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Monthly Archives: May 2017
New Reality of Reconciliation
New Reality of Reconciliation
By Dr Katharine Massam
Language carries layers of meaning and shapes our imaginations. ‘Ash Wednesday’ in Australia calls to mind the bushfire season. We are attuned to the attendant media images of potential destruction.
The force of fire, wind and heat was used by the First Peoples to cultivate the land, opening seedpods and prompting new growth. For the Aboriginal peoples, the power of fire was creative rather than destructive, generating spaces that attracted new life.
In the Northern Hemisphere, Ash Wednesday falls at the end of winter leading into spring. The Old English name for spring itself was lent, echoing the lengthening of days, giving us the name of the church’s season of Lent.
The 40 days of Lent lead towards the transformation of Easter and the new life of the resurrection. These days are set aside for re-orientation – literally for turning again towards the light of the sun. It is also a season of reconciliation.
‘Reconciliation’ has become a political and cultural term, calling for a new relationship between First and Second Peoples. It is worth remembering that at its core, reconciliation is a deeply theological term.
In his 2002 book Theopolitical Imagination: discovering liturgy as a political act in an age of global consumerism, William Cavanaugh shows that politics is primarily a “practice of the imagination”. He points to the commitment to ideas that is involved for ordinary citizens in the political processes of holding an election or going to war.
Cavanaugh warns that the prevailing stories supporting political realities often distort the Christian narrative. He is interested in unmasking the false mythology (the quasi-theology) of contemporary politics to free the church to engage on theological ground.
This call to reclaim the Christian theological imagination goes further than finding a voice for ‘public theology’. Rather than providing a pious commentary on the ways of the world, believers are called to enact an alternative, to become “communities of solidarity and resistance”.
Language and ritual are two related elements that forge the new imagination required for these communities.
The early Christian community was careful about language. In relation to the concepts of ‘public’ and ‘private’ for example and the widely accepted dichotomy between them, Scripture shows a re-negotiation.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul uses both the language of the home and of the public place to describe believers, telling them they are both citizens (sympolitai) with the saints and simultaneously members of the household (oikeioi) of God. The early community did not describe itself in terms of a guild or association or a group with particular interests but as the whole people. They went beyond understandings of empire or nation-state. Instead, they chose the term ekklesia meaning the assembly, the entire gathering of people. In this assembly those normally excluded from citizenship and consigned to the household (women, children, slaves) had full membership through baptism, powerfully reinforced through the life of the community, including the Eucharist.
How do we, as Christians today, do the hard political work to disrupt the existing narratives of power and enable conversations in this new theologically charged language? Cavanaugh is not alone in pointing straight to the Eucharist as the ongoing resource that enables a different imagination of space and time, shifting believers towards a distinct new reality.
Going further than the shared meals that constitute the bonds of family and community, the ritual of prayer that is the Eucharist constitutes the church into the reality of the body of Christ, a mutual community of “solidarity and resistance”, in which boundaries collapse, including the boundaries of time and space.
This brings us again to Lent, to the season of reconciliation.
In the prayer of every Eucharist, believers are (in James Alison’s helpful phrase) ‘tilted towards’ a reality where reconciliation already exists, where there are no boundaries between earth and heaven. Eucharist draws us into what the Orthodox theologian John Zizioulas famously calls a ‘memory of the future’ where love already defines reality.
Often in the unashamedly bloody iconography of European tradition, the Cross stands for ‘God’s punishment’ of human sinfulness borne by Jesus in our place. The language of ‘sacrifice’ and ‘atonement’ can seem to confirm this. The self-giving love of the Cross gets lost in popular understanding. As theologians in every generation made clear, however, the emphasis throughout should have been on radical Grace: on the forgiveness that breaks out of the cycle of revenge. This is the theological imperative that transforms human imagination and gives us a new story to tell.
The reconciliation of Easter’s Resurrection is linked absolutely to our understanding of Christmas and the Incarnation. If Jesus is the Christ, truly as much God as God is, and also as fully human as we are, then the Cross and Resurrection are not God’s punishment.
