March/April 1997

Israel: Small but Significant • When Someone Is HurtingWhy Did He Have to Die? • Communication With Parents

The Battle for Your Mind

The Battle for Your Mind

Israel: Small but Significant • When Someone Is HurtingWhy Did He Have to Die? • Communication With Parents

Millions have had the blessing of education in the 20th century, and knowl-edge has enhanced our ability to perceive, analyze and understand the world inwhich we live. Although education is valuable, is everything we learn to beaccepted at face value? Do our teachers always tell us the truth, or do they some-times pass on preconceived ideas learned from their teachers? Following a biblicalprinciple, should we not seek to “prove all things and hold fast that which is good”?

Against this backdrop we should examine a bias in the world of theology. Somefervently believe that the Jewishness of the New Testament is something to beignored at all costs. Is this reasonable? Some scholars now admit that the estab-lished churches have been in gross error about important aspects of the founder ofChristianity and His early followers. Is it possible that the churches that havesprung up in the name of Christ have been fundamentally wrong about His teach-ing and practice? Was the early Church far more Jewish than has been taught?

Well, as they say, “truth is stranger than fiction.” The subject of early Christian-ity’s Jewishness has been avoided in fact by most scholars because of a long-standing prejudice in the theological world. But a change of sorts is under way andit is causing a reevaluation of some of the underlying approaches of traditionalChristianity. If understood in their totality, the implications are profound.

Recognizing that the context of Jesus’life was within the Israelite religion ofthe Hebrew Scriptures, Roman Catholic theologian John Pawlikowski notes:“[Some] biblical scholars share the conviction that Jesus must be returned to hisessentially Jewish context if the Church is to understand his message properly.”

More pointedly he writes: “It is now becoming increasingly apparent to biblicalscholars that the lack of a deep immersion into the spirit and content of the HebrewScriptures leaves the contemporary Christian with a truncated version of Jesus’message. In effect, what remains is an emasculated version of biblical spirituality.”

The Hebrew Scriptures comprise what we call the Old Testament, and we priv-ilege the “New” over the “Old” by doing so. More accurate and less misleadingterms would be Hebrew Scriptures and the Apostolic Writings. Then we mightbetter understand what the early Church knew and that its teachings and practicewere firmly rooted in the only “Bible” they had—the Old Testament.

In practical application this meant that those first Christians observed what manytoday would say are “Jewish” customs, such as the Passover. It’s eye-opening toread the accounts of Jesus’last days with this Jewish background in mind. On thenight preceding His crucifixion, Jesus sat down with His disciples for the Passovermeal, eaten by the Israelite peoples for centuries following the Exodus from Egypt.

Jesus was an Israelite, of the tribe of Judah. He was also God in the flesh. Thatnight He took bread and wine and introduced new symbols into an ancient memor-ial, infusing it with new significance. He was soon to become the Savior of allhumanity by His sacrificial death in our stead. He was the Passover Lamb of God.

That evening He also performed a menial task by washing His disciples’feet.Today some follow His example, once a year on the Passover washing each other’sfeet, symbolic of their desire to humbly serve fellow human beings. They also takebread and wine in memory of the ultimate sacrifice of the Son of God. One teacherof theology told me a few years ago that some friends had recently begun the prac-tice of footwashing, and she considered them better Christians for doing so.

In light of the findings of today’s scholars, it would be good for all of us to con-sider what it means to be a Christian in respect of the Founder’s essential Jewish-ness. Which other early Church beliefs and practices should we imitate? TheGood News will bring you that knowledge as the months go by.

—David Hulme

F r o m t h e P u b l i s h e r

2 The Good News2 The Good News

March/April 1997 Volume 2, Number 2The Good News (ISSN: 1086-9514) is publishedbimonthly by the United Church of God, anInternational Association, 444 E. Huntington Drive, Suite206, Arcadia, CA 91066-3678. © 1997 United Church ofGod, an International Association. Printed in U.S.A. Allrights reserved. Reproduction in any form without writ-ten permission is prohibited. Periodicals Postage paid atArcadia, Calif. 91006, and at additional mailing offices.

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Richard Thompson, Lyle Welty, Dean Wilson

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Reexamining the Roots of Christianity

T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s

C o v e r F e a t u r e

The Battle for Your MindWhy do you think the way you do? Who formulates your thought patterns? Are the choices you make truly your own, or do influences beyond your control unduly sway your opinions? Most people are unaware of the battle taking place around them. This battle is for control of their thoughts, their mind, their life. The stakes are serious. . . . . . . 4

World News and Trends An Overview of conditions around the world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Profiles of Faith Moses: Leader of a Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Just for Youth When You and Your Parents Don’t See Eye to Eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Israel: Small but Significant

Why does Israel have an influence and grip on the world’s consciousnessfar out of proportion to its small size and population? To understand itstrue importance we must consider its profound impact on human history. . . . . . 8

Why Did He Have to Die?

This is the story of two men, living many centuries apart, who willingly gave theirlives so others could survive. It’s a story you need to understand. . . . . . . 12

The Good Friday-Easter Sunday Question

Jesus Christ said He would be entombed three days and three nights. But how canthat possibly fit between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning? . . . . . 17

How Can You Help When Someone Is Hurting?

We all face difficulties, disappointments and setbacks. We want to reach out when others we know are hurting, but often we don’t know what to do or say. Here are ways you can be a friend to others who are hurting. . . . . . . 20

Archaeology and the Book of Exodus: Exit From Egypt

One of the most amazing stories recorded in the Bible is ancient Israel’sExodus from Egypt. Did it really happen the way the Scriptures record? Archaeological finds shed some interesting light on this astounding saga. . . . . . . 22

What influences affect your thinking? 4

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One man’s sacrifice saved others 12

Improve teen-parent communication 30

R e g u l a r F e a t u r e s

March/April 1997 3

Why do you think the way you do? Are the choicesyou make truly your own, or do influences beyond

your control unduly sway your opinions?

4 The Good News

The Battle for Your Mind

b y R o g e r F o s t e r

esieged by a cacophony of sights, sounds,impressions, images and emotions—allcompeting for our time, attention andthoughts—our minds are daily exposedto far more information than we can

consciously process. Even in sleep weintegrate people, places and events into partly

real, sometimes frightful and at other times wildlywhimsical dreams. The sheer volume of ideas andinformation incessantly bombarding our mindscreates for us an information crisis, a battle forcontrol over what we think and believe.

The battle for your mind is a reality that youcannot afford to ignore. Believe it or not, you arethe focus of relentless efforts to alter your beliefs,and some of the subtle skills meant to shape theway you think are astonishingly powerful andeffective.

Commercial advertising is a widely recognizedexample. Marketing efforts thrive on shaping publichabits and influencing choices.

Honest and legitimate advertising is a benefit toconsumers and a valuable information source inany modern economy. Yet not all advertising hon-estly represents the facts, as illustrated by the oldsaying “Let the buyer beware.”

Beguiling and seductive schemes are so sophisti-cated and pervasive that America’s NBC NightlyNews telecast with Tom Brokaw includes a regular

feature called “The Fleecing of America.” Like it ornot, you are the target in a never-ending struggle forcontrol over the way you think—and behave.

Right and wrong influences

Under the right circumstances, the influence ofothers on our lives can be beneficial. People whopositively affect our thinking expand our under-standing and knowledge. They stimulate ourminds and expand our horizons, increasing theexcitement and challenge of life itself. From themwe learn and grow. Emotionally, we benefitimmensely from their nurturing influence. Our fel-low human beings contribute enormously to ourpersonal development.

But not all who seek to shape our views are con-structive. This is especially true of the massiveefforts at work to eradicate society’s standards andvalues. The previously mentioned adage “Let thebuyer beware” is just as applicable to this intellec-tual and spiritual domain as it is to the marketplace.

In general, irrational ideas foster irrational

behavior. How you think controls the way you liveand how you relate to other people. Your thoughtswill influence your decisions and thus your actions.Ultimately, in this sense, you are what you think.

Consider these questions: Who exerts the great-est influence on your personal opinions? What arethe external pulls that sway your thinking themost? What are the sources that affect the stan-dards for your behavior? If you address these ques-tions honestly, you’ll find their answers disturbingas well as profound.

Let’s examine some commonly recognizedinfluences that shape the choices millions of peoplemake every day, noticing the colossal impact thoseinfluences have on the behavioral standards of soci-ety. Then let’s look at some of the direct and con-certed endeavors to modify—and in some casesabolish—almost all standards and values. Finally,let’s squarely face another momentous question:Who should have the greatest influence on how wethink and the choices we make, and what is our per-sonal responsibility?

Influence of television and movies

Television is the most powerful medium everinvented for conveying ideas and information tolarge numbers of people. Remarkably effective andinfluential, television is drastically altering our soci-ety’s thinking and behavioral patterns, even encour-

aging so-called alternative lifestyles.Film critic Michael Medved describes the pro-

found impact of the TV and movie business onsociety. The power of the entertainment business“to influence our actions flows from its ability toredefine what constitutes normal behavior in thissociety,” he writes. Entertainers have “assumed adominant role in establishing social conventions.The fantasy figures who entertain us on our TVand movie screens, or who croon to us constantlyfrom our radios and CD players, take the lead indetermining what is considered hip, and what willbe viewed as hopelessly weird” (Hollywood vs.America, Harper-Collins Publishers, New York,1992, p. 261).

Mr. Medved notes that society’s standards andvalues are incrementally but constantly altered bythe entertainment media: “According to all availableresearch on the subject, the most significant aspectsof influence are gradual and cumulative, not imme-diate, and they occur only after extended exposure. . . What this means is that the full impact of

March/April 1997 5

Irrational ideas generally produce irrational behavior. How youthink controls the way you live and how you relate to others.

r

today’s media messages will only be feltsome years in the future” (ibid., p. 260).

“Hollywood no longer reflects—oreven respects—the values of most Ameri-can families. On many of the importantissues in contemporary life, popular enter-tainment seems to go out of its way tochallenge conventional notions ofdecency” (ibid., p. 10).

Music to whose ears?

All too often popular music representsthe cutting edge of a philosophy that influ-ences its adherents to seek to undermine allestablished conventions. Combiningcatchy tunes with sometimes blatantlyantisocial lyrics, popular music exerts anear-incessant influence on many youngpeople. Most adolescents can easily andflawlessly recite the words to today’s most-played tunes, yet they stumble over memo-rization work at school. Even adults canrecall lyrics that were popular decades ago,but they flounder over names and phonenumbers of friends.

Music’s influence is profound and per-vasive. It is one of the most effective toolsto alter the attitudes and outlook of thosehearing it, both positively and negatively. Itreaches emotions and reasoning simultane-ously, ensuring a lasting impact.

For those immersed in the cynical hos-tility that has characterized much of popu-lar music in recent decades, theconsequences can be devastating. Considerthe rationale behind the promotion of somemusic-industry artists:

“Those in the rock business understoodvery well that the music’s subversion ofauthority was a large part of its appeal tothe young. An impresario who developedone star after another was asked how hedid it. He said, ‘I look for someone theirparents will hate’” (Robert H. Bork,Slouching Toward Gomorrah, ReganBooks, 1996, p. 23).

Tragically, however, all too many par-ents find themselves inadequatelyequipped to explain right from wrong. Arecent survey of American adults by theBarna Research Group reveals that 71percent of Americans still believe in rightand wrong, that such a thing as sin exists.But the survey also found that mostadults simply grasp no clear concept ofright vs. wrong.

An article that accompanied the surveyobserved that “77 percent of non-Christianssaid, ‘There are no absolute standards for

morals and ethics.’Yet, shockingly, themajority of born-again Christians—64 per-cent—agreed with the secular culture thatmorality is relative. No wonder our lives areindistinguishable from the surrounding cul-ture . . . The church has ‘tons of teachers’yet it ‘doesn’t seem to be making a differ-ence’” (Southern California ChristianTimes, June 1996).

Who should set your standards?

Intelligent moral standards serve simplyas practical rules for considerate conduct.They establish our ethics, ideals and val-ues. They allow society to function inpeace and safety for the benefit of all.Proper moral standards should be carefullythought-out principles for distinguishingright from wrong. Without them, we retainno guidelines for the way we live.

Who holds the prerogative to setabsolute standards for the way we thinkand behave? Some among the academicelite do well to tell us that human tradi-tions are not reliable sources; they are toooften contradictory and parochiallybiased. But they are wrong to tell us thatabsolute standards of right and wrong donot exist. There most certainly is a sourcefor absolute standards for humanity. TheAlmighty God, He who created mankind,reveals to us how we should live.

“The distortions and insults about orga-nized religion [in movies and television],”writes Mr. Medved, “will continueunabated as long as our popular culturecontinues its overall campaign againstjudgment and values. A war against stan-dards leads logically and inevitably to hos-tility to religion because it is religious faiththat provides the ultimate basis for all stan-dards” (Medved, p. 89).

Only the God who created us can defineperfect and reliable guidelines for humanconduct. He reveals them to us through theHoly Scriptures. Make no mistake: God’sWord is not of human origin. It carries thehighest authority possible.

God cares how you think

How we think—our ideals andbeliefs—are important to God. Yet our nor-mal way of thinking is quite different fromHis. Through the prophet Isaiah, Goddescribes the scope of our universal humanproblem: “ ‘For My thoughts are not yourthoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens arehigher than the earth, so are My ways

THE WAR AGAINSTSTANDARDS AND VALUES

For several decades many of theacademic elite, the world’s intellec-tual leaders, have actively promotedthe concept that absolute values donot exist. They have advocatedembracing moral relativism. In theirpublished writings and lectures theyridicule the idea that any set ofstandards for measuring properhuman behavior can apply univer-sally to humankind. No wonder thattoday’s entertainment media andpopular culture so often belittle andreject traditional values.

Richard Tarnas articulates the lat-est shift in some academic thought:“. . . Postmodern critical thought hasencouraged a vigorous rejection ofthe entire Western intellectual‘canon’ as long defined . . . Receivedtruths concerning ‘man,’ ‘reason,’‘civilization’ and ‘progress’ are indi-cated as intellectually and morallybankrupt . . . In this radically trans-formed cultural context, the con-temporary academic world hasincreasingly concerned itself withthe critical deconstruction of tradi-tional assumptions . . .” (The Passionof the Western Mind, Ballatine, NewYork, 1991, p. 400, emphasis added).

Writer Tarnas adds: “Implicitly,the one postmodern absolute is crit-ical consciousness, which, by decon-structing all, seems compelled by itsown logic to do so to itself as well”(ibid., p. 402). He concludes that“the postmodern era is an era with-out consensus on the nature of real-ity . . .” (ibid., p. 409).

Offering no solid alternatives,some among the intellectual elitehave rejected religious and tradi-tional values held for centuries bycivilized societies. By encouragingpeople to experiment by thinkingand acting independently—doingwhat they feel is right—they pro-mote individualism at the expenseof responsibility. They reject the oldstandards but offer no effectiveguidelines to replace them. Theywould leave society aimlessly adrift.

Like it or not, and recognize it ornot, you are bombarded daily withthese concepts and ideas. Yourideals and beliefs—the thoughts ofyour mind that define who andwhat you are—are the target of anihilistic, valueless secular philoso-phy. GN

6 The Good News

March/April 1997 7

higher than your ways, and My thoughtsthan your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9,emphasis added throughout).

The apostle Paul explains the reason forthe gulf between the values of God andmost humans: People tend simply to tuneout God’s instruction. “Ever since the cre-ation of the world his eternal power anddivine nature, invisible though they are,have been understood and seen through thethings he has made. So they are withoutexcuse; for though they knew God, theydid not honor him as God or give thanks tohim, but they became futile in their think-ing, and their senseless minds were dark-ened” (Romans 1:20-21, New RevisedStandard Version).

