Jesus and Zoology

This article first appeared in The Banner of Truth Magazine

John Stott famously wrote that “many Christians have a good doctrine of redemption, but need a better doctrine of creation,” and urged people to be ornithologists or what he called, tongue-in-cheek, orni-theologists, in light of Jesus's command to Consider the birds.1 If we love the Bible we should not only be ornithologists but zoologists too, to some extent, as the Bible mentions over 120 species in its pages.2

That is not so easy for many of us today who live in urban settings and see very little of animals. Some cats and dogs, a few birds and squirrels, perhaps, but little otherwise. In Jesus's day far more people came across animals in their everyday life, whether living in the countryside or in the town. Certainly Jesus interacts with and speaks about many animals. Camels, chickens, dogs, donkeys, fish, foxes, goats, oxen, scorpions, sheep, snakes, sparrows, vultures, wolves. Nearly a score are mentioned in the Gospels altogether.

Jesus and the animals

Most homes at that time would have been set up so that one part of the house was occupied by human beings and the other part by animals. Farmyard smells would be normal.3 We know that when Jesus was born, there was no room where humans normally slept and so he was born among the animals and at first placed in a manger, originally designed for feeding animals. Because of that setting a tradition has developed that oxen and donkeys were present at the birth. That cannot be proved, any more than we can be certain that Joseph and Mary travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem on a donkey rather than on foot.4 However, the reference to shepherds in Luke 2 alerts us to the fact that they were looking after sheep near the place where Jesus was born.5

Luke tells us that when Jesus was six weeks old his poor parents sacrificed two young doves or pigeons at the Temple, as required by the law.6 The sacrificial system would have brought many Jews into regular contact with animals. The smell of blood, offal and roasting meat would have been familiar to Jewish people.

It would seem that Jesus cleansed the Temple at least twice, once at the beginning and once at the end of his ministry. In John 2:14, 15 it specifically says that In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.7

As he grew up, it is likely that Jesus would have interacted with and observed various animals, although there is no direct evidence for this.

At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus was baptised by John, a man whose very basic diet consisted of locusts and wild honey made by wild bees.8 John declared Jesus to be the Lamb of God pointing to him as the Passover Lamb.9 When John had baptised Jesus, a dove descended on the Messiah symbolising his anointing by the Spirit.10 Straight after his baptism he was thrust out by the Spirit into the wilderness to be confronted by the Devil. Mark 1:12, 13 says that during those forty days He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.11 As in Luke 2, where shepherds, sheep and angels are referenced, it reminds us that in this universe, there are heavenly creatures who are pure spirit, animals with no immortal soul and human beings who, like Jesus, God incarnate, have a soul and a body. As C S Lewis once put it “Humans are amphibians - half spirit and half animal. As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time.”12 The wild animals would perhaps include striped hyenas, wolves, Arabian leopards and lions.

Jesus's disciples included several fishermen and several miracles feature fish – either being caught from the lake or multiplied in order to feed multitudes.13 Tilapia were perhaps the most common fish at the time. Jesus sends out his disciples to fish for people.14 In Matthew 12:40 he refers to the great fish that swallowed and vomited out Jonah, a picture of Jesus's own resurrection.15

In the parables of the wedding feast and the prodigal son, there are references to fattened cattle used for a feast.16 Then there is Jesus casting demons into the herd of pigs, unclean animals for Jews, on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The pigs then ran into the sea and drowned.17 In Luke 14:19 a man says that he cannot follow Jesus because he has just bought five yoke of oxen, and is on his way to try them out.

In the final week of his life, Jesus deliberately rides into Jerusalem on a donkey to fulfil the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. A donkey rather than a horse as it speaks of a royal peace bringer.18 In many cultures the sound of the rooster or cockerel crowing is common, especially in the early morning. Jesus predicts that Peter will deny him three times before the cockerel crows.19

Jesus's references to animals as he teaches

In the course of his teaching, Jesus makes several references to different animals. He clearly accepts that we can learn from the animal kingdom. Fish and fishing have already been mentioned but also, teaching on prayer, Jesus pointed out that if a child asks its father for a fish, he will not give them a snake, or if he asks for an egg, he will not give them a scorpion.20 Fish and snakes are both scaly, eggs and scorpions bear no obvious resemblance. Jesus might have come into contact with snakes and scorpions. Some 42 species of snake are said to exist in the area today, half of these being venomous.21 As for scorpions, 21 of the one thousand known types can be found in the area today, only five of which are poisonous. The most dangerous is the yellow scorpion or deathstalker.22 In John 3:14 Jesus refers to the bronze snake Moses held up in the wilderness, which foreshadows the cross. When the seventy or seventy-two return from their mission Jesus tells them he has given them authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm them.23 Like John, Jesus refers to the Pharisees and Sadducees and others as snakes and vipers who poison people with their false teaching.24

The biggest concentration of animal references comes perhaps in Matthew 10:16, where some four animals are mentioned. Jesus says to his disciples that he is sending them out like sheep among wolves. Therefore he says they need to be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Proverbially, the latter two are known for their subtlety and for their innocence (doves are simple and transparent). Wolves were known as predators, especially against sheep.

Sheep, of course, are mentioned many times by Jesus. He tells us he is the Good Shepherd who cares for his sheep.25 He also sees the people as sheep without a shepherd.26 They lack the leadership the Good Shepherd can give. In Matthew 25 there is a parable about the end of the world where the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, standing for the righteous and the wicked.27 Certain types of sheep and goats, especially in the east, can look similar and are often kept together. In Hebrew the two are not always sharply distinguished. In John 21 Peter is told by Jesus to feed and take care of his sheep and lambs.

In a striking image in Matthew 11:29, 30 Jesus calls on all to take his yoke upon them and learn from him, for he is gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For he says my yoke is easy and my burden is light. The picture is of oxen, Christ and his disciple under the same easy yoke.

