Tag Archives: Christ

April 3, 2016 · 10:10

The Bible Says

The Bible Says

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)

I am blessed to have been raised by Christian parents who, not only took me to church every Sunday, but they taught me from God’s Word at home. Dad was not well educated. He was raised on his father’s ranch in Chihuahua, Mexico and only went to school until the third grade where he learned to read, write and do basic arithmetic. That was sufficient at a time and place where hard work was valued above book learning – education extends beyond the confines of a classroom. After he came to the United States and met Mom, God called him into the pastoral ministry, and he spent the rest of his life pastoring small Hispanic congregations, mostly around West Texas. Before entering the ministry, he prepared for five years at the Instituto Biblico Mexicano in San Antonio, Texas that taxed his third-grade education to the limit, but he persevered and completed his training.

My parents, my father in particular, taught me at a very early age that the Bible is the very Word of God. Every word of it is true and trustworthy, even when it comes to things that are hard to believe like the Red Sea parting (Exodus 14:21-31), the walls of Jericho falling (Joshua 6:15-20), or an axe head floating (2 Kings 6:5-7). These things have no natural explanation other than the record in God’s Word. “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). Therefore, if God says something in His Word, it must be true regardless of our ability to explain it.

However, one does not have to cast off reason and believe the Bible simply because the Bible says so. The Bible contains more than sufficient, historical, scientific, practical, fulfilled prophetic evidence of its accuracy to lend credence to those areas demanding “faith.” Archeologists have time and again confirmed the Bible’s historical account. For example, the Bible was long criticized for recording the existence of the Hittite people until archeological evidence proved the Bible right. To date, archeological digs uncover evidences confirming the historical accuracy of biblical accounts.

Scientifically, although not a text book on science, the Bible accurately records scientific matters. For example, the Bible matter-of-factly records the existence of ocean currents (Psalm 8:8), earth suspended in space (Job 26:7),[1] a spherical earth and expanding universe (Isaiah 40:22), the water cycle (Psalm 135:7), and even Pi (π) rounded to the nearest whole number (1 Kings 7:23). As for practical matters, one need only read and apply the book of Proverbs or Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) to live a successful life. The Bible accurately records fulfilled prophecies. The prophecies concerning Israel’s captivity in Babylon were pronounced as far back Deuteronomy, prior to their entry into the Promised Land. This same prophecy was repeated by later prophets, and it came to pass. Their return to the land was predicted and it came to pass. The Diaspora was predicted and it came to pass, as was their return once again to the land of Israel which took place on May 14, 1948. All the prophecies of Jesus’ first coming, His death, His burial, and His resurrection were all fulfilled to the letter.

When the Bible is correct in all of these areas, then why should one doubt when miracles are presented? Miracles are acts whose only explanation is that of divine intervention even when those acts defy natural laws. The same God who “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2), and who will do as He says also says, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). Jesus concurred with the prophet when He said, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18).

There is a scene in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis after Lucy has visited Narnia for the first time and returns to report to her siblings. They would not believe her story. In her defense, Professor Kirke (the old man in whose home the children were staying for protection from German air raids over London in World War II), challenges Lucy’s siblings by asking them if she has ever been known to lie. Since Lucy was not prone to lying, Professor Kirke suggested that perhaps the children should take her at her word. The same can be said about the Bible. Since the Bible can be proven accurate historically, scientifically, practically and prophetically, then perhaps it should be taken for at face value when it speaks of miracles.

This brings me to what perhaps is the greatest miracle of all, next to the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus Christ, i.e. the creation of the universe and all that it contains. This account of creation is found in the first chapter of Genesis, and it is foundational to the rest of Scripture. It is this creation account that I found myself defending against evolution and the Big Bang theory after I left home as a young man. I could not explain a literal six 24-hour day creation other than to stand on “the Bible says.” My conversations usually ended up something like this: “I believe God could have used Big Bang and taken billions of years to create everything, if He chose to. I believe God could have used evolution to create life, if He chose to. But the Bible says that God created everything in only six days. I believe God is great enough to do whatever He chooses to do. He could have created everything in a split second, if wanted; but the Bible says He did it in six days, and that is what I believe.”

