God's Economy

A carton of my latest book has now just arrived in New Zealand. Readers living in New Zealand can purchase the book for $NZ12.00 including postage from Kingwatch Books. Go to the following link and choose the option for New Zealand customers.

Trade Wars

Donald Trump thinks like a businessman, when it comes to trade. One wins at the expense of another. This struggle between direct competitors is real. If another hotel chain lures away some regular patrons of Trump Hotel by undercutting the room rate, Trump Hotel loses. The other hotel chains win. If one building contractor undercuts another to get the contract to build Trump Towers, the former wins and the latter loses.

However, most trade does not work like that. Most other businesses are not direct competitors, but are suppliers and customers of each other. Trade between businesses that are suppliers and customers of each other benefit the entire community (while the few that are direct competitors win and lose against each other).

Donald Trump seems to take his win-lose business experience over into international trade. He assumes that if China has benefited, the US must have suffered. Consequently, he assumes that if he can make China lose, America will win again. This flawed thinking.

International trade is not a zero-sum game. All nations can benefit from an expansion of trade. When trade expands, a few suffer, but most people get richer. Expanded trade means bigger markets with more competition, with more specialisation, more choices, gains from scale, more innovation and more investment.

Businesses in different nations are good at doing different things. Nations have different resources, knowledge and skills. Trade between nations usually makes people better off.

It is true that the people of China who have moved from rural areas to work in manufacturing have benefited hugely from more open trade. However, many American businesses have made immense profits by getting their manufacturing done in China. People employed in dying American industries have suffered, but most Americans have benefited by being able to buy cheap consumer goods imported from China (phones and televisions) that they could not afford if they had to be manufactured in the United States.

Donald Trump assumes that America can win a trade war. Unfortunately, no nation wins a trade war. The problem is that all nations export and import. One nation’s imports are another nation’s imports. If a nation’s exports are reduced by trade sanctions, its capacity to import is goods and services is also constrained. This means that any change that limits a nation's exports also limits its ability to pay for the exports of other nations. Some smaller nations may be affected worse than others.

The American companies that are protected from competition by tariffs on imports will benefit. Those that have invested in manufacturing capacity overseas might lose. Many Americans will be worse off because they have to buy more than they consume.

Donald Trump believes that the US can win a trade war. That is mistaken. Everyone nation loses in a trade war. The best that Trump can hope for is to suffer less than other nations. Given that the US is a large market and depends on exports less than most nations, that could be the result.

But the fly in the ointment is that the US is running a massive budget deficit. In the past,, it has been able to fund this deficit by borrowing (selling treasury bills) from trading nations that needed US dollars for reserves. Most this funding from nations that Trump is fighting the trade war against. If a trade war goes too far, this source of cheap funding might disappear, with serious consequences. The US might lose more in a trade war than it expects./p>

The leaders of the EU, US, China and Canada are incredibly stubborn. I do not see any of them backing down. They are more likely to up the ante and get into a tit for tat struggle by the raising tariffs and imposing financial penalties. Each one hoping that one more hit will win if for them. This is what I call a trade war./p>

In a world that has not recovered from the GFC, but just papered over the cracks, that would be high risk. The US would be hurt the least, but it would be painful for the world.

The Big Picture - My Books

My book called God’s Economy is the last in a series of five books that all fit together to tell God’s plan for his people and his earth.

Being Church Where We Live explains how a group of people who have chosen to follow Jesus can support each other in a neighbourhood church by giving and sharing. By living close together, they will establish a place where the authority of Jesus is acknowledged and the spiritual powers of evil are squeezed out.

Each neighbourhood church will be led by a team of elders with complementary and balanced giftings: one will be prophetic, at least one will be an evangelist and several will have a shepherd gifting. They will be bound together by love and submitted to each other for spiritual protection. They will watch over those who have chosen to follow Jesus.

Neighbourhood churches grow and multiply by sending apostles into a new neighbourhood to establish a new community. These communities of love are the essential foundation that makes possible everything described in subsequent books.