How wrong thinking began

The rejection of God’s guidance is noth-ing new. It began as far back as the Gardenof Eden. There “that serpent of old, calledthe Devil and Satan,” began an influenceand distortion of human thinking that stillgrips humanity (Revelation 12:9).

Essentially, Satan’s line to Eve was:

“Don’t believe God and trust His words.Trust yourself. Eat the forbidden fruit.Then you will have all the wisdom youneed to determine good and evil” (Genesis3:1-5). Eve was impressed. The devil kin-dled in her the desire to decide right andwrong for herself.

Eve eagerly fell for Satan’s seductivepitch. Then she persuaded Adam that thetwo of them were capable of deciding suchmatters for themselves. They chose to dis-obey God. They lost their inheritance in

Eden and began a life of toil and hardship,all because they allowed their thinking tobe swayed by Satan, the archadversary ofGod (verses 6, 17-19). Satan won this earlybattle for the human mind. With relativelyfew exceptions, he has continued to winever since.

God wants you to think like Him. Hewants the principles expressed in His lawsto live in your heart and mind (Hebrews10:16), to form the foundation for yourconvictions, your thoughts and the wayyou choose to live your life. He wants toestablish in your mind appropriate stan-dards for human behavior—a clear under-standing of right and wrong (1 John 3:4).

The apostle Peter expresses God’s con-cern for the way you think. “Dear friends,this is now my second letter to you. I havewritten both of them as reminders to stim-ulate you to wholesome thinking” (2 Peter3:1-3, New International Version).

Learning to think clearly

Paul goes further, giving timeless guide-lines for what we should allow to enter our

minds: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true,whatever is noble, whatever is right, what-ever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever isadmirable—if anything is excellent orpraiseworthy—think about such things”(Philippians 4:8, NIV). Wholesome think-ing flows from honesty and truth, from aknowledge of what is right, pure andadmirable.

Paul describes the results of behaviorbased on thinking that rejects God’s stan-

dards: “The acts of the sinful nature areobvious: sexual immorality, impurity anddebauchery; idolatry and witchcraft;hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, self-ish ambition, dissensions, factions andenvy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. Iwarn you, as I did before, that those wholive like this will not inherit the kingdom ofGod” (Galatians 5:19-21, NIV).

An outstanding model of clear, level-headed thinking is recorded for our bene-fit: the personal example of Jesus Christ.“Let this mind be in you which was alsoin Christ Jesus,” wrote Paul (Philippians2:5). He admonished: “Let nothing bedone through selfish ambition or conceit,but in lowliness of mind let each esteemothers better than himself. Let each ofyou look out not only for his own inter-ests, but also for the interests of others”(verses 2:3-4).

Clear, wholesome thinking puts con-cern for others as a priority—equal to con-cern for oneself. It is founded on genuinelove for others.

A matter of choice

We live in a society that prides itself onits new ways of thinking, many of whichhave really been around as long asmankind has existed. Because of the sheerforce of these ideas, we are confrontedwith a personal battle for control of ourthoughts and values in spite of almostoverwhelming opposition.

God will never force us to think likeHim. Even to ancient Israel He said, “. . . Ihave set before you life and death, blessingand cursing; therefore choose life . . .”(Deuteronomy 30:19). God provides theguidance, but the choice to heed or ignoreit is always ours.

Those who would abolish standards of

conduct often imply that acceptance of val-ues defined by anyone besides yourself—whether God or man—is an abdication ofchoice.

To blindly accept the ideas of otherswould, of course, be abdicating personalresponsibility. However, to carefully exam-ine, comprehend and adopt the wisdom ofGod is the mark of one who makesinformed and intelligent choices. Acting

The influence of music is both profound and pervasive. It is one of the most effective tools ever devised to alter

the attitudes and outlook of those hearing it.

Continued on page 16

8 The Good News

ave you ever stopped to think about whythe true size of the state of Israel is so hardfor us to grasp? As celebrated Americanauthor Mark Twain once commentedwhile visiting the Holy Land, “I could not

conceive of a small country having so large a his-tory.” We normally equate size with significance.

And how could a country constantly on TV newsbe so insignificant on the world map? The UnitedStates is enormous by comparison, yet many Ameri-can citizens have an awareness of Israel far out ofproportion to its geographical size. As Mark Twainalso observed: “I have got everything in Palestine ontoo large a scale . . . The word Palestine alwaysbrought to my mind a vague suggestion of a countryas large as the United States.”

Actually the modern nation of Israel comprisesnearly 11,000 square miles in comparison to Califor-nia alone’s some 160,000 square miles. Israel is only40 miles wide and about the size of Wales. Why thendoes this tiny nation get so much global attention?

The historical answer

The answer, of course, ultimately lies in Israel’sspiritual, historical and literary legacy. As author

Amos Elon put it: “Even more extraordinary is thefact that the [Hebrew] Bible, as it was written inJerusalem, unlike the books of other ancient peoples,was not the literature of a major or regional powernor even of a ruling elite, but the literature of aminor, remote people.”

The New Testament itself talks of this outsized his-toric contribution to humankind. The apostle Paulasked: “So what advantage has the Jew? What is thegood of being circumcised? Much in every way. Inthe first place the Jews were entrusted with the mes-sages of God” (Romans 3:1-2, The Translator’s New

Testament throughout article unless otherwise stated,emphasis added).

Much of the New Testament was composed in theHoly Land as well. It is the basic geographical loca-tion from which both the Old and New TestamentScriptures sprang forth. Truly this is the land of theBook populated by the peoples used to author andpreserve the Bible.

Palestine is also where human frontiers tend totouch the infinite— and here they blur. According tothe Bible itself spiritual salvation is not dependent onnational borders determined by human beings whetherthrough wars, conquests, peaceful negotiations or sim-ple passive assent to the outworkings of history.

American novelist Saul Bellow captured the spiritof this theme in his book, To Jerusalem and Back:“Certain oddities about Israel: Because people think sohard here, and so much, and because of the length anddepth of their history, this sliver of a country sometimesseems quite large. Some dimension of mind seems toextend into space” (page 58, emphasis added).

The world of the Jew

This concept is very deeply embedded in theTorah, usually understood as the five books ofMoses. What God originally revealed to the Jewsand the other eleven tribes was ultimately intendedfor a much larger audience—far beyond merenational borders, ethnic identities—and transcendingterritorial or political considerations.

Moses said to Israel concerning God’s laws:“Observe them carefully, for this will show yourwisdom and understanding to the nations, who willhear about all these decrees and say, `Surely thisnation is a wise and understanding people’”(Deuteronomy 4:6-7).

And as Areil and D’vorah Berkowitz have written,“God equipped Israel for this task in many ways. Forexample, He chose to situate the nation at the cross-roads of the world! The Promised Land was anancient and natural landbridge between Japan, Indiaand China in the Far East, Africa in the south, andEurope in the north.” The land of Israel was astrideor near many of the major trade routes crucial to theancient world.

b y J o h n R o s s S c h r o e d e r

Israel: Small but SignificantB e h i n d t h e H e a d l i n e s

“This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the center of the nations,with countries all around her” (Ezekiel 5:5).

“No one yet knows what awaits the Jews in thetwenty-first century, but we must make every effortto ensure that it is better than what befell them inthe twentieth, the century of the Holocaust.”

—Benjamin Netanyahu

H

It was from Jerusalem that the apostlestook the gospel to the known civilizedworld: the original 12 apostles first to theHouse of Israel, and later Paul by way ofAntioch, Asia Minor and Greece toEurope in a mighty way. It was as a resultof the efforts of this apostle—not of theoriginal 12, but one called “out of dueseason” (1 Corinthians 15:8)—that theearly Church had to grapple with the con-troversial issue of circumcision and thequestion of who ultimately could bedefined as a Jew.

Mining the inspired wisdom given ofGod, Paul was moved to write to RomanChristians in Europe: “For it is not the out-ward appearance that makes a true Jew;his circumcision is not an outward physi-cal matter. No, the inward reality makesthe true Jew; his circumcision is an inwardstate. It has to do with the spirit, not withthe written Law. It is God, not man, whorecognizes him” (Romans 2:29-30).

The apostle to the Gentiles never seemto tire of this basic theme. He told theChurches of Galatia: “There can be nei-ther Jew nor Greek, slave nor free man,man nor woman; you are all one in ChristJesus. And if you are Christ’s people, then

you are Abraham’s offspring, and God’sgift is yours because of the promise”(Galatians 3:28-29).

Paul explained the very same thing toboth Gentile and Jewish Christians atColosse: “In this new life there is no dif-ference between Jew and Greek, circum-cised and uncircumcised, barbarian,

Scythian, slave or free man. Christ is all,Christ is in all” (Colossians 3:ll).

Finally he reiterated this identical won-derful truth to the Roman brethren again:“There is no distinction between Jew andGreek, for all have the same Lord and hisriches are available for all who call on

March/April 1997 9

For millennia tiny nations and islands have posed massive prob-lems for major countries. In this very century even superpowers canbe drawn to the brink of all-out war over disputes involving rela-tively minuscule nations. Witness the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.The U.S. and the now-former USSR found themselves on the veryedge of a catastrophic nuclear exchange before finally finding away out of the crisis.

Britain and Argentina fought a brief war over the Falklands in1982. A year later the U.S. liberation of Grenada produced a majordiplomatic dispute with the UK—after all the Queen is head of stateon this small Caribbean island. More recently the Gulf War was par-tially fought to liberate a relatively small Arab state, Kuwait.

Summing up the problem, a British House of Commons Reportstated in 1984: “As the world has so often learned in the past, andat such great cost, wars break out and alliances fall apart, not sooften as the result of deliberate decisions by the major powers, butas a result of the inability of the great power system and thealliances which support it, to cope with the problems of small coun-tries in faraway parts of the globe.”

In the early seventies President Richard Nixon felt forced torestrain Russian Mideast intentions in order to render support toIsrael, one of the tiniest nations in the world. U.S. forces had to betemporarily put on full alert.

So the words of former Commonwealth secretary-general Shri-dath “Sunny” Ramphal have the ring of authenticity: “The truthprobably is that the world community has not yet thought its way

through the phenomenon of very small states in the world that isemerging in the end years of the twentieth century” (Small is Beau-tiful but Vulnerable speech in London, July 18, 1984).

The plain fact is that Israel is not alone in its plight. Althoughsome of their problems may be unique, others—like territorialintegrity—are all too common to many tiny nations.

Mr. Ramphal perceptively concluded: “Sometimes it seems as ifsmall states were like small boats, pushed out into the turbulent sea,free in one sense to traverse it; but, without oars or provisions, with-out compass or sails, free also to perish. Or, perhaps, to be rescuedand taken on board a larger vessel.”

Many small nations have had to rely on the unbrella of largernations just in order to survive. Others, however, have had a goodtry at economic independence. Consider Eritrea in Africa as anexample. Independent on Sunday feature writer Neal Aschersonrecently visited this tiny nation of only 3.5 million people. Surpris-ingly he found “a stable country full of hope and economic energy”(22 December, 1996).

Ascherson visited with and interviewed Iseyas Afewerki, the Pres-ident of Eritrea. This leader of a small and still poor nation statedthat “Dependency is what we fear . . . Dependency, especially forfood aid, can be disabling, dehumanising and very restrictive; it doesnot motivate human beings to be active.”

Writer Ascherson concluded his feature article with the thoughtthat “What the Eritreans are saying is that poor nations must andcan save themselves . . . Eritrea then is good news.”

Continued on page 29

SMALL CAN BE DANGEROUS!

Corel Professional Photos

The past is never far away in Israel. Here, Jews gather to pray at the Western Wall,which dates back to the first century B.C., when it was part of the vast temple platform .

10 The Good News10 The Good News

Peace in whose time?The Stockholm Institute for Peace

Research is celebrating a world with-out war between sovereign

nations. Regular Times featurecolumnist Simon Jenkinsstated: “In 1997 we contem-plate a second year inwhich, for the first timesince proverbial recordsbegan, nothing that couldbe called a state of hot warexists between sovereigncountries. Guns are not fir-

ing across borders.”Sometimes friction among

the nations of the formerYugoslavia may stretch this point a

bit, and civil war certainly exists at sev-eral points on the globe. Also tensions are

much in evidence between sovereign states; witness theMiddle East.

Still, we have to be thankful for whatever peace does existwhile keeping a wary eye on Jeremiah’s ancient prophecy ofnational leaders proclaiming, “Peace, peace!” when there isno peace (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11). The apostle Paul also referredto a time when would shall say, “Peace and safety!” yet sud-den destruction would soon follow (1 Thessalonians 5:3).(Source: The Times.)

Crime and sexual freedom: a relationship?Does male teenage promiscuity have anything to do with

rising crime rates? According to a report by the Institute ofEconomic Affairs in Britain, it does. Newspaper coverage inThe Independent showed that “the freedom of young mento engage in sexual intercourse without being powerfullyrestrained by the pressure to become monogamous hus-bands or fathers is closely linked to crime.”

A similar article in The Observer reluctantly agreed that “itis ludicrous to deny the relationship between fatherlessnessand crime. The areas of high unemployment, highest loneparenthood and worst crime are coterminous.”

The report’s author, Norman Dennis, maintained that cul-tural mechanisms that once sent messages of “responsibility,striving, self-help and self-improvement” to the next gener-ation have broken down.

American historians Will and Ariel Durant understood thisprinciple well. “A youth boiling with hormones will wonder

why he should not give full freedom to his sexual desires,”they wrote; “and if he is unchecked by custom, morals orlaws, he may ruin his life before he matures sufficiently tounderstand that sex is a river of fire that must be banked andcooled by a hundred restraints if it is not to consume in chaosboth the individual and the group.”

Undeniable, yet often overlooked, is the relationshipbetween the biblical commandments against promiscuity inthought, word and deed and those forbidding the crimes ofstealing and murder. The apostle James noted this connec-tion: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet stum-ble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 4:10).

The adulterer steals affection that belongs to another. Thenews and entertainment media regularly bear out that sexualpromiscuity can lead even to murder. Both Old and New Testa-ments command us to love our neighbor by refraining fromthese illicit acts that enslave and to diligently teach our childrento follow this royal law of liberty (verse 12). (Sources: The Inde-pendent; The Observer; Will and Ariel Durant, The Lessons ofHistory, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1968, pp. 35-36.)

Rampaging girl gangsGender bending, gender crossing and gender confusion

have become characteristic phenomena of the late 20thcentury, increasingly borne out by the bad behavior ofboth sexes in conduct once thought unnatural and cer-tainly unthinkable.

Nick Peters reported from Washington, D.C., for The Sun-day Times (of London) that “gun-toting girl gangs stakeclaim to America’s streets.” Significantly, he notes, “thearrest rate for teenage girls is now twice that of teenageboys. In some areas of the country, girls account for nearly 25percent of violent juvenile crime, including murder, robberywith violence—even rape.”

This article unwittingly revealed that the cause of much ofthis macabre behavior is the breaking of God’s law in thehome: “At the core of the crisis are home lives where vio-lence, sexual abuse and drug taking are commonplace.”(Source: The Sunday Times.)

Don’t overlook the weatherIn January extreme weather was a worldwide phenome-

non. Snow and ice gripped Europe while storms battered thewestern United States and parts of Asia. Nations can quicklyrecover from weather-related calamities. But sometimes theworst weather can have lasting effects. Consider the winterof 1947 in Europe. Recently Barry Turner recalled that bigchill for us in a Sunday Times feature article:

“Fifty years ago, Europe suffered its worst winter onrecord. The snow falls buried Britain’s brief dream of social-ism and led to [West] Germany’s resurgence as a dominantforce in Europe . . . [It was] the cold snap that shaped thepost-war world.”

