To speak of the Bible as ”the living word” is not to use an empty phrase. Its authors, separated from each other by long spans of time, impregnated their messages with a timeless urgency. And whilst there was an immediate applicability to their day, the principles of the Divine Will in various situations lift the teachings to an age far beyond the sphere of the original declarations.
The law of Moses is a supreme example: whilst not one of its enactments calls for Christian obedience since the crucifixion of Jesus, nevertheless the spirit of its commandments is a radiant light for Christian behaviour.
A little more pointed and precise, no doubt because of brevity and compactness, is the widespread application of the messages to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor. The weaknesses of Smyrna or Laodicea, for instance, were not the exclusive deficiencies of those ecclesias’ they are the everyday laxities and failures of their successors ever since.
The failings, the warnings and the blessings are well emphasised in a most useful little book by William Barclay, “Letters to the Seven Churches” (S.C.M., London. Aust. I Os. 9d.).
In a recent issue of “The Christadelphian”, Barclay is taken to task for some subtle observations regarding the miracles of Jesus. In this book, however, there is little at which to cavil. Indeed, it was refreshing to read the following:
“He (Jesus) is called the beginning of the creation of God. The Greek word for ‘beginning’ is arche, which is the source and origin rather than the beginning. The one thing this does not mean is that Jesus was the first thing or person to be created by God. It does mean that Jesus is the source and origin, the moving cause of all creation. It is another way of saying what John says at the beginning of the gospel, ‘All things were made by him; and without him was not made anything that was made’. The New Testament is always clear that the God who created the world is also the God who re-creates the world: that the God who made all things is also the God who redeems all things.”
Two chapters are devoted to each message: the first creates the atmosphere forming the background. There are the circumstances of the times, the geographical details that so affect and condition human lives, and in consequence the main sources of occupation and livelihood. History, too, makes its contribution and aids in the production of an enlightening picture of life and its perils in early Christian times.
Then follows the result of careful spadework and preparation. The horticultural simile may well be extended. The noxious weeds and pests are the more evident, whilst the blessings open like blossoms with an uplifting fragrance.
Barclay’s contention is that the symbols were deliberately chosen in view of local circumstances, an idea that is frequently apparent in Bible study.
Before the Philadelphian Ecclesia is set an “open door”. Not a chance expression by any means. The geographical situation of the city had earned it the name of the “gateway of the East”.
The key word of the message to Sardis is “Watch”. Full use is made of the background. The city was built on a mountain ridge. On one occasion Cyrus was faced with beseiging it. Observation indicated that victory was only possible if the unscalable cliff face could be conquered. A watcher saw a guard accidentally drop his helmet over the battlements and down the cliff. The route taken to retrieve it gave the watcher an idea. That night picked troops scaled the cliff and the city was overcome. The Sardians were so confident of their position that no one was on guard—no one was watching! “At such an hour as ye think not The message is obvious.
Sardis had “a name that Thou livest, and art dead”.
At this point Barclay examines the watching and the living and poses the question, “When is a church in danger of death?”
He lists four points:
- When it worships its own past and lives on its memories, instead of finding a challenge in its own hopes;
- When it is more concerned with forms and how things are done, rather than the ultimate object.
- When it loves systems more than Jesus; and the church becomes the battleground of the congregational ecclesiastical lawyer.
- When it is concerned more with material things than spiritual. The danger that any Church runs is that it should become a club.
References to garments are made when the staple industry concerns clothing and where the English translation obscures the meaning of the Greek, we are given the benefit of shades of meaning not apparent in our Bibles.
There is much wisdom and an abundance of shrewd observations that commend the book to careful study. The only apparent lack is an appreciation and full development of the prize for the overcomer—but only a knowledge of the Truth supplies that.
Review of “The Early Earth” by John Whitcomb (1972)