Kingdom Authority describes God’s plan for getting back the authority lost to the spiritual powers of evil and establishing his Kingdom on earth. Human politics are an obstacle to the Kingdom of God because they use Imposed Authority which empowers the powers of evil. Government-spirits have leveraged their feeble power by controlling political and military authorities. In contrast, God refuses to impose his authority on earth using force and coercion. He rejects all forms of political and military power. Instead, he calls people to serve him and freely submit to his will because they love Jesus. This is Free Authority.

Times and Seasons describes how human governments seize more and more power to deal with the economic and social crises that their mistakes have created. They will collapse under the weight of their pride and hubris, which will provide an opportunity for God’s people who are prepared. During a season of distress, they will work with the Holy Spirit to proclaim the gospel and bring in the Kingdom of God.

Government of God explains the perfect system of government that God gave through Moses when he was leading the children of Israel into the promised land. This alternative system of justice, welfare and defence relies on Free Authority. It does not need the coercion and force of Imposed Authority. The book describes how God’s people can prepare for the collapse of
human government by applying these principles within Kingdom Communities.

A neighbourhood church becomes a Kingdom Community by providing everyone living in their neighbourhood with the services that governments promise, but fail to deliver. They will provide social support, justice and protection for everyone in their neighbourhood, regardless of whether they have chosen to follow Jesus. When people submit to the wisdom of the elders of a Kingdom Community to obtain these benefits, they are part of the Kingdom of God even though they have not chosen to follow Jesus.

The Kingdom of God is the goal of everything, but there are no kingdoms left on earth, so the word “kingdom” is not very helpful to modern people. The best way to understand the nature of a kingdom is to think of it as a “government”, so I often refer to it as the “Government of God” to make its role and nature clear. This explains the title of this book.

God’s Economy is the final book in this series. Everything on earth belongs to God, so all our economic activity is part of his economy, whether we acknowledge him or not. This book describes the Instructions for Economic Life that God gave through Moses. Jesus confirmed this guidance and adapted it for people who are loving one another in a Kingdom Community.

All economic and business activity is part of God’s Economy. Applying the Instructions for Economic Life will completely transform our economic behaviour and business activity.

Good Question

I grew up on a farm, so I left school early to work in farming. After a couple of years, I realised that I did not have the strength and stamina that farming needs, so I decided to go to university. While working with sheep and driving the tractor, I had plenty of time to think about the poverty and suffering that were rampant throughout the world. The problems seemed to be economic and political, so I enrolled to study economics and politics.

After four years of study, I realised that I was digging a dry well. The assumptions that economists have to make to ensure their models work are so unrealistic that their theories are irrelevant to the real world. It seemed that during the first three years of economics, they told you all the solutions, but in the fourth year, they explained why they would not work. (I noted that my fellow students who went into politics, often only did the three-year course, so they went out boldly assuming they had effective policies).

While growing up, our family had gone to church every Sunday, but for me, it was just a habit. When I reached university and encountered modern philosophy, I gave up my religious habit. However, just when I became disillusioned with economics, I heard the gospel of Jesus clearly for the first time. I surrendered to him and committed to living by his word and Spirit.

A few months later, I had an exam for a post-graduate course on comparative economics. The lecturer was a staunch Marxist. Full of my new-found faith, I wrote in my paper that Marx has no solution to human problems and that Jesus is the answer. I gave a similar response in a paper on macroeconomics.

Surprisingly, I passed the course with first class honours. However, at the beginning of the following year, one of my professors asked to meet with me. He disclosed that he was an atheist, but acknowledged that my faith seemed to be genuine. He told me that it was not enough to say that Jesus is the answer. I needed to explain how he could be a solution to the problems that concerned me. He concluded with a telling question: “What would the economy and society look like if everyone was a Christian”.

I could not answer his question, but I knew that I had to find the answer to it. I did not know enough about God, or his solutions to economic problems, but I made it my goal to find out.

