then declares that since men are wicked their lifespan shall be restricted to 120 years. This is of course still substantially longer than the current life expectancy, and perhaps adds weight to the view that the ages given in Chapter 5 are real. If so, then God’s judgement on man is introduced gradually. This ties in with the character of God who, despite the common picture of Him, is actually extremely reluctant to judge (“slow to anger”).

Genesis 5:1-32

The fact that God created all people is repeated here, along with the statement that we were all created in His image, male and female. Moreover, we were all blessed. Note that this is said after the fall. The fall has deadly serious consequences, but it is still the case that we are God’s creation, made in His image, and blessed by Him. While all of us are corrupted by sin, there is also still some good in all of us as well. Naturally, the balance between the good and evil varies considerably from one individual to another.

Adam’s son was created in his image. This means that he inherited the fallen aspects as well. In the early part of Genesis people seemed to live for an inordinately long time. Some see the figures as having symbolic meaning (eg one year for Enoch), others as being simply literal, and some a mixture of both.

All of them, apart from Enoch, died. As noted earlier, Enoch was the son of Cain, but he lived faithfully with God, and did not die, God just took him away. Enoch is perhaps a type, he was born of a sinful man, yet he chose to live by faith, and so he did not die. We were all born in sin, but if we believe in Christ we will live forever.

Genesis 4:17-26

There is no mention of where Cain’s wife came from, which should serve as a warning against interpreting Genesis as if it tells us absolutely everything.

They had a son called Enoch. We will later read that Enoch never actually died, and this is an example where a bad father does not necessarily give birth to a bad son. We are all influenced by our ancestors, but none of us are predestined by our ancestors. Each one of us has to make a choice of whether or not to follow the Lord.

Various other people were born and the human race expanded. Lamech took it upon himself to announce himself even more protected than Cain. He really did not have any right to claim this, as it was God who declared the protection over Cain.

Adam and Eve were still alive and gave birth to another son. People also started to call upon the name of the Lord. Humans are a confused mixture of disobeying God and wanting to find Him.

Genesis 4:8-16

The first murder now takes place. Cain deliberately sets out to murder his brother, and succeeds. How he hoped this would improve the situation is a mystery, for God would still not be pleased with him, even more so. Yet this is how we all too often think as humans. Instead of dealing with the root of the problem, usually ourselves, we lash out at someone else.

The Lord knew what had happened and confronted Cain about it. Adam and Eve had made excuses when they were confronted, Cain now resorts to lying, for he knew full well where Abel was.

Cain had brought himself under judgement, he would no longer find peace upon the earth. Even in this the Lord shows mercy, for although Cain himself had committed murder, the Lord promises to defend Cain from murder. People are always objecting about how a God of love can send people to hell. When the final judgement comes no one will be appalled at the judgement that God executes, but rather will be amazed that God was so patient and did not do things sooner.

Genesis 4:5-7

Whatever the precise reason for the rejection and acceptance of the two gifts, the reaction of Cain is clear. Cain was angry and downcast. God speaks to him.

The reaction of Cain is so typical of our human reaction, and failure to realise the heart of God. God says that if Cain learns to do what is right he will be accepted, but instead of following this road Cain decides to sulk.

Sin is waiting to devour us. Sin is an enemy, and we need to master it, otherwise it will devour us. We need to guard our reactions and attitudes, and to repent of the ungodly ones we have, otherwise they will ruin our lives.

Genesis 4:1-4

Eve gave birth to Cain, acknowledging that it was only with the Lord’s help that she was able to give birth. Even though she and Adam were under judgement, the purposes of God were starting to be fulfilled.

Then she gave birth to Abel. In Hebrew his name means “breath” or “temporary” or “meaningless”, indicating the brief life he was to have.

Cain and Abel brought gifts. It appears that Cain brought his gift as something of an afterthought, whereas Abel brought the best of his crops to give to God. This does make sense of the different reactions of God to the gifts, though I must admit I am not wholly satisfied with this explanation, as it does give me the feeling of reading a bit too much into the text.