Snow fell in some parts of Britain from January 27 toMarch 17, continuing in the Pennines mountain range untilJune. Widespread flooding followed the bitter cold, devas-

A n O v e r v i e w o f C o n d i t i

“The freedom of young men to engage in sexualintercourse without being powerfully restrained

by the pressure to become monogamous husbands or fathers is closely linked to crime.”

January/February 1997 11November/December 1996 11

tating thousands of acres of cropland and forcing a finan-cially strapped Britain (her strength sapped by the war) topay for expensive foodstuffs from overseas.

Before World War II Great Britain’s assets totaled some £3billion; at war’s end the nation owed that much. Weatherconditions greatly exacerbated her financial condition.According to a Sunday Times, the winter of 1947 was theworst since record-keeping began. Writers described the

onslaught as bringing “the longest period without the sun,”“the lowest average temperature,” “the fiercest snow-storms” and “the deepest drifts.”

The Continent was hit hard as well. Wrote Mr. Turner: “Onthe continent the icy cold had an instant political impact,triggering Marshall aid from America and consolidatingWestern Europe as a bulwark against communism, anchoredto a resurgent Germany” (emphasis ours). West Germanyreceived well over $400 million in Marshall aid, helping toenable a relatively quick recovery. The hard-working Ger-man nation abolished rationing six years before Britain did.

“If the winter of 1947 has to take much of the blame forturning American favour towards Germany as the drivingforce for a new Europe, it also stalled the British economicrecovery.”

We should never overlook the weather’s potential role inthe fulfillment of prophecy. (Sources: The Sunday Times,Daily Telegraph.)

Monarchy under fireAs we approach Century 21 we see a world exceedingly

troubled by national strife and political instability. Long-standing institutions come under increasingly severe scrutinyby entertainers and journalists.

Hardly any institution is sacrosanct, including the Britishmonarchy. Although the modern monarchical tradition inBritain has existed for a millennium, the royal family hascome under siege in recent years, perhaps because of ques-tionable behavior of some of it younger members.

A major television channel brought the national debateto a boil by airing a live program in early January titled“Monarchy: The Nation Decides.” Listeners were invited tophone in their opinions. Some 2.6 million people did. Sur-prisingly, the vote was nearly two to one in favor of a con-tinued monarchy in Britain.

Ultimately the question of retaining a British monarchyrests in the hands of Almighty God. His is the only referendumthat really counts. (Sources: The Times, The Independent.)

Church unity: a step forward?It’s been more than 450 years since the Protestant Refor-

mation, a watershed event of mainstream Christendom. From

time to time, particularly in the 20th century, reconciliation hasbeen attempted. None of the attempts has succeeded.

In the 1980s former archbishop of Canterbury Robert Run-cie tried his best to forge meaningful links between his ownAnglican congregation and the Roman Catholic Church. Hisefforts foundered, principally on the issue of ordainingwomen priests.

In the closing months of 1996 the Anglican Church inBritain endorsed the Porvoo Agreement: “a mutual compactbetween the Anglican and Lutheran Churches of the BritishIsles and virtually all Nordic and Baltic nations. This will markthe most significant step towards reunification since theReformation.” Besides its obvious symbolic value, in practicethis agreement involves mutual acceptance of baptisms andthe receiving of each other’s sacramental ministrations.

This covenant between churches also marks a remarkablechange of strategy for the Church of England. It is seen as astep-by-step approach towards the Roman Catholic Church.“Church leaders have wisely recognised the need to buildecumenicalism block by block. A road to Rome cannot bebuilt in a day” (emphasis ours). (Source: The Times.)

American abortion rate drops to 20-year lowThe Centers for Disease Control report that 1994 marked

a 20-year low in the abortion rate among women in theUnited States, with 21 of every 1,000 women 15 to 44 yearsold undergoing an abortion that year.

Although the rate has decreased, the number of abor-tions remains staggeringly high, with 1.2 million per-formed in 1994 and 1.3 million in 1993. The number ofabortions in the United States peaked at 1.4 million in1990. Since abortions were legalized in 1973, more than 25

million fetuses have been aborted—more than the popu-lation of many countries.

For every 1,000 live births in 1994, 321 abortions were car-ried out. This was the lowest rate since 1976, when 312 abor-tions occurred for every 1,000 live births. The profile ofwomen seeking abortions has not changed from earlieryears: Most are single, white and less than 25 years old.

Opinions diverse on reasons for the drop in the rate andnumber of abortions. Some pro-abortion groups cite theincreasing difficulty of getting abortions, better access tobirth control and harassment from right-to-life organiza-tions. Abortion foes, on the other hand, attribute thedecreases to their education efforts directing womentoward churches, pregnancy centers and other alternativesto abortion. (Source: Associated Press.)

—John Ross Schroeder and Scott Ashley

Since abortions were legalized in 1973,more than 25 million fetuses have beenaborted in the U.S.—more than the population of many countries.

Nations can quickly recover from weather-related calamities. But sometimes the worst

weather can have lasting effects.

t i o n s A r o u n d t h e W o r l d

usk was approaching on the cold,snowy afternoon of January 13, 1982,in Washington, D.C., when the throt-tles of Air Florida’s Flight 90 werepushed forward to the takeoff position

and the jetliner’s engines roared their response.Strapped into their seats were five crew mem-bers and 74 passengers, including a 46-year-oldbank executive from Atlanta.

He could not have known that within sec-onds only he and five other people would stillbe alive. Nor could he have guessed thatwhether those few would live or die would behis decision.

Only 73 seconds after its takeoff roll,103,000 pounds of aircraft slammed into theconcrete and steel of the 14th Street bridge,then plowed through the frozen surface of thePotomac River. Only the tail section remainedafloat in the nightmarish scene.

Six people, three men and three women,clung to their lives in the mangled remnants of the huge airliner bobbing in the freezingwaters. Firefighters attempted to rescue thesurvivors from the shore, but were simply toofar away to reach them. The cruel, sure pro-gression of hypothermia had nearly robbed

them of the ability to hold on during the 22minutes that passed before the arrival of Eager1, a National Park Service helicopter.

The bank executive was the first to have arescue line dropped to him. To the astonishmentof the rescuers aboard the helicopter, this manrefused safety for himself and placed the linearound another passenger instead. When thatperson was safely aboard the chopper, the linewas again dropped to the banker. A second timehe secured it around someone else, making adifference between life and death.

The third time the line fell to him, the thirdtime he passed it to another. And the fourth. Andthe fifth. Five times he made a conscious deci-sion to put the lives of the other survivors aheadof his own. He had to know that the threat to hisown life increased with every passing moment.Yet, selflessly, he persisted in passing the life-saving line to others.

One of the men manning the helicopter, whohad previously flown combat missions in Viet-

12 The Good News

b y C e c i l M a r a n v i l l e

Why Did He Have to Die?

March/April 1997 13

nam, later said he had never seen suchcourage. Another rescuer was so inspiredby this raw heroism that he was willing tojump into the river himself to retrieve thisman who had saved the others.

But that was not to be. Having deliveredsurvivor No. 5 to shore, Eager 1 returnedto reel in the hero, only to find he hadslipped out of sight to join his fellow pas-sengers in a watery grave.

His identity disappeared with him. For18 months the only thing known was theultimate sacrifice he made on that bitterwinter day. Finally, in June 1983, after anintensive investigation identified him, hismother was presented with the CoastGuard Lifesaving Medal by PresidentRonald Reagan in a ceremony at theWhite House.

Why did he have to die? If he had puthis own life first, certainly some—if notall—of the five who survived the tragedyof January 13, 1982, would have died.

Another hero in another time

Another man in another time gave upHis life so that others would live. Whenthat happened, no swell of inspirationappeared among onlookers. Rather thancheering His heroism, they cheered Hisimpending death. Rather than praise andencouragement, He felt the sting of jeersand insults.

The scene was not the crash of an air-liner, a collapsed building or a sinkingship. It was the public execution of a manwho had been sentenced to a torturous,humiliating death.

Yet He was a hero. How He gave up his

life so that others could live is not as imme-diately obvious as the hero of Flight 90. YetHis heroism far transcended even that awe-inspiring demonstration of courage by theman who repeatedly delayed his own res-cue so that others could survive.

The death of this man was no accident.His own Father was well aware of theplans and designs that went into this sacri-fice of a life, but He did nothing to stop it.As a matter of fact, the Father had a handin the planning of His own Son’s death!

What kind of father would allow theexecution of his son? Was this tragedy the result of some bizarre familial hatred?What father could calculate the killing ofhis son and stand by while the executiontook place?

Once we know the background, we’llunderstand that this death truly was aheroic act by both Father and Son. Its hero-ism far surpassed any other act of givingone’s life for another. You see, the hero isJesus Christ, whose Father is God Himself.

Does this introduction to Jesus’deathhelp us think more deeply about His sacri-fice? Jesus’Father actually did plan His

Son’s death. The decision was not made ata moment of crisis in reaction to an emer-gency or sudden disaster. Looking to theBible as our source of information, we’retold that the death of Jesus Christ wasplanned “from the foundation of theworld” (Revelation 13:8).

Why? Why did Jesus have to die? Whycouldn’t God come up with some otherplan, considering the amount of time thatpassed from the first humans until thedeath of Christ? Wasn’t there another way?

If we take such difficult questions apartand methodically analyze the informationgiven us, we will discover the profoundtruth grasped by so few.

Survival is the issue

Whether we realize and admit it or not,survival is the issue facing each of us.

We may not be caught in the middle ofthe flaming wreckage of a shattered fuse-

lage flickering against the night sky or lis-tening to the wailing sirens of police carsand fire trucks. Perhaps no somber newscommentator is interrupting television orradio broadcasts to report disaster. But, justthe same, the issue here is our survival.

Most people are understandably con-cerned with surviving, just staying alive.But the issue of survival that lies behindthe death of Jesus Christ goes far beyondour everyday concerns of escaping deathfrom injury, disease or old age.

In a familiar Bible passage, God sum-marizes the planning behind the death ofHis Son. A close look at these verses helpsus comprehend why Jesus had to die. “ForGod so loved the world that He gave Hisonly begotten Son, that whoever believesin Him should not perish but have ever-lasting life. For God did not send His Soninto the world to condemn the world, butthat the world through Him might besaved” (John 3:16-17).

This tells us that God the Father sentJesus Christ so that mankind would “notperish” but would “be saved.”Addressingwhy Jesus had to die, this scripture clearly

says it truly was a matter of survival.

What is death?

The Bible shows that eventually deathcomes to all (1 Corinthians 15:22). Con-trary to what many believe, death is not analtered state of life in heaven, hell, purga-tory or some other place or condition. “Thedead know nothing,” says the Bible, “andthey have no more reward, for the memoryof them is forgotten” (Ecclesiastes 9:5).

The Bible reveals death as the cessationof life, thought, consciousness. Eventu-ally, even the memory of those who aredeceased fades from existence. One whoperishes ceases to live, with no power orability to exist again.

It’good to take some time to considerthat. The uncomplicated, sobering mes-sage is that all humans will perish—thosewho have died after peaceful and produc-tive lives, those who have died after sad

This is the story of two men who gave up their lives so others would survive. The heroism of the first was as obvious as it was inspiring. The heroism of the

second wasn’t immediately apparent, yet this man’s selflessness far surpasses the courage of the first.

It’s a story you need to understand.

Photos: AP/Wide World

and troubled lives. Everyone would ceaseto exist, permanently were it not for theheroic self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Hecame that we “should not perish,” that weshould not experience the black nothing-ness of death forever.

Death and the afterlife are monumentalconcepts; they aren’t dealt with fully herebecause each deserves a long discussionbeyond the reach of this article. But theymust be mentioned to help us understandwhy Jesus had to die.

Sin is another topic that cannot be fullyaddressed in a few paragraphs. Yet wemust understand it, for sin is also part ofwhy Jesus Christ had to die.

“. . . Through one man sin entered theworld, and death through sin, and thusdeath spread to all men, because allsinned . . .” (Romans 5:12)

Sin is often joked about, dismissed fromour thoughts as too religious to concern usin our daily routines. But sin is a deadlyserious subject. We certainly would payattention to the discovery of a sure cure forcancer, because cancer is widely acknowl-edged to be a killer. So why not pay atten-tion to the cause and cure for death itself?Here, in fact, is a description of sin, the spe-cific and actual cause of death.

Sin is one of the most powerful forces inthe universe. Sin is so powerful that it caneliminate any chance for survival. Unlessan antidote can be found for its effects, sin’spresence spells the total destruction of lifeand of the hope of life. Sin’s consequencesare enormous. The stakes could not be

greater. Sin kills and kills forever.

What is the value of one life?

What can counteract sin? As statedabove from Romans 5, “death spread to allmen, because all sinned” (verse 12). Everyman or woman who has drawn breath hasbeen corrupted by sin. With everyone pol-luted, tainted, and infected by sin, who orwhat can nullify its poisonous effect?

Jesus Christ can. He, uniquely, was“without sin” (Hebrews 4:15; 1 John 3:5).Therefore, God could offer His Son’s lifeas the single hope to destroy death.

What value did the life of Jesus hold incomparison to the value of human life?Mere words make it difficult to contrast thatwhich sin has not touched with that which

sin has corrupted. The one untouched bysin lives forever. The other dies forever. Thedifference in value is infinite.

Christ’s life is worth so much that it out-weighs the value of all humans who everlived before Him, who have lived sinceand who will yet live. That is the clear truthof the Bible, the awesomely incomparablevalue of Christ’s life.

Perhaps one simple word can help usbegin to understand the worth of Christ’slife: enough. Jesus’ life was worthenough—actually, infinitely more thanenough—to pay for and nullify the ruincaused by all sin: the sin of all people ofall nations throughout all history and intoall of the future.

Could Jesus have effected this resultwithout dying? No. The fact is, sin causesdeath (Romans 6:23). No one has everexisted who could find a way around thatultimate penalty. It can’t be minimized,plea-bargained or dismissed. Because ofthe monstrous reality of sin, Jesus had todie to block its destructive end.

We’ve already acknowledged that deathcomes to all. What Christ’s death success-fully challenges is the permanence of death(2 Timothy 1:10). Having paid the debt forthe sins of all, Jesus possesses the authorityand capacity to reclaim people from death.To Martha, shortly before bringing herbrother back to life as a demonstration ofHis broader plan, Jesus spoke these tellingwords: “I am the resurrection and the life.He who believes in Me, though he may die,he shall live” (John 11:25).

Jesus’statement amplifies a few more ofthe words of John 3:16, which state that“whoever believes in Him should not per-ish but have everlasting life.” Sin is so toxicthat only divine countermeasures can makepossible any hope of a renewal of life. Lifecan be renewed, but only because JesusChrist died to counteract the penalty of sin.

Willing sacrifice for mankind

Jesus Christ’s life could pay the penaltyfor all sin for all time because His divinelife is worth more than the lives of allhumanity before or since. Only by the sac-rifice of a life of enormous worth could theenormous penalty for all sin be paid.

John 3:17 tells us that Jesus, the Son ofGod, was sent not to condemn the world,

but to save it from death. Christ was sent bythe Father to the world, from His positionin the Godhead, to live as a mortal man.

Jesus Christ, the Word, existed in thebeginning “with God” and “was God”(John 1:1). His life was divine. “All thingswere made through Him, and without Himnothing was made that was made” (John1:3). Jesus was the One who created thisearth, the marvelous universe and human-ity (Hebrews 1:2; Colossians 1:16). Asmankind’s Creator, Jesus is worth morethan the total of all the lives He has created.

