When the Time is Right When the Time is Right –– page 3page 3Something to Look Forward To Something to Look Forward To –– page 5page 5The Abolition of Slavery The Abolition of Slavery –– page 16page 16

GladTidingsGladTidingsOF THE KINGDOM OF GOD 1476

Bible Talks, Study Classes, Sunday Schools and Youth Clubsare held regularly by Christadelphians worldwide. The address

of your nearest group can be obtained from either the Distribution Secretaries or from the local agents or

information addresses given above.

Bible VersionsThe version most used in this issue isthe New King James Version (NKJV)and other versions are sometimes

used.

✤ The New King James Version iscopyrighted by Thomas Nelson.

✤ The Revised Standard Version is copyrighted 1946 and 1952 bythe Division of Christian Educa-tion of the National Council ofChurches in the USA.

✤ The New International Version is copyrighted 1978 by New York Bible Society

GladTidingsO F T H E K I N G D O M O F G O D

123rd Year 1476A monthly magazine published by the

Christadelphians (brothers and sisters in Christ) and avail-able throughout the world.Its objectives are – to encour-age study of the Bible as God's inspired message to men; to call attention to the Divine offer of forgiveness of sins

through Jesus Christ; and to warn men and women that soon Christ will return to Earth as judge and

ruler of God’s world-wide Kingdom.

Acknowledgements

Photographs:

Cover: African Ladyphotos.comPage 17b Wendy-Ann Street

Illustrations:Clipart.com pgs 5,6,11,13-15,18Christian Clipart 3,9

ContentsE07

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Editor: Owen Tecwyn Morgan26 The Crescent, Hampton-in-Arden, Solihull, B92 OBP, England, UK glad.tidings@virgin.net

Publisher: The Glad Tidings Publishing Association (a registered charity) number 248352

Contents

When the Time is Right...................................3

Something to LookForward To ...............5

Poem: Patience ............7Good News in Philippi..

...................................8More about the Moral

Standards of Jesus..10More Small Print ......13The Abolition of Slavery

.................................16Israel – Blessed or Not?

.................................19

123rd Year 3

most of the time. And most of us havecomplete freedom of religious beliefand expression, which is a real bless-ing. But the time we were born wasn’tsomething we had any control over. Wehappened along when it happened; itwas nothing to do with us. We had nosay in the matter.

It was like that with the Lord Jesustoo. When the time was right, God sentforth His Son having told Mary that shewas to bear a child by the power of the

Holy Spirit:

“When the fulness of thetime had come, God sentforth his son, born of awoman, born under thelaw, to redeem those whowere under the law, thatwe might receive theadoption as sons” (Gala-tians 4:4,5).

The time was indeedright for, long before, God had indicat-ed exactly when His Son was to beborn. The prophet Daniel prayedearnestly for deliverance and salvationand God had given him a detailedtimescale of when the Saviour andRedeemer would come, and whatwould happen to him. Daniel lived atthe time of the Persian Empire andwas told that from the time that acommand was given for the rebuildingof Jerusalem (and that happened in457 BC) it would be 69 x 7 years untilthe coming of Messiah.

If you work that out, it comes to 483years, and to 27AD, the very timewhen Jesus announced the start of hisministry in Israel. Then, the angel said,“Messiah shall be cut off, but not for

Sometimes things happen justbecause we are in the rightplace at the right time. Or, ifit is something bad that hap-pens, because we were in thewrong place at that verytime.

What if we had been born at a differ-ent time in the world’s history? Hadshe lived more than 200 years ago,the model on this month’s front covermight have been a slave.If so, her life would havebeen very different.Where she lived, how shelived and how long shelived, would have beenoutside her control. Shewould not then havebeen her own person, butwould have been ownedby someone else.

If you had been born inthe Middle Ages, just reading thismagazine (had it been around at thetime!) could have cost you your life.Many people were executed justbecause they wanted to read the Biblefor themselves. At that time theChurch held the monopoly of Bibleteaching and you had to believe whatthey said, or else!Times and SeasonsWe have plenty of reasons to be grate-ful that we happen to be living in the21st century and not at a much earli-er time. Inventions and discoverieshave made life much easier in somerespects. We don’t have to work quiteas hard as our forebears. We have theadvantage of electricity and technolo-gy, even if we take them for granted

When the Time is RightWhen the Time is Right

4 Glad Tidings

himself; and the people of the princewho is to come shall destroy the cityand the sanctuary. The end of it shallbe with a flood, and till the end of thewar desolations are determined”(Daniel 9:26).

So, even the death of the Lord Jesuswas forecast hundreds of years beforeit happened, and so was his SecondComing, in power and great glory.

When, when, when?From the very first, when Jesus wasteaching and doing wonderful works inIsrael, people wanted to know when hewould come as a Conqueror, just asthe Old Testament promised.

Jesus gave a very clear programmeof events as to what had to happenfirst. He spoke of wars, famines, earth-quakes, nations in distress, peopleworrying about the future, not knowingwhich way to turn, andthe spread of falseChristianity and falsereligion (see Matthewchapter 24; Mark 14and Luke 21 for thefull details). But healso said that nobodyknew the precise dayand hour of his Return;nobody except GodHimself:

“Of that day and hour no one knows,no, not even the angels of heaven, butmy Father only” (Matthew 24:36).

