Why is our faith useless if the resurrection didn’t take place?  You couldn’t trust Him nor the Word of God.  Matthew 16:21 states, “From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Though He said it elsewhere, He didn’t say here that this is what the Prophets said or what the Tanach (aka Old Testament) taught.  No, Matthew records that Jesus Himself taught this truth about Himself.  These are His words.  You can’t just say that He was mistaken about what the Law and the Prophets said (see Luke 24:44-49); thus it doesn’t matter whether He rose or not.

No, He actually taught His disciples that He was going to die and rise again.  If He doesn’t, He is wrong and His teachings can’t be trusted.  For if He was wrong at that point, on what other points was and is He wrong?  Was He wrong when He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.” How is that possible if He Himself is still dead?

Can He be trusted to meet all your needs?  Give you power to live?  Offer you strength to change your life in order to make it better?  What makes Him different than any other religious leader of any era?  He laid His entire credibility on the line with one statement.  “I will die.  And I will rise to life in 3 days – not 1, not 5, but 3.”  If He doesn’t and one can prove He didn’t, throw Him out.  But if He did and it can be proven, you have something rock solid to trust.  Because if He said and did that, what else did He say He could do for you?  He drew the proverbial line in the sand.  He crossed it, will you?

More than one university professor has cast doubt on the existence of King David and the ancient Kingdom of Israel.  Academics are prone to say David was the Jewish equivalent of King Arthur, the stuff of myths and legends.  Once again, archeology is proving these doubts wrong.  An inscription on a pottery shard found near the valley where David slew Goliath offers evidence that the books of the Old Testament are much older than academics previously thought, and scribes certainly could have been recording the lives of David and his sons 3000 years ago.

An inscription on a pottery shard dating to the 10th century BC has been declared to be in Hebrew.  Not only does the ancient language on the shard use certain words specific to Hebrew, but the inscription speaks about taking care of the weaker people in society – widows, orphans and strangers – and calls for the king to get involved.  Middle East cultures of the time did not promote the protection of the weak; these were ideas unique to the Old Testament and the Hebrew culture.

Professor Gershon Galil of the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa, who deciphered the inscription, argues that this pottery shard offers evidence that the Kingdom of Israel was indeed in existence in the 10th century BC (the time of David), had a king, and had people capable of writing down histories.  It therefore gives evidence to something some of us have never stopped believing, that the Scriptures are as old as they claim to be, despite what modern day scholastics may think.

“It can now be maintained that it was highly reasonable that during the 10th century BCE, during the reign of King David, there were scribes in Israel who were able to write literary texts and complex historiographies such as the books of Judges and Samuel,” Galil said.

Galil points out that the shard was found in Khirbet Qeiyafa, a rural Judean town near the Valley of Elah.  He argues that if scribes out in the country were able to write the complex text found on this pottery shard, a number of capable scribes would have also lived in central Judea and in the city.  This contradicts many academics who have argued that the Hebrew Scriptures could not have been written before the Babylonian captivity because of widespread illiteracy.

While the inscription does not match any exact Old Testament passage, the gist is similar to ideas expressed in verses like Exodus 22:21-23; 23:3, demonstrating a flow of ideas in line with what Scripture taught.

Academics have long complained that the great kings David and Solomon did not really exist because archeological evidence of them has not popped up all over Israel.  Yet, conquest during the time of the kings, destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Babylonians, Israel’s years of being a battle ground between Syria and Egypt, the destruction of the 2nd Temple and eventually the razing of Jerusalem by the Romans all would have played a big part in wiping out the majority of King David-related artifacts.  King Solomon’s golden shields (1 Kings 10:17) would have been long gone.  Still, David’s story remained safe in the Scriptures, protected and fastidiously copied down through the centuries.

This new inscription offers evidence outside the Scriptures by establishing that the Israelites of David’s time had writing capabilities.  It isn’t alone; there are other evidences of ancient Israel outside the Bible.  The Tel Dan Stele describes the victory of a king of Damascus over a “king of Israel” and a king of the “House of David” during the 9th century.  (After King Solomon died, Israel was split into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Southern Kingdom of Judah, which was ruled by the descendents of David.)  The Mesha Stele, excavated at the capital of ancient Moab, also declares victories over a king of Israel – Ahab, son of Omri.  And the Sennacherib Prism describes the Assyrian king’s attack on Jerusalem during the reign of Hezekiah – an attack which failed as described in 2 Kings 18-19.

The Hebrew Scriptures are more than just Jewish history and mythology jotted down hundreds of years after the facts described. These books, penned by dozens of authors, are a consistent message from the I AM, the God not constrained by Time. The Scriptures not only provide readers with the history of Israel, but also give previews of events hundreds or thousands of years before they occur. Most importantly, they describe in advance the death of the Jewish Messiah for our sins (Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Acts 8:26-39) and his victory and future reign on the throne of his father King David (2 Sam 7:16-17; Psalm 110:1-2; Matt 22:42-46; Isaiah 9:6-7).

from the January 19, 2010 eNews issue at http://www.khouse.org

Further note from Pastor Chris

You can trust the Bible, not only with your daily life, but your future one as well.  Though people will try to destroy the credibility of the Bible, the Bible will eventually be proven true.  Let me give you one more example of this.

The writer of 2 Samuel states in 5:17, “But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold.”

It is telling us that David’s stronghold was lower that his Palace or where he lived.  Those who don’t take the Bible literally were looking all over the City of David and lower modern day Jerusalem to find David’s palace.  When they couldn’t find it, they took a leap of reasoning and said that David didn’t exist.  Their reasoning was that if they couldn’t find the place that he lived in, then the guy who was supposed to live in it must not exist either.

What’s cool is, want to know how they finally found David’s palace?  When I first went to Israel in 1999, it was not there, but when I went again in 2008, I could walk over a grate hovering above it by about 10 feet.  How did they find what I could now see with my own eyes?  The archeologist did exactly as 2 Samuel said, went down to the stronghold; thus his palace had to be higher.  All their assumptions about where to look were wrong!  These false assumptions had them looking in the wrong place.  Yet when they finally took the Bible literally, they found the palace!

Go figure?  So when academics, and I don’t care how many degrees they have behind their name either, want to say because they can’t find outside proof of something in the Bible; so what is in the Bible can’t be true and thus can no longer be God’s word, I say this, “I’ll keep trusting the Book.  Give it time and you will find exactly what it say’s you’ll find right where it says you will find it.”

You can trust the book!  You can increase your trust in Jesus and His Word.  So go ahead and dive in and let it change your life.

Then a couple of years later we returned to the same area just to see it.  This time we received quite a different reception.  By this time, Israel had left Lebanon altogether.  As we drove through a break in a road barrier, we drove on the border road between the apple orchard and the security fence.  This time we didn’t stop for pictures.  Instead we were stopped by an Israeli military patrol and were asked, “What in the world were you doing on the border?”  We told them our story about wanting to come back to the place we had been 3 years earlier and how we got there.  They obviously didn’t believe us because they told us that the road was blocked.  We said it wasn’t, so they detained us in a park where my wife is seen standing (see at right picture – I had to show her where we had gone!).  This patrol of soldiers later (about 2 hours) discovered what we had said was true and let us go.  I’m sure someone got in trouble on that one!

While we were “detained”, we were able to have a great conversation with the soldiers on all kinds of topics.  I think they just wanted to practice their English.  But, once one of the soldiers found out that I was a pastor and a believer in Yeshua I was asked, “Why does the world hate us so much?”  I replied, “Do you really want to know?  I mean since we have nothing to do but wait here until your superiors check out our story, I’d be glad to tell you.  But do you really want to know?”  He said he did want to know, so I told him.