I went to seminary for three years and studied theology and New Testament Greek. Later I studied Hebrew for two years to get a better understanding of the Old Testament. While employed as an economist, I read every book and article that I could find that is relevant to economics and the gospel. Forty years later I believe I am ready to provide an answer.

My new book God's Economy describes the changes to economic activity that will occur as the Government of God comes to fullness. It seeks to answer the following question: “What would an economy look like if most people chose to follow Jesus and the Holy Spirit was able to establish the Government of God?”. This is the question my economics teacher asked me back in 1975.

God's Economy

My latest book God’s Economy is now available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle versions. (A paperback version will be available for sale to NZ readers later in the month.)

I have attempted to write a book on economics that ordinary people can understand. Anyone who thinks about economic issues will gain useful and challenging insights for living out their daily life in obedience to Jesus.

The book also provides wisdom for God’s people who want to be prepared for the collapse of the global economy, should that occur.

At the same time, I have written about the issues that concern economists. The book deals with poverty, debt, trade, economic development, money, banking. By drawing on the wisdom of God, I have some fresh insights on these issues.

And of course, Gods Economy all about the Kingdom of God.

Outside the City

Jesus prophesied that he would be handed over the Gentiles and killed (Luke 18:32). If he had to die to satisfy God’s anger, he would have been arrested and killed by the priests on the altar in the temple in Jerusalem. That did not happen, because God did not need to be appeased.

Jesus was handed over to the Gentiles and killed outside Jerusalem, where the spiritual powers of evil were in control, because they were the ones that demanded his death. They needed to be propitiated, because humans had given them authority on earth and they demanded death and blood to be satisfied.

Salvation in Jesus

In Romans 3:24-25, Paul summarises the achievements of Jesus’ death on the cross. There four main points.

• Declaring those who trust in him to be righteous. This is a gift.
• Redemption that is in Jesus the anointed (setting us free from the bondage of the spiritual powers of evil).
• God set forth Jesus as a propitiation (not for himself, but for the spiritual powers of evil who demanded death and blood for sin).
• In forbearance, God passed over sins previously committed (passed over, not punished).

God did these things to demonstrate his righteousness. He was generous and forgiving.

In contrast, the powers of evil were cruel and unforgiving.

God's Economy

My latest book is nearly complete. I have some final corrections to make and it will be ready for publication.

Sacrifice (9) Moses and David

Moses and David were able to go close to the covenant box and hear God speak.

The Lord would speak to Moses face to face as to a friend.

The LORD would speak with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend (Ex 33:11).

This happened before any sacrifices had been offered.

David was able to draw near to the covenant box once it had been placed in a tent in Jerusalem (Ps 84:1; Ps 15:1).

Let us go into His tabernacle;
Let us worship at His footstool.
Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place,
You and the box of your strength (Ps 132:7-8).

David was able to be close to the covenant box, even though no sacrifices had been offered. How was this possible.

David answers this question in a couple of his Psalms. He explained that God did not really need the sacrifices.

You do not delight in sacrifice and offering;
you open my ears to listen.
You do not ask for a whole burnt offering or a sin offering…
I delight to do your will, my God,
and your law is within my heart (Ps 40:6-8).

God does not delight in sacrifices. He looks for the person who delights to do his will.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise (Ps 51:17).

A broken and contrite heart is more pleasing to God than sacrifices.

Moses had a broken spirit. He had grown up in the palace of Pharaoh and was educated to be a leader. His mother and sister had taught him that he was put in a privileged place so he could rescue his people. His dreams collapsed when he killed a man, and the people threatened to report him. He fled to another land and spent forty years watching the sheep of his father-in-law. Moses thought he was someone special, but his spirit was broken as his talents were wasted on ungrateful sheep. When God came to the burning bush, Moses was able to draw near, because the had a humble and contrite heart. He was not harmed in the presence of God.

This continued in the wilderness. Moses was able to continue meeting with God in the tabernacle of meeting.

As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses (Ex 33:9).

This was possible because Moses remained humble.

Moses was a very humble man, more so than anyone on the face of the earth (Num 12:3).

