Credo 4
` And so Moses finished the work . . . '
Torah, the Five Books of the Law, has long been a Treasure Trove of desperate preachers, dry after long years of searching for yet another word to bring to a well-fed and comfortable congregation. We can do no better for an introduction to this Credo than to also turn to the well-tried and trusted words which close the Book of Exodus - although in doing so we hasten to say that we are not using these words in desperation, neither are we speaking to a well-fed and comfortable congregation. Although it can be said that `the Church in the West' is indeed well-fed, its comfort zone is being shaken by the work of very vocal pressure groups, causing politicians and bureaucrats of all colours to chip away at what is called the county's `Christian-Judaeo heritage'.

It is not our intention to enter into that religious skirmish, for the real battle is not over whether the people can continue to enjoy Christianized pagan festivities, neither is it over the earnest desires of national `Christian leaders' (or, for that matter, local church members) to maintain the status quo of a well-fed and comfortable life which is deeply assimilated into a `Greco-Judaeo heritage'. The real battle is seen in the title of this Credo, `And so Moses finished the work' - which leads to the question: What is the work that Moses finished, and how far have the Covenanted people of God slipped away from that Finished Work and into the well-fed and comfortable life of the surrounding nations?

It has been set out in previous Credos and Bible studies that there is a `parallel walk' between the two Covenanted peoples of God - that is, Israel and the Church - and so it need not be repeated in this Credo, but what we see happening in the physical nation of Israel will be seen in the actions of the `nation' of the Church. Israel, planted as it is in the centre of the Middle East cauldron of nations, is causing trouble in the `comfort zone' of the Western nations (which `trouble' is actually being planted by others for their own national ends)! Since 1948 Israel's national existence has been secured by seeking the patronage of powerful nations, and Egypt, France and Russia have all in the past offered that security. More recently America has been its covering patron - and who would dare to confront that nation - but latterly the `Middle East Question' (Israel itself) has turned into the `grit in the eye' of the Middle East! But if, it is said, Israel can be dealt with the problem will disappear, and so we have had the Oslo Accord and the Road Map for Peace. Each one has sought to diminish the size and the authority of Israel where leaders, eager to maintain the status quo and survive as a nation, enter into that deadly game of appeasement.

What of the Church in its parallel walk? Planted into the cauldron of the nations of the world - particularly in the eastern nations - it has long been the grit in the eye of most countries where everything possible has been done to remove it, and in these countries appeasement, in its many forms, has been the only way for the Church's security. (Here we are not in any way denigrating the bravery of the many individual believers who have stood firm even to the point of martyrdom rather than compromise the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, which can be read about in news reports from such ministries as Open Doors and the Barnabas Fund.) Now in the western nations attention has been turned to the last of the `problem people' and so we hear media reports of the problems experienced by Student Christian Unions and attacks on Christianized Festivals and Christian Trusts - some of whom are being threatened with the removal of their Charity status, which would lead to the loss of tax rebates. If there is indeed a Scriptural parallel walk between Israel and the Church we shall see compromise and appeasement appearing in the western arm of the Church as it seeks to survive by its own strength in its present form.

Of course it can be said that such `attacks' upon western Church life are but a passing phase, whipped up by the media in its constant search to extend its `market range' in order to survive in a highly competitive world. But if we would care to consider the matter with a wider vision we would find that throughout history the persecution of the Jews - now seen in the nation of Israel and the true Church - has been worldwide and outworked over long centuries past and certainly not limited to the nations outside the continent of Europe which, according to received wisdom, enjoys a Christian-Judaeo heritage. The continual pogroms against Jewry are well documented, whose communities have constantly searched for powerful patrons, whether they be kings or princes, caliphs or sultans. But such patrons have been used to secure only the temporary survival of Jewish communities living in the nations of world during the Great Diaspora. The ruins of the `churches' recorded in the opening chapters of the Book of Revelation are evidence that the Church in the east suffered much persecution as the power and authority of their early patrons was deposed by others.

Within the western arm of the Church the powerful patronage of the Roman Emperor Constantine ushered in the first of the Protectors of Christianity - although to be more accurate it was the Emperor Theodosius the First who formally adopted Christianity as the official religion for his Empire, which caused persecution against the Christians to cease. As it is well known, in time this gave way to the rise of what is now known as the Roman Catholic Church under the authority of a Pontiff. As we have said on many occasions, there is a popular communal thought that `what is now has always been', but even a cursory check through western history reveals a constant pattern of wars and conflicts, at the centre of which were Popes with their dreams of universal power, and yet these were always limited and curtailed by powerful kings and princes and invading hordes of different cultures and religions. And so the warrior Popes of the time sought the patronage and protection of the dominant power of the day, usually with the offer of a legitimizing `seal of spiritual approval' for that dominant power.