I think my answer both surprised him and sobered him as well.  It was not your typical geo-political answer.  In fact, it had nothing to do with justice or injustice at all or, to be quite frank, Israel herself.  I am a Biblicist, which means that I try to live my life seeing all of life with and through a Biblical worldview or lens.  I’ve discovered that this worldview is not only the only worldview that fits reality, but it also has proven itself quite effective at changing my life.  The Bible holds the only promise of true freedom (see John 8).

Thus my answer to this soldier is based upon my understanding of Scripture, which tells me the when’s, the why’s and the what’s when it comes to Israel.  The following information is simply the long version of what I told that soldier that day at the park in Metula, Israel.

The Answer Requires a Bigger Picture

In answering the question of why the world loves to hate Israel, one must first gain a larger perspective than just Israel.  The Bible starts with the book of Genesis where, depending upon when you believe Satan fell, a created angel of the highest rank (cherub), Satan, is seen as an adversary of God by Chapter 3.  The rebellion against God started in heaven and hits this planet from the first book of the Bible to the last book. ¹ There is a war on this planet between forces that can’t be seen with the naked eye, but can be seen through the events and actions they cause.  In other words, the hatred, the illogical explanations, the hypocritical viewpoints given upon her actions is a spiritual issue that will not be solved until the Messiah comes to reign on this planet.

Regardless of when Satan fell God made mankind, Adam and Eve, to rule this planet and subdue it (Gen. 1:28).  The word for “subdue” in this passage is interesting as it means: to subject, to keep under by force, bring into bondage, to make subservient, to dominate and tread down.  Now if everything that God created was good, what needed to be brought back into line?  In my understanding, the only entity that needed to be brought back in line was Satan.  However, Adam lost this duel that deepened the rebellion of Satan as he now had a place to rule from, a base of operations.

Satan became the prince of this world. ² This is no casual thing.  When Yeshua went into the wilderness for forty days, Satan tempted Yeshua by offering Him the kingdoms of the world if Yeshua would simply bow down and worship Satan. ³ In order for this temptation to have been like ours, Satan’s offer had to have been real. ⁴ And in order for it to be real, Satan must had to have some kind of control of this planet to make this kind of offer.

The truth in this concept can be understood in the Robin Hood story.  King Richard was out town, which made his brother, Prince John, ruler in his place.  As long as the King was gone, the Prince had control of the realm.  And if the King could be killed, all the better for the Prince as he would become King.  The Bible calls Satan a ruler or prince of this world.  The only way he can become king is to knock off or keep the King from coming, which is what the Bible records has been Satan’s plan from the beginning of time to the end of the Book.

Satan knocked off the first earthly king, Adam, who had the job of ruling this planet.  Adam failed and mankind had a huge problem that he couldn’t solve – sin.  But the Bible is not just a picture of God’s grace in overcoming sin, but it is also a picture of how God would also remove this prince and replace Him with the one true King – Yeshua the Messiah and King.

How would God accomplish both tasks?  The Bible gives us the answer the moment Adam and Eve lost their battle with Satan.  God states that He was going to send “a seed” through the woman who would defeat Satan. ⁵ This brings up another interesting thought, but we must take a small detour and talk about biology.

In order to create human life you need an egg and a seed.  The woman provides the egg and the man provides the seed.  The Bible records God as saying “the seed of the woman”.  This is a biological impossibility as the seed comes from man not woman.  At first glance, it appears to be a contradiction, which would mean that the Bible can’t be written by God as He can’t lie or make mistakes and thereby making the Bible untrustworthy.

But is it a contradiction?  Could it be that God was telling us the methodology of how He was going to defeat Satan?  Mankind couldn’t put Satan in his place, only God could.  Yet it was mankind who messed up and needed rescuing as well as the planet.  Mankind needed help and would need God to do it.  How could this happen?  The virgin birth provides the answer.  Isaiah reveals that a child will be born, which means he is human, on whom the government shall rest on his shoulders, a king.  This child who is born will also be called “Mighty God, Everlasting Father.”  Isaiah goes onto say that this child will sit on David’s throne and there will be no end to his government. ⁶

How can that happen?  We know that humans die.  We also know that kings die; and thus, their government will end with their death.  But this child’s government will never end, how is it possible?  We know David’s reign ended. Now, even if you take the extension of his reign through his “seed” or children who reigned after him, his government ended when the last Judean king was dethroned and Jerusalem destroyed. ⁷ Since then, there has never been a son of David sitting on a Jewish throne in Jerusalem.  Therefore, David’s government ended.  How?  He was human.  The Isaiah passage, however, states this child’s government would never end.  The only way this is possible is for the child to be God as well, which is exactly what Isaiah states.  This child will be called “Mighty God.”

The Rightful King Must Be Born – Somewhere and to Someone

God will provide the solution to mankind’s sin problem and Satan’s rebellion in one stroke.  God will put on humanity to do what mankind couldn’t do – defeat Satan.  It’s not the purpose of this article to go deeper into this mystery, but the point that needs to be made is this – this child would have to be born to someone somewhere on this planet.  This means that a real person, belonging to a real people living in a real country/nation would be needed for this child/God to be born.

Therefore, if Satan can keep this family from forming, or if it is formed, destroy it once it is, he wins.  If this child isn’t born, Satan as the prince steps up to become king and game over.  With this concept in mind, let’s explore Scripture to see if this belief is based in Scripture or is just something fanciful.

Three chapters later, in Genesis 6, Satan tries to wipe out the entire human race!  Hey, if there are no humans around, then there can be no “seed” born.  And if there is no “seed” born there is no Messiah King and no Savior; therefore, Satan wins.  This is Satan’s thinking anyway.  However, God does an end run on him.  God finds one person He can use, Noah.  Satan had to be ticked off.  He had God boxed in and lost!  God wins, the “seed” lives to see another day.

Satan wasted no time in continuing his rebellion.  For right after the flood we have the story of him uniting mankind against God at Babel. ⁸ Again, if no one wants to follow God, there would be no one for God to choose from in order to start a people to have a country where the “seed” could be born.  Satan again thought he had God in a corner.  Satan had the entire planet forming lines against God this time.  Everyone.  There were no Noah’s for God to use this time.  If God was going to destroy the entire planet at the flood because “every inclination of his heart was only evil all the time”, wouldn’t He have to do it again here at Babel when the entire planet again lined up against Him?

You’ve got to love God.  He is the original “out of the box” thinker.  He had another plan in mind.  In fact, He would take what Satan did and use it to fulfill His own purpose – creating a people for “seed” to be born.  God scattered the people of this rebellion by changing their language.  Then the people who spoke the same language would find each other and spread out over the planet.  Viola, you have nations or people groups for the first time in history (Genesis 10, which names nations, is an overview of what happened next and Genesis 11 reveals how these nations came into existence).  God simply used Satan’s strategy against him.

Now, right after Scripture mentions nations or people groups, it records God choosing one person to start a new nation.  Understand that God could have chosen anyone, any group of people, to have sent the “seed” through.  For the sake of familiarity, He could have chosen a Greek, an American, an Ethiopian, a Bolivian, an Indian, you name the country, He could have chosen any of them.  Instead, He chose a Chaldean named Abram, whom He would later rename Abraham. ⁹ Yes those countries didn’t exist back then, but the point is this, there were a lot of countries and a lot of people at the time and God chose Abraham.  Why did God choose Abraham?  His grace and mercy chose to send the “seed” through the people of Abraham.

This selection put a target on Abraham and his descendants’ backs that Satan could forever zero in on.  Who cares about the rest of the planet?  He knows where to focus all his energies and efforts in keeping this “seed” from ever being born.  Little did Abraham know, when he rejected the ‘gods’ of this world and chose to know and live for the God of the universe, the set of events that would harass him and his race for the rest of the Book and beyond.

