John 3:16 – The Hidden Truth of Salvation for the Dead

‘God so loved the cosmos that He sent his only Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ John 3:16

Often rated the most famous verse in the Bible, these words of Jesus contain a hidden truth which will be fresh and surprising to many Christians.

The Greek word usually translated ‘world,’ is ‘cosmos.’ ‘Whoever’ applies to the whole cosmos. Whoever believes in Jesus, whoever comes to believe in Jesus, in whatever part of the cosmos, shall not perish but have eternal life.

What is the cosmos as John and his first readers understood it?

John and his first readers were, mostly, from a Jewish background. John wrote in Greek but his understanding was Jewish, formed not by Greek mythology but by the Old Testament.

Here is a diagram, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_cosmology, of the Old Testament cosmos:

In this cosmos, people who are alive are on the earth, people who are dead are in Sheol. This is the simple truth of the Jewish Scriptures, of the Old Testament. Everyone goes to Sheol when they die. For rich and poor, righteous and wicked, Sheol is their abode after this life.

Details about Sheol are patchy. Sheol is also known as the Pit, the Grave. Philip S Johnston wrote a book about Sheol: (‘Shades of Sheol Apollos IVP 2002.)  ‘Descriptive details are very sparse, but suggest a somnolent, gloomy existence without meaningful activity or social distinction… There is certainly no elaborate journey through the gates or stages of the underworld, in Mesopotamian or Egyptian style… So the underworld in Israel’s canonical literature can be summarized as an infrequent theme and an unwelcome fate.’

In the New Testament, Sheol is translated into the Greek Hades. This is clear from Acts 2: where Peter quotes Psalm 16. The Hebrew is ‘You do not give me up to Sheol…’ The Greek is ‘You will not abandon my soul to Hades.’ Hades is the same place as Sheol. Whoever in Sheol (Hades) who believes in Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 says that whoever in the cosmos, whoever on the earth and whoever in Sheol (Hades), who believes in Jesus, shall have eternal life.

John 3:16 has been taken as giving hope and reason for evangelism across the whole of our world. John 3:16 also gives hope and reason for evangelism throughout Sheol (Hades.)

Are people in Sheol (Hades) for eternity?

No. Everyone in Sheol (Hades) leaves at the Final Judgement.

In Revelation John sees Death and Hades giving up the dead that were in them, and all being judged for what they had done. Rev. 20:13. Sheol (Hades) is a holding place until Final Judgement. We call a holding place before Final Judgement a remand prison. Sheol (Hades) is the remand prison for Final Judgement.

How can dead people come to believe in Jesus?

Because Jesus has been to Sheol (Hades) too and now has the keys of Sheol (Hades.)

In Acts 2 Peter explains that it is primarily Jesus whose soul was not abandoned to Hades. Peter says that Jesus was killed but God freed Jesus from death because it was impossible for Jesus to be held in death. Jesus was in the place of death, the place of all dead people, Sheol (Hades), but this place could not hold him. Sheol (Hades) holds everyone who dies, but it could not hold Jesus. Jesus has been into Sheol (Hades) and out again.

When John 3:16 says that God sent his Son, we think of Jesus being sent into the world. John thought of Jesus being sent into the cosmos, into the world of the living and into the world of the dead. God so loved the world that he sent his Son into Sheol (Hades) so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus confirms this as he speaks to John in Revelation 1:17, 18: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last and the living one. I was dead, and, see, I am alive for ever and ever. And I have the keys of Death and Hades.’

Having keys means being able to enter and exit a place whenever we want with whoever we want. Jesus can enter and exit Sheol (Hades) whenever he wants with whoever he wants. Jesus can continue to be with those in Sheol (Hades), giving them the opportunity to believe in him so that they will not perish after Final Judgement but have eternal life.

Does any other part of the Bible teach this?

John 1:29 ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the cosmos.’

John the Baptist points to Jesus as the one who takes away the sins of people in our world and in the world of the dead.

1 Peter 4:6 ‘For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.’

Peter expresses a general truth, that the good news of Jesus was brought to people in the world of the dead, in Sheol (Hades.) Earlier Peter specifically mentions Jesus preaching to the generations before the flood. Here he widens it to simply ‘the dead.’

When Jesus first went to Sheol (Hades) he proclaimed good news of forgiveness to people there. Now Jesus has the ability to continue to go to Sheol (Hades,) to proclaim good news of forgiveness to people there.

(The NIV translation reads ‘the gospel was preached to those who are now dead.’ The word ‘now’ is in no Greek manuscripts. It has been inserted into the original text by the translators.)

Matthew 16:18 ‘You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not withstand it.’

All gates keep people out of a place and keep people in a place. The gates keeping people out of Sheol (Hades) and in Sheol (Hades) will not withstand the church. The church will be able to go into Sheol (Hades) and out of Sheol (Hades) just as Jesus is now able to in and out or Sheol (Hades.) The church assists the mission of Jesus not only in the world of the living but also in the world of the dead.

Matthew 12:32 ‘Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.’

Only speaking against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven beyond this life. Other sins will be forgiven beyond this life. Sheol (Hades) is part of the age to come, the age, the life, beyond this life, where nearly all sins will be forgiven.

Revelation 14:9-11 People are held, before Final Judgement. They are ‘in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.’ See Revelation 14:9-11: All About Hades | Rogerharper’s Blog (wordpress.com)

Psalm 16:10 ‘For you do not give mu up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit.’

Peter understood this as not only thanks for healing when facing possible death, but also thanks for God’s ability to bring people, firstly Jesus, out of Sheol.

Psalm 88:10-12 ‘Do you work wonders for the dead?  Do the shades rise up to praise you?
Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,  or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
Are your wonders known in the darkness,  or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?’

The question is asked in hope. Jesus gives the answer. ‘Yes!’

Psalm 139:8 ‘If I ascend to heaven you are there, if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.’

God’s comforting, light-giving presence, is known in dark Sheol. The presence of Jesus, God With Us, in Sheol, is, as always, a saving presence.   

Proverbs 15:11 ‘Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD…’

Sheol (Hades) is definitely open to Jesus, because he now has the keys.

Proverbs 15:24 ‘For the wise the path of life leads upwards; in order to avoid Sheol below.’

An unusual verse indicating that the wise can go, after death, to an unspecified other place. Jesus, the most wise, went to Sheol, and came out. A more consistent understanding is that, like Jesus and because of Jesus and with Jesus, the wise, the ones who fear God and seek forgiveness, will leave Sheol for Paradise.

Jonah 2:2 & 6 ‘I called to the LORD out of my distress and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried and you heard my voice.’ ‘I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me for ever; yet you brought up my life from the Pit.’

Certain death in the great fish in the sea is the same as actual death in Sheol. God can save those in Sheol.

More detail is in my book: https://www.laddermedia.co.uk/lie-of-hell

Revelation 14:9-11: All About Hades

Revelation 14

⁹ Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, ‘Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands, ¹⁰ they will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the mark of its name.’

My heart sank when I read these verses while researching ‘The Lie of Hell’ The Lie of Hell (laddermedia.co.uk). Everything I had read in the Bible before these 3 verses was pointing me away from the Hell of Eternal Conscious Torment. Here, to my horror, seemed to be the opposite: confirmation that this Hell is real and to be taught.