Rather the eyes of faith see that, in Jesus, God as God's self steps freely into the deepest experience of humiliation. On the Cross, God-with-us chooses to suffer the full brunt of desolation and powerlessness without divine magic. This is not to model the value of suffering as an end in itself, but to “change the game”. Freely suffering the worst that humanity can inflict, Jesus broke the cycle of retribution and defined a new reality.
Outside physical time, participation in the cosmic narrative of the Eucharist binds believers to that alternative way of being. In this reality, injustice cannot be ignored, precisely because the hope for transformation is secure and guaranteed in the forgiveness of the crucified and risen Christ.
This perspective informed Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s campaign against apartheid in South Africa as well as his work as chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1995-1998).
“If our worship is authentic and relevant,” he challenges in a 1985 article, “it prepares us for combat with the forces of evil, the principalities and powers. It prepares us to be involved where God’s children are hurt, where they spend most of their lives … Jesus refused to remain on the mountaintop of the transfiguration. He came down into the valley of human need and misunderstanding.”
As the lectionary readings take us from the mountain top to the valley of Jesus’ ministry and on to the Cross and Resurrection, we are learning a language of sacrament where all threats are nothing, and love defines no boundaries.
Dr Katharine Massam
Co-ordinator of Studies – Church History
Pilgrim Theological College
This article appeared in the Feb 19 edition of Crosslight magazine – the Uniting Church publication
Source: BUV News
New Reality of Reconciliation
New Reality of Reconciliation
By Dr Katharine Massam
Language carries layers of meaning and shapes our imaginations. ‘Ash Wednesday’ in Australia calls to mind the bushfire season. We are attuned to the attendant media images of potential destruction.
The force of fire, wind and heat was used by the First Peoples to cultivate the land, opening seedpods and prompting new growth. For the Aboriginal peoples, the power of fire was creative rather than destructive, generating spaces that attracted new life.
In the Northern Hemisphere, Ash Wednesday falls at the end of winter leading into spring. The Old English name for spring itself was lent, echoing the lengthening of days, giving us the name of the church’s season of Lent.
The 40 days of Lent lead towards the transformation of Easter and the new life of the resurrection. These days are set aside for re-orientation – literally for turning again towards the light of the sun. It is also a season of reconciliation.
‘Reconciliation’ has become a political and cultural term, calling for a new relationship between First and Second Peoples. It is worth remembering that at its core, reconciliation is a deeply theological term.
In his 2002 book Theopolitical Imagination: discovering liturgy as a political act in an age of global consumerism, William Cavanaugh shows that politics is primarily a “practice of the imagination”. He points to the commitment to ideas that is involved for ordinary citizens in the political processes of holding an election or going to war.
Cavanaugh warns that the prevailing stories supporting political realities often distort the Christian narrative. He is interested in unmasking the false mythology (the quasi-theology) of contemporary politics to free the church to engage on theological ground.
This call to reclaim the Christian theological imagination goes further than finding a voice for ‘public theology’. Rather than providing a pious commentary on the ways of the world, believers are called to enact an alternative, to become “communities of solidarity and resistance”.
Language and ritual are two related elements that forge the new imagination required for these communities.
The early Christian community was careful about language. In relation to the concepts of ‘public’ and ‘private’ for example and the widely accepted dichotomy between them, Scripture shows a re-negotiation.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul uses both the language of the home and of the public place to describe believers, telling them they are both citizens (sympolitai) with the saints and simultaneously members of the household (oikeioi) of God. The early community did not describe itself in terms of a guild or association or a group with particular interests but as the whole people. They went beyond understandings of empire or nation-state. Instead, they chose the term ekklesia meaning the assembly, the entire gathering of people. In this assembly those normally excluded from citizenship and consigned to the household (women, children, slaves) had full membership through baptism, powerfully reinforced through the life of the community, including the Eucharist.
How do we, as Christians today, do the hard political work to disrupt the existing narratives of power and enable conversations in this new theologically charged language? Cavanaugh is not alone in pointing straight to the Eucharist as the ongoing resource that enables a different imagination of space and time, shifting believers towards a distinct new reality.
