Esther and Civil Disobedience

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After observing what a good citizen Mordecai was in Esth 2:21-23, it comes as a surprise to us to see him flatly refuse to comply with the king’s law in Esth 3:1-4. In some ways it is perplexing as to why he chose to disobey this particular rule. Commentators have pointed out that he would likely have had to pay homage to other officials as part of his job, so it may not simply be that Mordecai viewed bowing down to someone as idolatrous. Others have suggested Haman’s identity as an Agagite (and one who was decidedly anti-Jewish) as the reason behind his refusal.

Recently, Chuck Colson caused some controversy by suggesting that a time was coming when Christians in America might need to engage in civil disobedience. It raises the the question of what laws are worth fighting against, and what we can endure patiently as a form of persecution.

Do we take a “no compromise” approach and refuse to adhere to every single law that we feel violates a Biblical principle? Or do we save civil disobedience only for the most extreme violations of our Christian conscience?

The issue comes to a head whenever a law commands us to do what is evil (e.g,. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refusing to bow to the king’s statue – Dan 3:12) or forbids us to do what is right (e.g. Daniel flouting the law by continuing to pray to Yahweh – Dan 6:13). For the apostles, obedience to God always trumped obedience to the state:

Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." Acts 4:18-20 (NIV)

This is a matter that calls for great wisdom and courage, and Christians disagree over where exactly the lines should be drawn. Some will simply comply with unjust laws, and seek to find creative new ways of obeying God without breaking the law. Others will opt for the shrewdness of a passive-aggressive approach, failing to comply but without drawing unnecessary attention to themselves. And yet others will chose to take a public stand against the law and take whatever consequences that come their way.

It is not inconceivable that a time for civil disobedience may arise in our lifetimes in the UK. Thankfully, we still enjoy a good measure of religious freedom. But it is important that we settle our minds on the principle “we must obey God rather than men” in advance, if we are not to respond with compromise and cowardice at the crucial moment.

As usual, I welcome any feedback in the comments. At what point do you think civil disobedience becomes necessary?

Book Review – Forgotten God (Francis Chan)

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This is the first book I’ve read from Francis Chan. By all accounts his “Crazy Love” is an excellent read. And Tim Chester gave this book a ringing endorsement this week too.

The book is subtitled “Reversing our tragic neglect of the Holy Spirit”. As someone who has come from a charismatic background, it does seem a little strange to hear the Holy Spirit referred to as the “Forgotten God”. If anything, those in my circles are often accused of an over-emphasis on the Spirit. Which perhaps explains why I really felt as though I was not quite in the “target audience” for this book.

Chan seems to be aiming at a popular level, perhaps at those who rarely read theology books, and at those who theologically occupy a middle ground somewhere between cessationism and full-blown pentecostalism.

The first two chapters are devoted to urging us to be willing to completely rethink our opinions on the Holy Spirit, returning to the Bible. This is sound advice, but I didn’t feel he went on to overthrow any existing beliefs I had. His chapter on the theology of the Spirit is only the briefest of overviews of Biblical teaching on the Spirit.

Scattered throughout the book are short biographical accounts of people that Chan considers to be “Spirit-filled”. The focus is (perhaps deliberately) not on those whose lives have been characterised by miracles or supernatural gifts, but on those who showed extraordinary godly character (fruit of the Spirit) and who took bold steps of faith to serve the poor. It is a helpful reminder that the Spirit-filled life is not always necessarily a spectacular one.

There is a chapter on the importance of having a real relationship with God through the Spirit. Chan picks out “comfort” and “volume” as being two things that hinder us from truly connecting with God – we are too comfortable or too busy to have a deep relationship with God (see Tim Chester’s post for these obstacles to intimacy).

Another chapter warns against being so focused on God’s will for your life (i.e. your future plans) that you forget to follow him in the now. He reminds us that we do not invite Jesus to follow us around, but we are to follow him. The call to take up our cross is a call to a radical faith. And this is Chan’s passion – that we would settle for nothing less than a life sold out to following Jesus – a life following the Spirit. He argues the same for churches in the final chapter. It is too easy for a church to rely on simply doing things well. But even if it brings growth, without the Spirit, it is meaningless.

