20. Commonwealth
Leviticus 11:44-45.
Key word: holiness.
The years of the Commonwealth prove how difficult it is for flawed human beings to achieve holiness. The experiments in government that the army council and then Cromwell alone conducted during this time were an ever more despairing attempt to make the rule of the saints a reality in England. Again and again there was disappointment. Hand-picked groups proved just as fractious as those they replaced. The franchise was restricted and then pared again, but still there was no end to the capacity of men for pursuing self-interest and creating faction.
At the end of the second Civil War the Long Parliament, which had first been called by Charles I in November 1640, was still sitting. It did not much outlast the peace. On 6 December 1648 about 140 members were expelled on the orders of the army council, an event known as Pride’s Purge from the name of the colonel whose men carried it out. The aim was to rid the House of Commons of any still anxious to negotiate with Charles I. Those who remained were called the Rump Parliament. They survived for a further five years, unrepresentative and quarrelsome, until Cromwell had had enough. Sick of their failure to produce political and religious reforms, he acted decisively. On 20 April 1653 he descended on Westminster at the head of a troop of soldiers and addressed the shocked assembly thus:
“It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government, ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of potage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money; is there a single virtue now remaining among you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you has not bartered your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth? Ye sordid prostitutes, have you not defiled this sacred place, and turned the Lord’s temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you who were deputed here by the people to get grievances redressed, are yourselves become the greatest grievance. Your country therefore calls upon me to cleanse this Augean stable by putting a final period to your iniquitous proceedings in this house; and which by God’s help, and the strength he has given me, I am now come to do; I command ye therefore, upon the peril of your lives, to depart immediately out of this place; go, get you out! Make haste! Ye venal slaves, be gone!”
Despite this outburst, Cromwell still sought to work through the House of Commons (the House of Lords having by this time been abolished). In July 1653 he instituted a body composed of men hand-picked by him and other army chiefs. The resulting group was known as the Barebones Parliament from the name of a prominent member, Praise-God Barebone. It was also called the Parliament of the Saints. Cromwell initially had high hopes for it, but in the event it was crippled by religious disputes. Within six months it voted its own dissolution and handed over power to Cromwell as Lord Protector, which he remained until his death five years later.
Teaching.
Even allowing for the fact that Cromwell was in a towering rage as he addressed the Rump Parliament in April 1653 and that his charges might therefore be exaggerated, there is clearly at least an element of truth in them. It is a sorry commentary on the weakness and sinfulness of human beings. Our best intentions and most carefully designed institutions are no protection against our fallen nature. As the subsequent tale of the Barebones Parliament illustrates, even a group composed entirely of those we consider most godly is not immune from this taint.
Against that background, Leviticus makes uncomfortable reading. Holiness is its central theme. The word “holy” appears more often in this book than in any other of the Bible. Leviticus makes clear that Israel was to be totally consecrated to God. Her holiness was to be expressed in every aspect of life, to the extent that all of life had a ceremonial quality. As a result of God’s nature and because of what he has done, his people must dedicate themselves fully to him. Hence the Lord tells them: “therefore be holy, because I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:45).
The same concept is echoed by Jesus (and, typically, given an extra twist) in the Sermon on the Mount when he says: “Be perfect, therefore, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48). Both the Old Testament injunction to holiness and New Testament one to perfection are breathtaking. We know from history and even more from personal experience that it is impossible by human efforts alone to live up to the righteous demands of a holy God, still less to be holy or perfect ourselves.
Rather than frustrate us, however, God wants to teach us. The Law of Moses was designed to lead the Israelites to be dependent on God. Just as the Lord provided rituals and sacrifices for cleansing a sinful people, so he wants us to learn that only through the supernatural provision of a sinless Saviour can we hope to achieve holiness. God does not set us up to fail, but he does want us to reach a proper recognition of what we are and who he is. Only then can we fully appreciate that we need to depend upon him in all things. As St Paul puts it: “So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:6).
Dedicating.
Chapters 11-15 of Leviticus set out rules and regulations concerning diet (Leviticus 11), childbirth and related matters (Leviticus 12), leprosy and other skin diseases (Leviticus 13-14) and bodily discharges (Leviticus 15). In each case there is a description of what causes defilement, followed by instructions on how to regain purity. The instructions are lengthy and detailed, since holiness demands attention to detail.
Leviticus 11 concerns purity in diet and thus addresses issues of avoidable defilement. The Israelites are told: “Do not defile yourselves ... do not make yourselves unclean ... Do not make yourselves unclean” (Leviticus 11:43-44). It is at the end of the section of dietary instructions that God also tells them: “I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:44).