Going further than the shared meals that constitute the bonds of family and community, the ritual of prayer that is the Eucharist constitutes the church into the reality of the body of Christ, a mutual community of “solidarity and resistance”, in which boundaries collapse, including the boundaries of time and space.
This brings us again to Lent, to the season of reconciliation.
In the prayer of every Eucharist, believers are (in James Alison’s helpful phrase) ‘tilted towards’ a reality where reconciliation already exists, where there are no boundaries between earth and heaven. Eucharist draws us into what the Orthodox theologian John Zizioulas famously calls a ‘memory of the future’ where love already defines reality.
Often in the unashamedly bloody iconography of European tradition, the Cross stands for ‘God’s punishment’ of human sinfulness borne by Jesus in our place. The language of ‘sacrifice’ and ‘atonement’ can seem to confirm this. The self-giving love of the Cross gets lost in popular understanding. As theologians in every generation made clear, however, the emphasis throughout should have been on radical Grace: on the forgiveness that breaks out of the cycle of revenge. This is the theological imperative that transforms human imagination and gives us a new story to tell.
The reconciliation of Easter’s Resurrection is linked absolutely to our understanding of Christmas and the Incarnation. If Jesus is the Christ, truly as much God as God is, and also as fully human as we are, then the Cross and Resurrection are not God’s punishment.
Rather the eyes of faith see that, in Jesus, God as God's self steps freely into the deepest experience of humiliation. On the Cross, God-with-us chooses to suffer the full brunt of desolation and powerlessness without divine magic. This is not to model the value of suffering as an end in itself, but to “change the game”. Freely suffering the worst that humanity can inflict, Jesus broke the cycle of retribution and defined a new reality.
Outside physical time, participation in the cosmic narrative of the Eucharist binds believers to that alternative way of being. In this reality, injustice cannot be ignored, precisely because the hope for transformation is secure and guaranteed in the forgiveness of the crucified and risen Christ.
This perspective informed Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s campaign against apartheid in South Africa as well as his work as chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1995-1998).
“If our worship is authentic and relevant,” he challenges in a 1985 article, “it prepares us for combat with the forces of evil, the principalities and powers. It prepares us to be involved where God’s children are hurt, where they spend most of their lives … Jesus refused to remain on the mountaintop of the transfiguration. He came down into the valley of human need and misunderstanding.”
As the lectionary readings take us from the mountain top to the valley of Jesus’ ministry and on to the Cross and Resurrection, we are learning a language of sacrament where all threats are nothing, and love defines no boundaries.
Dr Katharine Massam
Co-ordinator of Studies – Church History
Pilgrim Theological College
This article appeared in the Feb 19 edition of Crosslight magazine – the Uniting Church publication
GOD’S PEACE PROCESS – PART 05
Perfect Peace from a Perfect God
With anxiety and depression on the increase, even in peaceful prosperous nations like Australia, people are spending millions of dollars to find relief. Yet, the best peace, indeed, perfect peace, you can receive for free.
The road to ‘perfect peace’ is found through God’s peace process.
So far, we have learned the following steps to God’s peace process:
1. Pre-requisite to peace: Make a decision not allow your heart to be troubled or afraid, because Jesus is sending His peace to you (John 14:27).
2. Peace established: When you say ‘Yes’ to the gospel, you have reconciliation and peace with God (Romans 5:1);
3. Protective, prevailing peace: God’s peace is like the body guard that keeps your heart and mind safe in Christ (Philippians 4:6-7).
4. Great peace: As you grow in God’s peace, it will build a protective shield against hurt and offence. When people get offended, they build a ‘Berlin Wall’ around themselves as a prison. With God’s peace, the wall comes crashing down (Psalm 119:165).
As always in God, there is more and more and more. The same applies to his peace process. For in this fifth and final step, you are invited to reach out to God’s ‘perfect peace.’ Once achieved, you will be in an enviable state that cannot be shaken, rocked, dislodged, or distressed.
An example of ‘perfect peace’ is found in Psalm 46:1-3 (KJV):
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah
When you can stay cool, calm and serene while the earth is moving under your feet and mountains are being thrown into the sea, then you have a ‘God-type of peace.’ Since God Himself is a rock, all who build their lives on Him will never be shaken.
