Years ago while studying the Word of God under the guidance and influence of Colonel R. B. Thieme of Baracha Church in Houston, TX, he introduced to me the four laws of Divine Establishment. These four laws, or principles by which God set out for the human race to follow, have been and are now, in my opinion, becoming more and more relevant everyday. I am including in this Focus Point a summary of this doctrine.
DEFINITION - A divine institution is a principle of divine operation directed toward the human race for its orderly direction and preservation.
DIVINE INSTITUTION #1 - VOLITION
God gives every human being the choice to be independent of God or to live and act with dependence upon Him. Every individual has the right to make his/her own decisions and to be responsible for those decisions. The authority in Divine Institution #1 is God. Gen. 1 and 2.
Side note: Several months ago a friend sent me via email, a speech given by Herb Meyer, who, at one time, held a high office in the CIA. It is one of the most interesting and relevant emails I have ever received. The following is a quote from Herb Meyer's speech:
"There are three major monotheistic religions in the world: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. In the 16th century, Judaism and Christianity reconciled with the modern world. The rabbis, priests and scholars found a way to settle up and pave the way forward. Religion remained at the center of life, church and state became separate. Rule of law, idea of economic liberty, individual rights, human rights...all these are defining points of modern Western civilization. These concepts started with the Greeks but didn't take off until the 15th and 16th century when Judaism and Christianity found a way to reconcile with the modern world. When that happened, it unleashed the scientific revolution and the greatest outpouring of art, literature and music the world has ever known.
"Islam, which developed in the 7th century, counts millions of Moslems around the world who are normal people. However, there is a radical streak within Islam. When the radicals are in charge, Islam attacks Western civilization. Islam first attacked Western civilization in the 7th century and later in the 16th and 17th centuries. By 1683 the Moslems (Turks from the Ottoman Empire) were literally at the gates of Vienna. It was in Vienna that the climatic battle between Islam and Western civilization took place. The West won and went forward. Islam lost and went backward. Interestingly, the date of that battle was September 11. Since then, Islam has not found a way to reconcile with the modern world. Today terrorism is the third attack on Western civilization by radical Islam. To deal with terrorism, the U.S. is doing two things. First, units of our armed forces are in 30 countries around the world hunting down terrorist groups and dealing with them. This gets very little publicity.
"Second, we are taking military action in Afghanistan and Iraq. These are covered relentlessly by the media. People can argue about whether the war in Iraq is right or wrong. However, the underlying strategy behind the war is to use our military to remove the radicals from power and give the moderates a chance. Our hope is that, over time, the moderates will find a way to bring Islam forward into the 21st century. That's what our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan is all about." (End of quote).
It is interesting to note that, of these three major monotheistic religions, it is Islam that, by design, tries to not only deny volition and the right to choose, but they intend to destroy those who will not submit to that so-called "Belief system." If ever Satan had a massive weapon with which to war against God, it's Islam! Plus, along with their message of "Submit to Allah, or else," they are infested with the most hateful anti-Jewish , destroy Israel at all costs attitude, now and throughout world history. Obviously, I think Herb Meyer's hopeful scenario of ever bringing Islam into the 21st century is a hopeless dream. It ain't going to happen! Never! Neither is President Bush's hope of defeating terrorism and establishing democracies in the Middle East.
DIVINE INSTITUTION #2 -MARRIAGE
This is the basic organization of the human race. It is the institution God established for the orderly function and reproduction of the human race. It is a civil institution - not a Christian institution. People are considered married or unmarried according to their civil law. If the laws of a nation state that a marriage is constituted with the exchange of wheat or goats or property, then they are married. Old Testament marriages were arranged by the parents. (This would never do today in politically correct USA).
In a biblical marriage the husband is the initiator, aggressor and the authority but remember, marriage is for believers and unbelievers. When this institution is neglected, the nation can be destroyed. Genesis 2:18-25. Admittedly, most marriages leave much to be desired, even in "Christianized countries" but where does the religion and life-style of radical Islamic Jihad fit in this Divine institution? Not even close! They are instructed to marry four women and they, the husbands, are to scourge any or all of his wives when they disobey him! (Quran 4:34)
DIVINE INSTITUTION #3 - FAMILY
This institution is set up to raise and train children in areas of respect for authority, respect for the rights of others, the privacy of others, the respect for common law, the property of others (public and private). Genesis 4 through 10, in particular 4:1-15; 5:1-3. Authority....parents.
In the institution of family, the child is to be taught how to live life and to function in a community of others, i.e. family, at play, at school, at work, etc. Key words? - love and discipline. And, oh yes, respect for authority. Obviously, the hard core Islamic Jihad, the holy war that many of them are waging is not in the Divine design!
DIVINE INSTITUTION #4 - NATIONALISM
This is the means of protecting and preserving the human race from evils such as Hitler and Stalin. No segment of the human race gets enough power so as to destroy or control the rest of the human race. To have no nations is internationalism. This is the target of Satan for the world system. The design of nationalism is to provide protection for the individual, giving him the freedom to live according to his own volition. The authority in nationalism are the national leaders according to the laws of the nation.
I can't imagine any greater threat to any people in any nation than the presence and control of the Islamic Jihad. Just the massive influx of the Islamic people in Europe and Great Britain is just a foretaste of the coming changes. Laws are being flaunted. Life-styles are being altered and changed - all against the wishes of the people. It seems as though even though the people and leadership are against these changes, they are almost powerless to slow it all down or to stop it.
Just think of the changes that have swept over our beloved country in the last ten to fifteen years
as a result of "political correctness." Add to that, our unprotected borders are an open door invitation, not only to the poor man or woman who wants a better life (who can blame them for that?) but it leaves the gates open for the terrorists and those with their own political agenda. My friend, we are in some deep trouble.
That's why Divine Institution #4 is so vital. Each country is designed by God, to be free to develop its own political structure, its own economy and tax system, its own military and its own laws. And listen to this - there is not one human being on the face of the earth with the intellect, the humility, the honesty and compassion to lead this world into a period of the freedoms and liberties that God has designed for the human race.
It's obvious, at least it is to me, that when God moved upon the prophets in the Old Testament, He led them to write of an age, a period of time when the Messiah would rule and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. They wrote of a time when men would beat the swords into plowshares and the lion would lie down with the lamb and of His Kingdom, His rule, His reign, there would be no end.
I don't see that coming out of the "United Nothings" - I mean the United Nations. I don't see that coming out of the Islamic Jihad, nor do I see that coming from the Democrats or the Republicans!
I'll tell you where I do see it. I see it in the verses and chapters that make up The Book of The Revelation of The Lord Jesus Christ.
"If you read this prophecy aloud to the Church, you will receive a special blessing from the Lord. Those who listen to it being read and do what it says will also be blessed. For the time is near when these things will all come true." Revelation 1:3
Blessings,
Bro. Bob K
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Focus Point # 17
The angelic conflict is what it is and it will never be anything else. It is the greatest battle of all time and all eternity. It is the conflict between God and Satan. God is the essence of love, light and truth. Satan is the exact opposite. He is the essence of hate, darkness and deceit. God is infinite and He is without limits regarding any and all of His attributes. Satan, on the other hand, possesses none of God's attributes. Not one! He is a limited, created being.
God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are one in essence and three in personality. God the Father and God the Holy Spirit love the Son far beyond any and all comprehension. God the Holy Spirit, during Jesus Christ's human journey, found no greater purpose than to glorify the Son. In the Gospel of John 16:14, Jesus said, "He (the Holy Spirit) shall glorify Me in that He will show you who I Am." And remember, it was God the Holy Spirit who led the Apostle Paul to write in the Book of Philippians 2:9-11 - "The Father gave Jesus a name which is above every name" (V.9) and in V. 12 He said, "The Father will receive the ultimate glory when every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord!" That means that every angel was created by God to glorify the Son. That's why Lucifer was created in the first place. He and every other angel. Angels, in their un-fallen state, had a volition, a capacity to choose, given them by the Creator. Why? I think the answer is obvious: What glory comes from a heart that has no choice? So the Eternal God created angels with the capacity to choose to love and honor the Son. Lucifer chose not to obey God. He wanted the glory for himself.
Obviously, God did not and could not, by virtue of His own nature, allow Lucifer, the angel of light, to stay in His presence and to continually not love and glorify His Son. So the "angel of light" was cast out of the presence of the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. He then became the prince of darkness! He, along with those angels who chose to follow him.
Okay. Then why Adam and Eve? Why Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Why Pharaoh? Why Hitler? Why Saddam Hussein? Why Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Why Paul? and why Billy Graham? Why was Billy created? And Mother Theresa, she was about as humble and sweet as they come. Why was she born? Why did God give her life? Why you? Why me? Why the human race? One answer fits all! To believe in Jesus Christ as our only substitute, dying to pay the penalty of our inherited sin nature and all of our sinful deeds and to give us eternal life. And....here's the biggie: To give glory, praise and love to JESUS CHRIST, confessing Him to be the Lord of our life, all as a result of our hearing the Good News and of our own free will, believing in what He did for us, He did out of love!
Does Jesus Christ really deserve all of the love and glory that God says He deserves? Of course He does. But that's a choice every soul must make. Some say "Yes, He does" and some say "No, He doesn't."