I turned to Jesus. ‘What now?’ ‘Don’t be afraid. Keep looking carefully,’ was His reassuring response. Looking carefully at Rev. 14:9-11 has meant no longer seeing these verses confirming the Hell of Eternal Torment. Instead, these 3 verses contain 4 indicators which confirm the reality of the place the New Testament calls Hades and the Old Testament calls Sheol, together with the remarkable truth that the saving Jesus is present there.

Many other people have understood these verses to be the strongest, almost the only, clear Bible teaching for the Hell of Eternal Torment. ‘Hell Under Fire’ was published in 2004 to teach the awful reality of this Hell. In this book, these 3 verses from Revelation 14 form the foundation of the whole argument for Hell. If these same verses confirm Hades, rather than Hell, the Biblical foundation for Hell is removed. Much re-evaluating will follow.

First Indicator of Hades: The Angels

‘Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice…’ Rev 14:9 We are in a sequence of angels. The first calls people to worship God, the Creator. The second proclaims the fall of Babylon, the great spirit of Empire, in its manifestation, in New Testament times, as the Roman Empire. This Empire is also portrayed as the beast. The third angel proclaims the future of those who worship the beast.

This future is not, however, the ultimate future. In v 15 we read of another angel. This 4^th angel emerges with the appearance of the great white cloud where the Son of Man sits, with His crown and sickle. Jesus the King comes on the clouds. The 4^th angel announces that the hour of Judgement has come.’ The 3^rd angel, therefore, announces a future which is before the Final Judgement. Everything in v9-11 occurs before, not after Final Judgement.

Hades is the place where death tried and failed to hold Jesus. Acts 2:24-28. Hades in the place which holds people until the Final Judgement. Then Hades is itself destroyed, incinerated in the lake of fire, Rev 20:13,14. Hades is in operation before, not after Final Judgment. The place announced by the 3^rd angel, before Final Judgement, is Hades.

Hades is distinct from Gehenna, the place where body and soul are destroyed, Matthew 10:28, in the second death, after Final Judgement, Rev. 20:13-15.

Second Indicator of Hades: Torment

This future announced by the 3^rd angel is to experience ongoing torment – ‘basanismos’ in Greek. A very similar word ‘basanois’ is used by Jesus in Luke 16:23 of the torment of the rich man who ignored the beggar Lazarus. Jesus says, in the same verse, that this torment is ‘in Hades.’ The torment of the Rich Man in Hades involves intense, unbearable, heat. The torment of the people in Rev 14:9-11 involves intense, unbearable, heat, fire and sulphur. The torment is the same, so the place is the same.

We know from Rev 20:13,14 that Hades is not eternal. Hades comes to an end at the Final Judgement. Therefore, the torment in Hades is not eternal, it comes to an end at the Final Judgement.

The torment in Rev. 14:9-11 is an outworking of the wrath of God.  Isaiah 57:16, Psalm 103:9, Jeremiah 3:12 all say that God will not be angry for ever. God’s anger is not forever. God’s anger being expressed in Hades, which is not forever, is consistent with this clear Bible message. The Hell of Eternal Torment, understood as the eternal expression of God’s anger, is inconsistent with Bible teaching on the anger of God.

Third Indicator of Hades: Not ‘For ever and ever,’ but ‘for ages and ages.’

The dramatic fear-inspiring wording of Rev 14:9-11, combined with traditional Christian teaching of Hell which includes the misguided understanding that the wrath of God is forever, or people feel its effects forever, makes us think that this torment must be forever. We read that ‘the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever.’

A careful look at the Greek words, shows, however that ‘for ages and ages’ is a better translation than ‘for ever and ever.’ The Greek phrase normally translated ‘for ever and ever’ is, literally, ‘to the ages of ages.’ Here, though, the Greek phrase is ‘to ages of ages.’ The definite article, ‘the,’ is not in the text. This is a different phrase from ‘to the ages of ages,’ and should bot be translated as though it were that phrase. Better to stay close to the Greek words and translate ‘for ages and ages.’

Although Hades is not forever it is in operation for a very long time, with no clear idea of when the times will end – for ages and ages.

Rev 14:10 pictures God’s anger as poured into a cup from which people have to drink. This echoes Isaiah 51:22:

Thus says your Sovereign, the Lord,
    your God who pleads the cause of his people:
See, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering;
you shall drink no more
    from the bowl of my wrath.

Drinking the cup of God’s wrath can come to an end. Hades, the place which comes to an end, is the location described in Rev. 14:9-11

Fourth Indicator of Hades ‘the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.’

The presence of Jesus and His angels with the people in torment is the most striking feature of Rev. 14:9-11. After reading of people having to drink the cup of God’s wrath, of fire and sulphur, we are not expecting Jesus to be present in the same place. We need to look carefully at these words too.

In the Greek ‘in the presence of’ is one word ‘enopion.’ The same word occurs earlier, in Rev 14:3, where it is usually translated ‘before,’ ‘they sing a new song before the throne.’ Here it means close to the throne. These worshippers do not see the throne from a distance, they see it close at hand. They worship the one seated on the throne in a close, intimate, relationship. ‘Enopion’ is translated elsewhere most commonly as ‘before’ or ‘in the presence of’ or ‘in the sight of.’ Every time, it describes a close, not a distant, relationship.

In Rev.14:10 Jesus is not seated at an exalted distance, watching from afar. Jesus is close, present with, the people in torment as close, as present, as with the people worshipping Him and His Father in Rev.14:3.

In Matthew 25 Jesus tells a parable of His Final Judgement, separating the sheep and the goats. To the goats, those being sent into ‘the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’ the Son of Man says ‘Depart from me…’ The fire after Final Judgement is away from the presence of Jesus. The fire in Rev.14:9-11 cannot, therefore, be this fire. Revelation 21 also describes the Lamb in the New Jerusalem and the wicked, the unrepentant, outside the city, away from the Lamb, not present with the Lamb.

Hades is the Greek, New Testament, name for Sheol, the Old Testament place of the dead. This is clear from Acts 2:27 where Peter quotes Psalm 16. The Greek words in Acts are ‘you will not abandon my soul to Hades.’ The Hebrew of Psalm 16 is ‘you did not give me up me to Sheol.’

Psalm 139:8 states ‘If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.’ The presence of God is known, even in Sheol, the place of the dead, Hades. Rev 14:10 states the same. Jesus, God-With-Us, the Lamb, is present in Hsdes, along with His holy angels.

Revelation 14:9-11 fit very well with Biblical teaching on Hades. The Four Indicators, together, lead to the conclusion that, although John, the writer, does not name the place, he is seeing Hades.  

How can the Lamb be present in Hades?

At the beginning of Revelation, John sees the glorified Jesus:

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive for ever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.

Having the keys to a place means having the right and ability to go on and out of the place at will. The Lamb of God, present with those in torment in Hades, has used His keys to go in. Rev. 14:10 confirms that Jesus uses His keys, not only to empty Hades at the Final Judgement, but also to be present with people in Hades before the Final Judgement.

Why is the Lamb present in Hades?

