Brexit – The Raynville Rambler

The Bible in a Year – 3 May

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

3 May. Isaiah chapter 18-22

These chapters continue the series of political oracles of previous ones, and as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, it really needs a proper commentary to understand them. But the gist of them is that Judah should not rely on any of these foreign nations, even Egypt, for protection against Assyria, for all of them would fall to Assyria in due course. Judah was better being independent.

In this ‘Brexit era’ in Britain it would be easy to see in this a message that we should be proud to be self-reliant (“strong and stable” in our Prime Minister’s words). But time and again God warns his people that self-reliance, even reliance on the gifts that God has given, are actually a recipe for disaster just as much as relying on others for help. The Lord alone is our refuge, strength rock and so on. If Britain has a prosperous future then, just as for Judah in Isaiah’s day, it will only be if we turn to God. That does not mean declaring ourselves a “Christian country” in some neo-Crusader sense and tearing down mosques. Rather it means being continuing to be open, tolerant, generous in foreign aid, welcoming of strangers (especially those in need such as refugees), and committed to trade justice rather than “free trade” or damaging trade barriers.

The last of these oracles in chapter 22 is directed at two particular government ministers – the commentary explains that these were real men. One of them was self-seeking and corrupt, and would be deposed and replaced by the other who was God-fearing and like a father to his people. Nevertheless he too would be brought down by the unrealistic expectations placed upon him. Neither should we expect too much from our own leaders at this politically difficult time. But as an election looms we should ask ourselves, “who would lead this country in the most unselfish, generous ways?”

The Bible in a Year – 13 March

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

13 March. Joshua chapters 9-11

These chapters tell in summary form what must have been a long campaign (the commentary I am following suggests seven years) of defeating the indigenous peoples of Canaan. The massive Israelite army swept across the terrified country, capturing one town after another, killing all their inhabitants, with only the ‘kings’ (tribal leaders) singled out as individuals, and either burning or looting the towns.

Such a campaign of terror is not unique in human history – think of the Mongolian hordes that swept across Asia, or the Vandals, Goths and Huns who terrorised Europe at various times and whose names live on with different and diluted meanings. Or of course Daesh/Islamic State who have captured several areas of Syria and Iraq in recent years and are only now being driven back, with heavy loss of civilian lives. What makes Joshua’s reign of terror different is that it was (according to the account we have received) carrying out the will of God. But isn’t that what Daesh say they are doing? Were Joshua and his army any better than them?

In one way, yes. They made a treaty with the Gibeonites or Hivites. That was not part of God’s plan, as the Hivites had been on the divine hit list. But unlike the other tribes whose ‘hearts were hardened’ to resist Joshua’s forces, they acknowledged the power of the God of Israel and responded to the threat by suing for peace. Admittedly it was done by deception, but from their point of view it was successful and they avoided destruction. Instead they were made to undertake forced labour as woodcutters and water carriers. Joshua, to his credit, refused to destroy them when he found out about the deception. A treaty made in God’s name was not to be broken, whatever happened. And so when the Hivites themselves came under threat, Joshua had to come to their aid.

Treaties are in the news at present. Most obviously here in Britain with the country about to unilaterally break the Treaty of Rome by leaving the EU. But also with NATO coming under strain, both internally as Turkey and the Netherlands are in a diplomatic row, and externally as Russia threatens member states in the Baltic region.

We don’t know from the perspective of 2017 how any of these situations will turn out. In 30 years time, say, Islamist terrorism and Russian aggression may be history, or they may have led to an irreversible attack on civilisation as we know it. Britain may have rejoined the EU or at least be in a good trading position with it, or we may be an island nation as insignificant and “out in the cold” (metaphorically if not literally) as Iceland. What we can say though, is that a nation that holds to values of fidelity, openness to strangers and being willing to live at peace with those who do us no harm, is closer to doing God’s will than one that destroys other cultures ‘in the name of God’.

The Bible in a Year – 16 February

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

16 February. Numbers chapters 11-14.

If these stories are taken to be in chronological order, then according to chapter 11, almost as soon as the tribes of Israel had started their march, some of them started complaining about a lack of decent food. God provided quails to provide meat for them (though that does make me ask, what about the meat of all the bulls and sheep and birds that they were sacrificing on the altar?). The story has many elements in common with that in Exodus 16 so it may be a re-telling with embellishments, but of course God may just have worked the same miracle twice. Either way though, what is interesting in this version, is that in between God’s promise of miraculous provision and its delivery is the coming of what later writers would call the Holy Spirit on the seventy elders who were to assist Moses, and they prophesied. This looks like a foretaste of the Day of Pentecost when the Spirit came on thousands of people after Jesus’ ascension. The lesson here appears that people have to be open to God working in their own lives, before he can make provision for others through them.

In chapter 13 the twelve “spies” were sent out. Forget James Bond, these men would be better termed “scouts”. Two of them – Caleb and Joshua – were destined for greatness, and Caleb was confident after their scouting mission that with God’s help the Canaanites, big men though they were, could be defeated and the bountiful country settled. But the other scouts did not share his courage and persuaded the majority of the people that it was better to continue living in the desert alone than risk being subjugated by other nations. Such decisions on the future of a people are never easy, and I imagine Moses must have felt much as Teresa May did after she took office as Prime Minister last year – disheartened that the majority of people had listened to misleading reports and voted against what she herself thought the better way. But both leaders realised that it would not be in their interests to force the people down a route they did not wish to go. I’m not going to push the comparison too far – the EU is not the Promised Land, Britain is no desert, and I’m not aware that God has cursed every Brexit voter to die before his plan can be accomplished. The point is just that sometimes leaders have to accept that Plan B is the only realistic option.