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Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
Showing posts with label Noah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Noah. Show all posts
Friday, October 24, 2014
FREE Biblical Animals eBook ✡ "God Remembered Noah"
Thursday, September 25, 2014
God and Atheists in Hollywood by Geoff McClelland
God and Atheists in Hollywood
by Geoff McClelland
Identity Network
Hollywood's Year of the Bible
Earlier this year Hollywood released the Bible-based blockbuster Noah to the tune of $100 million in box office receipts. Christians gleefully anticipated the epic ark-building adventure. But glee quickly turned to ire once the movie premiered. The Noah character was wrong, God was misrepresented, and fallen angels were portrayed as good guys - a few heresy issues.
In retrospect, this shouldn't have been terribly surprising. A self-proclaimed atheist wrote, produced, and directed the movie. Darren Aronofsky is a filmmaker - a great one at that. But a theologian? Not so much.
Another Bible-based movie is slated for release later this year - Exodus: Gods and Kings - which is based on, as you might have guessed, the story of Moses and the Hebrews' flight from Egypt. An even bigger Hollywood talent is producing and directing this one: Sir Ridley Scott. He is not just a great director - he's legendary! However, he is also a self-proclaimed atheist.
What's Going on Here?
The question we ought to be asking here is, "What is provoking Hollywood moguls to produce Bible-based films?" Some suggest it's for the love of money. After all, who in Hollywood doesn't love money? But there are hundreds of movies that don't mention God and still make a lot of money (you may have noticed this.) There's a trend in Hollywood to produce established, epic stories right now. What is more established and epic than the story of Noah's ark? But I don't think this is it either. The answer may not be what you think.
Think about this: The great flood is a testament. Four thousand years of literature across multiple cultures (plus archeology and geology) all indicate that something profound occurred. Aronofsky's movie, in spite of artistic license and flawed biblical accuracy, is one more testament of the flood. Every testimony of God's sovereignty is a strike against the enemy. One of two key factors in overcoming the enemy is "the word of our testimony." Jesus put it more poetically, but He basically said the devil doesn't do the work of God. So it doesn't make sense to hold the position that the devil prompted the making of a movie that testifies against him. That would indicate a house divided.
Likewise, the Exodus narrative testifies of God's faithfulness to deliver His people out of slavery from Egypt. God told the Israelites to remember this throughout their generations by writing it on their doorposts, talking of it often with their children, and setting up stones as a reminder of all that He had done. What is the enemy's best strategy regarding this story? Deny, deny, deny! But make it a major Hollywood movie? Hardly. Any error caused by the enemy in these films is damage control, not strategy.
Are We Living in the Last Days?
The prophet Joel said in the last days God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh! How much flesh? All flesh. That possibly includes everything that has breath. Is God pouring out His Spirit on believers in these days? Of course He is. But everyone is eligible to hear the Spirit of God in the last days (this does not imply salvation.) If "all flesh" includes unbelievers, it would seem even they have the ability to pick up on the unction of the Holy Spirit. Albeit they may neither recognize the source or properly steward the call. Atheists don't believe in God, but that doesn't mean God doesn't believe in them. Could it be that God is planting the desire to retell these biblical stories into the hearts of Hollywood kings who don't even acknowledge His existence?
Let's interpret the times. Jesus compared the days prior to His second coming to the days of Noah. The ark underwent construction for the better part of a century, serving as a sign for that generation. The plagues of Egypt were signs to the Egyptians, but they serve as signs to us as well. God used Moses to demonstrate to Pharaoh that the Egyptians' resistance to His will is futile. For some reason, God has chosen at this time in history to highlight these historical events once again as a testimony to the world. And He has made use of the multi-billion dollar worldwide distribution system of the film industry to help with this task.
God is Sovereign
Psalm 135 tells us that the Lord does whatever He pleases, in heaven and on earth. To use an atheist to accomplish His will is not beyond the scope and ability of God. Just ask Cyrus the Great. Over a century before the birth of Cyrus, Isaiah prophesied that he would perform all God's desire; he would declare Jerusalem to be rebuilt and the foundations of the temple to be laid again (Isaiah 44:28). It all came to pass, just as God had foretold, but Cyrus was a Persian king, not a Hebrew. He worshiped false gods - Marduk, Bel, and Nabu - not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet God still chose to use him to fulfill His plans of restoration for that generation.
