Sunday, December 21, 2014
From David Hocking
MAY YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS AND HONORING THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD YESHUA!
It is our prayer at HOPE for TODAY that celebrations of Chanukah and Christmas may focus on the glorious truth that God "became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory."
Luke 2:11 - "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a SAVIOR, which is CHRIST THE LORD."
The word "redeemed" appears 62 times in the Bible of which 55 are in the Old Testament, 13 in Isaiah, and 10 in the last 27 chapters. The word "redeem" is used 56 times in the Bible of which 54 are in the Old Testament, and once in Isaiah 50:2.
Interestingly, the word "Redeemer" is found 18 times, all in the Old Testament, and 13 times in the last 27 chapters of Isaiah. The theme of this message is "the salvation of our God." The word "salvation" is found 164 times in the Bible, 119 in the Old Testament, 28 in Isaiah and 21 times in the last 27 chapters! The word "saved" is found 5 times in the last 27 chapters, and the word "Savior" 7 times in those same chapters:
Isaiah 43:3 - "For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior"
Isaiah 43:11-12 - "I, even I, am the LORD; and beside Me there is no Savior."
Isaiah 45:15 - "Verily Thou art a God that hidest Thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior"
Isaiah 45:17 - "But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation"
Isaiah 45:21-22 - "there is no God else beside Me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside Me. Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."
Isaiah 49:26 - "and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob"
Isaiah 60:16 - "and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob"
Isaiah 63:8-9 - "so He was their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old"
Isaiah 64:5 - "we shall be saved"
JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!
You might want to get the messages that we have put on the radio, and strengthen your commitment to honor and worship our blessed Lord, our SAVIOR and our REDEEMER!
WHERE ARE THE CHRISTIANS?
by Jack Engelhard
First, a confession. I hated school. Teachers frightened me and I still get nightmares thinking of our principal, Mr. Webster.
I got a case of the willies from the moment I got up in the morning. I'd walk to school with one black eye from yesterday and get back home with another black eye from today. Win or lose, you had to fight back. The schoolyard itself was just as tough. Montreal was a tough town.
But these were skirmishes and scuffles, a rite of passages from boyhood to manhood.
You were being taught that life in and around the schoolyard was a sample of what it's going to be like later on - and you had friends.
Doodie and Moishe and Tevee...we were always there for one another. We could count on the Cohens and the Goldbergs.
We could also count on the Smiths and the Pattersons. Jews, Christians, we were in it together.
So where are the Christians today? From campus to campus, Jewish students are hurting. Waiting for them are armies of trained specialists, Arabs who are ready to pounce on them by use of Beer Hall tactics and Brownshirt thuggery. They have been sent over here, and funded, by their sheiks and imams to intimidate and to radicalize and they appear to be succeeding.
Of course a respectable number of Arab students are just that, students and legitimate, but that makes the burden on Jewish kids no easier.
Yes you are your brother's keeper. But where are you?
We have seen the tape of a man at Berkeley waving an Israeli flag, which represents freedom and tolerance --- and being jeered.
Mostly Arabs did the jeering. But where was Smith in protest?
The same individual (furthering the experiment) now waves an ISIS flag, which represents oppression and intolerance - now being cheered.
Mostly Arabs did the cheering. But where was Patterson to activate outrage?
I cannot imagine what it must be like going to school Jewish in an atmosphere like this.
I cannot imagine what it must be like getting up in the morning knowing that this is what you will be facing, a type of methodized hatred never seen before.
Except in Nazi Germany.
I have been getting letters from some of these students. They want to get it off their chests; the willies they've been getting.
Going to class has become a nightmare. The campus has become a recruitment center for Arab fundamentalism. Hatred stalks the corridors.
There is nothing arbitrary about campus anti-Semitism sweeping the country. Rather it is a systematic approach by fanatical Islamists to break the Jewish spirit. They come here as students but that is only a pretext. To reason with them is pointless because their fanaticism is robotic.
Their bigotry is deep-seated and their racism and their grievances travel with them wherever they go. Jewish kids are no match.
So where are the Christians who've been taught to love their neighbor - who've been raised to serve as shelters to those who suffer? Silence?
Yes you are your brother's keeper. But where are you? Your fellow students could use a helping hand. Your fellowship is urgently needed.
Of Jewish students attracted to the scoffers, lighting Hanukkah candles isn't enough and running with BDS won't protect you from their scorn.
Your coreligionists in Israel count on your support. Where are you?
Of Christians, more is expected of your Christianity than to decorate the Christmas tree.
David Hocking
HFT Connect
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Bethlehem today is pretty sad
CHRISTMAS CAROL - "O Little Town of Bethlehem"
Ever since Hamas has taken the control of the City of Bethlehem, there is not much that remains to cause believers to rejoice. Our 2014 ISRAEL TOUR group of 101 people went to lunch at the Christmas Store - sandwich was either falafel or swarma (turkey) - then we went shopping at "THREE ARCHES" which our tour enjoyed greatly.
Then, in late afternoon we went out to the "SHEPHERD'S FIELD" were we found some authentic cave sites that were used in the first century AD for the care of animals.
But, our hearts were saddened by the takeover of Hamas, radical Muslims. Years ago Bethlehem was 85% Christian and 15% Muslim; Today it is 90% Muslim, and only 10% Christian - the believers there need our prayers and support!
In light of what has happened, we thought you might enjoy what the Bible has to say about Bethlehem:
ISRAEL AND THE CITY OF DAVID
Psalm 48:1-3, 8
Psalm 78:70-72 - "He chose David also His servant, and took him from the sheepfold" -
I Samuel 13:14 - "the LORD hath sought Him a man after His own heart" -
Acts 13:22 - "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after Mine own heart, which shall fulfill all My will."
I Samuel 16:7 - "man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."
City of David - mentioned 44 times in Tanakh (OT), the Jewish Bible. The two times in the NT refer to David's birthplace - Bethlehem, not his capital. The Hill of Ophel where the original City of David was located is only about 30 acres in size.
1. It was CALLED "Salem" at the time of Abraham
and Melchizedec - Genesis 14:18-20
Also called "Zion" 151 times
"Melchizedec" - Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 7
2. It was CONQUERED by King David 3000 years
ago - II Samuel 5:6-10; I Chronicles 11:3-9
II Sam. 5:7 - "stronghold of Zion"
I Chron. 11:5 - "castle of Zion"
3. It was CONSTRUCTED by King David with
residential dwellings - I Chronicles 14:1-2; 15:1
4. It was CHOSEN to be the place for the Ark of the
Covenant before it was moved to Solomon's temple
- I Chronicles 13:1-4; 15:3, 28-29; 16:1, 37
cf. II Samuel 6:17-19
5. It was COMMITTED to be the burial place of
King David and most of the kings of Judah -
I Kings 2:10
(including Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijam, Asa,
Jehoshaphat, Joram, Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah,
Azariah, Jotham, & Ahaz)
6. It was CITED in I Kings 1:32-53 as the place
Solomon was anointed king - at the spring called
Gihon - vv. 33, 38
7. It was CONTROLLED by King Hezekiah when
he brought the water of the Gihon into the city -
II Kings 20:20; II Chronicles 32:30
(he built another wall outside the old walls of the
city so that the spring of Gihon would be inside
the city wall - also built the 1500 foot tunnel)
8. It was CONTINUED as a fortress by King
Manasseh who built a wall around it -
II Chronicles 33:14 - he built a "great and high
Wall on the west side of Ophel"
This wall would extend up into what is now the
Jewish quarter of the present old city - can be
seen today near the "ancient cardo" - main street
9. It was CREATED to be the place where Jeremiah
was put in the dungeon (pit) - Jeremiah 38:3-6,
11-13 - cf. David's words in Psalm 40:1-3 written
400 years earlier.
10. It is COMFORTED by the Lord's presence -
Isaiah 51:3; 61:1-3 - also Psalm 46:4-7; 76:1-2;
87:1-3; 99:2-3; 125:1-2; 132:13-14
11. It is CHARACTERIZED as the place of salvation
and deliverance - Isaiah 59:20; 62:11; Joel 2:32;
Zechariah 9:9
12. It will be CELEBRATED by the redeemed -
Isaiah 51:11
Psalm 48:1-2 - "the joy of the whole earth!
CONCLUSION: God's wonderful promise to King
David - Psalm 89:20, 34-37
David Hocking
HFT Connect
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Puritan's Prayer
December 7, 2014
A Puritan's Prayer
by Charles R. Swindoll
Some years ago I was given a book of Puritan prayers called The Valley of Vision. I have worn out one copy and had to purchase another. I recommend this volume to you. Read the following prayer from the Puritan's pen slowly (preferably aloud).
O LORD,
I am a shell full of dust,
but animated with an invisible rational soul
and made anew by an unseen power of grace;
Yet l am no rare object of valuable price,
but one that has nothing and is nothing,
although chosen of thee from eternity,
given to Christ, and born again;
I am deeply convinced of the evil and misery of a sinful state,
of the vanity of creatures,
but also of the sufficiency of Christ.
When thou wouldst guide me I control myself,
When thou wouldst be sovereign I rule myself.
When thou wouldst take care of me I suffice myself.