Overall I felt there were many things about the Holy Spirit that were left unsaid in this book. And to be fair, Chan has deliberately kept the book short and accessible. He has a great way with words, and it won’t take you long to read through. The book’s chief strength is not as a theology of the Spirit, but as a challenge to live radical lives following the lead of the Spirit. It would be a good place to start for a Christian who has thought little about the Holy Spirit before. And the call to a more radical, wholehearted following of Jesus as we are led by the Spirit is one that all believers and local churches, desperately need to heed.

Book Review – The Message of Ecclesiastes (Derek Kidner)

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This is one of the earliest volumes of the Bible Speaks Today series, having been written in 1976 and only later incorporated into the series. In a brief introduction Derek Kidner asks what Ecclesiastes is doing in the Bible. He introduces us to the author, Qoheleth. He thinks that this teacher puts himself in the shoes of a “super-Solomon” for the purposes of writing the book.

Kidner interprets the book as being written from “ground level” – the author deliberately views life “under the sun” from a human perspective – if you like, from a secularist vantage point. Qoheleth will explore path after path to the point that it comes to nothing, and in the end, only one way will be left.

Kidner makes regular references to various stories, quotes or poems that make similar points to Ecclesiastes. In Eccl 3:1-8, he does not take the common approach of assuming it is about the idea that there is an “appropriate” time” for every activity. Rather he sees it as a comment on the perpetual pattern of change – everything has a beginning and an end. However, he does see Eccl 3:11 as a key verse – part of the very reason that we find so many seemingly good things unsatisfying is that we have eternity in our hearts.

Every few chapters, Kidner inserts a brief “backwards glance”, summarising the argument so far, which is a helpful touch. He thinks that Qoheleth’s mission, like Jeremiah, is first to tear down and destroy before he eventually gets round to building up (Jer 1:10). Kidner sees a turning point coming after Ecclesiastes 9, by which time Qoheleth has made his case against human self-sufficiency.

Overall I think Kidner has done a good job of interpreting the train of thought in this book that can be quite perplexing at times. I find it interesting that many of the better known verses in Ecclesiastes seem to have a different meaning to their popular interpretations when considered in the light of the whole book’s progression of thought.

Esther and Citizenship

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In Esther 2:21-23 Mordecai uncovers a plot to assassinate the king and acts immediately to save the king’s life:

During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were hanged on a gallows. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king.

The book of Esther does not portray king Xerxes in a particularly positive light, and yet Mordecai still sees it as his duty to act in the king’s best interests. Of course we could be cynical and decide that Mordecai reported the plot for his own advancement, or even for Esther’s protection, but nevertheless this is still a good example of Mordecai acting in accordance with Jeremiah’s instructions:

seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." (Jer 29:7 ESV)

The New Testament also teaches that even though we are citizens of heaven (Phil 3:20), we are still to be good citizens of the earthly kingdom we are part of. We’re called to pray for our leaders (1 Tim 2:1-2) as well as submit to them (Rom 13:1). In the workplace, we are expected to be fully committed to whatever it is that we have been given to do (Col 3:23). We are to seek to do good to not only those inside, but also those outside the church (Gal 6:10).

Despite this strong strand of teaching that encourages loyalty and submission to the human rulers of your land, many evangelicals are emphasising the “politically subversive” nature of the gospel, and in particular the teaching of Jesus. If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar isn’t (N T Wright on “God and Caesar”). How do we hold these two seemingly conflicting ideas in tension?

My own thoughts are that in every generation there are indeed issues of justice that challenge us to be politically subversive, but in all other respects, and wherever possible, we should seek to be good citizens of the nation we are in, and to be a blessing working within the existing structures rather than always fighting against them.

So Christians have to pick their battles wisely. The first century believers were never likely to overthrow slavery in the Roman empire – it was too deeply entrenched. Instead they focused on helping those caught up in the system to live in a way that honoured God. However, the time did come for believers like Wilberforce to take on slavery and seek to change the law to be more God honouring.

What do you think? How does a Christian find the right balance in this area? And what are the areas in which we should be dare to be “politically subversive” in our own day?