I can hear some Christians protesting, "What about the bad doctrine and biblical inaccuracy in these movies?" Thankfully God isn't hung up on bad doctrine. We should all cultivate sound biblical doctrine, but we also must realize that everyone is in process. Nobody on earth has infallible doctrine, yet everyone seems to think of himself as the one person closest to it. Pope Francis recently said that if we try to build unity around doctrinal issues, we will only achieve it after the apocalypse. When the criminal hanging on the cross next to Jesus said, "Remember me when You come into Your kingdom," Jesus didn't respond with, "Well, first let's examine your theology and see if you hold correct beliefs."
In fact, the religious leaders in Jesus's day were so hung up on correct doctrine that they couldn't accept Jesus as the Messiah when He was standing right before their very eyes. They said, "No one will know where the Messiah comes from, but this guy is from Bethlehem." "Nothing good can come from Nazareth," others suggested. Some even asked, "Would the Savior touch lepers or heal on the Sabbath?"
What about today? Could strict adherence to doctrinal beliefs blind us from seeing the work of the Spirit as it did to religious leaders in Jesus's day? Oddly enough, prostitutes and tax collectors didn't have a problem with Jesus. They were open to His genuine love and divine wisdom.
The Bottom Line
I believe Noah and Exodus are modern-day testaments to a lost world at a key time in history. But I also believe God is trying to provoke His own people to jealousy through them. In the first century, God used Paul as an apostle to the Gentiles in order that the Jews might be provoked to jealousy. This was His wake-up call to break old mindsets and be open to the greater revelation of His purposes. New wine can only be put into new wineskins. And today is no different. God's ways are still higher than our ways, and He shakes our beliefs once in a while to separate that which is divine from that which is human.
If we want to see Bible-based movies made by Christians that will more closely adhere to the biblical narrative, then we must stop cursing the film industry (which is essentially just handing it over to the enemy). Instead, we should bless it and pray for those God has placed in its midst. This will bring it back under His authority and move us closer to "on earth as it is in heaven." Let him who has an eye keep watch. I believe God has much more to say through the film industry - hopefully through his people, not in spite of them.
Geoff McClelland
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Friday, May 2, 2014
Franklin Graham: The Flood of Compromise
Franklin Graham: The Flood of Compromise
Noah, the latest Hollywood epic, splashed across the big screen last month, revealing a flood of compromise. Described as a “biblically inspired fantasy film,” reviewers bragged that “despite its compromises … it retains a sense of religious awe.” But the great compromise cannot drown the truth. To use the phrase biblically inspired and the term fantasy in the same thought adulterates a historic record.
Some say the world is not held responsible for misinterpreting God’s Word, but the Bible does not agree, as we clearly see in the story of Noah: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ... And He was grieved in His heart. ... And God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth'” (Gen. 6:5-6, 13).
God not only holds His followers to account, but all of mankind. The human race continues gulping the bitter water in the sea of immorality, rejecting truth and trying to silence God’s people.
Because of pressure from the LGBT community, A&E tried to suppress Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame by suspending him from his television series because of his biblically based convictions. The Robertson family was willing to walk away from their wildly successful reality show rather than compromise their beliefs.
Facing the possibility of losing the Robertsons—and millions of viewers—the network reinstated the patriarch star. The family-oriented Cracker Barrel restaurant and country store that had pulled Duck Dynasty products from its shelves in the midst of the uproar also had to back up and restock the Duck Dynasty merchandise, issuing an apology for offending a large percentage of its clientele.
In both cases, the LGBT lost. While many in the liberal and progressive media have deceived the public into thinking that this group makes up a large portion of our nation’s population, surveys support the fact that this small but boisterous movement consists of less than 2 percent of society.
On the heels of these upheavals, it was particularly jolting when those who call themselves Christians departed from the clarity of God’s Word, as the leadership of World Vision U.S. did in March when they announced their employment of “gay Christians in legal same-sex marriages.”
The very day World Vision announced its great compromise on a basic truth of Scripture—that a homosexual lifestyle is sin and that marriage is between one man and one woman—the Supreme Court began hearings to determine if the Green family, owners of Hobby Lobby, should be required to provide life-terminating drugs and devices in their employee health care plan, contrary to the Christian family’s spiritual convictions.
The contrast was stunning. While the Christian-owned business stood up against a federal government bent on forcing them to compromise the right to life, a Christian charity compromised the sacredness of marriage, stating that “it’s the right thing to do for unity within the church.” Forty-eight hours after World Vision’s announcement, the organization was forced to reverse its epic decision after a flooding backlash from offended donors.
The Bible gives strong warning to those who tamper with God’s truth: “From among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away [followers] after themselves” (Acts 20:30).