A humble heart does not need sacrifice.

As a young man, David had an amazing trust in God. He had been put down by the harsh treatment of his older brothers. He became overconfident when bringing the covenant box to Jerusalem and did not follow God’s instruction for moving it (1 Chron 15:13). As a consequence, Uzzah was killed by Wrath. A man died, but David humbled himself and got an answer from God. He took responsibility and admitted that he had was the cause of the accident.

David made many mistakes during his life, but he knew that God was merciful. He relied on God’s mercy because he knew that he needed it.

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin (Ps 51:1-2).

God’s mercy can cleanse a humble heart.

Moses and David were men with humble and contrite hearts. Both were broken by their failings, but they had discovered the mercy of God. They received the forgiveness of God. Because they were forgiven, they also gained spiritual protection. The spirit of Wrath was not able to attack them. They were safe in the presence of God at the entrance of his Tabernacle because their spirits were broken and they had discovered God’s mercy. God’s mercy is the safest place in the world.

God does not need sacrifices. He is able to forgive those who are humble and contrite

• Sacrifices were needed to satisfy the demands of the Accuser and the other spiritual powers of evil. They demanded blood for sin, so the sacrifices silenced their accusations and condemnation.
• Sacrifices were necessary for human guilt. Guilt causes shame, which makes it is impossible for us to relate to god. We cannot hear God speak when we are weighed down with guilt and shame.

Moses and David had experienced God’s mercy.

• God’s mercy wiped away their guilt and shame. This allowed them to stand in his presence and hear him speak.
• God’s mercy silenced the accuser, so the spirit of Wrath could not attack them. Their spiritual protection was strong.

The rest of their people were not broken in the same way, so they did not understand the depth of God’s mercy. They continued to be afraid of him.

• The people had to rely on sacrifices to deal with their guilt. Even then, they were mostly afraid to go into his presence, and they rarely heard him speak.
• The people had to rely on sacrifices for spiritual protection.

This full series can be found at Kingdom Watcher.

Sacrifice (8) Dangerous Place

The spirit called Wrath made tabernacle of God a dangerous place to be.

The Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there will be no Wrath on the Israelite community. So the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the testimony (Num 1:53).

God dwelt in the Holy of Holies because the Covenant with Moses gave him the right to be there.

The spiritual powers of evil hated this intrusion because they thought the earth belonged to them. They didn’t want the children of Israel being close to God, so they gathered there and did their best to harm those who went near. These evil powers were led by a spirit called Wrath.
God had put spiritual protection in place for the Priests and Levites, by specific sacrifices and keeping them away from activities that could open them up to spiritual attack. They camped around the tabernacle, because they were the only ones who were safe in this dangerous place. They put up their standards to mark the safe area (Num 1:52).

The time when the tabernacle was being packed up was a dangerous time because the boundaries and safe places were less clear.

Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it. Anyone else who approaches it is put to death (Num 1:51).

It is usually assumed that God would put them to death, but that is wrong. Wrath and his evil angels would put people to death, if they got caught in the wrong place.

When Samuel was a boy, the Philistines captured the covenant box, but they experienced terrible sickness. People in the vicinity came out with awful tumours (1 Sam 5:1-10). They had been attacked by the Spirit of Wrath, so the sent the covenant box back to Israel. At Beth Shemesh some men looked into the covenant box, but many were killed.

Then he struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the covenant box of the Lord (1 Sam 6:19).

They thought it was God, but they were most likely struck down by the spirit called Wrath. This spirit hated people drawing near to God’s presence.

When David was taking the covenant box back to Jerusalem, he forgot to involve the Levites. Uzzah touched the covenant box, when the oxen stumbled, and he died beside it. Most English translations imply that God struck him down, but that is misleading. The Hebrew text says that Wrath of God struck him, because he was careless with the things of God. David had failed to follow the instructions that God had given Moses, so the powers of evil got at one of his men.

The spiritual powers of evil hated the covenant box, because it was the place where God met with his people. They wanted to make the people fear it and be unwilling to meet with God.

