Redeeming a Nation (Timeless Teaching)

by Philip Quenby

  • Seeking the will of God: “[Joshua] asked him, ‘What message does my Lord have for his servant?’” (Joshua 5:14).

  • Heeding and acting on what is said: “The commander of the LORD’s army replied, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.’ And Joshua did so.” (Joshua 5:15).

  Joshua is then given instructions for the forthcoming campaign against Jericho: see Joshua 6:2-5. If we follow the same path we will be led in the same way.

  Often we bemoan the fact that we do not hear from God. We can hardly expect to do so if we flee from or resist his messengers, nor if we fail to approach him with reverence to ask his will. Neither can we complain if our inability to hear is a consequence of our failure to listen and give effect to what God tells us. We live in a land where the great majority have long been guilty of all these failings. We need to reposition ourselves so that we are once again able to take God’s side in the battles to come. We need first of all to start taking responsibility for ourselves and to stop acting like petulant children.

  Conclusion.

  The Year of Victories was an astonishing watershed in the history of this nation, and a turning point in the long struggles with France. At the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War, all dispassionate analysis would have concluded that the advantage in every theatre of conflict lay with France. For sure, the Royal Navy was preponderant in both numbers of ships and quality of seamanship, yet important as sea power might be to stave off invasion and project influence overseas, it could not of itself gain territory: the battles for India and Canada were fought and won on land.

  The future of our nation is in the balance as never before. As in previous ages, circumstances might at present seem to favour the enemy. The ground is difficult and a hard campaign lies ahead. That is no reason to give up the fight. Like Joshua and James Wolfe, we need strength of will and purpose. We need to be steadfast in the face of troubles, obstacles and disappointments. The Heights of Abraham may seem to tower above us, but they can be scaled, “For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37).

  30. New lands

  Numbers 13.

  Key word: optimism.

  Captain James Cook (1728-79) was the son of a Yorkshire farm labourer. He went to sea at the age of 18 in a Whitby collier, thereafter enlisting in the Royal Navy. Though he had little in the way of formal schooling, such was his industry, intelligence and passion for learning that he earned a master’s warrant by the time he was 29. During the British campaign to conquer Canada from the French he played an important part in surveying the estuary of the St Lawrence and in ferrying General Wolfe’s men along that river to attack Quebec. Following the end of the war, he mapped the islands of St Pierre and Miquelon, together with the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador. Over the years he became a navigator of genius, almost entirely self-taught.

  In 1768 he was commissioned as a lieutenant in command of the 368-ton Endeavour. At the instance of the Royal Society and the Admiralty, he then undertook three voyages of exploration over the next eleven years. Thanks to his indomitable leadership, these revolutionised knowledge of the southern seas. Cook and his crew charted the shores of New Zealand and Australia and laid claim to those lands on behalf of the Crown, preparing the way for Britain’s first Antipodean colony at Botany Bay a mere eighteen years after his visit in 1770. On return from his second expedition in 1775 he was promoted to captain, elected a member of the Royal Society and awarded its gold medal. He is generally regarded as the greatest European explorer of the Pacific in the eighteenth century. His reach extended to within a day’s sailing of Antarctica and brought him inside the Arctic Circle. To this day, few have sailed further north or south.

  The voyages that Cook led were testament not only to his skills and those of his crews, but also to the growing scientific and technological prowess of Britain. His men had a diet supplemented by sauerkraut to stave off scurvy and development of reliable marine chronometers by Harrison enabled greater precision in navigation than ever before. The aims of his voyages were not only exploratory but also scientific: he observed a transit of Venus in 1769[71] and brought back specimens of previously unknown flora and fauna. His voyages led to the identification and drawing of thousands of new plants, animals and birds by his talented passengers, whilst their astronomical and horological work advanced those sciences immeasurably. So highly valued was this undertaking for the betterment of mankind in days of peace that during the American War of Independence both French and Americans gave Cook’s ships immunity from interference.

  On 17 January 1779 the great sea captain was killed by natives at Kealakekua Bay on Hawaii (then called the Sandwich Islands). There his remains were buried and there a memorial stands, close to the water’s edge where he fell. He was aged 50. The expedition was piloted through the remainder of its term and on the long journey home by sailing master William Bligh, later Captain of the Bounty during the mutiny led by Fletcher Christian.

  Exploration.

  There was great competition amongst European nations with regard to voyages of discovery. These promised not merely geographical and scientific knowledge, but also opportunities for trade and colonisation. Consequently, it was by no means a foregone conclusion that Britain would be the first to settle Australia and New Zealand. France in particular was active in the south Pacific. Her eighteenth century navigators Louis Antoine de Bougainville, Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, Jules Crozet, Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec and Jean-François-Marie de Surville came within a hair’s breadth of beating Cook to it. Once again, France was pipped at the post by her arch rival.