Using a powerful zoological image, Jesus laments over Jerusalem, saying, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.28 More than one reference is made to birds, especially sparrows, mainly to encourage believers to see that if God looks after little birds he will also look after them.29

The Canaanite woman in the Tyre and Sidon area refers to Gentiles as dogs, as does Jesus, when she asks him to heal her daughter. It was a common term in that time, Jesus is impressed with her reply.30 In Matthew 7:6 Jesus himself warns against giving what is holy to dogs or throwing pearls to pigs.31 Dogs then, of course, were not often pets but tended to be the disease ridden, wild or scavenger mongrel type.

At one time Jesus told a man who wanted to follow him that Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.32 He also refers to Herod Antipas, a deceitful destroyer, as that fox.33

A famous saying of Jesus is that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.34 A camel, probably a one humped dromedary, would be one of the biggest animals around, elephants being native to Africa and India but not, at least by that time, to the middle east.

Another saying of Jesus says Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.35 Vultures, it is well known, look for carrion. Wherever there is a dead body, they will swoop down When Jesus comes again it will be very visible and obvious.

The only other obvious reference to animal life is where Jesus, warning of hell, describes it as the place where worms do not die and the fire is not quenched.36 When a body is buried, the worms, as we say, eat it. These worms are not earth worms but maggots, which hatch from the eggs that flies lay on dead bodies. There are also “worms” that do not die, in hell, that continuously eat away at the souls of unconverted sinners.

Such references remind us that when we encounter animals, there are lessons to be learned, if we are awake to the possibility. At the very least we should have in mind the lessons that shrewd snakes, innocent doves, well fed birds, unholy dogs, foxes in their dens, yoked oxen, incongruous camels, gathering vultures and never dying worms can teach us.

Footnotes

1 John R W Stott, The Birds, Our Teachers: Essays in Orni-theology 2008

2 See the online Wikipedia article Animals in the Bible (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animals_in_the_Bible)

3 See Kenneth E Bailey Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, cultural studies in the Gospels 2008

4 The ox and ass tradition is based on Isaiah 1:3

5 Luke 2:8-21

6 Luke 2:24

7 Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-48, John 2:13-16

8 Matthew 3:4, Mark 1:6

9 John 1:29, 36; see also Revelation 5:6-13

10 Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32

11 Interestingly, in this context, when Satan quotes Psalm 91:11, 12 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. he forbears to quote the succeeding verse (13) You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. Perhaps a little too close for comfort. See Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13.

12 C S Lewis, Screwtape Letters, Letter VIII, 1942

13 Matthew 14:17-21, 15:34-38; Mark 6:38-44, 8:6-9; Luke 9:13-17; John 6:9-13

14 Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17

15 Jonah is also mentioned in Luke 11:30. The species of the fish is unknown.

16 Matthew 22:4; Luke 15:23, 27, 30

17 Matthew 8:30-32; Mark 5:11-13, Luke 8:32, 33

18 Matthew 21:2-7; Mark 11:2-7; Luke 19:30-35; John 12:14, 15

19 Matthew 26:34, 74, 75; Mark 14:30, 72; Luke 22:34, 60, 61; John 13:38, 18:27

20 Matthew 7:10, Luke 11:11, 12

21 A Bar and G Haimovitch A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Israel 2011, 117-201

22See Hadassah University Medical Center online article (https://www.hadassah.org.il/en/er_bites_and_stings/)

23 Luke 10:19

24 Matthew 3:7, Luke 3:7; Matthew 12:34, 23:33

25 John 10:11, 14, etc

26 Matthew 9:36

27 See verses 32, 33

28 Matthew 23:37, see also Luke 13:34

29 Matthew 6:25, 26, 10:29-31. Ravens are specified in Luke 12:24 See also the passing references to birds in the parables, Matthew 13:4, 32; Mark 4:4, Luke 8:5, 13:19

30 Matthew 15:26, 27, Mark 7:27, 28

31Pigs and dogs were unclean animals under Jewish law. Pigs are pronounced unclean in Leviticus 11:7, 8.

32 Matthew 8:20, Luke 9:58

33 Luke 13:32

34 Matthew 19:24, Mark 10:24, 25, Luke 18:25

35 Matthew 24:28, Luke 17:37

36 Mark 9:48, referencing Isaiah 66:24

66 Books You Must Read Before You Die

At some point early in this century or before, people started to talk about what they wanted to do before they died, their bucket list as it is called. This soon transmuted into lists of places to visit, films to see and books to read. We are now familiar with lists such as 100 Books to read before you die or The forty best books to read before you die. Such lists include novels such as Jane Eyre or 1984 and non-fiction titles such as The Diary of Anne Frank. Occasionally, you will see spiritually helpful items such as Augustine's Confessions or Pilgrims Progress mentioned and even the Bible itself and its sixty six books in such lists but not often.

The 66 best read books of all time

When we consider how massively influential the sixty-six books that make up the Bible are, it is perhaps surprising to learn how little read they are. Surveys suggest that many intelligent people have never actually read the sixty-six, even some who profess to be Christians.

This is strange in some ways as the sixty-six books that form the Bible are together the best selling, most widely available, most often translated books on planet earth.

When it comes to those sixty-six books, the Bible is far and away the best selling set of books of all time. The Guinness Book of World Records estimates that more than 5 billion copies of the Bible have been printed. Other texts are not even close to that figure. The Quran - only 800 million copies; The Book of Mormon - only 120 million. Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong or the little red book has several hundred million copies in print but is nowhere near the Bible in number.

The Wycliffe Global Alliance tell us that the world's 7.9 billion people speak some 7378 languages. At present 717 of these languages have all 66 books translated and 3495 languages, some 7.04 billion people, have some part of the Bible. Work is currently going on with a further 828 languages, covering another 67.6 million people.

There are people who cannot read the sixty-six books of the Bible for themselves, then, but a vast number can - and yet so many of them choose not to do so. While they are busy reading Moby Dick or Lord of the Rings, the sixty-six get short shrift.