The charity’s original announcement was personally shocking to me because World Vision and Samaritan’s Purse were founded by the same man, my mentor and dear friend, the late Dr. Bob Pierce. Much of my adult life has been guided by something he often said: “I want my heart to be broken by the things that break the heart of God.” I believe the heart of God was broken by the decision of the board of directors of World Vision. This is no small matter. I was as grieved by it as I have been by anything in my lifetime of ministry, because the heart of World Vision was revealed—a disregard for biblical truth.
There was a day when World Vision’s board was made up of people who believed in and stood on God’s Word, but in making this decision, they completely disregarded Scripture and made a decision based on what they perceived as public acceptance and popularity.
I do rejoice that the board of directors reversed its decision, but I pray that the fallout will cause a depth of soul-searching. True followers of Jesus Christ, whose salvation is based entirely upon God’s Word, cannot endorse same-sex marriage, regardless of what our president, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the media or the latest Gallup poll says about the matter.
This moral issue has been settled by God Himself and is not subject to man-made revisions or modifications. In the end, I would rather be on the wrong side of public opinion than on the wrong side of almighty God, who established the standard of living for the world He created. Marriage is a biblically moral issue, not a political or theological one.
This debate is ultimately about something much more important than the question of same-sex marriage. It is about the great compromise, calling into question the authority of Scripture. If Christians do not agree concerning the authority of Scripture, we will eventually disagree about all sorts of things.
The church is tied up in the red tape of compromise that is being played out in rewriting the Bible and preaching a gospel emphasizing the works of mankind.
The Bible says, “Now the Spirit [of God] expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy” (1 Tim. 4:1-2).
I agree with the late Adrian Rogers, who said, “It is better to be divided by truth than to be united in error. It is better to stand alone with the truth than to be wrong with a multitude.”
It is time for the discussion of unity within the church to come into alignment with God’s Word on the issue of marriage. When there is division within the church, it is because individuals are against Christ Himself, for He is the head of His church, made up of the redeemed who are called to be one with Christ.
The church is on dangerous ground when it departs from the teaching of Christ and attempts to redefine His commands and compromise His truth. There are many things in Scripture that Christians disagree on, but the Bible is crystal clear about the sanctity of life and marriage. It is also clear that homosexuality is spelled out as sin—there are no ifs, ands or buts.
The only way the church can be unified with one another is to be in unity with Jesus Christ, unified in “faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God ... to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be ... tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ” (Eph. 4:13-15).
Compromise is dangerous territory for the Christian—mixing a little truth with a lot of error, wavering between right and wrong. Jesus said, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. ... Therefore ... repent” (Rev. 3:15-16, 19). I pray that the church will return to its calling to stand on God’s principles—not wavering, but steadfast, discerning the evil times in which we live. Charles Spurgeon once said, “Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”
My father has always said, “From compromise to deceit is a small step.” Let’s not compromise by seeing how close we can get to right; let’s stand on God’s promise to walk so close to Him that almost right becomes evil in our sight.
“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
For anyone reading this article, if you belong to the LGBT community, you may question whether God loves you and will forgive you. The answer is yes. I want to assure you from His own Word that God is eager to forgive all sinners, including the one penning this article.
The Bible says, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins. ... State your case, that you may be acquitted” (Is. 43:25-26). I am a great sinner who has received forgiveness by a great Savior—the Lord Jesus Christ. He went to the cross and shed His blood to cover our sin. He extends forgiveness to all who will call on His Name, turn from sin, believe in Him, follow Him as Master and Lord, and live in obedience according to His Word. My friend, God will heal your heart and give you peace the world cannot offer. Peace of mind and soul can be yours today.
Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, is the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse.
Click here to read the original article at BillyGraham.org.
Love For His People Editor's Note: I highly respect and appreciate Franklin Graham. Having worked at Samaritan's Purse for several years during the Christmas Shoebox time, I saw what the ministry does, as one of their major specific outreaches. It is amazing, and Franklin is such a great and honest leader.
Thank you Franklin for your commitment to share the truth, no matter what the backlash brings. We stand with you in your proclamations and witness of the truth.
Steve MartinFounder
Love For His People
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Jerusalem Channel - Is This the Year of the Great Deception? (Christine Darg)
Christine Darg
Video on Cross TV: Jerusalem Channel - Is This the Year of the Great Deception? (Christine Darg)
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Christine has ministered on every continent and in the most far-flung islands. Her healing and revival ministry has planted a number of “Tabernacle of David” Gospel tents, and she ministers daily on TV channels across the world. Her “Exploits Ministry” based upon Daniel 11:32 and John 14: 12 is obeying the Great Commission to the ends of the earth, also in fulfillment of Acts 1:8.