Such was the fear of the unknown spiritual world of the cultures of those days, and we need not list the ongoing persecution of the true believing Church of that time. In this Credo we shall limit those conflicts to the collapse of the western arm of the Roman Empire and the rise of the power of Constantinople (the great schism between the Roman and Orthodox Churches, with each one seeking their own protectors and patrons) and the fall of Constantinople and the rise of Islam, which forced the Orthodox Church into further splits, with one arm reaching out to Kiev and the patronage of Russia and the other down into the remains of the Greek Empire. Neither do we need to record the scandalous actions of the western Popes of medieval times, for certainly in the minds of those of a conspiritorial nature the time of Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire have produced much speculation where even amongst mature Christians and certain `ministries' there is constant talk of a revival of the Holy Roman Empire. The actual time-span of this period was very short and the lasting impact upon the western Kingdoms and Principalities was very limited. However its short-lived legacy was enshrined in the title of `Christendom, the Kingdom of Christ' under the authority of a Pope, the Vicar of Christ, but also under the patronage of which ever secular power was dominant at the time.

The concept of a Universal Christendom was shattered by the Reformation, with the break-up of a very weakened Holy Roman Empire and the forging of independent kingly States, all of them establishing national churches so that their kingdoms could receive a legitimizing `spiritual confirmation' independent from Papal authority through Bishops anointed by the Pope thus ensuring `Apostolic Succession'! But with the dawning of the `Age of Reason' and the so-called Enlightenment those Kingly States eventually gave way to the Western Liberal Democracies who no longer needed the legitimizing authority of National or Universal Churches. And so is laid bare the hollowness of our `Christian-Judaeo heritage' and the concern of `Christianity' in the western nations, for it has lost, or is losing, the patronage and protection of the State and has become just one of the many clamouring voices which need to be led into the new State religion of `Tolerance' - the enforcement of which will increasingly become the legitimizing authority of the State system which is now emerging.

For the Church in the West to survive in the form in which it has enjoyed this protection it has to be led into the same situation that faces the nation of Israel. Both are faced with a choice: Is their protection to be found in the Patronage of God - that is, His Covenanted Promise to His people - or the protection and patronage of worldly States, which will increasingly exert their authority over all who seek State protection with the consequential control over their `spiritual' life? The Church in the East, along with the Jews who are still scattered in those nations, has long been faced with this dilemma: Acceptance of State patronage and protection or standing firm in their trust in God for His Protection. Both Covenanted people of God, scatterd Jewry and scattered churches, are being called by God back into the `land of their inheritance' in order that the Lord may complete His Finished Work. To answer the earlier question: Moses finished building the Tabernacle (and later, under Solomon, the Temple of the LORD was finished) `exactly like the pattern I will show you' and then `the cloud covered the tent: (Exodus 40:34-38)

" Then the Glory of the LORD 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 upon it, and the Glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle. In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tabernacle, they would set out, but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out - until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the LORD was over the Tabernacle by day, and the fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during their travels. "

In the Diaspora - and in the time left of it - the only Temple allowed by God is the Body His Son, the Church, ` built exactly like the pattern I will show you', and what we are seeing in `current events' is but the means through which He will bring to completion that building. In God's sight there is no Eastern or Western Church, no scattered Jewry - for all are being brought to the conclusion of His Finished Work - and then He will Tabernacle amongst His people and His Glory will be seen by all the surrounding nations. No amount of cries for the restoration of our Christian-Judaeo heritage in this nation . . no efforts to maintain the status quo for our protection . . will thwart that work, for that Work is Finished and will be seen in all it's Glory. But now it is time to move on into our Credo in order to understand further this unstoppable move of God in the Completion of His Finished Work.

Our thoughts turn to the Book of Isaiah, beloved by `saint and sinner' alike for the peerless prose within it. However we need to remember that Isaiah records one continuous `vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah'. To subject that vision to `pick and mix' readings, as so often happens, is to enjoy the prose but miss the Voice that speaks in it! In this Credo we are concerned with what is recorded in the closing chapters in order to understand what Isaiah saw in his vision. The opening verse of chapter 58 is an insertion into the narrative, showing a distinctive break in the vision, and it is from here that we too break into the flow of words: (Isaiah 58:1 KJV)

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet,
and show My people their transgression,
and the House of Jacob their sins. "
The English translations cannot do justice to the emotions recorded in those opening words `cry aloud', for in the original language a deep-seated cry from within is revealed, coming from an emotional understanding of what is being seen. It is a solemn, restrained cry full of reverential fear of the LORD as Isaiah sees the pain and hope, the certainty and trust that is needed in order to believe in what is being seen after all the sin and rebelliion that has occurred in the national life of the Kingdom of Judah. The setting for what follows is the last three of the Seven Levitical Feasts set out in the Books of Leviticus and Numbers - the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and (in the later chapters 60-61) the Feast of Tabernacles, with its final Sabbath and Jubilee Year. All of the Seven Levitical Feasts have been fulfilled in the Finished Work of Jesus, leaving only these last three to be fully manifested as we approach the end of this Dispensation, for all the final three Feasts are outworked in the final Seventh Month of the religious year of Israel, and although each one is unique and distinct all converge on the final Feast of Tabernacles.