To this day nobody knows preciselywhen Jesus will come, except that itwill happen when the time is right. ForGod controls everything: all human his-tory and earthly government is underHis command (see Daniel 4:17). ButJesus gave one key indicator, whichhas now been fulfilled after almost2000 years. He said that the Jews

would eventually return to Jerusalem(see Luke 21:24), something that onlyhappened 40 years ago, in 1967,when the city came under Jewish con-trol after the Six Days War.

The Time is RightThat’s a huge bonus for us, and onewe could have done nothing toarrange. All previous generations ofbelievers, watching and waiting for theComing of Jesus had to focus theirattention on the possibility of the Jewsreturning to the land their forefathersonce occupied. As recently as thebeginning of the 20th Century thatseemed unlikely, for the land wasunder Turkish control and residentJews were not even allowed to ownland there.

But, step by step, all that haschanged. In May 1948 − less than 60

years ago − the nation ofIsrael was established, albeitin circumstances that sug-gested it could be a short-lived political experiment; forthey were at war at the timeagainst stronger local opposi-tion. Their survival andincrease was foreordained,however, in the purpose ofGod and today the nation ofIsrael is a force to be reck-oned with, and things that

happen there frequently lead in newsbulletins around the world.

Any time now the Lord Jesus Christ isreturning and we need to be ready. For,when the time is right, Jesus will come;and his coming will transform theworld. God’s Kingdom is to be estab-lished once again on earth. The desertwill bloom; peace will abound; and atlast the earth will begin to giveAlmighty God the glory that is His due.

123rd Year 5

Looking forward to an eventis something we have allexperienced. For many of usthe anticipation is mostlyassociated with pleasure.

As children we looked forward toChristmas or birthdaysor holidays. But not allexperiences fall intothat category. A visitto the dentist is prob-ably the most obvious,though even that ismuch less painfulthan it used to be.

These may all bechildhood memories;young or old however we all like some-thing which we can look forward towith pleasure. It may be the realisationof a personal aim or ambition. As aparent, it might be centred on a familyevent: a wedding or the birth of agrandchild. Later in life it may be a newhome or even retirement. All theseevents are ones we enjoy

Cause for ConcernOver the last twenty years or so some-thing has happened that makes look-ing forward a lot less pleasurable.Today the prospects for both youngand old are very different. For those ofemployable age there is the constantanxiety over continuity of employmentand an equal worry over the properprovision of a pension for old age. Forthe rising generation, as if these thingswere not enough in themselves, thereis the additional anxiety over what sort

of world they will inherit.The current major cause for anxiety

seems to be global warming. Alreadywe are being told that it will lead to amore extreme climate and a rise in sealevel. The South of France, it has beensaid, may become so hot and dry as to

be uninhabitable. Therise in sea level willendanger millions wholive on the fertile floodplains of some of theworld’s great rivers

DisharmonyAdded to these things

can be the problemsposed by man’s inability to live in har-mony with his neighbours, in Africa forexample; in the Middle East, wherecontinuing tensions aggravate feelingsof great bitterness; in remote areaswhere envy of the western materialway of life gives rise to a hatred thatfuels barbarous acts of terrorism; anx-ieties over South Korea; unrest inSouth America.

Wherever one looks there is trouble.Put all these things together and onecan quite understand the attitude ofsome young people known to me whosaid that “We don’t think this is a fitworld into which to bring children.”

That is very sad. It is also verydepressing for it clearly shows thatfrom a human point of view they do notthink the world holds out anything pos-itive to which they can look forwardwith any pleasurable anticipation. Isthis really so?

Something to LookSomething to LookForward ToForward To

6 Glad Tidings

Cause for RejoicingAre things really so gloomy? For somepeople the answer is a resounding“No!” There is a glorious future inprospect. It has beenknown about for a longtime and has been a realcomfort and an excitingprospect for many peo-ple.

To sort out the prob-lems facing the world aleader is needed whocombines two things. Thefirst of these is a moralauthority that all theinhabitants of the worldrecognise and respect.The second requirementis the possession by sucha person of immense power the like ofwhich has never before been seen.

There has only ever been one personin the history of the world who has everdisplayed such qualities. That personwas, and is, the Lord Jesus Christ.Consider his record. He was spoken ofby the Old Testament prophets. Partsof his life were predicted in greatdetail. Born in the poorest of circum-stances he was nevertheless aware ofhis mission in life from the age oftwelve onwards.

Man ApartFrom then till the age of about 30 heremained in the family circle waiting forthe time to reveal himself to the peo-ple. When that moment arrived,almost his first words were “preachingthe gospel of the Kingdom of God.”(Mark 1 verse 14). From that time onJesus began both to tell and to showpeople what the kingdom of God wouldbe like.

All four gospel writers recount many

instances of Jesus showing remarkablepowers to cure the mental and physi-cal problems that have beset humanbeings all down the ages. He could

perform acts of healingbeyond the capabilities ofeven the cleverest of doc-tors today.

More surprising to someof his followers, he waseven able to calm thestorm that was threateningto swamp the boat inwhich they were sailing.“Who then is this that eventhe wind and sea obeyhim?” (Mark 4:4l). Controlover the forces of naturewas evidence of a powerthey had never imagined.His moral teaching was of

such a quality that if it were put intoeffect there would be no more vio-lence, greed, fraud or any other crime.