Because of her love of the Jewish and Arab peoples and all the spiritual descendants of Abraham in the Church, Christine has received a most unique ministry to share God’s love and ministry of reconciliation. She is the author of several books, including “Miracles Among Muslims,” “The Wounded Lover,” “Let Ishmael Live!”
Christine encountered Jesus supernaturally as a child. Facing a life-threatening illness, she still remembers when Jesus appeared to her in an open vision as a Jewish king and healed her.
When she was 16 years old, Christine was seated in the back seat of a car that was hit by a train, but when she was flung into the road, her life was miraculously saved. The Lord said, “I have spared your life for a purpose!”
A third attempt on her life through a serious emergency happened before Christine and her husband moved to Jerusalem to begin a strategic television work. She had to learn much about spiritual warfare and healing through practical experiences.
Christine’s father, a conservative Presbyterian minister, and her mother, an accomplished classical pianist and nationally award-winning composer, raised her with a deep love of the Christian faith and with a notable reverence for the Jewish people.
During a season of fasting, Christine was called by the Lord to the work of television. Furthemore, in an epic dream, the Lord Himself commissioned Christine to stand with His holy End-Time purposes concerning the preservation of Israel when all the nations encompass Jerusalem.
Following a successful career as an award-winning journalist in Richmond, Virginia, Christine and her broadcaster husband Peter moved to Jerusalem in 1982 to began a life-long love affair with the region and all its people. Truly Christine is a minister of reconciliation to both Jew and Arab and she appreciates all the historic and apostolic churches of the Middle East, enjoying favor in many quarters.
For five years in the 1990s, the Dargs traveled extensively with Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke in Africa to document confirmation of the preaching of God’s word with miraculous signs and wonders . . . the deaf hearing, the blind seeing and the lame walking. Christine has held her own large Gospel meetings primarily in Eastern Europe, the Philippines, Egypt, India and Pakistan with testimonies of many healings to the glory of God.
Favourite Quotations
LIFE VERSES: ‘You shall receive power to be witnesses from Jerusalem to the ends of earth’ (Acts 1:8) to proclaim ‘saving health to all nations’ (Ps 67: 2) with ‘the ministry of reconciliation’ (2 Cor 5: 18)
“Who Dares Wins”–Motto of Special Air Service (SAS)
John Wesley: “Do all you can for as many people as you can as often as you possibly can.”
“Preach faith until you believe it, and then when you believe it, preach faith.”
Reinhard Bonnke: ‘We trouble ourselves for the Gospel.”
…”An evangelist doesn’t wait for opportunities, but creates them!”
Monday, October 28, 2013
Covenants ("Brit" in Hebrew)
Jerusalem
Shalom,
“This is the covenant…” (Jeremiah 31:33)
While Western cultures are familiar with the idea of blood brothers, they are often not so familiar with the concept of a blood covenant, which is important in much of the world.
Covenant is also one of the most important concepts and central themes found in the Bible.
Jewish men pray at the Western (Wailing) Wall
The Hebrew word for covenant is brit, which appears 284 times in the Tanakh (Old Testament). (Strong's)
This word implies pact, contract, treaty or agreement between two parties and is likely derived from the Hebrew verb barah, which means to cut.
This Hebrew root brings to mind the Covenant of the Pieces (Brit bein HaBetarim or Covenant Between the Parts) in which the smoking firepot and blazing torchpassed between the halves of the heifer, goat, and ram that Abraham cut when God promised him the Land, providing its physical dimensions:
“When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadie of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates….” (Genesis15:17–21; see also Jeremiah 34:18)
And because the physical dimensions of the Land are provided in this covenant, there can be no over-spiritualizing its meaning into some otherworldly spiritual realm.
A street in Old City of Jerusalem
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The word brit (covenant) carries a connotation of the shedding of blood. This is nothing unusual: even from the earliest of times, covenant agreements were often ratified by animal sacrifice or an exchange of blood.
Such a covenant is so binding that to break it would result in the death of the person who broke it and often the family as well.
Abraham, therefore, was following an ancient custom when he cut the three animals in two and placed them in such a way that the blood formed a pathway.
The two parties entering into this covenant would walk through the blood to confirm a covenant in which each party could lay claim to all the possessions of the other party.
But in the case of this covenant, only the smoking, burning Presence—a manifestation of God that is reminiscent of the pillar of fire that guided the Israelites through the wilderness centuries later—walked through the blood.
