Through a Glass Darkly.
14 Apr 2023 Church Issues.
Part 1 - The unchanging word of God
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Cor 13:12 Authorized [King James] Version).
Breeches Bible
My oldest and most treasured possession dates from the year 1595, late in the reign of our first Queen Elizabeth. It is a very worn copy of a Geneva or ‘Breeches’ Bible, the first English language Bible translated completely from the original languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. First published more than half a century before the King James Bible.
It is sometimes called the ‘Breeches Bible’ because of its translation of Genesis Chapter 3, Verse 7. "Then the eies of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed figge tree leaves together, and made themselves breeches." My edition has an ancient ‘typo’ where the year is printed at the beginning of the New Testament section as 1495, not 1595.
This was the first mass-produced, mechanically printed Bible available.
This was the first mass-produced, mechanically printed Bible available to the public and it included scripture study guides with verse citations allowing readers to cross-reference a particular verse with other relevant verses in the Bible. Each book was introduced with a synopsis and included maps, tables, illustrations and indices.
This was one of the bibles taken on board the Mayflower by the Pilgrim Fathers, and was also used by Oliver Cromwell and John Knox.
Reference notes
King James VI of Scotland came to dislike the Geneva Bible’s marginal notes, like those at Exodus 1 verse 22: Then Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, every man child that is borne, cast yee into the river, but reserve every maid-child alive. The note at 22 reads: “when tyrants cannot prevaile by craft, they burst forthe into outrage.” Over four hundred years later we observe the truth of that statement.
The notes to the Geneva Bible were always opposed to tyranny and did not support the divine right of kings. When the Scottish King became King James I of England, his authorised Bible translation of 1611 was specified to be without these notes, except for the explanation of Hebrew or Greek words which could not ‘briefly and fitly be expressed in the text’.
Treasured possession
The widespread availability of the Geneva Bible meant it became the one book familiar to every Englishman. As with my example, it was the treasured possession of families. England became a people of this book which became the primary literature of the people. It shaped our language, laws and indeed the moral character of our nation.
In the New World, Houston Christian Library describes the Geneva Bible as
“at the foundation of the American Colonies. It was the Bible used in Jamestown and the preferred Bible of the early Pilgrim settlers of New England. The Geneva Bible was the Bible of the leading English writers John Bunyan, William Shakespeare, and John Milton. When Mary Tudor became queen in 1553, many English Protestants fled to Europe, seeking refuge from religious persecution. By 1560, English exiles in Geneva produced a Bible in English especially designed for use by families and individuals. The translation, the first complete Bible into English from both the Hebrew and Greek, was excellent. Yet, the most important element of this Bible, which came to be known as the Geneva Bible, was its notes. Marginal notes included cross-references, alternative translations, and explanations of the “hard places” of Scripture. The notes provided a running commentary on Scripture and shaped the understanding of the Bible for generations of ordinary English-speaking people.”
Pertinent verses
I re-read two very familiar scriptures from my ancient Geneva Bible:
Proverbs 29:18. “Where there is no vision, the people decay: but he that keepeth the law is blessed”. The note next to this verse, written more than four centuries ago, states: ‘Where there are not faithful ministers of the word of God’.
Hosea 4:6. 
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because [a]thou hast refused knowledge, I will also refuse thee that thou shalt be no Priest to me: and seeing [b]thou hast forgotten the Law of thy God, I will also forget thy children”. The margin notes here state: “That is, the Priests shall be cast off, because that for lack of knowledge, they are not able to execute their charge, and instruct others; Deut. 33:3; Mal. 2:7. Meaning, the whole body of the people, which were weary with hearing the word of God.”
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because [a]thou hast refused knowledge, I will also refuse thee that thou shalt be no Priest to me: and seeing [b]thou hast forgotten the Law of thy God, I will also forget thy children”. The margin notes here state: “That is, the Priests shall be cast off, because that for lack of knowledge, they are not able to execute their charge, and instruct others; Deut. 33:3; Mal. 2:7. Meaning, the whole body of the people, which were weary with hearing the word of God.”Is that not absolutely relevant today?
Book of Baruch
After Ecclesiastes, the Geneva Bible contains an 
unfamiliar book, the book of Baruch, which in Judaism and Protestant Christianity is not considered to be part of the canon of scripture. The book is named after Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch ben Neriah and was probably written in Hebrew, but only the Greek text survives. It is a book I had never come across before, though it is used in both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Baruch's name means "blessed."
unfamiliar book, the book of Baruch, which in Judaism and Protestant Christianity is not considered to be part of the canon of scripture. The book is named after Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch ben Neriah and was probably written in Hebrew, but only the Greek text survives. It is a book I had never come across before, though it is used in both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Baruch's name means "blessed."The book of Baruch is a book of hope, with a prophetic element, a prayer of repentance and asking God for his deliverance, whilst counting on his mercy and reminding him of his promises. The book reveals the transformative power of trusting in God with sincere repentance.
Sovereign God
Now there is a lesson from the past with great value for the present. If as we believe, our God is sovereign and nothing in our world happens without that he allows it, then clearly all that we see in society that troubles us is being permitted for a reason.
As a society, we have roundly rejected God and his laws and as Hosea describes, there are inevitable consequences of that.
As an example, a little over one per cent of the population now attend Anglican church services. Britain’s government and institutions no longer relate to the language and values described in any English language Bible. The Census of 2021 confirmed that Christianity has become a minority religion in England and Wales. As a society, we have roundly rejected God and his laws and as Hosea describes, there are inevitable consequences of that.
Humility and repentance
The post-pandemic Britain of 2023 is an almost unrecognisable secular society with values which would have been simply alien to previous generations of our countrymen. So, what should we do as believers? We could of course compromise, embrace ‘the new normal.’ We could try to fight every ungodly law and rule which is gradually stripping us of our traditional rights and freedoms. Or we could do something else.
We could accept that what is happening in our world does in fact align with biblical prophecy, the consequences of national sin and that as His bible-believing remnant we really have no man-made solution to the peril we face. There are dark days ahead and many storms which we will struggle to endure in our own human strength. We must accept that we have collectively failed to be the people we are called to be, and that firstly, humility and repentance is required. Prophecy Today.