Still looking at the big picture, how do we humans know when we're doing the right thing in this angelic conflict issue? Well, it varies. It depends upon who you are and at what point in time we're talking about. Take the Old Testament Jewish people. God singled them out from all the other people in the world. He gave them a set of laws and rules whereby they could know when they were obedient and when they were disobedient. (What about the rest of the human race? We'll get to that in a moment.) Along with those laws, God gave to the Jewish people phenomenal, marvelous, awe inspiring miracles to verify His own existence and His love for His people. Did God give those laws to other people? No, He didn't. Did He do those miracles for other people? No, He didn't. He gave the Law (Mosaic) to the Jews only. (Deuteronomy 4:8 and Romans 2:12-14) Did other people, did Gentile people see those miracles? Yes, the saw many of them, but not all. So, suffice to say, the Jewish people knew, they were told what to do to honor God. If they, the Jews, obeyed the Law, honor would come to the Son of God, the One to Whom the Law pointed and spoke of. Amazing!
The other group, the vast amount of people that God has given explicit instructions to as to what they should be and do to love and honor the Son, is the Church, those who believe and obey the Bible record as to why it was that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, grew up and lived the perfect life and died on the Cross for the sin of the world. To those people, the Church, who make up "The Body of Christ," God has given another set of instructions as to how they should love, worship and give honor to the Son. Those instructions are found in the Bible from the Book of Romans to the last Book, the Book of the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To the hundreds of millions of people in the world who do not believe in or love the Lord Jesus Christ, those 22 Books, from Romans to The Revelation, are a complete and total mystery. Included in this group are those Jews who do not believe in, they do not love and trust the Lord Jesus Christ to be their Messiah. In this group there are some great, moral, good, fine people, but not believers. Not "Christian." And also in this group there are some very bad, evil people.
Now the question I want to lay on the table is: Has God given to these hundreds of millions of people any instructions, any so called laws or standards of behavior whereby they could know what God, down through the years, has expected of them? Yes!
DIVINE ESTABLISHMENT, or LAW #1 is the establishment of VOLITION. Every soul born into this world, unless, of course, they are retarded or mentally handicapped, every soul, every person is capable of making choices. Some believe in God and some don't. Every soul born into the world is born with a GOD CONSCIOUSNESS. That is, in their soul there is an awareness that there IS a God. If they choose to continue to believe, I believe God will continue to give them additional information which will someday lead them to the message of the Gospel. Unfortunately, some, many take that inbred knowledge of God with which they are born and hide it in their own unbelief and thus never worship God or come to the knowledge of the truth - the Gospel. They do not love and glorify the Son. And God has given to them other rules and laws to obey. The one law that stands out is - No one is to murder another. When that happens, the perpetrator denies the VOLITION and the life God has given to the victim.
The next DIVINE INSTITUTION is MARRIAGE. The third is FAMILY and the fourth is NATIONAL ENTITY. All these we will take up the next time. In the meantime, fight the good fight of faith and honor the Son.
Blessings,
Bro. Bob
God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are one in essence and three in personality. God the Father and God the Holy Spirit love the Son far beyond any and all comprehension. God the Holy Spirit, during Jesus Christ's human journey, found no greater purpose than to glorify the Son. In the Gospel of John 16:14, Jesus said, "He (the Holy Spirit) shall glorify Me in that He will show you who I Am." And remember, it was God the Holy Spirit who led the Apostle Paul to write in the Book of Philippians 2:9-11 - "The Father gave Jesus a name which is above every name" (V.9) and in V. 12 He said, "The Father will receive the ultimate glory when every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord!" That means that every angel was created by God to glorify the Son. That's why Lucifer was created in the first place. He and every other angel. Angels, in their un-fallen state, had a volition, a capacity to choose, given them by the Creator. Why? I think the answer is obvious: What glory comes from a heart that has no choice? So the Eternal God created angels with the capacity to choose to love and honor the Son. Lucifer chose not to obey God. He wanted the glory for himself.
Obviously, God did not and could not, by virtue of His own nature, allow Lucifer, the angel of light, to stay in His presence and to continually not love and glorify His Son. So the "angel of light" was cast out of the presence of the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. He then became the prince of darkness! He, along with those angels who chose to follow him.
Okay. Then why Adam and Eve? Why Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Why Pharaoh? Why Hitler? Why Saddam Hussein? Why Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Why Paul? and why Billy Graham? Why was Billy created? And Mother Theresa, she was about as humble and sweet as they come. Why was she born? Why did God give her life? Why you? Why me? Why the human race? One answer fits all! To believe in Jesus Christ as our only substitute, dying to pay the penalty of our inherited sin nature and all of our sinful deeds and to give us eternal life. And....here's the biggie: To give glory, praise and love to JESUS CHRIST, confessing Him to be the Lord of our life, all as a result of our hearing the Good News and of our own free will, believing in what He did for us, He did out of love!
Does Jesus Christ really deserve all of the love and glory that God says He deserves? Of course He does. But that's a choice every soul must make. Some say "Yes, He does" and some say "No, He doesn't."
Still looking at the big picture, how do we humans know when we're doing the right thing in this angelic conflict issue? Well, it varies. It depends upon who you are and at what point in time we're talking about. Take the Old Testament Jewish people. God singled them out from all the other people in the world. He gave them a set of laws and rules whereby they could know when they were obedient and when they were disobedient. (What about the rest of the human race? We'll get to that in a moment.) Along with those laws, God gave to the Jewish people phenomenal, marvelous, awe inspiring miracles to verify His own existence and His love for His people. Did God give those laws to other people? No, He didn't. Did He do those miracles for other people? No, He didn't. He gave the Law (Mosaic) to the Jews only. (Deuteronomy 4:8 and Romans 2:12-14) Did other people, did Gentile people see those miracles? Yes, the saw many of them, but not all. So, suffice to say, the Jewish people knew, they were told what to do to honor God. If they, the Jews, obeyed the Law, honor would come to the Son of God, the One to Whom the Law pointed and spoke of. Amazing!
The other group, the vast amount of people that God has given explicit instructions to as to what they should be and do to love and honor the Son, is the Church, those who believe and obey the Bible record as to why it was that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, grew up and lived the perfect life and died on the Cross for the sin of the world. To those people, the Church, who make up "The Body of Christ," God has given another set of instructions as to how they should love, worship and give honor to the Son. Those instructions are found in the Bible from the Book of Romans to the last Book, the Book of the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To the hundreds of millions of people in the world who do not believe in or love the Lord Jesus Christ, those 22 Books, from Romans to The Revelation, are a complete and total mystery. Included in this group are those Jews who do not believe in, they do not love and trust the Lord Jesus Christ to be their Messiah. In this group there are some great, moral, good, fine people, but not believers. Not "Christian." And also in this group there are some very bad, evil people.
Now the question I want to lay on the table is: Has God given to these hundreds of millions of people any instructions, any so called laws or standards of behavior whereby they could know what God, down through the years, has expected of them? Yes!
DIVINE ESTABLISHMENT, or LAW #1 is the establishment of VOLITION. Every soul born into this world, unless, of course, they are retarded or mentally handicapped, every soul, every person is capable of making choices. Some believe in God and some don't. Every soul born into the world is born with a GOD CONSCIOUSNESS. That is, in their soul there is an awareness that there IS a God. If they choose to continue to believe, I believe God will continue to give them additional information which will someday lead them to the message of the Gospel. Unfortunately, some, many take that inbred knowledge of God with which they are born and hide it in their own unbelief and thus never worship God or come to the knowledge of the truth - the Gospel. They do not love and glorify the Son. And God has given to them other rules and laws to obey. The one law that stands out is - No one is to murder another. When that happens, the perpetrator denies the VOLITION and the life God has given to the victim.
The next DIVINE INSTITUTION is MARRIAGE. The third is FAMILY and the fourth is NATIONAL ENTITY. All these we will take up the next time. In the meantime, fight the good fight of faith and honor the Son.
Blessings,
Bro. Bob
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Focus Point # 16
Well, is there or is there not? Some say there is and some say there is not. I'm one, among many, who say there is and there are many more who say there is not. What do you think? And about now you're thinking, "I don't even know what the question is."
The question is, "According to the Bible, is there a future land, a place promised by God for the Jewish people?" Yes! Yes! Yes! I'm one of those who believe there is. I believe the Bible teaches that what Isaiah wrote as a prophecy, as a literal coming event, will come true. Among other things promised in Isaiah 9:6 & 7 is that Jesus will return to earth to sit upon the Throne of David, where He shall rule the whole world with justice and righteousness. If my memory serves me correctly, that will be the Throne in the City of Jerusalem.
And look at this in Isaiah 49:13-16. V 13 - the instructions from God "sing O Heavens and be joyful O earth and break forth into singing O mountains for the Lord hath comforted His people and will have mercy upon His afflicted. V 14 - But Zion, (the Land of Israel, the city of David) said the Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me. But God says through His prophet in V 15 - can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget (but I won't) yet will I not forget thee. V 16 - Behold, I have engraved thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls (the City of Jerusalem, your dwelling places) are continually before me.