I know that answer rings hollow to a hardened evolutionist, but it was good enough for me. I will never take man’s word over God’s Word about anything. Yet, far too many “Christian” leaders waffle as to the veracity of this record. Many, certainly not all, highly trained theologians and pastors wear their Ph.D.s and Th.D.s as a mantle of pride that they dare not tarnish by defending the literal reading of Genesis 1 against “experts” in the sciences. They fear appearing “uneducated” for their inability to explain biblical creation to the satisfaction of the skeptics who relentlessly insist that “science has proven” evolution. So rather than defend the clear reading of Genesis 1, they come up with silly compromises, like the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, or Theistic Evolution to appear “scholarly” in their defenses. In the end, they subjugate God’s Word to man’s word.

Some say such compromises make Scripture, especially where Creation is concerned, more believable/acceptable/palatable to people steeped in evolutionary indoctrination. After all, the teaching of evolution is ubiquitous in the world. Not only is evolution taught as fact (albeit unproven, but that’s a minor matter) in schools beginning at the lowest levels, but it is broadcast on television, the movies, and in print. Take notice when watching or listening to commercials at how many products “evolve.” Missing in these messages is the fact that this is “evolution” guided by “intelligence.” The message that comes across is that “everything evolves.” Learning channels like Discovery, Science, History, etc. often present evolution without question. Considering the constant brainwashing of our society to accept evolution as a “proven” fact, it is no wonder that religious leaders shrink back from defending biblical creation. Well, they ought to grow a backbone!

The Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). There in one sentence is the universe: time, space, matter. The Bible says, God created everything there is in six 24-hour days. “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:11, emphasis mine). He did it in six days rather than a split second in order to set the pattern of a seven-day week for us – work six days, rest one. Furthermore, the “days” in Genesis 1 are normal 24-hour days. The Hebrew word used is yom, and with very few exceptions (clarified by context), it means a normal 24-hour day. God then took extra care to define the “day” as “evening and morning” (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31)[2] to forfend against any notion of undetermined time.

The Bible says that God created plants before animals and even before the sun (Genesis 1:9-13). The Bible says there is no to plant evolution. “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so” (Genesis 1:11, emphasis mine). “After his kind” means no evolution, and the regenerative process resides within the seed (the DNA) of each plant. Some critics point out that plants need the sun for photosynthesis. That is only partially true. Plants need “light.” Light was created on Day One (Genesis 1:3). Even if it can be argued that plants need “sunlight,” surely plants can survive 24 hours without sunlight, which was created the following day.

The Bible says God created the earth before all other celestial objects (Genesis 1:14-19). My scientist friends might challenge me on this point because it cannot be proven “scientifically,” but this tells me that the earth is at or near the center of the universe. This is not to say that I believe in a geocentric solar system where the earth is stationary and the sun, moon and planets revolve around the earth. (I have seen models that show how this is possible; however, I will stick with what my scientists friends say in this regard – all planets, including the earth orbit around the sun.) However, that does not preclude the earth being located somewhere near the center of the universe. It just makes sense because the Bible says so. Also, according to biblical chronology, the earth (and the universe) is only about 6000 years old. The critics challenging this point to light from galaxies billions of light years away. How is it that we can see that light now, if the earth is only 6000 years old? I cannot explain it, but my astrophysicist friend, Dr. Jason Lisle offers a great theory on it that I cannot condense in the space of this article.[3]

The Bible says God created sea creatures (crustaceans, fish, marine mammals, and reptiles) and air creatures (birds, flying mammals, insects, etc.) on Day Five (Genesis 1:20-23). Here again, God created all creatures so that they would reproduce “after his kind.” The Bible says no to evolution. By the way, note that plants came before any kind of animal. Evolutionists teach that everything came from the sea; they have it backward. On Day Six, God created all land creatures that reproduce “after his kind” – no allowances for evolution. Dinosaurs would be included on Day Six of creation. Note also that birds were created before dinosaurs, which contradicts the notion of birds having evolved from dinosaurs.

