ULDAH MINISTRY

No,58　　Aug. 2000

　　【 MAN'S DESTINY 】

Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you ….See, I have taught your decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." What other nations is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them your children and to their children after them. Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when he said to me, "Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children."
Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden. For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. …
The LORD will scatter you among the people, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.
…Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time.
Deuteronomy 4:1~40.　

It was just before the Israelites crossed the Jordan to enter the promised land Canaan after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness that Moses had taught the people of Israel the summarised laws and how to apply them to their daily lives in the land. In his teaching, Moses delivered God's revelation about their future course by showing the Israelites in perspective the pattern of their rebellion, punishment, repentance and restoration.
What is ideally depicted there was a theocracy in which the LORD their God alone should persistently be revered, obeyed, served, loved and sought. Such a community was not a generally popular democratic regime but a monarchy ruled by a righteous and just king. Its foundational unit was a sound family whose lifestyle was to be built on the Torah, i.e., God's laws and instructions. If God's ultimate plan from creation through human history is to complete a big family, it is natural that He would regard family life in this world as important and foremost. A family structure on earth is an incomplete but a shadow of the true one, i.e., a copy of the heavenly family.
According to the biblical principles taught by Moses, if the Israelites had been obedient to God's commandments, the pagan nations would throughout the centuries have witnessed the utter difference between God commissioned people, the Israelites as man's representative, and themselves. Consequently, they would without doubt have desired to be a likeness of the Israelites through faith in the LORD their God, seeing His abundant blessings upon them. Thus, encouraged by God's faithfulness, with confidence, the children of Israelites would have passed on great testimonies from generation to generation. As a result, faith in the LORD would have filled all over the earth and as promised by God, the whole earth would have been far more blessed beyond our imagination. However, the reality turned out to be the complete opposite. Instead of being faithful to the LORD and His commandments, the Israelites were from the very beginning ensnared by enquiring after pagan gods, saying "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same." (Deu.12:30) It was man's sinful nature and thus, the sinful man's history - idolatry, immorality, greed, hatred, strife and murder―, that is being repeatedly unfolded in the Old Testament through Israel's rebellious history against God.
There are many fascinating pieces of Jewish folklore, "Aggadic literature", which derives from rabbinic expositions of the Bible that provide an imaginative extension of the biblical narratives. The following is one of them. 'God had made the universe by mixing the heavenly and earthly materials in equal proportions so that there would be a true harmony between the different elements. Thus the first day's creation is hailed with the words, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Gen.1:1) - a combination of the heavenly and the earthly. On the second day God said, Let there be a firmament (v.6) - heavenly. On the third day God said, Let the earth bring forth (v.11) - earthly. On the fourth day He said, Let there be lights (v.14) - heavenly. On the fifth day He said, Let the waters swarm (v.20) - earthly. So God maintained an equal in the creation of the universe. Then when God was about to create Adam on the sixth day He said, "If I create him from heavenly material then those elements will prevail over the material. But if I create him from earthly matter then the earthly elements will have numerical superiority over the heavenly ones." What did He do? He created Adam from a mixture of the two and he was thus made from an equal measure of both. And so the Bible records, And God created man out of the dust of the earth (material) and he breathed into his nostrils the spirit of life (heavenly) [ Ber. Rab. 12:8]. This folklore gives us an insight into the complicated human nature, in which man combines both good and evil and consequently, man appears to be full of contradictions within. There are plenty of evidence showing man's wretched lowly character and evil propensities, but the potential for doing kindness and righteousness can still be found in man, which supports the Scriptural claims that man was created in God's own image. Judaism sees this uniqueness of man very positively by highlighting the goodness and perpetual progress in earthly values - in education, social life, welfare, health, public enterprise and so on. Accordingly, Judaism does not accept the concept of 'original sin', that man is to be destined to the consequence of sin, i.e., death. Instead, it teaches that man's tendency to sin can be overpowered by the innate spiritual power originally bestowed by God. In other words, Judaism does not need the divine Saviour who alone is able to free man out of the bondage of sin.
On the other hand, Christianity sees this uniqueness of man negatively. Clifford Denton points out man's ever-growing sinfulness and vulnerability against Satanic forces in the following way. 'From the Fall of Adam to the end of time the plan of Salvation is the overriding theme of all history, whereby God is redeeming a family from all nations to dwell with Him forever. The Fall was the result of sin and sin has been the problem for mankind through all ages. Sin goes far deeper than most of us realise. Like bad yeast it has spread itself into the heart of all the systems of mankind as well as into the life of every human being. Added to this the tremendous potential in the natural creativity of mankind, fuelled and encouraged by the invisible powers of darkness, to establish systems of belief and government that are at war with the ways of the one true and living God.' (Prophecy Today Vol.16 No.4). In contrast to the rabbis' understanding of human nature and humanistic activity, some 'alert' Christian leaders warn of the danger of widely accepted humanism and philanthropy. Clifford Denton boldly argues that humanism, one of the effective systems through which man has sought to dominate world, exalts man to the highest place, ultimately to replace Christ. It has developed through the arts, sciences, philosophies and governmental systems of Greece and Rome. Such a system based on Greek ideas such as democracy, will bring the world pseudo-peace secured by the power structure of mankind alone. Indeed, as suggested by increasing numbers of Christian leaders, today, under the current global trend of centralisation of power and control, as seen in the political coalition of the European Union, in the religious ecumenical movement, in the merger in financial and commercial circles and so on, the revival of the ancient Roman spirit (the centralisation of power and control) seems to be undeniably imminent. I may well quote more from Clifford Denton and Clifford Hill since I believe that these watchmen's perspective views will give us proper direction as to where the world is heading for.
'We should not doubt that the character of Rome will rise again to establish a form of world government in these last days. This is because mankind will not improve on this system if it is seeking a system to glorify man in his own strength. … This system … will also be capable of the horrors that accompanied it in other generations, because the continuing sin of mankind will need to be controlled through the exercise of retributional punishments, and nations will find it necessary to increase their powers to subdue weaker nations, when they are not conforming to the general order of world government. … we would be wise to consider the signs of our times very carefully. The coalition of humanistic nations under one government and under religion will most likely go well beyond the European coalition. The whole world could be divided into ten areas in co-operation, of which Europe is but one. … There will come a point of separation of the family of the Living God from the systems of the world. …' [Clifford Denton, Ibid. p5 ]
"…at the beginning of the twenty-first century we are facing the other two possibilities. The anti-global-capitalism demonstrations are part of a growing tidal wave of violence … . It stems from the sense of alienation and powerlessness experienced by millions of people in the modern world where ease of travel and rapid communications constantly remind the 'have-nots' of the wealth and privileged lifestyles of the 'haves'. This gives rise to a strong sense of injustice and alienation … . … global alienation centring around an international underclass with explosive potential for destabilising the world and destroying civilisation. In Britain, the growing underclass is not so much a product of poverty as a direct outcome of the breakdown of the family. … more than half the children in the nation are deprived of love and stability of both a mother and father in their most impressionable years. Young people today are growing up in a global atmosphere of violence and alienation which leads to homelessness, unemployment, poverty and disease. Lord Ali … epitomises the image of Blairite New Labour -young, rich, homosexual, black and guaranteed to speak out against Britain's Judaeo-Christian heritage. … The promotion of anarchy may have a part in stripping power from those who are seen as bulwarks against progress, the brave new would of post-modernism.
The day will come when the anarchists will join hands with the growing multitude of unemployed disaffected youth who are forming a rising tide in the drug addicted underclass who will attempt to overthrow the forces of law and order and take control of the land. This will happen once sufficient numbers become disaffected with New Labour and their hopes of sharing in the rich pickings of the nouveau riches will not be realised. … Even Mr Blair may be entirely unconscious of the part he is playing in the drift towards the kind of scenario described by Jesus in the Gospels and in the Book of Revelation. He is, of course, only one player in the world scene that is rapidly developing towards the day when a handful of terrorists can hold whole cities to ransom." [ Clifford Hill, Ibid. p7~9]