Generally speaking, the folks who believe that the Jew is no longer in the picture are called A-Millenialists. The prefix "A" meaning NO Millennium, no one thousand year rule of King Jesus on David's Throne in Jerusalem.
Another name, or moniker, for this thinking, is Replacement theology. They believe that when Israel, the nation, the leadership and general population rejected Jesus as Messiah, God wiped His hands of that whole plan and ended His dealings with the Jewish people. Therefore, to their way of thinking, there are no unfulfilled prophecies for the Jewish people and there will be no future restoration for the City of Jerusalem or any other part of the land! they believe (and I don't) that when the Jews rejected the Messiah, all of God's covenant promises were transferred to the Church! Or to put it another way, all of the great promises and unconditional covenants made to Israel came to an end at their rejection and Israel was replaced by the Church!
Well, well! What about all those promises, those prophecies that speak of a world wide re-gathering of the Jewish people? Their answer: These promises are not to be interpreted literally, but allegorically. These promises are now directed to the elect, being brought into the Church until the Church is complete. (Remember, an allegory is a story in which people, things or happenings really have another meaning). Wow! That sure lets a loving, sovereign, omniscient, omnipotent, immutable God off the hook!
If the behavior of the people called Jews is the criteria as to whether or not God keeps His promises, the Church is in big trouble. The way I read Church history, we haven't done any better than the Israelites did. As a matter of fact, considering all of the divine operating assets we've had compared to theirs, our hopes are in the tank! And, on top of that, from what I see in the direction the Church seems to be taking, our hopes of assuming all of those promises are getting dimmer by the hour. Thank the Lord, most of His promises are based upon who He is and what He did and is doing....and not on us!
Let me give you another name or designation that ought to be familiar to you. The term is "dispensationalist" or to be more specific in the area of Bible prophecy, "pre-Millennialist." I am a
pre-Millennial, pre-Tribulation, dispensationalist (whew!) And, oh yes, I am a Baptist. A Southern Baptist. I think there will be a Rapture, a catching away, of the Church (true believers) before a 7 year Tribulation period. And I believe Jesus Himself will rule the world, sitting on the Throne of David for 1,000 years prior to the total destruction of the whole world. This will happen due to global warming. Not a hole in the ozone, according to Al Gore, but a total, complete bon fire. II Peter 3:10. "........the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are in it shall be burned up." Generally speaking, a ton of Southern Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, Church of God, Methodists and a whole bunch more do not believe what I just told you...what I believe. I don't want you to think I'm the only one who believes what I have just spelled out. Not by a long shot! I am in a camp of hundreds of thousands. But in sheer numbers, the A-Millennial view out rank the pre-Millennial view. And that means most of all Christendom, people who call themselves "Christian" do not believe there is a place in Bible prophecy dealing with the Nation of Israel.
Many in this "There ain't no unfulfilled promises to the Jews" camp are main line liberal denominations and they not only side with the poor peace loving, displaced Palestinians, but they have also taken the anti Israel, anti Semitic stance where it hurts big time! Out of their billion dollar strong savings and retirement funds, they have put a restriction on those investment companies. They have designated that none of their investments should ever be used to serve the purposes of Israel. That is: If the Caterpillar Corporation sells any of their construction equipment to Israel - pull the funds out of the Caterpillar Corporation.
That's the result of the Jimmy Carter lie, saying that Israel is the blame for the apartheid actions against the Palestinians. And that, my friend, is a big fat lie!
From what I've read and studied, when you look at the 5.5 million Jews in the Promised Land today, only 4, 5 or at the most, 6 thousand of them are believers in Jesus as their Messiah. And on top of that, most of the unbelievers are not orthodox, that is, they classify their religious position as atheist or agnostic. To be sure, there are some strong Christ honoring, Bible teaching ministries in the Land, but Israel is a far cry from what they will be like when the Lord Jesus returns to sit upon that glorious Throne. That means, of course, morally, politically, they're not what they should be. But hey, look at Washington, D.C.
Do yourself a favor. Pull out your bible and take a stroll down into one of our dear Father's luscious vineyards and read Deuteronomy chapter 30; Isaiah 27 and Ezekiel 39:25-29. And may the Lord honor His Word in our hearts as we stroll.
Blessings,
Bro. Bob
The question is, "According to the Bible, is there a future land, a place promised by God for the Jewish people?" Yes! Yes! Yes! I'm one of those who believe there is. I believe the Bible teaches that what Isaiah wrote as a prophecy, as a literal coming event, will come true. Among other things promised in Isaiah 9:6 & 7 is that Jesus will return to earth to sit upon the Throne of David, where He shall rule the whole world with justice and righteousness. If my memory serves me correctly, that will be the Throne in the City of Jerusalem.
And look at this in Isaiah 49:13-16. V 13 - the instructions from God "sing O Heavens and be joyful O earth and break forth into singing O mountains for the Lord hath comforted His people and will have mercy upon His afflicted. V 14 - But Zion, (the Land of Israel, the city of David) said the Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me. But God says through His prophet in V 15 - can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget (but I won't) yet will I not forget thee. V 16 - Behold, I have engraved thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls (the City of Jerusalem, your dwelling places) are continually before me.
Generally speaking, the folks who believe that the Jew is no longer in the picture are called A-Millenialists. The prefix "A" meaning NO Millennium, no one thousand year rule of King Jesus on David's Throne in Jerusalem.
Another name, or moniker, for this thinking, is Replacement theology. They believe that when Israel, the nation, the leadership and general population rejected Jesus as Messiah, God wiped His hands of that whole plan and ended His dealings with the Jewish people. Therefore, to their way of thinking, there are no unfulfilled prophecies for the Jewish people and there will be no future restoration for the City of Jerusalem or any other part of the land! they believe (and I don't) that when the Jews rejected the Messiah, all of God's covenant promises were transferred to the Church! Or to put it another way, all of the great promises and unconditional covenants made to Israel came to an end at their rejection and Israel was replaced by the Church!
Well, well! What about all those promises, those prophecies that speak of a world wide re-gathering of the Jewish people? Their answer: These promises are not to be interpreted literally, but allegorically. These promises are now directed to the elect, being brought into the Church until the Church is complete. (Remember, an allegory is a story in which people, things or happenings really have another meaning). Wow! That sure lets a loving, sovereign, omniscient, omnipotent, immutable God off the hook!
If the behavior of the people called Jews is the criteria as to whether or not God keeps His promises, the Church is in big trouble. The way I read Church history, we haven't done any better than the Israelites did. As a matter of fact, considering all of the divine operating assets we've had compared to theirs, our hopes are in the tank! And, on top of that, from what I see in the direction the Church seems to be taking, our hopes of assuming all of those promises are getting dimmer by the hour. Thank the Lord, most of His promises are based upon who He is and what He did and is doing....and not on us!
Let me give you another name or designation that ought to be familiar to you. The term is "dispensationalist" or to be more specific in the area of Bible prophecy, "pre-Millennialist." I am a
pre-Millennial, pre-Tribulation, dispensationalist (whew!) And, oh yes, I am a Baptist. A Southern Baptist. I think there will be a Rapture, a catching away, of the Church (true believers) before a 7 year Tribulation period. And I believe Jesus Himself will rule the world, sitting on the Throne of David for 1,000 years prior to the total destruction of the whole world. This will happen due to global warming. Not a hole in the ozone, according to Al Gore, but a total, complete bon fire. II Peter 3:10. "........the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are in it shall be burned up." Generally speaking, a ton of Southern Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, Church of God, Methodists and a whole bunch more do not believe what I just told you...what I believe. I don't want you to think I'm the only one who believes what I have just spelled out. Not by a long shot! I am in a camp of hundreds of thousands. But in sheer numbers, the A-Millennial view out rank the pre-Millennial view. And that means most of all Christendom, people who call themselves "Christian" do not believe there is a place in Bible prophecy dealing with the Nation of Israel.
Many in this "There ain't no unfulfilled promises to the Jews" camp are main line liberal denominations and they not only side with the poor peace loving, displaced Palestinians, but they have also taken the anti Israel, anti Semitic stance where it hurts big time! Out of their billion dollar strong savings and retirement funds, they have put a restriction on those investment companies. They have designated that none of their investments should ever be used to serve the purposes of Israel. That is: If the Caterpillar Corporation sells any of their construction equipment to Israel - pull the funds out of the Caterpillar Corporation.
That's the result of the Jimmy Carter lie, saying that Israel is the blame for the apartheid actions against the Palestinians. And that, my friend, is a big fat lie!
From what I've read and studied, when you look at the 5.5 million Jews in the Promised Land today, only 4, 5 or at the most, 6 thousand of them are believers in Jesus as their Messiah. And on top of that, most of the unbelievers are not orthodox, that is, they classify their religious position as atheist or agnostic. To be sure, there are some strong Christ honoring, Bible teaching ministries in the Land, but Israel is a far cry from what they will be like when the Lord Jesus returns to sit upon that glorious Throne. That means, of course, morally, politically, they're not what they should be. But hey, look at Washington, D.C.
Do yourself a favor. Pull out your bible and take a stroll down into one of our dear Father's luscious vineyards and read Deuteronomy chapter 30; Isaiah 27 and Ezekiel 39:25-29. And may the Lord honor His Word in our hearts as we stroll.
