Tonight’s family service asked the unusual question ‘Are you a wall or a windmill?’ Mark gave us different kinds of windmills to ponder:

… as well as different kinds of walls:

Windmills are affected by the wind, with wind turbines needing surprisingly little wind to make the blades go around. Walls can protect and provide shelter; they can be used to keep things out or keep things in! The key thing for us to ponder, however, is our response to the wind of God’s Spirit.

Is 43:18-21 talks of the new things that God wants to do and the way (road) He will make in the wilderness and the rivers He will make in the deserts. Such things can only happen when God performs the miraculous, but our response to God moving can be varied. When the wind of God’s Spirit blows, will we be prepared to be flexible so that our ‘sails’ can go round or will be inflexible and unyielding like a wall? Are we a spiritual windmill or a wind-jamming wall?

We also had a birthday to celebrate:

Ps 132 remembers how David brought the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem (see 2 Sam 6) and David’s obedience and God’s blessings. David fulfilled the vows he made to God, as we are all encouraged to do (Eccl 5:5). Initially, the situation did not go well, for they did not carry the ark as they were supposed to and God’s anger burned against Uzzah as he touched the sacred ark. When the ark was actually brought into Jerusalem, it was carried as it should have been in the first place and David danced joyfully before God wearing only a linen ephod. (2 Sam 6:14-15).

The psalm does not just focus on David’s vows, however, but reminds us that God made vows to David and to Israel: ‘I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor I will satisfy with food.’ (Ps 132:15) God’s salvation and rescue from enemies down through the ages propels us into hope that this will again be our story and our song: ‘I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her faithful people will ever sing for joy.’ (Ps 132:16) We have a hope that the ‘horn’ (a sign of strength in ancient times) will continue to give us strength, that Jesus, the anointed one and Light of the World (John 8:12) will enable us to be the light of the world (Matt 5:14). We have a hope that the enemy will ultimately be seen to be defeated, for Jesus has said that it is finished and the book of Revelation makes it plain that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. (Rev 19:6) God makes many promises to us and Paul reminds us that we can be sure these are ‘yes’ in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 1:20-22, see also Heb 6:16-20).

Ps 132 is a psalm all about promises: the promises we make, the promises God makes. It’s a psalm all about faithfulness: our faithfulness in keeping our vows, God’s faithfulness in keeping His. It’s a psalm about obedience, about the blessing we enter into as we obey God. We can learn much that will help us on life’s journey as we study the past.

Ps 132 roots us firmly in history, but the historical evidence of God’s faithfulness and provision are not past tense experiences only. History matters a lot to Christians: not only Old Testament history, but New Testament history, for we believe that Jesus really did come to earth, that He lived on earth, that He died for our sins and that He rose again – if these things are not historically true, then our faith is in vain; it can’t be relied on (see 1 Cor 15). History is not meant to be ‘dead facts’, however; these facts propel us forward in faith.

Paul makes clear to the Corinthians when he’s looking back at Israel’s history, history is meant to help us: ‘these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.’ (1 Cor 10:6) We need more than our own experience or our own feelings or our own generation to help us make wise choices in life. To the Romans, Paul writes ‘everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.’ (Rom 15:4) The psalmist knew this; he was trying to encourage the pilgrims on their journey to make wise choices and to remember ultimately that what God had done for His people in the past, He was surely able to do again. Since God never changes, we can be confident that there is continuity between His past actions and His present actions.

It’s foolish to reinvent the wheel.

If we ignore the past and don’t learn from history, we are doomed (Edmund Burke says) to repeat it. ‘A Christian with a defective memory has to start everything from scratch… A Christian with a good memory avoids repeating old sins, knows the easiest way through complex situations and instead of starting over each day continues what was begun in Adam.’ (Eugene Peterson, ‘The Journey’, P 153). We do well to learn from the past: to emulate what is good, to discard what is bad, to press on in faith and to avoid unbelief.

In the Old Testament, God’s presence was symbolised by the ark of the covenant, that wooden chest, covered in gold, which contained the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments as well as Aaron’s rod (Numbers 17:1-13) and a pot of manna (Ex 16:4), and which featured so prominently in the history of Israel. The ark of the covenant (which has featured in many different fictional films, my favourite being the Indiana Jones film ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’) may have been a simple chest, but the things it contained and, above all, the things it symbolised – chiefly the presence of God – became extremely important to God’s people. According to the book of Exodus, while Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days receiving the Ten Commandments, God showed him the pattern for the tabernacle which would house the ark of the covenant and all the furnishings which would go into the tabernacle and Moses instructed Bezalel and Oholiab to build these things (see Ex 31:1-11). Ex 25:10-22 gives us a detailed description of the ark: it was to be approximately 131 cm x 79 cm x 79 cm (52 x 31 x 31 inches), made of acacia wood, covered entirely with gold, with four gold rings to be attached to its four corners, two on each side so that poles could be inserted through these to carry the ark. A golden lid or ‘atonement cover’ was on top (this is often known as the ‘mercy seat’ because the cloud which represented the presence of God would rest on this cover and from that place He would dispense mercy to man when the blood of the atonement was sprinkled there.) Gold cherubim were put above the lid.