Why? Only God could establish this everlasting covenant, and the responsibility for maintaining it fell solely upon Him.
This was no mere contract that could be voided. It was an unconditional, eternal trust. This covenant is often referred to as the Abrahamic Covenant.
Orthodox Jewish children play at the Lions Fountain in
Yemin Moshe, a Jerusalem neighborhood that
overlooks the Old City.
Implied Covenants in the Garden of Eden
“The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” (Genesis 3:21)
The first covenant between man and God was probably made with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and it did not involve the shedding of blood.
Though Genesis does not use the word covenant in regards to God’s conditional promises made to Adam, the prophet Hosea does refer to it as a covenant:
“As at Adam, they have broken the covenant; they were unfaithful to me there.” (Hosea 6:7)
Hosea seems to be speaking of God’s commands when he placed Adam in Gan Eden (Garden of Eden) to care for it:
“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:15)
El Mona Garden in Julis, a Druze village in the
Galilee region of Israel
Perhaps the earliest example of a blood covenant can be traced to the time in the Garden when animals were first killed to provide clothing for Adam and Eve(Genesis 3:21).
This was the second covenant that God made with them.
Because Eve, and then Adam, succumbed to the temptation of the serpent, their connection with God was severed. They realized they were naked and tried to weave a garment of fig leaves to cover their shame.
In response, God promised to give the Messiah who would come to destroy the work of the serpent and restore the relationship between humankind and God.
The promise is worded in such a way as to infer that God would be intimately involved in the person of this promised Redeemer:
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.” (Genesis 3:15–16)
What followed is considered by some to be an implied covenant: the shedding of innocent blood to provide a covering that was necessary as a result of sin.
Noah's Ark, by Edward Hicks
Noahic Covenant
“Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: … I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.’” (Genesis 9:8–11)
The first covenant explicitly spoken of in the Bible is the covenant God made after the flood destroyed the earth.
It is unique in that God made it with all of humankind; and through this covenant, all of humanity is still in a covenant with God in which people are not permitted to eat blood or to commit murder (Genesis 9:4–6).
In this covenant, God promised to never again destroy the earth through a flood as he had during Noah’s time.
The sign that God gave Noah to seal this covenant is the rainbow (Genesis9:12–17).
A double rainbow over Petah Tikvah, which is about
11 kilometers (7 miles) east of Tel Aviv.
Abrahamic Covenant
“I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:7–8)
In the Abrahamic Covenant, God promises Abraham the Land of Israel, descendants, and blessings. (Genesis 12:1–3)
“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1–3)
Understanding the Abrahamic Covenant is extremely important since it governs God's unique relationship with Israel, as well as His relationship with the nations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right)
and Malta Prime Minister Dr. Joseph Muscat (left)
at a recent meeting in Jerusalem.
Please click now to make a difference that will last for eternity!
Each of the three aspects of the Abrahamic Covenant—land, descendants, and blessing— form a basis for three other covenants:
God’s promise of land is expanded with the Land Covenant(Deuteronomy 29:1–30:20).
“For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” (Deuteronomy 30:16)
God’s promise of descendants is expanded with the Davidic Covenantand its promise of the coming King Messiah (2 Samuel 7:11–16; 1 Chronicles 17:10–14).
“I will set Him over My house and My kingdom forever; His throne will be established forever.” (1 Chronicles 17:14)
God’s promise of blessing is expanded through the New Covenant(Jeremiah 31:31-34).
“I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. … they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (Jeremiah 31:33–34)
A Jewish man wears a tallit (prayer shawl)
and tefillin (phylacteries) while he prays slichot
(penitential poems and prayers).
As an eternal sign of His covenant with Abraham, God gave him the Brit Milah(Covenant of Circumcision) (Genesis 17:9–14).
The Brit Milah takes place with every Jewish male infant on the eighth day after birth.
This rite of circumcision is the vehicle through which every generation is able to enter into the covenant formed between God and Abraham.
The practice of wearing tefillin during weekday morning
prayer is based upon the Biblical injunction in Exodus
13:9, 16 and Deuteronomy 6:8, 11:18 to bind God's Word
on the arm and place it close to the heart.
The Mosaic Covenant
“Now if you obey me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5–6)
When God cut the Covenant of the Pieces with Abraham, He told Abraham that his descendants would be enslaved and mistreated for 400 years in a country that was not their own.
The Mosaic Covenant is the covenant that God made with the Israelites—Abraham’s descendants—at the end of this 400 year period, after He saved them from slavery in Egypt.
