David Pawson - ’Unlocking the Bible’ Podcast

2 Samuel - part 2 - Unlocking The Bible

Part 21 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 

David Pawson, in this 2^nd talk on Samuel, points out that there are 6 different levels at which you can read Bible stories and it’s important that we should choose the right one. They are: 1. Anecdotal, just an interesting story; 2. Devotional, hoping to find a personal word; 3. Character Studies including the character of women, which can be inspirational (Hannah & Abigail for instance); 4. History of Israel – how it developed, and King David’s leadership is worth studying; 5. Critical – and higher critical study sadly has infected the whole world; 6. The Theological – finding out about God. He’s having an influence on history and is the major player in these stories. God is the living God. King David wanted to build a temple for God but was forbidden as he had blood on his hands. Jerusalem means city of peace and Solomon, a man of peace, did the building. But God made a covenant with David that his house (family line) and kingdom would endure forever. A thousand years later, this covenant was fulfilled, and the promise kept, and Jesus was born who was often called “Son of David” and was of his family line.

1 Kings - part 1 - Unlocking The Bible

Part 22 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 

David Pawson says other history may be interesting, but the history of Israel is vital for the whole of mankind. From the height of success, the times of the kings headed downhill. First the land was split between 10 tribes in the north and 2 in the south and eventually the 10 were deported to Assyria. While there were a few good kings it was not enough to stem the downward trend and the 2 tribes were taken away to Babylon. God had warned them that they would suffer a similar fate, but they disobeyed. David says one of the main reasons for reading the books of Kings is that it can happen to the church as well. Though their descendants returned to the land under priests, they were then occupied by the Egyptians, the Syrians, the Greeks and finally the Romans which was the situation when Jesus was born. For a Hebrew, a kingdom is about authority, not a place. Thus the kingdom of God is not a place but a power. The kings were judged as good or bad according to whether they honoured God or not. This is history from God’s point of view. Understanding history saves us from repeating the mistakes of the past. David says God is still in charge of history. The two significant prophets in Kings are Elijah and Elisha.

2 Kings - part 2 - Unlocking The Bible

Part 23 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series

David Pawson observes that the book of Kings begins with King Solomon who began well by asking for wisdom, so God gave him everything he didn’t ask for as well: wealth, fame and power. Solomon wanted to share his wisdom. Unfortunately, he only had wisdom for everybody else, none for himself though he wrote three books and did many good things. He built a temple for the Lord with the materials and the plans from his father, David. All the northern kings were evil. In the south, some were good. The south survived a hundred and forty years longer than the north because good kings reigned longer. They had two very good kings called Hezekiah and Josiah, but another, Manasseh, even got into Satan worship. He ordered the death of Isaiah the prophet. We see in the book of Kings the dangers of becoming mixed up in other religions, other ways of life and other moralities. And it’s happening. But the God who is the king of the universe is also our judge and sooner or later we will lose what He’s given to us unless we wake up. That’s the lesson from the book of Kings. The Bible is able to make us ‘wise unto salvation’ and avoid the terrible mistakes that God’s people of old made.

1 & 2 Chronicles - Unlocking The Bible

Part 24 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 

David Pawson explains that, though there is much repetition in the books of Kings and Chronicles, one is viewed as a prophetic book and the other not, by the Jews. Jews have grouped the books of the Old Testament entirely differently from Christians, and thereby we have misunderstood some important matters. And if we skip Chronicles because it seems to be like Kings, we will miss the unique message it brings. As with the Gospels, these books are written from different angles, one from a prophetic viewpoint and the other from a priestly viewpoint. And Chronicles covers a much longer period, omits much included in Samuel and Kings, and is looking at the kings of Judah only. In fact, the writer is concerned only with kings in the royal line of David and their attitudes to two spiritual matters. David Pawson brings clarity to this study on Chronicles. He says that the author is writing for the sake of the Jews returning to the land from a long exile, and wants to give them Roots (that they had a line that God had been controlling all the way down), Royalty (they had their own royal line) and Religion (the purpose for which they existed) again.

Ezra and Nehemiah - part 1 - Unlocking The Bible

Part 25 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 

In looking at Ezra and Nehemiah, David Pawson gives the background of the 3 deportations which Israel had suffered under Assyria and Babylon, and the 3 returns to the land. Years earlier, Isaiah had prophesied that a man named Cyrus would release Israel from their captors and Cyrus, of Babylon, did just that though he did it for his own agenda. Apparently both being written by Ezra, these books record the rebuilding of the social life, of the religious life and of the physical wall and buildings, though the latter suffered threats and interruptions. Zerubbabel, of the Hebrew royal line, led the first return. Now Ezra, a priest, led the second and Nehemiah, a few years later, led the third. Each made an impact on a different aspect of Israeli life. Both books look at how the leaders went about rebuilding the state and reforming the people. The tragedy was that, though the earlier sin of the people had been the catalyst for losing their land, when they got back, they went back into sin. We see that Ezra was a “Bible man” – he studied it, he lived it and he taught it.  What an example.