Cause of ConflictWhilst all Jesus said and did appealedto the ordinary people, his exposing ofthe dishonesty and hypocrisy of theirrulers brought him into direct conflictwith them and they plotted hisdestruction. With the aid of a traitor,they eventually succeeded in crucifyinghim. Through the infinite wisdom ofGod that murderous event was madeto be an atonement for sin. It servestoo as an illustration (there could beno stronger one) of the Creator’s lovefor a disobedient creation.

The appalling shock, horror andapparent finality of the crucifixion wereenough to knock the bottom out of thedisciples’ world; so much so that theyconsidered reverting to their previousoccupations. So they would have donehad it not been for one thing. Theywere reunited with their risen Lord.

123rd Year 7

would like to have everlasting life in aperfect world that will be exactly asGod the Creator planned it would be,the offer is open.

There is a story in the New Testa-ment of a man whose world was col-lapsing around him. Through no faultof his own he thought the prisoners inhis charge had escaped. Naturally hefeared for his life. Turning to the apos-tle Paul who was in the prison withhim, he said “What must I do to besaved?” The apostle’s reply was“Believe in the Lord Jesus and you willbe saved.” The record goes on to showthat the jailer and his family were allbaptised. It is just the same for us. Weneed to believe in the Lord Jesus Christand be baptised, just as that jailer atPhilippi was.

Just think of it: no more worries overpensions, pollution and the exhaustionof natural resources; no more advanc-ing age and decreasing mental andphysical ability. Instead everlasting lifelived in a perfect world with perfecthealth and perfect company. Now thatreally is something to look forward to.

Michael BucklerQuotations from the RSV

That, and only that, could havewrought the transformation. From abeaten, dispirited group, they becamea dedicated group of men who carriedthe good news of the Kingdom of Godfar and wide. As well as the gospelrecords the New Testament is taken upwith the spread of the gospel and withassurances that:

“This Jesus, who was taken up fromyou into heaven, will come in the sameway as you saw him go into heaven”(Acts 1:11).

Speaking of that event in words thathis disciples did not understand at thetime, Jesus described the troubles thatwill overtake mankind. He then wenton to say “And then they will see theSon of man coming in a cloud withpower and great glory” (Luke 21:27).With that power he will put down allopposition and by that power all prob-lems like global warming will be dealtwith effectively. All the wrongs in theworld will be redressed − permanently.

Wonderful ProspectThe wonderful and exciting thing aboutthis is that to everyone who wants tobe a part of this coming era, who

Patience

When problems overwhelm us, and we ‘ve forgotten how to smile,We must remember God is ever nearIt’s futile then to worry, if we tell Him all our cares,And ask His help to lift away our fear.

For life is ever changing, and our problems come and go,And we are growing through our joys and pain;Like plants, we need variety – the coldness and the warmth,And, as faith grows, we’ll be at peace again.

Colleen Simons

8 Glad Tidings

Prisoners in PhilippiPaul and Silas were dragged off to themarket place and were charged beforethe magistrates. The charge was notwhat one might have expected. Nowa-days we would think in terms of com-pensation for the loss of earnings, nowthe fortune teller was better and couldnot act as she once did.

But this would mean that her ownerswould have had toadmit that Paul’spowers were realand effective andthat he possessedsome greater pow-er than the “spirit”which they reck-oned had once“possessed” theslave girl. Or itmight have been argued, by thedefence, that she had regained nor-mality quite spontaneously. So theactual charge they put forward wasone which was far more likely to con-vince the magistrates:

“They brought them to the magis-trates, and said, ‘These men, beingJews, exceedingly trouble our city; andthey teach customs which are not law-ful for us, being Romans, to receive orobserve” (Acts 16:20-21).

“These men, being Jews, exceeding-ly trouble our city” would have been

sufficient grounds for concern. Had nottheir fellow-citizens in Rome sufferedfrom this troublesome race and hadnot their divine Emperor Claudius ban-ished them for this very reason? Butthey added, for good measure, thatthe teachings of Paul and Silas wereillegal and an affront to their Romandignity.

It was an open and shut case: therewas no need to hear the accused

men’s defence. Themagistrates com-manded that the lic-tors, whose badge ofoffice was a bundle ofrods and an axe,should beat them withtheir rods. They did not‘spare the rod’ but, therecords says, they“laid many stripes on

them” (16:23).With their clothes torn and their

backs bleeding they were then handedover to the jailor to be kept securely.He put them in the inner prison whichwas, no doubt, the most unpleasantdamp and airless place and, forgreater security, put their feet in thestocks. It is said that these Romanstocks were of an ingenious design inthat it was virtually impossible for thevictim to adopt a comfortable positionand so they inflicted subtle torture aswell as providing security.

Growth of the Gospel − 23

Good News in PhilippiGood News in PhilippiHaving travelled for the second time through Asia Minor, Paul and his compan-

ions have now reached Europe, only to run into trouble in the Roman Colony ofPhilippi. They had been accused of malpractice, because they had cured a girl

who was being used as a fortune teller. It looked as if everything was going wrongbut, as John Hellawell now explains, everything was due to work out very well

indeed, under the hand of God.

123rd Year 9

The Midnight Earthquake The behaviour of Paul and Silas musthave caused the other prisoners toquestion their sanity for instead ofdeclaring their innocence and com-plaining about their unjust treatmentthey prayed and sang hymns. Therecord says that “the prisoners werelistening to them” when one mighthave expected that they would com-plain about the noiseand stress their ownneed for sleep. Theremust have been some-thing about theirprayers and the wordsof their hymns whichmade the others lis-ten attentively.

