Exodus 23:20-33

The angel of the Lord would go before them to prepare the way, and they were to obey Him. There are parallels here between the angel of the Lord and the Holy Spirit, maybe even between the instruction that they would not be forgiven if they did not obey the angel, and the warning about blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

The role of the angel was to lead them safely to the destination, so it is with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit bears witness to Christ and teaches us the ways of God. If we follow Him then we will find that God will defeat all obstacles in the way. Now we need to note that the role of the Spirit is to lead us to God's destination following God's chosen path for our life in God's chosen way. He is not there to do our bidding!

There are severe warnings about not adopting the ways of the nations. We too need to be careful about this. This is not to say that all the ways of the world are wrong, sometimes they do do things in a righteous manner, but we must not worship false idols.

There were many obstacles in the way, other nations that were inhabiting the Promised Land. So we too face many obstacles, but God will remove the obstacles "little by little". He does this step by step as we grow in character, so that we can safely occupy the land.

Exodus 23:1-19

Here there are various laws relating to justice, and some instructions on festivals. The laws on justice make very interesting reading and are just as relevant for society today as they were then.
A primary principle of justice is one of truth. Telling lies in court is an abomination to God, and doing so only helps evil people. We should also beware of crowds. Remember that on Palm Sunday the crowds were acclaiming Jesus, a few days later they were calling for Him to be crucified.
The poor are to be treated in the same way as everyone else. Testimony is not to be slanted in their favour (v3), nor is justice to be twisted against the poor (v6).
v4 and 5 are very interesting, and are a prime example of Jesus' teaching on the Sermon on the Mount being firmly found in the Old Testament as well. Jesus tells us to love our enemies, these verses are an example of how that would work out in practice.
While the death penalty was part of the law, it was only to be used as part of justice. Putting an innocent person to death is reprehensible. Again there is the instruction to treat foreigners properly.
Then there are instructions on the day of rest. Now I am by no means in favour of a legalistic interpretation of the Sabbath, but am whole heartedly in favour of the principle of rest. If we overwork, we wear ourselves out, we also wear others out as well! In fact you are a menace to other people. Nor am I an econut, but we must not over exploit the land. We need times of rest in order to be refreshed. This applies to societies as well. Some countries in Europe, such as Holland or Germany, still very much close down on a Sunday and this can make things very relaxing.
The three festivals celebrated the exodus, the first harvest and the last harvest. They were to always remember the exodus, just as we celebrate the Lord's Supper to continually remind ourselves of the cross and resurrection. Like Abel, they are to give the first fruits of the harvest. We should do likewise. We should make it a priority to give to God, not to see what is left over.

Exodus 22

We now come to dealing with protection of property. A thief had to make multiple reparation for any sheep or ox that he stole. By the way, the fact that these laws refer explicitly to sheep and ox (and other animals elsewhere) is illustrative of the fact that the details are specific to OT Israel, it is the spirit of the Law that we should focus on.

We see that a person is allowed to defend his home, but only with reasonable force. For if the act occurs in daylight, the defender who kills the thief will be judged to have known exactly what they were doing.

If a person could not pay the due fine, then they had to sell themselves as a slave to make good the damage.

Property is clearly considered to be important, and everyone is to have due concern for the effect of their actions on other people's property.

The second half of the chapter deals with various matters of social responsibility. A woman's well being was heavily dependent in those days on being married, this is why someone who seduced a virgin had to marry her.

They were not to mistreat foreigners, nor take advantage of the poor. It is a recurrent theme in the Bible that God hears the cry of the poor and oppressed, so if we are responsible for harming them we had better watch out.

In lending to the poor people were to make sure that did not deprive them of their livelihood.

Exodus 21

Moses is now given a whole series of laws for all sorts of situations. The details are primarily for application to Israel, but we can learn from the spirit behind the laws, as they reflect the heart of God.

We need to remember that they were given in a totally different context to the one that we live in, so the mention of servants and slaves, and buying of them, tends to shock us. This was the way things were then, but if we look at the laws we will see that the laws provide for a more humane treatment of people than was common at the time.

First, a Hebrew slave could only be bought for 6 years, then he was to be set free. People might hit hard times, and selling themselves as slaves could be the only way out, but no one was to permanently enslave someone against his will. However, a slave could decide to be permanently attached to his master.

