When these were delivered, I thought – there must be some mistake. Then, I remembered…
Of course! The cocoons of the giant Mexican Tacomoth! No, just kidding.
You may know that, every Sunday, a faithful few get up early in the morning to put up a series of tarps and tents so we can have our weekly service. There are various tarps over the congregation, all tied up with ropes every Sunday. There’s a tent for all the instruments and the pulpit. And there’s a small tent in the back for the children’s Sunday school class.
After the service, all this needs to come down, be wrapped and tied and folded and put away. There are usually quite a few extra helpers after the service, as everything comes down together, chairs are put away, instruments are put away, and so on.
As thankful as we are for all the hard workers, we’re looking for ways to make things easier.
So, what have we there on the couch? Three new mesh tarps. The plan is to have something in place that not only looks nicer, but is a lot easier to put up and take down. They will let a little more sun through, but still provide shade. No, they will not protect from rain. However, here in Mexico City, that’s really only a problem maybe one or two Sundays a year, and we’ll still have options if we need to rush around at the last minute to provide shelter.
The other improvement we’re hoping for is a little more shaded space for children’s activities. It’s pretty chilly right now, but in a couple of weeks we’ll likely be entering into our hot season, and shade will be all the more important.
So here’s hoping we can be a little more efficient, while still providing space for our disciple-making. We’re also working on some electrical issues, plumbing issues, and some much-needed / urgent – sound system replacement and upgrades.
And if you’re wondering – what about a more permanent solution? Yes, we’re working on that as well! But I’ll keep you in suspense for a while longer as work goes on behind the scenes.
Ten years ago today I was in the midst of my new series “Where did the Bible come from?”, which eventually became a seminar which I have shared in Canada and elsewhere in Mexico as well.
Here I am with a replica of P52, a papyrus with part of the Gospel of John, dated from the early second century. Shari and I were able to see it in person back in 2011. As you can see, my t-shirt also fits the theme, with other fragments from the second century. This seminar is so much fun – I hope I can do it again!
Last time in our Biblical Anthropology series we started talking more about art in the Bible – and the descriptions of the Tabernacle and Temple are a treasure trove.
Artist’s rendition of Solomon’s temple
Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them.
Exodus 26:1
Here is just a part of the instructions for the robe of the High Priest:
On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them, a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe.
Exodus 28:33-34
The High Priest literally made music while he walked! And here we see physical images – a pomegranate, in 3D. Blue, purple and scarlet. Have you ever seen a purple pomegranate? Not me. Of course, maybe the threads are supposed to be combined together. But either way, these are not identical to real pomegranates – they’re artistic representations.
And this art continues in the construction of the Temple. David said that the pattern for the temple had been given to him from God Himself (1 Chronicles 28:19).
There were precious stones in the Temple. Why? They’re beautiful! Here, listen to this description of the huge receptacle called the “sea”:
Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. Under it were figures of gourds, for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward. Its thickness was a handbreadth. And its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held 3,000 baths.
2 Chronicles 4:2-5
And so here we have this huge “sea” – decorated with oxen. And overall it looked like an open lily.
There should be no doubt left in our minds that there is nothing wrong with artistic images in general. And that includes images used for religious purposes. But you don’t bow before them!
In fact, there are many different types of art in the Temple and Tabernacle. The Sea would be applied art, art used for a practical purpose. It’s also “plastic art”. That’s not necessarily art made from plastic, but art moulded from a certain material, such as gold.
Not only were there bells on the high priest’s robe, there was also a chorus of priests who led worship. There was wonderful-smelling incense. There was food to enjoy. You could use all your senses in the Temple.
And at the entrance – two magnificent columns. And we don’t know for sure, but it doesn’t seem like there were there to hold anything up. That is – they seem to have no practical “use” at all. They just looked beautiful! (Of course, beauty is practical, but you know what I mean.)
And so, in the Temple alone, we see all kinds of art, art that communicates, sometimes only communicating beauty. We see representations of spiritual things, representations of physical things. And not exact representations, artistic interpretations. Art that required artistic ability and technique.
And God Himself gave men and women artistic skill. An example:
“See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft.
Exodus 31:2-5
Plastic art (gold, silver and bronze), architecture (cutting stones for setting). God is the head craftsman. He loves art!
And although some art in the Bible is what we might call “religious”, some art is not directly related to worship. Of course, for believers, all of life is worship. But there is what we might call “secular art” in the Bible as well.
For example, have you read about Solomon’s throne? Incredible!
We have an entire book that talks about romantic love, and doesn’t even mention God (or only mentions Him once, but that’s another story).
And not all art in the Bible is happy and uplifting. For example, we have a secular poem from David, a lament for the death of Saul and Jonathan:
Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! … Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions.
2 Samuel 1:19,23
And so the Bible seems to celebrate both religious and non-religious art.
God even commanded the creation of art which was probably – well – ugly art. Or perhaps we could say, disturbing. Numbers 21 – a little context:
And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
Numbers 21:5-6
When the people repented, what did God tell Moses to do?
And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”
Numbers 21:8
And so Moses creates an image of an unclean animal and puts it on a pole. A serpent on a stick. A symbol of sin, suffering, and death.
And everyone who looked at it was saved. Certainly not because it was a beautiful piece of art. But because of faith in the way of salvation that God had provided.