When I should depend on thy providings I supply myself,
When I should submit to thy providence I follow my will,
When I should study, love, honour, trust thee, I serve myself;
I fault and correct thy laws to suit myself,
Instead of thee I look to man's approbation,
and am by nature an idolater.
Lord, it is my chief design to bring my heart back to thee.
Convince me that I cannot be my own god, or make myself happy,
nor my own Christ to restore my joy,
nor my own Spirit to teach, guide, and rule me. . . .
Then take me to the cross and leave me there.¹
1. Arthur Bennett, ed., The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions (Carlisle, Pa.: The Banner of Truth Trust, © 1975, 1988, 2003).
Excerpted from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll, Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.
- See more at: http://www.insight.org/resources/devotionals/a-puritans-prayer.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20DailyDevo%20%28IFL%20-%20Chuck%20Swindoll%27s%20Daily%20Devotional%29&utm_content=FaceBook#sthash.cSDbQesP.dpuf
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Use your offering or tithe effectively
If you tithe or make a regular contribution to your church you should consider it's effectiveness. If the church seems to make a great impact of ministry to you, has Bible studies, supports evangelism, youth ministries. Have opportunities to serve besides stacking chairs. That is great. A lot of churches are not being effective in teaching the Word of God to it's attendees.
Too many churches by default expect you to tithe or support them with no questions asked. You may not have a choice of churches in your area too. So what that you won't be selected as an elder because you haven't met the religious criteria of tithing fully. Culture religious people are out of touch with the teachings of Christ.
The problem is that there is a great religious system out there with controlling individuals on every corner with a great disrespect of Jesus's teachings on love and compassion that does not come through. We need to support our pastors and encourage them, fund them with our tithes and offerings but let's make sure they are not turning into Jim and Tammy Baker or like a past president of a charity like United Way making hundreds of thousands of dollars. The new Testament church were people shared and looked out for each other and no one was in need that's where the real tithing is effective. Nowdays you will be lucky to borrow five bucks from anyone at church. Much like what the apostle Paul wrote about in 2 Corinthians in regards to love. We are poor messengers and followers. It would seem sometimes like if a person is saved there is no need to be loving anymore only to the lost and only befriend them. How tragic. Let's be examples of Christ's love to all at all times. You may also be a regular listener to radio or podcast ministries. I believe you should give a portion of your tithe or offering to those radio ministries or Christian causes that educate you in the Lord and support the Lord's work.
In addition to your portion of a tithe or offering you can make it a habit to purchase a cd or book from them for your library. Educate yourself in the Lord from the great teachers that are out there: Chuck Smith, David Hocking, Jesus Film just to name a few...
also Smaritanspurse.org Samaritan's Purse Remember you are investing in treasure: the Word of God, there is nothing like it. In the end you are supporting Lord's commission to spread the Gospel throughout the earth. It's all going to the same thing the Lord's Great Commission: Spread the Gospel! There is no perfect church out there and no perfect believer either, we need to recognize our human frailties even as believers. That means that we are not to be a loud cymbal without love. Self righteousness has turned many away from ever getting to know the Lord, it's all by His grace that we are saved and that we are anything in the Lord.
Remember:
2Co 9:7
Too many churches by default expect you to tithe or support them with no questions asked. You may not have a choice of churches in your area too. So what that you won't be selected as an elder because you haven't met the religious criteria of tithing fully. Culture religious people are out of touch with the teachings of Christ.
The problem is that there is a great religious system out there with controlling individuals on every corner with a great disrespect of Jesus's teachings on love and compassion that does not come through. We need to support our pastors and encourage them, fund them with our tithes and offerings but let's make sure they are not turning into Jim and Tammy Baker or like a past president of a charity like United Way making hundreds of thousands of dollars. The new Testament church were people shared and looked out for each other and no one was in need that's where the real tithing is effective. Nowdays you will be lucky to borrow five bucks from anyone at church. Much like what the apostle Paul wrote about in 2 Corinthians in regards to love. We are poor messengers and followers. It would seem sometimes like if a person is saved there is no need to be loving anymore only to the lost and only befriend them. How tragic. Let's be examples of Christ's love to all at all times. You may also be a regular listener to radio or podcast ministries. I believe you should give a portion of your tithe or offering to those radio ministries or Christian causes that educate you in the Lord and support the Lord's work.
In addition to your portion of a tithe or offering you can make it a habit to purchase a cd or book from them for your library. Educate yourself in the Lord from the great teachers that are out there: Chuck Smith, David Hocking, Jesus Film just to name a few...
also Smaritanspurse.org Samaritan's Purse Remember you are investing in treasure: the Word of God, there is nothing like it. In the end you are supporting Lord's commission to spread the Gospel throughout the earth. It's all going to the same thing the Lord's Great Commission: Spread the Gospel! There is no perfect church out there and no perfect believer either, we need to recognize our human frailties even as believers. That means that we are not to be a loud cymbal without love. Self righteousness has turned many away from ever getting to know the Lord, it's all by His grace that we are saved and that we are anything in the Lord.
Remember:
2Co 9:7
So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Give Thanks! from Davidhocking.org
GIVE THANKS IN EVERYTHING!
I Thessalonians 5:16-18
The English words for "thanksgiving" or "give thanks" appear 174 times in their various forms. The Hebrew uses two basic words: yadah wihich appears 114 times and towdah which is found 32 times, both in the same verse in Psalm 100:4. The primary Greek word iseucharisteo, the verb, or eucharistia the noun. They are found 54 times in the New Testament.
We learn a great deal about ourselves in the matter of giving thanks for everything.
1. It reveals our COMMITMENT to the will of God -
I Thessalonians 5:18 cf. Jonah 2:9
2. It reveals the CHARACTER of our God -
Psalm 69:30
(1) His holiness - Psalm 30:4; 97:12
(2) His goodness - Psalm 106:1; 107:1; 118:1, 29
(3) His mercy - Psalm 136:1-2
3. It reveals our CONVERSION to Jesus Christ -
Colossian 2:6-7
4. It reveals our CONDUCT in all we say and do -
Colossians 3:17
5. It reveals our CONFIDENCE in the Lord when we
pray - Colossians 4:2
6. It reveals the CONTROL of the Holy Spirit -
Ephesians 5:18-20
7. It reveals the CHOICE of God - II Thess. 2:13-14
8. It reveals the CALLING of God - I Timothy 1:12ff
9. It reveals our COMING to God - Psalm 95:2;
100:4; 116:17
10. It reveals our COMPASSION for others -
Philippians 1:3-8
11. It reveals our CONTENTMENT with God's
provision - II Corinthians 4:15; 9:11
MAY THIS COMING THANKSGIVING (USA READERS) ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2014, FILL YOUR HEARTS WITH PRAISE TO OUR WONDERFUL LORD!
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Facts about Israel by Davidhocking.org
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Sunday, October 12, 2014
The Creator of All things...
THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS
One of the great needs among Christians today is a clear grasp and understanding of the One we call "CREATOR." Feel free to use these notes with family and friends.
1. HIS UNIQUE PERSON!
Col. 1:15a - "image of the invisible God"
Col. 1:19 - "in Him should all fullness dwell"
Col. 2:9-10 - "For in Him dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are
complete in Him, which is the Head of all
principality and power"
"IMAGE" - John 1:18; 14:8-9; I Timothy 1:17;
Hebrews 1:3; 11:27
John 1:18 - "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him."
John 14:8-9 - "Philip saith unto Him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?"
I Timothy 1:17 - "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."
Hebrews 1:3 - "Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."
Hebrews 11:27 - "By faith he (Moses) forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him Who is invisible."
2. HIS EXALTED POSITION!
Col. 1:15b - "the firstborn of every creature"
Greek: prototokos - used 9 times
(does NOT mean from the standpoint of time)
cf. Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:19-21; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:6 and Revelation 22:8-9
Romans 8:29 - "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn (prototokon) among many brethren."
Ephesians 1:19-21 - "And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come."
Philippians 2:9-11 - "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a NAME which is above every name: That at the NAME of Jesus every knee should bow; of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Hebrews 1:6 - "And again, when He bringeth in the first begotten (prototokon) into the world, He saith, And let all the angels of God worship Him."
Revelation 22:8-9 - "And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: WORSHIP GOD."
3. HIS MIGHTY POWER!
Col. 1:16-17 - "all things created"
Colossians 1:16-17 - "For by Him were all things created, that are in heave, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist"
(1) The ORIGIN of that power
v. 17 - "before all things"
cf. John 1:1; 8:58
John 1:1 - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"
John 8:58 - "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM."
(2) The OPERATION of that power
Col. 1:16 - "by Him were all things created"
John 1:3 - "All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made."
Col. 1:17b - "by Him all things consist"
Hebrews 1:3 - "Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."
(3) The OBJECT of that power
Col. 1:16 - "all things were created by
Him and FOR Him"
Romans 11:36 - "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things, to Whom be glory forever. Amen."
Ephesians 1:9-10 -"Having made know unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purpose in Himself: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him."
4. HIS SPECIAL PLACE IN THE HEARTS OF
ALL BELIEVERS!
Colossians 1:18-19
Colossians 1:18-19 - "And He is the Head of the body, the church: Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence. For it please the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell."