Esther and the Unmentioned God

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One of the most striking features of the book of Esther is that God is not mentioned even once in the entire book. In fact, neither is prayer or worship, the Scriptures or the law, Jerusalem or the temple. We can only speculate as to why the author chose to do this. I’ll just give a few of my ideas. I’d be interested in hearing any others in the comments.

Perhaps it reflects the fact that Esther and Mordecai lived in a society in which Israel’s God was not on the agenda for conversation. As in our own culture, talk of God is not always welcome and sometimes downright suppressed, with even prominent figures such as Tony Blair and Wayne Rooney finding their opinions on God censored. It raises questions of how we present God to a culture that does not want to hear about him.

Or maybe it reflects the fact that much of the time for Esther and Mordecai, God’s presence was not obvious. There are no miracles in the book of Esther. It is only with hindsight that his presence and sovereignty is seen. The author invites us as readers to do what Esther and Mordecai had to do, to look with the eyes of faith to see God at work in the events, without always being able to comprehend why and how he is working. It prompts us to re-examine the story of our own lives, having faith to see God at work even in the apparently random events that we find ourselves caught up in.

Another possibility is simply that the author wants to use the power of story to make us reflect more deeply and look for signs of God. Often when we watch a good movie, the story stays with us for the next few days as we mull it over in our minds, wondering whether there was a “meaning” or a “moral” to the story. We might have to reinterpret events early in the story based on things we discover only at the end. Sometimes the director of the movie refuses to be drawn on what he was trying to say in the film, preferring to leave people to ponder the story. Jesus seemed to take this approach with many of his parables, often leaving them unexplained. This leaves a challenge to Christians who write novels or film scripts. Can we learn the art of telling stories that point to God without having to explicitly mention him?

Esther and Parenting

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One of the things that struck me as I was studying Esther was Mordecai’s example as a father. In many ways, his family was unconventional. He appears to be a single dad (Esther 2:7). He is not Esther’s biological father – he has adopted her. I just want to highlight a few aspects of his parenting, in which I think he sets a helpful example.

First, he was serious about protecting his daughter. I think this is the major reason behind his instruction to her to keep quiet about her Jewish identity in Esther 2:10. He knew that she was going into a very dangerous situation and he had very little power to help her. But his way of protecting her was to give her advice that would protect her from harm. (Whether his advice was strictly speaking “right” is perhaps another issue). Fathers need to give their daughters good advice that will protect them from harmful situations.

Second, he knew what was happening in her life. It wasn’t easy for him, as he was denied personal contact with her. But he took the time and effort to keep in touch, and was able to get messages to her (e.g. Esther 2:22). Parents need to take the time and effort to find out what is happening in their children’s lives in order to be able to help and support them in an appropriate way.

Every day Mordecai would take a walk near the courtyard of the harem to find out about Esther and what was happening to her. (Esther 2:11)

Third, he was loving enough to earn her respect and obedience. Esther had the chance to cut ties with Mordecai and escape his authority over her. She had effectively grown up and left home. Yet she continues to submit to his authority and obey him (see Esther 2:20). Clearly she had come to respect his wisdom and knew that he loved her. This made it possible for her to continue to obey even though she didn’t have to. Obviously, there is no magic formula that will stop a child rebelling once they get some freedom (e.g. going off to university), but we should strive to be the sort of parents who earn the respect of our children.

But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up. (Esther 2:20)

Fourth, he allowed her to grow up. It is interesting to see how Esther and Mordecai’s relationship changes throughout the book (which takes place over a period of about 10 years). In Esther 4:17 we see Mordecai taking orders from Esther. He does not presume that because he is her father he can control her life. He continues to give his advice, sometimes quite strongly, but by the end of the book, we see them working together in equal partnership (Esther 9:29). Parents need to understand that as their children grow up the nature of their relationship changes. We move from simply giving commands to small children, to explaining our reasoning for those commands as our children grow older, to simply offering our advice once they become adults in their own right.

Esther and Dual-Identity

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I’m back from New Wine now and back to blogging through issues in Esther, ready for my first seminar which is on Wednesday. This one follows on from my post on compromise.