All this stuff about selling daughters does jar with us, but if we look more carefully at the laws, we see that God was ensuring that the daughters actually had some rights and were not totally mistreated.

The laws on personal injuries made allowance for accidents. There is also financial compensation for injuries.

We see that the death penalty operates, as does the eye for an eye. Many Christians are dead against the death penalty (pun utterly intended), other seem to relish in it! The death penalty is NOT unchristian. This does not mean that it should be used in all possible cases, and it may even be right for pragmatic reasons to not have a death penalty, but it is not wrong to have the death penalty. The key thing is that it is enacted as a matter of God's justice, not as man's revenge. Now this of course raises practical problems because every society and judicial system is very imperfect. However, not having the death penalty raises equal problems. Take the current example of the Lockerbie bomber and his release. Now, assuming the court verdict was correct, he is responsible for killing hundreds of people, but we do not have a death penalty,so we keep him alive. Then he is released on humanitarian grounds and there is uproar. So what are we to do? Keep him alive but treat him inhumanely? If we had the death penalty the problem would not arise! I am not arguing passionately for the death penalty, only pointing out that there are at least as many moral problems with not having it as there are with having it. The decision whether or not to have the death penalty is a pragmatic one.

Psalm 41

This the last Psalm of the first book.

David starts by declaring that "blessed are those who have regard for the weak". Often people despise the weak. This is not just confined to those who are bullies or are tyrannical. When we feel vulnerable or weak ourselves there can be a natural, and unsightly, tendency to look down on someone we imagine to be weaker than ourselves, so providing some sore of illusory comfort for ourselves. We need to avoid this, and instead always have regard for the weak. If we do this then we will live under the protection of the Lord.

This does not mean that we will not have any trouble, but that the Lord will rescue and protect us when we do. The promise is not that we will not have any foes, but that the Lord will not give us over to the desire of our foes.

David is still wrestling with the problem of sin in his own life, and seeks mercy from the Lord. Enemies and friends alike seem to be against him. The solution in these situations is not to lash out at friends and enemies alike, but to look to the mercy of God.

Note that at the end David is still talking of the Lord being pleased with Him and having integrity. We so easily think we are either perfect or complete rubbish. The truth is that until the return of Christ we are a mixture of goodness and sin. If we know Christ then the goodness is increasing and the sin decreasing, but both are still there, and at different times we are more aware of one than the other, but both are always still there to some degree.

Psalm 40

David tells of how the Lord rescued him. He felt like he was in a slimy pit, and God lifted him out and placed him on a rock. That is what God does with our lives when He brings us to Christ, and it is what He does when after becoming Christians we encounter difficult situations. We can feel as if we are in a dirty hole with no way of clambering out, but God lifts us out and places us upon firm ground.

During the time in the pit our hearts can be full of woe, but after being rescued He puts a new song in our mouth. God is always doing new things in our lives and showing us new aspects of His glory, that is why we can sing new songs. There is always more of God's glory to discover. If you are in a pit just now, know this, it is God's purpose to reveal new things to you.

When in trouble our reaction can sometimes be to see if there is any sacrifice or religious act we can perform to persuade God to change things. David learnt that this is not what God desires. He then says that God opened his ears. God uses difficult times to teach us to listen to Him, to hear Him in new ways. Obedience is what God desires, and for us to tell of His glory.

Then at the end of the Psalm is seems that David is still in trouble and knows that he is utterly dependent upon the grace of God. Sometimes after being rescued we can become all self-confident in the wrong way, trusting in ourselves. We are always 100% dependent upon the goodness of God.

Psalm 39

As with Psalm 38 the precise details of the events surrounding this Psalm are not known, though it is thought that it was written around the same time.

The Psalm starts off with David wisely deciding to guard his tongue, but then finds that keeping totally silent is no good. Our tongue and our words are powerful and important. We should use words wisely and sparingly, but we need to speak. We are not to talk nonsense or destructive stuff, but we are to speak the truth and encouraging and affirming words, and especially words of praise to God.

David then meditates on the fleetingness of his life. We are here but for a short time, and time is the most precious commodity. So we need to use our days wisely.

David is still aware of his sin and is receiving discipline from the Lord, but in the midst of this he still hopes in the Lord. No one likes being disciplined (Hebrews 12:5-12) and we often feel pretty rotten in the midst of it, but in the midst of it we should still seek, praise, and call upon the Lord with confidence.

