100 Prison Meditations: Cries of Truth from Behind the Iron Curtain (8 page)

The Crime of Fear

It is fear that made some Christians around us become Judases.

Revelation 21:8 enumerates eight categories of men who shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. First on the list are not the unbelievers or murderers as would be expected, but the cowardly.

Fear is so human. Peter feared in Gethsemane. We all do, but it is more abhorred by God than many gross offenses.

A Christian never flies except to the devil’s throat. He can say of himself what King Charles of France says in Shakespeare’s
Henry VI
: “Him I forgive my death that kills me when he sees me go back one foot or fly. My army, rather with their teeth the walls they’ll tear down than forsake the siege.”

We are Jesus’ sheep. Sheep do not run from the wolf. They cannot defend themselves, but they witness for their Creator by enduring their deaths patiently, without turning their backs to the enemy.

Children of God can be burned at the stake, but they cannot be made to give in. We are assigned to be the scourge of demons. When Henry VI said, “Of all base passions, fear is the most accursed,” he expressed a biblical thought.

Science and the Bible

Not only biblical authors, but also other sages of antiquity knew things that modern science is only now discovering. Aristotle, Greek philosopher of the third century b.c., wrote in
On the Generation of Animals
that lead ore increases in size and becomes thick and white when air gets into it. Until the beginning of this century, this idea was considered to be just an oddity from barbaric times.

Some seventy years ago, flotation was discovered by the modern world. Powdered mixture of ore and rock is mixed with water and air forced in. The ore becomes white, increases in bulk and floats on the surface of water. This process is used today on millions of tons of ores all over the world. So the ancients knew something after all.

Even more so did the ancients inspired by God, the authors of the Bible. It is foretold that at the return of Jesus, “the Mount of Olives [on which He will stand] shall be split in two…; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south” (Zechariah 14:4). A 1958
Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
tells that the rocks in the Jordan Valley are in considerable tension, that the valley is in a state of shear. This means that geologically, the whole Mideast is moving northward. Science makes us wait for the moment of the mount’s split, but we wait also for His feet to touch its peak. We are not fools.

Science has shown what a big influence genes, climate, food, sickness, and bodily structure have upon our character. Some believe that the phases of the moon and the spots in the sun are factors in our behavior. The greatest incidences of crime occur during the hottest months of the year.

It is true that many in ancient times were ignorant. But there was One who knew what was in man (John 2:25) and because He knew, He taught, “Judge not” (Matthew 7:1). He knew. He said, “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world” (John 3:17). He said this in times when court procedures were simple and straightforward—if a man stole or killed, he was condemned. Mitigating circumstances were not taken into account. Jesus’ attitude was scientific long before the conception of human behavioral science.

The whole scientific method—an unbiased, exact, and thorough investigation, based on facts alone—comes from Jesus. In a world of unrestrained passions, He said, “We speak what we know and testify what we have seen” (John 3:11). So much, nothing more, exactly like in a scientific laboratory. “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see” (Matthew 11:4). No fantasy, not even religious fantasy—only the observed facts, just like a scientist gathers data.

Jesus taught mankind to study what happens in nature: “Look at the birds of the air,” and, “Consider the lilies of the field” (Matthew 6:26–28). From the birds men learned aviation, and from the lilies they learned botany and agronomy.

Never regard science as a danger for religion. Einstein, a scientist whose name the whole world respects, has written, “Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.”

The great difference between science and religion is that the first does not establish immutable truths and eternal dogmas. It approaches truth by successive approximations without ever making the claim to complete accuracy. Religion has a definite revelation from God—heaven and earth will pass away, but Jesus’ words will stand forever.

How to Read the Bible

In prison we repented of many sins. We repented also of the manner in which we had read the Bible.

The Talmud fixes a rule:
Ein dorshim maase bereshith beshanaim
—“You do not speak about Genesis, the things of the beginning, when you are in two.” God created the universe all alone. Adam was one single man. The Bible is read properly only when you transpose yourself completely into the situation and spirit of the author at the moment of writing.

Remember the Bible is only a summary. Adam lived 930 years, but the Bible has only one chapter and a half, 40 verses, to devote to so long a life.

Just as Cuvier reconstructed the skeleton of a prehistoric animal from a single bone, we are called upon to re-create everything from just a few words.