  Unlike the competing Powers of Europe, the Israelites did not undertake their survey of Canaan according to human timing and desires. They did so at the behest of God: “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.’ So at the LORD’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.” (Numbers 13:1-3). God does not expect us to act in ignorance, nor does he want us to shun enquiry and investigation. On the contrary, he wishes us to test and examine: hence we are told to “Taste and see that the LORD is good” (Psalm 34:8) and to “Test everything” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).[72] Christianity has nothing to fear from honest and open-minded searching. The problem in our present society is that these qualities are so often lacking from our approach to things spiritual.

  The instructions Moses gave were similar to those given to Cook: “‘See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.’ (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)” (Numbers 13:18-20). There was to be a thorough investigation of the country, its topography, its inhabitants and its produce. This is arresting. God had already told the Israelites that he would give them a land flowing with milk and honey and that he would enable them to vanquish their opponents. He did not expect them to take his word for it, however. He allowed them to see the reality for themselves.

  On his first voyage, Cook was accompanied by botanist Joseph Banks, who later helped establish the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, London. As well as cataloguing and drawing plants and animals, Banks and his team also brought samples back with them. The Israelites did the same: “So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, towards Lebo Hamath ... When they reached the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs.” (Numbers 13:21-23). They thus brought back with them proof positive that what God said about the fruitfulness of the land was correct. There comes a point, however, when we have to move beyond what is known and what can be examin
ed. There are times when we need to step out in faith, without precise knowledge of what lies ahead, relying on God rather than on the things of this world. If we are to do this effectively, we need to assess accurately the information we have and how this fits into what God is asking us to do.

  Assessment.

  The Israelites started this process in the right way: “They [the spies] came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.” (Numbers 13:26). At first, the evidence was presented correctly: “They gave Moses this account: ‘We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey. Here is its fruit.’” (Numbers 13:27). Then things began to go awry:

  • Difficulties were magnified: “But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” (Numbers 13:28-29).

  • Defeatism grew: “But the men who had gone up with [Caleb] said, ‘We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.’” (Numbers 13:31).

  • Risks were exaggerated or misrepresented: “And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, ‘The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim).” (Numbers 13:32-33)

  • A feeling of helplessness and inferiority took hold: “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (Numbers 13:33).

  Most glaringly of all, God’s promise and the evidence that proved its truthfulness were completely overlooked. We do not need to reflect long to see these same tendencies at work around us. There are two sure ways to reach a wrong result, and we are currently indulging each of them: failing to gather evidence properly and drawing wrong conclusions from what evidence we do have. One of the commonest errors is to assume that the future will be like the past by extrapolating a trend forward on a straight line. Life does not work like that. More to the point, any assessment that leaves God out of the equation is almost bound to be flawed.

  Attitude.

  Cook’s voyages were tremendous feats of courage and endurance. Crews were away from home for extended periods: his first and second expeditions each lasted a shade under three years, his third for four years and three months. In uncharted waters the dangers of the deep were magnified and the attitude of natives was always uncertain. Even those who were initially friendly often proved volatile. On the second voyage, Cook in the Resolution became separated from the accompanying Adventure in foul weather. Lacking the firm hand and good judgment of his leader, the captain of the Adventure subsequently had eleven of his men eaten by Maoris, notwithstanding that Cook had “always found them of a brave, noble, open and benevolent disposition” (though he added that “they are a people who will never put up with an insult if they have an opportunity to resent it.”). There were difficulties and dangers aplenty, as there are bound to be in the most worthwhile of human endeavours. If we focus only on those, however, we are guaranteed to fall short of what we can and should achieve. We are sure to be less than God created us to be. Like so much else in life, what we make of our situation and of ourselves as we “work out [our] salvation in fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12) is a question of attitude.

  Cook always took great care over the health of his crews. He insisted on a regime of strict cleanliness and provision of fresh fruit and vegetables (or sauerkraut when these were not available) to ward off scurvy. This habitually decimated crews on long ocean voyages. On vessels where he was in personal command, Cook never lost a man to the disease. He regarded it as an unnecessary evil and took the necessary steps to combat it. The success of his methods led to their soon being adopted by navies throughout Europe, saving countless lives in consequence.