The Bible says that the last thing that God created on Day Six was mankind. Male and female were both created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). At the end of the day, God assessed His total creation and declared it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). The Bible says that God placed the man and the woman in His special garden east of Eden (Genesis 2:8). There, man had complete freedom. His only prohibition was not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:17). Having been created in the image of God, man had the free will to obey or disobey God. Man chose to disobey God (Genesis 3:1-7), and through his act of disobedience brought upon himself, his posterity and all of creation the curse of death (Romans 5:12). In His foreknowledge, God had a plan for that eventuality with the promise of a Savior (Genesis 3:15).

In these first three chapters of Genesis, the foundation for the Gospel is set. Without a firm foundation, the entire message of the Gospel crumbles. Those who would insert long ages to the simple reading of Genesis 1, allow for ages of death and misery long before the Fall of man. The Bible says death is the enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26). If that is true, why would God make death the curse, when death had already been around for eons of time? And if death is not the curse, then what does Jesus’ death and resurrection accomplish? If Adam and Eve evolved from some ape-like ancestor (again, death and suffering already exist, and God’s creation is not so “very good”), then Jesus, who Scripture identifies as God (John 1:1-3) was wrong when He said, “But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female” (Mark 10:6). Can God be wrong?

More can be said on this topic. For now, I think I have gone on long enough. I will end by saying this: there are those who say that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God, but when it comes to defending the biblical record of creation, they defer to the evolutionists rather that defend God’s Word for what it says from the very beginning. I really don’t care if a pastor can’t give scientific proof that the Genesis record is accurate. Most pastors do not have a background in science; their training is mostly in Bible and church stuff. I get that. But for goodness sakes, if you say you believe that the Bible is true, then preach it like it’s true. Creation took place exactly like God recorded it in Genesis 1; that is the bottom line. Now, if a pastor feels the need to back up that statement with scientific proof, there are scientific organizations like the Institute for Creation Research, Answers in Genesis, Creation Ministries International, the Creation Research Society, and others that uncompromisingly defend the veracity of Scripture with scientific research that confirms the biblical account of creation. There are also organization like Biologos and Reasons to Believe that compromise on the biblical account and attempt to make the Bible “fit” modern science. Avoid such; they are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Stand by what the Bible says!

Notes:

[1]  The book of Job is considered to predate Genesis by almost 500 years or more, and certainly long before man traveled to the moon and visually confirmed that God “hangeth the earth upon nothing.”

[2]  By Jewish reckoning, the day begins in the evening; so from dark to light, and then evening begins a new day.

[3]  Go to http://www.icr.org/home/search/ and search under keyword “distant starlight”

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March 27, 2016 · 10:30

Resurrection

colorful sunset

Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up … When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. (John 2:20, 22)

Christians today, especially in the Middle East, suffer martyrdom by the hundreds at the hands of brutal ISIS executioners. These undergo a gruesome and horrific death by beheadings or being burned alive. Yet, as ghastly as we may perceive such brutality, the pain and suffering of these victims is short-lived, unlike that experienced by our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.[1]

On the Lord’s Feast of Passover,[2] Jesus, already physically drained from lack of sleep[3] and subjected to a sham of a trial by the Jewish religious leaders, was brutally beaten and scourged at hands of Roman soldiers, experts at inflicting pain without killing the victim. Then in that depleted condition, He was forced to carry His own cross to the place of execution, and whether it was a fully assembled cross or just the cross beam, for a man in Jesus’ condition at that time was next to impossible – but He did it. Under the weight of that burden, determined to complete His mission, He faced the horror of the cross. God, wrapped up in human flesh, with His host of angelic armies standing at the ready awaiting the command to rain down vengeance upon His tormentors. At the time of His arrest, Peter pulled his sword in His defense, but Jesus stopped him. “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53).  Nothing would deter Him from His mission. “[He] made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7-8).