Genesis 3:20-24

Adam now named the woman Eve. Maybe this is linked to man being master over woman because naming someone or something signified having authority over the person.

The name Eve sounds like the Hebrew for “to give life”. Eve was the mother of all people.

God Himself made clothes for Adam and Eve, despite the fact that it was their own fault they were in this state.

Adam and Eve could no longer be allowed to eat from the tree of life, so they were banished from the garden. Why were they not allowed to do this? Because they had disobeyed God, they had assumed authority for themselves, and so were no longer fit to be allowed to have such knowledge. And God made sure that they could not get back.

Genesis 3:17-19

None of the excuses from Adam and Eve held any water. Adam is judged fro listening to his wife when she told him to do the opposite of what God said. Because of his sin a curse was placed upon the ground, ie the ground suffered judgement because of man’s sin. In Romans 8 Paul sees the redemption of the whole of creation in Christ.

Before sin came the garden yielded its fruit easily. Now that sin had come the ground would yield fruit, but reluctantly. Man would have to work hard to get the harvest.

Man would also die. This is not just physical death, but spiritual death as well. We were meant to be eternal, but man would die.

Genesis 3:16

The judgement on Eve then follows. She will experience pain in childbirth, and though she will desire her husband, he would be her master. So far there is no record of them having children, so we cannot say that she had had painless childbirth up to this point. However, prior to this point she had been an equal partner with her husband.

We can see these two features are definitely true in life today. Childbirth is painful, and men have dominated women in most societies. An interesting  question is to what extent these things should be undone when we come to Christ. The latter one is perhaps the easier. Paul teaches that in Christ there is neither male nor female (Galations 3:28) (in the sense of one being better than the other), and Peter says we are are co-heirs in Christ (1 Peter 3:7). This does not mean that men and women are not different, and may have different roles, but men are definitely not to dominate women (nor the other way around!).

In childbirth is still painful, but we should not have a fatalistic attitude, and should expect the best, not the worst.

The NLT has a footnote translation as saying “though you may desire to control your husband…”. I do not know how much credence can be given to this alternative, but it certainly describes a trait seen in real life.

Genesis 3:13-15

God then speaks to the woman. Adam blamed the woman, the woman now blames the serpent, claiming she was deceived. In fact the dialogue shows that she was not really deceived, for she knew what God had actually said, but she chose to follow the serpent’s advice. When we do wrong we may claim that we did not know it was wrong, this is usually nonsense. We knew full well it was wrong, but we chose to do it anyway.

God then goes to the serpent. Notice that God does not actually question anything that the man or woman have said.

Now the serpent does not get the chance to explain himself, but is immediately faced with judgement. God knew full well who had done what. The snake is cursed. Now remember that a curse is “God’s judgement on sin”, it is not in anyway like a magic spell. There will be continual antagonism between the snake and mankind, and in the end man will crush the serpent. This took place when Jesus won the victory on the cross, and all mankind who believe in Jesus will gain victory over the devil.

It is useful to think about what this means for interpretation of Genesis 1-3. As far as I am aware all Bible believing interpreters take this as referring to the Satan (and rightly so), rather than a direct judgement on snakes as such. However, we can also see some realisation of it in snakes, as they are not the most popular beasts in the world. Perhaps this should tell us to be on our guard about taking Genesis 1-3 too literally, but equally we should not dismiss it out of hand.

Genesis 3:8-12

The next effect was their relationship with God. We were created to live in fellowship with God, to be in harmony with Him, but sin has ruined that relationship. Now, instead of wanting to meet with God they hid from Him. Most people do exactly the same today, part of them is afraid of God because they know that they have sinned against Him. As Jesus said in John 3:19, men loved the darkness instead of light, because of their evil deeds.

Despite man hiding from God, God still called out to man. We want to hide from God because of our sin, but God wants to seeks us out because of our sin, not so that He can judge us, but so that He can rescue us. This is what Jesus taught in the parable of the good shepherd.

