In Touch - 3rd Quarter 2020

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Feature Do your best Jacob Vince In his second personal letter, Paul instructs Timothy to, ‘Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth’ (2 Timothy 2:15). Another word for correctly is accurately. If we take the example of numbers, just think what would happen if we did not use them accurately. Well, the Bible is far more important than numbers, so we need to make sure we handle it accurately. Neither is Paul asking Timothy something unreasonable. He simply asks him to do his best. Recently we remembered 75 years since the end of the Second World War. In his speech describing what he called Britain’s greatest day, the country’s leader Churchill said, “In all our long history we have never seen a greater day than this. Everyone man or woman has done their best” (Winston Churchill, 8 May 1945). It is within the grasp of everyone to do their best. To end the war, it was a combined effort toward victory. In the context of the Bible, we are asked to ‘do our best’ to handle it accurately. If we are encouraged to handle the Bible accurately, this must mean there is a temptation to handle it incorrectly or inaccurately. This is exactly what happens at the beginning of the Bible. God gives very clear instruction to Adam and Eve. They are granted the opportunity to eat of every tree in the garden apart from one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God’s enemy immediately questions what God has said. “Did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1) Next, Eve repeats what God said but adds to it. She says God said that they were not able to eat of this one tree nor touch it. There is no record of God saying they should not touch it. The result is that Eve is deceived, ate of the fruit and gave some to Adam who also ate of it. In case we think Eve is responsible, Adam was there all along and didn’t intervene or take responsibility himself. Not only that, but he sought to place the blame on Eve, who in turn placed it on God’s enemy. In the event, both were held responsible and suffered the consequences firstly of doubting God’s word and then acting against it. This illustrates well for us and all humankind the importance of accurately handling the word of God. The rest, as they say, is history – literally! We all know the term manuscript for music, or script for a drama. In both instances musicians and actors need to handle it accurately to perform it properly. Paul describes the word of truth as Script-ure. Like a script in drama and a music manu-script, we need to get to know it, practice it and use it properly. Look at the status Paul gives the Bible-script or scripture. Paul writes, “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) First scripture is introduced as God-breathed or in another word ‘inspired’. Some people struggle to see God as three persons and at-one, but from the very start of the Bible, all three are there, at-one with themselves. There is God who speaks his word, Jesus who is God’s eternal word, and the Holy Spirit – the breath of God – all in perfect relationship. Having described scripture, the Bible, as ‘Godbreathed’, Paul writes that it is useful for four things, ‘teaching, rebuking, correcting and training’, which seem to work well in that order. It first needs to be accurately taught, this in turn shows up faults which need recognising, then rebuked, next these faults need correcting. Finally, the corrections need to be trained into us. For over 2,000 years we have had the completed Bible, which is authoritative and our primary source. Over the years it has been misunderstood and mishandled. Our generation has the great privilege to do our best, in God’s strength to rectify this. We can all pray and play a part to this end, so that the message God wants to communicate to all, to and through both Israel and the Church, in word and deed, becomes a reality today. 4 IN TOUCH • 3 rd Quarter 2020
Hebrew Word Focus Melissa Briggs MA Hebrew University of Jerusalem Melissa is an experienced Hebrew teacher with a desire to make the rich language of the Scriptures accessible to Christians. Visit: www.explorehebrew.co.uk Jealousy “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me” (Song of Songs 7:10) קַ‏ נָ‏ א Qanna Why do we often push back against the very thing that we long for most? If the Creator of the universe offers us perfect love, acceptance, guidance, security, worth, provision, forgiveness and fellowship in a dynamic, fulfilling relationship, then why do so many of us take up his offer half-heartedly? Or not at all? The Lord is indeed the “pearl of great price” for whom we should be willing to trade all else (see Matthew 13:45-46). The Hebrew word that describes God’s קַ‏ qanna, נָ‏ א desire for our full attention and affection is usually translated as ‘jealous’. Qanna only ever refers to the Lord’s righteous jealousy. One Hebrew lexicon explains: “It is used of God as not bearing any rival; the severe avenger of departure from himself.” Other words from the same family include: - zeal, jealously, great passion (can refer to man’s jealousy or God’s), and Qannah נָא ‏-קָ‏ the jealousy, zealousness or envy of man (usually negative) However, the modern word ‘jealous’ does not do justice to the true meaning of qanna. To our English-speaking ears, ‘jealousy’ sounds controlling, immature, suspicious, offensive, petty, selfish and offputting. But none of these describe God’s wonderful, holy, perfect character. Qanna means God is zealous and committed to us in the most honourable way and with the most noble of intentions. He is motivated by the purest, most loyal and passionate love. He loves us collectively as the bride of Messiah, but also individually. He is willing to fight valiantly for us and defend us heroically. God’s qanna is the intersection of the ardour, wrath and protection of a God who requests to be obeyed, respected and adored (for our good and his glory). God’s qanna is a blessing to us, not a burden. True joy comes when we give him our full devotion and trust. We may push back against this, thinking that the ideal would be to have ‘a little’ of God and ‘a little’ of the world. But everyone has to choose either to enjoy the beautiful protection of God’s qanna or experience its furious wrath. “Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Qanna, is a qanna God” (Exodus 34:14). Thankfully God did not leave us to attain his high standards of faithfulness on our own. He punished his own Son on our behalf, in his holy and fierce qanna, in order to atone for all our sins and idolatry (which he views as acts of spiritual adultery). We can never achieve a right relationship with God by קִ‏ נְ‏ אָ‏ ה Qinah our own efforts – the bar of holiness is too high. But it is available to us freely by grace through faith in Jesus (see Joshua 24:19, Ephesians 2:8-9 and Romans 5:8). Does the Lord have his rightful place of priority, intimacy and fidelity in our hearts? Do we relate to him from a distance, or as the beloved Bride – his chosen delight? Almighty God is not to be placed alongside other ‘idols’ or have our attention just one day per week. “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, even a qanna God” (Deuteronomy 4:24). Any husband would be rightly jealous if his wife had other lovers. It would be very strange if a husband did not burn with jealousy towards the infidelity of a wayward wife! Read Hosea to see the essence of God’s qanna illustrated in a painful marriage. God allows circumstances that prove to us the undependable nature of our idols (see Hosea 2). This is not out of malice, vindictiveness or pettiness. God knows that no one can care for us as he does (see Romans 8:32 and Isaiah 64:4). He knows that giving our time, attention and ‘worship’ to idols (even ‘good’ things) will bring us heartache, trouble and destruction (see Isaiah 42:8). When God has his rightful place, as our first love, the pressure is lifted from other aspects of our life to define, fulfil, or validate us. We can properly enjoy our friends, marriages, families, vocations, holidays, hobbies, homes, etc. for what they are, when we do not look for them to be more than God intended. Why would such a wholehearted, passionate, perfect husband accept anything less than a wholehearted, passionate bride? There is no room for the halfhearted! The Lord is Qanna and he has qanna towards you, his beloved, echoing words from Songs of Songs, “Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned.” (Songs of Songs 8:6-7) If you are interested in learning the Hebrew language through online tuition (or in person if you are local to Berkshire), or if you are interested in hosting a Hebrew language day for a group in your area, please contact Melissa for more details at: hebrew.explore@gmail.com or at: www.explorehebrew.co.uk 3 rd Quarter 2020 • IN TOUCH 5
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In Touch - 3rd Quarter 2020

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