Blessings,
Bro. Bob
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Focus Point #15
First let me thank those of you who have written or called to thank Bettie and me for our time and efforts to bring to you, via email, what we think is a biblical perspective of what's going on in the Middle East. I well realize that I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but at the same time, let me brag about those whose books I've read and studied under. They are the "sharp" ones! Most of the views I try to pass on are not original with me. I've never tried to hide the fact that I didn't want the churches where I was privileged to serve to suffer under my originality! So here we go with #15.
I'm sure that the accounts of some of the experiences that Adam and Eve had were passed on to their kids. These people had walked with the Lord Himself in the cool of the day. They had to have shared some of those things with Cain and Able. Those boys knew that their parents lived in the Garden of Eden and they knew what caused their eviction from that first address. Noah just had to have talked about what went on before he got on that boat with his family. They didn't talk about TV, politics or sports. They talked about why people rejected his preaching for 120 years.
They talked about the satanic, negative to God attitude of the people. You'll never convince me that Abraham didn't explain to his son, Isaac, why his mom and dad didn't have their first son until so late in life. (Abe was 90 when Ishmael was born and Sarah was 80, though she was not Ishmael's mother..Hagar was). Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born and Sarah was 90. I don't profess to know what they said, but you know they talked about it. There was far more said than was written in the Bible.
Likewise, when God made that covenant, that UNCONDITIONAL covenant with Abraham, surely God told Abraham what He had done while Abraham was in his "deep sleep." God told Abraham that his seed would go into a land of strangers and become slaves for 400 years. That's a literal 400 years (count em') and then that nation (Egypt) would be judged. (Most of them died in the Red Sea.) Just ask Charleton Heston....he was there! What's more, God told Abraham that after 400 years in slavery, they would come out rich, and they did.....literally!
I think God told Abe how He Himself, in the form of that smoking furnace and burning lamp, passed between those animals. And then - get this - He, God, laid out the boundaries to the Promised Land. Literal, identifiable boundaries. Check it out, it's easy. It's in Genesis 15:19,20 & 21. Why is all this so important in this angelic conflict? It's important to me because I believe that a large group of Christians, way more than just one denomination, have come to so interpret the Word of God, that it has led many to a very subtle and deceiving anti-Semitic attitude.
But before we deal with that issue, let's go to the next major passage that deals with this "unconditional covenant" issue. This next passage of scripture is the record of God's promise to David that his kingdom would last forever; that someday the children of Israel would occupy the "Promised Land" and that they would move no more and those who afflicted them would hassle them no more...never! The scripture is II Samuel 7:8-17. It's called "The Davidic Covenant," the unconditional agreement, or promise that God made to King David.
After David died, his son Solomon became the king..II Samuel 7:13. "He (Solomon) shall build a house (the Temple) for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." Now tell me, how can you misinterpret that? How can you twist, turn, reverse or make that to mean any other than what it says without purposely changing the obvious meaning? Let me insert right here and give you the most widely accepted rule of interpretation in the Bible believing, evangelical world: "When the plain sense of the scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense. Therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate text, studied in the light of related passages, axiomatic and fundamental truths indicate clearly otherwise.! (Author, David L. Cooper)
Why am I making such a fuss about these very important Covenants? Well, as I said, there are those Christians, and there are many, and make no mistake about it, I do believe many of them are believers and I think they really love the Lord, but I, along with many other Christians, believe they have made and are making a terrible mistake in what they believe and preach. They have, and they are taking literal statements made in the Word of God and giving them an entirely different meaning.
I'll give you one illustration of just how far these guys will go, just how much liberty some of them will take to change the Word of God just to make it fit their thinking.
From the Broadman Commentary (Southern Baptist Convention) published in 1969. These were bad years for our Convention. Anyway, you well recall that God told Abraham to offer his only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice to the Lord. Obedient Abraham and his obedient son, Isaac, did just what God told them to do, even to the point where God told Abraham to tell his son, Isaac, to lay down on the altar...and he did. God told Abraham to take a knife and slay his son...and he did....almost! They claimed in the commentary that the reason Abraham offered Isaac was..."The climax of the psychology of his life." What gobble-d-gook is that? When anybody takes so much liberty and freedom in interpreting the Word of God, no wonder they do so much glossing over and cover up when it comes to the literal fulfilling of literal prophecies concerning Israel. It winds up being pure anti-Semitic rhetoric.
Let me suggest one book, by one well known author, Jimmy Carter and his most recent fictional novel (it's not intended to be, but it is fiction) "Palestine;Peace, Not Apartheid." It has so many misleading, untrue statements in it that some of his most ardent supporters and board members of his organization have resigned. Some have even challenged him to a public debate! Make no mistake - Jimmy believes what he wrote because that anti-Israel attitude has been deeply engrained in him, even in his church life. For many years he belonged to a liberal church whose theology has no place for Israel. None whatsoever! So what did that old peanut farmer write that was so bad? Here's one thing he wrote that's a flat out lie. Jimmy believes that Yassir Arafat has never advocated the annihilation of Israel! Man, that was the gas in Arafat's tank! That's what kept him running...that was his life! That, and stealing money that was meant for his starving followers. And another thing - he said that in the so-called Camp David peace accords that Israel would withdraw to the 1967 border on the West Bank! Baloney! The real truth is "The negotiations concerning the West Bank and Gaza will resolve among other matters the location of the boundaries." No, my friend, Jimmy comes from a long line of Southern Baptists who believe there are no scriptures that teach any future for the Jewish people. They believe that because the Jews rejected the Messiah, God took the promises He made to Israel and gave them to the Church. How do you like them apples?
According to that line of thinking, what's to keep God from changing His mind about John 3:16 or I John 3:2? Don't even let it enter your mind!
More next time.
Blessings,
Bro. Bob
I'm sure that the accounts of some of the experiences that Adam and Eve had were passed on to their kids. These people had walked with the Lord Himself in the cool of the day. They had to have shared some of those things with Cain and Able. Those boys knew that their parents lived in the Garden of Eden and they knew what caused their eviction from that first address. Noah just had to have talked about what went on before he got on that boat with his family. They didn't talk about TV, politics or sports. They talked about why people rejected his preaching for 120 years.
They talked about the satanic, negative to God attitude of the people. You'll never convince me that Abraham didn't explain to his son, Isaac, why his mom and dad didn't have their first son until so late in life. (Abe was 90 when Ishmael was born and Sarah was 80, though she was not Ishmael's mother..Hagar was). Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born and Sarah was 90. I don't profess to know what they said, but you know they talked about it. There was far more said than was written in the Bible.
Likewise, when God made that covenant, that UNCONDITIONAL covenant with Abraham, surely God told Abraham what He had done while Abraham was in his "deep sleep." God told Abraham that his seed would go into a land of strangers and become slaves for 400 years. That's a literal 400 years (count em') and then that nation (Egypt) would be judged. (Most of them died in the Red Sea.) Just ask Charleton Heston....he was there! What's more, God told Abraham that after 400 years in slavery, they would come out rich, and they did.....literally!
I think God told Abe how He Himself, in the form of that smoking furnace and burning lamp, passed between those animals. And then - get this - He, God, laid out the boundaries to the Promised Land. Literal, identifiable boundaries. Check it out, it's easy. It's in Genesis 15:19,20 & 21. Why is all this so important in this angelic conflict? It's important to me because I believe that a large group of Christians, way more than just one denomination, have come to so interpret the Word of God, that it has led many to a very subtle and deceiving anti-Semitic attitude.
But before we deal with that issue, let's go to the next major passage that deals with this "unconditional covenant" issue. This next passage of scripture is the record of God's promise to David that his kingdom would last forever; that someday the children of Israel would occupy the "Promised Land" and that they would move no more and those who afflicted them would hassle them no more...never! The scripture is II Samuel 7:8-17. It's called "The Davidic Covenant," the unconditional agreement, or promise that God made to King David.
After David died, his son Solomon became the king..II Samuel 7:13. "He (Solomon) shall build a house (the Temple) for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." Now tell me, how can you misinterpret that? How can you twist, turn, reverse or make that to mean any other than what it says without purposely changing the obvious meaning? Let me insert right here and give you the most widely accepted rule of interpretation in the Bible believing, evangelical world: "When the plain sense of the scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense. Therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate text, studied in the light of related passages, axiomatic and fundamental truths indicate clearly otherwise.! (Author, David L. Cooper)
Why am I making such a fuss about these very important Covenants? Well, as I said, there are those Christians, and there are many, and make no mistake about it, I do believe many of them are believers and I think they really love the Lord, but I, along with many other Christians, believe they have made and are making a terrible mistake in what they believe and preach. They have, and they are taking literal statements made in the Word of God and giving them an entirely different meaning.
I'll give you one illustration of just how far these guys will go, just how much liberty some of them will take to change the Word of God just to make it fit their thinking.