Having been found by God, Adam reacted in the wrong way. He was afraid of God and knew he had done wrong. Most people, despite what they might say, actually know that they have sinned against God. Adam's next reaction is to blame the woman. Or maybe to blame God, for he says "the woman you put here with me". We do exactly the same today. If only things had been different I would not have sinned. In fact the circumstances probably made no difference, and even if we had not committed oneparticular sin, we would just have committed another one.

Genesis 3:6,7

Some have commented on the fact that the apple was pleasing to the eye. However, this is not justified, as in Genesis 2:9 it says that all the trees were pleasing to the eye and good for food. The point was that God had told them not to eat of that particular tree. She also gave some to Adam and he ate it.

On doing this it did indeed have an effect on them. They suddenly realised that they were naked, and sought to cover up their nakedness. At the end of chapter 2 it says they were naked and not ashamed, now they were ashamed.

We see here a model of how sin can come about. Adam and Eve had not set out that day with the intention of sinning, but the serpent did set out with the intention of tempting them. This is why Jesus taught us to pray "lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil". When they ate the fruit they had no intention of discovering they were naked, but they did discover this, along with the consequences. When we sin there are always unintended consequences, usually unpleasant.

Having set out on a road, they took steps to deal with the problems,namely sewing fig leaves together.

Genesis 3:1-5

We see here Satan seeking, and succeeding, in tempting man. See how he starts with an absolute lie. He tries to make out that God said they could not eat from any tree in the garden, when in fact God had only prohibited one tree, and given Adam and Eve complete freedom over every other tree. Satan uses exactly the same tactics today. He tries to make God's rules way more restrictive than they actually are, and from time to time the church goes along with him and helps satan in his quest. Paul had to warn against such things in 1 Timothy 4:3-5.

Eve replied by saying what God did actually say. Perhaps we should learn from this that we should never bother getting involved in argument with the devil. Just ignoring his arguments is the best policy. A good place to start this is with anxiety and worry. Worry produces all sorts of thoughts in our head, and we can argue with them f we wish, but it is better just to refuse to engage with the anxieties.

Satan then tries to impugn God's motives, saying that God was lying and was trying to prevent them from receiving something good. Again he does exactly the same today. Sex is one of his favourite areas. He tries to tell us that God wants to deny us sexual fun by prohibiting all sex outside marriage. The truth is that you will actually have a far better sex life if you observe God's rules, following world's ways will only lead to all sorts of problems.

Genesis 2:15-25

Man was given a task, and clear instructions, this included one limit on what he could not do, he was not allowed to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Ever since man has been trying to work out good and evil for himself, instead of relying on God's knowledge. People always complain that God wants to restrict man's freedom, but the truth is that God gives man great freedom. Adam was free to eat from any tree, except one. As an aside, the nature of the writing here seems to be more consistent with an allegorical tale.

We now come to the creation of woman. Interestingly, this is the only account of the creating of woman in ancient Near Eastern literature. God's intention was to give man a suitable helper. God brought all the animals to Adam to name, implying that he was to have authority over them. So Adam named all the animals and birds.

None of these proved to be a suitable helper for Adam. So God created woman. She was made out of the same "stuff" as Adam, so is equal, but different. Adam found a true soul mate. Men and women are meant to live together in harmony. They are meant to form a new "unit" independent from their parents. Moreover, they were naked but not ashamed, ie they were completely comfortable in each other's presence. The fall has led to the potential loss of all these things.

Genesis 2:4-14

The first chapter has dealt with the whole of creation, now this chapter focuses on the creation of man. This again emphasises that man is the centrepiece of creation. We are different from animals.

Again we see a process of creation being described. There are two key features to the creation of man. He both created from the dust of the earth and God breathed life into him. So there is a natural side to his creation, made from the basic building blocks of the earth, but without God breathing life into the man he would not be alive. This is what I meant in part of my preamble when I said evolution cannot ever fully explain man (even if it was ever shown to be largely true, which is by no means certain). For we are much more than just the basing building blocks of the earth.

The Lord placed man in the Garden of Eden. Man was created with a purpose. Note also that everything was pleasing to the eye and good for food.