So how do we achieve ‘perfect peace?’ The same way that you enter into the heavenly peace process in the first place. By coming unto God and obeying His word.
Regarding perfect peace, we come to Isaiah 26:3-4 (NKJV):
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.4 Trust in the Lord forever, for in YAH(JEHOVAH), the Lord, is everlasting strength.
This passage is a great encouragement during times of waiting, uncertainty, even crisis. So let’s see how to apply in one’s life.
Perfect Peace comes when you focus on God
When a fighter pilot wants to attack an opponent, they take their view-finder, locate the target, ‘lock-in on it,’ and then press the button. This is guaranteed to achieve the objective.
We actually do the same thing with God, though with a different motive and outcome. Cutting out the multi-tasking, multi-minded distractions, we put our sole (and soul) focus on the Lord and keep it there. God is the God of Peace (Romans 15:33; 16:20; Philippians 4:9; I Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 13:20); and Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is the ‘Prince of Peace’ (Isaiah 9:6). As we single-mindedly focus on the Lord, God downloads all the peace we need!
To fulfil the condition of having your mind stayed on God, it involves a few practical things:
1. Devotional Bible reading: Read the word as part of your daily quiet time – if you don’t have one, its time to get one. Without ‘quiet time,’ you will not enter into God’s peace process and/or be a fruit-bearing disciple of Christ.
2. Bible study: Take time – short or long – to learn more of the Word;
3. Meditation: Joshua 1 and Psalm 1 promise that those who meditate on God’s Word will prosper in everything they do. This means to relax, focus on God’s Word, go over the promised verse again and again, putting an accent mark on different aspects. For example, in our key verse, meditation means we think and/or say aloud softly:
• You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You;
• You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You,because he trusts in You;
• You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You;
• A focused mind brings perfect peace;
• Perfect peace comes from trusting God;
• God keeps (continually) us in perfect peace;
• Trusting God is the key to perfect peace.
Repeat this process again and again until you are filled with insight, wisdom, and peace.
With so much emphasis from worldly sources about the benefits of meditation, remember that it is a Biblically-endorsed practice provided you are focusing on the Bible and, most importantly, the God of the Bible.
Perfect peace comes from trusting God
Trusting is something even a child can understand. Yet what we all need to understand is that trusting God is a commandment, it is disarmingly simple, the secret of superlative blessing, and it is the source of unshakeable, perfect, and everlasting peace.
1. To be totally confident in God;
2. To draw strength from the Almighty;
3. Seek refuge in God;
4. Hand over all control to God;
5. Let God carry you and your burdens. As one Bible teacher put it: ‘Let God do the heavy lifting.’
Neither I nor anyone I know, after having posted a letter in the bright red postbox, tossed and turned at night worrying that their letter would not arrive at its destination. The reason is that we ‘trust’ Australia Post to be reliable and competent enough to deliver our mail, despite the vast distances of this island continent.
The same thing applies to God: Like the letter to the postbox, we commit all our needs, desires, prayer requests, literally everything to the Almighty. Then we trust God to bring it to past. We stop controlling, worrying, or percolating over the issues – it is in God’s hands so we can, like a slow-cooker in the kitchen, ‘set and forget.’
Focus and trust in God will fast-track you from fear and worry to peace and strength. You will live your life in the LORD, the solid rock, and you will be unshakeable.
Enter in now to God’s peace process and you will have what the world doesn’t know and money cannot buy.
[1] “KJV Search Results for “trust”.” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 8 Jan, 2016. http://www.blueletterbible.orghttps://www.blueletterbible.org/search/search.cfm
ANOTHER LOOK AT DAVID: WHY STUDY I CHRONICLES
Now all theses things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come — I Corinthians 10:11 (NKJV)
He is one of the most famous and significant figures in the Bible. The covenant God made with him changed history and paved the way for the coming of the Messiah. He set an example of leadership, worship, and service of God. He was not perfect but so dedicated was he to the Lord that he was called the ‘man after God’s own heart’ (Acts 13:22).
The person in question is David, king of Israel. The book of I Chronicles is primarily about him. Out of love for God he wants to build a temple, but God forbade him because he had shed too much blood. So though his son and successor Solomon will be the temple builder, David will do all the planning and preparation necessary to make the temple possible.