From the Broadman Commentary (Southern Baptist Convention) published in 1969. These were bad years for our Convention. Anyway, you well recall that God told Abraham to offer his only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice to the Lord. Obedient Abraham and his obedient son, Isaac, did just what God told them to do, even to the point where God told Abraham to tell his son, Isaac, to lay down on the altar...and he did. God told Abraham to take a knife and slay his son...and he did....almost! They claimed in the commentary that the reason Abraham offered Isaac was..."The climax of the psychology of his life." What gobble-d-gook is that? When anybody takes so much liberty and freedom in interpreting the Word of God, no wonder they do so much glossing over and cover up when it comes to the literal fulfilling of literal prophecies concerning Israel. It winds up being pure anti-Semitic rhetoric.
Let me suggest one book, by one well known author, Jimmy Carter and his most recent fictional novel (it's not intended to be, but it is fiction) "Palestine;Peace, Not Apartheid." It has so many misleading, untrue statements in it that some of his most ardent supporters and board members of his organization have resigned. Some have even challenged him to a public debate! Make no mistake - Jimmy believes what he wrote because that anti-Israel attitude has been deeply engrained in him, even in his church life. For many years he belonged to a liberal church whose theology has no place for Israel. None whatsoever! So what did that old peanut farmer write that was so bad? Here's one thing he wrote that's a flat out lie. Jimmy believes that Yassir Arafat has never advocated the annihilation of Israel! Man, that was the gas in Arafat's tank! That's what kept him running...that was his life! That, and stealing money that was meant for his starving followers. And another thing - he said that in the so-called Camp David peace accords that Israel would withdraw to the 1967 border on the West Bank! Baloney! The real truth is "The negotiations concerning the West Bank and Gaza will resolve among other matters the location of the boundaries." No, my friend, Jimmy comes from a long line of Southern Baptists who believe there are no scriptures that teach any future for the Jewish people. They believe that because the Jews rejected the Messiah, God took the promises He made to Israel and gave them to the Church. How do you like them apples?
According to that line of thinking, what's to keep God from changing His mind about John 3:16 or I John 3:2? Don't even let it enter your mind!
More next time.
Blessings,
Bro. Bob
Friday, March 02, 2007
FOCUS POINT #14
"Greetings, without meetings." That's the good news. You don't have to attend yet another meeting. The bad news is, we can't sit down with a cup of coffee or a coke and just chat and visit awhile.
I want to write about a VERY IMPORTANT fact concerning the Angelic Conflict, the biggest war, the greatest battle in the history and the future the world has ever known or ever will know. If you're interested you can read this Focus Point. If not, hit "delete." You can do either because I believe you have a free will - you can read or not read.
In this and the next one or two Focus Points, I want to go down this road and deal with a very important issue. The question, the issue is: Did God, in the Old Testament, make promises to the Jewish people that could be nullified or revoked if they didn't keep their end of the bargain? The answer is a resounding yes! Just read through chapter 26 of Leviticus. Read the "ifs" in verses 3, 14, 18, 21, 23, 27 and verse 40. As you read those "ifs," those conditions, you will also read God's responses. God says, in essence, "If you will, then I won't." Or, "If you don't, then I will." Some of the promises in the Old Testament are conditional. In these contracts God says, "This is what I'm going to do regardless of what you do or don't do. It makes no difference."
I want to give you and identify for you one of the major covenants between God Himself and the Jewish people. An unconditional covenant. This covenant is so huge and so relevant that it was made over 4,000 years ago and we have yet to see just how God will go about to keep every detail of this promise to the people we call "The Jews."
First, a little background. After the fiasco at the Tower of Babel, Terah took his three sons and went to the area of Ur among the Chaldeans, a real first class, low life bunch! They tried to think of wrong things to do and be everyday. Terah, the father, the patriarch, had three boys, Haran (who died in the move), Nahaor and Abram. Nahor was the father of Lot (the loser.) You remember Lot who moved his family to Sodom and Gomorrah. He never got Ur out of his mind. But get this - look at II Peter 2:7. I'll do it for you. "And delivered just Lot." That doesn't mean that Lot was the only one that got away. It means that Justified, or righteous Lot was delivered out of that blankety blank bunch of losers in verses 5 & 6 of II Peter 2.
Well, back to Abram (Abraham). Terah, Abram and his kid brother Nahor are now living in one of the most anti-God slime pits in the world and God Himself comes to Abram and says (my own impression as to how this all went) "Abe, you don't know me, but I know you. I am God and I'm going to tell you where I want you to go and what I want you to do. Will you believe me?" Abe says, "Yes sir, I do believe you and I will obey you." (Sort of like the way God dealt with Paul (Saul) on his way to Damascus to kill a few Christians). Right there on the spot, right there on skid row, God then says to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3 (1) "I will show you a land" (the present land of Israel). (2) " I will make of you a great nation." (3) "I will bless you, make your name great, and you, Abe, though you are now living in the slime area of the worst neighborhood, you are going to be a blessing to the whole world." (4) "And I will bless all of those who bless you and I will curse all of those who curse you. And on top of that Abe my boy (get this), in thee, in YOU shall all the families of the whole earth be blessed!" Now listen!! God never said that to Caesar of Rome or the King of England or the President of the United States. He never said that to the Southern Baptist Convention, the Episcopalians, Catholics, Reformed Presbyterians, unreformed Presbyterians or anyone else! He said that to the FIRST JEW who ever walked on the face of this earth. Period! And what's more, there are NO ifs, buts or maybes in this UNCONDITIONAL PROMISE!
And then, just to show the rest of the human race that He meant what He said and said just what He meant, God has Moses, years later, record an experience that Abraham had with God Himself. You MUST READ CAREFULLY Genesis chapter 15:7-21. I'm going to just mention the highlights.
(verse 7) "Abe, I'm going to give you, the father of the Jewish race, the land" - spelled out in verses 18-21.
(Verse 8) - Abraham says, "Lord, how do I know or how will I know you'll do this?"
(verse 9) - God said, "Abe, take a heifer (young cow), a she goat, a ram, a dove and a young pigeon. Slice the heifer, the goat and the ram (not the birds) those three animals down the middle." Ugh! He did it....and waited. While he waited, some vultures and birds of prey landed on the carcasses and started pecking away. But Abe shooed em' away. Finally, when the sun started to set, Abe got sleepy, went into a deep sleep and dreamed a bad nightmare. God spoke through his dream and told him just exactly what was going to happen. And would you believe?....it happened! Yes, what God promises, He performs! Maybe not by our clocks and calendars, but in His own time. Remember my friend, God's delays are not denials. Well anyway, you well know that what God promised and prophesied in Verses 13 - 16 happened. They were slaves in Egypt for 400 years.
Then in verse 17 God revealed Himself in the form of a smoking furnace and a burning lamp. God passed between the divided carcasses of the heifer, she goat and the ram! This was a Far Eastern custom. The sealing of a covenant or contract, an unconditional agreement was the two parties passing between both sides of the divided animals, looking at the slain animals and saying "May what happened to these animals happen to either one, or both of us if we do not keep this covenant! So God, NOT ABRAHAM, God alone passed between the carcasses and said to Abraham, "MAY WHAT HAPPENED TO THESE ANIMALS HAPPEN TO ME IF I DON'T KEEP MY WORD AND KEEP THE PROMISES I MADE TO YOU." Abraham was in a deep sleep when God said this. Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 15:1-5 and Genesis 15:13-21.
How can any frail, limited, finite human being make the claim that GOD CHANGED BECAUSE ISRAEL, THE JEWS FAILED? Neither the success nor the failure of the Jews has ever been a part of this covenant. W. E. Vine says the verb form of this word means "To cut, to divide." Abraham may have done the cutting, but he was "out cold" when GOD SIGNED the deal and to the best of my knowledge, I can't find one verse in the Old Testament or the New Testament that nullifies, cancels out or changes this UNCONDITIONAL covenant.
Until next time, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Shalom! Oh yes, remember MALACHI 3:6 "For I am the Lord, I CHANGE NOT, therefore ye sons of Jacob are NOT CONSUMED.
Blessings.....Bro. Bob
I want to write about a VERY IMPORTANT fact concerning the Angelic Conflict, the biggest war, the greatest battle in the history and the future the world has ever known or ever will know. If you're interested you can read this Focus Point. If not, hit "delete." You can do either because I believe you have a free will - you can read or not read.
In this and the next one or two Focus Points, I want to go down this road and deal with a very important issue. The question, the issue is: Did God, in the Old Testament, make promises to the Jewish people that could be nullified or revoked if they didn't keep their end of the bargain? The answer is a resounding yes! Just read through chapter 26 of Leviticus. Read the "ifs" in verses 3, 14, 18, 21, 23, 27 and verse 40. As you read those "ifs," those conditions, you will also read God's responses. God says, in essence, "If you will, then I won't." Or, "If you don't, then I will." Some of the promises in the Old Testament are conditional. In these contracts God says, "This is what I'm going to do regardless of what you do or don't do. It makes no difference."
I want to give you and identify for you one of the major covenants between God Himself and the Jewish people. An unconditional covenant. This covenant is so huge and so relevant that it was made over 4,000 years ago and we have yet to see just how God will go about to keep every detail of this promise to the people we call "The Jews."