John the Baptist proclaimed that Jesus is ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the cosmos.’ John 1:29. We are used to ‘takes away the sins of the world,’ but the Greek word is, literally, cosmos.

For John, and his Jewish readers, the cosmos was ‘the heavens, the earth and under the earth.’ ‘Under the earth’ was Sheol / Hades, the place of the dead. This map picture comes from the Wikipedia page ‘Biblical Cosmology.’

Jesus, the Lamb of God, takes away the sins of the cosmos, of those on the earth and of those under the earth, of those in this life and of those in the place of the dead, in Sheol / Hades. Jesus is present in Hades in order to take away the sins of the people in Hades. Hence His being called here ‘the Lamb.’

Jesus is present in Hades as He was present with the thieves on the Cross, the place of the dying. He hung, bloodied and suffering. One thief derided him. The other thief recognised his own sin and asked Jesus to give him a future. Jesus gave this second thief the assurance that he would be with Him that day in Paradise. Jesus, the Lamb of God, took away the sins of the repentant, believing, thief.

The Lamb in Revelation, seen first in Rev.5:6, looks ‘as if it had been slaughtered.’ The Lamb in Revelation 14:10 is the same Lamb. Jesus, the Lamb of God, suffers derision from some and elicits repentance and faith from some, taking away their sins.

Revelation 14:9-11 seems, at first glance, and according to much traditional teaching, the most gut-wrenching, hopeless, verses in the New Testament. A close look shows them, instead, to point to more hope, more grace, more of a future for more people, than Christians, and others, have been led to believe.

General Synod and Gay Marriage Blessing: Time for God’s Accommodation

The Bishops of the Church of England are recommending Accommodation. They want to accommodate people in gay marriages and the people who campaign for their inclusion. They want to accommodate gay people for whom gay marriage is ungodly and the people who campaign for them. Their current proposal to accommodate both groups is to encourage the Blessing of Gay Marriages.

The Bishops’ proposal has predictably been greeted with outrage by people in both groups. Both extremes argue that it is wrong to accommodate the other side. Both extremes reject the whole idea of Accommodation. How can we have something as flawed and half-hearted as Accommodation, particularly about something as fundamental as human sexuality?

It is time to assert that the God of Jesus and of the Bible accommodates to human sexuality.

Jesus was clear. God’s purpose has always been for one woman and one man for life. How many men were created for a woman? How many women were created for a man? Heterosexual monogamy is and has always been the best practice of human sexuality, has been God’s way.

Has God insisted on His own way? Or has He accommodated to humans?

Jesus accommodated in a remarkable and unacknowledged way. When going through the Gospels for 2. Listening to Jesus | Gay Marriage Maybe (wordpress.com) I missed Matthew 19:11. Jesus has been teaching seemingly strict monogamy. Then he says: ‘Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given.’

Monogamy is not a teaching which should be imposed on everyone. Some people can’t accept it. That’s OK for them. They may find, in the end, that they have a less fulfilled, more fraught, life. But Jesus says ‘Don’t insist on My way. About lifelong monogamy, accommodate.’

Paul honoured this accommodation by teaching that church leaders should be monogamous, other church members not necessarily.

The Old Testament shouts that, in mattes of sexuality, the LORD has accommodated, even in His chosen people. He accommodated to Abraham and Sarah using Hagar and to Abraham in late life taking other wives. Isaac was the exception. (For more on Isaac’s remarkable monogamy see Jacob The Son (laddermedia.co.uk)) From Jacob onwards, monogamy was hardly considered. Polygamy and concubinage was the norm.

Does this apply to Gay Marriage? Probably. It would be very odd of God to accommodate human sexuality in one way and not in another. Accommodating Gay Marriage does not mean accommodating the whole variety of human sexual practice, either heterosexual or gay. Monogamous Gay Marriage is as much a bar to Bisexual practice as Monogamous Heterosexual Marriage.

More positively, we follow the example, the spirit, of our God in accommodating our practice of marriage to gay people. Surely, gay people are some of those to whom Jesus’s teaching on monogamous heterosexual marriage has not been given? We make room for them by blessing their desire to live in a faithful lifelong monogamous relationship.

Is such Accommodation a response to the leading of the Holy Spirit today? Probably. Discernment of the leading of the Holy Spirit is a matter of careful, open, examination by the whole Church. This process has yet to be started. The Church of England has spent years listening to each other about Gay Marriage as well as listening to Leviticus and Romans. Now, we should listen more to the recorded words of Jesus and to the Holy Spirit, who can bring us, today, truths which we could not bear before. 3. Listening to the Holy Spirit | Gay Marriage Maybe (wordpress.com)

Part of our listening to the Holy Spirit is to allow people to follow their consciences and then to see what happens. Does God withdraw His blessing from them? (For a great example of God withdrawing blessing look at what happened to Jacob when he allowed his sons to slaughter the Shechemites, and God ‘went up from him.’ Genesis 34, 35 and following.) Or does He bless them the same as His other children? This was the wisdom of Gamaliel, Acts 5:34-39.

Biblically, we can agree with the Bishops in seeking to accommodate people in gay marriages. We must also agree to accommodate fellow Christians of opposing views. If two thirds of the Church representatives agree to the accommodating Blessing of Gay Marriage, some of the remaining one third may threaten to leave. To these unaccommodating Christians we say a reluctant ‘Farewell.’ Loving, accommodating, our sisters and brothers in Christ, is a clear, unequivocal, Jesus imperative. The minority who cannot accept this imperative will, sadly, have to find another home.

We have an accommodating God. Let’s be His accommodating people.

PS I was expecting the decision on Blessings of Gay Marriage to need a two thirds majority, so I wrote ‘If two thirds of the Church representatives agree…’ I was dismayed that the Bishops had decided not to follow a great Church of England practice – needing a two thirds majority for a significant change. Now I add my voice to those of Church Leaders and Bishops calling for a new vote needing a two thirds majority.

I continue to support the Bishops’ proposal but believe that the unity of the Church is more important. How can we go ahead happily if 40% of our people do not want this development? Disregard for such a substantial minority is neither Anglican nor Christian.

What is Jacob The Son about?

Favouritism and rivalry in the original Biblical family?

The power of women in a patriarchal society?

Tensions between immigrants and the long-settled community?

The guidance and promises of God to fallible people?

The great dream of the father who gave Joseph his technicolor dreamcoat?

Jacob The Son is about all of these, and more.

Hard to sum up. Hard to categorise.

Expanding the familiar. Breaking fresh ground.

https://www.laddermedia.co.uk/jacob-the-son

Some readers have said the Introduction explains well:

Many people know that Jacob dreamed of a ladder to heaven. Most do not know the message of that dream and whether Jacob heeded it. Many people know that Jacob cheated his twin brother, Esau, out of his blessing. Most do not know whether or how they were ever reconciled. Many people know that Jacob wrestled with God. Most do not know why God was determined to pin Jacob to the ground. Many people know that Jacob had his name changed to Israel. Most do not know how Jacob connived in the first genocide. Many people know that Jacob gave his son Joseph an amazing coat. Most do not know how Jacob angered Joseph in blessing his sons. Many people know that Jacob was promised blessing in the land we know as Israel / Palestine. Most do not know how he came to die an alien in Egypt.