To consecrate means to set apart as sacred, to devote to the service of someone or something (usually divine or sacred), to dedicate or to hallow. It is appropriate that the instruction to “consecrate yourselves” comes within a section dealing with avoidable defilement since the issue is one of choice. We can choose a lifestyle that will lead to defilement or we can choose to follow Jesus. If we opt for the latter, Jesus will cover us with his own holiness, purity and perfection so that we are treated as righteous in the eyes of God, no matter what we have done or failed to do. If we do not follow him, we will have nothing to fall back on but our own endeavours, and these will not avail.
We no longer live in the period of the temple and sacrificial system that applied to the Israelites of old. Nor are we subject in full to the Law of Moses. We have a new freedom by virtue of the death of Jesus on the cross, albeit that this freedom should never descend into licence: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free ... But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” (Galatians 5:1 and 13). “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.” (1 Peter 2:16).
When we consider what it means for us to consecrate ourselves, therefore, in the modern context we are talking about dedicating ourselves to Jesus and to the way that he taught. This dedication must be accompanied by attention to detail just as it was for the Israelites. Every aspect of our lives has the potential to affect our destiny and the destiny of others. Every little action or inaction contributes on one side of the equation or the other.
These are not just words or thoughts without practical application. At the most mundane level it is not difficult to imagine things that would transform this land. If nobody were to drop litter or spray gra
ffiti, how much better our environment would be and what resources would be released for use elsewhere. If all were to display courtesy, how much needless hurt would be avoided. If every man did a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay, how much better off we would be. These things are hardly the apogee of holiness or perfection. They are simple everyday things that are readily within our reach. The issue is one of choice.
Seldom is the issue put before the nation in this way. We need to start making the case for holiness. We need to start making the case for God.
Setting apart.
God’s desire for us goes further: “I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:45). The Lord has brought us out of slavery for a purpose. He wishes us to be his people and this means that we should be holy, for his “eyes are too pure to look on evil.” (Habbakuk 2:13). When we do things that are wrong in God’s sight, we “grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Ephesians 4:30). We should do everything in our power to express our love and gratitude to him, not do things that cause him pain. To seek holiness is thus one way of expressing what we feel for our Saviour.
To be holy means to be made sacred, set apart for the service of God or other sacred use, morally pure, free from sin or sinful affections, of high spiritual excellence. The injunction to holiness is found time and again: see Leviticus 19:2, 20:7 and 26, 21:8 and 15, 22:9, 16 and 32. We reflect too little on what this setting apart might mean in modern-day Britain. Clearly it cannot mean that we are to hive ourselves off from our fellow men. Quite the contrary: we are to be “the salt of the earth ... [and] the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14) and for this we need to be actively engaged in and part of society, not separated from it.
Our setting apart is therefore to be of a moral and spiritual nature. We are not to follow the ways of the world but the ways of God. We are to set a different example of how life can and should be lived. We are to have different dynamics in our relationships and different ways of acting, so that we “do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but [are] transformed by the renewing of [our] mind.” (Romans 12:2). We are to be a “voice calling in the wilderness” (Isaiah 40:3 and Mark 1:3) by offering the good news of Jesus Christ to family, friends, neighbours, colleagues and fellow-citizens. We are to “prepare the way for the Lord [and] make straight paths for him.” (Isaiah 40:3 and Mark 1:3).
The Lord clearly tells us that we are not on our own in the pursuit of holiness. It is he who makes holiness possible for us and for others. The message is repeated lest we miss it first time round. Its application to all people is shown by use of the second person (twice), the third person singular and the third person plural (twice): “Consider them holy, because I the LORD am holy – I who make you holy ... I am the LORD, who makes him holy ... I am the LORD, who makes them holy ... I am the LORD who makes them holy ... I am the LORD who makes you holy.” (Leviticus 21:8 and 15, 22:9, 16 and 32). For sinful human beings to become holy is a tall order, but incredibly God makes it possible.
Conclusion.
The Commonwealth and the Protectorate were ultimately times of great disappointment for those who had supported Parliament in the Civil War. They were disappointing because their experiments failed. They failed to implement Puritan principles on a spiritual level through durable nationwide church reform or on a practical level through a workable parliamentary form of government. They failed to create an enduring institution in the office of Lord Protector. They failed to remould the English people in a new and godlier image. They failed to bring about the rule of the saints on earth. There must have seemed a terrible irony in the words that Cromwell spoke during his parting address to the Rump Parliament: “It is not fit that you should sit here any longer! ... You shall now give place to better men.” They were forced to confront the fact that the “better men” were just as prone to error as those they replaced. They were forced to confront the fact that they could not bring about holiness.