The ark of the covenant was the place where God’s holy presence would dwell; it came to symbolise not only all that God had already done for His people through the things it contained, but the very presence of God Himself. It was situated in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle and only the high priest could enter that place, and even then only once a year. When the Israelites were in the wilderness and travelling on only when the cloud by day or pillar of fire by night moved, the ark was transported by the Levites who carried it on the poles; because the ark symbolised God’s presence, no one was allowed to touch it. God was so holy, so utterly different from sinful mankind, that no person could touch the ark and live; there was to be reverence, awe and obedience in how the ark was handled.

The ark played an important role as the Israelites crossed the River Jordan to possess the land of Canaan. During the crossing, the river grew dry as soon as the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched its waters and it remained dry until the priests left the river with the ark after the people had passed over (Josh 3:15-17, Josh 4:10, 11, 18). In the Battle of Jericho, the ark was carried around the city once a day for seven days, preceded by the armed men and seven priests sounding seven trumpets of rams’ horns (Josh 6:4-15). On the seventh day, the seven priests sounding the trumpets before the ark went round the city seven times and this time they gave a great shout and the walls of Jericho fell down flat (Josh 6:19-20). Later on, we see Joshua praying and lamenting before the ark (Josh 7:6-9); we see him reading the law to the people at the site where the ark was situated (Josh 8:33). Later, God’s people consulted the ark for guidance (Judges 20:26-28). One of the darkest periods of Israel’s history was when the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant and took it back with them (1 Sam 4-5).

Ps 132 looks back at the rescue of the ark of the covenant (see 2 Sam 6) and remembers God’s faithfulness and help. We do well to look back at history and remember the abiding presence of God, resting on the promise He has given us that He will never leave us or forsake us. (Heb 13:5)

Igor enjoyed his first trip out in 2016 yesterday, visiting Aston Springs Farm. He got to see sheep:

… and pigs:

… and chickens (with a friend):

The alpacas were a bit shy, though:

In the Old Testament, prophets were seen as important people who brought a message from God to people. They did not speak on their own authority, but spoke the very words of God (Jer 1:9, Num 22:38, Ezek 2:7-8), which was why it was so important to obey their commands. To speak falsely in the name of God was a terrible sin, punishable by death (see Deut 18:15-22), and prophets were clearly called by God to speak His words (Jer 1:5). Theirs was no easy life, for so often, their words were rejected and they were treated badly (see Acts 7:52), but they provided God’s people with comfort, warning, challenge, guidance and insight into God’s ways.

The content of prophecy could be varied, including:

1. revelation about the nature of God (e.g. Isaiah 55:8-11, Num 23:19)
2. a calling to God’s people to honour the covenant God made with them (Jer 3)
3. guidance in specific areas (e.g. choosing a king or personal guidance such as Samuel gave to Saul)
4. rebuke (e.g. Nathan’s message to David after David had committed adultery)
5. prediction (with many Old Testament prophecies looking ahead to the coming of the Messiah – see Isaiah 53, for example)

Prophecy was often connected to praise and worship (see 1 Chron 25:1) and to intercessory prayer (see 2 Kings 20:1-11) and to miraculous powers (Elijah and Elisha seeing miracles with food, healings and other answers to prayer and prophecy, for example.)

Prophets gave their messages in a number of ways. The most obvious was through a spoken message (‘This is what the Lord God says’ being a common introduction to Old Testament prophecy), but often prophets combined dramatic physical symbolism with their message to reinforce what they were saying:

• • Abijah tearing new garment into 12 pieces and giving 10 to Jeroboam to symbolise the division of the kingdom (1 Ki 11:30-31)
  • Elisha had King Joash shoot an arrow symbolising victory over the Syrians (1 Kings 13:15-18)
  • Jeremiah smashed the potter’s vessel to symbolise judgment (Jer 19:10-13)
  • Ezekiel lay on one side for over a year to symbolise the siege of Jerusalem (Ezek 4)
  • Ezekiel dug through the city wall and carried baggage out, symbolising exile (Ezek 12:3-6)

It’s obvious from the above examples that prophets were not ‘comfortable’ people to be around. They were people who saw strange visions, who dreamed bizarre dreams or could interpret dreams; they were people who heard the audible voice of God (1 Sam 3:1), who maintained such a close relationship with God that they could write about their conversations with God with first-hand experience. They challenged the status quo and were unequivocal in their pursuit of God. Their very existence was a vivid reminder of God’s passionate love for His people: as Wayne Grudem says, ‘The existence of prophecy among the people of Israel was a great blessing, for it indicated that God cared about them enough, even in their sins, to speak personally to them.’ (‘The Gift of Prophecy in the NT & Today’, P 282)

It’s impossible to read the Old Testament without being struck by the fervour and authenticity of these accounts of prophecy. We might not know how the prophets received every message from God (with beautiful understatement Wayne Grudem reminds us ‘in the long sections in the writing prophets, we are simply presented with the content of the prophet’s message with no indication as to how the prophet received it.’ (‘The Gift of Prophecy in the NT & Today’, P 277)), but it’s clear, as Peter reminds us later, ‘no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.’ (2 Pet 1:20-21)