Suddenly there wasa great earthquake, anot uncommon eventin that region. However, this was quiteunusual because in spite of its magni-tude, the prison was not destroyed northe inmates injured. In fact, only theprison doors were opened and theprisoners’ chains loosed.

The Jailor AwakesThe earthquake also wakened thejailor. He saw the doors open andanticipated that all the prisoners hadescaped. Drawing his sword he wasabout to commit suicide, when Paulshouted that he should not harm him-self as all the prisoners were still there.Why the prisoners did not flee is notexplained, though it may be that, sincethe night’s events had been mostunnatural, they felt safer in the compa-ny of Paul and Silas rather than riskthe effects of aftershocks.

The response of the jailor also wasunusual. Calling for a light, he ran intothe prison and fell down trembling at

the feet of his latest prisoners. Onbringing them out of their cell heasked: “Sirs, what must I do to besaved” and was told “Believe on theLord Jesus Christ, and you will besaved, you and your household”.

In order to do this, the jailor and hishousehold (that would probablyinclude his slaves) needed to under-stand what they must believe. So Paul

and Silas “spoke the wordof the Lord to him and allwho were in his house”(16:32).

The jailor then attendedto their wounds before heand his household werebaptized. Once more wenote the invariable NewTestament pattern: firstbelieving and understand-ing the Gospel message;

then being baptised by immersion, asa sign of the changed life which isrequired.

Finally, they all shared a meal whichmay have included a breaking of breadafter the pattern set by the Lord Jesusat the Last Supper.

Roman “Humble Pie”Next day the lictors were despatchedby the magistrates to release Paul andSilas. The jailor conveyed the goodnews to them but Paul refused toleave. He replied that the magistrateshad beaten uncondemned Roman citi-zens publicly and now they wished tobe rid of them in secret. Paul demand-ed that the magistrates appear in per-son and escort the prisoners out.

Once this demand had been con-veyed to the magistrates they realisedthat they had made a terrible mistake.In a Roman colony, that prided itself inupholding Roman legal procedures,two Roman citizens had been denied

were to swear, for instance, by heav-en or by Jerusalem. Now the teachingof Jesus was very clear about thispractice, and it has implications for ustoday, if we are going to follow himand obey his commandments:

The Lord Jesus said “do not swearat all” (verse 34); then he added: “letyour ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’‘No’” (verse 37).

In other words, Jesus was saying, letyour ‘yes’ or ‘no’ be as binding as themost solemn oath; for that is thestandard of honesty that God expectsfrom those who seek to serve Him.

10 Glad Tidings

justice, had been unlawfully beaten,and were consigned to the worst dun-geon and held in the stocks! Not onlywas it a dreadful disgrace but it couldhave serious repercussions shouldthese men take the matter higher. Nowonder: “they came and pleaded withthem and brought them out, andasked them to depart from the city”(Acts 16:39).

Here was an interesting dilemma: asJews they should be banished but, asRoman citizens, they had every right tostay. In asking them to depart themagistrates no doubt believed that thescandal would eventually be forgotten.However, it is almost certain that Pauldecided to ‘stand on his dignity’ for the

benefit of the infant church and not forhis own sake. From now on the magis-trates would be less likely to prejudgecases affecting the disciples in Philippiand could readily be reminded of theirprevious errors if they did.

Before the missionary party leftPhilippi they said their farewells at thehouse of Lydia, encouraging their newconverts, and then they set out alongthe Egnatian Way, that great Romanmilitary road which ran right throughthe centre of Philippi, heading in thedirection of Amphipolis, Apollonia andtowards Thessalonica. The great workmust go on!

John Hellawell

Mean What You Say!Jesus says that what we say is reallyimportant. If we say “Yes” we shouldmean “Yes”, for our speech shouldalways be reliable (Matthew 5:34-37).

“Again you have heard that it was saidto those of old, ‘You shall not swearfalsely, but shall perform your oaths tothe Lord’” (verse 33).

It was the custom in those days toswear on oath to give greater force toone’s words. The implication was thata simple “yes” or “no” was not asbinding as an oath; especially if you

The Teaching of The Master − 2

More about the MoralMore about the MoralStandards of JesusStandards of Jesus

In this two-part article, Dudley Fifield examines what Jesus has to say about alifestyle that will be right with God in his Sermon on the Mount. In the last articlewe saw that what we think is as important as what we do, but now Jesus turns

his attention to our speech and our attitudes.

123rd Year 11

What about ‘My Rights’?In the next section of Matthew chapter5 (verses 38-42) Jesus explains whatattitudes we should try to develop if weare to please God and follow his exam-ple. We live in an age of rights −human rights, women’s rights, gayrights, animal rights, and so on. “Iknow my rights” has almostbecome the slogan of Westernsociety. People rush to thecourts to sue, to obtain afull recompense as soonas they think their ‘rights’have been denied.

Now the Lord Jesus turnsthese human standards ontheir head, for he says thereare more important thingsfor the servant of God to beconcerned about. He doesthis by referring to the lawthat was then in existencein Israel − the law God hadgiven to Moses, which contained aprovision allowing for personal recom-pense. If something bad was done toyou, you were allowed under the law todo the same back − the same but nomore. So, Jesus said:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Aneye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’”(5:38).