In this covenant, God separated the Israelites from the nations, making them a light for those nations—a kingdom of priests and a holy nation that serves the One True covenant-keeping God.
He gave His law to the Jewish People through Moses on Mount Sinai—laws that govern morality, the sacrificial system and the priesthood, and civil life.
To violate any one of these laws is to violate the Law as a whole.
Moses and the Ten Commandments,
by James Tissot
While the Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional, the Mosaic Covenant is conditional.
If Israel is obedient to this covenant, they will experience the blessings of this covenant, but if they are disobedient, they will experience its curses.
The blessings and curses that are associated with this conditional covenant are detailed in Deuteronomy 28.
This covenant reveals the absolute holiness of God and the sinfulness of mankind.
It is a continuous reminder to the Jewish People, indeed, all the nations, of our need for the Redeemer, the promised Messiah.
An Orthodox father and his children examine the
world map near the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem.
As with other covenants, blood is involved. When Moses ratified the covenant with the Israelites, he sacrificed young bulls:
“Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.’” (Exodus 24:8)
Furthermore, the covenant has a sacrificial system that provides a means of entering the presence of the righteous and holy God. This system also providescoverings (atonements) for the sins of the people of Israel.
While circumcision is the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant, the Sabbath can be considered the sign of the Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 31:12–18).
"Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe My Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.” (Exodus 31:13)
Foot traffic and street traffic stand in stark contrast in
Jerusalem on a busy Shabbat (Saturday) afternoon, since
starting a combustion engine on Shabbat is considered a
violation of the Law of Moses by those who are observant.
The New Covenant
“‘Days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.’” (Jeremiah 31:3)
The New Covenant, which is a term that is only explicitly used once in the Tanakh (Old Testament) in Jeremiah 31:31–34, it is founded on covenant promises that came before it.
It fulfills the promise that God made in the Garden to Adam—that One would cometo crush the serpent’s head (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8; Colossians 2:15; Romans16:20) and restore an intimate relationship with the Holy God.
This promised One came through Abraham’s lineage under the Abrahamic Covenant.
Jeremiah states that the New Covenant will not be like the Mosaic Covenant of law that God made with the Israelites when He brought them out of Egypt, which they broke.
It is an unconditional covenant of grace given to Israel that is capable of transforming people from the inside out so that God’s laws are internalized and written on the heart—one in which His people can draw close to Him.
A woman prays at the Western Wall.
The New Covenant was ratified through Messiah’s sacrificial death on the Roman execution stake.
Whereas we were unable to keep the Mosaic Covenant, continually turning away from God and suffering the consequences, in the New Covenant, Yeshua alone has the ability to save those who put their faith in Him; this salvation cannot be attained by good works or by keeping the law or by anything other than faith in Him.
Moreover, He has provided the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to empower Believers to keep the covenant and receive an eternal inheritance.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9)
Many have argued that the New Covenant abolishes or replaces the Mosaic Covenant, but Yeshua said this was not so:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17–19)
The New Covenant also does not end the Abrahamic Covenant, but is a measure for carrying out the blessings purposed in it.
In fulfillment of the blessings that the Abrahamic Covenant would bring to the nations(Galatians 3:14), those who put their faith in Yeshua (Jesus) are grafted into the olive tree of Israel.
“You, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root.” (Romans 11:17)
After all, God promised Abraham that he would be “the father of many nations” (Genesis 17:3).
Through the New Covenant, God has brought all the pieces together that are necessary for the realization of the coming Kingdom that Yeshua promised.
And when Yeshua returns, the full power of the New Covenant will be seen both here in Israel and around the world.
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"My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children's children will live there forever, and David My Servant will be their prince forever." (Ezekiel 37:24–25)
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Jim Croft - Widespread Consequences of Sowing & Reaping
Widespread Consequences of Sowing & Reaping
Jim Croft
The Lord told Noah that there would be seedtime and harvest until the end of this age. I have been shocked by the extent to which the law of sowing and reaping applies to every facet of life. Seeds sown in attitude and interaction with others produce remarkably after like-kind just as they do with plants.
My father and I enjoyed many pleasant rounds of golf after I took up the sport at age 45. However, in his later years he became severely vision impaired and our golf outings frequently featured shameful irritability on my part. It was in the days before I was delivered from an evil spirit of impatience that gave me the temperament of a spoiled 2-year-old.
I resented the break of concentration required to locate the club in Dad's golf bag for his next shot. It was tedious to walk him to where his ball was on the ground and to always have to give him distance and direction for every shot. The endless questions about where his ball went were drudgery.
