Ancient Hebrew Scroll Given to Regent Univ. a 'Magnificent Gift' - CBN News Charlene Aaron

Ancient Hebrew Scroll Given to Regent Univ. a 'Magnificent Gift'

03-17-2016

CBN News Charlene Aaron

A special day of celebration surrounded the donation of an ancient Hebrew Torah scroll to Regent University.

The Torah, also known as the law, is the first five books of the Old Testament.

"This scroll was copied or written in 1750 before the establishment of the United States of America, before the constitution, and we will treasure this, it is a magnificient gift," said the school's chancellor Dr. Pat Robertson. "We thank you for your dedication; we thank you for your commitment."

Dr. Pat Robertson

 
The Torah scroll has survived some of the darkest periods of human history and it serves as a powerful testament to God's faithfulness and the enduring power of His Word.
 
"This particular scroll that was donated to the School of Divinity here at Regent University is a Yemenite scroll," explained Dr. Corne Bekker, dean of the School of Divinity.

"It's a scroll that's roughly about 265 years old and it comes to us from that area Yemen where of course the king of Sheba came from and it was a time period where Jews were severely persecuted that kind of run for their lives and they brought these Torah scrolls with them."

The condition of the scroll demonstrates the meticulous care and commitment to the biblical text. Members of the local Jewish community attended the dedication service, calling it a bridge between the Jewish and Christian communities.

"We have a common goal both to continue the Judeo-Christian teachings, but also to support Israel and how critical it is for the both of us," said Jay Klebanoff,president-elect of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater (UJFT).

"Today really brought that together and gave it so much meaning that we could both share in appreciation of the Torah and now it's going to be at Regent - it's just fantastic."

Ken and Barbara Larson, who donated the scroll, have also gifted Torahs to several other institutions. They hope it will encourage students to develop a deeper appreciation for God's word.

  
"When you come to grips with how God brought this Torah here, our hope would be that the students would have that kind of appreciation for what He's done to keep His word accurate, relevant, so we can all learn and grow," said Ken.     
 
"I think long after we're gone, long after you're gone, the Word of God will live forever and in a Torah that's several hundred years old (and) will still continue to live and speak and many students will be able to gain from it," Barbara added. 
 
It's a goal echoed by Regent's administration. 
  
"We've made the committment that the Word of God is the foundation for absolutely everything we do," said Bekker. 

"It's at the center of our education. It's at the center of the formation of our students and to receive this ancient Torah scroll that students can look at and they can handle and in some instances even touch enforces, solidifies this committment that we've made to the Word of God." 

The Bible Series That's Too Edgy For TV "Of Kings And Prophets" - MOVIEGUIDE CHARISMA NEWS

"Of Kings And Prophets" is too edgy for television. (YouTube)

The Bible Series That's Too Edgy For TV

1/27/2016 MOVIEGUIDE CHARISMA NEWS

Of Kings and Prophets, a new series set to air on ABC in March, is a Hollywood rendition of the stories of Samuel, Saul and David from 1 and 2 Samuel in the Bible. The show's trailer recently previewed at the Television Critics Association winter press tour.

During the panel with the show's producers and executives immediately following, questions were asked regarding the apparent level of sexual and violent content in the trailer, and what that means for the series. Multiple critics who saw the pilot were surprised by the amount of nudity included, especially considering the fact that Of Kings and Prophets follows the relatively family-friendly TV series Marvel's Agents of Shield on Tuesday nights in March.

Executive producer Chris Brancato said that the series isn't going to shy away from mature content.

"We're going to go as far as we can," Brancato said. "This story is an Old Testament [one that's] violent [and] sex-drenched. It's one of the world's first soap operas. ... You will watch a show that is tasteful but that also tells the story you can read if you want to pick up the Bible."

MovieGuide notes that there's a huge difference between a textual description of events and an actual depiction of acts.

The show's writers are Adam Cooper and Bill Collage, who previously worked on Ridley Scott's Bible-based epic, Exodus: Gods and Kings

Brancato explained that in order to meet the standards and parameters regarding content shown on broadcast television, some of the more explicit content may be edited out for broadcast and only included in online streams of the series.

"We have the wonderful ability to put a show on broadcast and then also have an online streaming version, which has less restrictions ... on it, so it may be that what you saw in this sexual clip in this trailer would probably be in the online version and not on broadcast," he said.