(1) He is the LOVE we need!
"the Head of the body, the church"
cf. Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:15-16
Ephesians 1:22-23 - "And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all."
Ephesians 4:15-16 - "But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ: From Whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."
(2) He is the LIFE we have!
"the beginning, the firstborn from the
dead"
(3) He is the LORD we worship!
"that in all things He might have the
preeminence...for it pleased the Father
that in Him should all the fullness dwell"
("all the fullness was pleased to dwell
in Him")
5. HIS WONDERFUL PLAN TO BRING US
TO GOD! - "reconcile"
Colossians 1:20-23 - "And having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled - in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister."
II Corinthians 5:19 - "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation."
(1) Our PROBLEM - "alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works"
Ephesians 2:12-13 - "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made night by the blood of Christ."
(2) His PART - "having made peace through
the blood of His cross"
Colossians 1:22 - "in the body of His flesh through death"
Romans 5:10-11 - "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom we have now received the atonement (reconciliation)."
(3) His PURPOSE - "to present you holy and
unblameable and unreproveable in His
sight"
Ephesians 1:3-7 - "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved (One). In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."
David Hocking
HFT Connect
Friday, October 10, 2014
Tom discusses the dangers of Christian Palestinianism with Dr. Paul Wilkinson of Hazel Grove Full Gospel Church as they critique Hank Hanegraaff's interview with Dr. Gary Burge.
Tom discusses the dangers of Christian Palestinianism with Dr. Paul Wilkinson of Hazel Grove Full Gospel Church as they critique Hank Hanegraaff's interview with Dr. Gary Burge.
Gary: Welcome to Search the Scriptures 24/7, a radio ministry of The Berean Call with T.A. McMahon. I'm Gary Carmichael. We're glad you could join us. In today's program, Tom begins a multi-part series with Paul Wilkinson, conference speaker and author of
For Zion's Sake and Christian Palestinianism. Now, along with his guest, here's TBC executive director Tom McMahon.
Tom: Thanks, Gary. My guest for today's program and for next week is Paul Wilkinson, who we would normally be talking to at his home just outside Manchester, England. And this time, however, he is in studio with me here in Bend, Oregon. Paul is one of the speakers at our Berean Call conference this year, and so I can look him straight in the eye as I grill him with my mind-numbing questions, or something like that. Does that sound...Paul, does that sound too intimidating for you?
Paul: [laughs] It would be if I didn't know you, Tom.
Tom: [laughing] Okay. Paul is a long-time friend and a wonderful brother who addresses some very critical issues regarding what some professing Christians are saying about Israel. He's the author of For Zion's Sake and some booklets - Prophets Who Prophesy Lies in My Name and another titled Christian Palestinianism. He's currently working on a book with his pastor Andrew Robinson titled Israel Betrayed.
Paul, thanks for joining me on Search the Scriptures 24/7.
Paul: Thank you, Tom. It's great to be here in person.
Tom: Yeah. Now, Paul, you sent me a recording of an interview in which Hank Hanegraaff, known to many as the Bible Answer Man, which you could seriously question as he eisegetes the Scriptures - meaning that he imposes, in my view, and we'll let our listeners decide - imposes his own view on the Bible throughout the program. And the interview is with Gary Burge, who's a professor at Wheaton College, but he also teaches at Bill Hybels' Willow Creek Church right in the Chicago area.Now, Burge wrote Whose Land? Whose Promise? What Christians Are Not Being Told About Israel and the Palestinians.
Now, Paul, what I'd like to do is to use the program to evaluate biblically what Hanegraaff and Burge have to say, especially since they are appealing to the Scriptures to promote their views. Well, you know, we're to be Bereans. I don't care if it's Hanegraaff or whoever it is, if somebody's going to appeal to the Bible, we need to be Bereans, as you know - I'm not telling you anything you don't know - we need to search the Scriptures to see if these things are so. And one of the reasons I think it's important to go through Hank's program in which he's interviewing Burge is he has great influence - CRI, Christian Research Institute, Christian Research Journal. This is not fringe kinds of stuff; he appeals to and teaches evangelicals throughout the country. So it's not a matter of taking him to task, but we need to judge and evaluate what he's saying, and that's what I hope to do.So we're going to...the idea here is we'll play through his program - I don't know if we'll do it entirely - but certainly some key issues in which he's appealing to Scripture. And, Paul, this is an area of your expertise - [laughing] he didn't invite you to be on his program, but I have! I think it's important to address this. So we're going to start with the opening in which he sets basically his view and we'll comment on it. So we'll listen to what he has to say...
Paul: Yes.
Tom: ...stop the tape, and then I'll ask you to comment.
Paul: Okay.
ANNOUNCER:
And now here's CRI president Hank Hanegraaff.
Hank: Thank you very much, Randy. We begin the broadcast today with my conversation in just a few moments with Dr. Gary Burge. He's a professor of New Testament at Wheaton. He's an author of a very important book Whose Land? Whose Promise? Of course he's written many other books, as well. You can find those books on the World Wide Web at equip.org. The reason I want to talk to Dr. Gary Burge is we are attempting all this month to bring a big issue to the fore. It is encapsulated in a DVD With God On Our Side. And I want to set up this interview by simply pointing out that biblical theology knows nothing whatsoever of racism, nor does biblical theology justify ethnic cleansing based on the pretext of a promise made to Abraham.
Tom: Paul, Hank said that he wanted to set it up, but he used terms - "ethnic cleansing..." What kind of setup is this?
Paul: Hmm. And before he used the word "ethnic cleansing," he said, "...biblical theology knows nothing of racism."
Tom: Right.
Paul: That is a loaded statement right there, because what he's saying effectively is if you believe that God has brought the Jewish people back to the land, that the Zionist movement of the 19th century has found fulfillment in the modern state of Israel, you are subscribing to racism, a racist entity. And that's what the United Nations did in 1975 - they issued a resolution declaring Zionism to be racism. They revoked it in 1991, but people like Hank Hanegraaff and those that he's in association with, they often use that phrase: "Zionism is racism." So it's loaded, it's barbed, it's sharp straightaway, and it's trying to plant something straight off into the minds of the listeners that, "What we're going to be talking about in terms of the modern state of Israel and Christians who support the modern state of Israel biblically, they are subscribing to a racist policy." And then he uses the phrase "ethnic cleansing." Once again, this is a propaganda tactic used to perfection by the Palestinian-Arab-Muslim world to label Israel - to get people's thinking along the lines of what happened during the Holocaust, what happened during the Balkan crisis, what happened in Rwanda, where there was genuine ethnic cleansing of people groups. And what he's setting up here is Israel as a state that from the beginning has pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing. There's nothing biblical about that statement. It's political, it's propaganda, and it's setting Gary Burge up in this interview to...
Tom: Right, and it's not true!
Paul: It's absolutely not true. In fact, you know, "Truth has fallen in the streets," the prophet Isaiah said at one point. And this is truth falling in the streets, or falling in the halls of the churches, because it's the Jewish people that have consistently been attacked. It's the Jewish people who have returned to the land in fulfillment of God's promise, God's prophetic Word; who have been systematically targeted by the Arab nations round about that have declared it to this present day their intention to wipe Israel off the map. We've got certain political leaders and presidents, you know, most notably Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that declared that in 2005 in Tehran: "Israel must be wiped off the map." Hamas today, with Israel under attack from Hamas, that is their reason for being; their reason for existence is to destroy this Jewish state. So the policy of ethnic cleansing is being perpetrated against Israel, not by Israel.
Hank: Rather, according to Scripture there is "neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female." In other words, there is no distinction between Israel and the church based on race, and the Apostle Paul made that abundantly plain when he said, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." In other words, if you belong to Christ regardless of your gender, regardless of your station in life, regardless of your genealogy, then you are Abraham's seed; you are an heir according to the promise.
Tom: Paul, here we have Hank again appealing to the Scriptures, but you know, he's already set it up. Race? What does that have to do with anything? He's imposing the ideas that he presented at the beginning, and now is trying to exegete the Scriptures accordingly, but this is eisegesis. He's imposed his own ideas. What do you say to that?
Paul: Yeah, I mean, Hank Hanegraaff has taken that Scripture in Galatians 3:28, I think, where Paul is defining the church. He's defining what it means to be part of the body of Christ: that there's no exclusion according to gender, according to ethnicity, according to your station in life, be you slave or free. To belong to Christ, to belong to the body of Christ, the church of Jesus Christ, the defining characteristic - the qualification - is grace through faith in Jesus. He is the only Savior; He's the only way to the Father. Paul is not touching on Israel - he's not touching on the nation of Israel in that passage. He's not touching on the promises that were given to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and their descendants. He's not talking about the nation's place in the continuing purposes of God, He's talking about what it means to be the church. He's talking to the Galatians. He's talking to non-Jewish - largely non-Jewish believers, non-Jewish Christians in the first century, and it's an incredible passage that you can be spiritual heirs of - even as gentiles, we can be spiritual heirs of those promises that God first gave to Abraham. In fact, Paul says in that epistle, referring to Genesis 12 when the Lord is giving those incredible promises through Abraham how he's going to bless the nations through Abraham, that there was the gospel being preached in advance. And so what Paul is saying to the Galatians in this epistle is now in Jesus Christ be you Jew, gentile, male, female, slave nor free, you can all be inheritors by grace, by faith in Jesus of salvation. You can receive God's - the new heart that God wants for every man to receive. You can be filled with His Spirit. You can belong to God. You can be His children.