Encouraging people to read the Sixty-six

So what can we, we who have read the sixty-six, or most of them, do to encourage others to read them?

It is generally agreed that the best place to start is with one of the Gospels is. Mark is shortest, Matthew is good for religious people and Luke is for anyone. John also suits everyone but is different to the others in being more theological in style. All the sixty-six are about the Lord Jesus Christ but it is most obvious in the Gospels which provide us with portraits of Jesus, focusing especially on his death and resurrection.

Only two or three others of the sixty-six are seen under separate cover. Paul's Letter to the Romans is sometimes done like that. That is useful as it sets out Paul's theology for us in a systematic way. Do read Romans. The Old Testament Book of Psalms is also sometimes seen like that. It contains 150 hymns and prayers reflecting on God's Law and the coming Messiah. The book is best loved by those already converted to Christ.

New Testament

The 27 books of the New Testament are often seen bound in one volume, of course, either with or without the Psalms. Once people have read the Gospels, one would encourage them to read the Book of Acts, also sometimes found under separate cover. It gives the history of the church from the Christ's ascension to the end of Paul's three missionary journeys.

Most of the rest of the New Testament is letters. First, Paul's 13 letters to churches and individuals. There are nine to churches in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae and Thessalonica then four to individuals. Of the latter, the two to Timothy and the one to Titus deal with matters of particular interest to pastors who should read and re-read those books.

Next is the Letter to the Hebrews. We are not sure who wrote it but, if not Paul, it must be by someone in his circle. It particularly focuses on the High Priesthood of Christ. We then have seven short general letters - three by John, two by Peter, one each by James and Jude. These are important too and not to be neglected.

The last book in the New Testament is Revelation (not Revelations). It is a book full of symbolism and not easy to read or understand but once you start spotting things like the way the writer, John, uses the number seven, it begins to make sense. One great help to understanding it better is to get to know the Old Testament books.

Genesis to Esther

A full Bible not only has the 27 books of the New Testament but the 39 books of the Old Testament too. These are again all about Jesus Christ but because they were written long before he was born this is usually less obvious. These books contain prophecies, types and shadows of what was going to come. Chapters, like Isaiah 53 are very obviously about Jesus but in some cases this is much harder to spot.

The first five books were written by Moses and take us from the world's creation to the time just before God's people enter the Promised Land. Genesis and Exodus are easy to read as they are mostly story but Leviticus and Numbers are not so easy nor is Deuteronomy.

After those five come Joshua and Judges, taking us from the conquest of the land to the time just before the first king of Israel. After Judges there is a little book called Ruth, which is not only a charming story but a real pointer to King David and to Jesus himself.

Next come three big books, so big the Jews divided each of them in two. First come the Books of Samuel then the Books of Kings. They take us from Samuel, the last of the Judges, through Saul, David and Solomon on to the kings who ruled over the divided kingdoms north and south, down to the time when Judah was sent into exile in Babylon. The third book, Chronicles, goes all the way from Adam to the exile. The opening chapters are not easy to read as they are mostly genealogies. There are things in Chronicles you will not find anywhere else so it is a must read.

After Chronicles comes Ezra and Nehemiah, both about the Jews' amazing return from the exile. The Book of Esther follows, a remarkable story about the providence of God to his people when still in exile. The striking thing about it is that it never mentions God by name. It would be great book to start with for anyone wanting to read the Bible.

Job to Malachi

After all that history, we get five books usually referred to as books of wisdom. The first, Job, is from a time before Moses and deals with the difficult subject of suffering. The beginning and end are easy to read but many chapters lie between, not always easy to read, where Job's friends try to prove to him he is suffering because he has done something wrong, which we know he has not. It is a fascinating and important work that is worth reading and re-reading.

We have mentioned the Book of Psalms, mostly by David. There is also the Book of Proverbs, mostly by his son Solomon. A large part of Proverbs is taken up with proverbs, brief and pithy sayings oozing with wisdom that point in one way or another to Jesus Christ, the wisdom of God. In this section we also have The Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes, not always easy books to interpret but full of wisdom about our relationship with God and with one another.

The rest of the Old Testament is given over to the prophets, major and minor. Major and minor refer to the length of the books they left, not their importance. There are four major ones and twelve minor ones, all worth reading. Of the major ones, Daniel who lived in exile in Babylon is perhaps the easiest, as the first six chapters tell stories about him and his three friends. The second six chapters are more like Revelation. Isaiah is long but there are many prophecies of Messiah that are full of interest and plenty of encouraging verses about the future. Jeremiah and Ezekiel are among the most difficult books to read but are worth reading for the way they point forward to Christ. Where would we be without Jeremiah 31 or Ezekiel 36? With Jeremiah there is a bonus - a little book called Lamentations, a lament over the destruction of Jerusalem. Right in the middle there are some tremendously encouraging words about how great is God's faithfulness.

The last twelve books are all prophets. The Book of Jonah is the best known. It is different to the others and is well known for how it tells the story of Jonah being sent to Nineveh, refusing to go, then being first swallowed then vomited out by a great fish. The other minor prophets, with strange names like Habakkuk or Haggai, are all worth reading too. The first, Hosea, is all about the love of God. Most of the minor prophets are short. Obadiah is only one chapter. It is not always clear who prophesied when but the last three, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, all prophesied after the return from exile. It would be another four hundred years after the last of these before John the Baptist began to prophesy and make way for Messiah Jesus.

How many?

So how many of these sixty-six have you read? How many of them do you know well? They are the most important sixty-six books in existence. Some are more important than others, it is true, but all are God breathed and have something important to teach us about the Lord Jesus Christ and serving him. Do not allow the dust to gather on these amazing books. Read them and read them again. They will be more valuable to you than anything by Dickens or Tolstoy, as great as those writers were, or even Calvin or Spurgeon for that matter. If you never get to read The Great Gatsby or Brave New World it is a pity but if you neglect these sixty-six books it will be a tragedy indeed.