As well as recounting and explaining the lesser-known times in Jacob’s life, the three parts of Jacob The Full Story portray his thoughts and feelings, his conversations with others, and the background to the Bible account.

Jews have long filled out their Bible stories in a tradition called midrash. Myjewishlearning.com explains: ‘Midrash is commonly defined as the process of interpretation by which the rabbis filled in “gaps” found in the Torah. It is a literature that seeks to ask the questions that lie on the tips of our tongues, and to answer them even before we have posed them.’

Jacob The Full Story carries on and extends the Jewish midrash tradition in a fresh way. Some of the filling out comes from drawing on other parts of the Bible story, for instance the impact of Jacob’s twin brother Esau choosing to marry two foreign wives compared to their father Isaac holding steadfastly to one wife, recounted earlier in Genesis. What would Jacob, and others, have thought about this double marriage? Imagination supplies the answers, creating dialogues of different points of view.

One filling-in, which you will read, is that, when Jacob had to leave his parents’ home, he took servants with him. Jacob’s father, Isaac, is called a very wealthy man. Would his son travel entirely on his own? Jacob’s companions each provide a fresh, prophetic, perspective on his journey.

The words of the companions help to explain the story. Genesis is a ‘show, don’t tell’ book. Genesis shows blessing coming to Jacob after he received the promise of blessing. The writer does not also specifically tell us that each blessing was the fulfilment of the promise. Genesis shows blessing being withdrawn from Jacob. The writer indicates reasons for the withdrawal of blessing within the story, but does not specifically tell us these reasons. In Jacob The Full Story Jacob’s companions comment on the story from within the story. There is more telling as well as more showing, the telling expressing different points of view.

Among the voices we hear more than in Genesis is that of Rebecca, Jacob’s mother. She is one of the great Jewish matriarchs, founding mothers. A long-standing Jewish tradition sees all the matriarchs as prophets, people who could hear God speaking and pass on what they heard to the people. At the beginning of Jacob’s life, before he was born, Genesis tells us that Rebecca was able to go to God, question him, and hear an answer. Jacob – The Son brings out more of Rebecca’s prophetic wisdom.

One question has been how to refer to the God of Jacob. Genesis mostly writes God’s name as YHWH, unpronounceable letters which have long been replaced with the euphemism ‘The LORD.’ (Like saying ‘Her Majesty’ rather than the Queen’s name.) But we are also told that this ‘name’ was first given to Moses, generations after Jacob. ‘The LORD’ is also now a characteristically Christian rendering of YWYH. Many Jews use ‘Ha Shem’ ‘The Name.’ The modern French Bible uses ‘L’Eternel’ ‘The Eternal One.’ I have chosen to focus on the distinctive belief in a single God held by Abraham’s family, including his grandson, Jacob. Instead of ‘the LORD’ or ‘Ha Shem,’ you will read ‘The One.’ In a world where people believed in many gods, each behind one of the many powers in nature, Jacob and his family dared to believe that behind the manifold, sometimes competing, powers of nature, was One God.

In the Bible this God is known as ‘the God of Jacob’, more than ‘the God of Abraham,’ much more than ‘the God of Moses.’ This God has chosen to make himself known through the life of this man. Jacob had his name changed to Israel. ‘The God of Israel’ is the God of the same man.

As Jacob and Israel are the same person, how much is the story of the nation Israel the story of the man Jacob? Is the life of Jacob echoed in the life of ancient Israel, in the life of modern Israel?Read Jacob – The Full Story and decide for yourself.

The God of Jacob is the God of Christians as well as Jews. How are people of all cultures to relate to Him? The Full Story shines light on these questions for all people.

Available at https://www.laddermedia.co.uk/jacob-the-son and on Amazon UK

Roger Harper

Jacob The Son – Reactions

Warning! Jacob the Son could endanger your privacy:

‘I was reading Jacob The Son on the Tube to work and enjoying it. Then I laughed out loud, and people turned to look at me.’

If you don’t mind strangers noticing you a little, why not take Jacob The Son with you for the train, the plane, the pool?

https://www.laddermedia.co.uk/jacob-the-son

AF enjoyed the book:

‘A pacey and entertaining account of Jacob’s early life, struggles and relationships with his parents and his brother Esau. I loved the intriguing idea of “Midrash” or filling in explained in the book’s introduction; the author cleverly and convincingly “fills in” and builds on the biblical story, raising thought provoking questions about faith and perseverance, loyalty and trust.

Jacob’s mother Rebecca is especially appealing as a character and is brought to life via entertaining dialogue with her husband Isaac and sons. What will happen next? The author promises a trilogy which will complete the re imagining of Jacob’s story. I will definitely want to read the next books in the series.’

Marshall enjoyed the book:

‘A Bible story brought to life. This book is an easy read with some lovely touches of humour. It is fun to see the relationships between the characters grow and develop. At the same time it caused me to pause and question. What was life like back then? Have family dynamics and relationships changed over the centuries? Deception! What about faith? Can we hear God today? I’m looking forward to the next book in the trilogy. It is rare to find a book that is both entertaining and thought provoking. Highly recommended.’

Rebecca enjoyed the book:

‘I really enjoyed reading this retelling of the story of Jacob. It was light but true to the story in the bible. It explored personalities and relationship dynamics that made the reading experience richer. I highly recommend.’

Available here: https://www.laddermedia.co.uk/jacob-the-son

And on Amazon.co.uk

Raphael Resists Changing The Picture of Hell

The picture of hell changed from this

To this

Jesus pulling people out of hell was changed to Jesus presiding over people being tortured in hell. Hell with a way out through Jesus was changed to hell with no way out. Hell as part of Jesus’ defeat of the devil was changed to hell as the domain of the eternal vicious devil.

The publication of Dante’s book, Inferno, in about 1314 was the final, decisive, agent of this change. Since at least the teaching of Augustine of Hippo in the early 5^th Century, the understanding of hell as eternal torment by the eternal devil had lived uneasily beside the understanding of hell as open to the rescuing influence of Jesus who has defeated the devil. The image of souls who have worshipped the beast being tormented with fire and sulphur, the smoke of their torment going up forever and ever (Revelation 14:10,11) was taught alongside Jesus’ proclamation that he has the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:18.) In Art, Jesus pulling people out of hell was the dominant picture. After Dante, people being tortured in hell by the devil became the dominant picture. For more on this change see https://rogerharper.wordpress.com/2017/08/23/changing-the-picture-of-hell-23-august/

In the early 16^th Century Raphael was still resisting the change. The current Raphael exhibition at the National Gallery, London, shows his resistance in two works.

Painted about 1505. St Michael deals his deadly blow to the devil dragon, what the exhibition notes call ‘the fallen angel Lucifer.’ God’s warrior angel (with the cross of St George on his shield) already has his foot on the terrified despairing devil. Michael’s sword is about to strike. In earlier pictures, Jesus himself tramples the devil who he has bound up, ensuring no escape. In earlier pictures, Jesus’ robes billow out, showing God’s dynamic divine Spirit with him. in the same way, here, St Michael’s blue robe billows behind him.