Psalm 38

These next few Psalms all deal with David and sin, particularly this one, and they teach us something of how to react to our own sinfulness.

David starts by praying for relief from God's anger. David was going through a period of severe illness. We do not know when this happened, or what the illness was. However, David clearly saw the illness as a result of his sin. Now we need to be careful of how we teach in sin and illness. Ultimately all sickness is a result of sin, if Adam and Eve had not sinned then illness would not have come into the world. However, it is equally wrong to say that all sin is a direct result of that person's sin. It is both wrong and harmful to teach such nonsense. John 9:1-12 is the best counter to this, but the general teaching of the Bible does not show sickness as being a direct result of sin. At the same time there are times when sickness is a direct result of sin. We can see this if we look around. If you drink too much, take drugs, sleep around etc then you are much more likely to become ill. In 1 Cor 11:30 shows that sometimes sickness is a direct result of sin.

Here David clearly felt that his condition was a result of sin, or at least he was acutely aware of his own guilt. When things go wrong in our life, whether it be with health or some other aspect of our life, it is normal to question whether or not God has something against us. It also causes us to examine ourselves. In the midst of this friends kept away from David, and others actively sought to take advantage of David's weakness. When we go through tough times we should greatly value friends who stick with us. We should also not expect them to be able to treat us perfectly. One of the reason "friends" may start to avoid us is that they do not know how to cope with our situation. So their avoiding of us is not an act of malice, but one of weakness. So we must forgive them. Those who stick with us are taking a risk, showing an act of love and faith. We should not be surprised if sometimes they fail to treat us in the way we need/want to be treated, for they are having to deal with a difficult situation (us!). If you demand perfection, then those friends that try to stick with us will eventually give up. If instead we are patient, then we will find that through it all God's grace abounds. Even in the toughest times we still need to show grace.

David does three key things here:

1. He tells God exactly how he is feeling.
2. He confesses his sins to God.
3. He calls on God to help him

We should do likewise.

Psalm 37:25-40

David had the benefit of experience and knew that the Lord was faithful. As you get older you become more convinced of the Lord's faithfulness, for we have experienced it again and again, in all sorts of situations.

I sign of the righteous is generosity. It is a Biblical principle that a key to financial wisdom and security is to give freely. God's kingdom operates on the principle of giving and receiving, not getting taking.

Our foundation is the Lord, so turning from evil and doing good is the best way to live. This is what Jesus taught in the parable of the men who built on sand and rock.

The idea of the Law of God being in our hearts is founded in the Old Testament, starting on Deuteronomy, noted here, and again in Jeremiah. The idea is brought to fulfilment in the New Testament through the Holy Spirit.

There are times when evil seems to triumph for a time, but it is the Lord who has the final word. It is He who will make the final judgement, so we are wise to do things His way. Our salvation comes from Him.

Psalm 37:16-24

Our well being is not to be judged by how much we have, but by how well we know the Lord. We can be assured that the power of the wicked will one day be broken.

If we trust the Lord then we live our lives under His protection. Right now you are living under His protection. He will provide for us in times of difficulty. We do not need to fear what the world fears, for the Lord is on our side.

It is those who oppose us who will perish. A feature of the wicked is that they do not handle money righteously. We can see this all too clearly, from petty to major crimes, from large scale corruption to benefit fraud. Conversely, we are to give generously.

Success depends upon the Lord. He will make out steps firm, and even if we sometimes stumble, He will uphold us. Sometimes we can get ourselves in tizz over having to get everything just right and not making any mistakes. Our success does not depend upon us getting everything right, but upon the grace and goodness of God.

Psalm 37:10-15

In David's time the enemies he faced were mostly of the human kind. We also face opposition of various sorts from people, but there are other things (circumstances, spiritual forces, etc) that oppose us. Whatever it is that opposes us it will not last forever, there will come a time when it will be no more, and that time will come sooner than we expect.

People and forces can be very proud sometimes, boasting of their abilities. This can be intimidating, but it is the meek, not the proud and boastful, who will inherit the land. Jesus, of course, said the same thing in the Beatitudes (in fact the heart of most, or even all, of the Sermon on the Mount can be found in the Old Testament, despite what some say). Now meekness does not mean weakness, but it is a patient and gentle attitude. This actually takes great strength of character, and is developed as we trust in the Lord. Note also that we are going to inherit the land.