In ’95, I was rendered legally blind by an airbag in a car wreck. From that time to this, I still golf and am frequently teamed up with complete strangers. I have reaped the embarrassing consequence of having to ask golfers that I just met to do for me what I use to have to do for my father. It is now me who is plaguing players with questions about where my ball went.
What goes around - Comes around
Whatever actions are committed have a way of backfiring. The Canaanite king, Adoni-Bezek had a habit of cutting off the thumbs and big toes of kings that he conquered in battle. 70 of them ate the scraps that fell from his royal buffeting table. When Joshua’s forces captured him, they cut off his thumbs and big toes. Adoni-Bezek bemoaned his former cruelty as he hobbled about and used his fingers like chopsticks to eat for the rest of his life. (Jdg 1:6-7)
Jesus spoke of the principles of sowing and reaping in Lk 6:35-38. We are to imitate the kindness and forgiveness of God. He blesses the ungrateful and the evil as well as the righteous.
With whatever measure we plant positive blessings or, negative curses in our secret conversations and inner judgments about people will be measured back to us in an abundant manner from many directions. Negative conversations and uncharitable inner judgments about us can secretly bombard us long term from multiple sources
.
There are many believers who sit in self-pity wondering about why they hear rumors that numerous people are not speaking well of them. Many notice stiff body language and sense suspicions from those from whom they expect cordiality. This is heavy indication that they need to reflect on what they have sown about the reputation of someone else when not with them. (Mat 7:1-5)
I know of a minister who throughout life sowed harsh criticism about the preaching styles and doctrinal emphasis of ministers who did not suit him. He is now in his declining years and lives as a recluse exposed only to immediate family. All others are hesitant to welcome fellowship with him.
Another pastor was a habitual sheep thief. He sweet-talked, wined and dined the members of other churches. His church had encouraging growth for a while. Then key-people became disenchanted and there was a mass exodus of members. His enticing words to get people in his front door could not keep pace with the swing of the backdoor of his church. His fellowship abruptly ceased to exist.
I must add that this pastor’s church growth program is duplicated around the world. At hearing of a church with problems, the immediate inner response of many pastors is quite different than their first audible response. “I wonder how I can get the names of his church members;” precedes, “That is so sad to hear.”
The declining numbers on church rolls and the relatively fast open-closure rate with start-up churches can partially be attributed to pastoral sowing and reaping payback.
Armchair Ministry Critics
I pity believers that feel obligated to condemn ministries as false that don’t fall within their comfort-zone preference. Personal preference is seldom reflective of God’s view.
The disciples of John the Baptist complained that Jesus was drawing more people for baptism than John. John’s response has broad applications. "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” (Jn 3:26-27)
Whenever I hear Christians demeaning a particular ministry, I look at the fruit of the ministry. More often than not, there is sound evidence that God has given attestations of his approval. The followers of the ministry are enjoying redemptive benefits and there has been financial abundance sufficient to support the minister and staff for many years.
I have observed that ministries that are innovative and unconventional in approach draw fire. The negativity is rarely about the core beliefs necessary tofunction as a Christian. It is normally about views that are helpful, but non-essential beliefs.
It is legitimate to have differing perspectives and emphasis as the prism of God’s wisdom is multifaceted and has variable interpretations. It is dangerous to be accusatory about motive and to spout ongoing disapproval to all who will listen.
I have shuddered to see what has befallen those who would not refrain from nasty criticisms about ministries that have God’s approval, but not theirs. My concern about possible impending doom is alerted when I hear people condemning ministries that formerly did them good. Proverbs 17:13 says that evil will not depart from the homes of those who return evil for good. I have seen that truth activated in frightening ways in numerous lives.
Facilitate Crop Failure
Many of God’s people need to do some soul searching about what is happening in their lives. They cannot re-gather the negative seeds they have sown. But, they can repent to God about all that they foolishly sowed. In some instances the Holy Spirit dictates that offenders approach those they have shot with secret fiery darts to confess and request forgiveness. God is more than willing to grant crop failure for negative seeds scheduled to come to fruition in the future harvests.
Jim Croft
Boca Raton, FL
Jim Croft
The Lord told Noah that there would be seedtime and harvest until the end of this age. I have been shocked by the extent to which the law of sowing and reaping applies to every facet of life. Seeds sown in attitude and interaction with others produce remarkably after like-kind just as they do with plants.