But he is not - as I said, he's not dealing with the land of Israel, he's not dealing with the city of Jerusalem, he's not dealing with the temple, he's not dealing with the ethnic nation of Israel, he's dealing with the church. And what [Hank's] setting up here is this erroneous belief that the church and Israel are one - there's only ever been one people of God throughout the Bible, and that is a total mishandling - a distortion of the Word of God. There are two - two clearly defined peoples of God: Israel, like the earthly people, defined by land, territory, borders, with a city as its capitol - Jerusalem; defined according to race - they had to be the descendants, the physical, natural descendants of Abraham through Isaac, not Ishmael; through Jacob, not Esau. And then you've got the spiritual - if you like - the spiritual people of God: the church. And Paul in Ephesians talks about as believers we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. That's never said of Israel in the Old Testament. It's said of the church, and so we're on church ground here; we're not on Israel territory, and he is confusing the two. He's sowing that confusion straightaway in the minds of his listeners, because he's got a whole theology that he's overlaying on the Word of God.
Tom: Mm-hmm.
Paul: He's not - he's not exegeting the Scriptures, he's imparting a theology, which I'm sure we'll talk about, that he's got from a whole tradition that's nearly 2,000 years old.
Tom: Mm-hmm.
Hank: The bottom line is that Scripture emphasizes faith, not genealogy, and therefore as Christians we have always believed in one people of God based on relationship, not on race. The problem today is that modern Christian controversialists divide people into categories, and that on the basis of race rather than the basis of relationship. The first class is said to consist of Jews; the second class is said to consist of gentiles. Now, the good news for the Jews is that on the basis of their race, they have a divine right to the land of Palestine. The bad news is that as a direct result of the crucifixion of Christ, 21st century Jews will soon die in an Armageddon - at least, so it is said - that will make the Nazi Holocaust pale by comparison. Put another way, before all Israel will be saved, a majority of Israelis must be slaughtered. And this has been made popular in a lot of current books.
Tom: Paul, you know, this is really troubling stuff...
Paul: Very.
Tom: ...again, that Hank is identifying with the Scriptures. But we know what the Scriptures say, and he's using terminology - "slaughter," all of this. Does God's Word speak about the time of Jacob's trouble, the Great Tribulation? Does it have content and information there that - hey, this isn't some man making it up, this is what God's Word says. How do we deal with that?
Paul: Well, he used many phrases, many labels. He used the phrase "Christian controversialists." That's code for Christian Zionists, those who would stand with Israel today based on the Word of God - not necessarily politically, because we're not political beings. We're not called to be political, we're called to follow the Lord Jesus and uphold His Word and stand on the truth and be witnesses for Him. So we're labeled as "Christian controversialists." He started that little extract by talking about, again, this distinction between race and faith. Now, the Lord many times through Scripture makes the distinction according to race when He elects - He chooses - Abraham.Amos 3:2, going right into the prophetic Scriptures, God, who is about to judge the people of Israel, He says - God through the prophet Amos, "You only out of all the families of the earth have I chosen, and therefore I must punish you more severely." That's the Word of God - that's God Himself saying, "I have chosen you out of all the families, all the nations of the earth. I have chosen you."
Deuteronomy 7:6, God says again how He has chosen the people of Israel to be His treasured possession, not because they're the more numerous, not because of anything about themselves. God says, "...because of the promises I made to your forefathers."
Exodus 19:5, God says, "If you will obey me," having redeemed the people of Israel, an ethnic group, the Hebrews, from slavery in Egypt, God says, "If you will obey me, you will be to me my treasured possession." So God has made that choice. Christians haven't made that choice. Christians haven't singled out Israel, God has for the purpose - as He declares through Abraham right in the beginning in Genesis 12 - for the purpose of reaching all the nations that are in darkness, that are in idolatry. So He's chosen, He's elected, He's set apart this one people group to reach all people groups. And this was all, of course, pointing ahead to the coming of the Lord Jesus whose genealogy - whose family history - is tied in with the Jewish nation. That's how the New Testament, the gospels, begin with the Jewish family history of the Lord Jesus. And in those opening birth narratives, those wonderful narratives of our Lord's incarnation, His first coming, we even read of the Magi coming from the East saying, "Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?" And that's what's framed above our Lord's head on the cross: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." So that is how He's identified in His humanity as belonging to a specific people group - not a race; the Jewish people are not a race. There's one human race...
Tom: That's a wrong term.
Paul: Yeah, wrong term. They are a people group. They're an ethnic group that have been descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the Lord Jesus according to His flesh, His human nature, is part of that Jewish family.
Hank: I think of the end times controversy edited by Tim LaHaye where he points out that when Jacob's descendants rejected and crucified Christ, they suffered two distinct consequences: the first was that the flock of Israel was dispersed, but the second is the death of two-thirds of the flock, and when will that happen? Well, it supposedly is going to happen during a great tribulation when Israel will suffer tremendous persecution, and then two-thirds of them will die in a bloody holocaust, and that is right around the corner. That is something that Jews can anticipate any moment according to this theory.
Tom: Paul, you know, I don't want to sound condescending here, but once again, this is the Bible Answer Man. Aren't the things that he just described - and didn't describe them correctly - nevertheless he's giving the impression that this is something that Tim LaHaye made up. Doesn't the Bible talk about these things? Isn't the Tribulation something that's going to take place at some point in time?
Paul: Absolutely, and there are Christians...there are leading church men, theologians, authors, who for nearly 500 years, going back to the time of English puritans, have been writing about this future period simply because of what they read in the Word of God. So, I mean, Hank Hanegraaff is trying to label this - trying to attach this to a particular individual who's very well known in the church and his writings.But the prophet Zechariah...God, through the prophet Zechariah, gave this prophecy in chapter 13:7: "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my companion, says the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. Then I will turn my hand against the little ones, and it shall come to pass in all the land, says the Lord, that two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it. I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, This is my people, and each one will say, The Lord is my God." This is right in the middle of a specific prophecy that the Lord through Zechariah says shall come about in the last days when God at the beginning of Zechariah 12 says, "He will bring the nations against Jerusalem." That has never happened throughout the history of Jerusalem until - well, we're seeing the buildup in our day, 2014.
So clearly God through the prophet Zechariah was marking out this future period when certain events would take place: the nations against Jerusalem... Every nation that tries to lift Jerusalem, move Jerusalem, take control of Jerusalem - Jerusalem will be like a cup of trembling, a burdensome stone. And in that same passage in Zechariah 12:10, you have the incredible promise - this is clearly with the Jewish people back in the land - it says, "And they shall look unto me, the one they have pierced," referring to the Lord Jesus, "and they shall mourn for him as for an only child, as for a firstborn son."
So there we have, you know, the Lord saying, "In that day..." In that day of catastrophe, in that day of turmoil, day of cataclysm that's going to come upon the land of Israel and the Jewish people, that will be the time when they cry out to their Messiah, their Lord, their Savior Jesus.
Zechariah 13 begins with this wonderful promise that God will open up this fountain that will cleanse His people from their sin and their idolatry, and then we come to that part of the prophecy that I just read from verse 7, when God says two-thirds shall be cut down in the land. And then we're straight into chapter 14 which talks of the feet of the Lord standing on the Mount of Olives and terrible things happening to the Jewish people - even the women being raped - and then the Lord fighting for His people, and a unique day dawning upon the land and upon the earth when Jesus will be seen to be King of the earth. So this is God's prophecy that has never been fulfilled. You can't find any moment in history where these Scriptures have been fulfilled. And so Christians like ourselves and those who have been accused on Hank Hanegraaff's program, they are simply handling the Word of God, taking it literally, and saying that, "Well, this must refer to some future period." This is not something that we want to happen, this is not something that we are excited about the prospect of happening, it is simply the Word of God that we are just trying to understand, and understand humbly, and understand ultimately with that drive in our hearts to tell the Jewish people the good news, the gospel of Jesus, before this horrible time occurs on the earth.
Tom: Mm-hmm. And it's coming from God's prophet Isaiah, Jewish prophet. This is not something made up by a non-Jew like Tim LaHaye, or whoever else is writing, or Hal Lindsey, whoever else is writing about these things...
Paul: Well, Zechariah in this instance. Yeah.
Tom: Yeah. Exactly. So this is troubling; this is terribly troubling, because, again, we're talking about Hank Hanegraaff's interpretation - really his eisegesis - his imposing his own ideas and his agendas upon the Word of God, which is false. Absolutely false.
Paul: Yeah. And because he has already settled it in his mind - sadly, wrongly - that Israel as a nation is finished as the people of God...you know, that God has rejected the people of Israel because they rejected the Messiah, the Lord Jesus. And so this is a whole theology that is poisoning his mind, [and] the minds of his listeners that are subscribing to this kind of teaching. It's not biblical teaching, it's a theology that's been overlaid on the Scriptures on a basic theological understanding that the church, Jew and gentile, has now taken the place that Israel once had. Israel has fulfilled its purpose 2,000 years ago; now it's all about the spiritual people of God, and he's creating that confusion so that when Christians then come to Scriptures like Zechariah 13, they will say, "Well, this can't possibly be literal. What happened in the Holocaust? At least 6 million Jews were killed. How could something like that ever happen again?"
