Scripture Engagement

We have hope!  (1-3) This is a difficult passage in many ways – but an encouraging one – if you read it in the right way. What we often do is just read it and say, ‘What does this mean to me, now?’ That’s ok, but not the best. We are usually best advised to start with some background information, then work out what it meant then, and only then what it means now and to me and you personally. So: John believed that they were at the end of the age. He was expecting the ‘man of lawlessness’ to appear and cause a crisis for believers during which persecution would break out against God’s people. Also, notice how often the word ‘ abide ’ (live, remain) occurs. Six times in this passage! And where else have we come across that word? In John 15:1 – ‘I am the true vine and my father is the gardener’. v4 ‘abide in me…’ So I’m going to suggest that that is one of the keys to understanding this passage. We are commanded to abide in Jesus. If we abide in him, what does that look like? It ...

Many years ago I wrote a paper on a Hebrew term that means ‘to go into exile’. The Hebrew is ‘galah’. At root it means ‘to depart’ or ‘to exit’.  Think about the current situation of refugees from Syria and elsewhere. They are also exiles from their homeland. We experience feelings of alienation in Western society. Pink Floyd made a whole career out of it (starting with ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, then ‘Wish you were here’ with the track ‘Shine on you crazy diamond’). This blog will discuss the two opposites: Exile Reconciliation Old Testament Teaching on Exile In the Old Testament, first we read about exile. But then comes the imagination of the prophets: Do not remember the former things… See, I am doing a new thing! Brueggemann calls the year 587 BC the ‘pivot’: The end of the known world and its relinquishment > 587 < The reception of a new world given by God through these poets [the prophets] The Jews consid...