Before one can understand where Satan would attack, one first must understand the three unconditional promises God made to Abraham.  One, God promised Abraham that he would become a great nation, meaning that Abraham would have children who would eventually multiply into a people group.  Two, all the world would be blessed through Abraham.  And three, Abraham’s offspring or “seed” would own a piece of real estate in the Middle East today called Israel. ¹⁰

The Harassment of the Jewish People Begins

This sovereign choice by God (though some Jewish people have asked, “God, why didn’t you choose someone else?”) of Abraham, the Hebrew¹¹, started a harassment of one people group that has been unparalleled in human history.  Why would one people, out of all the others, but so picked on as this one?  It’s because Satan knows where and on whom to place all his efforts at derailing God’s plan of sending a “seed” that would defeat him – Abraham’s offspring, Israel.

In the following section of scripture, we discover a number of Satan’s strategies to derail God’s plan: famine (got Abraham out of the land) ¹², cultural assimilation (taking Hagar to produce children for Sarah) ¹³ and fear (Abimelech could have impregnated Sarah).¹⁴ Yet in each of these cases, God’s grace and mercy are seen.  Even though Satan got Abraham to slip up, God came to the rescue.  The plan goes on – the “seed” will be born in Israel.

Now Satan increases the pressure on God’s plan.  He now will use governmental policy to do his bidding (you thought Hitler was the first one?).  Can Satan do that?  The Tenach tells us that Satan can move nations to attack others.  In the book of Job, Satan wants to pick on one person, Job, because he was a goody-two-shoes type of person.  God allows Satan to test Job by taking everything away from Job except his life.  How did Satan accomplish this task?  He used two groups of people – the Sabeans and the Chaldeans.  He used nations, if you will, to accomplish his purposes.

And we see him using that same strategy when Abraham’s descendants move to Egypt to survive a famine.  God puts them in a location where they can turn from a 70-person clan into a million-plus nation.  It is here that Satan grabs a government to achieve his goal.  He moves Pharaoh to kill every Hebrew male at birth. ¹⁵ Satan couldn’t keep God from choosing a people group through whom to bring the “seed”, but he could try to eliminate these people.  If there are no males, the Hebrews would eventually die out; there would be no “seed” to come that would defeat him.

In this case, God used a group of midwives to thwart Satan.  Then Satan tried another governmental policy to get the job done.  He created a law where the Hebrew mothers had to throw every male child into the Nile.  Again, through obedience to God, this plan was also stalled.

Eventually this nation is freed from bondage under Egypt to go home – back to Israel.  Satan couldn’t get rid of the people, so now he takes a different tack.  He tries to keep them from going to the place where God said the “seed” would be born – the land of Israel.  He tried war (with Egypt¹⁶ and the Amalekties¹⁷), but those attempts failed as God intervened to defend the Israelites.

When that tactic failed, he tried intimidation.  The same beings that were around at the flood, the Nephilim (whose belief it is of this author were half demonic “sons of God” and half human “daughters of men”), are found again, but this time in the Promised Land. ¹⁸ When the Israelite spies saw these giants, they were afraid and wanted to return to Egypt.  They didn’t want to enter the land of Israel, the location where the “seed” was to be born.  Eventually they did enter the land under Joshua or Yehoshua (a type of the future King of Israel Yeshua) or “Jehovah is salvation”.  Again, Satan looses.  God’s promise of a “seed” being born in Israel lives on.

Okay, Satan couldn’t keep them from getting into the land, so he tries another tactic – religion.  In this situation, it’s false religion.  His thinking here is this: if he can get the Israelites to worship him rather than the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God would have to remove them from this land.  God is called the Father of Israel¹⁹ and is seen as Israel’s Husband.²⁰ As her Father, wouldn’t he have to discipline her?  He did this constantly in the book of Judges.  As her Husband, wouldn’t he have to divorce her by removing her from His home?  This is exactly what happened in the books of I and II Kings and I and II Chronicles and recorded in Jeremiah 3 (cf. vs. 6-8).  The northern tribes lasted only 250 years in the land before God used Assyria to remove them while the southern tribes made it a little longer. They lasted 370 years before Babylon took them out.  Keep in mind that this removal process was not pretty.  The Assyrians used assimilation to get the job done (the Samaritan race starts here).  While the Babylonians used extermination as the Judeans would not surrender like the prophet Jeremiah encouraged them too.  Both inflicted plenty of pain and suffering on the Jewish people.

Satan had to be howling!  He must have thought he was winning this game.  The people are out of the land; therefore the “seed” that would defeat him couldn’t be born in Israel.  God is a liar and he wins.

Nope, Satan loses.  God is true to His word and will remain faithful even when His people are faithless.  Yes, God said He would remove Israel from the land if they served other gods. ²¹ And God kept this promise.  However, God snuck in a zinger.  He also had Jeremiah write that He would bring His people back home in seventy years! ²² God even told us the name of the person He would use to do it – Cyrus. ²³ And just as God promised through Isaiah, Cyrus did allow the Israelites to return home to Israel. ²⁴

The Battle over the “Seed” Continues

Satan had to be scowling now.  He had to be saying, “I can’t win!  Just when I’m about to win, you pull some off-the-wall trick and defeat me.  Just you wait, God.  I’ll try again.”  And try again he did.  This time Satan used a centuries-old grudge to move his player into position.  God gave King Saul an important mission – completely destroy the Amalekites for what they had done to Israel when they came out of Egypt. ²⁵ Saul didn’t fulfill this mission and it came back to haunt the Israelites hundreds of years later in the person of Haman the Agagite.  You can read about this guy in the book of Esther.  Satan used Haman to create a governmental policy to exterminate the entire Jewish race.  If this plan succeeds, Satan wins as there is no people for the “seed” to come through, no people to return home to the place where this “seed” would be born.

In thwarting this plan, God put a Jewish woman on the Persian throne!  Think about it.  One day in the distant past Iran had a Jewish Queen.  If life there were not so crazy right now, this ironic twist would be funny.  Through her uncle’s persuasion, “Who knows that you have come to this royal position for such a time as this,” she risks her life to save her people.  She does and the people roll on and Purim is celebrated today over the entire Jewish world.

After this attempt through Haman failed, the Bible is silent as to Satan’s attacks on the people who would produce the “seed”.  Keep in mind however, Satan can read the Bible too.  He knew where the “seed” would be born – in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) of Judah (Gen. 49:8-12) and when this “seed” would be born (Daniel 9:25-26).  We know Satan knew this because a group of Magi came from the east and knew when to come looking for the child.²⁶ Furthermore, both secular and biblical history record Satan’s attempts to throw the people off about the Messiah as he sent at least two false Messiahs prior to Yeshua’s birth. ²⁷

Satan tried to do everything within his power to keep the “seed” from coming; and yet, God stopped him every time.  Now the child is born in Bethlehem.  I wonder at times if Satan was behind the census that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem.  Everyone had to return home.  He might have been trying to make his job easier as every person of David’s house had to return to Bethlehem to register for this census. ²⁸ I can’t prove it, but I wouldn’t put it past him either.  This child had to be born in Bethlehem and Satan would want to make sure that the child got to Bethlehem because he had another tool just waiting to use – Herod the Great.

Herod the Great was known for killing anyone and everyone who might challenge his authority as King of Israel.  Herod even killed his own sons and wife to keep him securely on the throne.  Caesar is reported to have said, “It is safer to be a pig in Israel than a son of Herod.”  Satan had a willing instrument in Herod.