It's not for us to reason it through. It's not for us to react emotionally or sentimentally, it's for us to handle the Word of God as best we can and say, "Well, Lord, You've said this." We don't see any part of history fulfilling these specific promises that also talk of an earthquake and the Mount of Olives splitting, and the waters coming forth from under the threshold of the temple, and specific geographical and geological detail God has placed in His prophetic Word that has never been fulfilled, and could never have been fulfilled until the days in which we are living, because Israel has as a state only came back into existence just over 60 years ago.
Gary: You've been listening to Search the Scriptures 24/7 featuring T.A. McMahon, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Paul Wilkinson's books are available through The Berean Call.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Sunday, September 7, 2014
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FROM ZIONISM TO PALESTINIANISM: THE GREAT CHRISTIAN BETRAYAL!
By Olivier Jack Melnick
It was in 1894, when Hungarian Jewish reporter Theodor Herzl followed the Dreyfus Affair in Paris, and it took him no time to realize that anti-Semitism was alive and well. Herzl was shocked to hear "Death to the Jews" on the streets of Paris. Napoleon might have been friendly to the Jews of his time, yet the "Jewish Enlightenment", also known as the Haskalah, was mostly a failure.
Convinced that the Jewish people needed a state of their own, Herzl published his booklet Der Judestaat (The Jewish State) in 1896. In that small but visionary piece of work, he envisioned Eretz Yisrael and though he received a lot of criticism for it, was convinced that even though hardships and obstacles populated the journey, "Palestine" was the destination.
Theodore Herzl, while not the originator of the concept of Zionism, was definitely the visionary, catalyst, and leader of political Zionism. Ernst Pawel, in The Labyrinth of Exile: A life of Theodor Herzl, explained: "he brought to it leadership, organization and a unique blend of fantasy and practical realism, but his most important contribution by far was the messianic image of himself, his stature in the eyes of the Jews and in the eyes of the world."
And so it was, in 1897 and not without struggle that Herzl organized the First Zionist Congress. As President, he convened six more until 1902. It was in Vienna, in 1897, that he said almost prophetically "At Basle I created the Jewish State. In five years, perhaps, and certainly in fifty, everyone will see it." Add 50 to 1897 and you get 1947 - the rest is history!
He also quickly realized that Zionism was a purely political movement in search of sustainability. A morphing into a more practical Zionism was becoming necessary.
It eventually led to the birth of "Cultural Zionism", appealing to a wider spectrum within the Jewish community of that time. Two key players were Ahad Ha'am (Hebrew for "one of the people") whose vision as the father of cultural Zionism was: "A Jewish state and not merely a State of Jews" and Eliezer Ben-Yehuda who had emigrated to Israel in 1881 and dedicated the rest of his life, not without hardship, to the rebirth of Hebrew as a modern tongue.
But as political, practical or even cultural as it might have become, it could be argued that Zionism was, before anything else, a biblical concept. In a sense, we can also say that God was the first Zionist. He created the Jewish people to whom He gave the Torah (Exodus 20) and the Land "from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates" (Genesis 15). It was only a matter of time before Bible believing followers of the Messiah would support and pray for Eretz Yisrael, becoming a group within Christianity, known as "Christian Zionists".
While the biblical concept of supporting the existence of Israel and the Jewish people goes back much further, it was again, Theodor Herzl who might have used the term "Christian Zionist" for the first time in 1896. It is also believed, according to Edward Flannery amongst others that the re-birth of Israel in 1948 as well as its growth, had quite a bit to do with Christian Zionists. He stated that "without Christian Zionism, it is highly unlikely that the present State of Israel would have come into being so rapidly as it did."
Christian Zionists have always varied theologically, yet they all maintain a common ground when it comes to certain essentials about Israel and the Jewish people.
They all have a vested interest in Eschatology (the biblical study of the last days).
They see a clear biblical distinction between Israel and the Church, they believe in the physical return of the Jewish people to Israel, the rebuilding of the Temple and Israel coming to faith in Messiah, amongst other things.
For at least the last 100 years, Christian Zionists have been the one arm of the Evangelical church that maintained a very friendly, positive attitude towards Israel and the Jewish people. Most Israeli Prime Ministers since 1948, have recognized the friends they had within Christian Zionist circles.
Unfortunately, the tide is changing. Christian Zionism appears to be dying worldwide. To be sure, Israel hasn't lost all of its friends within the Evangelical ranks. Additionally, Messianic Jewish believers, regardless of their acceptance or lack of by the Jewish community at large, do support Israel unconditionally. I am one of them.
This changing tide is known as "Christian Palestinianism" and will turn into a tsunami if nothing gets done. It has already swept a large number of Evangelicals into questioning, disliking AND rejecting any kind of Zionism.
Christian Palestinianism is Christian anti-Zionism, and as such it must be confronted.
In her book Eurabia: the Euro-Arab Axis released in 2006, Jewish author and activist Bat Ye'or almost prophetically calls it "Palestinian Marcionism": The Christian policy that would eliminate the Jewish source of Christianity by suppressing the link between the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels represents an old and lingering trend, always opposed by the Church. It was first formulated by Marcion, a second-century Byzantine priest of pagan background who was strongly influenced by Gnoticism . Today, Palestinian Marcionism (Palestinianism) paves the way for the Islamization of the Church as it prepares mentalities for an Islamic replacement theology...and encompasses the whole paraphernalia of traditional anti-Semitism".
While Bat Ye'or would claim that Christian Palestinianism is quite ancient -and to an extent she is correct-others such as British scholar Paul Wilkinson see the modern movement as being about 20 years old. He would posit that the modern founder of Christian Palestinianism is Naim Ateek who started the movement in 1994 when he founded the Palestinian Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center known as SABEEL.
Some of the major proponents of Christian Palestinianism today are leaders such as Naïm Ateek or Elias Chacour. But more importantly, the torch of anti-Zionism is being passed down to people who used to be Zionists or at the very least not anti-Israel. These include British vicar Stephen Sizer who describes Zionism as a "devious heresy", Professor Gary Burge of Wheaton College in Illinois, or even Liz Hybels (wife of Chicago area Willow Creek mega church senior pastor Bill Hybels).
There are many more names I could add to this list.
A tragic example of this destructive ideology is the movie Little Town of Bethlehem (2010) painting the portrait of three men who wanted peace and reconciliation in the region: an Arab Muslim, an Israeli Jew and a Palestinian Christian. They promoted their views of reconciliation against all odds. Really, who would disagree with that?
The issue does not lie in the validity of such an aspiration but in how the different sides were being portrayed. Palestinians were being compared to African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement following the leadership of Martin Luther King and fighting the National Guard for their freedom, while Israelis were being painted as the oppressors and invaders of "Palestine". It is a shame to see that many Evangelicals are buying into the lies of Christian Palestinianism.
The same can be said for a more vocally Christian project known as With God on Our Side, directed by Porter Speakman Jr. and endorsed by Tony Campolo and Vice President of World Vision, Steve Haas. It has also received rave reviews from Christianity Today
Christian Palestinianism is Replacement Theology on steroids! With any vestige of the Jewish roots of Christianity eradicated, Israel and the Jewish people will become irrelevant and this is a risk we cannot afford to take! Evangelicals who moved from Christian Zionism to Christian Palestinianism are putting Israel and the Jewish people at risk. Are they no longer reading their Bibles to believe in such lies as Yeshua being the first Palestinian? How can they biblically validate Palestine?
Christian Palestinianism is Christian anti-Zionism which is Christian anti-Semitism in disguise.
This shift from Israel to Palestine in the Christian psyche really is a slap in God's face and a grave altering of His Word. This is indeed the "Great Christian Betrayal" and I tremble at the idea that these people will one day answer to God and have absolutely no logical explanation for how they treated the "Apple of His Eye".
What we can and must do, is support Israel's right to exist and right to the land.
Israel is the only ray of hope in the Middle East as the only true democracy. The number of Israel's true friends within Evangelical circles is dwindling down. We are becoming a minority, yet one of our members is God Himself, and that, I can live with!
Being pro-Israel doesn't mean that one is anti-Palestinian, sadly, the opposite is seldom true!
THE ARAB SPRING THE REAL ENEMY OF ISRAEL
By Abdulateef Al-Mulhim (The writer is a former Saudi Arabian naval admiral.)
On Oct. 6, 1973, the third major war between the Arabs and Israel broke out. The war lasted only 20 days. The two sides were engaged in two other major wars, in 1948 and 1967.
The 1967 War lasted only six days. But, these three wars were not the only Arab-Israel confrontations. From the period of 1948 and to this day many confrontations have taken place. Some of them were small clashes and many of them were full-scale battles, but there were no major wars apart from the ones mentioned above.
The Arab-Israeli conflict is the most complicated conflict the world has ever experienced.