The final few verses of this section give some details of the geographic location. The location of Pishon and Gihon are unknown, but Ashur is known to be an ancient capital city of Assyria.

Genesis 1:20-2:3

Now life starts to be created, first of all living creatures in the water and birds in the air. The creatures were commanded to be fruitful and multiply, and to fill the earth.

The next day God made the land creatures. Again it is emphasised that every kind of living creature was made by God.

Mankind was also created on the same day. The key feature of mankind is that he was created in God's image. We were created to rule over all the other living creatures. Man is distinct from all the other animals. All talk about us just being another animal, or that other animals are equal with us and have equal "rights" is nonsense. Now this does not give us the right to mistreat animals, and we are to use this authority to take good care of the earth, not to exploit it. But we are worth more than animals.

We were created in the image of God, male and female. So we also see that right from the beginning male and female are of equal value. We too were blessed by God and given the command to multiply, we were also told to subdue the earth. It also appears that originally everything was vegetarian.

On the seventh day God rested from His creation. This signifies completeness. Some use this as an argument against evolution, but this seems rather dubious. For in one sense Christ completed His work of salvation on the cross, yet we also see that salvation work extending across space and time.

Genesis 1:3-19

Each of the days is introduced with the words "And God said ...". The word of God is powerful and creative. There are a number of key points that can be learnt from these days:

• God was the source and initiator of creation.
• Everything that was created was good.
• There was a process to creation.

Every day also includes God calling things a name. A king naming something indicated the king had authority over the person named. So Genesis is declaring that God has authority over all creation, this was demonstrated most graphically through Jesus when He calmed the storm. We need to know that God has authority over the natural world.

All the descriptions are showing that once there was nothing, but God created the things that we see.

While some take each day to be a 24 hour day, others see each day as a period. Some seek to see the sequence of events as a description of the order in which things happened. Yet others see the days as events rather than a linear progression. In the West we think very much in terms of linear time, while Hebrew thought was often more focused on events. To understand the difference consider the difference between Match of the Day and Football Focus. Match of the Day shows highlights of a football match. While it does not show everything, the things it does show did occur in the order they are shown. Now Football Focus might have an item looking at a particular player, or a particular aspect of play. In this case there is no guarantee that the order in which things are shown signifies anything about the chronology. In some cases it might, in others it might not. It is possible that something of this applies to Genesis 1, though by no means certain.

Some thought (and some still think) that the stars and planets govern our lives. Genesis makes it clear that they do not. And all are under God's authority. Moreover, He is Lord of the day and of the night.

Genesis 1:1-2

In its day Genesis provided a real challenge to the prevailing myths of creation. Most cultures and religions had stories of the world arising out of a conflict between the "gods". In contrast, Genesis declares that the one true God created the whole world. He did not have to overcome anyone or anything in order to do this, it was His decision alone. By a series of declarations the world and everything associated with it was created.

Genesis is equally valid and equally challenging to us today. This is one of the reasons why there is such a hot debate over evolution. The prevailing myth today is that it all happened by chance and without purpose. In contrast, Genesis states clearly that we were created on purpose, with a purpose and for a purpose. We are the result of deliberate creative acts by God, indeed the whole of creation is a result of deliberate creative acts.

The Holy Spirit was intimately involved in creation. Without God the earth was formless and empty. Indeed, without God there would be nothing at all.

Genesis - Evolution Part 3

I think this will be the last rambling on evolution before starting on the actual text itself. I will look at where all this leaves us.

Evolution can be split into two broad categories: micro and macro evolution. Micro-evolution is to do with the development within species and occasionally of new species. This can be observed in nature, and some creationists are perfectly happy to accept this, it really isn't a problem. Macro-evolution is about how radical changes took place, and this is where the problems lie.

I do not believe that evolution as a scientific attempt to try and explain the process of how lifeforms developed (in a physical and biochemical sense) is against the Bible. In fact it is perfectly reasonable thing to do. In Genesis God gave Adam the task of naming the animals, I take this as God giving man permission to seek to explore and explain the world in a scientific sense. In doing this, we need to recognise the enormity of what we are trying to do, which is to explain the development of every lifeform. Therefore a little humility and caution is in order. If you think you have explained the whole of life then just remember we have enough problems explaining a dripping tap (an example of turbulence, and turbulence is a nightmare, but a very interesting one), so you might just have got some things not quite right, or there may be a few gaps.