This raises an interesting question. If the covenant box was so dangerous, how were Moses and David able to draw near to it without being harmed. I will answer that question in my next post.

Sacrifice (7) Davids Tabernacle

During the time of Samuel, the Philistines conquered Israel and stole the covenant box and took it to Ekron, because they thought that it was a god. However, tumours broke out amongst them, so they wanted to get rid of it (1 Sam 5). They place it on a wagon and hitched up two cows that had just calved (1 Sam 6). The carried it to Beth Shemesh in Israel. Later it was taken Kiriath Jearim, a town in Judah where Caleb had settled. It remained there for twenty years (1 Sam 7:1-2).

When David became King, he brought the covenant box to Jerusalem and placed it in a tent there.

They brought the covenant box of God and placed it inside the tent David had pitched for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in God’s presence (1 Chron 16:1).

The tabernacle of the Lord remained at Gibeon, where it had been since the victories of Joshua.

David left Asaph and his associates before the covenant box of the LORD to minister there regularly, according to each day’s requirements...
David left Zadok the priest and his fellow priests before the tabernacle of the LORD at the high place in Gibeon (1 Chron 16:37-39).

God does not seem to have told David to take this action, but he split the tabernacle role. The covenant box was in Jerusalem. The Holy of Holies and the altars remained in Gibeon.

The reason for this is given in Chronicles. David had sinned by counting his “fighting men”. He was given a choice of judgment and had chosen a plague. When it struck, he realised that he deserved the judgment, not the people, and pleaded with God to stop it. David saw an angel with a sword standing over Jerusalem. When the angel sheathed his sword, David knew that God had heard his prayer.

The tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time on the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD (1 Chron 21:29-30).

It seems that David kept the tabernacle of the Lord in Gibeon, because he was afraid of the angel of judgment..

Interestingly, God continue to meet with people in the Tent of the Meeting at Gibeon.

Now David had brought up the covenant box of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. But the bronze altar that Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was in Gibeon in front of the tabernacle of the LORD; so Solomon and the assembly inquired of him there. Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the LORD in the tent of meeting and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it. That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you (2 Chron 1:4-7).

The bronze altar was still at Gibeon. Solomon went there when he became king and God spoke to him about his role. Solomon chose the gift of wisdom. It seems that God still wanted to meet with people in the Tent of the Meeting.

I wonder if David got it wrong. He had a marvellous relationship with God and loved to worship, but towards the end of his life, things turned sour. God never told him to build a temple, because he was happy living in a tent, but David decided to do it anyway. The temple was built in a way that supported worship and the offering of sacrifices. It was not specifically designed to make it easy to meet with God and hear him speak.

Before:

the tabernacle of Moses was designed for meeting with God. Offering sacrifices was a secondary purpose.

After:

The Jerusalem temple was designed for offering sacrifices. Meeting with God became less practical.

Sacrifice (6) Tent of Meeting

After God had given Moses the law, he told him how to set up the tabernacle that he required (Ex 25-30). While the tabernacle and the furniture were being made, Moses set up a tent outside the camp.

Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “Tent of Meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp (Ex 33:7).

This tent was outside the camp, because the people could not cope with God’s presence amongst them.

When Moses went into the tent, the cloud came down and stayed outside the entrance to the tent.

As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses (Ex 33:9).

The Lord would speak to Moses face to face as to a friend.

The LORD would speak with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend (Ex 33:11).

No sacrifices had been offered yet, but Moses had escaped from the guilt that prevents people from hearing God, through his faith in him.

God was happy to come to Moses and speak with him, even though no sacrifice had been made for sin. God was able to receive him, because he trusted him. This is grace.

Once the tabernacle had been established and the sacrifices became operational, the situation changed. God called it the Tent of Meeting.

The LORD spoke to Moses: You are to set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting” (Ex 40:1).

This is important. We think of the Tabernacle as a place where humans offered sacrifices to appease God. That is wrong. It was a Tent of Meeting where God met with his people.

When the Tabernacle was completed, the glory of God filled the Tent so strongly that Moses could not enter.