St Michael is painted with Dante’s Inferno in the background. The groups of shadowy figures are, the exhibition notes inform us, various episodes from the book. The smoke is the smoke of Revelation 14. We see the terrifying fate of all the wicked, all the unfaithful.

Much more, though, we see the terrified fate of the devil. ‘Remember this defeat!’ is the main message. ‘Don’t pay attention to the tormenting hell of Dante, now in the background. Rejoice in the ultimate victory of God over the devil.’

Made about 1511-12. Jesus pulls people out of ‘Limbo.’ In Catholic teaching, Limbo is the first level of hell and the righteous from the Old Testament times before Jesus were taken out of Limbo by Jesus. Dante never hinted that any other people can be taken out of Limbo, rather he states that all in Limbo, while not suffering great torments, will never enter the joys of Paradise. Limbo lies beyond the gates of hell, with their inscription ‘Abandon hope all who enter here.’

Raphael chooses to depict a scene which is not in Dante’s Inferno and which gives a different, more hopeful, message. The people being taken out of ‘Limbo’ do not look like Old Testament Patriarchs but Classical Romans. Dante’s description of hell is in the background of the mind of most people who first saw this bronze plaque. Raphael is saying ‘Remember instead this victorious rescue by Jesus!’

Raphael shows no limit to who can leave hell through Limbo. He copies and echoes the standard depiction of Jesus taking out of hell. his robes billowing with divine power. We are reminded that, previously, Jesus was shown rescuing Adam and Eve, representatives of all humanity.

Raphael planned that this bronze would be paired with one of Jesus showing himself alive, after his death, to St Thomas, inviting Thomas to touch his wounds. Raphael must have known that the pictures, icons, of Jesus pulling people from hell are called, in Eastern Orthodoxy, Anastasis icons, Anastasis being the Greek word for Resurrection. The physical reality of Jesus resurrection and the accompanying spiritual reality of Jesus’ rescue of people from hell are affirmed together. ‘Don’t be afraid! I am the first and the last and the living one. I was dead. And see. I am alive forever and ever. And I have the keys of Death and Hades.’ (Revelation 1:17,18)

‘And don’t pay much attention to Dante’s Inferno.’ Raphael’s message is still important today.

Roger Harper

Jacob The Son Launched

Jacob The Son is now out!

My novel of the early life of the Biblical Jacob, is available at Jacob The Son (laddermedia.co.uk) (£8.95 including UK postage) and on Amazon UK (£9.75 including UK postage) World postage also available.

The back cover:

Jacob, father of Joseph, gave his son the amazing coat. Jacob also dreamed dreams. Running for his life, he saw a great ladder to and from heaven and heard a great voice.

Jacob’s life is a tale of family, favouritism, fear, fury. A tale of wrestling between men and women, between men, between people and God. A tale of the strange and subtle workings of God. A tale of what it means to be human.

Jacob The Son, the first part of the trilogy Jacob The Full Story, retells and fills out the Bible story from Jacob’s birth to his dream.

Jacob The Son is fresh and distinctive, faithful and enlightening.

‘Fun and interesting and fully compatible with the text of Genesis.’

John Goldingay, Emeritus Professor of Old Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary, California

‘Roger has a beautiful way with prose. My imagination was spurred to view this story with new insights.’

Jeff Lucas, Author, Conference Speaker and Teaching Pastor at Timberline Church, Colorado.

Inside the front cover:

There is an ancient practice among Jews of imagining what might have been going on “behind the scenes” of the biblical story as a means of deepening people’s understanding and appreciation of it. This way of retelling Bible stories is known as Midrash, and Jacob the Son is an outstanding contemporary example of it.  Roger Harper masterfully helps readers get on the inside of what biblical characters were thinking, feeling, and experiencing, and in so doing, he helps readers to not merely read the biblical story, but to experience its transforming power!’

Greg Boyd Founder and Leader of Woodland Hills Church, Minnesota, Professor of Theology and Author.

Questions?

An upcoming blog post will answer questions about Jacob The Son. How long did it take to write? And others. Please add your question to the comments below.

The first pages:

Chapter One

Two Boys

(Genesis 25:19-34)

‘Yes, yes, yes! How many times does my son need to hear? Is there something wrong with your ears, already? You don’t have a grey hair on your head and you’re having memory problems?’

Rebecca turned to Jacob from kneading the dough and smiled. She brushed back her hair, leaving white flour streaks above her right eye and onto her blue scarf. Upright sinuous. alert. Her large eyes, crowned with elegant eyebrows, settled on Jacob, no longer darting around. No wonder the singers called her a gazelle.

Jacob enjoyed the smile, the banter. ‘Mum you look so good and you tell the story so well. Please!’

‘My son needs stories, memories. Well, you can’t eat them,’ Rebecca beamed at Jacob, ‘but if that’s what you need, who am I to disagree?’

She attacked the dough, her muscles bulging. ‘You have no idea! No idea of the thumping in my belly, the swishing sick feeling that made me stumble, the weight. No rest, no sleep. But I would do it all again tomorrow to have my boys. How can you be so different when you were made at the same time in the same body?

‘I knew there were two of you, at least! Or a monster with seven arms and ten legs. Oh, the bruising! And God, bless him, told me there were two. That helped. No accident! But even The One won’t ever have to go through what I went through. The old women weren’t so sure. “This is your first pregnancy, young lady. We’ve all had a difficult time, you know.” Hah! I would have liked to see them carry such a battle inside them.

‘When the pains came, it was a relief. The end drawing nigh. Oh God did I want you out in the world! Breathe, scream, scream, breathe. It’s only women that can possibly do this kind of labour. You so much want your body to open up, but it’s never done that before and you never thought it would feel like you had to be split so far and you want it and you think it’s impossible and you can’t carry on. Can we just have a day’s rest in the middle? That would be good, God! But oh no, no rest from this labour. You have to do it. Breathe, scream, scream, breathe. It’s only afterwards that your throat feels raw.

‘At last, the promised words. “It’s got a good hairy head.” “It can’t be long now!” “Push!” they say, four voices at once. That should be so easy! Well, you push, yourselves, as you’ve all done it before! Don’t you know how drained I am?

‘From somewhere came the urge to push.’ Rebecca squeezed a large lump of dough and exhaled deeply, an animal straining, almost manly. ‘“It’s a big one!” “Must be a boy, Rebecca!” “Push, just push, he’s nearly there.” Didn’t they know how hard I was pushing? But he didn’t seem to go further. He was squirming, he wanted to be in the great outdoors. You know when you grab a sheep between your legs to shear it? Just try to imagine that inside you, butting away at your bones. Oh my goodness! They talked of going to fetch the puller. You know, the wooden pincer things they use on the ewes. They tried to whisper but I knew. Where are you, God, when I need you? What have I ever done to deserve this? Treat me like a stupid sheep? If only my mother was here, she’d have known what to do.

‘Another push came, with a belly war cry.’ Rebecca made a sound like a roar and a groan and a shout of defiance to all the universe. Jacob’s head recoiled, startled. ‘You think that’s loud? You should have heard the real thing. All the children in the camp went running to their mothers, believe me. They wouldn’t come near me for weeks.