The wicked do and will plot against the righteous. There is no point at all in praying "O God, stop people opposing me". Opposition and difficulties will come, in fact they are explicitly promised in the New Testament. What we need is the right attitude when we encounter them. Though they oppose us we need have no fear, for the Lord is on our side and He laughs at our enemies.

There will be times when specific threats are made against you, when the enemy has a specific plan to harm you. Again we need not fear, for the weapons aimed against us will end up destroying the enemy, not us. Compare this with the latter verses of Romans 8.

Psalm 37:6-9

In the end we will be vindicated. The final outcome for Christians is victory! We can make wrong choices and act badly because we believe that defeat and shame are the only outcome, but this is wrong. We need to have the true final outcome upper most in our minds. This is why the letters in the New Testament often urge us to look forward to the day when Christ returns. We do not do this as escapism, but to enable us to live properly in the present.

So what should we do? One of the things is to wait before the Lord and to be patient. Now waiting on the Lord is not necessarily a passive thing, though sometimes it is. There are things we know we should do, such as loving people, praying, giving, praising, witnessing, etc. There are times when we seem to get no results. In these cases we should continue doing what we know is the Lord's will confident that God will bring forth the results at the proper time. There are other things in our lives about which we can do nothing. Our natural reaction can be to either try and do something and just make things worse, or to get frozen with worry and fear and stop doing anything. For those things about which we can do nothing, we should just leave them to God, and get on with the things that we are meant to be doing. So we should not fret when things do seem to be working out.

Anger and fear can often go together, so we are to refrain from anger. Man's anger does not achieve God's purposes, but only leads to evil. It is those of us who hope in the Lord who will inherit the land.

Psalm 37:1-5

David encountered many evil people in his lifetime, Saul being a prime example. For all of us there are times when evil people do things which seem to threaten us in some way. This Psalm puts things in perspective and helps us deal with such situations.

The first thing not to do is to fret. This is the exact opposite of what we naturally tend to do. Nor should we be envious of them. The reason for this is that they will wither away. We think that the threat will remain forever and we can do nothing about it, but this is not true. There is no threat facing us today that will last forever. You can look at the threat and say "one day you will be gone".

So instead of fretting we are to trust in the Lord, do good, and enjoy safe pasture. It is so easy for us to become frozen by fear or worry. We need to counter this. "Enjoy safe pasture" is both a promise and a command. The Lord can enable us to enjoy life in the midst of the most difficult of circumstances, it is also the attitude we should adopt. Each day is a day for us to live life to the full.

The dangers seem to threaten our deepest longings and desires, but the truth is that if we delight in the Lord we will receive the desires of our hearts. Does this mean God will give us whatever we want? Yes and no! Let's start with the no. It does not mean we can treat God as a sugar daddy giving whatever want we ever have, and some prosperity teaching does tend to go down that road. Now let's get to the yes. It is equally useless to try and put desires into two boxes, one labelled Godly desires and the other ungodly. The key word in verse 5 is "heart". If set set our hearts on God then our desires will come into line with His heart and there will not be a problem. Now we have to be realistic, recognising that we are never completely rid of sin this side of eternity, so some desires will be wrong. But the goal is to be more and more like Jesus, and God's plan is to put His law in our hearts. We have not been called to a new set of rules, but to the person of Jesus Christ, called to be reconciled with the Father, called to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes people seem to worry about Biblical prosperity because they are afraid it leads to greed, selfishness or materialism, and some so called prosperity teaching does indeed do this and is utterly unbiblical. But the answer is not to reject prosperity, but to see all of what the Bible says. The more I become like Jesus the more of my desires will be fulfilled, the more of my prayers will be answered, It will also lead me to the cross, and lead me to carry the cross and to share more in His sufferings (and also the power of the resurrection).

Let us delight more and more in the Lord.

Psalm 36

This Psalm starts by describing the sinfulness of the wicked and then the goodness of God.

The wicked have no fear of God, no respect for Him. Instead they exalt themselves. Exalting, or flattering, themselves makes them blind to their own sin. Their words end up being worthless. They spend all their time planning and doing wrong.

In contrast the Lord's love is without limit, as is His righteousness. Note that two things that atheists often claim is that God is evil and His ways are not right.