When the Magi showed up asking where the “King of the Jews” was born, the Bible experts of the day knew exactly where, Bethlehem.  So what does Herod do to this threat to his throne?  He killed every male child within the Bethlehem area two-years old and younger.  He wanted to make sure this “seed” never lived past 2.  Again Satan has no qualms about getting governments to do some awful things to accomplish his goal of keeping the “seed” from being born and trying to kill the child once He came.  And guess who got caught in the middle?  Hundreds, if not thousands, of Jewish babies.  Satan doesn’t care about any life, let alone Jewish life.  He is out to win and win at all costs is his approach.

The “Seed” Came – What’s Satan up to Now?

Since the “seed” has come, what now?  Why is Israel still being treated differently than all the other nations?  Why are they still being picked on?  The story is not over.  God made a number of promises that are yet to be fulfilled.  One of those promises was that a descendant of David would sit on David’s throne forever. ²⁹ This promise was passed on to the child that was born to Mary (and whose father was not Joseph) that He would sit on His Father David’s throne – forever. ³⁰ While it is not the purpose of this article to go into the Biblical teaching of the “seed”/King/Messiah coming twice, though this concept of a Mashiach ben Joseph, the Suffering Messiah, and a Mashiach ben David, the Kingly Messiah, was a tenant of Judaism until the 12^th century when Rashi (a famous Jewish Rabbi) greatly modified it, it is important to our current discussion.  In Hosea 5:15, God says that He will come and judge Israel.  He then will “go back to my place until they admit their guilt.”  To “go back” implies that He first had to come.  It is interesting that Yeshua says basically the same thing just before He dies and rises again.  Matthew 23:39 records, “You will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He comes in the name of the Lord.’”  “See Me again” means that Yeshua had to come once, go away, and then will return once more.

The “seed” did come, but not to reign.  He came to suffer, die and rise again the first time.  Satan tried to stop this and couldn’t, though many Jewish people died in the process.  The “seed” will also come again when “they will look on me, the one they have pierced.”³¹ And because this hasn’t happened yet, we now have Satan’s strategy from here on out – destroy the Jewish race.  If he can accomplish this, the King can’t return as there would not be a people left to admit their guilt and say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Here is the point I was making to that soldier in the park.  Why does the world love to hate Israel?  It is not a geo-political problem.  It is not a logical or rational issue.  It really is not about land.  It is a spiritual problem – Satan vs. God.  We know who wins.  But this doesn’t matter to Satan.  He will continue to try and destroy the Jewish people no matter where they live.  If Satan can get rid of the entire Jewish race, there is no reason for Yeshua to come back!

This is exactly what we have seen down through the centuries since Yeshua went “back to his place”.  And before I go one word further, I must say two things.  One, I can prove what the Church did to the Jewish people throughout the ages had nothing to do with the Jesus I know and love.  What was done was all about politics – government policies (sound familiar?), not Jesus.  Irregardless of this fact, Jesus is seen as the bad guy, which leads to my second statement.  I humbly apologize to and ask forgiveness from every Jewish person on this planet, past, present and future for what has been done to you and to your people in the name of my Savior Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach.   What was done is not what the Bible teaches nor what Yeshua Himself taught – win hearts through love, not the sword.  Please forgive me and us.

Satan’s Tactics Against the Jewish People Today

Satan’s tactics from the first century to now are no different than the ones he used in the past – assimilation, expulsion and extermination.  The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Russian Pogroms, the German Holocaust, and now the Muslims haven’t done anything new.  Satan’s tactics are simply being repeated over and over again.

Ever wonder why the current President of Iran and other Arab leaders want to “wipe Israel off the map”?  Ever wonder why there is so much fighting over a city that has no natural resources nor has any strategic value?  It’s because the Messiah will reign from Jerusalem, Israel.  And Satan will keep up the pressure well into the future as well.  The Bible records in Ezekiel 38 and 39 that when Israel is finally “a peaceful and unsuspecting people – all of them living without gates and bars” she will be attacked by a world coalition.  The Bible further records that this will happen again! ³²

Satan wants to destroy Israel and the Jewish people no matter where they live.  Is it any wonder then that when it comes to Israel the world goes brain dead?  That all of a sudden sound logic goes out the window?  That reasonable people stop being reasonable?

I quote the following writer, because I want you to understand the situation.  Not to agree with all that Israel does, not to keep quiet when you want to protest against her actions, not to always side with her, merely to understand what is happening to the Jewish people.

“Often, nowadays, it seems as if all history is being rewritten when it comes to Israel.  In World War II, Allied air forces carpet-bombed cities, even though there were no military bases in civilian areas.  In France alone, tens of thousands of civilians were killed by Allied bombs that fell on their intended targets.

“Even the Nazis didn’t put ammunition dumps in houses and use human shields.  And up until now the blame for doing so would fall on those who deliberately and cynically sought to create civilian casualties in order to gain support for themselves.

“Up until now, a country whose neighbor fired across the border at its people and even staged cross-border raids had the right of self-defense.

“Up until now, there has been a capability of understanding which group is inciting hatred, trying to turn children into robotic terrorists, calling for the extermination of another people, and committing aggression.  Many people, many journalists, many governments, and even many intellectuals still understand the most basic principles of right and wrong, as well as of the real world.  Unfortunately, too many still don’t – or at least don’t when Israel is the target.”³³

Another writer put it this way, “It is common wisdom in Israel that the Israeli Left is capable of limiting the level of hostility directed against Israel from the US and Europe.  Livni exploited this popular belief during the electoral campaign when she warned that a rightist government would destroy Israel’s relations with Washington.  Apparently convinced by her warnings, some voices in the Likud argue that with Livni and Kadima in the government, the US and the EU will think twice before adopting openly hostile policies.

“Unfortunately, this view is demonstrably false.  As foreign minister in Ariel Sharon’s government during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, Shimon Peres did not prevent the international Left in Europe and the US from accusing Israel of committing war crimes.  The Kadima-led leftist government was unable to secure European support for Israel in the Second Lebanon War.  The fact that Israel was led by the leftist Kadima-Labor government during the wars in Lebanon and Gaza did not improve the West’s negative reaction to the fighting.

“The generally ignored truth is that international hostility toward Israel is driven by factors extraneous to Israel. Consequently, Israel’s governments have little ability to influence how foreign governments treat it, regardless of who forms those governments.” ³⁴

What are those “extraneous” factors?  The spiritual battle going on between God and Satan.  Hopefully I have shown that it is Satan’s strategy to keep the “seed” who would defeat him from coming either the first or second time, which meant destroying Israel by causing nations to come against her.  This will not stop until he is ultimately defeated by the “seed”/Messiah at the end of the Messiah’s earthly reign. ³⁵

What Should Be Done – As Human Beings

What should be done about this?  First, as human beings, we must continue to stand up for the truth.  Don’t buy into any media source that all of a sudden loses their brains when it comes to reporting about Israel. ³⁶ Get the facts.  Read about how the nation of Israel came into being.  Discover all the promises that have been made to the Jewish people going as far back as the early 1900’s, which if kept would have diverted the Holocaust.   Learn about the land that was promised the Jewish people and then what they actually agree to take.  Learn about how all the countries of the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq [who in their right mind would put three people groups together who hate each other!]) were formed by the World’s powers after WW I and II.

Learn about what happened when the world finally kept her promise to Israel.  You guessed it, war.  Did Israel ever call for any of the wars against her?  Nope.  Did she legally gain every inch of what is called Israel?  Yes. ³⁷ Discover for yourself what Israel (built a prosperous and emerging nation) and what the Palestinians (kept her people in squalor and discontent as to keep up the fight) have done with billions of dollars in aid they received from the world.  This author has personally done this and has taken pictures to prove it.