Chronicles was written after the Israelites returned to Judah from the Babylonian exile in the 5th Century BC. It serves as a reminder that God is faithful to those who keep His covenant and put all their trust in him.
HEBREW NAME
Dibere Hayyamim meaning ‘The words or accounts of the days.’ We get the word ‘Chronicles’ from the Latin Vulgate Chronicorum Liber which speak about sacred history of the time of the Judean kings.
AUTHOR
Author is anonymous but Ezra is nominated by the Talmud and makes a good candidate. In any case, the author wrote the book at after the Babylonian exile.
PORTRAIT OF CHRIST
Seed of David who will sit on his throne forever. Christ is simultaneously Son of God and Son of David, thanks to the Davidic Covenant (I Chronicles Chapter 17).
THEME OF I CHRONICLERS
I Chronicles is the official priestly-prophetic account of David’s genealogy and reign.
KEY VERSES
I Chronicles 17:11-14:
And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. 12He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever. 13I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee: 14But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.
I Chronicles 29:11:
Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.
SUMMARY
I and II Chronicles is a single volume in the Hebrew Bible. It speaks of people and events found in II Samuel and I & II Kings.
Here in I Chronicles there is a focus on the royal lineage of David (chapters 1-9), followed by his reign as king of Israel (chapters 10-29). Unlike the other books of Samuel and Kings, there is no mention of Saul’s persecution of David, David’s first 7 years as king in Hebron, the rebellion of Absalom, the wives of David or his adultery with Bathsheba. While Solomon gets credit for building and dedicating the temple, it is David who made it possible with his meticulous preparation.
DISTINCTIVE OF I CHRONICLES
Samuel-Kings Chronicles
From Samuel to Cyrus From Adam to Cyrus
David at his best and worst David the good king
Kings of Israel & Judah Kings of Judah alone
Emphasis on all kings: good & evil Emphasis on good Judean kings
Solomon builds the temple David plans the temple
Response of kings to God’s covenant Focuses on faith institutions
OUTLINE OF I CHRONICLES
I. Royal Lineage of David (1:1-9:44)
A. Genealogy from Adam to Abraham (1:1-27)
Adam to Noah, Noah to Abraham via the 3 sons of Noah: Ham, Shem, and Japheth
B. Genealogy from Abraham to Jacob (1:28-54)
The Patriarchs, Esau’s descendants, kings and chiefs of Edom
C. Genealogy from Jacob to David (2:1-55)
D. Genealogy from David to the Babylonian Captivity (3:1-24)
E. Genealogies of the 12 tribes of Israel (4:1-8:40)
12 tribes listed except Dan. Great emphasis on Levites, the lineage of the priests, and Aaron.
F. Genealogy of the returning exiles (9:1-34)
Lists those Israelites who returned to Judah from Babylonian captivity
G. Genealogy of Saul (9:35-44)
II. David’s Righteous Reign (10:1-29:30)
A. David Becomes King (10:1-12:40)
Saul’s death, anointing of David, Jerusalem captured, David’s mighty men.
B. The Ark of Covenant (13:1-17:27)
After a bad start, David brings the Ark to Jerusalem. God makes a covenant with David.
C. The Military Victories of David (18:1-20:8)
Victories over the Philistines, Zobah, Ammon, Moab, and Syria.
D. David’s Preparation for Temple (21:1-27:34)
Disastrous Census and material preparation of the temple.
E. Final Days of David (28:1-29:30)
Briefs Solomon, prepares for the temple, prayer of thanksgiving, Solomon coronated, and David’s death.
7 PILLARS TO UNDERSTANDING THE FUTURE: PILLAR Four God Has Called Us to Fearlessness
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go – Joshua 1:9 (NKJV)
Whose playing in the football match this weekend?
Where will we spend our family holiday?
What kind of cuisine shall we have for dinner tonight?
People give attention to short-term issues of today and tomorrow, but seem to give little thought to the long-term future. Why is this the case? There are several reasons, but one of the key explanations is that people think the future will be unpleasant. If people are struggling to balance their budget or handle their teenage children, how can they cope with the notion that the world is being turned on its head – or going out of business altogether.