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle (Ex 40:34-35).

God still met with Moses, and Moses still heard God speak, so I presume that he waited at the entrance to hear God speak.

Before:

Moses was in the tent and God stood at the entrance. The Tent of Meeting was Moses’ home.

After:

God was in the tent and Moses stood at the entrance. The Tent of Meeting was God’s home.

The difference was that God had made his home among his people. He continued to speak to Moses face to face, as he had done before the Tabernacle was established (Num 12:8).

The Tent of the Meeting was not set up to appease God. It was a place where God made his home, so he could be with his people.

Sacrifice (5) Trick

One of the worst tricks of the enemy is to make people believe that God hates them and is out to get them. The spiritual powers of evil stir up guilt, because they can use it to make us afraid of God. They prefer that people run away from God, because that gives them more control on earth. The truth is that God loves all people on earth and wants to be friends with them. He is always seeking out those who have run away from him.

The Jews had misunderstood God completely. They thought that God hated sinners, that he could not come and meet with people until they kept all the rules. They were totally confused when Jesus went and sat amongst known sinners. They saw it as proof that he was not from God.

But they had got God wrong. Jesus came to correct their misunderstanding. Jesus demonstrated that God loves the world, that he sent his son to sit among sinners and speak to them. To help us understand God’s attitude to the people he had created, Jesus told the parable of the lost coins.

What woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the silver coin I lost!’ I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:8-10).

This parable is not about Jesus. It’s purpose is to help people understand God. He is always seeking out those who have hidden away from him because they are guilty. God is delighted when people have their guilt washed away by Jesus death on the cross and are able to be friends with him again.

God is not the problem. The problem has always been with us. Human guilt keeps us from God. We always flee from his presence. He is gracious and has always been reaching out to us. We cannot see his love until we understand that Jesus had dealt with our guilt.

Sacrifice (4) Jesus and the Spirit

Jesus was God’s ultimate plan for restoring his work on earth. Jesus offered himself as a perfect sacrifice that cleansed our consciences from sin.

When this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

The Holy Spirit also testifies… I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds (Heb 10:12-16).

Jesus offered a perfect sacrifice. It offered a complete cleansing from sin, inside and out, for past, present and future sins. This means that those who are united with him by faith are holy and free from guilt. Because we are holy, we can accept the Holy Spirit living within us. Jesus perfect sacrifice means that nothing can force the Holy Spirit out, provide we remain united with Jesus.

Jesus perfect sacrifice sets those who trust them free from guilt. This restores their ability to communicate with God. But Jesus does more. He sent the Holy Spirit to live within all those who trust him. This is better than the garden of Eden. We don’t just have God wandering among us. We have his Spirit living, speaking and listening within us.

With guilt gone, our ability to relate to God is restored. The Holy Spirit can full our lives and communicate to us. He can empower us to go out and restore his authority over the earth and establish his Kingdom.

Sacrifice (3) External Cleansing

The tabernacle sacrifices covered the guilt of the people sufficiently for them to cope with God living in their midst without fear of being destroyed by his holiness. Of course, these sacrifices were only a partial solution.

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins (Heb 10:1-3).

Unfortunately, the regular sacrifices also reminded them of their sin, which increased their guilt. The guilt problem needed a deeper solution.

The tabernacle was real, but it foreshadowed the place in the heavenly realms where Jesus sat down at the right hand of God having made the perfect sacrifice. However, the tabernacle sacrifices only provided an external cleansing, which was enough to allow the people to draw closer to God.

The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God (Heb 9:13-14).

The blood of animals provided and external cleanliness (cleanliness of the flesh). They still needed to be cleansed inside (a cleansing of the spirit). Only Jesus could do that.

Sacrifice (2) Tabernacle

The first big step in God’s plan to restore the earth was calling the descendants of Abraham and Jacob into the promised land. He wanted to establish a place on earth where he had authority to speak and act. He rescued the Israelites from Egypt and led him through the desert to Mount Sinai. God wanted to meet with his people on the mountain.