In 2014 Andy Miller published The Year of reading dangerously where he describes how he read some fifty books he had never got round to reading before. How did he do it? Just by getting on with it. There was no big secret. What about you and these sixty-six? If you read three or four chapters a day, you could easily read all sixty-six in a year. There are various plans that will take you through all the books in a shorter or longer period. You will never regret time spent reading them. So get started today.

This article first appeared in In Writing and also appears elsewhere on this blog

66 Books You Must Read Before You Die

 

This article is in In Writing published for the Evangelical Library

At some point early in this century or before, people started to talk about what they wanted to do before they died, their bucket list as it is called. This soon transmuted into lists of places to visit, films to see and books to read. We are now familiar with lists such as 100 Books to read before you die or The forty best books to read before you die. Such lists include novels such as Jane Eyre or 1984 and non-fiction titles such as The Diary of Anne Frank. Occasionally, you will see spiritually helpful items such as Augustine's Confessions or Pilgrims Progress mentioned and even the Bible itself and its sixty six books in such lists but not often.

The 66 best read books of all time

When we consider how massively influential the sixty-six books that make up the Bible are, it is perhaps surprising to learn how little read they are. Surveys suggest that many intelligent people have never actually read the sixty-six, even some who profess to be Christians.

This is strange in some ways as the sixty-six books that form the Bible are together the best selling, most widely available, most often translated books on planet earth.

When it comes to those sixty-six books, the Bible is far and away the best selling set of books of all time. The Guinness Book of World Records estimates that more than 5 billion copies of the Bible have been printed. Other texts are not even close to that figure. The Quran - only 800 million copies; The Book of Mormon - only 120 million. Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong or the little red book has several hundred million copies in print but is nowhere near the Bible in number.

The Wycliffe Global Alliance tell us that the world's 7.9 billion people speak some 7378 languages. At present 717 of these languages have all 66 books translated and 3495 languages, some 7.04 billion people, have some part of the Bible. Work is currently going on with a further 828 languages, covering another 67.6 million people.

There are people who cannot read the sixty-six books of the Bible for themselves, then, but a vast number can - and yet so many of them choose not to do so. While they are busy reading Moby Dick or Lord of the Rings, the sixty-six get short shrift.

Encouraging people to read the Sixty-six

So what can we, we who have read the sixty-six, or most of them, do to encourage others to read them?

It is generally agreed that the best place to start is with one of the Gospels is. Mark is shortest, Matthew is good for religious people and Luke is for anyone. John also suits everyone but is different to the others in being more theological in style. All the sixty-six are about the Lord Jesus Christ but it is most obvious in the Gospels which provide us with portraits of Jesus, focusing especially on his death and resurrection.

Only two or three others of the sixty-six are seen under separate cover. Paul's Letter to the Romans is sometimes done like that. That is useful as it sets out Paul's theology for us in a systematic way. Do read Romans. The Old Testament Book of Psalms is also sometimes seen like that. It contains 150 hymns and prayers reflecting on God's Law and the coming Messiah. The book is best loved by those already converted to Christ.

New Testament

The 27 books of the New Testament are often seen bound in one volume, of course, either with or without the Psalms. Once people have read the Gospels, one would encourage them to read the Book of Acts, also sometimes found under separate cover. It gives the history of the church from the Christ's ascension to the end of Paul's three missionary journeys.

Most of the rest of the New Testament is letters. First, Paul's 13 letters to churches and individuals. There are nine to churches in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae and Thessalonica then four to individuals. Of the latter, the two to Timothy and the one to Titus deal with matters of particular interest to pastors who should read and re-read those books.

Next is the Letter to the Hebrews. We are not sure who wrote it but, if not Paul, it must be by someone in his circle. It particularly focuses on the High Priesthood of Christ. We then have seven short general letters - three by John, two by Peter, one each by James and Jude. These are important too and not to be neglected.

The last book in the New Testament is Revelation (not Revelations). It is a book full of symbolism and not easy to read or understand but once you start spotting things like the way the writer, John, uses the number seven, it begins to make sense. One great help to understanding it better is to get to know the Old Testament books.

Genesis to Esther

A full Bible not only has the 27 books of the New Testament but the 39 books of the Old Testament too. These are again all about Jesus Christ but because they were written long before he was born this is usually less obvious. These books contain prophecies, types and shadows of what was going to come. Chapters, like Isaiah 53 are very obviously about Jesus but in some cases this is much harder to spot.

The first five books were written by Moses and take us from the world's creation to the time just before God's people enter the Promised Land. Genesis and Exodus are easy to read as they are mostly story but Leviticus and Numbers are not so easy nor is Deuteronomy.

After those five come Joshua and Judges, taking us from the conquest of the land to the time just before the first king of Israel. After Judges there is a little book called Ruth, which is not only a charming story but a real pointer to King David and to Jesus himself.

Next come three big books, so big the Jews divided each of them in two. First come the Books of Samuel then the Books of Kings. They take us from Samuel, the last of the Judges, through Saul, David and Solomon on to the kings who ruled over the divided kingdoms north and south, down to the time when Judah was sent into exile in Babylon. The third book, Chronicles, goes all the way from Adam to the exile. The opening chapters are not easy to read as they are mostly genealogies. There are things in Chronicles you will not find anywhere else so it is a must read.

After Chronicles comes Ezra and Nehemiah, both about the Jews' amazing return from the exile. The Book of Esther follows, a remarkable story about the providence of God to his people when still in exile. The striking thing about it is that it never mentions God by name. It would be great book to start with for anyone wanting to read the Bible.

Job to Malachi

After all that history, we get five books usually referred to as books of wisdom. The first, Job, is from a time before Moses and deals with the difficult subject of suffering. The beginning and end are easy to read but many chapters lie between, not always easy to read, where Job's friends try to prove to him he is suffering because he has done something wrong, which we know he has not. It is a fascinating and important work that is worth reading and re-reading.