First, a little background. After the fiasco at the Tower of Babel, Terah took his three sons and went to the area of Ur among the Chaldeans, a real first class, low life bunch! They tried to think of wrong things to do and be everyday. Terah, the father, the patriarch, had three boys, Haran (who died in the move), Nahaor and Abram. Nahor was the father of Lot (the loser.) You remember Lot who moved his family to Sodom and Gomorrah. He never got Ur out of his mind. But get this - look at II Peter 2:7. I'll do it for you. "And delivered just Lot." That doesn't mean that Lot was the only one that got away. It means that Justified, or righteous Lot was delivered out of that blankety blank bunch of losers in verses 5 & 6 of II Peter 2.
Well, back to Abram (Abraham). Terah, Abram and his kid brother Nahor are now living in one of the most anti-God slime pits in the world and God Himself comes to Abram and says (my own impression as to how this all went) "Abe, you don't know me, but I know you. I am God and I'm going to tell you where I want you to go and what I want you to do. Will you believe me?" Abe says, "Yes sir, I do believe you and I will obey you." (Sort of like the way God dealt with Paul (Saul) on his way to Damascus to kill a few Christians). Right there on the spot, right there on skid row, God then says to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3 (1) "I will show you a land" (the present land of Israel). (2) " I will make of you a great nation." (3) "I will bless you, make your name great, and you, Abe, though you are now living in the slime area of the worst neighborhood, you are going to be a blessing to the whole world." (4) "And I will bless all of those who bless you and I will curse all of those who curse you. And on top of that Abe my boy (get this), in thee, in YOU shall all the families of the whole earth be blessed!" Now listen!! God never said that to Caesar of Rome or the King of England or the President of the United States. He never said that to the Southern Baptist Convention, the Episcopalians, Catholics, Reformed Presbyterians, unreformed Presbyterians or anyone else! He said that to the FIRST JEW who ever walked on the face of this earth. Period! And what's more, there are NO ifs, buts or maybes in this UNCONDITIONAL PROMISE!
And then, just to show the rest of the human race that He meant what He said and said just what He meant, God has Moses, years later, record an experience that Abraham had with God Himself. You MUST READ CAREFULLY Genesis chapter 15:7-21. I'm going to just mention the highlights.
(verse 7) "Abe, I'm going to give you, the father of the Jewish race, the land" - spelled out in verses 18-21.
(Verse 8) - Abraham says, "Lord, how do I know or how will I know you'll do this?"
(verse 9) - God said, "Abe, take a heifer (young cow), a she goat, a ram, a dove and a young pigeon. Slice the heifer, the goat and the ram (not the birds) those three animals down the middle." Ugh! He did it....and waited. While he waited, some vultures and birds of prey landed on the carcasses and started pecking away. But Abe shooed em' away. Finally, when the sun started to set, Abe got sleepy, went into a deep sleep and dreamed a bad nightmare. God spoke through his dream and told him just exactly what was going to happen. And would you believe?....it happened! Yes, what God promises, He performs! Maybe not by our clocks and calendars, but in His own time. Remember my friend, God's delays are not denials. Well anyway, you well know that what God promised and prophesied in Verses 13 - 16 happened. They were slaves in Egypt for 400 years.
Then in verse 17 God revealed Himself in the form of a smoking furnace and a burning lamp. God passed between the divided carcasses of the heifer, she goat and the ram! This was a Far Eastern custom. The sealing of a covenant or contract, an unconditional agreement was the two parties passing between both sides of the divided animals, looking at the slain animals and saying "May what happened to these animals happen to either one, or both of us if we do not keep this covenant! So God, NOT ABRAHAM, God alone passed between the carcasses and said to Abraham, "MAY WHAT HAPPENED TO THESE ANIMALS HAPPEN TO ME IF I DON'T KEEP MY WORD AND KEEP THE PROMISES I MADE TO YOU." Abraham was in a deep sleep when God said this. Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 15:1-5 and Genesis 15:13-21.
How can any frail, limited, finite human being make the claim that GOD CHANGED BECAUSE ISRAEL, THE JEWS FAILED? Neither the success nor the failure of the Jews has ever been a part of this covenant. W. E. Vine says the verb form of this word means "To cut, to divide." Abraham may have done the cutting, but he was "out cold" when GOD SIGNED the deal and to the best of my knowledge, I can't find one verse in the Old Testament or the New Testament that nullifies, cancels out or changes this UNCONDITIONAL covenant.
Until next time, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Shalom! Oh yes, remember MALACHI 3:6 "For I am the Lord, I CHANGE NOT, therefore ye sons of Jacob are NOT CONSUMED.
Blessings.....Bro. Bob
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Focus Point #13
Well friends (and others) if you've been reading your Bible and if you've been reading the newspapers for the last 50 or 60 years and if you've been watching the TV news, you just might be convinced that after all they've been through, God still has a plan and a purpose for the Jewish people and the Nation of Israel.
Let's see, first there were the Egyptians. Isn't it strange how the critics of the Word of God try to tell us that where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea it was a shallow area called "The Sea Of Reeds." (Their way of explaining away the greatest miracle in the Old Testament). I wonder how they explain that shallow area being the same waters where the Egyptians and their horses all drowned?
After the Egyptians, came the Amalekites. They're gone! Then the Assyrians, then Syria, then Phoenicia, then the Philistines and then....Rome! The whole bunch - history!
Rome was the big shot, smart aleck bunch that could do no wrong in their own eyes. (yeah, right!) They ruled the Jews from 63 BC until 320 AD - 383 or so years. Guess what took them out? Their own rotteness, filth and debauchery. Along came the Byzantines. They were from the area of Turkey, and the Greek Orthodox church. Many of the religious sites in Israel date back to these people. Finally in 636 they were defeated by the Arabs. They held control of the land until about 1070. The Arabs were then defeated by the Seljuks, also Turks, but from a different "flock of turkeys." (tee hee.) They lasted only about 30 years when along came the famous Crusades. I should say the "Christian Crusades." These Christian Crusaders were nothing but a bunch of unemployed marauders who headed for the Holy Land, killing and raping on their way to rid the land of Palestine of the Arabs, the infidels. How many Jews they raped, robbed and murdered on the way will never be known this side of Heaven. When they arrived on the scene in Israel in about 1099, they rounded up all the Jews they could find, put them in the Synagogues, locked the doors and gates and set the places on fire. Men, women and children! Burned alive! They, my friend, were the so called Christians, cleaning up the Holy Land. They held control for about 100 years and the Turks came back strong and mean.
From the time the Turks came back until the return of the Jews, not one group of people - not one - none of those controlling groups had ever formed a government with laws, financial structure, all of the entities that make up a government. No infrastructure was known. No military. Not until the Jews did it in 1948. To be exact, Friday, May 14th, 1948. All during those previous years - the 17, 18 and 1900's, there was no Palestinian government. And get this, they don't have one now. (Getting close.) The land we now call Israel was never without Jews living in the land. Can you even imagine the treatment they received all during those hundreds of years? Again, we'll never know this side of Heaven.
We also know some about what happened to the Jews who lived outside of those God promised borders.
In 1096....over 12,000 were killed in Germany.
In 1290....all Jews banished from England.
In 1306....all Jews thrown out of France.
In 1492....110,000 expelled from Spain. They wanted Spain to be 100% Catholic. (The infamous inquisition)
And to cap off this tragic list ....Hitler - six million destroyed! 6,000,000! The Holocaust. (Greek word "Holos" (WHOLE) "kaustos" (BURN)
Just think of it! All those countries, nations that hated and tried to destroy the Jew. All of them either defeated or destroyed. They are no more! But NOT God's chosen people. They remind me of that little battery operated rabbit....still going. But that's all history!
The real hard core evidence of God's future plans for the Jew is not in any of the things I've mentioned. The real evidence is in the Word of God and it's found in the verses that deal with the events that still lie ahead.
But before we go there, let's go back two thousand or so years and look at the Messiah Prince, the Son of the Jewish carpenter and his virgin mother, Mary. Jesus had no more made His arrival in the world - in the world HE had made (Colossians 1:16) and immediately the Jews were attacked in the angelic conflict. There reigned in the City of Jerusalem, a Satan infested man named Herod, who, because he had heard that a king was born in Bethlehem, had all male children two years and under brutally murdered. These senseless murders took place not only in Bethlehem, but in the whole surrounding area. Well, that didn't work. Joseph and Mary won a free trip to Egypt, paid for with the gifts the Wise Men gave them.
The next shot Satan had at Jesus was when - get this - the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted in His humanity by the Devil himself. This was after Jesus had fasted for forty days. But Satan failed. It wasn't long after that when Jesus had started His public ministry in His home town, in the City of Nazareth, when the crowd got angry with Him and His message and tried to throw Him off a cliff! But it was not to be. Luke 4:30 "But He, passing through the midst of them, went His way." Obviously, we could go through the life of Jesus and trace the angelic conflict blow by blow and count victory after victory by our precious Lord. He NEVER FAILS - and He won't!