If we are going to achieve the worthy goal of becoming ‘future ready,’ we need to understand what the future is about. One means is to keep well informed by reliable, truthful, and balanced news sources.
More importantly, it is important to understand Bible prophecy. Yet amazingly, despite talk of ‘wars and rumours of wars,’ ‘antichrist,’ ‘harlot of Babylon,’ ‘seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments,’ there is a very clear prophetic call from God to His people: ‘Fear not.’
God does not want you to be afraid of anything. The phrase ‘fear not’ is used 63 times in the Bible, ‘be not afraid’ 26 times, and the word ‘peace’ 429 times. The only fear you should have is the ‘fear of the Lord’ (Proverbs 9:10) and it has the divine ability to cancel all other fears.
Read Joshua 1:6-9 and amazingly God commands the man Joshua three times to be ‘strong’ and ‘courageous.’ Despite the fact that he stood at the backdoor of Canaan, where seven nations (another name for people groups) awaited Israel’s invasion. Some of these nations had tall giants and even taller walls. Yet God shows the possibility and necessity of being strong and courageous in the face of all challenges.
In the Book of Joshua, the basis of courage and fearlessness comes from three sources:
1. A Decision to Hear and Obey God’s Command to be Strong and Courageous;
2. Putting God’s Word in Your Heart;
3. The Presence of the Lord;
Yes, the challenge of conquering Canaan is softened greatly by making a decision to be strong and courageous. Yes, strength and courage are a decision you make to obey God and He will do the rest.
The command to be ‘strong and courageous’ is not just for Joshua – it applies to every believer. Twice in the psalms God promises the psalmist that if he will be of good courage, God will strength his heart (Psalm 27:14; 31:14). Preceding the command to be courageous is to ‘wait on the Lord.’
Practically speaking, in order to obey the command is to believe it, affirm it, and confess it.
Second point is to put God’s Word in your heart. This comes from devotion, study, and meditation. With the Word in your heart, faith levels arise. You become more aware and attentive to what God says. From the fullness of your heart, you will be strengthened and encouraged to do what God says.
Finally, understand that God’s presence with you and in you will be a source of tremendous courage. The promises of Scripture are clear: God is with His people. He promises to never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Jesus says to His great commission obeying disciples that He will be with them always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
How can we forget the reality of the Twenty-Third Psalm, Verse 4:
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
David the psalmist had every good reason to fear in the natural. The wilderness where he tended the sheep had wild animals, venomous reptiles, scarcity of water and food, and it was easy to get lost. Yet he says that even in the ‘valley of the shadow of death,’ he will fear not evil. What is the basis of his fearlessness: For you art with me.
When God is with you and for you, no one and nothing can be against you.
It is like the story of the 12 year old student. For him, recess was not a time of fun and games but of torment. Why? Because a 14 year old school yard bully was waiting in the playground to taunt and harass. A dark cloud hung over his head and a knot tightened in his stomach as the bell rang. Yet, the time came when he could go into the playground and the bully could not touch him. Why? Because the student’s 16 year old brother accompanied him there.
If an older brother can keep us safe from schoolyard bullies, how much more will the promised presence of God keep us fearless despite the uncertain and tumultuous times in which we live.
Remember that true courage is not the absence of fear; it is the mastery of fear through the tools God has given us. So if we are to be ‘future-ready,’ hear and respond to God’s wonderful call to fearlessness. It will open all kinds of wonderful doors for you.
SIX ANNIVERSARIES PART 02
Last month, we looked at two major anniversaries in 2017: the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation and 120th Anniversary of Theodor Herzl’s first Zionist congress. This month, we focus on four more anniversaries for this year.
100 Years Ago – Battle of Beersheba 31 October 1917
Exactly 400 years after the Reformation, the Australian Light-horsemen, along with the British, captured the city of Beersheba in the south of Turkish-occupied Palestine. This campaign not only highlighted the great bravery of the Allied troops, but it was the beginning of the end of 400 years of Turkish rule. The British would capture the rest of the country, including Jerusalem in December 1917, were granted a mandate in Palestine by the League of Nations, and all this led to the creation of Israel in 1948.