God's love is the best thing over all else. We can take refuge in Him and feed of His love. Whatever our situation we should seek the Lord and delight in Him.

While we need to beware of having a self-righteous attitude, we also need to be fully aware of the effects of sin.

Acts 28

Once on Malta a number of signs and wonders occurred. First a snake bit Paul, but to no ill effect. This had the effect of swiftly changing the people's view of him from being a murderer to being a god. Of course both were equally wrong (though in a sense the first one was right, if one looks at Paul's former life). The opinions of crowds are notoriously unreliable, as was shown to be the case with Jesus. One day there were shouting hosanna, a few days later "crucify him". This incident is an illustration of Mark 16:18 (cf Luke 10:18). However, it most definitely is not a reason for making snake handling a normal part of church worship, as some crazy groups in USA have done!

Eventually Paul arrived in Rome and the believers went to greet him. Paul was held under some sort of house arrest, but was given considerable freedom.

Later Paul met with the Jewish leaders. They had not heard of the specific charges relating to Jerusalem, but had certainly heard lots of other things about Paul. Paul told them about Jesus, but while some believed, most did not. Paul saw this as a fulfilment of Isaiah 6:9,10. Paul had now spoken first to Jews in most of Europe, and had always received the same response. He declared that salvation had now been sent to the Gentiles. Romans 9-11 give a fuller explanation of what Paul believed. Since these days we have seen the gospel spread throughout most of the world. One day the Jews will turn in large numbers to Christ, finally recognising who He is and believing in Him.

Acts 27

Paul now embarks on his journey to Rome. A centurion called Julius was given charge of Paul and he treated him well, even allowing him to visit friends in Sidon. This is the only mention of Julius, but is an example of Jesus' words that anyone who gives any help to a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. What Julius did is not noted by God. Likewise, all that we do is noticed by the Lord.

The journey then became more difficult. At one point Paul advised them not to proceed further, but the centurion, understandably so, followed the advice of the pilot and sailed on. Surely enough they caught in a terrible storm. Now Paul could have gone in a huff, but instead encouraged the crew and built up their faith, and also gave them practical advice. There will be times in life when we will encounter trouble because of someone else's fault. In those times we have a choice, we can take umbrage and get all bad tempered, or we can continue to live by the Spirit. It is far better to do the latter!

In the midst of the storm Paul was the one with a cool head, giving both practical and spiritual advice, and eventually they were able to run the boat ashore on Malta.

Acts 26

Paul's speech to King Agrippa is very similar to what he has said elsewhere. As usual he starts off by making some respectful remarks, and draws his attention to the Jewish "customs and controversies".

Then Paul points to his own life prior to his conversion, when he was a strict Jew and a member of the Pharisees. In the gospel Paul found the fulfilment of all that he had been taught to hope for. Note that the resurrection is central to what he says, and he points out that we should not consider it strange that God raises someone from the dead. If God is God, then He is perfectly capable of doing whatever He wants to do.

Then Paul recounts how he used to persecute Christians with great zeal. He then tells of his conversion on the road to Damascus. "Kicking against the goads" is a Greek proverbial phrase referring to a pointless exercise. It is a waste of time to oppose God.

Paul then gives the fullest account of what Jesus said to him. Paul was to be a witness, especially to the Gentiles. He would face much opposition, but God would rescue him from this. He was being sent to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to the power of God, and receive forgiveness for their sins.

Paul saw the present events as a fulfilment of this mission. Festus, however, considered him to be out of his mind. So Paul knows what it is like to fail to convince people of the truth. Agrippa and Festus agree that if Paul had not appealed to Caesar he could have been set free. However, if he had not appealed to Caesar he could well have been killed on the way to Jerusalem, and it was God's will that he should go to Rome.

Acts 25

Although some time had passed the Jewish leaders were still determined to get Paul, so when the new governor, Festus, arrived, they presented him with charges against Paul. They wanted to have the opportunity to ambush and kill Paul as he was sent back to Jerusalem. So again we see the upper hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders. Instead, Festus invited them to send some leaders along with him to Caesarea.

Eventually Festus was ready to see Paul, and the Jews brought charges against him. Festus seemed willing to send Paul to Jerusalem, so Paul made use of his rights as a Roman citizen and appealed to Caesar, this meant he would be sent to Rome. So Paul's request was granted.

