Question: Can anyone explain how Aaron, Moses’ brother, survived childhood when all Hebrew baby boys were to be killed by order of the government? How was Jochebed able to “cheat the system” and bring two boys into the world at such a time? Was Aaron also hidden for the first few months like his brother? But after a while he would have been obvious as part of the family. Was he perhaps much older than Moses and therefore well into childhood when the cruel edict came into force? Miriam was certainly older than Moses as she watched over the baby whilst in the bullrushes and cleverly made a way for Jochebed to continue nursing the baby Moses, but I can’t recall noticing whether Aaron was older than his brother or not?

Response: Exodus chapter 2 begins with the mention of Moses’ father and mother marrying (2:1) and then having a son (2:2), so it initially seems this child (Moses) must be their first-born. Only later do we learn that he had an older sister (2:4), who watched the whole basket-in-the-Nile episode. In 4:14, we find out they had a brother, when Moses is attempting to dodge God’s call to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. It is not until Exodus 7:17 that we learn Aaron is 3 years older than Moses. Hence, his birth preceeded the Egyptian genocide of the Hebrews in Exod. 1:22.

However, this also demonstrates that the writers of Biblical texts often include information only as and when it is relevant to their story. Moses is mentioned first because the story is essentially about him, and how God used him to free a people and create a nation He would call His own. Miriam is then mentioned for her role in preserving him as a child, and Aaron in his role as Moses’ mouthpiece.

Brian Howell

Question:
Deuteronomy 32 v51 tells us of God’s anger with Aaron and Moses’ reaction to the Israelites’ contention about the lack of water among other things (Numbers 20 v1-13). I can totally identify with their prostrating themselves before God in exhaustion at the people’s moaning. Why did God seem to be giving up on Moses for this one bit of lack of faith when he had been so good before? Moses has previously been teaching the Israelites about God’s unfailing love, patience and being slow to anger etc. It doesn’t seem to tie in.

Response: There were 2 occasions when the people moaned they hadn’t got water. The first time God told him to strike the rock (Exodus 17:1-7). He did exactly what God said and there was water. The second time God told him to speak to the rock. In fact Moses disobeyed and repeated what he’d done before and struck the rock and water gushed out (Numbers 20:12-13).

In the book of Numbers this comes quite soon after the people had refused to trust God and go into the promised land. They looked at the size of the people and the fortified cities and refused to go in. So God said the whole of that generation were not allowed to go into the Promised Land.

Essentially Moses and Aaron had done exactly the same – very publicly refused to trust God and speak to the rock, but struck the rock, doing what they’d done before which resulted in water. Consequently, they were not allowed to go into the Promised Land either. (An interesting footnote is that Moses later met Jesus there – Matthew 17:3).

The book of Hebrews gives us the application for us today (Hebrews 3:12-15).

Jill Cheesman

Ancient Practices – Cosmic Worship Chorus: Mark Bailey, 17th April 2011 PM

Ancient Practices – Cosmic Worship Chorus: Gareth Dickinson, 17th April 2011 AM

Question: God (in the Old Testament) ordered many genocides (eg. Numbers 31). I would have thought that it was almost universally accepted (particularly amongst Christians) that genocide is incompatible with human rights. God (Jesus) is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). So is God/Jesus against human rights (even post-Old Testament)? I accept that not all modern-day “human rights” are necessarily compatible with Christianity, but genocide (particularly with women and children deliberately targeted) seems totally opposed to what a God of love should stand for.

Response: God’s character is certainly unchanging.

He is the self confessed ‘I am’ (Exodus 3:14 – Old Testament). The original Hebrew verb used in this passage indicates that ‘I am’ is not bound by time – God is the great ‘I was, I am, I will be’: He is Holy and He is Good. But not only is his character unchanging, but His purposes (Hebrews 6:17). He created humans to worship Him, to manage and keep the earth, be fruitful and prosper within it: He was to be their God and they were to be his people – a prosperous, fulfilled, creative people who worshipped Him alone – who loved Him and served Him and were completely satisfied in Him. His purpose was that this prosperous, fulfilled, creative life was to be extended, through His people, to all people on the Earth (Genesis 12:2-3).

As God is Holy he cannot tolerate sin: sin and wickedness require appeasement through the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). Because of God’s goodness, the sins of the people of God (those who loved Him and served His purposes) could be appeased through the shedding of the blood of a sacrificial lamb once a year on the day of atonement. However, those who were the deliberate enemies of God, those who refused to accept His overtures of love, those who didn’t love Him and were against His purposes, they had their wickedness appeased for by the spilling of blood – their own. And, as in Deuteronomy 2, this could be the blood of entire communities spanning many generations.