His divine state before He was sent toearth as a man is evident from John 17:5,His last recorded prayer before His execu-tion: “And now, Father, glorify me in yourpresence with the glory I had with youbefore the world began” (John 17:5, NewInternational Version).

Before He became a mortal human, noevil force could have swept Jesus to Hisdeath. He was divine, immortal, beyondthe frailty and vagaries of human life.

By simple analogy, He was like one ofthe bystanders at the tragic downing ofFlight 90, rather than one of those onboard. As such, He would not be threat-ened by the life-crushing impact of thedoomed airliner on steel and concrete, norby the freezing waters of the Potomac. Hislife was not in any danger.

Yet He chose to give it up.

The motivation behind the plan

Why did Jesus have to die? Why did Heinvolve Himself with the survival of otherswhen His own life was not at risk?

He died because of love. His death wasan act of love.

From the initiation of the plan to coun-teract sin’s evil, both God the Father andJesus Christ were motivated by Their lovefor all mankind. Recall the premise of John3:16: “For God so loved the world . . .” Itsays that the Father planned this infinitelymeaningful, eternally powerful sacrifice ofHis Son out of love for all who have lived.

Why do the Father and Son care whathappens to people?

It may be difficult to fathom Their pro-found interest in and deep concern for allmen and women. From earth’s beginning,God has loved earth’s inhabitants as poten-tial members of the divine family. OurFather says to those who have, throughChrist, left behind the curse of sin, “I willbe a Father to you, and you shall be Mysons and daughters” (2 Corinthians 6:18).

14 The Good News

Sin is often joked about, dismissed from our thoughts as too religious to concern us in our daily routines.

Jesus viewed His decision to becomehuman as a decision to become like Hisbrothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:17, NewRevised Standard Version).

A deadly consequence of sin is that itcuts us off from God, severing us from therelationship God desires to have with us(Isaiah 59:2). Through Christ’s sacrificethat broken relationship is restored, oursins are forgiven, and we are reconciled toGod (Colossians 1:21-22).

The family relationship God desires tohave with us is restored: “Behold whatmanner of love the Father has bestowedon us, that we should be called children ofGod! Therefore the world does not knowus, because it did not know Him. Beloved,now we are children of God; and it has notyet been revealed what we shall be, but weknow that when He is revealed, we shallbe like Him, for we shall see Him as Heis” (1 John 3:1-2).

The literal fulfillment of this state-ment—that we will become children ofGod—will come to pass in the resurrectionat Jesus Christ’s return (Hebrews 2:10-13;Romans 8:29, 1 Corinthians 15:21-23).

Making the supreme sacrifice

What could be more convincing evi-dence of love than the act of the Father ofoffering His only Son to die for us? Godand Jesus were willing to pay the supremesacrifice to seek and secure the possibilityof a loving, personal relationship with us.

Few passages capture the essence ofChrist’s act of love as does the one that saysthat Jesus, “being in very nature God, didnot consider equality with God somethingto be grasped, but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servant, beingmade in human likeness. And being foundin appearance as a man, he humbled him-self and became obedient to death—evendeath on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6-8, NIV).

Until Jesus became a man, He could nothave died. With His Father, He made aconscious choice, in the context of calmreason rather than in a condition of crisis.That makes the depth of Their love and thesincerity of Their commitment all the moreevident and profound.

After He became a man, Jesus stillwould not have suffered the agony of exe-cution by crucifixion had He not chosen tooffer Himself. His biographies in theGospels make plain that, as His terriblefate approached, He felt the natural pulls ofany man to assure His own survival. Death

was not an easy choice. He confirmed Hisheroic decision to set aside His desires andHis life right up to the excruciating end(Matthew 26:39).

Jesus described His decision to step intothe human realm, to pay the exacting pricefor sin, as the supreme act of love: “Greaterlove has no one than this, than to lay downone’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Can we possibly comprehend whyJesus had to die?

Jesus died because He chose to die. His

death was not just a matter of giving up alife, as noble as that act can be. He chose tostep aside from being God, alive forever, todie so we humans could live forever.

How should we remember this?

Appropriately, the hero of Flight 90 wasremembered with a medal, presented bynone other than the president of the UnitedStates. What way is appropriate to com-memorate the heroic act of Jesus Christ?

Jesus inaugurated His own memorial.Christians assemble every spring on thePassover to commemorate Christ’s coura-geous, loving sacrifice. According to Hisinstructions, this annual memorial beginswith a ceremony of Christians washingeach other’s feet. This humble demonstra-tion of a servant’s duty is a powerfulreminder of the kind of humble serviceChrist performed in His life and espe-cially in His death and a reminder of Hisexpectations for His followers. Initiatingthis symbolic yet profound act, Jesus toldus to do likewise: “If I then, your Lordand Teacher, have washed your feet, youalso ought to wash one another’s feet”(John 13:14)

He used two other symbols by whichwe are to remember His sacrifice: unleav-ened bread and wine. Of the bread, Jesussaid, “Take, eat; this is My body which isbroken for you; do this in remembrance ofMe” (1 Corinthians 11:24). Concerningthe wine, He instructed, “Drink from it, allof you. For this is My blood of the newcovenant, which is shed for many for theremission of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28).

Both are dramatic representations ofthe most meaningful, most powerful self-sacrifice in all history. (To better under-stand the significance of this event, be sureto request our free booklet God’s Holy

Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for AllMankind. Contact us at the phone numberor address nearest you on page 2.)

Medals tarnish with time, and memorialceremonies can grow routine. The greatesttribute to the deed of the hero of Flight 90 isthe inspiration stirred among the witnessesto emulate his selfless heroism. Isn’t thehighest tribute to Jesus’infinitely greater actof heroism that we imitate His action?

We cannot give our lives to pay for sin,because nothing we could do can buy back

our lives corrupted by sin. But we can loveas He does. We are urged in one of Paul’sepistles to “live a life of love, just as Christloved us and gave himself up for us as afragrant offering and sacrifice to God”(Ephesians 5:2, NIV).

Paul described Christ setting aside Hisdivinity, willingly surrendering it and sacri-ficing His life for our sakes. He wrote thisstirring appeal to live our memorial toChrist: “Let this mind be in you which wasalso in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

Paul encourages us to assume the atti-tude of humble, selfless service typified byChrist: “Let nothing be done through self-ish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness ofmind let each esteem others better thanhimself. Let each of you look out not onlyfor his own interests, but also for the inter-ests of others” (verses 3-4).

Looking out for the interests of others isa living memorial of the love of God, a fit-ting way to perpetually remember Jesus’invaluable sacrifice. “Beloved, if God soloved us, we also ought to love oneanother” (1 John 4:11).

Why the Son of God had to die

Why did Jesus have to die? He had todie because of the sins of humanity andthe death they demand—to make possiblea relationship between the Father and allmen and women, who are invited tobecome children of God; to make possiblethe resurrection to eternal life; to defeatthe awful penalty of eternal death.

Why did Jesus have to die? Jesus had todie because He chose to die for each of usin a decision of pure love made with HisFather. If They are willing to pay such aprice to gain a relationship with us, whatare we willing to do to have a relationshipwith Them? GN

March/April 1997 15

The literal fulfillment of this statement—that we will become children of God—will come to pass.

only on feelings and emotion shows nei-ther discretion nor intelligence.

Corrupting power behind the scene

What is the real source of our society’srejection of godly values? The apostle Paulexplained that his God-given mission toearth’s inhabitants was “to open their eyes,in order to turn them from darkness tolight, and from the power of Satan to God. . .” (Acts 26:18).

The Bible reveals Satan as a powerfulunseen force influencing humanity. He isdescribed as “the spirit who is now at workin those who are disobedient,” a beinginfluencing men and women to lead a lifeof “gratifying the cravings of our sinfulnature and following its desires andthoughts” (Ephesians 2:2-3, NIV).

Satan’s influence is so pervasive that itaffects every area of life in every society.How great is his power over humanity?He “deceives the whole world”! (Revela-tion 12:9).

Through thousands of years of deceiv-ing people, he has become the “god of thisworld [who] has blinded the minds of theunbelievers, to keep them from seeing thelight of the gospel . . .” (2 Corinthians 4:4,NRSV). The influence of Satan and hisdemons is such that that they can swayeven the opinions and decisions of worldleaders (Revelation 16:14).

Surprising to many, Satan has suc-ceeded in influencing religious beliefs andinstitutions. He manages to disguise hisown ostensibly Christian ministry and reli-gious assemblies (2 Corinthians 11:3-4,13-15; Revelation 3:9).

He does not present his ways as thegreedy, self-centered, vain practices theyreally are. Nor does he show their destruc-tive, painful end, leading inexorably to suf-fering and death (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).On the contrary, he masquerades histhoughts and way of life as one of enlight-enment, fulfillment and satisfaction. God’sWord warns us that “Satan disguises him-self as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians11:14, NRSV).

Besides religion, Satan’s ideas invadesuch arenas as business, education, phi-losophy, government and science. Nohuman interest or endeavor escapes hisintrusion. Indeed, we read that “the whole

world lies under the sway of the wickedone” (1 John 5:19).

Does Satan influence your mind?

The consequences of Satan’s influenceon mankind’s thought processes haveproved devastating. Seldom has the worldseen peace; 150 million people have diedin wars in just this century. In the sametime, more than 100 million more havedied from diseases, pandemics and nat-ural disasters. Humanity possesses theability to erase human life from earthmany times over.

In spite of constant attempts to improveour lot, thousands live on the verge of star-vation, and millions go to sleep hungryevery night. A fourth of earth’s populationlives under totalitarian regimes with littlecontrol over basic decisions that affecttheir lives.

Under Satan’s influence, human think-ing has become so absorbed with self-grat-ification that “the mind that is set on theflesh is hostile to God; it does not submit toGod’s law—indeed it cannot” (Romans8:7-8 NRSV).

The prophet Jeremiah recognized thatpeople are blinded by the deceit of theirown evil intents. “The heart is deceitfulabove all things, and desperately wicked;who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Satan has succeeded at turning human-ity away from God. The apostle Pauldescribes the inevitable, tragic results ofrejecting God and His way of life:

“Furthermore, since they did not think itworth while to retain the knowledge ofGod, he gave them over to a depravedmind, to do what ought not to be done.They have become filled with every kindof wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceitand malice. They are gossips, slanderers,God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boast-ful; they invent ways of doing evil; theydisobey their parents; they are senseless,faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although theyknow God’s righteous decree that thosewho do such things deserve death, they notonly continue to do these very things butalso approve of those who practise them”(Romans 1:28-32, NIV).

Who will win?

God calls some out of this immoral,ungodly, Satan-dominated world He callsthem to fight the influences around them,to resist the tendencies and desires of their

own minds. This deeply personal battle,however, is not the sort of conflict we oftenenvision. This battle “is not against ene-mies of blood and flesh, but against . . . thecosmic powers of this present darkness,against the spiritual forces of evil in theheavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12, NRSV).

This struggle pits us against theingrained, self-centered habits and waysof thinking that have influenced us frombirth, as well as a personal foe determinedto separate us from God: “Your enemythe devil prowls around like a roaring lionlooking for someone to devour. Resisthim, standing firm in the faith . . .” (1Peter 5:8-9, NIV).

Who will determine your values? Whowill win the battle for your mind? Will youallow the influences of Satan on society tocontrol and corrupt your personal beliefsand convictions? Or will it be “God whoworks in you both to will and to do for Hisgood pleasure”? (Philippians 2:13).

A godly victory is possible only byestablishing righteous standards as yourvalues. That will require you to make diffi-cult choices.

The apostle Paul expressed it so well inthese words: “For though we live in theworld, we do not wage war as the worlddoes. The weapons we fight with are notthe weapons of the world. On the con-trary, they have divine power to demolishstrongholds [on our minds]. We demolisharguments and every pretension that setsitself up against the knowledge of God,and we take captive every thought tomake it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthi-ans 10:3-5, NIV).

Who you allow to exert the greatestinfluence on your life is your choice. Willyou permit God, by seeking His knowl-edge and assistance, to win the battle foryour mind? GN

BattleContinued from page 7

16 The Good News

RECOMMENDED READINGA godly life is possible only throughknowing the proper standards for yourvalues and know why they are impor-tant. To learn your real purpose in lifeand more about why God wants allhuman beings to learn to think likeJesus Christ, be sure to read our freebooklets The Gospel of the Kingdom,What Is Your Destiny? and The Road toEternal Life. Please contact us at theaddress nearest you listed on page 2.

March/April 1997 17

n the northern hemisphere, the springof each year brings several of Chris-tianity’s most important religiousobservances. The Lenten period

from Ash Wednesday to Easter is observedby some with fasting and penance. GoodFriday, or Holy Friday, as it is sometimescalled, is celebrated two days before Easteras a commemoration of the crucifixion ofJesus Christ. Easter Sunday is revered asthe day of Jesus’resurrection, sometimesby sunrise services.

These practices are so much aningrained tradition in the church calendarthat many would consider it heretical toquestion them. But most of the world isscarcely aware that the original apostlesdid not institute or keep these customs, norwere they observed by the early ChristianChurch. Try as you might to find them,Lent, Good Friday and Easter are not somuch as mentioned in the original Greekwording of the New Testament. The wordEaster appears only once in the KingJames Version of the Bible (Acts 12:4) in a flagrant mistranslation of the Greek wordpascha, which should be translated “Pass-over,” as most versions render it.

The justification for the Lenten 40-daypreparation for Easter is traditionallybased on Jesus’40-day wilderness fastbefore his temptation by Satan (Harper’sBible Dictionary, “Lent”; Matthew 4:1-2;Mark 1:13). The problem with this expla-nation is that this incident is not connectedin any way with Jesus’supposed obser-vance of Easter. The 40-day pre-Easterpractice of fasting and penance did notoriginate in the Bible.

Pagan practices adopted

Many people still follow such practices,assuming that such activities honor God

and are approved by Him. But, we shouldask, how does God regard such extrabibli-cal customs? Consider God’s instructionsto those who would worship Him:

“Take heed to yourself that you are notensnared to follow them, after they aredestroyed from before you, and that youdo not inquire after their gods, saying,‘How did these nations serve their gods?I also will do likewise.’You shall notworship the LORD your God in that way;for every abomination to the LORD whichHe hates they have done to their gods; forthey burn even their sons and daughtersin the fire to their gods. Whatever I com-

mand you, be careful to observe it; youshall not add to it nor take away from it”(Deuteronomy 12:30-32, emphasisadded throughout).

The International Standard Bible Ency-clopedia notes: “The term Easter wasderived from the Anglo-Saxon ‘Eostre,’the name of the goddess of spring. In herhonor sacrifices were offered at the time of the vernal [spring] equinox” (Eerdmans,Grand Rapids, 1982,Vol. 2, “Easter”).

Many battles were fought over its obser-vance date, but the Council of Nicea finallyfixed the date of Easter in A.D. 325 to fallon the first Sunday after the full moon onor after the vernal equinox (March 21) .

Not generally known is that “the prepa-ration for Easter season, beginning on AshWednesday and continuing for a weekafter Easter Day, was filled with pagancustoms that had been revised in the lightof Christianity. Germanic nations, forexample, set bonfires in spring. This cus-tom was frowned on by the Church,

which tried to suppress it . . . In the sixthand seventh centuries [monks] came toGermany, [bringing] their earlier paganrites[,] and would bless bonfires outsidethe church building on Holy Saturday. Thecustom spread to France, and eventually itwas incorporated into the Easter liturgy ofRome in the ninth century. Even today theblessing of the new fire is part of the Vigilof Easter.