And according to Jesus, this was a symbol of Himself on the cross. Not something beautiful, but something that saves.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
John 3:14-15
Now, maybe you know what happened to Moses’ snake on a stick later on. It was saved. Hmmm… maybe it could save someone again. No – it’s not the art that saved you…
But they hung on to it for 6 centuries. And they gave it a name! “Nehushtan” – which sounds like “bronze serpent” in Hebrew. And they worshipped it. The patron saint of snake bites.
Archeologists have found an altar in Israel with a carved serpent on one of the rocks – maybe this was an altar to Nehushtan.
This is an important story. Because, from one perspective, this is what happened. Ugly art of a snake on a stick, art commanded by God, became separated from God’s Word.
Christianity is based on words – the Written Word. Christians have promoted literacy, translations of Scripture. We put Bible passages on the walls of our homes. We memorize. We study. Words.
The world, on the other hand, seems to be more and more focused on images. Television, YouTube. Instagram. TickTock. We want shows, spectacles. Coloured lights. Magazine covers.
And often, those images are separated from words. After all, it’s better to skip the book and wait for the movie version to come out! And as the world prioritizes images, it leads us to venerate those images. We start to lose our capacity to think and our ability to know what God has revealed in His Word. The revelation of the Scriptures.
A (not so new) strategy of the world is to de-emphasize the word (and the Word) and venerate the image. And I’m not just talking about “veneration” in religion, but simply placing an image above God and His Word in any way.
(I’m indebted to Arthur Hunt, retired Professor of Mass Media and Strategic Communication at the University of Tennessee at Martin (UTM), for his research on the drift of the world from words to images. His book, The Vanishing Word: The Veneration of Visual Imagery in the Postmodern World, is fascinating.)
All of this brings us to a sticky topic. What about “judging” art? Is art something that can be – should be – evaluated? If so, how? We’ll get into that next time.
Ten years ago today, Hannah and Nathanael were doing some cookie decorating with Tiffany at the community centre in Jesús María! Tiffany isn’t in this picture, but you can probably pick out Hannah and Nathanael. Just click the photo for a larger version.
On Saturday four of us left Ixtapaluca at about 5am to attend a meeting of Bible church leaders from the area. I believe about 8 or 9 churches were represented (with three people attending via Zoom, due to a car breakdown and other circumstances).
It was encouraging to spend time together, although concerning at times to hear some of the things that people are going through. These are challenging times, and it’s good to come together as believers and look to the Lord.
We planned – or, I should say, started planning quite a few events for the coming year, including a youth event, a men’s retreat, and a joint service. Everyone is anxious to get together after having fewer activities over the past few years.
In other news, our coworkers Rod and David went to the state of Oaxaca to serve there and see what the Lord is doing. There’s a possibility of sending a team or two there in the future, whether from our area here in Mexico or (and?) from a team from outside the country. I won’t give everything away – there’s more information and a video at Rod’s blog – be sure to check out Reaching an Unreached Ethnic Group.
We’re encouraged to see what God is doing here at home as well. Here’s a recent picture from a Sunday morning, although there were quite a few who weren’t there that day. Nathanael used his growing skills as a photographer (Photography is one of his courses this year) to take the shot (with a timer, obviously!). Just click the image for a higher-resolution version in our photo gallery.
8 January 2023
Thanks to so many of you who also are working with us to reach Mexico!
When we think about “art”, we’re often thinking about the fine arts like painting and sculptures. Which, for the Christian, might bring to mind “images” from the second of the Ten Commandments –
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Exodus 20:4
If God is literally telling us not to ever make any image of anything, that would restrict our art significantly!
The translation “carved image” is accurate – this would be an image carved of wood or stone.
This has been a huge controversy in church history, particularly when it comes to pictures or sculptures depicting God, or other religious images such as angels or saints. The arguments became very complicated. Some suggested that a sculpture was sinful, but a two-dimensional icon was all right. I even remember hearing – could someone find the source for me? – that at one point there was a “nose-pinch” test. If the image was three-dimensional enough that you could pinch its nose, it was a sinful image.
I’m not going to get into all of that today! But there are some people who have argued that we shouldn’t have any visual art at all that represents anything in the creation. No photos, no paintings, nothing.
But context is a wonderful thing, and the next verse does clarify what this commandment is all about:
You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me…
Exodus 20:5
God isn’t talking about any image, but a religious image that you would bow down to – an idol. Deuteronomy also clarifies the issue:
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Deuteronomy 5:8-10
It is prohibited to worship an idol, says Moses. If you serve an idol, that’s a sin. In fact, even if you bow or kneel to an image, you’re breaking this commandment –
…that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them…
Joshua 23:7
The problem is not the sculpture in itself. But the problem is the sculpture when it is created as an object of worship.
It’s also a sin to create an image representing the true God. You might remember that the Israelites had a name for their golden calf idol – it was “Yahweh” (Jehovah). But the Holy Spirit said through Moses:
Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth..
Deuteronomy 4:15-18
These verses don’t condemn art in general, but idolatry, and physical representations of the invisible God to worship.
But there’s another reason why we know that the second commandment is not against art in general. The Tabernacle.
The Tabernacle, according to God’s own instructions, was filled with works of art.
For example, do you remember what was above the Ark of the Covenant? “Two cherubim of gold”. A cherub is a kind of angel.
It makes you wonder – did God describe what cherubim look like to the artist? Maybe – but of course they are spiritual creatures. Real cherubim aren’t made of gold. This was, in the end, an artistic representation of something spiritual.
A study of the Tabernacle – and the Temple – is a fascinating look at how God views art. Let’s take some time in the next part of our study to look closer at the kinds of art that we see in the Old Testament.