Israel as a nation is not perfect.  She has made her share of mistakes, but what nation hasn’t?  We should not seek to glorify Israel, but we should seek to be fair and just with her.  Whatever standard of behavior other nations are held accountable to, should be applied to Israel as well.

Second, stand up for Israel’s right to exist and defend herself.  This doesn’t mean you must agree with every governmental decision.  Israel’s leaders are just people who can make mistakes; but in general, it is our moral obligation to stand behind her right to exist and defend herself like any other country.  Russia recently entered Georgia because she was “provoked” to do so and the world did relatively nothing.  Why then is Israel ostracized for defending herself when she is provoked through constant rocket attacks from Gaza?

Three, go to Israel yourself!  Find a group, such as Hope for Israel, where you can experience Israel, not just visit the holy sites.  Go and meet all kinds of Israelis – Jewish, Bedouin, Druze, Arab, religious, and secular.  See with your own eyes what the media fails to report – the fence, the closeness of the borders (it’s less than 40 miles from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea – the distance from the Bronx to Manhattan), the life and rights of minorities, the safeguarding of religious sites regardless of one’s faith or non-faith and the rule of law, even when it comes to her military.

What Should Be Done – As Believers in Yeshua, Jewish Messiah and Savior of Mankind

What should believers in Yeshua do?  They should pray for Israel and for the peace of Jerusalem.³⁸ The only reason the Jewish people in general and Israel in specific are “loved to be hated” is because Satan wants to wipe them off the map so he can win.  As Gentile believers in Yeshua, we have a Savior and a relationship with the Living God because a certain people were chosen through whom our Savior would come – Israel.  And because they were chosen, Satan hates them with such intense hatred that he desires to completely annihilate them.  For this reason, they don’t deserve our pity, but our prayer support.  They are being blasted so we can share in the blessing given to Abraham. ³⁹ We have a common enemy with the Jewish people.  His name is called Satan.  It is a spiritual battle, not a geo-political one.  This is not a democratic or republican, West vs. East, problem.  It is about lives being lost all because Satan wants to win.  So let’s get on our knees and pray our adversary is defeated.

Another thing believers should do is to let the Bible be their guide.  Satan is called by Jesus, “The father of lies” in John 8:43-44.  Lying is his first language. And the only way to detect a lie is to know the truth, which means you must become a Biblicist as well.  Satan will never purposely allow the truth about Israel to see the light of day; thus we believers must not fall into trap.  We must filter everything we read, hear and see, especially as it relates to Israel, through the Word of God.

Along the line of the Word, allow me to give you two other passages on which to meditate.  The first passage is Romans 15:27.  In this verse Paul states that since we share in Israel’s spiritual blessing, we should also share with them our material blessing.  In the context of Romans, the Jewish people living in Jerusalem were under famine conditions and Paul was taking up a collection to help fellow believers living in Judea. ⁴⁰ I’ll touch more upon this in a minute, but we should find ways to share our material blessings with the Jewish people, especially believers.

The second passage to meditate upon is Acts 1:8.  In this passage, Yeshua gives us the where of His Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).  Yeshua told His men to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.  As a believer in Yeshua and as a pastor I have heard and taught that the city where my church exists is Jerusalem and Acts 1:8 extends from there.

Is this so?  A few years back the Lord called me up short on this.  He asked me, “Are you a Biblicist?”  “Yes, Lord, I am.”  “Do you believe that I want My Book interpreted literally?”  After much re-studying of my position on this to insure it lined up with Scripture and a year’s reading of the Bible asking that same question, I came back and answered, “Yes, Lord I believe Your Word tells me I must take it literally.”  Then came the big question, “Then why do you throw out the literal-grammatical-historical method that I desire when it comes to Acts 1:8?”  I had to stop and think about that for a second.  Had I really done that? In all honestly, I had to admit that I had.  Interpretation must not be confused with application.  One must first understand what God meant by what He wrote in any given passage.  After discerning this, we then and only then seek ways to apply that truth.

Acts 1:8 commands us to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.  Jesus was standing on the Mount of Olives with Jerusalem in sight when He gave that command.  He meant the Jerusalem in Israel when He gave that command.  The Judea and Samaria of Israel is demanded of Acts 1:8.  Thus, the interpretation must be that He desires us to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria in the country of Israel.  The application is how to be witnesses of our hope to the people who live in those areas, not that our hometown is Jerusalem, our state is Judea, our country is Samaria (which would encompass all Israel as a nation) and the rest of the world as the ends of the earth.  No, the application is how do I become a witness in Jerusalem?  Do I go to Judea?  Do I support people who live in Samaria?  If not, how do I make that happen?

I am not saying that we shouldn’t support efforts to bring the good news to the world, we must.  Yeshua said to go to the ends of the earth, so we must obey His command.  But what He didn’t say was to neglect Israel.  Again let’s be biblical.  Paul, who was the apostle to the Gentiles, had a strategy as he spread out from Jerusalem – to the Jew first and then to the Gentile – even while he was taking the gospel to the ends of the earth.  When he came to a city he started in the synagogue, or where Jews gathered if there wasn’t one, and then went to places where Gentiles gathered. ⁴¹ The point is this – let’s not forget Jerusalem and those who live there!  True peace will not come until Jew and Gentile put their faith in Yeshua HaMashiach – Jesus Christ – our Lord and Savior.

In applying the truths found in these two passages, if the Lord doesn’t call you personally to Israel, then find a ministry in Israel to support like Hope for Israel that will help our brothers and sisters in the Land share the love of Yeshua with those around them.  In this regard, I must make one very important point.  Make sure the money you give helps, not hinders, fellow believers in the Land!  There are Christian organizations that give money to Jewish organizations that do a lot of good, like bringing Jewish people back to their ancestral homeland.  I am all for that cause.  Yet some of these same organizations take money given to them by believers in Jesus and give it to other organizations that persecute our brothers and sisters in the Land.  This can’t be so!  Remember, we are at war with the enemy, Satan.  So let’s not give him any help.  Check out any organization to whom you give money.  Make sure they are helping the people they say they are and not hurting the cause of Yeshua.

Lastly, as believers in Yeshua, we must pray for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East.  Notice I didn’t say just Israel.  Our brothers and sisters throughout the Middle East are being persecuted –Jews, Palestinians and Arabs alike.  This is not a fight for a piece of land, but people’s hearts – their very souls.  Pray like the early church prayed, “Lord, consider their threats and enable Your servants to speak Your word with great boldness.  Stretch out Your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of Your holy servant Yeshua.” ⁴²

May this be every believer’s prayer, “Lord use us in the battle with the real enemy of mankind, the one who drives the world to love to hate Israel and the Jewish people.  Use us to knock down the gates of hell and reap a harvest in Your fields.”

Author Biography

Chris Suitt is married and has two teenage children.  He and his family currently reside in Southern California where he has pastored for over twenty years.  His congregation shares a facility and ministers with a Messianic Congregation.  He has written and taught about how the Jewishness of the Bible affects the believer’s life today, including “The 7 Jewish Feasts of Leviticus 23: Their Past, Present and Future Applications” and “Passover or Good Friday, Which Is It?” He currently serves on the Board of Hope for Israel and serves as Tour Coordinator for the Hope for Israel Experience Israel Tour, which takes a group to Israel each year to experience the people, the land, the culture of Israel as well as walk in the footsteps of our Savior and Messiah.  He can be contacted at csuitt@hope4israel.org or csuitt@hope4youtoday.com.

