“When Barnabas and Paul could not agree about taking Mark on the second missionary journey, they split up as a missionary team. Does their action justify splitting an ecclesia if brethren have great difficulty agreeing on issues?” (Acts 15:37-39) S.B., USA.
This was not an ecclesial situation but one of missionary work. Their plans were to visit newly established ecclesias and then start breaking new ground in preaching to the Gentiles. In such circumstances, it is imperative that the members of the missionary team be wholly in sync with one another.
Anyone who does missionary work will realize this. The missionary team must be of one mind on all significant points to present a united front when preaching the gospel. Any discord within the team confuses the potential converts and dissipates energy vitally needed in the outreach work.
In fact, earlier in Acts 15, Paul and Barnabas went to great lengths to preserve ecclesial unity (vs. 1-5). If they felt that splitting ecclesias was acceptable, they could have established the Gentile ecclesias as a whole separate fellowship and have totally avoided the circumcision issue which proved so troublesome to the first-century ecclesias. The will of God is perfectly clear on this matter: “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (I Cor. 12:12,13).
As a community, Christadelphians have often been better at applying the principle of the “one faith” than they have the principle of the “one body.” Both are important, and a balanced approach must be taken in the many practical situations that we face. If we are not careful, the carnal mind will have us grossly abusing one or the other. If we are spiritually minded, however, we can serve the Lord Jesus preserving the one faith while also maintaining the one body in Christ.
Egypt’s 40 Years of Desolation
“Ezekiel 29:12 — When did or will Egypt be desolate for the 40 years?” H.M., Canada
The desolation was by Nebuchadnezzar (Ezk. 29:19) but no specific record is evident of the restoration, which must have been under the Persian empire. In researching the point, we consistently ran into comments that no precise dates were available but the following may prove useful.
“There were exactly 40 years between the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar and that of Cambyses, during the whole of which Amasis reigned …Nebuchadnezzar’s complete conquest of Egypt appears to have ended with the deposition and death of Pharaoh-hophra, which took place in B.C. 569 (Herodotus ii. 169). The conqueror then placed Amasis on the throne of Egypt, as he had placed Zedekiah on that of Judah, and after his reign of 44 years (Herodotus iii.10) the Egyptians were brought under the rule of Persia by Cambyses the son of Cyrus (B.C. 525)” (The Annotated Bible, by John Henry Blunt).
“Measthenes and Berosus state that Nebuchadnezzar, on his conquest of Egypt, sent great numbers of the people captive to Babylon; others doubtless as in similar cases, took refuge in Ethiopia, Libya, and other neighboring lands. The kind of desolation foretold for Egypt is the same as that for ‘desolate’ cities and countries that fell under the power of the conqueror; they were to be plundered and reduced to subjection”(F. Gardiner in A Bible Commentary for English Readers edited by C. J. Ellicott).
If anyone knows anything more definitive, we would be pleased to hear from him.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One