“Medieval celebrations of Easter beganat dawn. According to one old legend, thesun dances on Easter morning, or makesthree jumps at the moment of its rising, inhonor of Christ’s resurrection. The rays of

light penetrating the clouds were believedto be angels dancing for joy.

“Some Easter folk traditions that havesurvived today are the Easter egg, rabbitand lamb. During medieval times it was atradition to give eggs at Easter to servants.King Edward I of England had 450 eggsboiled before Easter and dyed or coveredwith gold leaf. He then gave them tomembers of the royal household onEaster day. The egg was an earlier pagansymbol of rebirth and was presented atthe spring equinox, the beginning of thepagan new year.

“The Easter rabbit is mentioned in aGerman book of 1572 and also was apagan fertility symbol. The Easter lambgoes back to the Middle Ages; the lamb,holding a flag with a red cross on a whitefield, represented the resurrected Christ[rather than the sacrifice of His life, as afulfillment of the Passover lamb, thatpaid for the sins of the world (John1:29)]” (Anthony S. Mercatante, Facts

b y W i l b u r B e r g

The Good Friday-Easter Sunday Question

How do the biblical three days and three nights after Jesus Christ’s crucifixion fit between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning? Or do they?

I

Most of the world is scarcely aware that the original apostlesdid not institute or keep customs such as Easter and Lent.

on File Encyclopedia of World Mythol-ogy and Legend, New York and Oxford,1988, “Easter”).

Passover out, Easter in

Easter traditions are embraced by manywho profess Christianity. None of thesepractices are to be found in the Bible or thecustoms of the early Church. Jesus and Hisapostles did not establish or perpetuatesuch practices, which obscure the true biblical meanings and observances of thistime of year. In fact, a 4th-century churchhistorian, Socrates Scholasticus, wrote inhis Ecclesiastical History that neither theapostles nor the Gospels taught the obser-vance of Easter, nor did they or Jesus givea law requiring the keeping of this feast.Instead, “the observance originated not bylegislation, but as a custom” (chapter 22,emphasis added).

Even as early as the close of the 2ndcentury, the theologian Irenaeus bore wit-ness in his letter to Victor, bishop of Rome,that some early Roman bishops forbadethe observance of Passover on the 14th of Nisan. This was the date of the biblicalobservance practiced each spring by Jesusand the apostles. At the time that the Nisan14 Passover observance was banned,ecclesiastical authorities introduced Lentand Easter into Christian practice.

Distorting Jesus’ words

A century later the Syriac Didascaliarecorded the attempts of teachers in Rometo reconcile Jesus’words that He would beentombed “three days and three nights in

the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40)with a Friday-afternoon crucifixion and aSunday-morning resurrection. Accordingto their reasoning, Jesus’sufferings werepart of the three days and three nights ofScripture. Friday morning from 9 to noonwas counted as the first day, and noon to 3p.m. (which was darkened) was consid-ered the first night. Three in the afternoonto sunset was reckoned as the second day,whereas Friday night to Saturday morningconstituted the second night. The daylightpart of Saturday was the third day, and thenight portion to Sunday morning was thethird night.

In other words, the three days and threenights in the grave that Jesus said would bethe sign that He was indeed sent from Godwere transformed into a period of two daysand two nights, or a total of no more than48 hours. This has subsequently beenreduced even further in modern times byfiguring from late-afternoon Friday toearly Sunday morning, which takes awayanother 12 hours or more. Such reasoninghas to discount or somehow explain awayJesus’clear promise that He would beentombed three days and three nights.

Easter and Lent are nonbiblical andwere not observed by the apostles or the1st-century Church. The biblical recordshows, however, that the early Church dili-gently kept other observances, the NewTestament Passover and Feast of Unleav-ened Bread, just as Jesus and the apostleshad done (Matthew 26:17-19; Acts 20:6; 1 Corinthians 5:8; 11:23-26). These weresupplanted in later years by the customs

and practices of Easter and Lent. Passover is an annual reminder of

Jesus’sacrificial death to pay the penaltyfor our sins (Matthew 26:26-28). TheFeast of Unleavened Bread is a celebra-tion that focuses on a Christian’s need tolive in sincerity, truth and purity (1 Cor-inthians 5:8). The nonbiblical festivals ofLent and Easter, added decades after thetime of Jesus Christ and the apostles, onlycloud the true significance of Christ’s life,death and resurrection and the purpose ofHis coming.

The Passover was instituted in Exodus12 and continues, by Jesus Christ’s exam-ple and command, but with a change ofsymbols. Jesus’death fulfilled the sym-bolism of the sacrificial Passover lamb(Matthew 26:17-28; John 1:29), but theNew Testament Passover has beenimproperly replaced as an annual memo-rial of the death of Christ by Easter. Weare commanded to commemorate Christ’sdeath, not His resurrection (1 Corinthians11:23-28).

Facts about Jesus’ last days

Jesus Christ’s promise was fulfilledexactly as He said, a fact that is made clearwhen we study and compare the Gospelaccounts. These records give a clear, logi-cal explanation that is perfectly consistentwith Christ’s words. Let’s focus on Jesus’last days on earth to gain the proper per-spective and understanding of how andwhen these events occurred.

Jesus said that, like the prophet Jonah,He would be entombed three days and

18 The Good News

Tuesday: Jesus atean early-eveningPassover meal withHis disciples (at thebeginning of Nisan14, Jewish reckon-ing) and institutedthe New Covenantsymbols (Matthew26:26-28). Jesus wasthen betrayed byJudas, arrested andduring the nightbrought before thehigh priest.

Wednesday: Jesuswas crucified anddied around 3 p.m.(Matthew 27:46-50).This was the prepa-ration day for theannual, not weekly,Sabbath, whichbegan that evening(Mark 15:42; Luke23:54; John 19:31).Jesus’ body wasplaced in the tombat twilight (Mat-thew 27:57-60).

Thursday: This wasthe high-day Sab-bath, the first day ofUnleavened Bread(John 19:31; Leviticus23:4-7). It isdescribed as the dayafter the Day ofPreparation (Mat-thew 27:62).

Friday: The high-day Sabbath nowpast, womenbought and pre-pared spices foranointing Jesus’body (Mark 16:1;Luke 23:56).

Saturday: Thewomen rested onthe weekly Sabbath,according to theFourth Command-ment (Luke 23:56;Exodus 20:8-11).Jesus rose aroundsunset, exactly threedays and threenights (72 hours)after burial, to fulfillthe sign of Jonahand authenticateJesus’ messiahship.

Sunday: Thewomen brought theprepared spices earlyin the morningwhile it was still dark(Luke 24:1; John20:1). Jesus hadalready risen (Mat-thew 28:1-6; Mark16:2-6; Luke 24:2-3;John 20:1).

The Chronology of Christ’s Crucifixion and Resurrection

March/April 1997 19

three nights and that He would be raisedup the third day after His crucifixion anddeath (Matthew 12:39-40; 17:23; 20:19).Putting these scriptures together, we seethat He was resurrected at the end of thethird day after His death. Luke 23:44shows that He died around the ninth hour(Jewish reckoning), or 3 p.m. He wouldhave been buried within the next few hoursso that His body could be entombed beforethe approaching Sabbath (John 19:31).

Jesus’ resurrection could not have beenon a Sunday morning because John 20:1-2 shows that He had already risen beforeMary Magdalene came to the tomb earlyin the morning, arriving “while it was stilldark.” Therefore, neither could His deathhave occurred Friday afternoon, since thatwould not allow for His body to be in thegrave three days and three nights. Clearly,the Good Friday–Easter Sunday explana-tion and tradition is without scripturalfoundation.

Notice also that John 19:31 mentionsthat the Sabbath immediately after Jesus’death was “a high day”—not the weeklyseventh-day Sabbath (from Friday eveningto Saturday evening), but one of the annualSabbaths, the first day of the Feast ofUnleavened Bread (see Leviticus 23:6-7),which can fall on any day of the week.

In fact, two Sabbaths—first an annualHoly Day and then the regular weeklySabbath—are mentioned in the Gospelaccounts, a detail overlooked by mostpeople. This can be proven by comparingMark 16:1 with Luke 23:56.

Mark’s account tells us, “Now when theSabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Marythe mother of James, and Salome boughtspices, that they might come and anointHim” (Mark 16:1). However, Luke’saccount describes how the women whofollowed Jesus saw how His body was laidin the tomb. “Then they returned and pre-pared spices and fragrant oils” for the finalpreparation of the body. And they rested onthe Sabbath according to the command-ment” (Luke 23:56).

Mark tells us that the women boughtthe spices after the Sabbath, “when theSabbath was past.” Luke, however, tellsus that they prepared the spices and oils,“and they rested on the Sabbath accord-ing to the commandment.” How could thewomen have bought spices after the Sab-bath, yet then prepared them and restedon the same Sabbath?

That is obviously impossible—unless

two Sabbaths are involved, with a daybetween them. Once we realize this, thetwo accounts become clear (see “TheChronology of Christ’s Cricifixion andResurrection,” p. 18). Christ died near 3p.m. and was placed in the tomb near sun-set that day—a Wednesday in 31. Thatevening began the “high day” Sabbath,the first day of the Feast of UnleavenedBread, which fell on Thursday that year.The women rested on that day, then on

Friday purchased and prepared the spicesand oils for Jesus’body, which could notbe done on either the Holy Day or theweekly Sabbath. They then rested againon the weekly Sabbath before going tothe tomb before daybreak on Sundaymorning, at which time they discoveredthat Christ had already been resurrected.

Two Sabbaths confirmed in text

The fact that two Sabbaths are involvedis confirmed by Matthew 28:1, where thewomen went to the tomb “after the Sab-bath.” The Sabbath mentioned here is actu-ally plural in the original Greek and shouldbe translated “Sabbaths.” Some Bible ver-sions, including Alfred Marshall’s Interlin-ear Greek-English New Testament, FerrarFenton’s translation, Green’s Literal Trans-lation and Young’s Literal Translation,make this clear.

Once we realize that two Sabbaths wereinvolved—first an annual Holy Day, whichwas observed from Wednesday eveninguntil Thursday evening, and the normalweekly Sabbath from Friday evening toSaturday evening, the fulfillment ofChrist’s words becomes clear.

The Savior of all humanity died near 3 p.m. on Wednesday and was buriedshortly before sunset that day. FromWednesday sunset to Thursday sunset isone day and one night; from then untilFriday sunset is two days and two nights;and from then until Saturday sunset isthree days and three nights. Jesus Christwas resurrected at the end of this three-day and three-night period, near sunset onSaturday. Thus He was already risen longbefore the women came to the tombbefore daylight on Sunday morning.

Jesus Christ’s words were thus per-fectly fulfilled, as verified by the Gospelaccounts. He was not crucified on Friday

afternoon, nor was He resurrected on aSunday morning. The biblical evidenceshows the Good Friday–Easter Sundaytradition to be a fabrication.

A correct harmonization of all the factsdemonstrates that Jesus died near 3 p.m.that Wednesday afternoon, was entombednear sunset and was resurrected near sun-set on Saturday, exactly three days andthree nights later—just as He had stated.These are the facts, the correct biblical

chronology that verifies the divinity ofJesus Christ, the Son of God.

The accompanying chart gives a day-by-day chronology of these events asdescribed in the Gospel accounts.

The biblical festivals

Actually, the principal festivals and hol-idays observed by mainstream Christen-dom are a poor and pale reflection of truebiblical teachings. Easter and Lent are apoor substitute for the wondrous truthsrevealed by keeping God’s feasts.

The New Testament Church continuedto observe the annual Passover to com-memorate the death of Jesus Christ, butused the new symbols of bread and winethat He instituted (1 Corinthians 11:23-28). Today the United Church of God, anInternational Association, commemoratesthis eminently important event in thesame manner, in accordance with Christ’sinstructions. Again, the Bible contains norecord of the Church observing Easter orLent during the time of the apostles, norany biblical command to observe GoodFriday or Easter Sunday, especially sinceChrist did not die on Good Friday andwas not resurrected on Easter Sunday.Instead, the apostles faithfully followedChrist’s instructions to observe the bibli-cal Passover “in remembrance” of Him(Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25).

The marvelous plan of God has beenobscured by theologians and religiousleaders trying to merge nonbiblical prac-tices with biblical events. To better under-stand why Jesus instructed His followersto observe Passover along with the otherbiblically defined festivals, request yourfree copy of God’s Holy Day Plan: ThePromise of Hope for All Mankind.Youmay contact us at the phone numbers oraddresses on page 2. GN

The principal holidays observed by mainstream Christendomare a poor and pale reflection of true biblical teachings.

20 The Good News

Debbie was 22 when her parentsdied in an auto accident. “Thefirst months after their death

were terrible for me,” she recalls.“Whenever I tried to talk about it withmy friends, they would tell me about asale at the mall or offer to take me outto the movies. I know they wanted tohelp, but what I really needed was ashoulder to cry on.”

When Brad’s fiancé, Stephanie, calledoff their wedding, he was crushed. “Myfriends told me things like they thoughtStephanie was hard to get along with andthat they never really liked her,” Brad

explains. “They may have been trying tostick up for me, but their words onlymade me feel worse. I still thinkStephanie is a nice person, even thoughthings didn’t work out for us.”

After Ramona’s mastectomy, herfriends came to the hospital to cheer herup. “When I told them I was worriedthe cancer would spread, they acted asif I had nothing to be concerned about,”Ramona says. “They made commentslike, ‘Don’t worry! You’ll probably liveto be 100,’and ‘Plenty of people havehad breast cancer and survived.’Theyshrugged off anything I said about myillness and made me feel guilty forbeing scared.”

Like Debbie, Brad and Ramona, weall have our bad times. A serious illness,a tragic automobile accident, the deathof a family member, marital problems,financial difficulties, the loss of a job—all are part of life.

During difficulties our friends needour support more than ever. But,although many automatically want tohelp, successfully comforting someone

takes some thought. Anyone can blurtout remarks that hurt people.

Knowing what to say to a hurt friendisn’t easy. Should we try to make ourfriend laugh, or should we bring up ourown problems? Should we encouragehim (or her) to talk about the situation,or should we try to pass along somegood advice? In some situations wemay feel so awkward that we avoid asuffering friend altogether rather thanrisk saying the wrong thing.

Although each crisis is different, wecan respond tactfully, sincerely andappropriately. Here are some sugges-

tions for helping a wounded friend.

Preparing to listen

• Let him talk it out.When Kathy came to work Monday

morning, two of her friends greeted herat her desk.

“How was your weekend?” theyasked.

Kathy burst into tears.“My husband and I had a huge fight

Friday night, and he hasn’t spoken tome all weekend!”

Her friends hadn’t expected such anhonest reply to their question.

“It can’t be that bad,” one friend toldher. “There are doughnuts in thekitchen. Why don’t you go get one?”

“No thanks,” Kathy sighed. “I guessI’d better get to work.”

One of the biggest mistakes you canmake when a friend starts telling youbad news is to deny he said anythingout of the ordinary. Let him talk abouthis problem.

Changing the subject, making jokesand coming up with why the problem

isn’t a problem convey to your friendthere’s something wrong with feelingsad or expressing sorrow. “Don’t worry,”“Get tough” and “You’re blowing thisout of proportion” minimize the tragedyand make your friend think he’s at fault.

Many people are so uncomfortablebecause they don’t know what to do orsay that they make themselves morecomfortable by shutting out the otherperson’s suffering. Rather than encour-aging him to “be tough” and not to cry,your friend needs to be able to expresshis feelings.

If your friend says something nega-tive after a traumatic experience, try notto let it make you nervous. Rememberthat he is in pain and needs to be able totalk, and at that moment that is exactlywhat he feels.