Notes

1.    Isaiah 14:12-15; Revelation 12:3-17; 20:7-15.

2.    Ephesians 2:2.

3.    Matthew 4:1-11.

4.    Hebrews 4:15.

5.    Genesis 3:16.

6.    Isaiah 9:6-7, see Jeremiah 23:3-6 where LORD or Jehovah (Exodus 3:14 – the Holy Name of God) is used by two persons, the one speaking and the one being spoken about.

7.    2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36.

8.    Genesis 11.

9.    Genesis 11:27-12:5; 17:5; Acts 7:1-5; Romans 9:15-18.

10.  Genesis 12:1-7; Romans 9:4-5.

11.  Genesis 14:13.

12. Genesis 12:10-20.

13.  Genesis 16.

14.  Genesis 20.

15.  Exodus 2.

16.  Exodus 13.

17. Exodus 17:8-16.

18.  Numbers 13:33.

19.  Deuteronomy 32:6.

20. Hosea 2.

21. Deuteronomy 11:16-17.

22.  Jeremiah 29:10.

23. Isaiah 44:24-45:13.

24.  Ezra 1.

25.  1 Samuel 15.

26.  Matthew 2:1-12.

27. Acts 5:33-39; “The Jews Against Rome,” p. 28, Susan Sorek, Continuum Publishing 2008.

28.  Luke 2:1-7.

29.  1 Chronicles 17:10-14; Jeremiah 23:3-6; Daniel 7:13.

30. Matthew 1:16-25; Luke 1:29-33 9 (cf. Genesis 3:16; Isaiah 7:14).

31.  Zechariah 12:10.

32.  Zechariah 13:8-9 (“two-thirds will be struck down” of those living in the Land – Holocaust II?); Revelation 12; 16:16; 19:11-21.

33. Barry Rubin, “On the Ground in Gaza”, Arutz Sheva, Published: 01/06/09, 12:28 AM, http://www.israelnation alnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/8488.

34.  Caroline Glick, “Enter the Netanyahu Government”, Jerusalem Post, February 13, 2009 http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/news/article.php?id=3665

35.  Revelation 20:7-10.

36.  “Why TIME is Right… and Wrong: How the Jews can win when we can’t win,” by Sara Yoheved Rigler, http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/jewishsociety/Why_TIME_is_Right7._and_Wrong.asp

37.  see The Case for Israel, by Alan Dershowitz, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Publishers, 2003.

38.  Psalms 122:6.

39.  Galatians 3:14.

40.  Acts 11:27-30.

41.  Romans 1:16; Acts 13:5,13-14, 14:1; 16:13-15.

42.  Acts 4:23-31.

Rev. 12 – goes after the woman = Israel – Zech. 12 – 2/3’s living in the land die.

Deut. 7:1-8 – why God picked Abraham – God’s love.

more on struggle – Satan origin + desire (Is. + Ezek. passages), tactics (father of lies, deceit, weather, governments) + how to defeat (Jn. 8 – tell truth, pray – Daniel + Jude, go forward – gates of hell), future struggles (Ezek, Dan./Matt. 24, Rev. 12, Zech. 13).

In other words, it’s a two-way communication. We humble ourselves and acknowledge that He is everything to us; He, then, makes Himself known by revelation, insight and love. Thus, part of the joy of worship is the divine revelation that often results.

In one of Dave Hunt’s newsletters, he comments: “Appreciation begets worship, and the Lord responds by revealing Himself in ever greater measure in a fellowship of love that overflows in fruitful witnessing.”

The bottom line is that intimacy must precede insight.

Using Scriptures in Worship
Now, not all my encounters with the Lord are dramatic. Sometimes, when I worship Him, I don’t feel a thing, but, by faith, I still know He is there, that He hears my praises and that He is pleased. Other times, my meetings with Him are electric!

Often I will repeat 1 Chronicles 29:10-13 over and over again:

“Blessed be Thou, Lord God of Israel, our father, forever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come of Thee, and Thou reignest over all, and in thine hand is power and might; and in Thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now, therefore, our God, we thank Thee and praise Thy glorious Name.”

Or, I will repeat certain phrases from Revelation:

“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” (Revelation 4:8b)

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing….Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” (Revelation 5:12-13)

“The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever…We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned.” (Revelation 11:15 and 17)

“Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. …For Thou only art holy…” (Revelation 15:3-4).

“Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be…” (Revelation 16:5)

Or, I read one of my favorite worship passages. See Psalm 72:17-19; 91; 95:1-7; 96:1-9; 113; 134; 135; 136; 145; 150.

I let the Spirit lead me and do whatever He tells me. Sometimes I raise my hands, sometimes I’m on my knees, and, sometimes, I’m flat on my face, silently holding the Lord in the Spirit.

Divine Revelation:
God gave us worship so that we might become partakers of His highest purposes. Yes, Christ, Himself, is the major focus of our worship, but as we worship Him, He often reveals His plans and His purposes for our lives to an even greater degree.

In worship, the Lord desires to:

1. make His presence known,
2. reveal His person to us,
3. reveal His power to us,
4. reveal His eternal purposes to us,
5. reveal His personal plans for our lives.

When I am worshiping, I find it very necessary to have my Bible and my journal close at hand. Again, God works differently in each of our lives. But, for me, He seems to make His presence known through His Word. Thus, if I don’t have my Bible handy to look up what He has just told me or my journal ready to write down what I’ve heard, by the time I’m through worshiping, I will have forgotten everything.

Bob Sorge, in his book Secrets of the Secret Place, confirms the same thing: “I am personally convinced that I cannot hold onto what God gives me apart from writing it down…Those who retain what God gives them will be given more.”

Our Response to His Love:
God’s desired response for us (when we are in His presence) is that we:

1. Have an open and contrite heart so that we might see ourselves as we truly are, and experience contrition, brokenness, sorrow, shame, grief, repentance and honesty;
2. Submit and dedicate ourselves to Him to an even greater degree – yielding, surrendering and sacrificing ourselves to His will, His Word and His authority. (Isaiah 6:8; James 1:21-25);
3. Have an urgency to lay our burdens, requests and intercessory prayers at His feet and be propelled to pray even more for the lost, the divisions, the injustices, the diseased, the pain and the difficulties others are experiencing. (Philippians 4:6; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Timothy 2: 1-3; Mark 14, Matthew 26, Luke 22, John 13 and 1 Corinthians 11);
4. To love, adore, enjoy, honor, exalt, magnify and praise Christ even more than we are doing now;
5. And, finally, that we might go forth and glorify and reflect Him in all that we think, say and do.

Overcome by “the Joy of our Salvation”

The bottom line is that experiencing the manifestation of His presence – through His Word, through His Spirit and through just knowing He is present – fills us with indescribable joy, no matter what circumstances surround us!

By Nancy Missler

Note from Pastor Chris

When it comes to worship, there is one thing that we must always keep in mind: it’s not about you or your needs; it’s about Jesus – who He is and what He has done for you.  As we learn more about Jesus from the Word of God and put into practice what we’ve learned through trust, we will find that He meets our needs and thus our praise will increase.  Thus, we will want to learn more about Him.

Notice where worship begins and ends – Jesus, the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 22:13 – Greek New Testament) and the Aleph and the Taw (Zechariah 12:10 – Hebrew Tanach [OT]).  As we learn about Jesus in His word (Divine Truth), and we put that into practice (Accomplish Jesus’ Mission – worship) through trust (Nourishing relationships) what we’ve learned about Him, not only will our faith become healthier, but others will want what we have – the peace, love and hope that can only come from Jesus (Accomplish Jesus’ mission – witness).

Want to be healthy?  Get to know your Jesus in the Word.  Want to experience more of Him?  Practice what you’ve learned.  I know I’m trying.