"The love story is essential to this pilot story," Brancato said. "We were seeking in that scene to suggest the pent-up passion and sexuality between these two characters. ... There is no discussion about trying to add more sex or violence for the simple sake of doing so. We're trying to tell the story that is in 1 and 2 Samuel, which has plenty of sex and violence on its own."

Unsurprisingly, and disappointingly, there's no discussion of the real themes of repentance, redemption and walking with God, which is far more intriguing than the sex and violence ABC is trying to sell to the American public. 

Want to watch a Hollywood Awards show that celebrates your Christian values? Find out more here!

This article originally appeared on movieguide.org. 

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COMMENTARY: Do Christians Only Have Half the Story? | Brian Hennessy ISRAEL TODAY

COMMENTARY: Do Christians Only Have Half the Story?

Wednesday, December 23, 2015 |  Brian Hennessy  ISRAEL TODAY

If someone started watching the Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, in the middle of the film, would they ever figure out the point of the story? Or appreciate the challenges Jimmy Stewart had to overcome? I doubt it. They would learn how the story ended, but remain largely ignorant of what was truly accomplished.

 

Well, that is what happens when Christians focus exclusively on the New Testament, believing the Old Testament is a completely different story unrelated to following Christ. As a result, we fail to see that the story of the “church,” God’s ecclesia, didn’t start in Matthew 1–but in Genesis 12. Or that the unifying theme of the Bible is found in the fulfillment of a promise made to an old man with a barren wife who believed God “he would be heir of the world” (Rom. 4:14).  

 Is it any wonder so many Christians say today, “I just don’t get Israel?”

Not only are many Christians unaware of the unfolding story of Israel, but we have failed to see how we ourselves are included. So few realize their faith in Yeshua has actually brought them into those covenant promises made exclusively to Abraham. And not into a new religion with different promises. “For if you belong to Messiah, you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3:29).

I have often said, for most Christians Jesus could have been born and died in Toledo, Ohio and it wouldn’t affect their understanding of the gospel one iota. We have been so focused on the theological benefits of our blood-bought salvation we’ve missed the importance of Yeshua’s historical context as a Jew in the land of Israel. We have not studied the still unfulfilled prophecies concerning his kingdom. Or seen that the NT is but the continuing story of Israel’s elect moving forward from the types and shadows of the Old Covenant into the blessings and realities of a New Covenant. 

On the other hand, Jews have the opposite problem. Having rejected the testimony of the NT they only read the first half of the Book and never learn how God is fulfilling the hopes and dreams of the fathers to save Israel through Yeshua, His Messiah. They never read the amazing words spoken by the angel Gabriel to the young Jewish girl, Miriam, that she would give birth to God’s savior. And that this child, who would miraculously form in her womb, “will be called the son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:32,33).

We could excuse the Jews who have been temporarily blinded by God from believing those words. But what about Christians who hear them read each year at Christmas, only to have them go in one ear and out the other? Why? Because Replacement Theology has rendered them incomprehensible. How can Jesus, who they see as the founder of their religion, occupy “the throne of his father David” in Jerusalem and “reign over the house of Jacob?” 

My heart breaks when I hear Christians talk about the Church and Israel as being two separate peoples with no common destiny. Does God have two Messiahs? One for the Church and one for the Jews? Does God have two olive trees? Two temples? Hasn’t God promised to show Jews the same mercy He showed us? And to do so precisely “because of the mercy shown to you?” (Rom. 11:30)  

Today, Christians and Jews are reaching out to each other in ways not seen since the first century.As believers we are commanded to put aside our historic animosities and prejudices and stand with them in their struggle for survival, looking forward to the day when we can  “…with one accord with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 15:6).

In other words, it’s time for us to step into the story.

---

Brian Hennessy is the author of Valley of the Steeples, available at: ketchpublishing/BrianHennessyBooks.htm

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Love For His People Featured Book

Buy here - Paperback $5.95, Kindle $1.99

Click: Why Israel? By Steve Martin

Why Israel? Why not? This little booklet consists of messages previously written in my books, which of themselves contain many various themes. I wanted to devote one book to just Israel and the Jewish people, and so this small booklet was compiled.

As you read the following, consider the truth contained in Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, which spell out the commitment of God the Father to choose a people who will be a light to the nations. He chose the Jews, and gave them the Promised Land of Israel. It does not matter what other national governments try to say, do, or accomplish apart from the plans and purposes of the Lord. They will fail. His Word is true. It is eternal. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever, and thus His commitment in keeping His promises made to the Jewish people will be fulfilled.

I hope you stand with them in these last days.

Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People, Inc.

'Emmaus Code' Proves This About Jesus - MATT BARBER CHARISMA NEWS

Jesus represents the fulfillment of Judaism. (YouTube)

'Emmaus Code' Proves This About Jesus

12/1/2015 MATT BARBER  charisma news

One of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes points out, as only Lewis could, that Jesus was either the Messiah (and the Son of God) as prophesied in the ancient Jewish Scriptures, or He was a liar, a lunatic or, worse, the "devil of hell."

Wrote Lewis: "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

Indeed, to my Jewish friends, I say this: We Christ followers love your Messiah. And make no mistake about it, Jesus is your Messiah. He is our Messiah. He is the Messiah. Messiah means savior, and Jesus is the Savior of all mankind.

To be sure, if both Christ's words and the Holy Spirit-inspired teachings throughout both the Old and New Testaments are to be believed, and they are, then Christianity and Judaism are not competing religions at odds with one another. Rather, Christianity merely represents the final culmination of Judaism, and Christ's promised incarnation, death and resurrection, the fulfillment of the long-awaited Jewish Messiah prophesied throughout the Old Testament.

In his latest book, The Emmaus Code: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament, author and attorney David Limbaugh thoroughly unpacks this reality and "unlocks the mysteries of the Old Testament and reveals hints of Jesus Christ's arrival through all 39 Old Testament books."

"The key to the secrets of the Old Testament, Limbaugh argues, is the crucial New Testament encounter between the risen Jesus and two travelers on the road to Emmaus," notes the book's description. "With that key, and with Limbaugh as a deft guide, readers of The Emmaus Code will come to a startling new understanding of the Old Testament as a clear and powerful heralding of Jesus Christ's arrival. Limbaugh takes readers on a revealing journey from Genesis through Malachi, demonstrating that a consistent message courses through every one of the Old Testament's 39 books: the power, wonder and everlasting love of Jesus Christ."

The Emmaus Code is a project that God long ago placed on Limbaugh's heart.

"Jesus is prophesied in the Old Testament and fulfills those prophecies in the New Testament," he writes. "For years, I have wanted to write a book to share my enthusiasm for the Old Testament and explain how it is foundational to the New Testament as the first act of a two-act play. I have wanted to show the many ways Christ is foreshadowed in the Old Testament.

"My new book, The Emmaus Code: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament, is the culmination of a project I began some 20 years ago. In the book, I try to demonstrate that the Christ-centeredness of the Old Testament is the key to understanding all of Scripture. The book is a primer on the Old Testament. I take you through each period of Old Testament history, introduce and discuss all the threads and themes pointing to Jesus in the Old Testament, and finally give you an overview of each book of the Old Testament and detail how each one prefigures Jesus Christ.

"My goal is to increase the reader's appreciation for the Old Testament and for its Christ-centeredness, for once we have a better handle on the Old Testament and understand that Jesus is its focus, the Bible will come alive for us in ways we never anticipated, and our faith will be strengthened and energized. That is certainly my experience, and I pray the same thing happens for you."

Having just finished the book, I can say with enthusiastic certainty that Limbaugh accomplishes his goal. He demonstrates, like the trial lawyer proving his case beyond any reasonable doubt, that Jesus is not just hinted at in the Old Testament, but that His presence permeates the ancient Jewish texts. As John 1:1 reminds us, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Christ is the Word, and the Word is God.

The Emmaus Code will change your whole perspective on the Bible. The Old Testament will come to life for you, and you will see clearly, perhaps for the first time, that its primary purpose was, and is, the foretelling of the coming of Christ Jesus.

When Jesus asked the apostle Peter, "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matt. 16:15-16).

"Jesus answered him, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven'" (Matt. 16:17).

Christ points to Himself as the Old Testament Messiah.

David Limbaugh establishes, masterfully, the veracity of Christ's claim.

Matt Barber is founder and editor-in chief of barbwire.com. He is an author, columnist, cultural analyst and an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. Having retired as an undefeated heavyweight professional boxer, Matt has taken his fight from the ring to the culture war. (Follow Matt on Twitter: @jmattbarber).

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Help a Palestinian Christian Become an Ambassador for Truth - ISRAEL TODAY

Help a Palestinian Christian Become an Ambassador for Truth

Wednesday, October 28, 2015 |  Israel Today Staff

The following is a personal message and appeal from our Palestinian Christian contributor “Matthew.”

If you would like to help “Matthew” meet the goal outlined below, send an email to ryan@israeltoday.co.il and we will put you in contact with him.