‘It did the trick, it cracked the nut, it got the monster out. He surged forward with my war cry ringing in his ears. “Ooh! Hairy shoulders.” “His skin’s red.” “No, it’s not the blood, it’s the skin.” “Hairy chest.” “We don’t have to look to see if this one’s a boy.” The women’s words were tumbling over themselves.

‘I could relax a moment, maybe a few minutes, before the next one came. But no. Another body was there already. This one seemed to fit. Snug and gentle, even soothing, as it came out. Like a ripe banana. Or a baked loaf coming clean out of a tin.’ Rebecca made a sound of a deep satisfied trembling, a long vibrating exhalation of ease and pleasure.

‘And there you were, holding your brother’s heel, while I just purred. No wonder I hardly had to do anything. You turned him into the puller. Clever man.’ Rebecca smiled at Jacob.

‘Esau screamed short and loud. He looked around him. He shook his leg and you let go. Esau lay still, looking up, waiting and ready for whatever came to him. You squirmed, you rubbed your face, you whimpered. You were so cute!

Roger Harper

Rick Joyner’s ‘The Final Quest:’ A Great Message

Rick Joyner is a prophet indeed. He hears Jesus speaking to him and passes on great words. The Final Quest, 1996, is Rick’s account of visions and messages given about the spiritual battle, in the Church and in each of us. My copy is marked with more lines to record, to quote, than any other book I have read. Jesus speaks with immense loving wisdom for all His people, especially for leaders.

The title ‘The Final Quest’ put me off. I was wary of a focus on ‘the last days’ when Jesus told us that we would not know when he will come again, so we will not know we are in the last days. And of acting like a valiant individual knight seeking adventure in the name of religion? I wish I had read the Final Quest sooner for it is a Great Book for our times. I quote it at length. May you be encouraged to buy the book. You can use this link: https://store.morningstarministries.org/products/the-final-quest?_pos=1&_sid=4698ce8b7&_ss=r&variant=27822991683

The Enemy Attacks

Rick begins by describing a huge battle. He saw a demonic army. ‘The primary strategy of this army was to cause division on every possible level of relationship – churches with each other, congregations with their pastors, husbands and wives, parents and children and even children with each other.’ (p17) Jesus said ‘This is Satan’s ultimate deception. His ultimate power of destruction is released when he uses Christians to attack one another.’ (p21)

How good to recognise that the battle for unity is the key battle. Unity more than sound doctrine – which will follow true unity. Unity in and focused on Jesus. Unity in and because of love. We make love, especially of all fellow believers, our priority, to defeat the enemy’s plans to divide us.

The names of the enemy army’s divisions (divisions to divide!) are ‘Pride, Self-Righteousness, Respectability, Selfish Ambition, Unrighteous Judgement and Jealousy.’ (p16) The names of the enemy’s weapons were ‘Intimidation.., Treachery … Accusation, Gossip, Slander and Faultfinding. The first attacks were of ‘Rejection, Bitterness, Impatience, Unforgiveness and Lust’ (p16)

‘The most shocking part of this vision was that this horde was not riding on horses, but primarily on Christians!’ (p17)

Here is plenty to dwell on for years to come. We need to take care that we are not operating under the influence of Jesus’ enemy, who can deceive us into not noticing the truth of how pride, or intimidation or jealousy are driving us forward. How many of us think that our impatience is due to the influence of demons? How much self-examination we need!

Rick saw more work of the enemy.  Fear, Depression and Condemnation. ‘As I watched I realized that these prisoners thought that the vomit of Condemnation was truth from God.’(p20) So the enemy’s Condemnation is passed from Christian to Christian. So sad.

Fighting Back

The first response of Rick and other Christians was to shoot arrows of Truth. But those infected with Condemnation ‘became enraged and the demon riding on them grew much larger.’ (p26) Truth, as we see it, cannot be our first response. Truth has to be spoken in love, truth has to follow love. Truth which is aimed at making ‘them’ change their mind and join ‘our side’ hinders unity. Beware!

‘Another great angel named Wisdom the appeared and directed us to fight from the mountain behind us.’ (p26) Later Wisdom is identified as The Lord, Jesus. The mountain is a picture of progression in the Christian life, of sanctification. Jesus explained ‘You cannot win if you try to fight the enemy on his own ground, but you must remain on My Holy mountain.’ (p32)

On the first level of the mountain, some people ‘began picking up the enemy arrows and shooting them back. This was a very grave mistake.’ (p26) The intention was to hit the demons rather than the fellow Christians. But these arrows were hijacked by the demons so they brought more bitterness and rage to the ‘other’ Christians.’

‘When we reached the level called “The Unity of the Brethren” none of the enemy’s arrows could reach us.’ (p27) Now the arrows of Truth shot by Rick and others would hit the demon on the Christian, not the Christian. We have to be convinced that all Christians are our brothers and sisters, we have to treat them like our brothers and sisters. Only then can we help them, speak truth to them.

 At the ‘Galatians Two Twenty’ level, Rick ‘caught up to Faith, Hope and Love, which before I had only been able to see from a distance.’ (p30) Now Rick had arrows of Hope – ‘we could hit any enemy in the army [of demons] except the leaders themselves…’ (p30)

Galatians 2:20 reads  ‘I  have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.’

When we are empty of selfishness and full of Jesus, then we can win the spiritual battle for others. How far from this purity and fullness we are! How important to continue to die to self and to continue to be filled with, clothed with, abide in Jesus.

Rick hoped that ‘the Christians who had been used by the enemy’ would see the enlarged Faith, Hope and Love alongside Rick and his companions. But those in the camp of the enemy who began to see the light of Faith, Hope and Love started calling them ‘angels of light’ sent to deceive the weak or undiscerning.’ (p31)

Rick went further on and further up. At the level of ‘The Father’s Unconditional Love’ he could eat heavenly food and send our eagles to devour shame. ‘I could hear the sounds of terror from the enemy camp at the sight of the eagles ascending.’ (p35)

Jesus was then able to be in the midst of and lead the Christian army, as, it seems, he was not able to do before.

The heart of the mountain, of the matter: the Judgement of Jesus

The Final Quest contains more extended visions, all with similar themes and messages. Rick explores inside the holy mountain, enjoying great treasures, each more glorious than those before. Being in the heart of the mountain, the heart of each truth of the mountain, is more intense than being on the edge, as before. He gains the vital mantle of Humility, without which experienced Christians are vulnerable to deadly Pride. ‘I now think that most of the right things I did, I did for the wrong reasons, and many of the wrong things I did, I had good motives for. The more I learn, the more unsure of myself I feel.’ (p63)

Eventually, Rick has sustenance and guidance and confidence to enter the Hall of the Judgement Seat of Christ. (p84) Here he is led to anguished confession of his selfishness and a fresh awareness of the loving forgiveness of Jesus. A more intense experience of Galatians 2:20, seeing the nastiness of selfishness operating in Christian Ministry: ‘We will fight for truths more than for the people for whom they are given. We will fight for ministries while riding roughshod over the people in them.’ (p95) Someone else says: ‘And we always comforted ourselves by actually thinking that we were doing God a favor when we attacked His own children.’ (p109) The call, the quest, is to turn from selfishness and seek only communion with Jesus.