However, with Jesus, things changed. Not God’s character, His holiness or His goodness, or His requirement for the spilling of blood to appease for wickedness, but the means by which that appeasement happens. Jesus shed His blood on the cross – an act that echoes throughout history, through all of space and time. It blew apart the temple – the place the animal sacrifices took place – as they were from that point onwards irrelevant. The sins of the world, past, present and future were placed on Him, and atoned for through Him. Gods unchanging holiness still demands that sins and wickedness are atoned for by the spilling of blood – only now in His goodness God looks on Jesus and His sacrifice and He is satisfied. No more spilling of blood is needed. And now His purposes are fulfilled through us, not by us destroying sinful and wicked people, but us by pointing them to Jesus.

So, was God a genocidal God in the Old Testament? Yes. The wickedness of people opposed to a jealous, holy, good God required the shedding of blood: their own.

Is God a genocidal God today? No. The wickedness of people opposed to God still requires the shedding of blood, but God is satisfied by looking at Jesus and the blood He shed on the cross.

Has God’s nature changed in the meantime? No. He is still holy and perfect and totally intolerant to sin and wickedness. But through His goodness, now the blood of Jesus stands in our defense and allows us to live.

Are there some grey areas? Yes. We could discuss whether the allied action against the Nazis in the second world war was justified, although in this case it is arguable that the ultimate purpose was to protect lives themselves at risk. I guess this requires more discussion.

Does God respect human rights? Well, probably yes and no. God certainly gives everyone choices, and because of Jesus He gives all of mankind time to turn to Him (e.g.Rev 2:21), and be drawn back into the prosperous, fulfilled, creative life He has planned all along. But whereas He gives us time, the choice is still ours and we still have to choose to receive the benefits of His goodness. But ultimately He is God, and we are not: one day all men (and women and children) will need to stand before Him and give account for those choices. Waving the human rights flag at that point may well prove to be futile. But for those who believe, the reward will be enjoying that prosperous, fulfilled, creative life forever.

Neil Bennetts

Ancient Practices – Sacred Places: Mark Bailey, 10th April 2011 AM

Thank you for all your prayers, we have now been open for 3 weeks and seen 7 families through our door. There is such a sense of God’s peace and presence in Trinity Fusion it’s incredible. People are being drawn to God’s light in that place.

We will be closed over the Easter break but please continue to pray for:

- More of Jesus’ presence and peace

- for God’s favour on our publicity that we have circulated that it will reach the right families and they will be drawn in

- for Ruth and Sally and their teams of volunteers

- for the smooth running of all the practical arrangements

- that everything that happens at Family Tree will be underpinned by the love of Jesus

Heading out to India today to work with a local community in the north of India , (near Darjeeling). She will be spending time encouraging the small community of believers in a predominantly Bhuddist and Hindu village, working with house groups and the local pastor and also spending time working with the local school. Please pray for:

-safety (they are due to have an election there, and there is often political unrest),

-anointing for speaking directly into situations she comes across and the times that she is asked to speak and that she would be a real encouragement to the believers there.

Pray for healing for eyestrain- ‘I’m unable to read or use a computer for hardly any length of time at all, and when I do I either get double vision or trigger off a headache. Also, since this new semester has started I’ve been more intentionally asking the Lord what he specifically wants me to do/sow into for him while I’m here in China. Options include helping out at a ‘boot camp’ where teenagers are sent if their parents feel their studies are not good enough. I’ve also heard of a coffee shop in X that runs an English corner, the owners are believers and are looking for someone to help them run it one evening a week, which sounds great! In the same area there is a ‘club’ that runs ‘book study’ in English, a bit like an Alpha type set up, with discussion groups etc. as well as needing English speakers to help facilitate the groups, they are looking for someone to give some basic worship training to the current team there – nothing technical thankfully (!), so I might be able to get involved with that. Essentially I need God’s leading, and the right doors to open/close, prayers much appreciated!

Essentially she’s had a bit of a hard week or two, she was (and still is, but much better) down with shingles, and also her internet is not working, and currently showing no signs of being fixed in the near future! So she’s sorry she can’t send an update, please pray for her too – for the things mentioned above, but also she has an important trip coming up in the next few weeks to the area that she may move to.