The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking” (Ex 19:9).

God still loved his people and had rescued them. He still wanted to share with them, but guilty people could not bear to be close to him. The elders came and spoke to Moses.

Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them. But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer. Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then tell us whatever the LORD our God tells you. We will listen and obey (Deut 5:24-27).

The people heard God speak, but they were scared. They asked Moses to represent them before God and listen to what he is saying. Just like in the garden, God wanted to speak to his people, but they were scared and hid from him. Guilt made it impossible for them to be close to God.

God told Moses how to build the Tabernacle and establish a pattern of sacrifices. God came and dwelt in the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle in the midst of the people. Most of the people were still scared of him, but Moses was able to talk to him and hear his responses. God was able to give Moses the wisdom needed for the people to live in peace in the land.

The tabernacle sacrifices dealt with the guilt problem sufficiently for the people to be able to cope with God dwelling in their midst of them. Although most only drew near to God, when they were bringing a sacrifice (Lev 1:3). Most still relied on Moses to speak with God on their behalf.

The spiritual powers of evil hated the tabernacle because they did not want God living in the midst of his people. They did not want the people to speak with God. The spiritual powers of evil knew that if God was present, they would lose out. They hung around the tabernacle in an attempt to destroy anyone who came near to God. They did not want God getting near to his people.

The primary purpose of the offerings on the bronze altar outside the tabernacle was to appease the spiritual powers of evil, who demanded blood for every sin. The sacrifices were offered to keep them at bay. They were not entirely happy, but they had no choice but to accept them, because God said they must be satisfied with the blood of animals, because the animals belonged to humans.

God dwelt in the Holy of Holies. He did not demand blood. The only blood in the Holy of Holies was a little was dabbed on the horns of the altar, once a year on the day of Atonement (Exodus 30:1-10). God is easy to please and a pleasant aroma was all he required.

The tabernacle was not the centre of ceremonial religion, or a type to teach us mysteries. It was the site of an intense spiritual battle, in which God won and enforced a strategic victory that foreshadowed a much greater victory of Jesus cross and resurrection.

Sacrifice (1) Guilt

The fall created a third serious problem for humans. God was present in the Garden of Eden. Humans could see the spiritual as well as the physical world. They could receive the wisdom of God by listening to the Holy Spirit speaking. Life on earth was amazing.

When humans rejected God’s wisdom and aligned themselves with the deceiver, they created a huge problem. God is holy, so their guilt caused them to withdraw from his presence. They still needed his wisdom, but choosing the wrong side of the battle created a barrier between them and their creator. They could not come near God, because their sinfulness made them scared that his holiness would overwhelm and destroy them.

God was not the problem. The problem was with humans. We were created with a capacity to communicate with God. We could see spiritually and hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. Once sin corrupted that ability, humans cannot bear to be near to God. Guilt shuts down our ability to communicate with him.

When the humans heard God coming into the garden they ran away and hid.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden (Gen 3:8).

They could not bear to be close God any more. God knew that they had obeyed the serpent, but he still came to spend time with them. He was still happy to relate to them, but they could not. Their guilt meant that they could not bear to be close to God.

God did not have a problem. He was happy to communicate with them.

But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you? (Gen 3:9).

There is no anger in this question. God was looking for his friends to share with them. He realised they were lost and wanted to find them.

Later, he explained the curse they had placed themselves under by submitting the spiritual powers of evil (Gen 3:14-19). Even then, there is no anger, only sadness at what his friends had lost and the pain they would experience. God knew better than they did what life would be like for his people once they rejected him.

Guilt separated humans from the God who had created them. This was a huge problem. Humans needed God’s wisdom to care for the world. They had submitted to the spiritual powers of evil, so they needed him to rescue them, but they could not come close to him. God had given them authority over the earth, so he could not intervene without their permission. But because of their guilt, they could not bear to let God into the earth. Guilt left humans isolated from God, when they needed him the most. Worse still it shut God out of his creation, at the moment when the powers of evil had gained control.