You could demand a full and com-plete restitution, and there were peo-ple who did just that. But, Jesus nowsaid:

“I tell you not to resist an evil person.But whoever slaps you on your rightcheek, turn the other to him also. Ifanyone wants to sue you and takeaway your tunic, let him have yourcloak also. And whoever compels youto go one mile, go with him two” (vers-es 39-41).

In other words, he was saying, donot claim your rights and if men seekto make demands of you, do evenmore than they ask. When he spoke ofpeople who might compel you to go amile, he was talking about somethingthat could happen in an occupied

country. At the time, Israel wasoccupied by the Romans. Forthe Jews this was a mostunacceptable situation. Ingeneral terms they hated the

Romans. Yet under Romanlaw a Jew could be compelled

to undertake service for thestate. A Roman soldier, for instance,could compel a man to carry hispack for a mile along the road andhe was forced to comply. No excus-es were accepted.

We can imagine the bitterness andresentment this would have caused in

those who were compelled in thisway to carry out such a distasteful

task. Yet the Lord Jesus says “Don’t bebitter and resentful; be so willing tocomply that you will go not just onemile but two”.

The lesson is that if men intrude intoour rights, if they make what we regardas unreasonable demands upon us,there must be no bitterness or unwill-ingness shown. We should be pre-pared to do even more then they ask.

New LifestyleThis, of course, is quite contrary tohuman nature; it is not how we think oract. Was there more behind this teach-ing of the Lord Jesus than the simpleact of denying our own will and sym-bolically crucifying it, for his sake? Webelieve there is. In the Epistle to theHebrews there are three words used todescribe the life of a believer.

� He is a sojourner (Hebrews 11:9);for

12 Glad Tidings

� Like Abraham, he looks for a citythat has foundations (11:10);

� He is a stranger and a pilgrim ...for he desires a better country(11:13-15).

In other words, the Christian has nopermanent home in this world. Thereality is that he has no real citizen-ship here, for he is a citizen of God’scoming Kingdom. As a pilgrim he istravelling through life with the visionof that Kingdom before him.

Consequently, in this life, he has norights, no lasting abiding place and noreal citizenship, for he belongs in God’sKingdom. He trusts instead in thateternal inheritance which God will pro-vide when the time is right. So he isprepared, if necessary, to forego allrights to the things that this world hasto offer and to put his trust and confi-dence in God.

Perfect ExampleJesus didn’t say one thing and doanother. He lived by those very princi-ples; his was a life of selfless obedi-ence and wholehearted service.Chapter 13 of John’s gospel recordsthat on the night of his betrayal Jesuswashed the feet of his disciples. As he

did so he said:

“You call me Teacher and Lord, andyou say well, for so I am. If I then, yourLord and Teacher, have washed yourfeet, you also ought to wash oneanother’s feet. For I have given you anexample, that you should do as I havedone to you” (13:13-15).

To wash the feet of another was themost menial task. In the houses of therich it was a duty usually carried out bya slave. In so doing, the Lord Jesus,their Lord and Master, had elevatedthem to the status of honoured andvalued guests; whereas he humbledhimself and took the role of a slave.So, just think what the disciples wouldhave understood him to mean when,with newly washed feet, they heardhim say:

“A new commandment I give to you,that you love one another; as I haveloved you, that you also love oneanother. By this all will know that youare my disciples, if you have love forone another” (John 13:34,35).

It was a new commandment allright. The law commanded men to lovetheir neighbour as themselves. But theLord Jesus went further. He said“regard them as better than yourself.Treat them as though they were yourLord and you were their servant (orslave)”.

This remarkable quality of service toothers is what the Lord Jesus demandsof those who would be his disciples: ifthey are to be his followers. That is thechallenge of following Jesus in this life,if we are to be part of God’s purpose inthe life to come. Nobody said it wasgoing to be easy, but love makes allthe difference!

Dudley Fifield

� A Sojourner is a man who doesnot have a permanent dwelling inthe land where he lives. Instead heis a temporary resident.

� A Stranger is literally a ‘foreign-er’. He is someone who does notbelong to the society in which helives. He is not a citizen of thatcountry, but of another one.

� A Pilgrim is a man who is on ajourney; who has a vision beforehim, a goal that he desires toachieve.

A Son is BornWhen reading about the events sur-rounding the birth of Jesus, a fascinat-ing phrase keeps cropping up. Here’sone occurrence:

Now all this was donethat it might be fulfilledwhich was spoken by theLord through the prophet,saying: ‘Behold, a virginshall be with child, andbear a Son, and they shallcall his name Immanuel…’” (Matthew 1:22,23)

Notice that “the Lord,”God Himself, had told thewriter what to say or write.In other words the reason why there issuch a close correspondence betweenthe life of Jesus and what was writtenin the Old Testament is because Godhad revealed it and caused men torecord it. In the first two chapters ofMatthew we have several such exam-ples.

The Virgin BirthThe one referred to above − about a

virgin bearing a child − is a direct quo-tation from something that was writtenmore than 600 years before, by theprophet Isaiah (see Isaiah 7:14) and itwas perfectly fulfilled when the LordJesus was born to Mary, by the powerof God’s Holy Spirit.