I was born in the Gaza Strip in 1994 to a nominal Christian family. I attended an Islamic school where I was taught day after day to hate all Jews and do whatever possible to destroy the State of Israel.

Despite growing up with this mentality, I was, as a Christian, nevertheless harassed and physically abused by Islamic groups trying to convert me, and responding angrily when I refused to do so, leading to more beatings and persecution.

Though I was a Christian in name only, I knew enough about Islam to make me reject converting.

At age 15, I decided to escape Gaza. As Christians, we would once or twice a year receive permits to visit Bethlehem or other “West Bank” towns. On Easter vacation of that year, we came to Ramallah, and I never went back.

At that point things went downhill as I got into drinking and partying and going out with the wrong people. I was stumbling continuously until one day I met a couple of strangers on the streets of Ramallah talking about the love of God, and that Jesus is the way and the savior.

I took these people for fools, but listened to them out of respect. They invited me to a meeting, and I thought to myself ‘what do I have to lose?’ So I went, and time after time the Lord changed my heart and filled me with love and compassion for all His people.

And He opened my eyes to a new perspective on Israel.

When I lived in Gaza, we were taught that the Israelis were our enemies and that we must hate them and fight to liberate Palestine from occupation. But when I came to the West Bank and started reading the Old Testament, I began to experience the love that God put in my heart for the Jewish people.

Soon, I had made hundreds of Israeli friends. I apologized for all the hate I previously held for them, and explained that I now understood that Israel has a right to exist as a nation and that God’s promise of this land to them is forever.

Holding such views has certainly caused me trouble in the West Bank, but it’s what I believe and I must share my faith.

Now I am embarking on a new journey to North Central College, near Chicago.

My time at North Central will help me in several ways. The course I will be attending is an English course, which will help me to more effectively open the eyes of those I speak to in the future. It will improve my English so that I can share the message of truth with a wider audience!

My calling is to spread the truth about the complex situation in this land, to open the eyes of many about the right of the Jews to this land, and to counter what the pro-Palestinian media tells the world.

The cost of my trip to the USA will be $6500 (tuition and flights). This does not include housing or personal expenses. The Lord has already blessed me with a family that will host me in their home for the duration of my stay. 

I want to thank you in advance for all your prayer and support! Feel free to contact me by email with any more questions.

If you would like to help “Matthew,” send an email to ryan@israeltoday.co.il and we will put you in contact with him. This is to help ensure his safety.

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They Called Him Rabbi Abraham Lincoln

Monday, February 23, 2015 |  David Lazarus  ISRAEL TODAY

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America

We all know how much Abraham Lincoln did for African-Americans, but until now very little was known of the special place Honest Abe held in his heart for the Jews. In fact, Lincoln showed so much favor to the Jewish community of his time that they called him “Rabbi Abraham.”

When Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 there were fewer than 3,000 Jews in the United States. By the time he died there were 150,000. Many of Lincoln’s contemporaries were alarmed by this development. Anti-Semitism, like the plague, had spread from Christian Europe to the New World, but Lincoln, a staunch Christian Republican, stood up for the Jews, much in the same way he would for African-Americans.

Lincoln was a devote student of the Bible and often quoted from the Old Testament in his public speeches. Lincoln rejected the notion held by many Christians of the time that the Jews were responsible for killing the Son of God. He made it a point to treat the Jews with respect right from the beginning of his career. Lincoln boasted many Jewish friends, often represented them in his law practice, and even appointed Jews to offices in his administration. Many Jews served as President Lincoln’s personal advisors.

A number of Lincoln’s generals regarded the Jews as hostile intruders to the North American continent and tried to have them expelled. General Ulysses Grant tried to force them out by issuing an edict barring Jews from selling goods to Union soldiers. Lincoln would have none of it, and confronting his commanding general immediately rescinded the shameful order.

When the Union Army wanted to “appoint Christian Chaplains to care for the spiritual needs of our brave soldiers,” Lincoln insisted on also appointing Jews to serve as chaplains to the army, something that had never been done before. Lincoln then signed the act into law and Jewish chaplains have been serving in the US Armed Forces ever since.

It was Lincoln who was the first to acknowledge the need to recognize Judaism as an official religion of the United States. At the time it was common to call the United States a “Christian Nation.” In order to make sure that the growing Jewish population also be included, Lincoln insisted that America be called “a nation under God.”