King Argippa viisted Festus and they discussed Paul's case, and Agrippa wanted to meet Paul.

What is the point of all this? The purpose is so that Paul can proclaim the gospel to various rulers. The whole purpose of his life was to declare the gospel, and God worked through all these circumstances to enable him to reach various people.

Acts 24

The Jewish authorities were relentless in their pursuit of Paul. Ananias going to Ceasarea with a lawyer in tow. The lawyer made a flattering speech to introduce his case, buttering up the Governor. He accused Paul of being a troublemaker. The one thing the Romans did not like was anyone who might stir up a riot, so this was the one thing that might get the Romans to side with the Jews.

Paul made his defence, being respectful of the Governor, but without crawling. He refuted the charges, and pointed to the evidence. He drew attention to the resurrection of the dead.

Felix was acquainted with "the Way". The activities of the church had become known throughout Judea and Samaria, and further afield. He kept Paul under a kind of house arrest for sometime, and frequently spoke with him about Christ. He wanted to hear more, but was also afraid. He was also hoping for a bribe. So like Pilate before him, we have a man here who is a whole mixture of motives. This carried on for two years.

Acts 23:12-35

The Jews had not given up, and vowed to kill Paul. We see here the hypocrisy that religion can so easily engender. The Jews thought they were doing God's will, and made vows and fasted, but what they were doing was plotting to commit murder. All of us need to be aware of the hypocrisy that religious attitudes can lead us into (even if our "religion" is "spirit filled"). We need to guard our hearts above all things.

A careful plot was hatched, but not careful enough, for word of it got out, and the Roman soldiers were warned of what was planned, and arrangements were made to get Paul safely to Felix's palace. So Paul was safely delivered to Felix's palace.

In life men may have all sorts of schemes and plans, sometimes directly against us, sometimes schemes that will adversely affect us in some way. We should not fear, for the Lord knows everything and He is perfectly able to change things and take care of us. At the same time we need to know that there are times when God's plan will involve suffering, but this will only happen at the time of His choosing. We should always look to the Lord above all else.

Acts 23:1-11

Paul spoke to the Sanhedrin, but was almost immediately stopped by the high priest Ananias. This is not the same Ananias who was involved in Jesus' trial. This one was noted for being violent, and during a revolt against Rome was assassinated by his own people. The priests seem to have been prone to violence. To add to the parallels with Jesus, Paul accused Ananias of being a whitewashed wall. The priest was of course violating the Law himself in striking Paul.

Next Paul starts an argument amongst the Sanhedrin itself. The Pharisees believed in the concept of resurrection, the Saducees did not. Knowing this, Paul spoke about the resurrection. The Sanhedrin members seem to have a remarkable lack of self-control, and a fierce argument immediately broke out between the Saducees and Pharisees. The Pharisees even sided with Paul.

The debate was hardly reasoned and orderly, and the Romans took Paul away in order to stop further violence breaking out.

That night the Lord appears to Paul to encourage him. He also tells him that he will testify about Christ in Rome, so whatever happens in Jerusalem, Paul would not be killed.

Acts 22:22-30

Paul's address to the crowd did not exactly calm things down, they were just all the more vehement in their hatred of him. The commander was only interested in keeping order. So he wanted to find out why Paul was creating such an uproar, he was also about to have Paul flogged, presumably to appease the crowd. Remember that Jesus was treated in a similar manner. Paul then told the centurion that he was a Roman citizen.

Now Roman citizenship was a prized possession and gave various privileges to its holders. The commander immediately changed his tune and knew the situation had to be treated differently. He inquired of Paul how he had gained his citizenship. Citizenship could be obtained either by birth, by buying it, or by receiving it as a reward for something. Paul had his by birth, meaning his parents must have been citizens.

So Paul was released and a meeting with the Sanhedrin was called.

Acts 22:1-21

Paul spoke to them in Aramaic, demonstrating his Jewishness. Paul knew how to deal with people, he spoke in Greek to the Romans to get their attention, and then Aramaic to the Jews to get theirs. We need to speak to people in a language and form that they will listen to.

Paul starts off by telling them of his Jewish ancestry and schooling under Gamaliel, one of the top Jewish scholars of the Law. He was also zealous for the Law and for God. He had even gone as far as persecuting Christians to the point of death.

Next Paul recounts his conversion experience, even though this was now many years ago. How we first got saved can still be relevant today, the problem only arises if nothing else has happened in between!