My father and I enjoyed many pleasant rounds of golf after I took up the sport at age 45. However, in his later years he became severely vision impaired and our golf outings frequently featured shameful irritability on my part. It was in the days before I was delivered from an evil spirit of impatience that gave me the temperament of a spoiled 2-year-old.
I resented the break of concentration required to locate the club in Dad's golf bag for his next shot. It was tedious to walk him to where his ball was on the ground and to always have to give him distance and direction for every shot. The endless questions about where his ball went were drudgery.
In ’95, I was rendered legally blind by an airbag in a car wreck. From that time to this, I still golf and am frequently teamed up with complete strangers. I have reaped the embarrassing consequence of having to ask golfers that I just met to do for me what I use to have to do for my father. It is now me who is plaguing players with questions about where my ball went.
What goes around - Comes around
Whatever actions are committed have a way of backfiring. The Canaanite king, Adoni-Bezek had a habit of cutting off the thumbs and big toes of kings that he conquered in battle. 70 of them ate the scraps that fell from his royal buffeting table. When Joshua’s forces captured him, they cut off his thumbs and big toes. Adoni-Bezek bemoaned his former cruelty as he hobbled about and used his fingers like chopsticks to eat for the rest of his life. (Jdg 1:6-7)
Jesus spoke of the principles of sowing and reaping in Lk 6:35-38. We are to imitate the kindness and forgiveness of God. He blesses the ungrateful and the evil as well as the righteous.
With whatever measure we plant positive blessings or, negative curses in our secret conversations and inner judgments about people will be measured back to us in an abundant manner from many directions. Negative conversations and uncharitable inner judgments about us can secretly bombard us long term from multiple sources
.
There are many believers who sit in self-pity wondering about why they hear rumors that numerous people are not speaking well of them. Many notice stiff body language and sense suspicions from those from whom they expect cordiality. This is heavy indication that they need to reflect on what they have sown about the reputation of someone else when not with them. (Mat 7:1-5)
I know of a minister who throughout life sowed harsh criticism about the preaching styles and doctrinal emphasis of ministers who did not suit him. He is now in his declining years and lives as a recluse exposed only to immediate family. All others are hesitant to welcome fellowship with him.
Another pastor was a habitual sheep thief. He sweet-talked, wined and dined the members of other churches. His church had encouraging growth for a while. Then key-people became disenchanted and there was a mass exodus of members. His enticing words to get people in his front door could not keep pace with the swing of the backdoor of his church. His fellowship abruptly ceased to exist.
I must add that this pastor’s church growth program is duplicated around the world. At hearing of a church with problems, the immediate inner response of many pastors is quite different than their first audible response. “I wonder how I can get the names of his church members;” precedes, “That is so sad to hear.”
The declining numbers on church rolls and the relatively fast open-closure rate with start-up churches can partially be attributed to pastoral sowing and reaping payback.
Armchair Ministry Critics
I pity believers that feel obligated to condemn ministries as false that don’t fall within their comfort-zone preference. Personal preference is seldom reflective of God’s view.
The disciples of John the Baptist complained that Jesus was drawing more people for baptism than John. John’s response has broad applications. "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” (Jn 3:26-27)
Whenever I hear Christians demeaning a particular ministry, I look at the fruit of the ministry. More often than not, there is sound evidence that God has given attestations of his approval. The followers of the ministry are enjoying redemptive benefits and there has been financial abundance sufficient to support the minister and staff for many years.
I have observed that ministries that are innovative and unconventional in approach draw fire. The negativity is rarely about the core beliefs necessary tofunction as a Christian. It is normally about views that are helpful, but non-essential beliefs.
It is legitimate to have differing perspectives and emphasis as the prism of God’s wisdom is multifaceted and has variable interpretations. It is dangerous to be accusatory about motive and to spout ongoing disapproval to all who will listen.
I have shuddered to see what has befallen those who would not refrain from nasty criticisms about ministries that have God’s approval, but not theirs. My concern about possible impending doom is alerted when I hear people condemning ministries that formerly did them good. Proverbs 17:13 says that evil will not depart from the homes of those who return evil for good. I have seen that truth activated in frightening ways in numerous lives.
Facilitate Crop Failure
Many of God’s people need to do some soul searching about what is happening in their lives. They cannot re-gather the negative seeds they have sown. But, they can repent to God about all that they foolishly sowed. In some instances the Holy Spirit dictates that offenders approach those they have shot with secret fiery darts to confess and request forgiveness. God is more than willing to grant crop failure for negative seeds scheduled to come to fruition in the future harvests.
Jim Croft
Boca Raton, FL
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