Rick is told: ‘True reformation only comes from union with the Savior. When you are yoked with Christ, carrying the burdens that He gives you, He will be with you and carry them for you. You can only do His work when you are doing it with Him, not just for Him.’ (p101) ‘You need to see the corruption that is in your own soul, but then you must not dwell on yourself, or seek to justify yourself with dead works, but turn to Him.’ (p102)

‘… The Comforter was so mightily with me I was comfortable. It was clear the Lord in no way wanted me uncomfortable. He only wanted me to know the truth.’ (p117) ‘Not having anything to hide was like taking off the heaviest yoke and shackles. I began to feel like I could breathe like I had never breathed before.’ (p124)

Look to Jesus, Abide in Jesus, Love with Jesus

In the last chapter Jesus speaks more, more clearly. ‘I am coming to use My people to save their enemies. I love all men, and desire for all to be saved… I am not coming to take sides with any one group, but I am calling for those who will comes over to My side.’ (p129)

‘When you know My heart, then the eyes of your heart will be opened. Then you will see as I see, and you will do what I do.’ (p130)

‘I am asking you to abide in Me…If you are looking to Me you will go far beyond what you would have otherwise accomplished. (p138) This message ‘Abide in me – Look to Me with you’ is repeated. ‘I have made the way for everyone to be as close to Me as they truly desire to be.’ (p140)

‘The goal of your life must be love, not power. Then I will give you power to love with. I will give you the power to heal the sick because you love them, and I love them, and I do not want them sick.’ (p142)

The book ends with a moving tale of two Christians, a zealous Minister and a homeless deaf man. The homeless man loves with all the love in him, the Minister with only some of the love in him. The homeless man is then able to experience more of the loving life of heaven.

But what of contending for the truth of Holy Scripture?

Scripture is hardly mentioned. Jesus tells Rick, and us, to speak truth only when we are speaking in love, and we are looking to Him, abiding in Him. The warning about Truth being hijacked by the enemy to bring more Condemnation applies to truths from the Bible. Jesus’ strong instructions to look to Him and abide in Him imply that we must see our primary relationship with Him, not with Holy Scripture.

Sometimes Christians talk of ‘living in the Word’ meaning the Bible. They may hold up their Bible at this point. Without criticising those whose focus is Scripture, Jesus calls all of us away to focus on Him alone. Sola Jesus (‘Only Jesus’) replaces Sola Scriptura (‘Only Scripture.’) In Rick’s authentic vision, some of the great Reformation heroes affirm this.

Rick even has a conversation with Paul who states that priority must be given to the words of Jesus. Paul speaks of his letters: ‘I am concerned with the way many of you are using them wrongly. They are the truth of the Holy Spirit, and they are Scripture. The Lord did give me great stones to set into the structure of His eternal stones, but they are not foundation stones. The foundation stones were laid by Jesus alone… If what I have written is used as a foundation, it will not be able to hold the weight of that which needs to be built upon it. What I have written… must not be used as the foundation… His words are the foundation.’ (p133)

Rick may well be attacked for conveying this important truth. I doubt very much that Rick would have published this challenge if he had not been compelled by Jesus.

Rick’s View

Rick comes to know how imperfect his ministry, his understanding, has been. It is good to note that his own understanding does not always align with what he has seen and heard from Jesus. This authenticates his visions, his message.

Rick plays down the necessity of confession of sin. In the vision, grace leads him to see his own sins and, in some way, confess them. But, in the instance noted above, he laments what ‘we,’ church leaders, have done, rather than what he, personally, has done. Surely it is for every person to confess their own sin?

It is possible to over-emphasises the need to have faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, to accept in faith that we are forgiven because of the cross. With such faith, we can bypass the need for confession of sins. I only need to believe I am forgiven, I don’t need to confess, speak out, my sins. Biblical faith is believing that ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all the wrong in us.’ (1 John 1:9)

Rick stresses the importance of not hiding from Jesus. The hiding, though, is secondary. We hide because we do not want our sin to be exposed. We need not only to come out of hiding but to come to confession. Jesus will invite us, nudge us, to see where we have gone wrong, but we have the choice to acknowledge any particular sin. If we don’t respond to the nudge, Jesus will try again another time.

Rick hardly uses Jesus’ name. He writes of Jesus often as Wisdom, and as The Lord. Why does Rick not use Jesus’ simple and glorious name? Does he not feel on first name terms with Him?

After the first vision, Rick writes ‘The Lord is now preparing a leadership that will be willing to fight a spiritual civil war in order to set men free… Just as the American Civil War at times looked like it would destroy the entire nation, what is coming upon the church will at times appear as if it will be the end of the church.’ (p37) These words of Rick sound too much like a rallying call to fight against other Christians.

The True Battle

Rick’s vision showed clearly that the fight is not against people but against demons, not against flesh and blood but against the evil powers. It is not a Christian Civil War. It is the eternal War between Father, Son, Holy Spirit and the devil. Christians must beware of thinking they are fighting for God when they are fighting for the enemy, using his ground, his tactics, his weapons. Christians must follow the orders only of their Commander, Jesus, fighting with Him, in Him and only in love.

The fight is to look to Jesus when the devil wants us to look at what he is doing and can do. The fight is to not be afraid when the devil wants us to fear his footholds in people and his power to corrupt and bring down societies and nations. The fight is to be still, without fear, when mountains are trembling, shaking, when nations are in uproar and kingdoms totter. (Psalm 46) The fight is to keep turning to Jesus alone. The fight is to keep loving when love looks very much like defeat, even surrender, as it did on the cross. This is the Great Message of the Final Quest.

Applying the Message

The big division in our church today is the division over gay marriage. What light does The Final Quest shed on this division?

1  The chief work of the enemy is our division, not that some of us approve of gay marriage and some don’t. If our feet, our hearts, our words and actions are not firmly based on The Unity of the Brethren, we will give the enemy more opportunity to further his purposes of division. We must be looking for unity. Our quest is for a basis of unity in Jesus about gay marriage.

2  We must look to Jesus as the foundation of what we think and say about Gay Marriage. The words of Paul, or Moses, or any other writer of Scripture, must not be the beginning of our thinking. The words of Jesus must be the beginning. We must think and discuss, together as much as possible: What did Jesus say which we can use as the foundation of how we see gay marriage? What is Jesus saying today through the Holy Spirit?

(I have tried to do this and offer these thoughts as a starter: 2. Listening to Jesus | Gay Marriage Maybe (wordpress.com) )

3  We must love our fellow Christians with whom we disagree strongly. We must constantly check what we say and do for any effect of Condemnation or Shame etc. on others. Our priority is to be patient and kind, not arrogant or rude, rejoicing in the truth and not insisting on our own way. If our way cannot be demonstrated to be Jesus’ way, apart from the rest of Scripture, we must not insist on it. We speak and write and act only in and with Faith, Hope and Love so that other people see Faith, Hope and Love more clearly.