Love ya,

pc

This article has been excerpted from Nancy Missler’s book Private Worship: The Key to Joy, and taken from the January 19, 2010 eNews issue http://www.khouse.org (visit our website for a FREE subscription)

The Resurrection of Christ is the most powerful event in history.  It has affected the last 2000 years of history and politics, from peasants to kings to nations.  Christianity has spread across the entire world, into every country and into a vast number of ethnic groups and languages. Billions of people have experienced the life-giving, healing, forgiveness and freedom offered by God because Jesus Christ conquered death and rose again from the grave.

The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor 15:12-22 that without the resurrection of Christ, the Christian faith is useless. “And if Christ be not raised,” Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”

There are many skeptics who disregard the resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth as a fable.  However, the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection is extremely strong, even to the point of converting some who sought to disprove it:

The Empty Tomb: Though well-trained Roman soldiers guarded the tomb of Jesus Christ, it was empty 3 days after Jesus’ death as Jesus had repeatedly foretold (Matt 12:40, Mark 8:31).  The guards had fled (a death penalty offense). The massive stone had been rolled away, and the body was gone – and was never produced by the enemies of the Christians.  The linen grave clothes in which the Jews bury their dead were still in the tomb, undisturbed. From the Jewish historian Josephus to a compilation of 5th-century Jewish writings called the “Toledoth Jeshu”, even Jewish sources and traditions admit that the tomb was empty.  The body was never found.

Living Witnesses:  There were a multitude of witnesses who saw Jesus Christ alive after his death.  The disciples, the travelers on the road to Emmaus and a number of women all spoke to Jesus alive. Thomas doubted until he was able to put his fingers into Jesus’ wounds (John 20:26-27).  He later spread the Gospel all the way to India.  The apostle Paul tells of 500 people to whom Jesus appeared at one time, most of whom were still alive and available for questioning when Paul wrote his letter  (1 Cor 15:6).  When several people testify in a courtroom that they witnessed an event, and their accounts are found consistent with each other, their testimony is considered factual information.  Jesus Christ was seen alive many times by hundreds of different people over the course of forty days after his death (John 20-21, Acts 1:3).

The Disciples:  Christ’s followers, who had been fearful and who had run away when Jesus was arrested, were completely changed after the Resurrection and became courageous witnesses.  Peter, who had denied knowing Christ when recognized by a simple servant girl, became the powerfully bold leader of those who had seen Christ alive, speaking to the thousands gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Shavuot – Pentecost.   A person may die for a lie if they do not know it is a lie.  But people do not give their lives up and face severe persecution to spread a lie they themselves invented.   The fact that the disciples willingly suffered beatings and persecution and death is strong evidence that they had actually witnessed the resurrection they refused to stop telling people about.

Saul of Tarsus:  A devoutly religious Pharisee, who persecuted the Church and had Christ’s followers thrown in prison, Paul had his life absolutely changed by his encounter with Christ.  He became a devoted follower of Christ himself, spreading the Gospel throughout Turkey and Greece in the face of beatings and shipwrecks and imprisonment and, finally, execution.

“If the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt.” – F. F. Bruce, Manchester University

Skeptics’ Arguments Against the Resurrection:

The Hallucination Theory claims that the witnesses who met the resurrected Jesus were all ”seeing things” – they were hallucinating.  However, this goes against common sense as well as psychological principles. Five hundred people do not all hallucinate the same thing.  Jesus appeared to many people at many different times.  Also, the body was never produced.

The Swoon Theory argues that Jesus did not die – that he simply fainted from loss of blood and exhaustion.  However, this also goes against common sense.  The Romans were professionals who severely whipped Jesus, hung him on a cross, and then stabbed him in the side with a spear to make sure he was dead. He was in the grave for three days, wrapped head to foot in a burial cloth, without food or water or medical treatment.  When he appeared to his disciples he was completely whole and healthy and his appearance inspired awe and worship that lasted throughout the rest of the disciples’ lives.

The Disciples Faked the Resurrection: Discouraged, fearful fishermen and former tax collectors, whose teacher had been viciously murdered, were in little position to take on a detachment of trained Roman soldiers guarding the tomb.  They would have had to create a fantastic plan in order to fight off or bribe the professional soldiers, raid the tomb, unbind the grave clothes from Christ’s body, take the body away, and hide it where nobody would ever find it. The Roman soldiers faced death if they failed in their guard duty, and the disciples had little money for bribing anybody.  Many people would have had to be involved in the conspiracy, and all those involved would not only have known the truth, but would know that they were risking meeting the same fate as their recently crucified leader. And what purpose could it possibly serve, if Jesus were dead?  They would have had nothing to gain.  Their leader was gone and they would have only faced persecution and death for their invented resurrection story.

And again, the disciples’ attitudes completely changed after the Resurrection and especially after Pentecost. They became bold and courageous in spreading their message, fearless of beatings or imprisonment. They never sought to fight Rome or to establish any position or kingdom or authority for themselves.  They had nothing to gain, physically speaking.  They simply went about the known world, telling their story in spite of persecution and suffering, poverty and ridicule. Their message quickly spread across the Middle East and Europe and even into Asia without any military conquest or political support involved - and in spite of strong opposition. Only belief and hope based in the reality of their experiences would have produced such dedication in the lives of Christ’s followers.

Perhaps the greatest evidence today of Christ’s resurrection is the work that he is still doing in the lives of every day people.  In the name of Jesus, people are still being healed emotionally and physically and spiritually by the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.  Sinners are being freed from the burden and pain and shame of sin – sometimes immediately, sometimes after long years of steady work by the Holy Spirit in their lives.  Hearts are being mended and lives are being turned around.   The best evidence today is the faithful follower of Christ who can say, “He saved me, and I am not the person I used to be” just as the apostles testified 2000 years ago.

by Chuck Missler

from the April 07, 2009 eNews issue
http://www.khouse.org/enews_article/2009/1446

First, let’s deal with Shavuot or Pentecost.  Shavuot is one of seven Jewish feasts recorded in Leviticus 23 that are to be celebrated each year.  But I often get asked the question, why should Gentiles study these Feasts?  They are Jewish Feasts and thus are for the Jewish people.  So why, pastor, would you choose to talk about them each year on the dates of their celebration?  I respond to that question with what the Holy Spirit had penned in the above verse in the book of Romans.  Everything that was written in the Tanakh (what some call the Hebrew Scriptures while others call it the Old Testament, I prefer Act 1 of a 2 Act play – but that is for another day), which is what Paul meant by the word “Scripture” in Romans as it was the Scriptures he had before him, was for our instruction.

The Holy Spirit is telling us that the words, the images, the phrases of the New Testament are found in the Tenach, so we must spend time understanding the Tenach if we are going to understand the New Testament.  I like the phrase, “The Tenach is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Tenach revealed.”  Both go hand in hand with each other.

Therefore, we must understand the 7 Major Jewish Feasts if we are to understand many of the images of the New Testament.  We must understand that every word in the Tenach and the New Testament are loaded with truths that need each other for fuller understanding.  As the entire Book speaks of Yeshua/Jesus, we must understand these images if we are to follow Him on a daily basis.

I believe the answer to the question, “What does fat, your brain and Shavuot have in common?” is just another example of the truth that we have one Book, written by one G-d, with one message – love and follow Yeshua.  The answer to this question will further strengthen your trust in this Book from cover to cover as it talks about the same thing – King Yeshua and our walk with Him.