Born in BethlehemMatthew explains to his Jewish read-

ers that the birthplace of Jesus − thelittle town of Bethlehem − had longbeen predicted:

And when (King Herod)had gathered all the chiefpriests and scribes of thepeople together, heinquired of them wherethe Christ was to be born.So they said to him, ‘InBethlehem of Judea, forthus it is written by theprophet: “But you, Beth-lehem, in the land ofJudah, are not the least

among the rulers of Judah; for out ofyou shall come a Ruler who will shep-herd My people Israel”’ (Matthew 2:4-6).

The prophet Micah had indeed pre-dicted:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,though you are little among the thou-sands of Judah, yet out of you shallcome forth to me the one to be ruler inIsrael, Whose goings forth have beenfrom of old, from everlasting” (Micah5:2).

Mary was living in Nazareth but theRomans had made a decree thateveryone must return to their originalfamily home for the census and taxing.

123rd Year 13

His Master’s Voice − 4

More Small PrintMore Small Print

In article 3 of this series David Nightingale explained that the closer you lookat the Bible the more reason you have to be impressed by its accurate detail.

Jesus said that he had come to fulfil even the smallest details − the jots and tit-tles − and so it has proved to be. Look at some of the details about his life to

see how accurately they were predicted.

14 Glad Tidings

That was how she came to be at Beth-lehem when Jesus was born. Other-wise she would have given birth inNazareth.

Herod’s PersecutionKing Herod had come to hear about

the birth of Jesus from the wise menwho called at the Palace asking fordirections and, in his twisted spite, heordered that all baby boys, two yearsold and under, were to be killed.Remarkably, Matthew was able torecord that this too was a fulfilment ofScripture.

“Then was fulfilled what was spoken byJeremiah the prophet, saying: ‘A voicewas heard in Ramah, lamentation,weeping, and great mourning, Rachelweeping for her children, refusing tobe comforted, because they were nomore’” (Matthew 2:18 and see Jere-miah 31:15).

Notice that King Herod, who was areally wicked man, the Romans, andJoseph and Mary were all involved infulfilling these words from the Old Tes-tament at a time when Jesus himself,as a baby, could have had no controlover those happenings at all.

Christ CrucifiedPrecisely the same thing happens atthe end of the life of the Lord Jesus.He was put on trial for his lifeand eventually was cruci-fied. Why not check thisout for yourself by readingtwo passages of Scrip-ture, to see the remarkablesimilarities.

Psalm 22 was written by King David,the Psalmist, about 1000 years beforethe death of Jesus. But what he saidwas a remarkable portrayal of the hor-rors of crucifixion, long before theRomans had perfected the technique

of public torture and death, which theyused as a way of subduing and terror-ising an occupied people. At the timeDavid wrote a criminal would havebeen executed by stoning, which was avery different sort of death from theone portrayed.

Matthew 27, verses 29 to 46, givesan account of the crucifixion of Jesus.Bear in mind that the things that hap-pened were the result of the actions ofother people. Jesus had no controlover their behaviour and much of itwas completely unpredictable, human-ly speaking.

Crucifixion ForetoldHere are just a few extracts from the

Psalm, but the whole account is wellworth reading.

“I am poured out like water, and all mybones are out of joint; my heart is likewax; it has melted within me. Mystrength is dried up like a potsherd,and my tongue clings to my jaws; youhave brought me to the dust of death…They pierced my hands and my feet”(Psalm 22:14-16 and see Matthew27:35 and 48).

“All those who see me laugh me toscorn; They shoot out the lip, they

shake the head, saying, ‘Hetrusted in the LORD, let him res-

cue him; let him deliverhim, since he delights in

him!’” (Psalm 22:7,8and Matthew 27:29-

43).

“My God, my God, why haveyou forsaken me? Why are you sofar from helping me, and from thewords of my groaning?” (Psalm

22:1 and Matthew 27:46).

“They divide my garments amongthem, and for my clothing they cast

123rd Year 15

lots” (Psalm 22:18 and Matthew27:35).

The dreadful events that Matthewrecords mirror the words of the Psalmas it also unfolds the graphic detail ofJesus’ suffering. It has been well saidthat God must have revealed to thepsalmist, in an earlier age, the verywords which Jesus would need to usefrom the cross before he died. Noticeagain the involvement of other peoplein the crucifixion.

Bible ProphecyJesus fulfilled in his life whatthe Old Testamentsaid about him.The two standor fall togeth-er. Since how-ever what waswritten abouthim wasrecordedyears before theevents the correspon-dence is truly remarkable and wemust say that only God could haveknown it would happen in the way itdid.

We have of course taken a very lim-ited number of examples; there aremany more and it is worthwhilesearching out and following, as it were,the life story of Jesus as it is foretold in

the Old Testament.This is, of itself, a wonderful proof

that the record is true and above allreliable. Could the gospel writers, insome very devious way, have woventogether the stories we have in theNew Testament about Jesus, using theOld Testament as their source materi-al?1. Secular history does tell us some-

thing about Jesus of Nazareth,sufficient to add to the truth ofthose writers.

2. The four gospel accounts, obvi-ously written with slightly differentpurposes in mind, are exactly likethe accounts that might be givenby four witnesses to the sameevents. They have the ring of truthabout them.

3. The more we place the accountsunder the microscope, the morethey corroborate one another. Inall the detail that is provided,rather than being able to finderrors we find support. And thecloser we get to the accounts themore we get to know the real Sav-iour at the heart of the record.