This last point also cuts both ways. Sometimes creationists take great delight in finding a hole in some aspect of evolutionary theory, or a gap/error in the fossil record. Well what a surprise! The theory doesn't quite work perfectly, it still has much work to be done, and may even be wrong. But some imperfections do not prove that it is complete nonsense.

A believe that Christians should work in the field of evolution, and help to ensure that the science is done properly. Equally, if there is proper evidence that fits better with a creationist point of view, then it should be allowed to be presented fairly.

Let me close by saying this. Science does NOT disprove the Bible, it does NOT disprove God. Anyone who says this is being completely unscientific. We need to focus on the right battle ground, and the 6-day v billions of years is not the right one, nor is he one over whether God uses evolution as part of the process of creation (maybe He did, meybe He didn't). We should engage in battle when evolution becomes a religion, like that espoused by Richard Dawkins.

Postscript

One further example of "punk science" that you regularly hear on the news. About two or three times a year you will hear reports on the news that scientists have found evidence for life on other planets., and it will be said that "since there are so many billions of starts, galaxies, solar systems and planets some of them are bound to support life". This is utterly unscientific. We have absolutely no idea what the probability of life forming is (even accepting that this is a sensible way to look at it), except that it is extremely small, and until we know this probability, or have a lower bound on its value, then we have no idea how many planets there need to be in order for it to be more likely than not that life exists elsewhere.

Genesis - Evolution Part 2

Evolution is extremely important because evolution theory has become much more than a scientific theory, but a religion. They would call it a philosophy, but the way some people treat it is as an explanation of the whole of life.

One thing that can be said with absolute certainty is that evolution most definitely does notexplain the creation of man. It may possibly explain something of the physical development of man, but that is as far as it can go (and even over that there are questions). This is because we are much more than just a physical and biochemical entity. God breathed life into man, we are unique amongst all other lifeforms. Even on apure observational level we are radically different from other lifeforms. Evolutionary theory relies on lifeforms adapting to their environment. Mankind is radically different in that he seeks to adapt the environment to himself. We are different, we are not just animals. In Biblical terms, we were told to look after the earth and have dominion over it, we were made in the image of God.

The thing that puts me off evolutionists is that some of them are so unscientific. They have a habit of claiming way too much from the evidence (so do some creationists, by the way), but most importantly is when they go off into the realms of philosophy/religion. One "evolutionary theory" is that religious or altruistic motives arose as a result of evolution, and therefore have no intrinsic value. However, one then has to apply the same logic to the idea of evolution and so evolutionary theory has not intrinsic value either.

Evolution is also becoming very intolerant. Recently someone was forced to resign from the Royal Society for merely suggesting that creationism should be looked at. The Royal Society should be ashamed of itself over this and was acting in an utterly unscientific manner.

Genesis - Evolution Part 1

You will have gathered that I am prepared to accept that the earth is old, and that much of the geology is reasonable, though I do not think it is possible to prove beyond all doubt that the earth is old, and if it turns out the earth is only 10 000 years old I am not going to worry about it. Similarly, I do not automatically reject evolution as possibly being part of the process that God used. However, I do find evolution far less convincing, and am extremely concerned about the way evolution is used as a supposed argument against God.

One of the key bones of contention is the evolution or creation of the eye. It has long been argued that the eye is so complex that it cannot have evolved. Now we do have to be wary of the "it is so complex it could not have happened" argument because it really means that "we cannot imagine or understand how it happened". This might mean it cannot have happened, or it might mean are understanding or imagination is limited. However, I have looked at some of the evolutionists arguments for the evolution of the eye and found them very unconvincing. There is a short video on YouTube by David Attenborough. He shows that there are all sorts of variations of the eye in nature, from primitive to sophisticated, therefore (so he says) the eye evolved. I do not know enough about the science to know if what he says is true, but even accepting it in no way proves evolution. If we look at computers or mobile phones we will find all sorts of levels of sophistication. We could even find a timeline showing how computers have evolved from the basic machines they once were to the sophisticated one they are now. Yet while they did "evolve" we know full well that each one was designed. So Attenborough's argument proves nothing.