Roger Harper

George Floyd’s Death, Part 2: Confessing the Legacy of Slavery

Confessing more widespread sins which are part of the Legacy of Slavery is more complex. Remnants, large and small, of Slavery thinking and behaviour are alive today. The widespread Echo to the death of George Floyd in the lives of protestors and many others testifies to these sharp remnants damaging many people today.

Remnants of slavery thinking are addressed in the Bible in the call to ‘remember you were slaves in Egypt’ so as not to think or behave as slaves nor slave-owners. Old Testament commentators often quote: ‘It was one thing to get the slaves out of Egypt. It was another to get Egypt out of the slaves.’

Fear of The Black Man.

Slaves are valued and selected for the physical stature and prowess. Muscly slaves fetch more money than weedy slaves. Strong slaves survive the horrendous sea journey and degrading plantation conditions. (The sea journey operated as an unnatural, inhuman, selection: only the fittest, strongest, survived.)

Slaves are therefore, in general, physically more powerful than their masters. Slaves are in a life they have not chosen from which they want to escape. Slaves are naturally confined and angry. The Masters are naturally afraid of their slaves.

Although Slavery, as we knew it, has gone, it is clear that Fear of The Black Man has not gone. We see it in the actions of the police towards George Floyd. We hear of it echoed in the experience of many others.

This fear needs to be acknowledged and confessed. People need to own up to harbouring, perpetuating, the fear inherited from the past. People need to seek the help of God and others to have the fear replaced by love. We work on this as God works within us.

Fear leads people to keep a distance. Segregation is a result of fear and perpetuates fear. Segregation persists practically though not legally. Familiarity diminishes fear. Aversion therapy helps people who are deeply afraid, for instance of spiders, slowly and incrementally to become familiar, for instance with spiders. We need positive, organised, initiatives to build more familiarity between black and white people.

The Church can take the lead on building familiarity. In many places white majority churches have neighbouring black majority churches. Fully diverse churches are, sadly, few. Could churches covenant to be in a ‘family,’ cousin, relationship finding ways to come to know each other better? Joint conferences and retreats? Joint social care initiatives? Familiarity is what the Church, the family of Jesus, should be creating.

Fear of The Black Man is only one of many remnants of slavery thinking and behaviour which need to be addressed.

Money.

A big remnant of slavery is the wealth of people and institutions today inherited from slave owners. The profits of Slavery were theft from the slaves. People today are guilty of receiving stolen property. The Financial Legacy of Slavery needs to be addressed.

Confession of inheriting stolen property is not outrageously impractical. Germany has recognised and confessed the wealth stolen from German Jews. This confession was not automatic. For a time German people wanted only to rebuild their nation and forget about the Jews, about that nasty episode in German history. A long and sustained Call to Confession was eventually heeded. Today, all over Germany, especially Western Germany, the country’s Jewish heritage and its demise is publicly noted.

My father and his Jewish family were forced to leave Essen. In 1960 the main Essen Synagogue was turned into a Museum of Industrial Design. All remaining Jewish symbols were removed or covered.

During the 1970s a movement began to acknowledge and uncover more of the detail of the Holocaust and of German Jewish Heritage. From 1986 to 1988 the Essen Synagogue was restored to its original appearance. From 2008 to 2010 the building was further developed as a Jewish Museum and Cultural Centre. Both renovations were fully financed by the Local Authorities. In front of the main Essen Railway Station is a notable fairly recent sculpture memorial to the Jews transported from Essen to concentration camps. The rest of Germany has embarked on similar restoration and memorials.

Germany has made sizeable restitution to the Jews. My father’s family have received compensation and more is expected. Much of this restitution was made in the 1950s when Germany could easily have argued that they could not afford such generosity. Slave-owning countries need to learn from and follow the example of Germany.

Descendants of slave owners need, similarly, to own up to harbouring, perpetuating, ill-gotten gains. People need to seek the help of God and others to repay or make restitution for what was stolen.

In the UK some people are addressing the Financial Legacy of Slavery. Cambridge University has set up an Advisory Group on Legacies of Enslavement: https://www.v-c.admin.cam.ac.uk/projects/legacies-of-enslavement Jesus College, Cambridge, where I was a student, has set up its own Working Party which has decided on the first step of symbolic restitution: https://www.jesus.cam.ac.uk/articles/legacy-slavery-working-party-recommendations

Where will the financial restitution go? Groups representing descendants of slaves need to decide. I hope that, as with the Jews, some money will go to individual people. I hope too that money will go to programmes addressing the Legacy of Slavery in the attitudes and behaviours of the descendants of slave owners and slaves.

We Christians urge Confession of Sin and Faith in the healing, forgiving, God of Jesus. Both Confession and Faith need to be expressed in action. I consider that the Germans have done plenty to demonstrate serious confession of sin. For me, they are forgiven. The Legacy of Slavery can be addressed and healed. Black Lives can matter more.

Roger Harper

British Companies ruined by the City of London.

The City of London demands that British companies put the short term interest of shareholders first. A ruinous demand.

Last Thursday the Governor of Thameside prison, operated by Serco, told staff, including me, that Carillion had been borrowing money to pay shareholders. ‘Serco don’t do this. Don’t worry that Serco is going to collapse like Carillion,’ was the message.

Most of us think, righty, that shareholders are only paid when the company makes a profit. The City of London thinks differently. Shareholders should be paid as a priority over anyone else. If there is no profit, you borrow money to pay shareholders. Carillion did it and the City of London was happy.

To pay shareholders Carillion borrowed money from its own workers, as well as from banks etc. For several years Carillion paid less than its obligation to the company pension fund.  The workers lost money on their pensions while the shareholders gained money in dividends and inflated share price: In 2012, outside advisers said Carillion had prioritised growing earnings and supporting the share price ahead of the pension scheme. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42871054  This led to a shortfall in the pension fund of £990million. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42853895

In the short term the shareholders benefited. In the long term, of course, they lost out, as the value of their shares has now collapsed. But the City of London is not interested in the long term interests of either companies or shareholders. The City of London concentrates on making sure shareholders can get out at signs of trouble, not on helping companies through difficult circumstances.

Last Friday someone who works for Severn Trent Water said that it is company policy that no work will be undertaken unless the cost can be recouped within 3 years. ‘It’s simply a matter of finances,’ is how this is explained.

Nonsense! It’s simply a matter of short term thinking. If a water main is leaking about £500 worth of water a year, and the repair will cost £2000, Severn Trent say the repair is ‘uneconomic.’ The company choose to lose £500 ever year for years and years, rather than pay for the repair. Of course it makes economic sense, in the long term, to repair the main. But Severn Trent only think in the short term. They ‘cannot afford’ this repair because it would reduce their short term profit and the City of London insists that their short term profit grows rather than reduces.

No UK farmer would expect to recoup the cost of land improvement within 3 years. No UK house-owner would expect to recoup the cost of extra insulation within 3 years. Ordinary people know we have to invest for the longer term. Not the City of London. They have their own twisted thinking, their own rigged rules.

The City of London serves the short term interests of shareholders, against the long term interest of British workers, British companies, the British nation. The City of London are flagrantly not loving their neighbour as they love themselves. It is time we found a different way of investing in British companies.

See http://www.laddermedia.co.uk/about-us/4561595889 for one different way.

Roger Harper