100 Years Ago – The Balfour Declaration 2 November 1917
A seemingly harmless letter written by the British Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild became the foundation stone of international support for the creation of the Jewish state in Palestine. In gratitude for Dr. Chaim Weizman’s contribution to the British war effort, Balfour wrote the following words:
His Majesty’s government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.
Until this letter was issued, the Zionist enterprise battled alone on the international front. Now, it had the backing of the British War Cabinet, and by extension the British Empire. Though it was a great morale booster for the Zionism, by itself it did not confer rights and responsibilities. However, the 1920 San Remo Conference and the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine made the Balfour Declaration the cornerstone of its policy and granted international legitimacy to the Zionist cause. Thus, the Balfour Declaration facilitated the birth of the Jewish state; an unintended consequence was that it stirred up unbridled opposition of the Arabs, which continues to this day. Thus, the Arab-Israeli conflict is the ‘hundred year war.’
70 Years Ago – United Nations Partition Resolution 181 of 29th November 1947
After 30 years in Palestine, Britain informed the newly-created United Nations that it was going to withdraw from the country. The explosive Palestine issue now became the problem of the UN. After several months of deliberation, the General Assembly Resolution 181 of 29 November 1947 voted 33 to 13, with 10 abstentions, to partition western Palestine (to distinguish it was Transjordan, which was eastern Palestine) into Jewish and Arab states. Jerusalem would be under an international regime for 10 years (corpus separatum).
The Jewish community accepted the resolution results. The Arabs rejected the resolution and vowed to strangle the Jewish nation at birth. The security situation in the country deteriorated immediately and alarmingly over the next five months. On the day Israel was born, 14 May 1948, the first Arab-Israel war began.
The partition resolution recognised in principle the creation of the Jewish state. The subsequent war rendered implementation impossible. The borders would be determined on the battlefield.
50 Years Ago – Six Day War of 5-10 June 1967
After 19 years of unstable ceasefire, the third Arab-Israel war erupted on 5 June 1967. In May 1967, pan-Arab nationalist leader and Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser ordered a blockade of the Red Sea’s Straits of Tiran at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. This prevented shipping to the Israeli port of Eilat on the Gulf of Aqaba. The closure of international waters was considered an act of war. Nasser demanded the withdrawal of UN peacekeeping troops in the Egyptian-held Sinai Peninsula. Then Nasser formed an alliance with Syria and Jordan to confront Israel militarily.
In a pre-emptive air strike, Israel destroyed the three Arab airforces with their planes still on the ground. Having unchallenged skies, Israeli tanks raced through Arab held territory unopposed. The entire Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan Heights, and East Jerusalem with the Old City, were captured with lightning speed. Israel trebled its size in just 6 days. East Jerusalem was annexed to Israel before the end of the month, declared the ‘indivisible’ and ‘eternal’ capital of the State of Israel. ‘Jerusalem is not negotiable’ was their motto and remained so until the Camp David negotiations of 2000. The remainder of land was declared ‘occupied territory’ and, in theory, subject for peace negotiations.
Israel expected a ‘phone call’ from the Arabs, asking for peace talks in order to return the territory it had seized. Instead, in the Sudanese capital of Khatoum on 1 September 1967, the Arabs issued the three ‘No’s:’ No negotiations with Israel. No recognition of Israel. No peace with Israel. The state of war would continue unto this very day, though Egypt and Jordan have since signed peace treaties.
The six anniversaries may be a cause of observation, even celebration in Israel, but will be viewed with disdain by the Arabs. We would do well to remember the injunction to ‘Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love her’ (Psalm 122:6).
How can work make us happy?
On May Day, Kara Martin responds to an editorial in The Age on job satisfaction and time spent in the workplace, drawing on research to show that Christians experience greater purpose and meaning in their work.
Strength in Weakness
By seeing disability as gift not punishment, strength not weakness, we can more fully embrace those with disability – and learn, from their disability and our own, the beautiful simplicity of faith.
Link highlights | April 2017
Highlights of links to online news and opinion pieces for April 2017.