The Lord confronted Paul on the Damascus road, and tells Paul that it is Jesus Himself who he is persecuting. Now it was probably not a surprise to Paul that he was persecuting Christ, but it would be a surprise that Jesus was alive. Paul seemed to realise at this point that Christ was Lord and repented at once. Note that there is no long reminder of his sins from God, or big to-do at all. Paul just turns right away to Christ.

Ananias, a devout Jew, was used by God to give Paul a message and to restore his sight. God had chosen Paul to be His messenger to the Gentiles, so Paul was baptized.

Acts 21:27-40

Some Jews had arrived from Asia, and when they saw Paul they stirred up trouble. Clearly Paul's reputation has widespread, and also some Jews had a vehement dislike of him. Even though Paul was in the midst of observing a Jewish ritual, they accused him of being against the Law. They also assumed (without any evidence) of defiling the temple by allowing a Greek in. People will use all sorts of unfounded charges against Christians when it suits them.

The people quickly succumbed to the provocation and tried to kill Paul. Paul was saved only by the Roman soldiers intervening. Paul was arrested and placed in chains. Paul tried to explain, but the crowd was not the least bit interested.

The soldiers did not know who Paul was, assuming him to be an Egyptian, but were just trying to avoid trouble. Paul spoke to them and was given the right to speak to the crowd.

Acts 21:17-26

Paul was warmly welcomed by the believers in Jerusalem, and then went to see James. This is presumably James the brother of Jesus who wrote the letter bearing his name. Paul gave them a report of his work among the Gentiles.

They then explain to Paul why he is mistrusted by many. Paul had indeed taught the Gentiles that they did not need to be circumcised, and this greatly angered zealous Jews. However, Paul was not against the Law as such. We need to realise that because of their cultural situation, the Jews would only see the matter from their perspective, they would not appreciate how things looked from a Gentile perspective. Paul was able to see things from both sides. In order to demonstrate the truth of the matter, it was suggested that Paul join in with some purification rites, and he agreed to this.

It is worth remembering what an important debate had taken place in Acts 15, and the vehemence with which Paul argues in letters such as Galatians and Romans. Yet he was still happy to go along with the suggestion here. Why? Because he had a clear view of what the argument was about. The Law was only a problem when it was seen as essential to salvation, Paul had nothing against the Law as such. When we get involved in disputes, we may well start off being correct about the central matter, but then we lose sight of the kernel of the matter, and problems arise because of side issues. We can learn a lot from the way Paul handled things. He knew what was really important, and what it was OK to compromise about.

Acts 21:7-16

They continued on there way, stopping at Philip's house. He had four daughters who prophesied. So female prophets clearly existed in the New Testament church. After a while another prophet, Agabus, came. Earlier (Acts 11:28) had accurately predicted a famine.

Agabus gave a prophetic illustration of what would happen to Paul in Jerusalem. The people took this as a reason for Paul not to go to Jerusalem. As in the earlier part of the chapter, Paul saw things differently. He was quite prepared to suffer for Christ.

We learn something again about prophecy here. Prophecy is not fortune telling, not is it "ear tickling". When God speaks He speaks for a reason, and it is usually our response that He is interested in. Through Jonah He told the Ninevites that destruction was coming, but He did this in order to give them an opportunity to repent. We are so easily interested in what is going to happen, the condition of our hearts is much more important.

So Paul and his companions went on their way.

Acts 21:1-6

Paul set sail and eventually arrived a Tyre. Paul spent time with the disciples at Tyre. We then come to an interesting incident. It says that "through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem". Presumably they believed that God was telling them that Paul should not go. How can the Spirit have been telling them something that was apparently wrong? We are not told the reason in the Bible, but I think the most likely reason is this. The Spirit gave them insight into what was going to happen, the disciples then took this as an indication that Paul should not go. Similarly, Peter urged Jesus not to go to the cross. This is a warning about the use of prophecy. There are a number of key things to bear in mind:

1. Words of prophecy NEVER have greater authority than the Bible, or to put it another way "rhema" words do not have authority over the "logos" word. (In fact way too much is often made of the distinction between the two.)