Determined to give to the very last, He carried Himself up Calvary’s hill, laid Himself down upon the timbers and spread His arms out to receive the nails – our pain, our guilt, our sins. “For [God the Father] hath made him [Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). At the last, He gave His life. He did not die. Jesus said, “… I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (John 10:17-18, emphasis mine). He was not killed. “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost” (Matthew 27:50, emphasis mine). He was not the victim. He was in full control until the very last. John, the beloved disciple, and the only one of the twelve to witness the event said, “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:30, emphasis mine). Finished! Paid in full!

That was not the end. On the first day of the week, on that spring Sunday morning, He broke the chains of death and brought sheol’s captives with Him. Matthew records, “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many” (Matthew 27:52-53).[4]

His resurrection is key! Had Jesus died and remained in the tomb, we would venerate a martyr, nothing more. His bones would be marked by an ornate shrine. Perhaps followers would make faithful pilgrimages to the site to stand in awe and wonder. If that was the case, our faith’s reward would be death and eternal separation from our Creator with no hope of redemption. “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).  Because of His resurrection, “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54). “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” (Romans 6:5). So now we can say, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).

Before going to the cross, Jesus left us with this promise: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1-3). His resurrection guarantees the promise. On that day, “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Our Christian brothers and sisters in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world are brutally killed daily by the enemy of God. We can thank God that for many, death is swift; it is nothing like what their Lord and our Lord endured for our sakes. But the guaranteed promise of the resurrection assures us that one day soon, we will be together with Him in His house.

Notes:

 

[1]  It is said that victims could linger on the cross up to three days until succumbing to dehydration and asphyxia.

[2]  Despite conventional tradition, this even could not have taken place on Friday. Jesus said He would rise in “three days,” not three partial days. Jesus specified “three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:39-40). No matter how one may try to convolute the time to fit a “Good Friday” scenario, one cannot get “three days and three nights” from Friday evening to Sunday morning. Jesus said, “three days and three nights” – 72 hours, nothing less will do!

[3]  Jesus had spent the night in prayer while His disciples slept (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46) before being betrayed by Judas, arrested and tried.

[4]  Matthew’s recording of this event that seems to coincide with Jesus’ death and the renting of the veil to the Holy of Holies, but a close inspection of the text reveals that this event occurred after the resurrection. See again Matthew 27:52-53.

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March 20, 2016 · 10:30

Easter’s Wrong!

Shocked

And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. (Acts 12:4)

The two highest church attendance days are Christmas and Easter. Easter probably wins the high attendance day of the two since it always falls on a Sunday. Neither day is historically accurate, but Easter typically comes nearer being right than does Christmas. Both holidays (holy days) come to us thanks to the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) in its attempt to “Christianize” the pagan celebrations of Saturnalia, which celebrated the return of the sun, i.e. the days getting longer, and Ishtar, whose origin is rather convoluted but basically has its source in the ancient fertility goddess of Babylon from whence come the icons of Easter eggs and bunnies.[1]

The pagans celebrated their “Queen of Heaven” on the first day of the week (Sunday) following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Some form of this religious practice was observed by the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. By the time the RCC came into power, pagans continued the practice, so, in order to accommodate the pagan population, the Church put a Christian spin on the celebration. There are several parallels that can be made between that pagan religion and what we believe as Christians.[2] Jesus was born of a virgin, He died, He was buried, and He rose again. Superficially, the pagan story sounds familiar, but this should not be surprising since Satan is the ultimate counterfeiter. Jesus said, “He [Satan] was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44).  Since the celebration of Ishtar fell around the time as the Jewish Passover, and considering the parallels, it was not difficult to remake the pagan celebration into a Christian one. (Oh! Don’t be so shocked! We still do that today. In order to attract the “world” we adopt worldly practices, bring them into the church, and put a Christian face on them. Sometimes “Christian” events look no different than rock concerts. The only differences, if you can hear them, are the words of the songs. And for those of us who love the “old hymns” many of the tunes of those good old hymns originated in pubs and saloons. So, this is not unique to the RCC.)