In 1863 Lincoln delivered his Emancipation Proclamation declaring that “all slaves under the Confederacy were from then on forever free.” Shortly afterwards, Lincoln met with a Canadian Christian Zionist named Henry Wentworth Monk who explained to him that Jews who were being oppressed in Russia and Turkey also need to be emancipated "by restoring them to their national home in Palestine."

Lincoln replied that this, the rebirth of Israel as a nation-state, was "a noble dream and one shared by many Americans."

When Lincoln was assassinated, the Jewish response was unprecedented as communities around the country mourned him in the traditional Jewish way for seven days by sitting “Shiva.” Eulogizes for the fallen president were offered by rabbis in every synagogue across the nation.

In what surely must have been a divine toss of the coin, the new copper penny minted in 1909 in celebration of Lincoln’s 100th birthday and adorned with his own iconic portrait was designed by the Russian-Jewish immigrant Victor David Brenner.

More of this fascinating story can be found in the new historical documentary “They Called Him Rabbi Abraham” by Gary Phillip Zola.

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Was Matthew a False Prophet? - Ron Cantor

Was Matthew a False Prophet?

November 17, 2014 — MAOZ ISRAEL MINISTRIES

By Ron Cantor

In Matthew 2:23 the gospel writer makes a confusing claim. He suggests that Yeshua’s going to live in Nazareth was a fulfillment of an Old Covenant prophecy:

[Joseph] went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that [Yeshua] would be called a Nazarene. (Matt. 2:23)

Anti-Messianics have sought to use this verse to confuse young Jewish believers, by claiming that the New Testament is false. After all, there is no prophecy from the Hebrew Scriptures that claims that Yeshua would be called a Nazarene… Or is there?

First of all, what is a Nazarene? In the context of the Matthew verse it would be someone who lives in Nazareth. However, one must look deeper to see the wordplay—something that was very common in Hebrew literature.

The word for Nazarene that is use in the Hebrew New Testament is natsri (נַצְרִי). The root of this word is natsar (נַצַר). From this root we get the Hebrew word netser (נֵצֵר). And a nester is a branch.

With this information, let’s see if there is anything regarding a Branch and the Messiah in the Hebrew prophets:

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” (Jer. 23:5)

“In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land.” (Jer. 33:15)

“Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.”
(Zech. 3:8)

“Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is theBranch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD.’” (Zech. 6:12)

Ok problem solved, right? Not exactly, you see in all these verses the Hebrew word for branch istsemach (צֶמַח), not netser. In Modern Hebrew tsemach means plant, but since virtually every English translation of the Bible uses the word branch for tsemach, we can be quite sure that branch is the proper meaning in the Old Covenant. So despite being two different words with the same meaning, it could still be a clever wordplay between the name of the city and the Messianic prophecies:

• Yeshua is from Nazareth,
• So he is a Nazarene (natsri),
• Which is the same as netzer (branch),
• And the prophets spoke of a tsemach (branch) coming forth to be the Messiah and King.

Well, that is enough for me to see that Matthew was referring to these prophetic passages when he said that Yeshua would be called a Nazarene according to the prophets. But isn’t there even one verse that uses the same word netser for branch and refers to the Messiah? Yes!

One of the most famous Messianic prophesies of all is in Isaiah 11:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch (netser/נֵצֵר) will bear fruit. (Is. 11:1)

So if we had any doubts about Matthew’s use of the word natzri meaning branch, they should be definitely be put to rest. And most scholars believe that Matthew had the deepest knowledge of Old Covenant prophecies. Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology states, “Matthew has a special fondness for the Messianic prophecies in Isaiah and other prophets.” It is noteworthy that they point out Isaiah from all the prophets, the book where we find the branch/netser verse.

Scholars agree Matthew was writing to Jews. He uses prophecy from the Old Covenant 62 times. It makes no sense to add the verse about the Nazarene, if it wasn’t clear to his Jewish readers what he meant. If he is making it up to hoodwink his readers, he has no need with 61 other prophecies. It would only cut at his credibility. Clearly he was referring to Isaiah 11:1 and possibly the other verses that we mentioned as well.

An interesting footnote is that the same root is used in the verb l’natser (לְנֵצר) which means to guard, to keep, to maintain. Yeshua was the only human that was able to l’natser the Law of Moses completely. So not only is Matthew not mistaken, who quotes Yeshua as saying that He “came not to destroy the Law of Moses, but fulfill it” (Matt. 5:17), he also comes across as brilliant in his ability to write in such a way that was very common in his day, and do it masterfully.