  The attitude of Caleb and Joshua was similarly positive: “Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.’” (Numbers 13:30). This was not misguided optimism. Nor was it foolhardiness. It was sober reflection based on facts. The Israelites did not lack evidence, for the exploration of Canaan had been conducted thoroughly “through the Negev and on into the hill country” (Numbers 13:17) over an extended period: “At the end of forty days they [the spies] returned from exploring the land.” (Numbers 13:25). The number forty is spiritually significant.[73] When this period had passed, the people were faced with a choice: to do as God told them or to take a different path. They got the wrong answer.

  Conclusion.

  It is especially poignant that Cook should have died at the hands of angry islanders, for on his first two voyages he was noted for a civilised and understanding attitude to the peoples he encountered. The novelist, dramatist and diarist Fanny Burney, whose brother sailed with the captain, described him as “the most moderate, humane and gentle circumnavigator that ever went upon discoveries.” There are indications, however, that by the time of his third voyage Cook was suffering from an internal parasite that, amongst other things, was starting to affect his moods and judgment. All started well on Hawaii, where the explorer was taken for Orono makua, god of the season of abundance. Local tradition said that this deity would one day appear in a great canoe, being greeted by the waving of white banners and sailing all around the island before alighting at Kealakekua[74] to take part in religious ceremonies there. Uncannily, all happened as legend predicted. Then things went wrong. Cook’s previously sound judgment and sure handling of native peoples deserted him. He overreacted badly to theft by the islanders and in the resulting fight he was killed.

  We need good judgment and clear thinking if we are to see our way through to where God wants us to be. These things have been sadly lacking in our recent past. We must put aside the attitudes that were the undoing of the Israelites – the tendency to disregard evidence, to magnify difficulties, to defeatism, to exaggerate or misrepresent risks, to feelings of helplessness and inferiority. We have every reason for optimism, since God’s promises are as sure and as reliable today as they were in the days of Moses. If we look about us, there is no want of evidence to prove it.

  31. Jubilee

  Colossians 4:1-6

  Key word: proclamation.

  25 March 2007 marked the two hundredth anniversary of the passing of an extraordinary piece of legislation: an Act to outlaw the slave trade in Britain and her Empire. It became law only after years of relentless petitioning, extensive gathering of evidence and several failed attempts. Dreary hours of unremitting slog were put in by William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson and others of the so-called Clapham sect. At the start, their campaign seemed quixotic at best and downright crazy at worst. Yet, against all odds, they won. They won against the power of self-interest, they won against the voices of bigotry and they won against an initially hostile establishment.

  Nor did they stop there. The campaign against slavery in all its forms and wherever it was practiced continued throughout the early part of the nineteenth century. It was a campaign so successful that in response the Royal Navy undertook to wipe the high seas clear of slave traders. They proceeded to do so, at considerable cost in British blood and treasure. About five thousand Britons died in the process. This was altruism on a grand scale, inspired by the Word of God. For Wilberforce and his fellow campaigners were devout Christians. John Newton, himself a former slave trader, was the man who persuaded Wilberforce that he could best serve God by entering Parliament rather than becoming a clergyman. He was also the man who wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace” and in its words we can hear the agony of someone who came to see that his former life was wrong and deeply displeasing to God. (“... How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost and now
am found, was blind but now I see ...”)

  That Wilberforce and his supporters campaigned so long and hard against the slave trade might seem all the more remarkable given that the Bible does not state unequivocally that slavery must be abolished. Understanding how they reached the conclusions they did thus touches on something very fundamental about what it is to be a Christian, to live as a Christian and to aspire to the holiness that God desires.

  Christian principles.

  In his letter to the early church at Colosse, St Paul tells his readers about how to live a holy life. He reminds them that in their behaviour towards others they should always be mindful of the way that God treats them, and aspire to reflect God’s righteousness and holiness in their dealings with their fellow men: “Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.” (Colossians 4:1). He returns to the theme when writing to the church at Ephesus: “And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favouritism with him.” (Ephesians 6:9). Ultimately, of course, providing slaves with what is right and fair involves providing them with their freedom, just as God provides “freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners” (Isaiah 61:1).

  One of the things that distinguish Christianity from other religions is that daily life is not based on rules and regulations. Judaism and Islam in effect give a list of things to do and to refrain from doing: by obeying these Jews and Muslims believe that they will get right with God. By contrast, Christianity is not about rules and regulations, because sinful human beings on their own will never be able to earn salvation from a just and holy God. We will never be able to measure up to God’s standards. We know what God’s standards look like: Jesus showed them in his life and teaching, from the Sermon on the Mount to his endless care and compassion for the suffering. If we ever want to know how far short of divine excellence we human beings fall, we only have to read chapters 5, 6 and 7 of Matthew’s Gospel. This is where Jesus tells his listeners, amongst other things, to “be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48).