On the anniversary of the 1973 War between the Arab and the Israelis, many people in the Arab world are beginning to ask many questions about the past, present and the future with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The questions now are: What was the real cost of these wars to the Arab world and its people. And the harder question that no Arab national wants to ask is: What was the real cost for not recognizing Israel in 1948 and why didn't the Arab states spend their assets on education, health care and the infrastructures instead of wars?
But, the hardest question that no Arab national wants to hear is whether Israel is the real enemy of the Arab world and the Arab people.
I decided to write this article after I saw photos and reports about a starving child in Yemen, a burned ancient Aleppo souk in Syria, the under developed Sinai in Egypt, car bombs in Iraq and the destroyed buildings in Libya. The photos and the reports were shown on the Al Arabiya network, which is the most watched and respected news outlet in the Middle East.
The common thing among all what I saw is that the destruction and the atrocities are not done by an outside enemy. The starvation, the killings and the destruction in these Arab countries are done by the same hands that are supposed to protect and build the unity of these countries and safeguard the people of these countries.
So, the question now is that who is the real enemy of the Arab world?
The Arab world has many enemies and Israel should have been at the bottom of the list.
The Arab world wasted hundreds of billions of dollars and lost tens of thousands of innocent lives fighting Israel, which they considered is their sworn enemy, an enemy whose existence they never recognized.
The Arab world has many enemies and Israel should have been at the bottom of the list. The real enemies of the Arab world are corruption, lack of good education, lack of good health care, lack of freedom, lack of respect for the human lives and finally, the Arab world had many dictators who used the Arab-Israeli conflict to suppress their own people.
These dictators' atrocities against their own people are far worse than all the full-scale Arab-Israeli wars.
In the past, we have talked about why some Israeli soldiers attack and mistreat Palestinians. Also, we saw Israeli planes and tanks attack various Arab countries. But, do these attacks match the current atrocities being committed by some Arab states against their own people?
In Syria, the atrocities are beyond anybody's imaginations. And, aren't the Iraqis the ones who are destroying their own country? Wasn't it Tunisia's dictator who was able to steal 13 billion dollars from the poor Tunisians? And how can a child starve in Yemen if their land is the most fertile land in the world? Why would Iraqi brains leave Iraq in a country that makes 110 billion dollars from oil exports? Why do the Lebanese fail to govern one of the tiniest countries in the world?
And what made the Arab states start sinking into chaos?
On May 14, 1948 the state of Israel was declared. And just one day after that, on May 15, 1948 the Arabs declared war on Israel to get back Palestine. The war ended on March 10, 1949. It lasted for nine months, three weeks and two days. The Arabs lost the war and called this war Nakba (catastrophic war). The Arabs gained nothing and thousands of Palestinians became refugees.
And in 1967, the Arabs led by Egypt under the rule of Gamal Abdul Nasser, went to war with Israel and lost more Palestinian land and made more Palestinian refugees who are now on the mercy of the countries that host them. The Arabs called this war Naksah (upset).
The Arabs never admitted defeat in both wars and the Palestinian cause got more complicated. And now, with the never ending Arab Spring, the Arab world has no time for the Palestinians refugees or Palestinian cause, because many Arabs are refugees themselves and under constant attacks from their own forces.
Syrians are leaving their own country, not because of the Israeli planes dropping bombs on them. It is the Syrian Air Force which is dropping the bombs.
And now, Iraqi Arab Muslims, most intelligent brains, are leaving Iraq for the east. In Yemen, the world's saddest human tragedy play is being written by the Yemenis. In Egypt, the people in Sinai are forgotten.
Finally, if many of the Arab states are in such disarray, then what happened to the Arabs' sworn enemy (Israel)? Israel now has the most advanced research facilities, top universities and advanced infrastructure. Many Arabs don't know that the life expectancy of the Palestinians living in Israel is far longer than many Arab states and they enjoy far better political and social freedom than many of their Arab brothers.
Even the Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip enjoy more political and social rights than some places in the Arab World. Wasn't one of the judges who sent a former Israeli President to jail an Israeli-Palestinian?
The Arab Spring showed the world that the Palestinians are happier and in better situation than their Arab brothers who fought to liberate them from the Israelis.
Now, it is time to stop the hatred and wars and start to create better living conditions for the future Arab generations.
David Hocking
HFT Connect
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
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Friday, June 20, 2014
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Monday, April 21, 2014
Awesome book by Francis Chan titiled " Crazy Love"
This faith building truth punching book looks
at life as Christians.
http://crazylovebook.com
Sunday, April 20, 2014
REVIVAL BREAKS OUT IN LAND ONCE HOSTILE TO CHRISTIANITY By Jeremy Reynalds Senior
Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
NORTHERN AFRICA (ANS) -- A Christian revival is touching the northernmost reaches of Africa. In a region once hostile to the gospel, tens of thousands of Muslims are now following Jesus. Muslims across Northern Africa are converting to faith in Jesus Christ in record numbers.
Speaking in a story by George Thomas for CBN News, Regent University graduate and filmmaker Tino Qahosh said, "What God is doing in North Africa, all the way from actually Mauritanian to Libya is unprecedented in the history of missions." Qahoush has spent years traveling the region to document the transformation.
He said, "I have the privilege of recording testimonies and listening to firsthand stories of men and women, of all ages where they can be sitting in a room and see the appearance and the presence of God appear to them in reality, like a vision, some of them gave me stories of how they carry on a conversation, it's not just a light that appears."
He added that he sometimes feels jealous. "How come Jesus is visiting the Muslim world at this time and age and we don't hear that happening in the traditional Christian community?"
Thomas said his interviews confirm what experts say is a profound move of God in the predominantly Muslim nations of Mauritania, Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia.
From the shores of Casablanca in Morocco to Tripoli, Libya, experts say the growth of Christianity, especially in the last 20 years, has been unprecedented. And now that growth is also evident in the North African nation of Algeria.
Pastor Salah leads one of the largest churches in Algeria. Some 1,200 believers attend the church, and 99 percent of the population is Muslim.
"In fact we never thought the Algerian church would grow so big," Thomas reported Salah said. He pointed out that every new Christian in his church came from a Muslim background. Since the church opened, they have baptized an average of between 150 to160 believers per year.
Zino, a former Muslim, was invited to attend Pastor Salah's church by a friend.
What he observed transformed him. "I saw Algerians worshiping God with all their hearts and it touched me."
Others, like Farhat who is also a former Muslim, speak of miraculous encounters. He says he was illiterate and couldn't read the Bible when he accepted the Lord, but then God made a change.
"Since then I've read the Bible and understood the Word of God. This is just an example of what God has done in my life and this is the case of many people here in Algeria."
Thomas said even though Algeria is overwhelmingly Muslim the government has given protestant churches the freedom to register their congregations.
"It is the first Muslim Arab government who recognizes officially churches from Islam," said says Youssef Qurahmane, a leading Algerian Pastor.
He added that the government harass and intimidate Christians from time to time, but the level of persecution is nothing like it was 20 years ago. In fact, Qurahmane is seeing God open unprecedented doors.
Thomas reported he said, "God has given to us many opportunities to witness at the police stations, at the courts, and in fact one time I went to the police station and they gave me 45 minutes to speak about Jesus! Just imagine yourself, they are all Muslims sitting and telling me, 'Tell us about Jesus!'"
But Algeria and the countries of North Africa weren't always open to the gospel.
A veteran missionary in the region says things were very different some years ago. We'll call him "Peter" for security reasons.
Peter uses the Bible to describe the landscape.
Thomas reported he said, "You know there's that parable, the sower went out to sow and the seeds feel on stony ground, this is North Africa, in those days was quiet resistant and stony. The religion and the culture were unsympathetic to anything that was foreign and Christianity was considered to be the religion of the Europeans."
Peter believes the arrival of satellite TV and the Internet have dramatically changed people's perception of Christianity.
"Today in North Africa on TV you can hear native Arab Christians talking about their faith, who are mature Christians, answering questions, involved in debates, you can hear different points of view, the Christian point of view in your own living room or in the privacy of your own bedroom."
Emboldened by God's power, Thomas says Algerian Christians are now on a mission to take the gospel to the four corners of the globe.
"God has put in our heart to be able to send 1,000 missionaries by the year 2025. I really believe that maybe one day America will end up with some Muslim convert missionaries coming to reach out to the Muslims there and in other parts as well," says Pastor Qurahmane.
CANADIAN JEWS "MORE AFRAID" by Dalit Halevy
The Bnei Brith Canada organization published its annual report on anti-Semitism in Canada this past weekend, and according to the Shalom Toronto website, it paints a mixed picture.
The organization says there has been a 21.6% rise in vandalistic anti-Semitic acts in the past year, and the number of violent incidents rose by 7.7%. However, there has been a 13.9% decline in the number of events classified under "harassment." The total number of hate acts against Jews was 1,274, a 5.3% decline compared to last year.
"The current level of anti-Semitism in Canada as compared with data from a decade ago shows a leap of 49%," said Bnei Brith Director Frank Diamant. "Jews of all ages are subjected to hate acts at work, in school and even in the playgrounds," he added. Despite Canada's efforts - both domestically and internationally - to deal with anti-Semitism, the prejudices still exist in the country."
Diamant added that the statistics are only part of the picture, and that there is an added element of fear in the present complaints. "Although the total number of events has declined by a small amount, in the past year, Jew-hatred has become a normative discourse that is no longer perceived as negative."