That is another good reason why weneed to start listening to the voice ofthe Master.

David Nightingale

Readers will be sorry to hear about the death of John Norcrosswho for many years was a member of the Glad Tidings team. Heworked for Jarvis North West Print, our printers, and was respon-sible for much of our design work, including the new formatintroduced in 2000 and the change to full colour last year.

John was a keen mountaineer and is pictured here at the Ever-est base camp. Sadly, he died in a mountaineering accident inWales just a few weeks ago. We miss him greatly and send ourlove to his wife, Sue, and all the family.

John’s hope was firmly fixed upon the Lord Jesus and Histeaching. He now sleeps awaiting his Return.

16 Glad Tidings

“Crime against Humanity”As it is now 200 years since “The Abo-lition of Slavery Act” there has been alot of heart-searching in Britain aboutwhat happened. And, once again, ithas stirred up a lot of bad feeling inthose nations which were most affect-ed, notably in Africa and theCaribbean. Some terrible things weredone by many nations, and huge prof-its were made by snatching peopleaway from their homes and forcingthem to work for nothing on planta-tions far from home.

Between 10 and 30 million peoplewere taken as slaves. Many died enroute, in cramped and awful travellingconditions, and when they arrived theslaves were treated despicably. Theyhad no human rights. In some placesit was made lawful to kill slaves whoran away; branding and rape werecommonplace; they could be punishedfor rebellion by being nailed to theground or by being burnedgradually, starting at the feetand hands and then progress-ing up to the head. No wonderright-minded folk wanted toabolish this horrible abuse ofpeople.

Not So SimpleThings are seldom as simpleas they seem and it was so inthis case. William Wilberforcedid not abolish slavery by him-

self: far from it! There were very manycontributory factors.

Slaves rebelled from the start, thefirst rebellion being in 1570 and atleast 250 rebellions were recorded onboard ship. In 1760 there was a rebel-lion in Jamaica of some 30,000 slavesand in 1793, when British troops triedto capture the French territory of StDominique (now Haiti) they were quiteunable to overpower the slaves whoopposed them, and more than 12,000British redcoats were killed.

That’s the reason why UNESCO offi-cially recognise August 23 − theanniversary of the St Dominique rebel-lion − as slavery’s official Remem-brance Day.

Joint EffortMeanwhile, in the House of Commonsin London, Wilberforce was affected bya prize essay, written in Latin and sub-mitted to Cambridge University, by ayoung man named Thomas Clarkson.

The topic was “Is it Lawful toEnslave the Unconsenting?” andClarkson concluded that it wasnot lawful. As part of his researchinto the topic, he had met andinterviewed those with personalexperience of the slave trade andslavery. It changed his life forthereafter he became devoted tothe cause of abolition.

Joined by Quakers, who werealready working towards that end,

The Abolition of SlaveryThe Abolition of SlaveryAsk anyone in Britain what they know about slavery and the chances are that

the one person they will recall is William Wilberforce. He is widely regarded asthe person who achieved abolition by persuading the British Parliament to pass aBill, in 1807, which banned the British slave trade, and which led to the release

of all British slaves in 1833 (the year that Wilberforce died).

trade”. Of course, the greatest

memorial is the fact that,200 years on we canrejoice that slavery hasbeen abolished. Or has it?

Slavery TodayRecent research suggeststhat slavery still exists, inone form or another, inmany parts of the world,where people are beingforced to do things againsttheir will, often being held

as captives to prevent their escape.Some have suggested that there areas many as 27 million forced labourersworldwide, and that Asia, Latin Ameri-ca, the Caribbean and sub-SaharanAfrica have the highest incidence offorced labour in relation to their popu-lation.

Forced labour affects millions of peo-ple around the world. It can be foundin every region, in almost all countries

and in every kind ofeconomy, according tothe UN. It is defined aswork which is exactedunder the menace of apenalty and undertak-en involuntarily. Forcedlabour can be imposedby the state or privateagents and takes dif-ferent forms, includingdebt bondage, chattelslavery and prisonlabour.

A growing proportionof forced labourers arevictims of human traf-ficking. It requiresanother Thomas Clark-son or William Wilber-force to achieve the

123rd Year 17

Clarkson and others were ableto meet with Wilberforce and togive him support as he venturedto bring legislation before Parlia-ment. Wilberforce was not a wellorganised man, and relied heav-ily upon his supporters. Clarksonbecame his organiser and is saidto have travelled some 35,000miles by horseback during thefirst seven or eight years after1787, throughout England,Scotland and Wales.

He organised local commit-tees, gathered the testimoniesof seamen about the slave trade, andwrote and edited a long stream ofbooks, leaflets and pamphlets on thesubject, which he also distributed. Hewas the person who had made the cru-cial alliance with the Quakers, whichbrought financial support to the move-ment, and he also mustered a networkof volunteers across the country. All ofthat was vital to the success of the leg-islation.

A Devoted LifeThomas Clarksondied in September1846, at Ipswich,and was buried inPlayford, Suffolkwhere this memorialstands, to signify thathe was the Friend ofSlaves. Anothermemorial, at Wades-bridge, reads: “Onthis spot wherestands this monu-ment in the month ofJune 1785 ThomasClarkson resolved todevote his life tobringing about theabolition of the slave

Thomas Clarkson aspainted by Carl Frederik

18 Glad Tidings

women, liberated by the redeemingwork of Jesus, when we becomebelievers and are baptized into his sav-ing name. He offers us freedom fromsin in this life and in the life to come,everlasting life.