Ezra and Nehemiah - part 2 - Unlocking The Bible

Part 26 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 

In this talk, David Pawson gives more emphasis to the book of Nehemiah – the story of the man of prayer and faith given permission to return to Jerusalem to organize the rebuilding. Despite opposition, he encouraged the returned exiles to do the work while armed to ward off attack. They completed the repair of ancient Jerusalem’s wall in 52 days because ‘the people had a will to work’. Nehemiah had to deal with internal economic and moral woes as well as external threats and conspiracy. Ezra arranged the public reading of God’s Word so that the people would have an understanding, and had the people renew their Covenant with the Lord. David Pawson compares the two leaders, Ezra and Nehemiah, and says we need both types of men. He says if Ezra was the Bible man, Nehemiah was the prayer man, but he was also practical and didn’t mind putting his hand to cementing. David says he thinks we should be inspired by Scriptural characters, emulating what’s good in them and avoiding their mistakes if we can. Overall, we are looking at the story of God and his people. And God kept his promises to both punish their wrongdoing and to bless their repentance. David reveals the thread of Scripture.

Esther - Unlocking The Bible

Part 27 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 

David Pawson says there are few books of the Bible set outside the Promised Land, Esther being one.  They tell us how Jews behaved when they were in Gentile society. We can learn from some of them how to interact in non-Christian society without compromise. David looks at Daniel alongside Esther as both record events during the Jewish exile to Babylon. Both rose to positions where they were able to help their people, Esther being queen. The story of Esther is quite a romantic one with all the ingredients of a great drama and archaeology has shown it is a true story. And though God is not overtly mentioned, it is through the prayers and fasting of the Jews when under threat of death that they were rescued by the intervention of Queen Esther. But to do so meant she had to reveal her secret – that she herself was Jewish. Even a dream of the king was involved in the drama. What David brings out is that this drama played out so long ago, had it gone the wrong way, would have meant the annihilation of the Jewish race and meant that Jesus could not have come to earth. This story reveals the strategies of both Satan and God.

Job - part 1 - Unlocking The Bible

Part 28 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 

David Pawson warns against quoting verses out of context because, in a book such as Job, you may be quoting one of Job’s friends when they were wrong about what they said. God eventually showed that they were wrong. “That’s why it’s so important to know a whole book”, says David. This is an unusual book and David looks at the possibilities of how it came to be recorded. Job is indeed a factual person, known about outside the scriptures and the land of Israel. David believes that the author has taken the true story of Job and written it up in poetic form, bringing out the real issues he was facing. This book presents an answer to some of life’s biggest questions: Why is there pain and suffering? Why do good people endure it, and bad people escape it? Does God care about it? This is one of the books that reveals what is happening in heavenly realms so that we can make sense of what happens on earth. We can learn some valuable lessons from Job. David says, “It’s not finding the answers to your questions, it’s getting to the point in your relationship to God where you don’t need them.”  

Job - part 2 - Unlocking The Bible

Part 29 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 

David Pawson says that the book of Job consists largely of two debates, one in heaven and one on earth. As in any particular case of suffering, nobody knows the whole picture. David says the real question is not about undeserved suffering, but whether you can go on believing in a good God when everything is going wrong. He says that Job’s real pain was that through the suffering he lost touch with God. Several friends came and sat with Job which was good – until they opened their mouths and gave him their own human wisdom – and some of their arguments are still being used today. They all saw that Job could not be innocent since he was suffering so much. Each man was trying to force Job’s situation into their own preconceived ideas; this is bigotry. Job responds to each of his friends by acknowledging that God has visited this suffering upon him, but he can’t repent because he is not aware of any sin. He calls upon God to visit him so he can argue his case with him. When God finally responds, he shows that Job had been discrediting him to justify himself. Job repents of this arrogance, he is at last back in touch with the Lord, and the Lord blessed Job amazingly.

Hebrew Poetry - Unlocking The Bible

Part 30 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series 

Why is it important to have a Bible which shows the difference between poetry and prose? Because, as Hebrew poetry differs from English poetry, it would be easy for us to miss it. Prose is written from margin to margin while poetry is spaced out more. David Pawson says, when God speaks in prose, he is communicating thoughts from his mind to ours, but when he speaks in poetry he is communicating his feelings from his heart to our heart. We should recognize that we actually affect God’s feelings every day. What we feel about God is not nearly as important as what he feels about us. Poetry reaches the parts of us that prose cannot. Also it stays in the memory longer. As well as touching your heart, it can go deeper into the will and challenge you – to change your way of life. It is meant to be read aloud. Poetry has Rhyme, Rhythm and Repetition. Hebrew poetry does not use rhyme but has rhythm and especially repetition. It often relies on two statements that belong together – couplets – which echo each other, with the 2^nd line usually taking the thought a step further or presenting the opposite thought. An interesting study which helps us to appreciate the different form of poetry which God used.