"Anti-Semitism is perceived by many people in the Jewish community as a thing of the past," he explained. "However, the use of the word 'Israel' instead of 'the Jews,' along with a flood of Holocaust imagery in the context of the Jewish state and its supporters, creates dread."
"In the campuses, the problem has been worsened by a slew of decisions made by student organizations, which have created a situation in which Israeli Apartheid Week essentially lasts all year long," Diamant elaborated. "At the same time, Jewish students and Israel supporters are labeled racists, Nazis and baby killers. This kind of harassment has sidelined everyone and silenced them."
While the Canadian government has been tough on anti-Semitism, he claimed, police and prosecutors have exhibited an unwillingness to pursue complaints - so that Canadian Jews generally prefer not to report anti-Semitic incidents at all.
NORTHERN AFRICA (ANS) -- A Christian revival is touching the northernmost reaches of Africa. In a region once hostile to the gospel, tens of thousands of Muslims are now following Jesus. Muslims across Northern Africa are converting to faith in Jesus Christ in record numbers.
Speaking in a story by George Thomas for CBN News, Regent University graduate and filmmaker Tino Qahosh said, "What God is doing in North Africa, all the way from actually Mauritanian to Libya is unprecedented in the history of missions." Qahoush has spent years traveling the region to document the transformation.
He said, "I have the privilege of recording testimonies and listening to firsthand stories of men and women, of all ages where they can be sitting in a room and see the appearance and the presence of God appear to them in reality, like a vision, some of them gave me stories of how they carry on a conversation, it's not just a light that appears."
He added that he sometimes feels jealous. "How come Jesus is visiting the Muslim world at this time and age and we don't hear that happening in the traditional Christian community?"
Thomas said his interviews confirm what experts say is a profound move of God in the predominantly Muslim nations of Mauritania, Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia.
From the shores of Casablanca in Morocco to Tripoli, Libya, experts say the growth of Christianity, especially in the last 20 years, has been unprecedented. And now that growth is also evident in the North African nation of Algeria.
Pastor Salah leads one of the largest churches in Algeria. Some 1,200 believers attend the church, and 99 percent of the population is Muslim.
"In fact we never thought the Algerian church would grow so big," Thomas reported Salah said. He pointed out that every new Christian in his church came from a Muslim background. Since the church opened, they have baptized an average of between 150 to160 believers per year.
Zino, a former Muslim, was invited to attend Pastor Salah's church by a friend.
What he observed transformed him. "I saw Algerians worshiping God with all their hearts and it touched me."
Others, like Farhat who is also a former Muslim, speak of miraculous encounters. He says he was illiterate and couldn't read the Bible when he accepted the Lord, but then God made a change.
"Since then I've read the Bible and understood the Word of God. This is just an example of what God has done in my life and this is the case of many people here in Algeria."
Thomas said even though Algeria is overwhelmingly Muslim the government has given protestant churches the freedom to register their congregations.
"It is the first Muslim Arab government who recognizes officially churches from Islam," said says Youssef Qurahmane, a leading Algerian Pastor.
He added that the government harass and intimidate Christians from time to time, but the level of persecution is nothing like it was 20 years ago. In fact, Qurahmane is seeing God open unprecedented doors.
Thomas reported he said, "God has given to us many opportunities to witness at the police stations, at the courts, and in fact one time I went to the police station and they gave me 45 minutes to speak about Jesus! Just imagine yourself, they are all Muslims sitting and telling me, 'Tell us about Jesus!'"
But Algeria and the countries of North Africa weren't always open to the gospel.
A veteran missionary in the region says things were very different some years ago. We'll call him "Peter" for security reasons.
Peter uses the Bible to describe the landscape.
Thomas reported he said, "You know there's that parable, the sower went out to sow and the seeds feel on stony ground, this is North Africa, in those days was quiet resistant and stony. The religion and the culture were unsympathetic to anything that was foreign and Christianity was considered to be the religion of the Europeans."
Peter believes the arrival of satellite TV and the Internet have dramatically changed people's perception of Christianity.
"Today in North Africa on TV you can hear native Arab Christians talking about their faith, who are mature Christians, answering questions, involved in debates, you can hear different points of view, the Christian point of view in your own living room or in the privacy of your own bedroom."
Emboldened by God's power, Thomas says Algerian Christians are now on a mission to take the gospel to the four corners of the globe.
"God has put in our heart to be able to send 1,000 missionaries by the year 2025. I really believe that maybe one day America will end up with some Muslim convert missionaries coming to reach out to the Muslims there and in other parts as well," says Pastor Qurahmane.
CANADIAN JEWS "MORE AFRAID" by Dalit Halevy
The Bnei Brith Canada organization published its annual report on anti-Semitism in Canada this past weekend, and according to the Shalom Toronto website, it paints a mixed picture.
The organization says there has been a 21.6% rise in vandalistic anti-Semitic acts in the past year, and the number of violent incidents rose by 7.7%. However, there has been a 13.9% decline in the number of events classified under "harassment." The total number of hate acts against Jews was 1,274, a 5.3% decline compared to last year.
"The current level of anti-Semitism in Canada as compared with data from a decade ago shows a leap of 49%," said Bnei Brith Director Frank Diamant. "Jews of all ages are subjected to hate acts at work, in school and even in the playgrounds," he added. Despite Canada's efforts - both domestically and internationally - to deal with anti-Semitism, the prejudices still exist in the country."
Diamant added that the statistics are only part of the picture, and that there is an added element of fear in the present complaints. "Although the total number of events has declined by a small amount, in the past year, Jew-hatred has become a normative discourse that is no longer perceived as negative."
"Anti-Semitism is perceived by many people in the Jewish community as a thing of the past," he explained. "However, the use of the word 'Israel' instead of 'the Jews,' along with a flood of Holocaust imagery in the context of the Jewish state and its supporters, creates dread."
"In the campuses, the problem has been worsened by a slew of decisions made by student organizations, which have created a situation in which Israeli Apartheid Week essentially lasts all year long," Diamant elaborated. "At the same time, Jewish students and Israel supporters are labeled racists, Nazis and baby killers. This kind of harassment has sidelined everyone and silenced them."
While the Canadian government has been tough on anti-Semitism, he claimed, police and prosecutors have exhibited an unwillingness to pursue complaints - so that Canadian Jews generally prefer not to report anti-Semitic incidents at all.
Monday, April 14, 2014
DOES A RECENTLY DECIPHERED 4,000-YEAR-OLD TABLET" DISCREDIT THE GENESIS ACCOUNT OF NOAH'S ARK?
April 14, 2014 DOES A RECENTLY DECIPHERED 4,000-YEAR-OLD TABLET" DISCREDIT THE GENESIS ACCOUNT OF NOAH'S ARK?
"But forget all those images of a long vessel with a pointy bow - the original Noah's Ark, new research suggests, was round." Those words highlight the AP article discussing the tablet that just went on display at the British Museum on January 24. This recent assault on God's Word comes from Irving Finkel, the assistant keeper of Ancient Mesopotamian script, languages, and cultures at the British Museum. According to reports, Finkel received the tablet a few years ago from the son of an amateur historian named Leonard Simmons, who had acquired it in the Middle East following World War II. The cell-phone-sized tablet is also the subject of Finkel's new book, The Ark Before Noah.
So what's the big deal about this tablet, which Finkel calls "one of the most important human documents ever discovered"? And how does it supposedly discredit the Bible's account of Noah's Ark and the global Flood? First, Finkel and the journalist who wrote the AP story push the long-discredited "documentary hypothesis," meaning that they believe Genesis and much of the Old Testament was largely composed during the time of Ezra following the Babylonian exile. Therefore, they automatically assume that the author (or compiler) of Genesis merely copied the Flood account from the Babylonians. Thus, for those that cling to the documentary hypothesis, any flood story from the Middle East that apparently predates the fifth century BC will naturally be touted as one of the sources of the biblical account. Since Finkel's tablet is reportedly dated to approximately 2000 BC, these individuals assume that it is more original and therefore more reliable than the biblical account. Finkel even jokes about the revelation of finding "Holy Writ" - namely, Ark-building instructions - chiseled on a tablet that looks like a piece of wheat cereal.
Second, the primary difference between the flood account on this tablet and the biblical account is that the Mesopotamian tablet describes the "ark" as being a "round boat." The article states that a round boat makes sense because "coracles were widely used as river taxis in ancient Iraq and are perfectly designed to bob along on raging floodwaters." A coracle is a small, round boat used primarily for fishing or transportation in the United Kingdom and India. Finkel states that a coracle is the "perfect thing" because "it never sinks [and] it's light to carry."
Assuming for the moment that the tablet is authentic and the translation is accurate, do these claims stand up to scrutiny?
Finkel believes that the Jews picked up the idea of the flood while they were exiled in Babylon in the sixth century BC. However, Noah is mentioned in the Old Testament books written prior to the 70-year exile or right at the start of it: Isaiah 54:9 (eighth century BC) and Ezekiel 14:14, 20 (early sixth century BC, at the start of the exile). Should this tablet "cause consternation among believers in the Biblical story" as the article suggests? Of course not - in fact, this is just another archaeological find that corroborates the biblical Flood account. It is only reasonable that people in cultures the world over - being descended from the eight people that got off the Ark - would recall various versions of the Flood in their cultural memory and traditions. Hundreds of flood stories have been found in cultures around the world. While many of these contain legendary embellishments, it is very obvious that many of them refer back to a real event described in Genesis, many of the details of which were passed down through the generations.