Remember that much of the Bible is poetry. Although Hebrew poetry does not rhyme, one of its characteristics is an alphabetical structure; for example, in Job 13:7–11, every line starts with an “H.” The whole Psalm 119 is arranged alphabetically, beginning with verses that have “a” as the first letter, others that have “b,” and so on. Poetry can reveal truth, but not necessarily accuracy of detail.

The Bible is meant to be read very slowly with special pauses for respiration and meditation. In the Hebrew text there is the
athnach
, a sign that divides a verse into main clauses. Another sign for pausing is the
segholta
, which subdivides the clause before
athnach
. First Kings 13:18, read according to Hebrew punctuation, would be as follows: “He said to him, ‘I too am a prophet as you are [
segoltha
—a pause: breathe and reflect] and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord [the angel would not speak to you, reader, unless you pause as prescribed for meditating and evoking him], saying, “Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water [
athnach
—deep respiration, meditation].”’ But he lied to him.” [Pause. Here there is a sign called silluq, which separates this verse from the following.]

Zaqeph-qaton
stands for a slight pause. Isaiah 43:1 reads: “But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob [
zaqeph-qaton
, a slight pause], and He who formed you, O Israel [
athnach
, big pause]: Fear not, for I have redeemed you [slight pause]; I have called you by your name; You are Mine” [stop before passing to the next verse]. The
zaqeph-gadol
plays the role of the
zaqeph-qaton
where no conjunctive accent precedes.

It is good to know all this. The accents can reveal the interpretation of doubtful passages, as in Isaiah 40:3: “The voice of one crying [
zaqeph-qaton
, pause] in the wilderness [
zaqeph-gadol
, pause]: Prepare the way of the Lord.” Wherever two
zaqephs
occur in the same clause, that which comes first is stronger. We must therefore read, “The voice of one crying: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord” and not, as it is usually punctuated, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord.”

Learn to read the Bible slowly, breathing rhythmically, with pauses to put in the correct accents. In this way you can immerse yourself in the spirit in which the Bible was written, and thus be able to participate in the Oneness which is its essence.

Open Space

Some people complain that sermons and devotional books are not dense enough, that they should contain more teaching. This is like complaining about a love letter that too much paper is wasted on empty spaces.

When a lover once complained about this, the black letters grew and grew to satisfy him until the sheet of paper was totally black.

Woe to a religious book that leaves no place for questions. If matter, the physical universe, is mysterious, the more so God. Man has to search. He cannot be given pre-masticated food.

It is good to ask questions in religion, but you must ask the right ones. Herod inquired of the wise men (Matthew 2:7) what time the star appeared which heralded the birth of Jesus. He did not ask how they knew that the star had anything to do with the appearance of the Messiah.

After the Lord told the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3–8), the disciples asked, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” (verse 10), rather than asking the more important question about why men’s destinies differ so greatly and what can be done to change them.

Seeing the senselessness of many questions, Jesus did not answer them. Jesus revealed what people needed to know, not what they asked for.

For many years I thought that I believed the whole Bible to be the Word of God. When I was in prison, I discovered that my belief was incomplete. The Bible consists of white sheets of paper inscribed with black letters. I had believed only the black letters to be the Word of God. But there is meaning in the blank spaces, too.

The blank space can be used for decoding the ciphered parts.

In Jeremiah 25:26 we read about Sheshach, but no adversary of Israel is known by this name. The Hebrews used a simple cipher called
Athbash
in which the first letter of the alphabet, “a,” can be exchanged with the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet “t”; the second letter, “b,” with the second last, “sh,” and so on. By applying this code to the word
Sheshach
the result is “Babel,” the Hebrew name for Babylon. In those days Babylon was a superpower. It would have been too dangerous to denounce it openly, so a codename was used.

Many things in the Bible are coded. There are stories of sins and salvation of persons thousands of years and thousands of miles apart. Decode! You might find that you yourself are meant and are called by a code name.

There are numerous contradictions between Bible texts—Luke 9:3 forbids the apostles to carry staffs, Mark 6:8 allows it; Luke 10:4 forbids sandals, Mark 6:9 allows. Many other things are sometimes allowed and sometimes forbidden. You have to find out which Bible verse applies to you at a certain moment, what things are allowed or forbidden you. There is plenty of space in the white places of the Bible for your notes and thoughts. When you have found sure guidance from God, it will be part of His eternal Word, the part for you for that given moment.