This doesn’t mean you should neverbring up encouraging scriptures, suchas Romans 8:28, but don’t do it withoutfirst acknowledging that your friend isgoing through a difficult situation.

Knowing what to listen for

• Listen to understand.The best response you can give a

hurting friend is to listen in a nonjudg-mental way and try to understand whyhe feels the way he does. In general,sufferers need to know the listener rec-ognizes they feel sad and will supportthem in their sadness.

Calmly accept your friend’s situa-tion for what it is and try not to denywhat is happening. Responses such as“Tell me more about it,” “You’ve beenthrough a lot” and “I’m sorry to hearthe bad news” communicate concernand acceptance.

Let your friend do most of the talking.Remember, you’re not there to tell yourstory. When your friend is talking, givehim your full attention. Watch your bodylanguage. Don’t look at your watch, let

b y B e c k y S w e a t

During difficulties friends need our support. But, although many want to help, successfully

comforting someone takes some thought.

When Someone Is HurtingHow Can You Help?

If you put your mind to it, you can find ways to help others in their time of need.

your eyes wander or nod impatiently.Don’t try to finish your friend’s sentencesbecause you think you know what he’sgoing to say. You could be wrong.

Choosing carefully

• Don’t say, “I know just how you feel.”After Carol’s baby died, her friends

tried to comfort her. Unsure of what tosay, her friend Jennifer told her, “I knowit’s terrible to lose a baby.”

“I felt like saying, ‘How would youknow?’” Carol says. “Jennifer is singleand busy with her career. My baby isdead. How could Jennifer possibly knowwhat I am going through?”

Be careful not to assume you knowwhat your friend is feeling. Remind your-self that, even if you have been through asimilar experience, it isn’t the particularsituation your friend is going through.

Making room

• Respect the other person’s privacy.Realize that some hurting people may

not be ready to talk about their problemor may open up to only one or two oftheir closest friends. Let the sufferer callthe shots. If you know someone is goingthrough a serious trial, don’t jump onhim the second you see him and startprying. First, discern if it’s a good time totalk, and don’t take it personally if thesufferer does not feel comfortable open-ing up to you.

Asking, “How are you doing?” ormentioning that, “if you ever need to talk,I’m available,” lets the sufferer know youare willing to listen if the need arises.Otherwise, you may appear pushy or likea busybody.

Don’t be offended if the family ofsomeone who is seriously ill limits thenumber of visitors for a while. You canstill send a card or note with a messagereminding the family members that theyare in your thoughts and prayers.

Some people go to the extreme ofrespecting someone’s privacy by beingafraid to intrude and backing off com-pletely. Don’t assume a grieving frienddoesn’t want to be bothered withoutfirst giving him a chance to talk. Ifyour friend doesn’t feel like talking,he’ll let you know. If he would like totalk, he’ll appreciate your being per-ceptive enough to notice.

Being cautiously positive

• Offer realistic encouragement.Although you want things to instantly

be better for your friend, avoid makingstatements you don’t know are true as away of trying to be positive.

A few weeks after Kevin’s skiing acci-dent, a friend told him, “You’ll be skiingagain in no time.”

I wanted to ask, ‘Really? How canyou be so sure?’” Kevin says. “My doc-tors told me they doubted I would ever beable to ski again. But my friend seemedto imply I could lead the same life I hadbefore the accident if I really wanted to.”

Learn to accept your friend’s new-found limitations after an accident ormajor illness. You don’t have to stretchthe truth to encourage. When you visit anailing friend in the hospital, recognizethat the situation does not have to be rosyor anywhere near perfect for you to bepositive and upbeat. Focus on what youknow is true: that you care about yourfriend and are pulling for him.

To say, “I’ll pray for you,” and mean itis enormously encouraging and will bindyou to him.

Encouraging words

• Don’t give unsolicited advice.What to do to solve your friend’s

problem may seem obvious to you, butresist the temptation to give unsolicitedadvice. The consequence of givingadvice may be that we cut off communi-cation. We’d like to think that, if we candistract the friend by coming up withsome brilliant advice, he’ll stop crying or

thinking of his situation. Often, however,it just doesn’t work that way.

Unsolicited advice can put the suffererin an awkward position if he doesn’t takeyour suggestion. When Mike lost his job,he received much unwanted advice.

“Usually I didn’t think other people’ssuggestions would work,” Mike relates.“I felt like I had to defend the way I washandling my situation and didn’t feelencouraged at all. Instead, I’d think tomyself, Whew, I made it through anotherinterrogation.”

If a friend asks for advice, it can be allright to give it if your advice comes in theform of several alternatives, rather thanone specific course of action you think heshould take. Rather than say, “I think thisis what you should do,” say, “This iswhat I’ve done,” or “This is what worksfor me.” Let your friend make the finaldecision about what to do.

Taking it slowly

• Be patient.

Don’t get impatient with your friend ifhe is not over his tragedy, even thoughyou and others may think he should be.Grieving takes times. Depending on theseverity of the situation, it can takemonths or years to fully recover fromsome tragedies. Coming to terms withthe death of a marriage partner can takeat least three years.

Fight the tendency to tell yourselfthings like, “If she won’t help herself,there’s nothing I can do.” It’s importantto be there for our friends during their

Continued on page 29

March/April 1997 21Photo © PhotoDisc 1994

22 The Good News

Archaeology and the Book of Exodus: Exit From Egypt

b y M a r i o S e i g l i e

Archaeologistshave made

many significant discoveries that

make the book ofExodus and the

Israelites’ time inEgypt come alive.

Egyptian brick-making is depicted in this wall painting fromthe tomb of Egyptian nobleman Rekhmire from the mid-second

millennium B.C. The painting shows workmen gathering materi-als, forming bricks and carrying the finished bricks after drying.

n earlier issues, The Good News examinedseveral archaeological finds that illuminate

portions of the book of Genesis. In thisissue we continue our exploration of discoveriesthat illuminate the biblical accounts, focusing onExodus, the second book of the Bible.

Exodus in English derives from the Latin andmeans simply “to exit.” The book of Exodusdescribes the departure of the Israelites fromEgypt, an event distinguished by a mighty strug-gle between two unequal opponents. On the onehand was an oppressed nation of slaves and onthe other the most powerful nation in the MiddleEast, if not the world. Viewed strictly physically,the odds in this struggle between Israel andEgypt were stacked against the Israelites.

What has archaeology found that pertains tothe Exodus and the Israelites’ time in Egypt? Sci-entists have made several significant discoveries

that make this part of the Bible come alive.

Egyptian brick-making

In the book of Exodus we see the Egyptiansforcing the Israelites to build great cities forPharaoh: “Therefore they set taskmasters overthem to afflict them with their burdens. And theybuilt for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom andRaamses” (Exodus 1:11).

Most of us know a little about the Egyptianpyramids, which were built of stone. But not allEgyptian pyramids were made of stone; brickwas the principal building material used in thecountry. The International Standard Bible Ency-clopedia notes that “throughout Egyptian historysun-dried brick was the chief building material.Stone was reserved for temples and other monu-mental constructions” (Vol. 1, p. 546).

Therefore the Egyptians needed millions of

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bricks, and the Israelites labored long andhard to supply the demand. The Egyp-tians “made their lives bitter with hardbondage—in mortar, in brick, and in allmanner of service in the field” (Exodus1:14, emphasis added throughout).

When Moses and Aaron told Pharaohthat God wanted His people, theIsraelites, to stop working and observe areligious festival in the wilderness,Pharaoh was incensed. Instead of yield-ing, he increased the work load: “So thesame day Pharaoh commanded thetaskmasters of the people and their offi-cers, saying, ‘You shall no longer give thepeople straw to make brick as before. Letthem go and gather straw forthemselves’” (Exodus 5:6-7).

This cruel measure added to theIsraelites’already arduous tasks. The Israelite slaves had to head for thefields to gather straw to mix with themud.

The biblical detail about using straw inbrick-making is puzzling to some. How,they ask, could the addition of straw as aningredient make bricks stronger?

In Egypt the mud-straw combinationwas commonly used to strengthen build-ing blocks. It also prevented the bricksfrom cracking or losing shape. Moderninvestigators have run tests that show thatwhen straw is mixed with mud the result-ing bricks are three times as strong asthose made without straw. Fluids in thestraw release humic acid and harden thebricks (Gerald Vardaman, Archaeologyand the Living Word, 1966, p. 37). To thisday, after thousands of years, mud-brickmonuments still stand in Egypt.

The 10 plagues

Egyptology has illuminated our under-standing of the Bible’s description of theplagues that struck Egypt and led to theIsraelites’departure from that land.

The Egyptians were religious people.They had gods for everything and scrupu-lously tried to please them. They had 39principal gods, many of them depicted inEgyptian art with animal bodies or heads.In Egyptian temples, priests cared formany types of sacred animals that repre-sented deities.

In one respect the Israelites’ exodusout of Egypt was a confrontationbetween the true God,Yahweh, and thefalse gods of that land. It would removeany doubt in the Israelites’ minds as towho was the true God and which was thetrue religion. God had in mind not onlyto take His people from Egypt, but todiscourage worship of the supposedlypowerful Egyptian gods. He made thisclear when He told Moses: “For I willpass through the land of Egypt on thatnight, and will strike all the firstborn inthe land of Egypt, both man and beast;and against all the gods of Egypt I willexecute judgment: I am the LORD” (Exo-dus 12:12).

Later, in Numbers 33:4, we read that“on their gods the LORD had executedjudgments.” God directed each of the 10

plagues against the Egyptian gods thatostensibly held sway over an aspect ofnature. The plagues represented, collec-tively, a dramatic demonstration toIsraelite and Egyptian alike that the godswere false; they were powerless to cometo the aid of anyone who implored them.

An ancient Egyptian calendar revealsnumerous holidays dedicated to thegods—so many that it appears that notmany working days remained in the year.When Moses told Pharaoh that Israelwould leave for several days to celebratea feast to God, Pharaoh was indignant:“Who is the LORD, that I should obey Hisvoice to let Israel go? I do not know theLORD, nor will I let Israel go . . . Mosesand Aaron, why do you take the peoplefrom their work? Get back to your labor”(Exodus 5:2, 4).

Pharaoh apparently thought that theIsraelites enjoyed plenty of free time, sohe refused the petition. ObservingPharaoh’s recalcitrance, God acted.

Plagues against the deities

The first plague was aimed at the mostvenerable and valuable resource ofEgyptian civilization, the powerful NileRiver, along with the gods the Egyptiansassociated with it. Egypt’s food supplydepended on the flooding of the Nile, aswell as its annual deposits of silt toreplenish the fertility of the soil. Some-times, as in Joseph’s day, failure of theNile to overflow its banks would result ina famine. So the Egyptians prayed regu-larly to their gods for abundant water. Thefirst plague made the water undrinkableand rancid. The fish, a valuable source offood, perished.

The Egyptians counted on the Nilegoddess Hapi and the powerful Osiris toprotect the Nile. Nothing resulted fromthe clamor and prayers of the Egyptiansthat their gods would purify the Nile.Only when Moses and Aaron prayed tothe true God were the waters refreshed.Yet Pharaoh remained proud. Hebelieved a host of powerful gods werewaiting to do his bidding; indeed Pha-raoh himself was considered a god bymost Egyptians.

The second plague targeted one of the

March/April 1997 23

This statue ofthe Egyptian Nile god Hapi dates to about900 B.C. God’s first plague intended tofree the Israelites struck the mighty NileRiver, and their gods proved powerless toprotect the Egyptians.

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creatures the Egyptians associated withthe Nile. Egyptians worshiped the frog inthe form of Heqt, whose statue bore thehead of a frog. This god was symbolic ofgood crops and blessings in the afterlife.Egyptians noticed that, when the Nilereached a certain level and overflowed,frogs abounded. Their presence was anomen of bountiful crops and control ofthe insect population. A low Nile withfew frogs meant a lack of silt, poor cropsand many insects.

Heqt, god of the frogs, supposedlycontrolled the frog population. Whenthe second plague produced too manyfrogs, it appeared to the Egyptians thatthe god who governed them had lostcontrol. No amount of prayers andincense altered the situation. Only whenthe true God intervened did the frogs dieand the crisis end.

The third and fourth plagues featuredanother favorite god of the Egyptians,Kheper, the scarab deity represented bybeetles and other insects. The image ofthe scarab god appeared frequently onamulets. “The cult to flies, and espe-cially of the beetles, was an importantpart of the ancient Egyptian religion”(Jamieson, Fausset and Brown,Exegetical Commentary of the Bible,Vol. 1, p. 67). “Various types of bee-tles were venerated in Egypt; amongthem the dung beetle [which] became theemblem of resurrection and continualexistence . . .” (The Interpreter’s Dictio-nary of the Bible, Vol. 4, p. 258).

When a swarm of lice or gnats (or pos-sibly mosquitoes) and horseflies stung thepopulace, the court magicians asked theinsect god to control them, but to no avail.Only when Pharaoh pleaded with Mosesto ask the God of Israel to remove thepests did the plague abate.

Sacred bull

The next plague affected cattle,which the Egyptians considered to beunder the control of Apis, the bull god,and Hathor, the cowlike mother god-dess. The bull was considered sacred.When the bull in a temple died, it wasmummified and buried with great pomp.The fifth plague struck at this mode ofworship. “So the LORD did this thing on

the next day, and all the livestock ofEgypt died; but of the livestock of thechildren of Israel, not one of them died”(Exodus 9:6). No amount of paganprayer could alter the outcome.

Next came a plague of boils, whichthe Egyptians thought they could cure byresorting to their god of medicine,Imhotep, a legendary Egyptian physicianwho came to be worshiped. They alsorevered Thoth, the god of magic andhealing. But again in this case the boilsdid not go away. Even worse, the courtmagicians who besought these entitieswere themselves covered with the pesti-lence: “And the magicians could notstand before Moses because of the boils,for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians” (verse 11).

Again, Pharaoh and other Egyptianspleaded with Moses that God would takeaway the problem. God’s power toremove this plague served as a witnessnot only to the Egyptians and theIsraelites, but to the rest of the world.God told Pharaoh: “But indeed for thispurpose I have raised you up, that I mayshow My power in you, and that Myname may be declared in all the earth”(verse 16). This witness remains with ustoday through the Bible account.

The seventh and eighth plagues struckEgypt’s crops. First, a horrible hailstormhit the harvest, then a horde of locustscompleted the destruction. The crops

were supposed to be guarded by Seth, theharvest god, and it was up to Nut, the skygoddess, to prevent weather disasters. Yetthe pleas of the Egyptians fell on deafears. Pharaoh was running out of gods toprotect his people.

God strikes the mightiest

The final two plagues were directed atthe two mightiest gods of the Egyptians,Ra the chief god, represented by the sun,and Pharaoh himself.

Egyptians believed Ra to be the sourceof life, bringing light and heat to the earth.The ninth plague brought three days of nosunlight. The darkness was so “thick,”says Scripture, that even lamps could notdispel the blackness. “So Moses stretchedout his hand toward heaven, and there wasthick darkness in all the land of Egyptthree days. They did not see one another;nor did anyone rise from his place forthree days. But all the children of Israelhad light in their dwellings” (Exodus10:22-23).

In spite of the prayers and supplica-tions the Egyptians must have offeredup to Ra, the sun god did nothing.

The final god in dire need of hum-bling was Pharaoh himself, who sup-

posedly descended from the god Ra.Pharaoh’s patron gods were Osiris, the

judge of the dead, and Horus, the god oflight. Egyptian worship of the Pharaohsfound expression in the construction fortheir leaders of great pyramids as tombs.The 10th plague struck even the offspringof the Egyptians’man-god.