Now let’s discuss one aspect of the 4^th of 7 Feasts – Shavuot.  Shavuot is the only one of the Feasts where a peace or fellowship offering was specifically required (Lev. 23:19).  It is not that other feast days couldn’t have a peace offering (Numbers 29:39), but Shavuot is the only Feast day where it is specifically mentioned.  Now, this should pose a couple of questions, “Why is that so?” and “What is so important about a peace or fellowship offering that G-d puts it here on this particular Feast day and not on the rest of them?”

Part of the answer is found in Lev. 3:1-5, where G-d instructs Moses how to do various offerings, one of which was the peace or fellowship offering.  The peace offering could be of cattle, sheep or goats.  The person would lay their hands on the animal, identifying themselves with it, and then they slaughtered it at the Tent of Meeting.  Aaron was to then sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar.

Now comes the fun part.  All the fat, inner parts and certain organs (at least kidney and liver) were removed from the animal and burned on the altar.  It didn’t matter what animal it was – the main issue here is fat (3:16, “All the fat is the L-rd’s). The people got to eat the meat, but never the fat when it came to the peace or fellowship offering.

On Shavuot, the peace offering was made where all the fat of the animal was given to the L-rd.  Keep in mind that it is a peace offering; meaning that we and G-d are okay.  We are at peace with G-d so now He can come live inside us, which also took place on Shavuot as the Holy Spirit came to indwell all believers (Acts 2:17-21; Eph. 1:13-14).  Now what does that have to do with our brains?

The answer I believe is found in Romans 12:1-2.  In 12:1, Paul states that we are to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to G-d.”  If you look back at Leviticus 23:18, you’ll see this same phrase, “an aroma pleasing to the L-rd”.   Is this just a coincidence?  Maybe, but I don’t believe in coincidences when it comes to the word of G-d.  Was there a connection here?  My interest was perked so I did a little more digging.

Here is what I discovered.  The word Paul used for “pleasing” (euareston) comes from a word (arestov, which comes from areskw) that means to make peace, to reconcile two parties!  The word carries the idea that we are to walk pleasing before G-d.  It also conveys the truth of being holy to the L-rd.  It shows both the goal and motive of the Christian life.  The goal is to be holy and your motive is to live pleasing to the L-rd.

How do you do this?  We discover this in 12:2.  And it is here where I believe Paul is linking something together, so hold on with me.  Paul instructs us that we are to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds”.  Interesting phrase.

Paul first tells us to make peace with G-d – “living sacrifices…holy and pleasing to the L-rd”. What does a peace offering do?  It brings two opposing sides together.  What can tear apart a peace treaty?  It is broken by doing something opposite of what is written in that treaty.  In other words, by walking contrary to the Word of G-d or by walking like those who don’t know Yeshua (“pattern of this world”), we can destroy that peace with G-d. This is what Paul now talks about in 12:2.

We are to live differently – not like the world – not like the crowd, not like those on the wide path going in the opposite direction towards destruction, but we are to live G-d’s way, the narrow road.  How?  By seeing our behavior changed through changing the way we think!   We don’t change our behavior, we change our thinking.  We change from the inside out.  When our thinking changes, our behavior will follow suit and thus bring the freedom that Messiah promises (Gal. 5:1).

But you still might be asking, where in the world are you going?  I’m glad you asked as now this is where it gets fun and we tie it all together.  Paul just got done telling us that we should transform our minds.  Guess what your brain is made up of?  66% fat!  What part of the peace offering, made on Shavuot, was given to the L-rd?  The fat!

I believe Paul is thinking about the peace offering here in Rom. 12:2 as he is penning these words.  If you look at Leviticus, all the fat around the organs as well as at least the liver and kidney’s were given to the L-rd on this day.  Folks, the brain is an organ.  The brain, the way we think, must be given, must be sacrificed to the L-rd if we are to have peace with G-d.  The brain must be changed if we are to live pleasing to the L-rd, which brings peace.

How do you live at peace with someone?  Do what pleases them.  How do you know what pleases them?  Your learn it and store it in your brain so you can act upon that information.  What word does Paul use in Rom. 12:1 for pleasing G-d, but a word that means to be at peace with G-d, to walk in a way that pleases Him.  How can you do it?  You walk in the Spirit’s power.  And when did the Spirit come to live inside all believers?  Shavuot.  Isn’t that cool!

So what does fat, your brain and today have in common? Our brains consist of 66% fat, which is part of the peace offering sacrificed on Shavuot.  As we make “living sacrifices” of our brains daily to the L-rd, we will know how to live pleasing to Him and stay at peace with G-d.

The Holy Spirit came to live inside all believers for the first time in history on the Shavuot recorded in Acts 2.  It is the Spirit’s job to guide us into truth, or how to live and then give us the power to live in such a way that pleases G-d, which means staying at peace with Him.

This truth can also be seen in the Tenach in Isaiah 26:3 that states, “You (meaning G-d) will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.”  Again, there are those words again – mind and peace.  As the mind (fat sacrificed to the L-rd) stays focused on G-d, one will find peace with G-d.  Romans 5:10 reveals that we were enemies and now are at peace or reconciled to G-d because of what Yeshua did for us; and, if we keep our mind focused on Yeshua, we will stay in that peace.  Why?  Because as Romans 12:2 states that if we change the way we think, we will change the way we act and thus live in such a way that keeps peace between us and G-d – no guilt, no stress, no worries!

So what principles can you take home from this understanding of the 4^th of the 7 Jewish Feasts?  First, commit to walking each day pleasing to the L-rd.   Who are you living for – others or Him?  All your fat, your brain, belongs to the L-rd.  Will your life be a sweet aroma or a stench in the nose of G-d?

Second, decide to pass everything you think, feel, see and hear through the Biblical truth-filter.  You can’t always control your circumstances.  However, you can always control your attitude, approach, and response.  How?  By taking control of what you think!   A filter allows what you want through it and keeps out what you don’t want.  What do you want to enter your brain? Truth.  What do you want to keep out?  Lies.

What goes into your brain will come out in your behavior.  What are you allowing into your brain, including how you talk to yourself?  Decide today to filter out Satan’s lies that put you into bondage by using the Word of G-d to filter out those lies and allowing only the truth into your brain, for Yeshua said, “The truth will set you free.”

Third, rely upon the Spirit’s power, not yours, to live each day.  Ask for help!  It seems the hardest words to say in the English language are, “L-rd, help me!”  On Shavuot, the Holy Spirit, G-d Himself came to live inside every believer in Yeshua – men, women, children and teenagers.  This was not true before the Shavuot 2000 years ago.  Yet today we have an unlimited power source – tap into it.  You do this by filtering your thoughts, giving your “fat” head to Him, then asking the Spirit to strengthen you to do what He shows you to do.

Fourth, grab a bunch of people – both Jewish and Gentile – to walk with you.  On Shavuot, the Spirit made one body of all kinds of people (Eph. 2:11-22).  He put you into this body (1 Cor. 12:13) the moment you became a believer in Yeshua.  He didn’t leave you an orphan, but put you into a family that He would use to develop Messiah-like character in you.

I know, I know, I’ve heard the statements before, “But people have hurt me!”  Okay, say it’s true, which it probably is.  But are you going to let that hurt done by others hold you back from living a life pleasing to the L-rd?  Are you going to let others continue to hurt you?  It’s my recommendation that you put your “buts” behind you and go forward by asking the Spirit to bring at least one person to your mind for you to start to developing a trust-based relationship.  Read James 5:16-20, you’ll be glad you did.

Lastly, stay focused on Yeshua’ purpose for your life – expanding His kingdom.  On Shavuot, a little over 2000 years ago, about 3000 people came to faith in Yeshua as their Messiah.  And Yeshua wants more!  As we live lives pleasing to the L-rd, others will want what we have, or I should say Who we have – Yeshua.  So let’s give Him to them this Shavuot!