2. When someone gives us a word we have responsibility to assess that word.

3. When someone gives us a word the responsibility to act or not to act on that word rests with us.

Paul knew that he had to go to Jerusalem, because the Spirit had told him so (Acts 20:22). Never feel pressured by "words" from God. We all have personal relationship with the Lord through the Spirit, and while He may well use other people to help direct us, He will also communicate directly with us.

So Paul set off on his way.

Exodus 20:18-26

The people were terrified and stayed at a distance. Hebrews 12:18-24 contrasts the new covenant with the old one. Both are awesome and holy, but one drives people away, the other draws people in. The old covenant highlights are failings, the new covenant highlights what Jesus has achieved for us and what the Holy Spirit will do in us.

The people wanted Moses to speak to them, not God Himself. Clearly they had seen something that was tangible and real, but they were afraid to receive it, and so wanted Moses to act as an intermediary.

Moses reassured the people that God's only wish was to keep them from sinning, they needed to realise the seriousness of things.

Since God Himself had spoken to them, they must not make any idols or gods. As humans we have a terrible tendency to seek advice or support from anything else but God. We need to be on our guard against this tendency within ourselves.

Then Moses was instructed to make an altar, but was to use only undressed stones. Any attempt my men to make an image of God is defilement.

"When I cause my name to be honoured I will come to you and bless you". God was now on the side of the people.

Exodus 20:1-17

God spoke these words to Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments, perhaps the most well known part of the Bible. These ten commandments form the basis for the life of Israel, and for Christians today. Indeed they form a basis for any society, even non-Christian ones, and when a society deviates from them collapse and decay are quick to follow.

Even the essence of the first five is relevant to all societies. Any society which makes an idol of anything will eventually destroy itself. Nazi Germany made an idol of Hitler and we know the destruction that that brought. Communist Russia made an idol of communism, in fact note the proliferation of idols of human form in communist societies. In the West the idolisation of money leads to sin of all sorts.

The misuse of the name of the Lord always leads to destruction. Many atrocities have been carried out in the name of God, but eventually the guilty are brought to trial.

The Sabbath is also relevant. Man needs a day of rest, societies need times of rest. The relentless drive to squeeze the last ounce of efficiency or profit out of something is always a mistake, with a, eventual cost far greater than any small efficiency savings.

Anyone is wise to pay heed to these laws.

A society that honours its families, especially the parents will be a strong society.

Violence and theft are hallmarks of dysfunctional societies, as are ones where corruption is rife. And adultery is destructive, regardless of what so called wise people might say, as is a society riven with envy.

Exodus 19:10-25

The people had to consecrate themselves because the Lord was going to meet with them, but there were limits to how close they could get to the Lord. If they transgressed these limits they would die.

So Moses consecrated the people. They also abstained from sex, this is because the emissions would make them unclean (Lev 15:18).

When the Lord appeared it was preceded by thunder and lightening, and a loud trumpet blast. Note that these are similar to signs associated with the return of Christ (Matt 24:27; 1 Thes 4:16). The mountain was covered with smoke and the trumpet blast got increasingly louder. Then Moses spoke to God.

The first thing God says to Moses is the importance of being consecrated, otherwise the people would die. Only Aaron was allowed to come up to the Mountain.

One clear message from all of this is that it is God who decides who can approach Him, and how they can approach Him. People sometimes complain about Christ being the only way to God, but that is what God has decided and who are we to argue?

Exodus 19:1-9

They now arrived at Sinai. After having been rescued, God was now going to make a covenant with them and give them His Laws.

God speaks to Moses and gives him the message he is to pass on to the people. God first reminds them how He set them free from Egypt, bringing them out on "eagles wings". He did this to "bring them to himself". We end up in captivity when we stray from God. He rescues us so that we can be with Him. All of God's working in your life is designed to bring you closer to Himself.

The covenant is given in verses 5 and 6. This covenant is subservient to the Abrahamic covenant, and its actual purpose was to illustrate their need for Christ (see Jeremiah 31, Galatians, Hebrews, Romans). This covenant depended upon the people obeying the Law. If they fully kept His covenant then they would be His special possession. Note also that they would be a kingdom of priests. Ie they were to be a kingdom of people who could bring others close to God. The travesty is that the priests ended up keeping people away from God (Matt 23:15).

All the people agreed to do what the Lord said. As we know, they never actually did. We need to realise that this is still true today. Merely agreeing to do God's will is not enough, for we will inevitably fail at some point. We need to be changed from the inside out.