Pharaoh himself was powerless tostop the death of his firstborn son, whowas next in line to sit worthy of Egyp-tians’worship. “And it came to pass atmidnight that the LORD struck all thefirstborn in the land of Egypt, from thefirstborn of Pharaoh who sat on histhrone to the firstborn of the captive whowas in the dungeon, and all the firstbornof the livestock” (Exodus 12:29). Withhis gods impotent and humiliated,mighty Pharaoh finally relented, and theExodus of the children of Israel began.

Future issues of The Good News willpresent more archaeological evidencethat illuminates the historical account ofthe book of Exodus. GN

24 The Good News

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24 The Good News

This enormous Egyptian stone scarab,some four feet long and three feet high,illustrates the Egyptian fascination withand worship of beetles and other insects.At the time of the Exodus, the third andfourth plagues were directed against theEgyptian deity thought to control insects.

et adrift on the Nile in a small,woven, waterproof basket, fac-ing death by drowning, starva-tion or crocodile, a 3-month-

old baby boy was surrendered by his fatherand mother and left to the elements andwill of God rather than face certain death at the hands of the Egyptian authorities.

A new ruler of Egypt had issued anedict:All Hebrew male babies were to bekilled at birth because the enslavedIsraelites were beginning to outnumbertheir Egyptian masters. So it was that thebaby’s parents,Amram and Jochebed,trusted in God to spare their newborn sonby setting him afloat on the Nile Riverrather than see him killed by the Egyptians.

They didn’t know that what transpiredafter their faithful act was destined tochange the course of history, not just forIsrael but for everybody. This brief articledepicts the rest of that remarkable story:how an abandoned baby, Moses, came toserve his oppressed and disenfranchisedpeople as leader and prophet and how hecame to serve all mankind as a type ofJesus Christ.

Hebrew slave to Egyptian prince

The Egyptian historian Manethorecords that Moses was born around 1520B.C. at Heliopolis in Egypt (MerrillUnger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary, MoodyPress, Chicago, 1988, p. 886). His life can

be divided into three 40-year periods: histime in Egypt, his exile in Arabia and hisgovernance of Israel (Acts 7:23, 30, 36).After Moses’birth, Jochebed concealedhim from the Egyptian authorities forthree months, but when hiding himbecame no longer feasible she prepared a basket so he could float among the reedson the Nile. This act takes on even greatersignificance when set against the back-drop of Pharaoh’s two methods of killingHebrew children. The Bible tells us thatPharaoh first attempted to solicit the sup-port of Hebrew midwives to kill any

Hebrew baby boys they helped deliver.When the midwives quietly refused tocooperate, Pharaoh then directed thatnewborn Hebrew boys be cast into theNile to drown.

God, however, used the Nile to saveMoses. Pharaoh’s daughter, who came tothe river to bathe, spotted the basket float-ing among the reeds and sent a servant toretrieve it. To her surprise, she opened thebasket and saw the infant, who began tocry. She recognized this had to be one ofthe Hebrew children (Exodus 2:5-6).

Moses’sister, Miriam, watching from

nearby, came immediately to Pharaoh’sdaughter and recommended a Hebrewnurse who could care for the little boy. As a result, Moses’own mother was allowedto care for her son on behalf of the Egyp-tian princess. The princess was not awarethat the nurse was the baby’s own mother.

God’s plan for Moses was working outthrough these events, for God returnedJochebed’s son to her and provided safetyfor Moses and his family under the adop-tive care of Pharaoh’s daughter. Whensomeone pleases God, He can make evenenemies treat that person well (Proverbs

16:7). Such was the case with Jochebedand Amram. They pleased God, whorewarded them and saved their son.

The princess named the child Moses,meaning “drawn out,” because she “drewhim out of the water” (Exodus 2:10).Moses’name and the account of his beingsaved from death through the agent ofwater symbolize a greater meaning.

The Encyclopaedia Judaica suggeststhat the phrase in Exodus 2:10 shouldlogically have required the word mashui,

meaning “one that has beendrawn out.”

b y J e r o l d A u s t

This abandoned baby, Moses, came to serve his oppressedand disenfranchised people as leader and prophet and

served all mankind as a type of Jesus Christ.

MosesLeader of a Nation

March/April 1997 25

SS

Moshe,on the other hand,means “one that drawsout,” signifying how this infant slavewould later be used to draw out his peo-ple from their bondage in Egypt and fromthe Red Sea (Israel Abrahams, Ency-clopaedia Judaica, Macmillan, NewYork, 1971, Vol., 12, p. 372). Moses andIsrael were saved from death throughwater: the River Nile and the Red Sea.But first Moses went through a series ofother remarkable experiences.

In one day the baby Moses’slaveclothes were replaced with the raiment of a prince. He went from bearing a deathsentence to a position of honor and privi-lege in Pharaoh’s household. Moses, sud-denly a royal child, received only the besteducation the Egyptians could provide.

According to the New Testament,Moses was educated “in all the wisdom ofthe Egyptians, and was mighty in wordsand deeds” (Acts 7:22). For the first 40years of his life Moses was trained and edu-cated as only an Egyptian prince could be.

Yet in one day the 40-year-old Moses’life was again turned upside down.Although this was the result of his ownactions, it also bore the handprints of God.Prince Moses was to become the leaderand prophet of a disenfranchised, disgrun-tled people: the enslaved nation of Israel.

Moses as deliverer and leaderMoses’life changed dramatically when

he tried to protect his own captive people.As an Israelite, he felt empathy for theIsraelites because of the heavy burdensforced on them. One day Moses cameupon an Egyptian taskmaster beating aHebrew slave. Shocked at what he saw,Moses killed the Egyptian, then buried hisbody in the sand (Exodus 2:11-12).

The next day Moses observed twoIsraelites fighting. Attempting to play thepeacemaker, he addressed the wrongdoerin the dispute, asking why he would fightwith his own people. The Israelite asked:“Who made you a prince and a judge overus? Do you intend to kill me as you killedthe Egyptian?” (verses 11-14). Moses thenrealized his days in Egypt were numbered.He fled to the land of Midian.

Here we see an end and a begin-ning

for Moses.

His life of privilege and luxury was over; anew, difficult life was beginning. NowGod would educate him through theseclusion of a shepherd’s life, preparinghim for his service to God and His people.

The biblical record of Moses’next actalso dealt with water. This time he gener-ously helped some young women watertheir sheep (Exodus 2:16-17). These sevenmaidens were the daughters of Jethro, whothen befriended Moses.

Shortly thereafter, Moses married theMidianite Jethro’s daughter Zipporah.From this union came a son, Gershom,whose name, which meant “foreigner,”identified the child and Moses as strangersand pilgrims in the land (verse 22; see alsoHebrews 11:13). Moses, however, was nostranger to God, and God was about tomake Himself known to Moses in a morepersonal way.

Moses’ calling

In due time God introduced Himself toMoses in Midian through the miracle of abush that burned but didn’t burn up (Exo-dus 3:1-2). At the outset, God made twothings clear: His eternal, supreme existenceas the true God and Moses’commission tohelp deliver His people in fulfillment ofearlier promises made to Abraham, Isaacand Jacob (Exodus 2:24; 6:3-8).

God informed Moses that He hadheard Israel’s anguished cry for relief andthat He wanted Moses to go back toEgypt to deliver His people from captiv-ity. “Come now, therefore, and I will sendyou to Pharaoh that you may bring Mypeople, the children of Israel, out ofEgypt” (Exodus 3:10).

Moses tried to evade this divine directive: “Who am I that I should go toPharaoh, and that I should bring the chil-dren of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus3:11). Humanly speaking, this fallenprince of Egypt knew well the extent ofPharaoh’s power and the futility of anIsraelite outcast going against the mightof Egypt. Four times Moses framed argu-ments to convince God to use someoneelse. First, he said he felt inadequate toattempt the task. Second, he asked bywhat name God would be announced tothe Israelites (verse 13). Third, heexpressed doubt that the children of Israelwould listen to or believe him (Exodus4:1). Fourth, he protested that he wasslow of speech (verse 10).

Patiently, God answered every objec-tion: He assured Moses that He would bewith him; Moses should tell Israel that theOne who sent him identified Himself as “I AM” and “the LORD God of your fathers,the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and

God introduced Himself to Moses in Midian through the miracle of a bush that burned but didn’t burn up.

26 The Good News

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the God of Jacob.”To convince Moses of His power, God

performed two miracles: Moses’rodbecame a snake and then resumed its for-mer state, and Moses’hand became lep-rous and then instantly healed. God toldMoses that He would perform these samemiracles for him when he appeared beforePharaoh, along with a third miracle: Waterfrom the Nile poured on the ground wouldturn to blood (verses 2-9). Moses againpleaded with God to send someone else(verse 13). This displeased God, but Hesaid He would send Moses’brother Aaronwith him as a spokesman (verses 14-16).

Moses’reaction to the circumstancesreveals a man devoid of personal ambitionand pride. Indeed, he holds the distinctionof being the meekest man of his time(Numbers 12:3). However, once Mosesundertook the mission, his willingness tosubmit to God’s direction and guidance

was a strong, positive attribute. God hadprepared Moses to deliver and lead Israelout of Egypt, but first he had to go backinto Egypt.

Back to Egypt, then the Exodus

God instructed Aaron to meet Moses inthe wilderness, where Moses informed hisbrother of God’s instructions. Togetherthey went to Egypt and called the elders of Israel to assemble and relayed to themGod’s intention to free them from Pha-raoh’s rule. This was so overwhelming tothe Israelites that they all bowed theirheads and worshiped God (Exodus 4:31).

Pharaoh, however, was not so receptive.When Moses and Aaron declared God’sdivine instructions to him, he was con-temptuous. “Who is the LORD, that Ishould obey His voice to let Israel go? I donot know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go”(Exodus 5:1-2). Immediately conditionsgot worse for Israel. Pharaoh added to the

Israelites’work as slaves, now forcingthem to gather their own straw for brick -making while producing the same numberof bricks. Pharaoh had the Israelite super-visors beaten because of the people’sinability to continue at the same rate ofproduction.

The Israelites complained to Mosesabout this difficult turn of events, andMoses in turn complained to God: “LORD,why have You brought trouble on this peo-ple? Why is it You have sent me? For sinceI came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name,he has done evil to this people; neither haveYou delivered Your people at all” (Exodus5:22-23). Moses had yet to learn that Godworks things out in His own good time andthat He does not forget His people.

God reassured Moses and instructedhim to visit Pharaoh again. In the king’spresence, Aaron threw his staff down, andit was transformed into a serpent. WhenPharaoh’s magicians performed an appar-ently similar feat, for a moment the twosides seemed to be at a standoff. But thenAaron’s serpent swallowed the magi-cians’serpents.

Even so, rather than heed Moses’andAaron’s request, the Egyptian ruler set hismind against them and refused to releasethe Israelites.

Plagues for the implacable

Pharaoh and his countrymen paid a ter-rible price for the ruler’s intransigence.Consider the 10 plagues God unleashedupon the Egyptians described in Exodus 7-11. First, He turned their water into blood,then covered the land with frogs. Then Hesent a plague of lice, followed by a greatswarm of flies. Then God cursed the Egyp-tians’animals with disease and they died.Then He sent hail upon the Egyptians, fol-lowed by locusts that destroyed any plantsthat had survived the plague of hail.

The ninth plague was what the Biblecalled a “thick darkness” that coveredEgypt for three days. Still the king refusedto let Israel go, and he threatened Moseswith death if he returned. Moses replied:“You have spoken well. I will never seeyour face again” (Exodus 10:29). Through-out these afflictions, Pharaoh seemed towaver but ultimately remained implacable.He refused to let God’s people go.

The 10th plague brought about thedeath of all the firstborn of Egypt, “fromthe firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on histhrone to the firstborn of the captive who

March/April 1997 27

MOSES AND THE LAWMoses, who faithfully obeyed God’s laws, was also used by God to convey

those laws to Israel. He is the author and compiler of the first five books of theBible—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy—which later cameto be called the Torah, or simply the Law (Matthew 5:17; 7:12; 22:40).

But the Torah is more than law. It is God’s teaching. His teaching, revealedthrough Moses, includes many historical details (Genesis, the earlier parts of Exo-dus, Numbers) as well as many specific laws and principles that show proper appli-cation of God’s laws (Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy).

As mankind’s Creator, God provided a moral code of conduct that is summedup in the Ten Commandments, the first four of which show us how to love ourCreator, the last six that show how to love our fellowman.

Centuries later Jesus Christ made this same point, saying that all of God’sinstruction for mankind, including the Ten Commandments, is summed up in twogreat principles: “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with allyour soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. Andthe second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two com-mandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40; see alsoDeuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18).

Moses gave Israel God’s laws, and in this limited sense he was Israel’s lawgiver.However, these were not Moses’ laws, but God’s laws. Jesus Christ later clearlystated that the Ten Commandments are God’s commands, not those of any man(Matthew 15:3-6).

God inspired Moses to provide the laws, statutes and judgments (Exodus 21-23) based on the Ten Commandments that formed the constitution and body oflaw for God’s people Israel—a law designed to be a great blessing to the nation.After giving His people the Ten Commandments, God expressed His desire thatIsrael would have “such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keepall My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their childrenforever!” (Deuteronomy 5:29).

This great law of God still holds for Christians. “. . . The law is holy, and the com-mandment holy and just and good,” wrote the apostle Paul (Romans 7:12). “Forwe know that the law is spiritual” (verse 14).

“Blessed are those who do [actively practice] His commandments,” wrote Johnin the last chapter of the Bible, “that they may have the right to the tree of [eter-nal] life . . .” (Revelation 22:14). GN

wasin the dun-geon, and all the firstbornof livestock” (Exodus 12:29). The devasta-tion was staggering, and “there was a greatcry in Egypt, for there was not a housewhere there was not one dead” (verse 30).Thousands of Egyptians, along with theirfirstborn livestock, lay dead.

The plagues accomplished their pur-pose, and the Israelites secured their free-dom. Moses gained respect from Egyptianand Israelite alike. “Moreover the manMoses was very great in the land of Egypt,in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in thesight of the people” (Exodus 11:3).

Deliverer and leader

Although God used Moses to delivererof Israel, God Himself was responsible fordelivering His people. With the last plague,the Egyptians were so panic-stricken thatthey pleaded with the Israelites to leavequickly (Exodus 12:33). The Israelites’departure was so hasty that they didn’t havetime to allow their bread dough to rise.They hurriedly baked unleavened, or flat,bread for their journey. Israel headed for thedesert under Moses’decisive lead. Had hetaken the most direct route, through theland of the hostile Philistines, the Israelitesmight well have turned back into Egypt.Instead, he led them into the wilderness byway of the Red Sea, a strategy that on thesurface appeared foolish indeed.

However, Moses wasn’t really the oneleading them. God planned to eliminate theEgyptian army as it followed the mass ofIsraelites through the Red Sea. The Creatoragain showed His divine power through themiracle that followed: He opened up a paththrough the sea, allowing His people towalk safely across on dry land to the otherside. When the Egyptians thought theycould easily overtake the Israelites, to mer-cilessly slaughter or take them captiveagain, the walls of water crashed down onthem, drowning the army.

Many centuries later the apostle Paulcompared this great miracle to baptism.Baptism, he noted, figuratively washesaway the sins of the truly repentant, just asthe Israelites in the crossing of the Red Seawere washed clean of their old life as

slaves to the Egyptians to start anew life as God’s

people: “Moreover, brethren, I do not wantyou to be unaware that all our fathers wereunder the cloud, all passed through the sea,all were baptized into Moses in the cloudand in the sea” (1 Corinthians 10:1-2).

Moses as deliverer helped free theIsraelites from captivity and their crueltaskmasters. He would then lead them for40 years through the wilderness.