The above argument applies more generally to evolution. One of the arguments is that the diversity of species and the commonality between species is an argument for evolution. This is nonsense. It is consistent with evolution, but is equally consistent with someone creating each lifeform separately from the same basic materials.

Genesis - Young or Old? - Part 2

What are the arguments for an old earth? They are essentially based on three things:

• Evidence from the rocks, such as sedimentary rocks
• The fossil record, and it is important to note that this does not rely on assuming evolution
• Radiometric dating

Perhaps the key underlying assumption is that the physical laws that we observe today have pertained over time. Based on this assumption geologists are able to provide a reasonably consistent explanation of what we see today. (I use the term "reasonably consistent" only because I am not a geologist, so do not want to make claims beyond my qualifications). For instance there are various radiometric dating techniques, and different methods give consistent findings.

How does this fit in with the Bible? On the one hand some will say that Genesis necessitates a young earth. However, old earthers can also claim Biblical support for their findings. For we believe that God has created an ordered universe, therefore it is reasonable to apply ordered methods to interpreting what we see around us. Some of the young earth arguments rely on specific intervention by God. Now the Bible does say that on occasion God does intervene directly in nature. Eg parting the Red Sea, the day when the sun went backwards, Jesus calming the storm. However, it is equally true that He does not do this very often. Perhaps most importantly, just because something is not miraculous does not mean that God is not directly involved.

So where do I actually stand? I am afraid the answer is "don't know, but suspect the earth is rather old". However, it seems perfectly reasonable to me to adopt an old earth point of view as a means for explaining what we find, and this does not go against the Bible.

If it wasn't such a loaded term, I would definitely describe myself as a creationist, it is just that I do not see that this demands a young earth. I see the creative work of God in all things, including the beauty of mathematics and the wonder of scientific processes.

If you look on the web, or read books on the topic, you will find all sort of arguments about the validity of geological arguments, and arguments why this or that is true or not. For me, the fundamental point is how we understand Genesis 1. If God did intend it to mean he actually took 6 physical days to create the earth, then all the geology in the world has no weight. If He did not intend this, then I am really not interested in all the debates we have about the age of the earth.

What I would say is that we should not be afraid of science, but I will say this when I talk a little about evolution next time. One thing I will say now is that at the start I said I get annoyed by people who seem to tie themselves in knots over the age of the earth. Something that annoys me even more is evolutionists making ridiculous and unscientific claims.

Genesis - Young or Old? - Part 1

Let me start by saying that one of the things that annoys me is people who believe in a young earth who seem to be tying themselves in knots trying to prove that the earth is only a few thousand years old (if you are a young earth, please read on, you might find something that is more pleasing to you later).

As we know Genesis 1 talks about 6 days, and on the basis of this young earthers believe that the earth is a few thousand years old. Now the fundamental point is what God intends us to understand form Genesis 1, and I find it hard to believe that God was thinking "what you guys really need to know is that I created the earth in 6 days flat". It seems far more likely that God wants us to know that we were created, why we were created, and why things aren't working.

Now there is a lot of scientific evidence that points in the direction of the earth and the universe being several billion years old. However, as a mathematician there is something that worries me about this. No one was there. Science is based on observation and repeatability, Now by the very nature of things none of us were there to observe creation, and we cannot repeat the process in order to test our ideas. Moreover, we have scientific observations of about one to two hundred years, with less scientific observations from a few hundred to a few thousand years. In mathematics one of the most dangerous things you can do is extrapolation. If you have some data points you can make predictions within the data range, and they are likely to be reasonably accurate. However, to go beyond the data range is extremely dangerous. In the case of the age of the earth we are extrapolating from a few hundred years to billions of years. That at least calls for a degree of humility and caution on the part of those who argue for an old earth.