In Esther 2:7, we discover that Esther had two names. He real name was “Hadassah”, while the name she was known by to those outside her family (and fellow Jews?) was “Esther”. Karen Jobes remarks:

Esther is the only person in the story with two names. Leland Ryken interprets this as the author’s way of depicting Esther as a young woman trying to live in two worlds – the Jewish world in which she was raised and the opulent world of the Persian court into which she was thrust.

As Christian believers living in a society that is largely secular, we find ourselves in the same situation. We have to live in two worlds – sometimes living in the Christian world of our church family, but much of our time, out there in the “real world” where our beliefs are not necessarily respected or welcomed.

There is therefore a real temptation that we cope with this by taking on a dual identity. We can be one person at church meetings, and a completely different person as we mix at work or college with our non-Christian friends.

Lawrence Singlehurst uses the phrase “enthusiastic dualism” to describe the phenomenon of Christian young people living what are essentially two completely contradictory lives, and yet failing to recognise the disconnect as being a problem. They might as well have two names, a “Christian name” they are known by at church, and a pagan name for the rest of the time.

Did Esther do this? In Esther 2:10 we see that she kept quiet about her Jewish identity. “Hadassah” was a Jew, but “Esther” was, as far as anyone knew, just another Persian. This does not necessarily mean that she completely blended in and adopted the Persian value system, but the fact that no one discovered her Jewish identity until she revealed it suggests that the difference in lifestyle was not so remarkable as to have attracted much attention.

The question I want to raise then is, how important is it to be recognised as being a Christian by those outside the church we mix with? Must we find some way of announcing that we are believers as quickly as possible to every new person we meet? Is it sufficient to attempt to model a different value system, and hope that we provoke a response?

Francis of Assisi is often reported to have said “preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words”. But as Graham Tomlin helpfully puts it in his book “Provocative Church”, “without actions, no one listens, without words, no one understands”. Words are indeed necessary, but it is our actions that should prompt the opportunity for those words to be spoken, and lend integrity to them.

Perhaps the reason we struggle to be provocatively different in our places of work is that we have a weak “theology of everything” – we fail to see how the lordship of Christ makes a significant difference to the everyday activities we find ourselves doing. And so we default to blending in with our surroundings, unwittingly living a dual identity.

Book Review – Jesus Freaks

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I have to admit I felt a bit uneasy when I first saw this book several years ago. dc Talk were a hugely popular Christian band, and their “Jesus Freak” album is widely recognised as one of the all-time great CCM albums. So to see a book branded with the dc talk name and Jesus Freak design made the cynic in me wonder whether this was simply an attempt to sell merchandise on the back of the success of the album.

But when I opened it up and discovered it to be a book of stories about martyrs, my opinion changed. For martyrdom is a subject that, unlike dc Talk, is not “cool” in any way. This is in effect, a modern day “Foxe’s book of Martyrs”.

The book has been produced in association with “The Voice of the Martyrs”, an organisation started by Richard Wurmbrand, and contains stories and quotes spanning the centuries.

Each story is told in just a page or two. It includes stories from the Bible, from the Roman persecution of the church, through to the time of the Reformation, through to Communist persecution of believers, and contemporary persecution of Christians in Islamic countries. It is full of Scripture verses as well as quotes from persecuted Christians and extracts from the hymns that sustained them through their suffering.

Many of the stories are shocking and horrific, and yet the peace and joy so often displayed by the believers is a powerful testimony to the grace of God at work in their lives. Not all the stories are of actual martyrdom, several are of imprisonment and torture.

This will not make for comfortable reading. I wouldn’t even put it in the “inspiring” category. “Challenging” would perhaps be a better word. When I consider how much these believers were willing to sacrifice for their faith in Jesus, many of whom could simply have escaped pain by denying their beliefs, it puts to shame my timidity in sharing my own faith with others. These believers stand as a shining example of total devotion to Christ, and what it means to live with an eternal perspective.

There is a second volume available. Details of the books can be found at this website.

Book Review – Hebrews For Everyone (Tom Wright)

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Series Overview

The “For Everyone” series is Tom Wright’s project to write an accessible commentary / devotional on the entire New Testament. He brings his massive scholarly learning to the table, but these volumes are anything but dry academic tomes.