Jesus is ComingWhen he returns to earth, Jesus willbring liberty and salvation to all thosewho are oppressed and distressed bythe ways of this world. He is coming toset up a world government which willright all present and past wrongs. He,and only he, will be able to take awaythe hurts and scars of so much suffer-ing and injustice. For Jesus knows at

first hand what it is like to be cruellytreated, wrongfully arrested,

and rejected as useless. Sohe is the One to putthings right and that is

what the Scripture promis-es:

“Give the king your judg-ments, O God, and yourrighteousness to theking’s Son. He will judge

your people with right-eousness, and your poor

with justice. The mountainswill bring peace to the people,

and the little hills, by righteousness.He will bring justice to the poor of thepeople; he will save the children of theneedy, and will break in pieces theoppressor…” (Psalm 72:1-4).

No monument was ever erected nearthe burial place of Jesus, for he is stillalive, having conquered death, and hewill come again as promised. We hon-our him, and remember him, in theway we should, not by erecting pillars,but by dedicating our lives in his serv-ice and by seeking to follow his com-mandments and teachings.

emancipation of these poor people,and there is such a change inprospect.

The Friend of SlavesThe Lord Jesus Christ devoted his lifeto doing the will of his Father. He total-ly surrendered himself to that end,being willing to travel wherever therewas work to do, putting himself out tosatisfy the needs of others, and puttingtheir welfare and requirements beforehis own. He once said:

“Foxes have holes and birds of the airhave nests, but the Son of Man hasnowhere to lay his head” (Matthew8:20).

And it was said of him that:

“Though he was rich(being the Son of God),yet for your sakes hebecame poor, thatyou through hispoverty mightbecome rich” (2Corinthians 8:9).

Jesus gave his life toset men and womenfree from the bondage ofsin and death. For, althoughit may not look like it, we are allin fact slaves of sin and death. We sinand therefore we die, and only Jesuscan set us free.

“Do you not know that to whom youpresent yourselves as slaves to obey,you are that one’s slaves whom youobey, whether of sin to death, or ofobedience to righteousness? But Godbe thanked that though you wereslaves of sin, yet you obeyed from theheart that form of doctrine to whichyou were delivered” (Romans6:16,17).

We can become free men and

123rd Year 19

Many people have asked the question:“Why have the Jews had such a toughtime?” The simple answer is that Godsaid that would happen if they weredisobedient to Him. However, a littlemore investigation is needed.

Covenant AgreementWhen God brought Israel out of Egypt,He made an agreement with them. Ifthey were faithful He would blessthem; if they were unfaithful He wouldcurse them. Hearing that, the nationalrepresentatives agreed. That was howit would be.

Deuteronomy 27:15-26 lists someof the commandments of God. and thepeople agreed with God’s terms.Deuteronomy chapter 28 lists theblessings that would flow if Israel wereobedient; then verses 16-68 list thecurses that would come if Israel wereunfaithful. Looking at some of them,we can see how the curses were ful-filled

Deuteronomy 28:22 ‘The Lordshall smite thee with … blasting andmildew’ which was fulfilled in the daysof Amos – See Amos 4:9

Deuteronomy 28:25 ‘Thou shaltbe removed into all the kingdoms ofthe world’ – which was fulfilled whenIsrael were taken to Babylon – seeLamentations 1:8.

Deuteronomy 28:53 ‘Thou shalteat the fruit of thine own body’ −which was fulfilled in the time of thekings – see 2 Kings 6:29.

Deuteronomy 28:65 ‘Among thesenations shalt thou find no ease’ –which has been Israel’s experience allround the world. They have sufferedpersecution in most places on earth.

Purposeful PunishmentThis was not simply mindless punish-ment from God. There was a purposein all of it. God was looking for Israel torepent and turn to serve Him. Theproblems they faced were prompts tohelp them do just that. A recurringmessage in the prophet Amos, whoquotes the curses, is that those cursesshould have brought about repen-tance.

Amos 4:7-8 ‘I have witholden therain … yet have ye not returnedunto me’

Amos 4:9 ‘I have smitten youwith blasting and mildew … yet haveye not returned unto me’

Amos 4:10 ‘I have sent amongyou the pestilence after the manner ofEgypt … yet have ye not returnedunto me’

Amos 4:11 ‘I have overthrownsome of you (like) Sodom and Gomor-rah … yet have ye not returned untome’

God is not vindictive. Rather, Heseeks obedience so that He can bless.This is true for us as well as for Israel.God wants to give us eternal life in thekingdom of God when Jesus Christreturns. However the offer is notunconditional. “God so loved theworld, that he gave his only begottenSon, that whosoever believeth in himshould not perish, but have everlastinglife” (John 3:16) .

Notice the condition. There is ever-lasting life for all those who believe.How about you?

Peter Forbes

Israel – Blessed or Not?Israel – Blessed or Not?

Local Information

Ahead of its Time

The Bible may be a very ancient book butit is very much up-to-date. Itis easy to forget how recent-ly the health and hygieneprocedures, we take somuch for granted, wererediscovered. Only whenwe consider what the con-temporary nations sur-rounding Israel in OldTestament times practised do we begin torealise how much the Bible was, and is,ahead of its time.

John Hellawell

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