Israel’s years of wandering throughwasteland can be likened to our wander-ings as Christian pilgrims through thespiritual wilderness of the world. In theIsraelites’ time of tests and trials, Godpatiently taught them that they shouldrevere Him by listening to His instruc-tions in every aspect of their lives. Butthey failed to learn from and obey God,even though He had given them His TenCommandments—spiritual laws that,when obeyed, lead their adherents to asuccessful, peaceful, happy life (Romans7:12; Psalm 119:165).

Remember ’My servant Moses’

Moses was a man of God. As a generaland prince in Egypt, as the governor ofIsrael, as deliverer, leader and prophet, hewas wholly dedicated to God. Yet he was a humble man (Numbers 12:3), realizingthat everything he had and everything hehad done had come about by God’s inter-vention and through God’s help (Deuter-onomy 8:11-20). With this attitude, Moseswas able to be a true servant of his people.

How far from Moses’example of self-less service are we? The golden rule(Luke 6:31) tells us to treat others as wewould be treated. This timeless principlehas been corrupted so that today toomany say: Do unto others before they do unto you. Notwithstanding what manthinks, God’s prescriptive rule that“humility goes before honor”(Proverbs

15:33, New Revised Standard Version) isa key to success in life. Moses’ life of ser-vice demonstrated this truth.

The book of Hebrews holds Moses upas an example (Hebrews 11:24-29). It tellsof Moses’refusal to be called the son ofPharaoh’s daughter, that he chose to sufferaffliction with God’s people rather thanenjoy the temporary pleasures of sin, thathe esteemed the reproach of Christ greaterthan all the treasures in Egypt, that he keptthe Passover through faith and taught theIsraelites to do the same. Finally, he passedthrough the Red Sea while leading theIsraelites to safety and freedom. In God’sWord for all time, He preserved the recordof Moses’faith.

The book of Deuteronomy includes the following tribute to Moses: “But sincethen there has not arisen in Israel a prophetlike Moses, whom the LORD knew face toface, in all the signs and wonders whichthe LORD sent him to do in the land ofEgypt, before Pharaoh, before all his ser-vants, and in all his land, and by all thatmighty power and all the great terror

28 The Good News

TWO GREAT PROPHETSMoses prophesied of another prophet who would arise: “The LORD your God

will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren, Himyou shall hear” (Deuteronomy 18:15).

That Prophet was to be Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 3:22; 7:37).Moses was the type, or forerunner, of this great Prophet to come. The apos-

tle Paul compared the two prophets, the type and the antitype: “Therefore, holybrethren, who share in the heavenly call, consider Jesus, the apostle and highpriest of our confession. He was faithful to him who appointed him, just asMoses also was faithful in all his house. Yet Jesus has been counted worthy of asmuch more glory than Moses as the builder of a house has more honour thanthe house . . . Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testifyto the things that were to be spoken later” (Hebrews 3:1-3, 5, Revised EnglishBible, emphasis added).

Both Jesus and Moses were faithful to their tasks and their callings. Theyaccomplished the work God had for them in their respective ages. As the apostleJohn put it, “the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth camethrough Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

Sweeping back the curtain of history, we can read God’s revelation through bothprophets. Christ told us we are to live by every word of God (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4).Christ said that if we believe Moses we will also believe Him, “but if you do notbelieve what he wrote, how are you to believe what I say?” (John 5:46-47, REB). GN

March/April 1997 29

him for help” (Romans 10:12).This is how God views every nation,

race and color. It is in this remarkablelight that God wishes His followers toconsider others. And though we all fallshort at times of this wonderful ideal, weshould always strive to attain it. This isthe Golden Rule in action!

Peter and John also understood

Contrary to the views of some, Paulwas not the only apostle to grasp this mar-vellous truth. Others also understood.Peter, Paul and John all agreed on funda-mental matters. Their theology was notdifferent as some suppose.

Of course, both Peter and John’sbackground was not the same as Paul’sand they would naturally express thesame truths in a somewhat differentstyle. Peter would put it one way andPaul another.

For instance, Peter told Cornelius: “Intruth I realize that God has no favourites,but in every nation whoever fears Godand does what is right is accepted byhim” (Acts 10:34-35). Here Peter empha-sized obedience to God, disciples from allcountries doing what is right.

Historically, what God does throughhuman beings has started in the smallestway. Since we are all too prone to prideand vanity, anciently God told theIsraelites that they were the fewest of allpeople (Deuteronomy 7:7). Very insignifi-cant indeed!

Nonetheless God did give them Hislaw and began to reveal His great purposeon earth to this obscure people residing ina small, narrow angular Mideastern coun-try. Yet they began a significant spiritualwork that was to expand to include repre-sentatives of all peoples in this presentage. Speaking of Jesus Christ the apostleJohn later quoted the angelic host as say-ing, “. . . You purchased for God men outof every tribe, language, people andnation” (Revelation 5:10).

What is the ultimate significance of the

nation of Israel? Just this. In His marvel-lous wisdom God has used physical Israelto help bring forth spiritual Israel. Paul toldus in another context “. . . that the spiritualdoes not come first, but the physical, andthen the spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:46).

And as he concluded to the Galatianchurches, “Whether a man is circum-cised or uncircumcised does not matter;what matters is that he can be createdanew [become truly converted]. Peaceand mercy be upon all who follow thisrule, that is, upon the Israel of God”(Galatians 6:15-16).

“The Jews constitute but one percentof the human race,” wrote Mark Twain in1869. And the Israel of God today is evenmore insignificant and fewer in numberthan physical Israel. But Jesus Christ

encouraged His people with the words,“Do not be afraid, little flock; it haspleased your Father to give you the King-dom” (Luke 12:32).

Our importance emanates from theeminence of our crucial message— theGospel of the Kingdom of God. The spir-itual work that began in first centuryJerusalem is still going strong as the 20thcentury draws to a close. The UnitedChurch of God faces the future withhope—challenged by the awesome taskof bringing the good news to all countriesin century 21. This is a great work for theIsrael of God.

Remember Jesus Christ said that “. . .repentance and forgiveness of sins mustbe proclaimed in his name among all thenations, beginning from Jerusalem”(Luke 24:47).

Knowing why we live and understanding our destiny is anantidote for despair and essential to our mental and spiritual

health. We need to discover the missing parts of our lives.

IsraelContinued from page 9

RECOMMENDED READINGMany are confused concerning thereal meaning of the Kingdom ofGod. Is it here now or is yet future?Is the Church the Kingdom? Howcan we enter it? These and manyother questions are answered in ourfree booklet entitled The Gospel ofThe Kingdom. Request your copy bycalling or writing the address nearestyou on page 2 of this issue.

low periods, regardless of how wethink they are handling their situations.

My friend, Kate, told me how she feltduring the five years her husband, Randy,was battling chronic-fatigue syndromeand couldn’t work:

“Although I know people meant well,they would ask me things like, ‘When isthat guy of yours going to get well andstart working again?’and ‘Why doesn’tRandy try a less-demanding job so he canat least get out of the house?’They madeus feel like there was something wrongwith us. Some of our friends becameuncomfortable around us and pulled away.When people avoided us, we started feel-ing as though we were going through ourtrial alone.”

We shouldn’t give up on people duringtheir low periods. Remember that theyneed us, just as we need them when weare in times of despair.Nobody’s perfect

• Know your limits.Times may come when it’s just too hard

to watch your friend suffer. You, too, willhave difficult days during which you maynot be able to listen at length. Reassureyour friend that you want to help, but ask ifhe could wait and talk about his problemlater, when you’re better able to handle it.

Know when your friend needs morehelp than you can give. If his problem isgetting worse or is starting to affect hisrelationship with others or he’s no longercomforted by your listening to him,encourage him to seek the help of his pas-tor or another counselor.

You may make a few mistakes alongthe way. No one can be expected to knowwhat to say or how to act in every situation.Remind yourself that people involved inserious trials need loving support.

It’s better to say something less thanideal while at your friend’s side rather thanavoid him because you don’t know whatto say. What matters most is to have eachother’s encouragement and not have toface difficult times alone.

When you come face to face withanother person’s tragedy or problem, beready to be of help by making use ofthese points. We can all help those whoare hurting. GN

HelpContinued from page 21

KKelsey is angry with her parents because she thinks they’re too strict.

“They get on my case when I’m up late talking on the phone,” shesays. “They think by 10 p.m. I should be in bed sleeping because

it’s a school night. But I just don’t need eight hours of sleep every night.Why can’t my parents understand that?”Jason hasn’t spoken to his parents in two days. “They’re making my lifemiserable with an ultraearly curfew,” he says. “I can’t even go to 7:30movie showings because my parents want me home by 9. It’s totallyridiculous.”Kelsey and Jason are hardly the first teens to clash with their parents.You, a teen, are fighting for independence. Your parents are fighting toguide and protect you. They’re acting from a perspective of wisdom,experience, knowledge and understanding, trying to show you the wayuntil you can learn these things on your own. “In some ways teens and parents almost have mutually exclusive agen-das,” says Kathleen Galvin, Ph.D., associate professor of communica-tion studies at Northwestern University. “Parents are probably stillfocused inward in terms of what’s going on with the family, and mostteens are beginning to focus outward, paying a great deal more attentionto their peer groups as sources of influence.”As a result, teens clash with their parents about everything from partiesand grades to how neat their bedrooms need to be and their choice of

friends. But, although you may think your parents are unreasonable whenthey tell you to get off the phone after you’ve been talking for only three

hours, the resulting conversation they have with you about the proper use ofthe telephone doesn’t have to turn into a big blowup.

Here are some ways to sort out your differences:

Get to know your parents

You can put an end to a lot of misunderstandings with your parents just bylearning more about them. “I thought Dad was horrible for not letting me go

ice-skating on the pond,” admits Melodie, age 14. “Butthen my father told me the story of how his best

friend almost died when they were teensplaying hockey on a pond that hadn’t

frozen over completely. Dad’s friendskated over a thin patch of ice and

fell in. Now I understand why myfather was so concerned aboutme.”Take some time to talk withyour parents and get to knowthem better. Ask what it waslike when they were teens.What did they do for fun? Didthey have a lot of friends?What was school like? See ifany of their experiences con-tribute to the way your parentsdeal with conflicts and whythey set certain household

rules. Try to find out wherethey’re coming from, why they

react the way they do. Any effort you make to learn

more about how your parents’ livesare going will help you interact with

them in the future.

Photo © PhotoDisc 1994

WhenYou and

YourParentsDon’t

See Eyeto Eye

How can you improve communication with your parents? For one thing, it helps to understand what

they expect of you.

How can you improve communication with your parents? For one thing, it helps to understand what

they expect of you.

b y B e c k y S w e a t

30 The Good News

Getting to know you

Picture yourself at the dinner table. Your mother asks howschool was today and you respond, “Fine.”

Your father asks what plans you have for the weekend andyou say, “I don’t know.”

Mom asks how your friend is doing and you say, “All right.”Although you may be tempted to respond to your parents’

questions in this way, doing so “closes your parents out interms of being able to make any kind of predictions aboutyour behavior,” Dr. Galvin says. “Your parents will be muchless likely to grant certain privileges or permission to do some-thing, because they don’t have much to go on to help themmake a decision: They don’t know your friends; they don’tknow how you feel about various issues or how you interactwith your peers.”

Teens who do best with their parents are those willing to talkabout everyday happenings so their parents gain some sense ofwhat their children’s lives are like. Tell your parents aboutschool activities. Introduce them to your friends. Let themknow what you think about events in the news. Tell them whatyou enjoy doing and why. Ask questions, and listen to theiranswers.

In short, talk to them. The more they know and understandabout you, the more your parents will gain some idea whatyou’re thinking, making them more inclined to trust you.

To be trusted to make more of your own decisions—a goalof every teen—you have to show that you can be trusted. Trustis hard to gain and easy to lose, and irresponsible decisions andactions will show your parents only that you’re not ready tomake wise decisions. So, once you’ve shown your parents thatyou can be trusted, don’t do anything to spoil the confidencethey have in you.

Heading off catastrophes

Find a time and place to talk when you and your parentsare relaxed.Share your concerns and discuss social activi-ties you’d like to take part in, privileges you’d like to

work towards and what you’d like to do on summer vacation. Don’t tell your father Saturday afternoon that you want a

later curfew that night and expect a positive response. Instead,think ahead and make your request as far in advance as possi-ble. You can almost guarantee a flat no if you spring things onyour parents at the last moment. But, when you give them areasonable time to consider your request, at least several daysor more, depending on the event, you’re more likely to elicit apositive response. When you show such courtesy and respect to your parents, they’re more likely to show you courtesy andrespect in return.

Try to see things from your parents’perspective and antici-pate the questions they’re going to ask. Think your proposalthrough ahead of time. You’re going to have a better chance ofgetting a yes if you make your parents comfortable with yourplans. If there are a lot of gaps and uncertainties in your plans,you’ll be less likely to ease your parents’ concerns.

Be willing to negotiate “After I got my driver’s license, I asked to use Mom’s car so

I could drive some friends to the school dance,” says Breanne,

16. “When my mother asked whichfriends I planned to take, I didn’tfeel like telling her, so she wouldn’tlet me take the car, and I didn’t go tothe dance. The next day at school,everyone was talking about howmuch fun the dance was, and I wishedI’d been willing to give in a little with mymother.”

You will be setting yourself up for disappoint-ment if you expect things always to go exactly the way youwant them to.

Determine what’s important

What are the issues most important to you? Use of thefamily car? Going on a ski trip with your friends?Extending curfew? A raise in your allowance? Drop-

ping piano lessons? If you are constantly approaching Momand Dad with complaints, life at home won’t be pleasant foryou or them.

Some teens are determined to exercise what they perceive to be their “rights” and can make a big deal out of things that

really aren’t that important. Learn to accept the inevitableminor inconvenience and disappointment. Then, when you dodiscuss a problem with your parents, they’ll know this is some-thing that means a lot to you.

They’re on your side

“When I told my mother about the party I wanted to go to,she instantly jumped on me with questions like who’s going tobe at the party? Will a parent be there? How late will the partygo? It’s like she doesn’t want me to go and doesn’t care if Ihave any fun. But I’m just trying to be like everyone else andhave a good time.” So says Brandon, age 16.

Although you may not feel that way now, your parents areon your side. They’re looking out for you and aren’t thrilledabout telling you no.

Your parents are the people responsible for helping youmake decisions until you’re on your own. They want you toenjoy your teen years. They want you to grow up and becomewell-adjusted, successful adults. It’s just that sometimes theirway of getting there may be different from what you’d like todo. Remind yourself that they’re your parents and they careabout you, even if you don’t always see eye to eye. GN

March/April 1997 31

Teens who do best with their parents are those willing

to talk about everyday happeningsso their parents gain some sense

of what their children’s lives are like.

Why does humanity exist? Is there a purpose for human life, orare we only the result of some evolutionary process, the product ofa series of cosmic accidents?

What is the fate of humanity? Are we destined to kill ourselvesoff through warfare, environmental destruction or epidemics? Orwill we see a future utopia of peace and prosperity for all? Is itpossible to know what the future holds for us?

The Creator of mankind does have a plan for us, and Hereveals it to us through an annual cycle of festivals described inthe Scriptures, He shows an astounding plan offering an incred-ible future to every man, woman and child who has ever lived.

God’s Holy Day Plan: the Promise of Hope for All Mankind willhelp you understand the incredible

truth about what lies ahead for all humanity.Write for your free copy at the address nearestyou inside the front cover of this issue.

United Church of Godan International Association

Does God Have a Planfor Humanity?

Photo © PhotoDisc 1994