Mark Burgin spoke this morning on the subject of ‘Shalom’, the Hebrew word for peace which also conveys a sense of fulness, wellbeing and contentment. God’s blessing on us brings peace (see Gen 1:27-31); His blessing on us brings peace and contentment. (Numbers 6:22-26).

God’s peace does not necesssarily mean the absence of trouble or trials. The Israelites were slaves for years before the Exodus and then during the wilderness wanderings they had to be prepared to move on at a moment’s notice. Life was not always easy for them! Even when they went into the Promised Land, there were battles and wars to win; life was far from tranquil most of the time. But ‘shalom’ does not focus on outer peace; instead, it is something which holds us steady throughout life becasue we know God is in control. This inner peace from God comes from His presence, so as we dwell in Him, we can know peace, no matter what. God is able to sustain us and speak peace over us; Jesus promised to leave us His peace and this is always available to us. (John 14:27)

The Bible is actually made up of 66 books within the one book, written by many different authors and in many different genres. Part of the problem in understanding the Bible lies in understanding each genre and reading it accordingly.

Many books are historical narratives, but others are poetic (e.g. Psalms, Proverbs) and use imagery and symbolism to convey truths. The Gospels in the New Testament focus on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, but are not ‘biographies’ in the traditional sense of the word. We have letters to churches; we have prophetic writings in the BIble. Revelation, along with parts of Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel and Amos, are part of what is known as ‘apocalyptic literature’, relying heavily on imagery and symbolism to convey spiritual visions connected with the end times and the ultimate establishment of God’s kingdom.

When a child learns to read, there is the challenge of vocabulary: what does this word literally mean? My granddaughter was reading a book this week about a ‘banquet’ and ‘goblets’. She had never encountered either word before, so although she could read them easily enough, I had to explain what they meant to her. Then, however, we move to the realm of idiom and metaphor. When we say God is our rock, we do not mean God is a literal rock; we are talking about the elements of a rock which He represents (strength, stability, immovability etc.) When we read Revelation, there are images a-plenty which take some fathoming, but even when things are not meant literally (Satan being a dragon, for example), that does not mean they are not true.

Learning to read the Bible in context and with these spiritual eyes and ears isn’t easy, but it’s the path to real understanding!

This week, in our Bible study looking at the ‘end times’ or ‘last days’, we started looking at the book of Revelation. This last book in the Bible seems daunting to most of us, full of symbolism and imagery that we struggle to understand and interpret. Nonetheless, if all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for us (2 Tim 3:16), we cannot afford to ignore a whole book of the Bible just because of these difficulties. Moreover, Rev 1:3 promises a blessing to all those who hear its words and take them to heart.

The nature of the book is such that it belongs to the genre of apocalyptic literature, which is very different to the historical writings of the Old Testament or the poetry of Psalms, for example. This genre, which is also seen in parts of Daniel and Ezekiel, cannot always be interpreted literally, and uses symbolism, imagery and numerology in places. We may feel we do not fully understand what Armageddon, the Beast, the great tribulation, the woman or the ‘Millennium’ mean, but the overall message of the book of Revelation is clear: God is in control and ultimately, all evil will be defeated, and all wrongs will be righted. This message is positive, and God has much to say to His people through this book (see Rev 2-3). We look forward to investigating further in weeks to come!

Dave spoke tonight from John 21:1-14. The things that are narrated here happened just after Easter, when life was getting back to normal after the trauma of all that happened that week. Peter, tired of being in limbo and waiting, had decided to go back fishing, but things were not going well for him and his friends. When Jesus called to them from the beach, his disciples did not recognise HIm. This was a recurring theme after the Resurrection: Mary thought Jesus was the gardener initially; the disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognise Jesus at first. We can be like them too, failing to recognise Jesus in our ordinary, everyday lives.

We may perhaps not expect to meet Jesus anywhere but at church services, but the truth is that we can meet Him anywhere – whilst we are shopping or at work, for example. We do need special places to meet with HIm, but must understand that He can be found also in the ordinary as well. He was found by Mary in a cemetery garden, by two disciples on a dusty road, and here, He is found by the lake. Previously, He had been found at a wedding, at a well, at a funeral (not just in the synagogue). Jesus is with us everywhere and the ordinary places can become sacred ones when we recognise His presence there.

We do meet with God in the church building when we gather together, but we must be careful not to restrict meeting with God to this one place only. Jesus is with us wherever we go and we need to seek to recognise His presence in our everyday lives.

As a church we support Innocent Okot in Uganda, who is 17 years old. Below is his latest photo and news:

When your friend is sad, what do you do to make
him/her happy?
When my friend is sad, I tell him Bible stories to
encourage and make him happy.

Tell us about the most interesting thing you’ve
learned in school this year.
This year, I learned about the missionaries that came
to Uganda to share the Word of God and I found that
very interesting.

If you could be a teacher for one day, what would you
teach friends about and why?
If I could be a teacher for one day, I would teach my
friends about respect because I want them to be good
peopl

Gideon has long been one of my favourite Bible characters, unlikely though this may seem. He was a man full of insecurity, doubt, questions and fear, and yet he became a hero of faith who led Israel to victory against the Midianites. As always, this reminds us that God uses the most unlikely people and people of all personality types can be welcomed and used by God. What matters is not so much who we are as who God is. His presence with us is what makes the difference. (Judges 6:12, 14, 16)

Gideon lived in troubled times, when idolatry meant that Israel was constantly under siege. (Judges 6:1-5) We first see him in a winepress, threshing wheat so that the marauding Midianites woud not steal the crop. Divine intervention in the form of an angel greeting him (‘the Lord is with you, mighty warrior’) brings him into honest conversation with God. He has plenty of questions, but God is not put off by all the flaws and failings he lists. Instead, God responds with his own question, ‘Am I not sending you?’ (Judges 6:14)

Gideon demonstrates to us that it is God’s presence which makes the difference. Even when he has doubts and desperately needs reassurance and confirmation, God is gracious to him. (Judges 6:17-20, 39-40) God understands us and knows our human frailty. (Ps 103:13-14) Even when Gideon moves forward in faith, there is also fear present (Judges 6:27) What counts is that we obey God. We will never necessarily eliminate fear entirely, for faith means stepping out of our comfort zone and relying only on God’s strength, but as we do what He has told us to, one step at a time, we can become mighty warriors and not paralysed worriers!