We have mentioned the Book of Psalms, mostly by David. There is also the Book of Proverbs, mostly by his son Solomon. A large part of Proverbs is taken up with proverbs, brief and pithy sayings oozing with wisdom that point in one way or another to Jesus Christ, the wisdom of God. In this section we also have The Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes, not always easy books to interpret but full of wisdom about our relationship with God and with one another.

The rest of the Old Testament is given over to the prophets, major and minor. Major and minor refer to the length of the books they left, not their importance. There are four major ones and twelve minor ones, all worth reading. Of the major ones, Daniel who lived in exile in Babylon is perhaps the easiest, as the first six chapters tell stories about him and his three friends. The second six chapters are more like Revelation. Isaiah is long but there are many prophecies of Messiah that are full of interest and plenty of encouraging verses about the future. Jeremiah and Ezekiel are among the most difficult books to read but are worth reading for the way they point forward to Christ. Where would we be without Jeremiah 31 or Ezekiel 36? With Jeremiah there is a bonus - a little book called Lamentations, a lament over the destruction of Jerusalem. Right in the middle there are some tremendously encouraging words about how great is God's faithfulness.

The last twelve books are all prophets. The Book of Jonah is the best known. It is different to the others and is well known for how it tells the story of Jonah being sent to Nineveh, refusing to go, then being first swallowed then vomited out by a great fish. The other minor prophets, with strange names like Habakkuk or Haggai, are all worth reading too. The first, Hosea, is all about the love of God. Most of the minor prophets are short. Obadiah is only one chapter. It is not always clear who prophesied when but the last three, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, all prophesied after the return from exile. It would be another four hundred years after the last of these before John the Baptist began to prophesy and make way for Messiah Jesus.

How many?

So how many of these sixty-six have you read? How many of them do you know well? They are the most important sixty-six books in existence. Some are more important than others, it is true, but all are God breathed and have something important to teach us about the Lord Jesus Christ and serving him. Do not allow the dust to gather on these amazing books. Read them and read them again. They will be more valuable to you than anything by Dickens or Tolstoy, as great as those writers were, or even Calvin or Spurgeon for that matter. If you never get to read The Great Gatsby or Brave New World it is a pity but if you neglect these sixty-six books it will be a tragedy indeed.

In 2014 Andy Miller published The Year of reading dangerously where he describes how he read some fifty books he had never got round to reading before. How did he do it? Just by getting on with it. There was no big secret. What about you and these sixty-six? If you read three or four chapters a day, you could easily read all sixty-six in a year. There are various plans that will take you through all the books in a shorter or longer period. You will never regret time spent reading them. So get started today.

(This article also appears elsewhere on this blog)

Christ the Bride - A Brief Introduction to the Book of Proverbs Part 2

Some important things to remember

Having considered how Christ is presented in Proverbs as a tender Bride to be won, we come secondly to some important things to bear in mind in approaching the book that affect interpretation and homiletics.

Structure

Firstly, the book's structure. This is very straightforward.

Chapters 1-9 Introductory material. This part of the book is the most like other parts of Scripture and is the least unusual.

Chapters 10-24 This is where we find the bulk of the proverbs proper

Chapters 25-29 Here we have further proverbs copied by Hezekiah’s men

Chapter 30 The words of Agur

Chapter 31 The words of Lemuel and the epilogue of the noble woman

A collection

It is good to bear in mind that one is dealing with a collection. Each proverb needs to be matched with others and with the rest of Scripture teaching.

As with many books of the Bible there is a good deal of repetition here and we need to be prepared to deal with it. Some proverbs or parts of proverbs are either repeated exactly or reproduced in similar form. An examination of their context will usually reveal their particular aim.

As ever, even where the verses and groups of verses jump from subject to subject, an appreciation of context is most important. We must take care that we do not let the intensely practical concern with material things and this world in the proverbs lead to an imbalanced view. Worldly success does not equal righteousness, as we know.

Proverbial

One must bear in mind the proverbial nature of the proverbs. The statements in the proverbs are proverbial and must not be understood as if they were Law. One of the most common and obvious mistakes with proverbs is to take them literalistically. We would not do it with English proverbs. We are quite happy to recognise the truth both of Too many cooks spoil the broth and Many hands make light work; Look before you leap and he who hesitates is lost. However, when it comes to biblical proverbs we are conscious that this is Scripture and so we want somehow to absolutise them in a wrong way. Proverbs are designed to be memorable rather than theoretically accurate. No proverb is a complete statement of truth. It will not automatically apply in any and every situation. One is expected to use one’s common sense. These are not legal guarantees.

When blessings or rewards are promised it is important to remember that these are likely to follow if one adheres to the advice laid down. Proverbs does not guarantee success. Treating the proverbs as laws or being literalistic in interpretation is dangerous.

For example, if you were expounding 10:22, The blessing of the LORD brings wealth without painful toil for it you would want to remind the congregation that this is both a proverb and in the Old Testament where God’s blessing was often of a more obviously material sort. We cannot argue from this verse that ‘every believer is a wealthy believer’ or ‘every blessed believer is blessed with wealth’. If we bear in mind other Scriptures we will remember that wealth can be a curse or a blessing and so the point is that when God brings a blessing it can come very easily. Truly it can be said of those in Christ, All things are yours (1 Corinthians 3:21).

Or take 14:23, All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

There are situations where hard work brings no profit at all. All the gains are wiped out in a moment. However, there is a proverbial truth here that ought to be accepted.

Similar things could be said about other proverbs such as

15:25 The LORD tears down the proud man’s house but he keeps the widow’s boundaries intact. 16:3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. 29:12 If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials become wicked.