Oneness

For many years I was one person alone in a cell.

God is also One, and man was created in the image of God, the image of His oneness (Genesis 1:26). It is written, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The chosen people of God are one. We read, “Who is like Your people Israel, a nation that is
one
in the earth?” (1 Chronicles 17:21, according to the original). Except for God and His people, oneness is nowhere to be found; yet without it, there is no Godhead, nor can the real church exist.

Oneness creates a special state of spirit. The Jews sing,
Huh echad veein sheni
: “He is one and there is no second.” This applies to the oneness of the children of God, too. The believer being one, without division in knower, known, and act of knowledge, becomes a deep mystery for himself. Moses and Aaron said, “What are we?” (Exodus 16:8). They did not know. Likewise, David asks, “Who am I, and what is my life?” (1 Samuel 18:18).

Live in oneness, without self-contemplation, self-admiration, self-contempt, or self-pity. No one exists apart from this one self, no one to admire or despise you or recognize in you that your self is being despised or praised. It is a simple, serene existence. No winds blow, no tempests arise.

Strive to be like Christ and you will be one in the spirit with all who do likewise. It is written, “You shall take for yourselves on the first day [of the feast of tabernacles] the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook” (Leviticus 23:40).

All of these references to boughs and branches refer to Israel. Just as the citron has both taste and fragrance, so does Israel have men who are both learned and righteous in actions. Just as the fig has a taste but no fragrance, so Israel has men who have learning, but no good deeds. As the myrtle has fragrance but no flavor, so Israel has men who do good works but are not learned. And just as the willow has neither taste nor fragrance, so Israel has men who are neither learned nor righteous.

Oneness in the Church is achieved through mutual forbearance and mutual compensation.

Where and What is God?

As creatures of the earth, we think of God as being on high, declaring, “His glory [is] above the heavens” (Psalm 113:4), while the heavenly beings think of Him as being below, declaring, “Let Your glory be above all the earth” (Psalm 57:5).

Both have limited vision. God is outside of space. The One who is all in all cannot have a certain place to dwell, to the exclusion of other places. Therefore Christ, who is God, says, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matthew 8:20). If He were limited to space, He would not belong to the Godhead.

God occupies no place anywhere. As Creator of the universe, He existed before there was such a thing as place. Space is required by material objects, but not by thoughts, ideals, and desires, which do not rest in a point fixed by geographical coordinates. God is Spirit, not a material object that must exist somewhere. When the Bible says that He is in heaven, it is to indicate His elevation. God dwells in Israel, in Zion, in His church: such things are said for the purpose of giving honor to an institution or a people. But these assertions in the Bible are never exclusive—they do not limit God. They do not mean that He is in Zion, but not in Britain; in church, but not in a factory.

Nor can time be applied to God. The biblical Hebrew has no tenses to indicate time; you cannot say that things have been or are or will be. You enter the sphere of divinity, of timelessness. The Hebrew verb has only two fundamental categories, the perfect and the imperfect.
Oseh
means “in the process of being done.”
Asah
indicates completed action. Biblical Greek also has a verb form called
Aorist
, which literally translated means “without horizon.” God created the universe, which has time as one of its attributes, but He and His people are timeless. He was when there was no time. He will be when “there should be time no longer” (Revelation 10:6, KJV).

God is called Father and King because we humans associate these titles with our concept of esteem. He did not procreate us as a father did. He did not become king by inheritance or conquest as other kings do. He is above all that we can say in human words.

When David Livingstone went to the cannibals in Africa, he wished to teach them “God is love,” but they did not have the word “love.” So he asked them what was the best thing they knew. They replied, “
Unboi
,” which is the smoked meat from the arm of a man. So Livingstone preached, “God is the best
unboi
.” He was criticized for this, but wrongly. God is not
unboi
, it is true, but neither is He love. Love is a sentiment shared by humans and superior animals. But is God merely a human sentiment? Because love was the highest thing the Greeks knew, John said, “God is love,” just as Livingstone said, “God is
unboi
,” for those who knew no better.

There are no human words and categories to indicate how and where God is. Whenever attributes are applied to God, they are what are called “anthropomorphisms,” likenesses from human life that are used to tell something about Him. We are limited in our thoughts and words about God, but let us know that, beyond all our limitations, He is.