James, the brother of our Lord - A

half-brother of our Lord (Mt 13:55),

who did not believe in his brother at
first (Jn 7:5). He became a disciple
following the resurrection (1 Co
15:7; Ac 1:14) and gained
prominence in the church at
Jerusalem (Ga 2:9). As evidence of
his prominence, Peter sent him a
special message following his own
release from prison (Ac 12:17).
James also played an important role
in the conference at Jerusalem (Ac
15:13-33), and Paul brought him
greetings upon arriving at Jerusalem
(Ac 21:18-19).
 Acts 8: 26-36

Philip and the Ethiopian

... The church did not make a favourable impression on me. The sermons seemed to me
uninspiring. The congregation did not strike me as being particularly religious. They were not
an assembly of devout souls; they appeared rather to be worldly-minded people, going to
church for recreation and in conformity to custom. Here, at times, I would involuntarily doze ...
[and] soon gave up attending (Gandhi 1949).
While Gandhi was a practicing Hindu, Christianity intrigued him. In his reading of the
Gospels, Gandhi was impressed by Jesus whom Christians worshiped and followed.
He wanted to know more about this Jesus that Christians referred to as “the Christ,
the Messiah.”

The Rev. Pattison tells the following story: One Sunday morning Gandhi decided that
he would visit one of the Christian churches in Calcutta. Upon seeking entrance to the
church sanctuary, he was stopped at the door by the ushers.

He was told he was not welcome, nor would he be permitted to attend this particular
church as it was for high-caste Indians and whites only. He was neither high caste, nor
was he white. Because of the rejection, the Mahatma turned his back on Christianity.

With this act, Gandhi rejected the Christian faith, never again to consider the claims
of Christ. He was turned off by the sin of segregation that was practiced by the
church. It was due to this experience that Gandhi later declared, “I’d be a Christian if it
were not for the Christians.′ ”
Galatians 3:27-28 Indeed, all of you who were baptized into the Messiah have clothed yourselves with the Messiah.
Because all of you are one in the Messiah Jesus, a person is no longer a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a
male or a female.

Acts 10:34-36 Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those
who fear him and do what is right. This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace
with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
Romans 2:11 For God does not show favoritism.

Deuteronomy 10:17 For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty
and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed.

Colossians 3:25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.
2 Chronicles 19:6-7 Jehoshaphat said to them, “Watch what you do, because you are not judging for people but for
the Lord. He will be with you when you make a decision. Now let each of you fear the Lord. Watch what you do,
because the Lord our God wants people to be fair. He wants all people to be treated the same, and he doesn’t want
decisions influenced by money.”

Job 34:19 who shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of
his hands?

Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you
are all one in Christ Jesus.
The parable of the vineyard workers
(Matthew 20: 1–16)

The landowner then says, “The

last will be first and the first
will be last.”
 However, you must not let any living thing survive among the cities of these people the Lord your God is
giving you as an inheritance. You must completely destroy them – the Hethite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite,
Hivite, and Jebusite …. (Deut. 20:16-18)

Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men
and women, infants and nursing babies, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys. (1 Sam 15:3)

How can we make sense of this? Were the people so evil that even nursing babies had to be killed? How can we reconcile
this with the biblical teaching of God’s grace and love?

We will consider the question of whether or not the Israelites were indeed commanded to kill everyone in the Promised
Land?.

What does the evidence in the Bible show? When we face a difficult text, we will do well to further search Scripture to find
clarity. In the case of the commands to kill entire people groups, we find another theme in God’s provision of the Promised
Land for the people of Israel. The theme of driving out the people groups arguably is more pronounced than the commands
to kill everyone. How might this inform our understanding? Here are a few examples:

I will send [panic] in front of you, and they will drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hethites away from you. (Ex. 23:29)
Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves by all
these things. (Lev. 18:24)

You must drive out all the inhabitants of the land …. (Num. 33:52)
 When you hold these commands in tension — the commands to drive out the people and the command to
completely destroy — you see that what is going with Israel obtaining the Promised Land isn’t as
straightforward as some skeptics make it sound. There seem to be places, specific cities, likely military
outposts, where there was sweeping victory and destruction. But the bigger picture is of the people groups
being driven out and not eradicated.

Furthermore, it’s clear all the people groups the Israelites were commanded to completely destroy were, well, not
destroyed. They show up later in Scripture. For example, Rahab and her entire family were spared from the destruction of
Jericho (Joshua 2). She even made it into the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11. Also, consider other non-Israelites who are
welcomed into the nation of Israel: people like Jethro the Midianite (Ex.s 18) and Ruth, a Moabite (Ruth 1), just to name a
couple of examples.

Did the Israelites have to kill everyone in the Promised Land? The
evidence from the Bible leads us to answer “no.”,

In fact, if you read the first book in the New Testament, Matthew’s gospel, you see that its opening chapter — an outline
of the genealogy of Jesus — includes Gentiles: Tamar the Canaanite, Rahab the Midianite, and Ruth the Moabite. We see
that God’s plan with the Promised Land was not about eradicating specific ethnic groups, but about God’s judgment on
false religion and his provision of a land for a people through whom he would offer salvation to all.
John Robert Wooden was an American basketball
coach and player. Nicknamed the "Wizard of
Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic
Association national championships in a 12-year period
as head coach for the Purdue University Basket Ball
Team, including a record seven in a row.

1 Corinthians 3:8

Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but

each will receive his own reward according to his own
labor.

2 Corinthians 9:6

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap

sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap
bountifully.

Romans 2:6

For God will reward each of us according to what we

have done.
DOS?

1. Keep your faith impartial

2. Don't base value judgements on appearances

3. Church is a class-free zone

4. Impartiality reflects God's nature

5. God has a different measuring stick