Originally published in the June 2006 issue of The Christadelphian magazine
A novel idea
GOD has revealed His purpose with mankind through the pages of His word and in the person of His Son. He could have produced a document full of technical information about the human condition, and His offer of salvation, but instead He revealed His purpose by describing the lives of men and women and the history of His nation Israel. Similarly, when Jesus began to preach about the coming kingdom of God, he could have given long and scholarly discourses, but in fulfilment of what had been prophesied about him he spoke to the people in parables: accounts of men and women in different situations, containing an underlying message for those with ears to hear.
We are therefore familiar with the style where important principles and lessons for life are woven into daily events; in the process we are taught that God’s offer of salvation affects every aspect of life and is to be acknowledged in every part of life.
Imaginative accounts
But when it comes to using the same method to convey divine principles and the message of the Gospel, only rarely as a community do we produce material in the style of a parable, story or drama. There have been some notable exceptions. Brother Roberts, for example, produced The Trial, a book reviewing in a dramatic form the evidence for the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and The Final Consolation, where his scripturally attuned imagination was directed towards producing a word picture of life during the millennium. There have also been some children’s stories published, either in a biblical or a contemporary setting, aimed at presenting Bible principles.
The recent publication A Time to Hear, however, is a full-length work of fiction aimed at adults and older teenagers. The author has imaginatively set the story in the early years of the first century AD, describing events in the life of a fictional character: a shepherd’s son called Daniel. Through careful research, details of daily life in a Galilean home are faithfully presented, and they provide colour and background to the events that gradually unfold.
In the book, Daniel and his family muse about the scriptures, and what the promises made two thousand years earlier to Abraham really mean. In particular, what was meant when Abraham was promised descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sand by the seashore? Daniel and his family were descended from Abraham. Were they stars? Were they grains of sand? There was talk of a coming Messiah, with many hoping that he would rid the country of the hated Roman occupiers.
As the story unfolds, the reader is introduced to an aged shepherd who remembers a night on the hills outside Bethlehem, and to news of a wild and stirring preacher calling on men and women to repent and be baptized. Each chapter in the book contributes towards a compelling account of one person’s journey to learn about the Messiah. In the process various passages of scripture are brought to life; sometimes shown in a different light, revealing how the hope of Israel focused at that particular time, when men and women in Israel were in eager expectation.
For young Daniel, it was a time to hear. He learns that “Each star, each grain of sand – matters! Not just as one of millions needed to group together to form the whole heaven, or the whole beach – but as special – yes, precious – on its own as well”.
It is no less true for modern readers, for the Gospel call goes out to individual men and women in each generation: “Today, if ye will hear his voice …”