This does not mean that we cannot make any suggestions about the age of the earth, just that we ought to be careful. On the other hand some of the arguments against an old earth are equally dodgy. Again as a mathematician, I know that it is possible for a system with a few basic rules can lead to an extremely complex system. Some of the arguments or concerns about an old earth are based on a small view of God. We may find it hard to imagine billions of years, but that need not be a problem to God.

Genesis - Introduction

Earlier I looked at Genesis 12-25, covering Abraham's life. Now I am going to study the first 11 chapters of Genesis. This inevitably raises questions about the age of the earth, creation, and evolution. So before embarking on the text itself I will say a few words about these matters, and my current position. You might find some of this helpful, you will almost certainly disagree with some of it and agree with other parts. However, the main reason for giving this discussion is to let you know "where I am coming from".

In fact this preamble will go on for a few days, because Genesis is the focus of the science versus religion debate. In fact I do not believe there is any contradiction between science and religion. The conflict only arises when scientists stop being scientists, and religious people go beyond what the Bible says.

Let me start with what I consider to be the most important point, and that is that God is the creator. Everything and everyone was created by God on purpose and for a purpose. In my view this is what really counts, and to grasp the significance of this is way more important than deciding whether the earth is 10 000 or several billion years old, or whether God created us in a day, or via a process of evolution.

The fact that God created me is one of the foundations of my life. When things are going well we have a creator to rejoice in and with. We can celebrate the beauty of the world, and the wonder of science.However, it is probably fair to say that it is even more important when things are difficult. There are times when I just feel like giving up, but in these times I know I cannot give up. God did not create me and save me so that I could give up. I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and made with a purpose. God created me so that His glory could be displayed in and through my life, and so that His blessing could be given to other people. When facing situations which I just do not know how to handle, or can see no way through, I know that the Creator of the Universe loves me.

And this applies to each one of us. So you can apply it to yourself. Sometimes we are tempted to write other people off, but we cannot, because God created them too. In the next posting or two I will talk a little about the age of the universe and evolution, but what I have said today is way more important.

Galatians 6:11-18

Paul brings his letter to a close. It was common in those days to use a scribe to write letters, so it is probable that Paul did so, but here uses his own hand to demonstrate the authenticity of the letter. There were people who faked letters in those days, the ancient equivalent I suppose of putting fakes posts up on the web. Nothing changes!

Paul then attacks the motives of the circumcision group. They were pretending that in promoting circumcision they were aiming to please God. In reality they were seeking to impress men, and to avoid being persecuted. For one of the reasons Paul was persecuted so much were for what he said about observance of the Law.

The only thing that Paul wants to boast in is the cross. The cross is the only grounds we have for hope. We all go through times when we become terrifyingly aware of our own weakness and failings. In such times we need to look to the cross. Most of us also have some times when we feel rather pleased with ourselves (we do actually get things right sometimes!). In those times we need to look to the cross and remind us where our hope and salvation come from.

What counts is a new creation. This is what God has done for us in Christ. He has done it for us as individuals, and for people as a whole. When we believe in Christ we are born again, we do not get a second chance, we get a new life. The church are the people of God and the foundation for the church, as Jesus said to Peter, is faith in Christ.

Galatians 6:7-10

We naturally read these verse as saying that if you do bad things you will reap a bad harvest. Now this is undoubtedly true, but I think Paul is saying more than that here. We read like this because most of our translations use the term "sinful nature". it actually says flesh, and Paul has spent most of the letter contrasting the spirit and the flesh.

So I think Paul is actually saying that if we rely on human resources (ie sowing to the flesh) then we will inevitably reap a bad harvest. Our very nature is corrupted by sin. It is like a polluted water supply. We could build a very nice well, but no matter how good the well we would still be drawing polluted water. There is no point whatsoever expecting our flesh to yield salvation.

Instead we should sow to the Spirit, following Him. Then we will indeed reap a good harvest, one of eternal life. This involves practical hardwork as well, for we must endeavour to do good. We are not doing this in order to earn salvation, but because we are called to do good.