In 22:26, 27 we read Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you. There are two questions here. If you put up security for a debt will your bed be snatched from under you? Well, of course, in many cases it never comes to that. This is simply a strong warning of the sort of danger you court if you do this type of thing. Some would say such verses teach that no Christian should put up security for another person’s debt. Does a verse like this prohibit Christians from doing such a thing? Again I think we have to say that the point is not a legalistic ban but a warning of the dangers involved. Surely the chief concern, too, is a spiritual one. A person who is committed to supporting unbiblical teachings will lose out heavily.

Culture

Bear in mind the need to transculturise many of the proverbs. A good many of the proverbs are rooted in Old Testament practices and institutions in their expression. If we forget that we will run into trouble.

An obvious example would be 25:24, Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife. The verse may conjure up a man sitting on the corner of a sloping roofed house with his feet in the gutter. That is not the picture intended. A transculturised version would be more like ‘Better to be in the spare room than share the house with a quarrelsome wife’.

Without this perspective what do you do with a verse like 30:17? The eye that mocks a father, that scorns obedience to an aged mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures. It sounds pretty gruesome until you recall that this is written for a culture living on the edge of a desert. The boy is warned not to go wandering off into that desert but he doesn’t listen. Maybe he gets away with it once or twice but then one day he wanders off and gets lost. Days later they find his remains. The vultures have eaten his flesh; the ravens have pecked out his eyes.

Types of proverb

Finally, the proverbs proper can be divided into a number of general types. It is worth bearing in mind that to some extent the proverbs can be classified. Just as in the Hebrew poetry found in the Psalms we have various sorts of parallelism and other poetical devices, so the proverbs can be sorted into more or less clear cut categories.

1. Antithetical

Many writers note that in 10:1-15:33 we have mostly antithetical or contrasting proverbs. These are of the ‘on one hand … but on the other …’ sort.

Eg 10:1 A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother

Some contrasts are simple, as in the above example. Others are more complex, as when the antithesis is suppressed in one half and has to be inferred from what is in the proverb’s other half.

Eg 10:8 The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.

2. Synonymous and synthetic.

In 16:1-22:16 we mostly find synonymous and synthetic proverbs.

Synonymous. Here the first line is repeated in different words.

Eg 11:25 A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

16:11 Honest scales and balances belong to the LORD; all the weights in the bag are of his making

Synthetic. In synthetic proverbs, the first line is added to with a subsequent one.

Eg 10:22 The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, without painful toil for it.

16:3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.

3. Simile

There are also straight similes. There are many of these in Chapters 25-27 but one or two appear earlier

Eg 10:26 As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so are sluggards to those who send them.

Some proverbs defy neat categorisation and even within categories, there can be variation. Other distinctive types worth noting are

The ten better than proverbs. The first is in 12:9 Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food.

And the six how much more proverbs. The first of these is in 11:31 If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!

Charles Bridges has helpfully written of Proverbs, "Surely if the book conduced to no other end, it tends to humble even the most consistent servant of God, in consciousness of countless failures. The whole book is a mirror for us all, not only to show our defects, but also a guidebook and directory for godly conduct." If this is borne in mind along with the fact that the book is chiefly about Christ, there is hope that we may benefit from its teaching and pass it on to others.

This article first appeared in the Banner of Truth Magazine

Christ the Bride - A Brief Introduction to the Book of Proverbs Part 1

Understanding what Proverbs is about

The chief theme of God's Word is the coming of Messiah. Since before the beginning of the world, God has always intended to send an anointed one, a Saviour, to the world to save his people. It was always his intention that the Second Person of the Trinity should take to himself a human body and soul to live and to die as Messiah on earth.

In order for a person to live out his life as a human being here on earth certain things are necessary. You have to have somewhere to live, for example - a land. So what we call the Promised Land was prepared for the coming of Messiah. It was always intended that he should be born in Bethlehem, live in Nazareth, base his ministry in Capernaum, die in Jerusalem.

Further, you have to have a people - so the choosing of Abraham and the whole story of how the Jewish nation was formed.

A language was necessary - Hebrew it was, but also, following exile, for every day use Aramaic, and, thanks to Alexander the Great, with plenty of Greek thrown in too.

To be a nation you need laws and they are all set out for us in the opening books of the Old Testament.

Other things are necessary too to make a nation. Nations have a history; they have heroes and traditions; they have their songs and their sayings too. The eighteenth century Scots patriot and politician Andrew Fletcher famously said that "if a man were permitted to make all the ballads he need not care who should make the laws of a nation". Think of an Englishman singing Jerusalem, a Welshman singing Calon Lan and you will see what he means. The impact of the Psalms on the Jews and on Messiah himself ought not to be underestimated.

In a similar way, a nation's sayings shape it and are very much part of the fabric of that nation. Hear a Welshman say Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon (a nation without a language is a nation without a heart) or a Scotsman Whit’s fur ye’ll no go past ye (what's meant to happen to you, will happen to you) or an Englishman saying Two wrongs don't make a right or the early bird catches the worm and you will see it.

Just as we have a collection of Hebrew songs in the Bible, so we also have a collection of Hebrew Proverbs. Just as the core of the Psalms was written and collected by King David so the core of the Book of Proverbs was written and collected by his son King Solomon.

It is fair to say that if it is true that we need to take note of the Psalms of David in order to understand Messiah then we also need to take note of the Proverbs of Solomon in order to understand Messiah. As it has been put, if the Psalms give us Jesus singing the Law, the Proverbs give us him meditating on it.

The New Testament

That statement could be considered to be wide of the mark as there is no evidence of direct quotations from Proverbs in the Gospels. However, on closer examination we see parallels.

For example, in Luke 14:7-11 Jesus tells his hearers to take the lowest place at weddings, then they will be invited to a higher place. This is straight from Proverbs 25:6, 7 Do not exalt yourself in the king's presence, and do not claim a place among his great men; it is better for him to say to you, "Come up here," than for him to humiliate you before his nobles.