In addition, clearly in these concluding chapters of Isaiah's vision what we see set out is to be understood as a Temple setting, and this can be seen to be so with the talk of fasts and sacrifices, Glory and Righteousness. So close is the calendar year of these last three Feasts that they practically merge into one. First, at the Feast of Trumpets there is a call to repentance, for in Talmudic teaching, at the first call by the blast on the Shofar Horn all Israel begins to pass under judgement. It is therefore a call to repentance because of that impending judgement, which leads on to the Final Ingathering for the nation, seen in the Final Feast of Tabernacles. With this in mind we can begin to understand the emotional cry of Isaiah at what he saw and what the LORD spoke through him:

"Cry aloud, do not hold back, raise your voice like a trumpet . . . "
Nowhere in those words is the shrill condemnatary cry of today's prophets - a heart-felt reverential call to repentance leading to the hope which all Israel had been waiting for over the long centuries. The Feast of Trumpets leads on into The Awesome days and into the Day of Atonement, which is the setting of chapters 58-59.

Those who read our Credos will be familiar with the sacrificial requirements of these Feasts, which are set out in detail in Leviticus 16 and Numbers 29, and as we are limited in space it is sufficient to say that the Israelites were called to a Sacred Assembly, a Special Sabbath, during which they were called to `afflict their souls' - a deep searching for sin which had kept them out of fellowship with God, and cleansing by the following Day of Atonement with the most perfect of sacricial offerings. It was to be a day of rest - no effort of themselves, no good works, no best endeavours, but simply the bringing of themselves in repentance and offerings, trusting in the Mercy and Justice of a Righteous God! Now, in reading through chapters 58 and 59 we can hear the reproof of the LORD and how He has seen their fasts and afflictions of the flesh rather than of the soul, and their sin in putting right relationships just for the day with little intention of continuing with them once the Feasts were over: (58:9-10)

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday. "
Such words, in their correct setting, cannot be used today to justify Fair Trade, Triad craft or Tear Fund and other such activities within the Church, nor to feed the hungry or clothe the naked. Those works, when undertaken, are the fruit of the Spirit growing from the Work of the Spirit within each believer. The `cry aloud' that Isaiah spoke is for the work of the Holy Spirit in `afflicting the soul' in true preparation for what is to follow in the closing time of this Dispensation. `Faith without works' - as James records - is not the setting seen in the closing chapters of Isaiah. It is the `works without faith' that causes the cry in these last Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement which leads to the glorious Feast of Tabernacles, which has within it the manifestation of the Final Sabbath and God's Final Jubilee Year when all things will be restored to the Rightful Owner. Then the Throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city and His servants will serve Him!

Who would hear the Voice of God speaking through Isaiah today, as He breaks into the `narrative' of our religious lives:

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet
and show My people their transgressions,
and the House of Jacob their sins . . . "
Are we, like the people of Isaiah's time, too busy with our Alpha Courses, with our Church programmes, with our protests against those who seek to disturb the slumber we enjoy in our Christian-Judaeo heritage? Or will we be finally led by the Holy Spirit into the `affliction of our souls' and into what the LORD requires of His people in these days?

In closing this Credo we would return to our opening words ` And so Moses finished the work'. That work concerned the building of the Tabernacle exactly according to the pattern given. It's purpose? `And I will dwell among them'! We know that Moses was obedient, for we read in the closing words of Exodus chapter 40 that the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting. We know that when later the Temple of the LORD was built (the Tabernacle was then left at Gibeon) the Glory of the LORD filled the Temple! Throughout the long years that followed, the people of Israel continued with their religious Festivals, heeding not the voice of the prophets God sent to guide His people back to their first calling. Many, many years on from when the vision was given to Isaiah with the command to `cry aloud, spare not' Ezekiel, in captivity in Babylon following the first of the onslaughts by the surrounding nations against God's people, saw what was to happen following the ignoring of the Voice of the LORD: (Ezekiel 10:4-18 in part)

" Then the Glory of the LORD rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the Temple . . . . . Then the Glory of the LORD departed from over the threshold of the Temple and stopped above the cherubim. "

The Temple, built exactly to the pattern given to David, was no longer worthy of the Glory of the LORD and so His Presence was withdrawn - and to this day Israel works out its salvation trusting in its own work of `the flesh without faith'. In our present days it now faces yet another word, spoken this time through the prophet Ezekiel: (20:33-35)

" `As surely as I live,' declares the Sovereign LORD, `I will rule over you with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered - with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. I will bring you into the desert of the nations and there, face to face, I will execute judgement upon you'. "

Can we hear the depth of the words spoken by Isaiah, `Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgressions, and the House of Jacob their sins'? Indeed a solemn reverential fear of the LORD as he sees the pain and hope, the certainty and trust that is needed in order to believe in what he has seen, and in closing we remember that Israel and the church are joined in a parallel journey to meet the LORD.

The LORD will have a people made exactly like the Pattern He has showed in His Son, the Messiah of Israel and Lord of the Church. His Work was Finished on the Cross, and what we see happening around us is but the fulfilment of that Work. May we too hear the trilling of the `Shofar Horn' calling us to that `affliction of our souls' in preparation for His Tabernacling amongst us!

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