The unique features of the series include the author’s own translation, which is a fairly loose paraphrase in many places. There is no book “introduction”, so if authorship and dating are covered, it is only in passing as he goes through. And he always starts each section with a brief anecdote, from his seemingly endless supply of illustrations, almost all of which prove helpful in illuminating the text although there are rare occasions where one suspects he was a little short of ideas.

His quirky approach to capitalisation from his more academic tomes also shows up in these books (e.g. “holy spirit”), although “God” does get capitalised throughout. Finally, there is a glossary at the back in which he defines several key terms which are highlighted in bold throughout the book.

Hebrews Commentary

Hebrews rests heavily on Old Testament quotations and allusions, and Tom Wright does a good job of explaining first the sense of the OT passage before showing how it functions in the author of Hebrews’ argument.

A strong theme comes out of Jesus as the climax of biblical history. Wright explains that the law is a good thing, but a temporary, preparatory thing, and so why go back to it, now the real thing has arrived. Moses matters – but Jesus matters even more.

Much of his familiar work on our future hope can be detected in this commentary, as he reminds us that we are not expecting to go from a material present to a spiritual (i.e. non-material) future, but rather we look to a world in which evil has at last no place. He does see a reference to the second coming in Heb 9:28, although is somewhat equivocal about Heb 10:37 which he starts off calling a reference to the second coming, but ends up linking it to the temple destruction in AD70.

Whilst he does not engage in the “once-saved always saved” debate in the way that other evangelicals might, he does tip his hand towards a perseverance of the saints position, saying that Rom 5-8 shows you can’t become a Christian and lose it all. Along with most interpreters he sees a major purpose of the author to encourage his readers to keep persevering in the face of persecution.

Verdict

Tom Wright has the knack for bringing a fresh perspective to just about every topic he approaches and this is no exception. Preachers will find this especially useful as a source for illustrations and fresh ways of saying things. It shouldn’t be the only thing you read on Hebrews, but it nevertheless is well worth getting hold of, especially if, like me, you sometimes find Hebrews a bit heavy-going.

Book Review – Bible Study Methods (Andy Deane)

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This book review marks a first for this blog – I was actually sent a review copy. If anyone else wants to send me books to review, you are more than welcome! It took me a while to get through this one, not because it is long, but because I wanted to try out some of the Bible study methods for myself as I went through it.

Overview

Deane devotes the first six chapters to some basic principles on the why and how of Bible study. These are full of excellent advice, essentially giving a brief introduction to hermeneutics (without the long words).

The Methods

The bulk of the book is devoted to describing and illustrating forty methods of Bible study. The point is probably not to read and try them all, but rather to peruse them looking for one that will work for the type of Bible study you want to embark on. Each is described in a page or two, and then a concrete example is given of a study performed using the method.

The methods are organised into groups. The "basic methods" mainly revolve around giving you a set of questions to ask of the passage under study. They are often based on mnemonics. Sometimes the questions can feel contrived and may not be applicable to every text, but the benefit is learning what sort of questions you should be asking of the text.

The "major Bible study methods" give solid advice for tackling small or large portions of Scripture, as well as thematic studies on topics, character or words. A section on "creative Bible study methods" mixes things up a bit and gives some different approaches. I liked the idea of reading the same book (or 7 chapters of the same book) every day for 30 days.

The section dealing with "Studying Specific Passages" is especially valuable, since a failure to recognise the variety of genres of biblical literature can mean that we find it hard to "get anything out" of our personal Bible study. There is a final section of methods suitable for children, which are mainly simplified versions of some of the earlier ideas.

Summary

In many ways you could say that a lot of these forty methods are different mixes of the same basic ingredients. These include re-reading the passage several times or in different versions, paraphrasing the text, asking plenty of questions of the text, exploring cross-references and reading it in context. Adding these to your arsenal of Bible study techniques is probably more valuable than slavishly following any particular "method".

I can see this book as being a very helpful resource for Bible study group leaders, or those who desire to go deeper in their personal study of the Bible but find it a challenge. The book has a good website where you can find out more about the book and explore more resources.

Overall its value is in its very practical approach to Bible study. It is written at a slightly more entry level than a book like Fee & Stuart’s excellent How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth which is more focused on hermeneutics.