Bath Christadelphians
Despite all the tragedy brought about by mankind’s disobedience and heedlessness, God has been steadily working with those who want to be His children. Always He is seeking people who want to start again and live their lives in His way. Thus, to Noah God said:
I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation (Genesis 7:1).
To Abram (Abraham or Ibrahim), who was then living in Ur of the Chaldees, God said:
Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing (Genesis12:1–3).
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul explained that this promise is part of the gospel of salvation:
The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed” (Galatians 3:8).
Father of the Faithful
The people we know as Jews, or Israelis, are descended from Abraham’s grandson Jacob. When the family had grown into many hundreds of thousands God said this to them: Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine (Exodus 19:5). The later books of the Bible show us that although most of these people chose to please themselves, there were many who chose to go God’s way. In the lives of all these people, God was working. The Bible shows Him as a God of action – not only a Being with high thoughts and moral principles but a God who reveals Himself in what He does. The Bible is filled with references to God’s activities –
✓ rescuing Israel from Egypt,
✓ leading them to the land promised to their father Abraham,
✓ bringing foreign armies against them when they went badly astray, then
✓ having mercy and restoring them when they repented and turned back to Him.
Psalms 103 through 107 are meditations on history – mainly Jewish history - from this point of view.
Still at Work
Students of Bible prophecy recognise that God still works in human affairs today. From 1948 onwards He has allowed the people of Israel to have their own state again, after they had been scattered for nearly 2,000 years. Here are a few examples where the Bible stated very plainly what God planned to do, many centuries before He did it. Please read them carefully and think about them. ‘I am with you,’ says the Lord, ‘to save you; though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, yet I will not make a complete end of you. But I will correct you in justice, and will not let you go altogether unpunished’ (Jeremiah 30:11). Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; the city shall be built upon its own mound, and the palace shall remain according to its own plan’ (Jeremiah 30:18, see also Ezekiel 36:24). “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near ... For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (Luke 21:20–24). While the return of the Jews to their former land is remarkable, there are many other evidences that God is still working in the world today. For example, Europe, after being torn apart by wars for centuries, has come together in the European Union − a kind of revival of the Roman Empire in a new form. Together with many other Christadelphians, I believe that this is fulfilling the prophecies in Revelation 17:12-14. These events are clear signs that, before long, Jesus will be here as King, to judge the world in righteousness. The nations are lining up for the great conflict called ‘Armageddon’, just as the Bible foretold.
God and Us
God is still working with individuals too, and He wants to work with you and me. Jesus once said: The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him (John 4:23). The Apostle Paul, speaking in Athens, explained that when God made the world and suited the various races of people to different climates, it was with this intention:... so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring’ (Acts 17:27–28).
This same Living God wants to guide our lives now, and grant us a place in His glorious Kingdom, to be established on earth when Jesus returns as King. He will not force us, for He gave us free will, remember. We have to invite Him into our lives. This is how Jesus beautifully expresses the opportunity that is ours: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20).
John Woodall