Secular researchers often jump to the conclusion that the Bible borrowed from other ancient records. Yet other explanations exist for the similarities between Scripture and these ancient myths. It could be that the other myths borrowed from the biblical writers, assuming the tablet model is accurate. Or it could be that the Bible and the ancient myths are records of actual events, but while the Bible records the true history of our world, these other myths are loaded with legendary embellishments but still contain strands of truth.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2014/01/27/4000-year-old-tablet-noahs-ark
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Blood Moon madness from the Berean Call
BLOOD MOON MADNESS [Excerpts]
Blood Moon? No Big Deal!...Every few years some well-meaning Christian pops up with the latest Bible "proof" that the world will end, or Rapture will happen, on a certain date. Of course, the date comes and goes, and nothing happens. These date-setters do great harm to the Body of Christ, and are poor witnesses to the world about what Christianity is really about. And they ultimately look like fools while giving great fodder to the enemy.
William Miller, a Baptist pastor, predicted that Jesus would return in 1844. Nothing happened. But his followers today are known as the Seventh Day Adventists. Charles Russell predicted the end of the world in 1914. Nothing happened but his followers today are known as Jehovah's Witnesses. More recently, in the 1970s, Southwest Radio Church published an article on the "Jupiter Effect." They claimed that a certain, once-in-eternity, planet alignment would cause increased gravity causing the earth to be pummeled with earthquakes, storms and other catastrophes, subsequently ushering in the Tribulation. And nothing happened.
Also in the 1970s, Joseph Calhoon from California caught a lot of media attention because he had studied the Egyptian Pyramids extensively and concluded that the inside passages were a timeline sign from God and that the Lord would return in 1979. And nothing happened. In the 1980s the book "88 Reasons Jesus Will Return in 1988" was released, written by Edgar Whisenant. He was so convinced he was 100% correct that he said on national television, "If the Lord doesn't return in 1988, the Bible is wrong." And nothing happened. Whisenant died in 2001.
Then we had Y2K...And, as before, nothing happened. Then there was Harold Camping, a radio host who first predicted Jesus would return in 1994, then changed it to May of 2011, and finally changed it to October of 2011. And nothing happened. Camping did learn great truths this past December when he passed away (as we all will). That brings us to the latest scripture-light theory called The Blood Moons.
Mark Biltz, a pastor in Washington State, first began pushing this bunk to unsuspecting Believers a couple of years ago. Biltz is apparently not a dispensationalist and thus horribly misapplies several Old Testament scriptures to make his theory plausible. John Hagee, who has a couple of doctrinal challenges of his own, has taken up the Blood Moons banner with a best-selling book on the subject, "Four Blood Moons."
Biltz's date-setting theory is based on Joel:2:31: "The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes." Biltz takes Joel:2:31 to be referring to solar and lunar eclipses. When he compared previous eclipses on NASA'a website (it lists all the lunar eclipses from 2000 BC to 3000 AD), he honed in on the lunar tetrads, a rare series of four lunar eclipses in a roughly two-year time period.
Biltz noticed that some of these tetrads fell on past Jewish Feast days and also around the time of some significant Jewish historical events. Biltz then noted that the tetrad appearing in 1493-94 was connected to the time of the great persecution of Jews in the Spanish Inquisition between 1478 and 1534.
He believed the tetrad appearing in 1949-1950 was tied to Israel's rebirth as a nation in 1948. And finally he concluded that the tetrad appearing in 1967-1968 was tied to Israel's recapturing Jerusalem's Old City and Temple Mount in 1967. From those past events, Biltz further concluded that the future tetrad of 2014--2015 will herald in major Biblical events fulfilling Joel:2:31.
Of course, there are many problems with that wild conclusion and it's not happening. [Here are just a few.]
Problem #1: Joel 2 is referring to the Second Coming of Jesus. And that event happens seven years after the Rapture. Therefore, we're at least seven years and a split-second away from the Second Coming so it's impossible for it to happen in 2014-2015.
Problem #2: When you compare other verses that also discuss the sun, moon and stars at the end of the age there are other events that coincide with the moon turning to blood.
"I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth," Rev:6:12
"But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken" (Matt:24:29).
Problem #3: Some 40% of the previous tetrads did NOT coincide with Jewish Feast days or major events in history. So how would you know if the next upcoming tetrad had any significance?
Problem #4:The tetrads that DID match up (Inquisition, Jewish Independence and recovering control of the Old City of Jerusalem) actually happened months or years after the events. So not much of a warning there!
Should we expect God to be in the business of "loosely predicting" the future? When you consider God gave Israel the EXACT DAY the Messiah would come into Jerusalem, in writing, 173,880 days prior, this Blood Moon theory seems pretty lame.
There ARE a lot of prophetic signs being fulfilled in our lifetime. But there's no Biblical basis for tying the Blood Moons into predicting the return of Jesus--they mean zilch!
(Bill Perkins, Compass eNews, Feb. 10, 2014)
William Miller, a Baptist pastor, predicted that Jesus would return in 1844. Nothing happened. But his followers today are known as the Seventh Day Adventists. Charles Russell predicted the end of the world in 1914. Nothing happened but his followers today are known as Jehovah's Witnesses. More recently, in the 1970s, Southwest Radio Church published an article on the "Jupiter Effect." They claimed that a certain, once-in-eternity, planet alignment would cause increased gravity causing the earth to be pummeled with earthquakes, storms and other catastrophes, subsequently ushering in the Tribulation. And nothing happened.
Also in the 1970s, Joseph Calhoon from California caught a lot of media attention because he had studied the Egyptian Pyramids extensively and concluded that the inside passages were a timeline sign from God and that the Lord would return in 1979. And nothing happened. In the 1980s the book "88 Reasons Jesus Will Return in 1988" was released, written by Edgar Whisenant. He was so convinced he was 100% correct that he said on national television, "If the Lord doesn't return in 1988, the Bible is wrong." And nothing happened. Whisenant died in 2001.
Then we had Y2K...And, as before, nothing happened. Then there was Harold Camping, a radio host who first predicted Jesus would return in 1994, then changed it to May of 2011, and finally changed it to October of 2011. And nothing happened. Camping did learn great truths this past December when he passed away (as we all will). That brings us to the latest scripture-light theory called The Blood Moons.
Mark Biltz, a pastor in Washington State, first began pushing this bunk to unsuspecting Believers a couple of years ago. Biltz is apparently not a dispensationalist and thus horribly misapplies several Old Testament scriptures to make his theory plausible. John Hagee, who has a couple of doctrinal challenges of his own, has taken up the Blood Moons banner with a best-selling book on the subject, "Four Blood Moons."
Biltz's date-setting theory is based on Joel:2:31: "The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes." Biltz takes Joel:2:31 to be referring to solar and lunar eclipses. When he compared previous eclipses on NASA'a website (it lists all the lunar eclipses from 2000 BC to 3000 AD), he honed in on the lunar tetrads, a rare series of four lunar eclipses in a roughly two-year time period.
Biltz noticed that some of these tetrads fell on past Jewish Feast days and also around the time of some significant Jewish historical events. Biltz then noted that the tetrad appearing in 1493-94 was connected to the time of the great persecution of Jews in the Spanish Inquisition between 1478 and 1534.
He believed the tetrad appearing in 1949-1950 was tied to Israel's rebirth as a nation in 1948. And finally he concluded that the tetrad appearing in 1967-1968 was tied to Israel's recapturing Jerusalem's Old City and Temple Mount in 1967. From those past events, Biltz further concluded that the future tetrad of 2014--2015 will herald in major Biblical events fulfilling Joel:2:31.
Of course, there are many problems with that wild conclusion and it's not happening. [Here are just a few.]
Problem #1: Joel 2 is referring to the Second Coming of Jesus. And that event happens seven years after the Rapture. Therefore, we're at least seven years and a split-second away from the Second Coming so it's impossible for it to happen in 2014-2015.
Problem #2: When you compare other verses that also discuss the sun, moon and stars at the end of the age there are other events that coincide with the moon turning to blood.
"I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth," Rev:6:12
"But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken" (Matt:24:29).
Problem #3: Some 40% of the previous tetrads did NOT coincide with Jewish Feast days or major events in history. So how would you know if the next upcoming tetrad had any significance?
Problem #4:The tetrads that DID match up (Inquisition, Jewish Independence and recovering control of the Old City of Jerusalem) actually happened months or years after the events. So not much of a warning there!
Should we expect God to be in the business of "loosely predicting" the future? When you consider God gave Israel the EXACT DAY the Messiah would come into Jerusalem, in writing, 173,880 days prior, this Blood Moon theory seems pretty lame.
There ARE a lot of prophetic signs being fulfilled in our lifetime. But there's no Biblical basis for tying the Blood Moons into predicting the return of Jesus--they mean zilch!
(Bill Perkins, Compass eNews, Feb. 10, 2014)
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