But Israel - that's a "whole nuther" story. She not only failed in the Old Testament, but she failed during the earthly ministry of our Lord, even as the chosen people of God. She has failed for these last 2,000 years and she will continue to fail. She failed in Egypt - but God didn't. She failed in the Sinai while Moses was on the mountain - but God didn't. She failed under the Judges - but God didn't. She failed under the leadership of Saul, David and Solomon - but God didn't. She failed in Assyria and in Babylon - but God didn't. She failed during the closing years of the Old Testament and the 400 years in between the Old and New Testaments - but God didn't.
The Lord Jesus Christ made His entrance into the human race - but Israel failed to see it! Wise me saw it, shepherds saw it - but not Israel - she failed!
Israel failed to see the ministry of the prophets, failed to hear their message, failed to see their miracles and failed to observe their fulfilled prophecies...but God didn't fail. His own family failed Him. His disciples failed Him.....BUT JESUS DIDN'T FAIL!
Until next time,
Blessings,
Bro. Bob
Let's see, first there were the Egyptians. Isn't it strange how the critics of the Word of God try to tell us that where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea it was a shallow area called "The Sea Of Reeds." (Their way of explaining away the greatest miracle in the Old Testament). I wonder how they explain that shallow area being the same waters where the Egyptians and their horses all drowned?
After the Egyptians, came the Amalekites. They're gone! Then the Assyrians, then Syria, then Phoenicia, then the Philistines and then....Rome! The whole bunch - history!
Rome was the big shot, smart aleck bunch that could do no wrong in their own eyes. (yeah, right!) They ruled the Jews from 63 BC until 320 AD - 383 or so years. Guess what took them out? Their own rotteness, filth and debauchery. Along came the Byzantines. They were from the area of Turkey, and the Greek Orthodox church. Many of the religious sites in Israel date back to these people. Finally in 636 they were defeated by the Arabs. They held control of the land until about 1070. The Arabs were then defeated by the Seljuks, also Turks, but from a different "flock of turkeys." (tee hee.) They lasted only about 30 years when along came the famous Crusades. I should say the "Christian Crusades." These Christian Crusaders were nothing but a bunch of unemployed marauders who headed for the Holy Land, killing and raping on their way to rid the land of Palestine of the Arabs, the infidels. How many Jews they raped, robbed and murdered on the way will never be known this side of Heaven. When they arrived on the scene in Israel in about 1099, they rounded up all the Jews they could find, put them in the Synagogues, locked the doors and gates and set the places on fire. Men, women and children! Burned alive! They, my friend, were the so called Christians, cleaning up the Holy Land. They held control for about 100 years and the Turks came back strong and mean.
From the time the Turks came back until the return of the Jews, not one group of people - not one - none of those controlling groups had ever formed a government with laws, financial structure, all of the entities that make up a government. No infrastructure was known. No military. Not until the Jews did it in 1948. To be exact, Friday, May 14th, 1948. All during those previous years - the 17, 18 and 1900's, there was no Palestinian government. And get this, they don't have one now. (Getting close.) The land we now call Israel was never without Jews living in the land. Can you even imagine the treatment they received all during those hundreds of years? Again, we'll never know this side of Heaven.
We also know some about what happened to the Jews who lived outside of those God promised borders.
In 1096....over 12,000 were killed in Germany.
In 1290....all Jews banished from England.
In 1306....all Jews thrown out of France.
In 1492....110,000 expelled from Spain. They wanted Spain to be 100% Catholic. (The infamous inquisition)
And to cap off this tragic list ....Hitler - six million destroyed! 6,000,000! The Holocaust. (Greek word "Holos" (WHOLE) "kaustos" (BURN)
Just think of it! All those countries, nations that hated and tried to destroy the Jew. All of them either defeated or destroyed. They are no more! But NOT God's chosen people. They remind me of that little battery operated rabbit....still going. But that's all history!
The real hard core evidence of God's future plans for the Jew is not in any of the things I've mentioned. The real evidence is in the Word of God and it's found in the verses that deal with the events that still lie ahead.
But before we go there, let's go back two thousand or so years and look at the Messiah Prince, the Son of the Jewish carpenter and his virgin mother, Mary. Jesus had no more made His arrival in the world - in the world HE had made (Colossians 1:16) and immediately the Jews were attacked in the angelic conflict. There reigned in the City of Jerusalem, a Satan infested man named Herod, who, because he had heard that a king was born in Bethlehem, had all male children two years and under brutally murdered. These senseless murders took place not only in Bethlehem, but in the whole surrounding area. Well, that didn't work. Joseph and Mary won a free trip to Egypt, paid for with the gifts the Wise Men gave them.
The next shot Satan had at Jesus was when - get this - the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted in His humanity by the Devil himself. This was after Jesus had fasted for forty days. But Satan failed. It wasn't long after that when Jesus had started His public ministry in His home town, in the City of Nazareth, when the crowd got angry with Him and His message and tried to throw Him off a cliff! But it was not to be. Luke 4:30 "But He, passing through the midst of them, went His way." Obviously, we could go through the life of Jesus and trace the angelic conflict blow by blow and count victory after victory by our precious Lord. He NEVER FAILS - and He won't!
But Israel - that's a "whole nuther" story. She not only failed in the Old Testament, but she failed during the earthly ministry of our Lord, even as the chosen people of God. She has failed for these last 2,000 years and she will continue to fail. She failed in Egypt - but God didn't. She failed in the Sinai while Moses was on the mountain - but God didn't. She failed under the Judges - but God didn't. She failed under the leadership of Saul, David and Solomon - but God didn't. She failed in Assyria and in Babylon - but God didn't. She failed during the closing years of the Old Testament and the 400 years in between the Old and New Testaments - but God didn't.
The Lord Jesus Christ made His entrance into the human race - but Israel failed to see it! Wise me saw it, shepherds saw it - but not Israel - she failed!
Israel failed to see the ministry of the prophets, failed to hear their message, failed to see their miracles and failed to observe their fulfilled prophecies...but God didn't fail. His own family failed Him. His disciples failed Him.....BUT JESUS DIDN'T FAIL!
Until next time,
Blessings,
Bro. Bob
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Focus Point # 12
When thinking of the Angelic Conflict and the never ending struggle that goes on between God and Satan, we know who will be the Victor. None other than our Heavenly Father and His Glorious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. But in time, in the historic past, there has been and there will continue to be, incidents and periods of history that will test our faith and loyalty to God and His Word.
Herewith is a true story (study) to encourage your faith and, I hope, cause you to rejoice at just one of the main victories of the Lord our Righteous (Jehovah Tsid-Kenu) Jeremiah 23:6.
As you read and study the Old Testament you discover the divine protection of the family and royal lineage that will eventually bring the Lord Jesus physically into the world. A good illustration of this was when the kingdom was divided by the sons of Solomon. Jeroboam took the ten tribes to the north and Rehoboam led the two tribes that stayed in the south. The two tribes in the Southern Kingdom were Judah and Benjamin. Eventually both kingdoms came under divine discipline. The Northern Kingdom fell to the Assyrians in BC 722. The Assyrians immediately scattered those ten tribes all over the area. For the most part, not all, but most of them lost their identity with the tribe clans.
Not so with the two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin. They were carried off to Babylon in BC 586, 136 years later. But nevertheless they were carried away in divine discipline for 70 years. But to protect that royal lineage and blood line, the Tribe of Judah stayed in tact. God made sure of that! Had the Devil had his way, it would have been just the opposite. He wanted that royal line out of David and Solomon fouled up! Why? To nullify and discredit the promise of God that the Messiah King would be out of the seed of King David and that He would someday sit on His throne in the City of Jerusalem.
Well, that did NOT happen in those two captivities. Satan didn't get it his way. But later on, it ALMOST happened. And that brings us to the story of "The Jechoniah Curse." Now remember, Satan does not know the future - only as it's revealed to him in the Word of God. He can only control events and conditions to the extent that human beings allow him to control, or influence their lives.
If you'll read through Jeremiah 22, in verse 13 you'll read about Jehoiakim. This guy is about number 11 or 12 in the royal family line of Solomon (Matthew 1:11). He, Jehoiakim, was the son of Josiah who was a godly man and a great king. Just the opposite of his son Jehoiakim and his grandson Jehoiachin, also known as "Jeconiah" and also "Coniah."
Jehoiakin was a wicked man and God said of him, "He shall be buried out where they bury dead jackasses" (Jeremiah 22:19). But if you think he was a louse, look what God said about his son, Jehoiachin (or Jeconiah or Coniah)...whatever! Read what God said about him through the pen of Jeremiah in verses 24-29. But go slow through verse 30! "Write this man (Coniah) childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days; for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the Throne of David and ruling anymore in Judah." When it says "he'd be childless," it didn't mean he would never have any kids, it meant that as far as royalty on the Throne of David was concerned, it was over for Coniah and all of his male children to follow. Wow! But God promised and God prophesied through Isaiah, Jeremiah and others, that the Seed, the Messiah, the Eternal King of the Jews would come through the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren..etc., etc. of David. And just to underscore that biblical prophecy, read carefully in the next chapter of Jeremiah 23:5-8. (Living Bible) For the time is coming, says the Lord, when I will place a Righteous Branch upon King David's throne. He shall be a King who shall rule with wisdom and justice and cause righteousness to prevail everywhere throughout the earth. And this is His name:
The Lord our Righteousness (Jehovah Tsid-Kenu). At that time Judah will be saved and Israel will live in peace. In that day people will no longer say when taking an oath "As the Lord lives who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt," but they will say, "As the Lord lives, who brought the Jews back to their own land of Israel from the countries to which He had exiled them."
