100 Prison Meditations: Cries of Truth from Behind the Iron Curtain by Richard Wurmbrand Page B
Authors: Richard Wurmbrand
Tags: Philosophy
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not have desired it.
Why should martyrs be so honored? What they have done is not the maximum, but the minimum required from a disciple of Christ. Even to be like Christ in life and death would be below what could be expected of him. Whoever is
like
Christ is not Christ. We are meant to
be
Christ. We are the body of Christ—so we are He. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). The union between the believer and God is perfect. Martyrdom is a small thing in comparison with this calling.
Other highly interesting biographies are absent from the Bible. We are told in Acts 2:41 that on one day, in Jerusalem alone, three thousand souls were added to the church. Did they remain steadfast? Did they, in their turn, bring others to the church?
Why do you need answers? We continually hear about many who accept Christ at evangelical mass rallies. What happens with these people afterward? Are their decisions sincere?
Whoever asks many questions gets many depressing answers. The Bible teaches us to rejoice that some men had at least partial good will and good intentions, even if only for one day.
A Samaritan woman brought her whole town to Christ (John 4:30). Had she continued like this, no unconverted cities would have remained in Palestine. The Bible tells us only what she did on that one day. After this a veil is thrown upon her life.
A thief, Zacchaeus, promised under the Lord’s influence to give half his goods to the poor and to restore fourfold what he had stolen (Luke 19:8). The Bible story concludes with his promise, but we are not told whether he fulfilled his pledge. Luke rejoiced that a thief showed even a single moment of contrition.
Jesus praises an officer as being the most faithful man He had ever met (Matthew 8:10). It would seem to be instructive to know how this officer continued his life. A man who is faithful today might not always remain so. However, the Bible does not give us whole biographies, but teaches us to rejoice in the little and transitory good we find in men.
24
Echad and Iachid
An ancient Chinese parable tells of a hunter who went out to set traps with his son. The son, despite all warnings, set the traps on the road, instead of waiting to arrive in the forest. Soon many people were caught in the traps, including the boy’s mother and sister. Next, love and truth and hope were caught, and finally even the road fell into the snare. The world remained without a road.
After a long time, the father convinced his son to unlock the traps. The road was so happy to be free that it stretched out until the whole world became a road. “How beautiful
my
road is now!” exclaimed the boy. The road, hearing that someone claimed it as his possession, died. Since that time there has been no road in the world.
It is a pessimistic story. There
is
a road to God. The Bible is His revelation, a map that must be read with careful attention to its wording. This road also cannot be claimed by anyone as “mine”; it is God’s only.
The Bible’s main teaching is that God is one; our faith and baptism are one. But the Hebrew language has two expressions for the concept “one.”
Iachid
stands for absolute oneness, as in Genesis 22:2: “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love…”
Echad
represents composed oneness, as in the literal Hebrew for Genesis 1:5: “It was evening and it was morning, one day.”
God is never called
iachid
in the Hebrew Bible, but always
echad
, a composed unity. The literal translation of Deuteronomy 6:4, the keystone of the Jewish faith, is: “Listen, Israel, Jehovah, your gods [plural] is a Jehovah of composed unity [
echad
].”
“God was never alone, but being the only One, was many, for He was not wordless, nor wisdomless, nor powerless, nor counselless” (Hippolyt). “There are always present to Him the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit through whom and in whom He made all things
Why should martyrs be so honored? What they have done is not the maximum, but the minimum required from a disciple of Christ. Even to be like Christ in life and death would be below what could be expected of him. Whoever is
like
Christ is not Christ. We are meant to
be
Christ. We are the body of Christ—so we are He. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). The union between the believer and God is perfect. Martyrdom is a small thing in comparison with this calling.
Other highly interesting biographies are absent from the Bible. We are told in Acts 2:41 that on one day, in Jerusalem alone, three thousand souls were added to the church. Did they remain steadfast? Did they, in their turn, bring others to the church?
Why do you need answers? We continually hear about many who accept Christ at evangelical mass rallies. What happens with these people afterward? Are their decisions sincere?
Whoever asks many questions gets many depressing answers. The Bible teaches us to rejoice that some men had at least partial good will and good intentions, even if only for one day.
A Samaritan woman brought her whole town to Christ (John 4:30). Had she continued like this, no unconverted cities would have remained in Palestine. The Bible tells us only what she did on that one day. After this a veil is thrown upon her life.
A thief, Zacchaeus, promised under the Lord’s influence to give half his goods to the poor and to restore fourfold what he had stolen (Luke 19:8). The Bible story concludes with his promise, but we are not told whether he fulfilled his pledge. Luke rejoiced that a thief showed even a single moment of contrition.
Jesus praises an officer as being the most faithful man He had ever met (Matthew 8:10). It would seem to be instructive to know how this officer continued his life. A man who is faithful today might not always remain so. However, the Bible does not give us whole biographies, but teaches us to rejoice in the little and transitory good we find in men.
24
Echad and Iachid
An ancient Chinese parable tells of a hunter who went out to set traps with his son. The son, despite all warnings, set the traps on the road, instead of waiting to arrive in the forest. Soon many people were caught in the traps, including the boy’s mother and sister. Next, love and truth and hope were caught, and finally even the road fell into the snare. The world remained without a road.
After a long time, the father convinced his son to unlock the traps. The road was so happy to be free that it stretched out until the whole world became a road. “How beautiful
my
road is now!” exclaimed the boy. The road, hearing that someone claimed it as his possession, died. Since that time there has been no road in the world.
It is a pessimistic story. There
is
a road to God. The Bible is His revelation, a map that must be read with careful attention to its wording. This road also cannot be claimed by anyone as “mine”; it is God’s only.
The Bible’s main teaching is that God is one; our faith and baptism are one. But the Hebrew language has two expressions for the concept “one.”
Iachid
stands for absolute oneness, as in Genesis 22:2: “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love…”
Echad
represents composed oneness, as in the literal Hebrew for Genesis 1:5: “It was evening and it was morning, one day.”
God is never called
iachid
in the Hebrew Bible, but always
echad
, a composed unity. The literal translation of Deuteronomy 6:4, the keystone of the Jewish faith, is: “Listen, Israel, Jehovah, your gods [plural] is a Jehovah of composed unity [
echad
].”
“God was never alone, but being the only One, was many, for He was not wordless, nor wisdomless, nor powerless, nor counselless” (Hippolyt). “There are always present to Him the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit through whom and in whom He made all things
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