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
Saturday, March 24, 2007
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
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