Or take the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Firstly, the seek and you will find idea (Matthew 7:7, 8) which is very much like Proverbs 8:17 where wisdom says I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. Secondly, the story of the wise man and the foolish man grows out of Proverbs such as Proverbs 14:1 The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

Beyond this is the very way that Jesus very often summed up his teaching in a pithy way, very similar to that found in Proverbs

Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 7:20 ... by their fruit you will recognise them.

Matthew 22:21 Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's

Mark 2:17 It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

Mark 10:43,44 ... whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.

John 14:6 I am the way, the truth and the life, no-one comes to the Father except through me.

Christ the subject

More than that, Proverbs itself is all about Christ. This may not be immediately clear to a casual reader but if it is borne in mind that the book is a presentation of true wisdom and that apart from anything else Christ is wisdom then it is evident that ultimately the book is about the true wisdom found in Christ.

In Proverbs we see Christ especially as the one greater than Solomon who has become for believers, to quote 1 Corinthians 1:30, wisdom from God. Christ, and especially his death on the cross, seem foolish to the world. But the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom.

As stated, it is clear that Jesus knew this book well and that often his sayings, parables and other teachings parallel and reflect things found there. To truly understand Jesus, we must get to grips with Proverbs.

Proverbs is incontrovertibly about wisdom, about how to be wise. It is important to remember that, ultimately, wisdom is not something abstract but something personal. In his commentary David Atkinson argues that the personification at the end of Chapter 1 is not a mere literary device but a reflection of the essential nature of biblical wisdom as wisdom is for living by. It cannot be known until it is lived out.

Each prophet and apostle of God, before Christ and after, has been sent in the wisdom of God, and brings God’s wisdom to this world. And so in Matthew 23:34 and Luke 11:49 we read

God in his wisdom (note) said … Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers … some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.

At the apex of all this is the coming from heaven of the true Wisdom of God (see 1 Corinthians 1:24).

In Luke 7:35 and Matthew 11:19 Jesus closely identifies himself and his ministry with God’s wisdom. He says that wisdom is proved right by all her children. He is the one in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).

What about the fact that in Proverbs wisdom is presented as being female? This is not a problem. Jesus spoke of himself as being like a mother hen longing to gather her chicks. He is both the Bridegroom and, in this book, a tender Bride to be won.

To be truly wise we must listen to Christ. We must receive him. To find Christ, or to be found by him, is to find wisdom.

We know that every part of the Bible points us to Christ in one way or another. In Proverbs Christ speaks as wisdom. The book also has a great deal to say about righteousness. When we remember that Christ is the Righteous one and that true righteousness comes only through him, we can again see how a proper exposition of Proverbs must point people to Jesus Christ.

I have preached through the Book of Proverbs more than once. In seeking to preach through Proverbs I found myself saying things like this

What do we all need? Wisdom from God. We need wisdom to know how to live and how to make sense of life. True wisdom gives us definite truths to live by and teaches us to be obedient. This is fleshed out most clearly in the New Testament. Put quite simply, the purpose of life is to live for the glory of the God who made us. No-one does that by nature and so we deserve the judgement of hell.

However, in his mercy God has provided a way out, a way of wisdom (the Way) in the gospel of Jesus Christ. He himself has provided a way back to God by means of his perfect life and his atoning death. This is the teaching, the words, the understanding or sound learning that we need. It is the obedience of faith to the command to trust in Christ, God’s wisdom, that we need.

Some would fail to see that Christ is the subject of Proverbs Chapter 8 but the best commentators are clear that he is. For those with eyes to see he can also be found very clearly in Proverbs 31.

This article first appeared in the Banner of Truth Magazine

Noah - Film Review

Paramount Pictures Directed by Darren Aronovsky Starring Russell Crowe Cert. 12A

One of my pet hates is the dinky sort of ‘Noah’s ark’ you see in toy shops and children’s books. The ark in Paramount Pictures’ film Noah is nothing like that. It is a hulking great thing, and when the animals come into it and it floats on the surface of the water in a worldwide flood, it is a great sight to behold.

However, that is probably the best that can be said for a film that most Christians will be very disappointed with. The fact that I need to use the term ‘spoiler alert’ here gives a hint at how far from the Bible account Darren Aronovsky’s film strays.

Wholly fictitious

Turning biblical narrative into a cinematic experience is fraught with difficulties. Indeed, the film’s own ‘health warning’, ‘12A: Contains moderate violence, injury detail, threat’, alerts us to that.

We know too that a feature film will never simply follow a narrative, but needs to build in its own dramatic tensions, so we were pleased not to have to hear an actor giving the voice of God and not surprised to see Noah’s wife (Jennifer Connolly) given such a big part.

We were willing to allow a large part to Shem’s wife (Emma Watson, famous from the Harry Potter films) and can see that there is some room for argument on how Methuselah, Lamech and Ham might be presented, and on whether Noah became a grandfather while on the ark (the film takes us from Noah’s childhood to his drunkenness and repentance, with backward glances to the earlier chapters of Genesis).

We can even overlook inaccuracies, such as ignoring the 120-year gap between the command to build the ark and the flood.

What is much harder to stomach is the blatant rejection of the biblical narrative, in favour of a wholly fictitious presentation of Noah (Russell Crowe) as a man with a death-wish against humanity; and an ark containing seven people not eight, one of them a villainous Tubal-Cain, who stows away for months, only to be murdered before the Ararat denouement!

One of the problems with suggesting, as the film does, that Noah wanted to kill his own grandchildren and so leave the human race with no future is that, far from creating dramatic tension, anyone who is thinking about the plot will be utterly unfazed by all the drama that those playing Noah, his wife and daughter-in-law pour into their parts, since the very fact we are here watching the film dictates the eventual outcome!

Spectacularly wrong

Perhaps we simply have to accept that, when those who are unwilling to treat God’s Word as sacred are let loose on the Scriptures, they will almost inevitably go wrong sometimes; or, as here, spectacularly wrong.