Is there any doubt as to God's clear intentions to keep His promises? I hope not! But it appears as though Satan has thrown a gear stripping wrench into the works. On the surface it appears as though the Devil has scored a real victory and that God's will has been defeated. It appears as though God makes a promise He will be unable to perform.
Don't let it even cross your mind!! After the Jews return to the land of their forefathers, after the 70 years of captivity under the Babylonians, they return. But not as a sovereign, independent nation with a king sitting on the throne. They are always under the rule of somebody else. From the defeat of the Southern Kingdom, when they were carted off to Babylon, to this very day (as I write this on January 7, 2007), there has been no divinely appointed king out of the family of David ruling Israel. And there won't be! Not until Jesus Christ, the King of all Kings returns in His glorified body to occupy that literal throne, in a literal Jerusalem.
But Jesus, when He was born, was called on many occasions, the Son of David. Question: How can that be since He was in the family line of wicked Jechoniah? Well, let's go back to those confusing calendar days of about 20 BC to about 4 or 5 AD.
Two young people both just happened to live in the City of Nazareth. They went to the same Temple school and maybe even the same Temple. Obviously, they knew one another, took a shine to each other and probably suggested to their parents that they just might be compatible should their parents like to set a marriage in motion. And so it was arranged. But before the date could even be set, Mary became pregnant. But not by Joseph! Obviously, I don't have to repeat any details, real or imaginary. You know the story.
The Holy Spirit impregnated Mary with whatever was necessary to bring about the birth of a male child without the involvement of another human being. Mary's intended husband was visited by an angel and was told what had happened to Mary. Joseph, by faith, believed the messenger, the angel, and married Mary and did not touch her until after the birth of Jesus.
Now get this! Joseph was of the lineage of David and Solomon. He was in line physically to be on of the kings in Israel. But Israel had no king and hadn't had for years. And besides, in Joseph's family line was none other than Jechoniah, the guy God told that none of his "kin" would ever sit on the Throne of David. But now...get this! Jesus was born in the family line of David, not through Joseph - but through Mary! But Mary was not in the line of royalty. Her kin was Nathan, not Solomon.
After the marriage, Joseph adopted the virgin born Jesus and Jesus became the legal son of Joseph...but NOT born in the family line of Coniah...by-passing the curse! Thus, the only human being ever born into this world with the legal right to occupy the Throne was...none other than JESUS. But...they crucified Him! Well then, Joseph and Mary had other sons. Yes, but they were disqualified because of the Coniah curse and they would be of the seed of Joseph. That leaves ....only Jesus. Not another human being is physically and legally qualified. But wait! He's in the grave. But wait! Three days later He's alive again! Resurrection! Hallelujah. But wait! He's gone back to Heaven for lo these 2000 plus years. But wait! He's coming back...and as Yogi Berra says..."it ain't over 'till it's over!
Until next time,
Bro. Bob
Herewith is a true story (study) to encourage your faith and, I hope, cause you to rejoice at just one of the main victories of the Lord our Righteous (Jehovah Tsid-Kenu) Jeremiah 23:6.
As you read and study the Old Testament you discover the divine protection of the family and royal lineage that will eventually bring the Lord Jesus physically into the world. A good illustration of this was when the kingdom was divided by the sons of Solomon. Jeroboam took the ten tribes to the north and Rehoboam led the two tribes that stayed in the south. The two tribes in the Southern Kingdom were Judah and Benjamin. Eventually both kingdoms came under divine discipline. The Northern Kingdom fell to the Assyrians in BC 722. The Assyrians immediately scattered those ten tribes all over the area. For the most part, not all, but most of them lost their identity with the tribe clans.
Not so with the two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin. They were carried off to Babylon in BC 586, 136 years later. But nevertheless they were carried away in divine discipline for 70 years. But to protect that royal lineage and blood line, the Tribe of Judah stayed in tact. God made sure of that! Had the Devil had his way, it would have been just the opposite. He wanted that royal line out of David and Solomon fouled up! Why? To nullify and discredit the promise of God that the Messiah King would be out of the seed of King David and that He would someday sit on His throne in the City of Jerusalem.
Well, that did NOT happen in those two captivities. Satan didn't get it his way. But later on, it ALMOST happened. And that brings us to the story of "The Jechoniah Curse." Now remember, Satan does not know the future - only as it's revealed to him in the Word of God. He can only control events and conditions to the extent that human beings allow him to control, or influence their lives.
If you'll read through Jeremiah 22, in verse 13 you'll read about Jehoiakim. This guy is about number 11 or 12 in the royal family line of Solomon (Matthew 1:11). He, Jehoiakim, was the son of Josiah who was a godly man and a great king. Just the opposite of his son Jehoiakim and his grandson Jehoiachin, also known as "Jeconiah" and also "Coniah."
Jehoiakin was a wicked man and God said of him, "He shall be buried out where they bury dead jackasses" (Jeremiah 22:19). But if you think he was a louse, look what God said about his son, Jehoiachin (or Jeconiah or Coniah)...whatever! Read what God said about him through the pen of Jeremiah in verses 24-29. But go slow through verse 30! "Write this man (Coniah) childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days; for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the Throne of David and ruling anymore in Judah." When it says "he'd be childless," it didn't mean he would never have any kids, it meant that as far as royalty on the Throne of David was concerned, it was over for Coniah and all of his male children to follow. Wow! But God promised and God prophesied through Isaiah, Jeremiah and others, that the Seed, the Messiah, the Eternal King of the Jews would come through the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren..etc., etc. of David. And just to underscore that biblical prophecy, read carefully in the next chapter of Jeremiah 23:5-8. (Living Bible) For the time is coming, says the Lord, when I will place a Righteous Branch upon King David's throne. He shall be a King who shall rule with wisdom and justice and cause righteousness to prevail everywhere throughout the earth. And this is His name:
The Lord our Righteousness (Jehovah Tsid-Kenu). At that time Judah will be saved and Israel will live in peace. In that day people will no longer say when taking an oath "As the Lord lives who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt," but they will say, "As the Lord lives, who brought the Jews back to their own land of Israel from the countries to which He had exiled them."
Is there any doubt as to God's clear intentions to keep His promises? I hope not! But it appears as though Satan has thrown a gear stripping wrench into the works. On the surface it appears as though the Devil has scored a real victory and that God's will has been defeated. It appears as though God makes a promise He will be unable to perform.
Don't let it even cross your mind!! After the Jews return to the land of their forefathers, after the 70 years of captivity under the Babylonians, they return. But not as a sovereign, independent nation with a king sitting on the throne. They are always under the rule of somebody else. From the defeat of the Southern Kingdom, when they were carted off to Babylon, to this very day (as I write this on January 7, 2007), there has been no divinely appointed king out of the family of David ruling Israel. And there won't be! Not until Jesus Christ, the King of all Kings returns in His glorified body to occupy that literal throne, in a literal Jerusalem.
But Jesus, when He was born, was called on many occasions, the Son of David. Question: How can that be since He was in the family line of wicked Jechoniah? Well, let's go back to those confusing calendar days of about 20 BC to about 4 or 5 AD.
Two young people both just happened to live in the City of Nazareth. They went to the same Temple school and maybe even the same Temple. Obviously, they knew one another, took a shine to each other and probably suggested to their parents that they just might be compatible should their parents like to set a marriage in motion. And so it was arranged. But before the date could even be set, Mary became pregnant. But not by Joseph! Obviously, I don't have to repeat any details, real or imaginary. You know the story.
The Holy Spirit impregnated Mary with whatever was necessary to bring about the birth of a male child without the involvement of another human being. Mary's intended husband was visited by an angel and was told what had happened to Mary. Joseph, by faith, believed the messenger, the angel, and married Mary and did not touch her until after the birth of Jesus.
Now get this! Joseph was of the lineage of David and Solomon. He was in line physically to be on of the kings in Israel. But Israel had no king and hadn't had for years. And besides, in Joseph's family line was none other than Jechoniah, the guy God told that none of his "kin" would ever sit on the Throne of David. But now...get this! Jesus was born in the family line of David, not through Joseph - but through Mary! But Mary was not in the line of royalty. Her kin was Nathan, not Solomon.
After the marriage, Joseph adopted the virgin born Jesus and Jesus became the legal son of Joseph...but NOT born in the family line of Coniah...by-passing the curse! Thus, the only human being ever born into this world with the legal right to occupy the Throne was...none other than JESUS. But...they crucified Him! Well then, Joseph and Mary had other sons. Yes, but they were disqualified because of the Coniah curse and they would be of the seed of Joseph. That leaves ....only Jesus. Not another human being is physically and legally qualified. But wait! He's in the grave. But wait! Three days later He's alive again! Resurrection! Hallelujah. But wait! He's gone back to Heaven for lo these 2000 plus years. But wait! He's coming back...and as Yogi Berra says..."it ain't over 'till it's over!
Until next time,
Bro. Bob
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