This might seem discouraging, but the fact that we might fall short of an ideal does not mean that the ideal is worthless. Still less does it mean that we should make no effort to reach it. For all his personal faults and the many twists and turns of policy in the post-war period, when Oliver Cromwell died in 1658 the country was again wealthy and at peace. Though none could then know it for sure, the foundations of constitutional government had in fact been laid.
In a speech to Parliament on 12 September 1654, Cromwell said: “Necessity hath no law. Feigned necessities, imaginary necessities ... are the greatest cozenage [deception or cheating] that men can put upon the Providence of God, and make pretences to break known rules by.” We are great ones for creating so-called necessities to override God’s laws and the pursuit of holiness. We must lay these aside. If we can only make all the pressing concerns of life give way to having hearts that yearn for God, then we will begin to make progress.
21. Cauldron
Philemon.
Key word: kinship.
The years following the Civil War were times of great upheaval. Groups such as the Fifth Monarchy Men, the Ranters, the Levellers and their even more extreme offshoot the Diggers propounded views that seemed to strike at the very fabric of society. In 1647 the Leveller leaders, of whom ‘Freeborn John’ Lilburne was one, presented a constitution to Oliver Cromwell. When their demands were not met, a series of mutinies broke out in the army. These were put down, but agitation continued. Writing to Parliamentary General Lord Fairfax in 1649 after the Diggers’ take-over of St George’s Hill in Surrey, the Digger theorist Gerard Winstanley asserted: “None ought to be lords or landlords over another, but the earth is free for every son and daughter of mankind to live free upon.” In Law of Freedom (published in 1652) Winstanley proposed that property be held in common in order to create social equality. The basis for this was biblical – that there had been no distinction of class or ownership in the Garden of Eden and that amongst the first Christians “No-one claimed that any of his possessions were his own, but they shared everything they had” (Acts 4:32) – but the millenarianism and egalitarianism of these and other groups collided with hard political reality. All were eventually suppressed.
The life of John Bunyan, former Parliamentary soldier, tinker, author, preacher and gaolbird illustrates something of the turmoil and its effects on the country at large. It shows, too, how hard life remained for ordinary people. After discharge from the army, in 1653 he joined a Nonconformist church in Bedford, preached there and came into conflict with the Quakers, against whom he published a number of pamphlets. In 1655, two of those to whom he was closest died: his first wife and his pastor John Gifford. It was in this year that he began to preach. The great Puritan theologian John Owen later said of him: “Could I possess the tinker’s abilities for preaching, I would willingly relinquish all my learning.” Bunyan remarried, to Elizabeth, but further personal sadness lay in wait: their daughter Mary was born blind and died at a young age.
Upon the return of Charles II to England in 1660, the official attitude to Nonconformists changed and in November of that year Bunyan was arrested for preaching without a licence. He was kept in prison without trial for the following twelve years. After his release he was again put in gaol for a short while and it was then that he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress from this World to that which is to come, the work for which he is today best known. It was finished in 1678 and first published in 1684. It has been described as “the greatest book, other than Scripture, which an Englishman has given to mankind.”
John Bunyan lived until 1688, long enough to experience further turns of the wheel in England’s long political and religious tussles. His dying words were, “Take me, for I come to thee.”
Thanksgiving.
Like John Bunyan, St Paul knew plenty about arbitrary arrest. He was put in gaol in Philippi (Acts 16:22-24) and in Jerusalem (Acts 21:33) before being transferred to Caesarea (Acts 23:23-35) and from thence to Rome. His period of house a
rrest in the imperial capital is described in Acts 28:16-31. Several of his letters contain references to imprisonment: “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains” (Ephesians 6:20); “So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner.” (2 Timothy 1:8) and “May the Lord also show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.” (2 Timothy 1:16).
The charges that St Paul faced, like those of the English tinker, were trumped up and unjust. He was often beaten. He records that: “I have been in prison more frequently [than the false teachers who seek to undermine the gospel], been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods” (2 Corinthians 11:23-25).
St Paul’s letter to Philemon, a Christian in the Greek town of Colosse in Asia Minor, was almost certainly written from a Roman gaol at the same time as his letter to the Colossian church, which ends with the words: “Remember my chains” (Colossians 4:18). To Philemon “our dear friend and fellow worker” (Philemon :1) he describes himself as being “a prisoner of Christ Jesus” (Philemon :9) who is “in chains for the gospel” (Philemon :13). Given these circumstances, it is extraordinary to find that the apostle is nevertheless able to give thanks, not just occasionally but always: “I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.” (Philemon :4-5). He practices what he preaches elsewhere, namely that we should “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Redeeming a Nation (Timeless Teaching) Page 15