The theological problems with this film are there from the outset. We open with the hopeful words, ‘In the beginning there was nothing’. Everything in the believer cries out, ‘Actually, in the beginning there was God’, but you say, ‘Okay, this is as near as we are likely to get from such a source’.

A few frames in, however, we are introduced to ‘The watchers’, an angel-like race who are fallen and yet redeemable, and who help Noah build his ark. This is highly problematic, as is the film-makers’ inability throughout to distinguish between the miraculous and the magical.

Even when we get a countdown of creation, the idea that the sun and moon were made on the fourth day is firmly rejected, regardless of what Genesis may say on the matter.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the film is the way the Bible’s chief theme of Messiah has been completely removed. The main characters come over as clones of 21st century man, in all his ignorance and arrogance, not as antediluvians longing for Messiah to come.

Damaris Media

I was able to see this film ahead of time, thanks to the efforts of an organisation called Damaris Media (http://www.damaris.org). Led by Nick Pollard, Damaris seeks to capitalise on the existence of films like this, by encouraging discussion of the gospel with people who see it.

The group’s aims are laudable and they have produced excellent materials to accompany the film. I just wonder if the task of getting from the outright fiction of Noah to the true Genesis story will be a step too far in most cases. We do not have to tie our hands behind our backs before we evangelise.

Of course, some people will see the film anyway, and Damaris may be a help in highlighting how to take discussion forward.

This review first appeared in Evangelical Times in 2014

Getting to grips with Proverbs

Let a child choose between 500 pennies and a £5 note and he will choose the coins, while you, knowing the value of portable cash, probably prefer the banknote. Proverbs contain portable wisdom. They are brief and to the point. 

Proverbs is one of the Bible's more unusual books. It begins fairly conventionally but after Chapter 9, proverbs dominate. Proverbs appear elsewhere in Scripture but not in such profusion. How do we get to grips with them and with the book? To remember the following points will be a great help.

1. Seek Christ. To get the most from any Bible book you need to work hard, concentrating on seeing Christ there. In Proverbs wisdom is presented as a desirable, omni-competent woman who the father wants his son to marry. In light of the New Testament we see that such wisdom is found ultimately in Christ alone. He is the one to marry! 

2. These proverbs form a collection. Each one needs to be matched with others and compared with other parts of Scripture. As everywhere in Scripture there is repetition. Some proverbs are repeated exactly or with slight variations. An examination of context usually reveals their particular aim. Even where verses apparently jump from subject to subject, appreciating the context is important. Also take care not to let their intensely practical concern with material things and this world lead to an imbalance. Worldly success does not equal righteousness, as we surely know. 

3. Proverbs are proverbial! Do not read them as laws or in a literalistic way. We do not do it with English proverbs. We recognise the truth both of ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ and ‘many hands make light work’. However, with biblical proverbs, conscious it is Scripture, we tend to absolutise in a wrong way. Proverbs are designed to be memorable rather than theoretically accurate. No proverb is a complete statement of truth. It will not automatically apply in every situation. We must use common sense. If blessings or rewards are promised, it is important to remember they are likely to follow. There is no legal guarantee of success.

10:22 says The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it. In the Old Testament God’s blessing was often of a more obviously material sort. To argue from this verse that ‘every believer is a wealthy believer’ is to ignore the rest of Scripture, which makes clear that wealth can be a curse or a blessing. It teaches rather that God's blessings are not superficial but worth having. Truly it can be said of those in Christ, All things are yours (1 Corinthians 3:21). 

14:23 says All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. Sometimes hard work brings no profit. Every gain is wiped out in one fell swoop. However, there is a proverbial truth here that we must accept. 

See also 15:25 The LORD tears down the proud man’s house but he keeps the widow’s boundaries intact, 16:3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

4. Many proverbs need “transculturalisation”. Some proverbs are expressed in terms rooted in Old Testament practices and institutions. Forgetting that leads to trouble.

25:24 reads Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife. The verse may conjure up a man sitting on the corner of a house with a sloping roof, his feet in the guttering. That is not the picture intended. A transculturalised version may be ‘Better to be in the spare room than share the house with a quarrelsome wife’.

What about 30:17? The eye that mocks a father, that scorns obedience to a mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures It sounds pretty gruesome until you recall that this comes out of a culture living on the edge of a desert. The boy is warned not to wander off but will not listen. Maybe he gets away with it once or twice but a day comes when he wanders off and is lost. Days later they find his ravaged remains.

5. Proverbs follow a number of common patterns. Hebrew psalms employ various sorts of parallelism and Hebrew proverbs have certain characteristics too.

• Chapters 10-15 contain mostly antithetical or contrasting proverbs, the ‘on one hand … but on the other …’ sort. 10:1 A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother. Some contrasts are simple, others more complex: 10:8 The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.
• Chapters 16-22 contain mostly synonymous and synthetic proverbs. In synonymous proverbs the first line is repeated in different words: 11:25 A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed See also 16:11.
• In synthetic ones, the first line is added to with a subsequent one: 10:22 The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it. See also 16:3.
• Simile. Straight similes predominate in Chapters 25-27 and one or two appear earlier: 10:26 As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is a sluggard to those who send him.

Some proverbs defy neat categorisation. Even within categories, there can be variation. Two more distinctive types worth noting are:

• Ten better than proverbs, including 12:9 Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food.
• Six how much more proverbs, including 11:31 If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!

Awareness of such things can help us better appreciate the book.

Proverbs is not always easy to get to grips with but it is very worthwhile doing. Its own introduction promises to help you attain wisdom and discipline, understand words of insight and live a disciplined, prudent, godly life. It can make the simple prudent, give knowledge and discretion to young people and extend the learning of the wise and guide them. What a book!

Spurgeon once warned that though Solomon made a book of proverbs, a book of proverbs never made a Solomon. Getting to grips with Proverbs cannot guarantee anything by itself but it is a God-given book that can help you to be wise and holy. Do all you can to take full advantage of it.

This article first appeared I believe in the Protestant Truth Society Magazine