Once God was shut of his creation by the ugliness of human sin, the powers of evil went to work and expanded their evil empire. For more than a millennium, they wreaked havoc on earth, as humans rejected God’s call to return to him.

Political Hysteria

I am disturbed by the hysteria in the news media and political circles about the Trump-Putin summit in Helskinki.

I am old enough to remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. I had just started high school. There was a heightened awareness of the dangers of nuclear war back then (families in the US were digging fallout shelters). I can still remember the fear that we felt, even far away in New Zealand.

The two nuclear powers, the United States and the Soviet Union were attempting to stare each other down, with the leader of each side threatening to launch their nuclear arsenal, if the other did not back down. No one knew who would blink and pull the trigger first. Confidential files that have been made public in the last few years show that the world was much closer to conflagration than we even realised at the time.

Fortunately, the two leaders, Nikita Khrushchev and John Kennedy were able to roll back the tension, and arrive at a solution, despite their political and military advisors wanting to amp the tension up. One reason they were able to do this was that they had met at a summit a year earlier in Vienna. I presume that they did not like each other, and they did not agree on much, but they did establish a working relationship that enabled them to resolve a crisis when this became necessary.

Therefore, I am amazed at the hysterical reaction of the western media and political leaders to the Putin-Trump summit in Helsinki. I think it is good that leaders of nuclear powers sit down and talk with each other. They don’t have to like each other, or trust each other, but dealing with a crisis can be much easier if they have got to know each other a bit.

The greatest threat to the world is still nuclear annihilation. We seem to have got used to it, but the risk has not gone away. Big wars start when the news media get hysterical and stir up political and military leaders. Rash actions are more likely when tension is high. The anti-Russian frenzy of the news media is creating hatred and anger that increases the risk that conflict between nuclear powers could get out of control. This is far more dangerous than any chat between two not-very-nice men in Helsinki.

Salvation (4) Two Holds

Following the fall, humans had two big problems, because the spiritual powers of evil had two holds over us.

• They had taken humans captive and demanded a ransom. They had gained control and demanded a ransom before setting them free.

• They also use the law to demand the death penalty for anyone who sins.

Both problems had to be solved.

• Dealing with the accusations of the accuser was not enough. If the ransom was not paid they could keep them captive.

• Likewise, paying the ransom was not enough on its own, because they could still prosecute them and demand the death penalty.

Jesus dealt with both problems.

• The blood he shed on the cross satisfied the demands of justice. The accuser prosecuting the case against humans lost his power, because the penalty that he demanded was already paid by Jesus. Those who trusted in Jesus were declared innocent.

• Jesus death was the ransom that the spiritual powers of evil demanded. The death of the son of God was sufficient price earn the freedom of all humans. This was necessary, even once sin had been forgiven.

This full series can be found at Kingdom Watcher.

Salvation (3) Economic/Business

When humans sinned, they withdrew their submission to God’s authority and submitted to the authority of the tempter. By obeying his suggestion, they give him authority over their lives. They lost God’s protection and unwittingly placed themselves under the accuser’s authority.

The devil is a cheat, and once he gained a sliver of authority he used it to take humans captive. He refused to set humans free and demanded a ransom they could not afford before setting them free. The ransom that he demanded was blood.

Even when the prosecutor lost his court case because the judge declares the people accused to be righteous through faith in Jesus, the devil refuses to set them free. He does not care whether they are guilty or righteous, because he continues to keep them captive regardless. Even after they were declared righteous in God’s court, the spiritual powers of evil had a hold over humans. They had taken them captive and demanded a ransom before setting them free.

Jesus death paid the ransom that the spiritual powers of evil demanded (1 Tim 2:6). He went into Hades and set the captured free. He did not use physical or spiritual force. He simply went to the devil and said that the ransom was paid. The life of the Son of God was so valuable that it paid the price for all humans. This left the spiritual powers of evil powerless. They had set their price so high, they thought that it could not be paid, but Jesus paid it. They had to set the captives free, because their demands had been met.