They warn of vicious products of the on-going world system against God, behind which a demonic power is working and also, of anarchistic, disaffected anti-social power, whose root can be traced back to family breakdown. Whether or not, man needs the Saviour will soon or later, ultimately be answered by the outcome of our destiny - confusion, lawlessness, wickedness and eternal destruction. However, knowing that this course of our destiny can only be changed by accepting one way, would it not be wise to choose the indispensable way before it is too late? It is none other than the way of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Thought of the Month……….

O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from you, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.
Daniel 3:16~18 Line added
Rabbi Chaim Pearl's comments concerning seemingly unanswered prayers might be encouraging for those who have been in a plight, who have been ill and who have lost the loved one. Whatever means, with which God has shown us to seek after and to get nearer to Him appears to be effective to edify and enlighten ourselves.
'…, even when our most sincere prayers of petition seems to go unanswered that is no argument against such a prayer. For what sort of religious faith would that be if prayer was always answered with the press of a button? In any case we cannot know what is ultimately for our good. We see only the present, and even that imperfectly. God alone sees all things and therefore His answer to our prayers can be a divine "NO", and that could be for our good. … then there is a second goal to petitionary prayer, which is not bring about a change in God' plan for us, but to bring about a change in ourselves. …Whatever the outer or practical result of the prayer might be, it is always answered if the worshipper rises from his prayer a better person, worthy of the boon for which he prayed. We pray not so much to bring God nearer to us, but to raise ourselves nearer to God. … In this way, deep prayer is always effective, because whatever the "answer" might be we are strengthened by prayer to be better able to understand and face life's trials with greater confidence. In that sense, prayer, deep and sincere prayer, can and actually does bring about important change. Not necessarily in God's plan, but in our own behaviour.'
[　Theology in Rabbinic Stories, Lines aded ]