Despite the title I chose for this article, my purpose here is not necessarily to bash our observance of Easter. (I prefer to call it “Resurrection Day” or “Resurrection Sunday.”) I believe that it is right and proper that we celebrate the Advent of our Lord and His death, burial and resurrection – the resurrection being key. They are highly significant events that altered the course of history and the destiny of man. But if we are going to celebrate these very special days, we should at least try to be “biblical” about it rather than “traditional.” Arguably, Christmas could remain as December 25th. While widely accepted by biblical scholars that the birth of Jesus probably took place around mid-September (more likely around the celebration of the Jewish Feast of Booths or Sukkot), counting back nine months would bring one to around December 25th as the time of conception, which would also be the actual “incarnation” when God came to be “with us” (Emmanuel) as a human embryo.

Easter, however, does not always line up exactly with Passover as is the case this year. Jesus was crucified on Passover. Jesus said, “Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified” (Matthew 26:2, emphasis mine). The Jewish day began at sundown, around 6:00 PM, unlike our western day which begins at midnight. On the afternoon before the Passover, Jesus sent His disciples to make arrangements to celebrate the Passover Seder (Matthew 26:18-19). “Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve” (Matthew 26:20, emphasis mine). “When the evening was come,” Passover had begun. After they had  finished the meal, Jesus went with His disciples to the Mount of Olives where He was arrested in the middle of the night – it was still Passover – and illegally tried and sentenced to death by crucifixion (Matthew 26-27, Mark 14-15, Luke 22-23, John 18-19). Jesus died at the ninth hour, 3:00 PM (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34; Luke 23:44-46), at the same time that the Passover lamb was being sacrificed at the Temple. It had to be this way in order to fulfill the Law of God given to Moses (Deuteronomy 16:1-6).

So, Jesus died on Passover, at precisely the right time in order to fulfill the Law of God and make a once for all atonement – a covering – for our sins. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11, emphasis mine). “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission [of sins]” (Hebrews 11:28, emphasis mine).

Biblically, then, Easter (Resurrection Day) should be celebrated in association with and very closely linked to the Jewish Passover. “Easter” is nowhere found in the Bible except as mistranslated in our beginning verse above (Acts 12:4). The Greek word translated “Easter” in this verse is pascha, the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew pesach or Passover. Evidently the translators of the King James Bible were taken in by centuries of RCC tradition.

“Easter” is not biblical, and it becomes painfully obvious especially this year. As noted above, Easter is the first Sunday that follows the first full moon after the vernal equinox. This year, the vernal equinox took place on March 19. The first full moon after that will be on March 23, making the 27th Easter Sunday. The problem is that the Jewish calendar is lunar, not solar. Nissan (Abib in the OT) is the first month of the Jewish religious calendar, and Passover is celebrated on Nissan 15. This year, 2016, Nissan 15, Passover, begins on Friday, April 22 at 6:00 PM and goes to 6:00 PM Saturday, April 23. We are celebrating Resurrection Day nearly one month before Passover, and that, to me, just seems wrong. You cannot have “resurrection” before the Passover sacrifice! If we were being biblical instead of traditional, we should be celebrating Resurrection Day on Sunday, April 24. Instead, we will just go with the flow and celebrate it according to the Roman Catholic tradition. This is why, especially this year, Easter’s Wrong.

Notes:

[1]  See “The Pagan Origin of Easter” http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract1.html

[2]  Ibid.

 

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March 13, 2016 · 10:30

Ready

 

Are you ready question - vintage wooden letterpress printing blocks, stained by color inks, isolated on white

For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night … But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. (1 Thessalonians 5:2, 4)

What kind of future events fill you with anticipation? You know the feeling. Like the first time that most beautiful, unattainable girl agreed to go out with you. That was one time you took extra time to make sure you smelled good, had every hair in place (I remember I used to have hair!) and your duds were in keeping with the latest style. Remember the feeling in the pit of your stomach, the sweaty palms, and the dry mouth? Remember how you rehearsed in your mind the lines you would say and your concern over making a good impression? How about the time you bought your very first new car? You spent weeks researching all the specifications, options, and colors until you found exactly the one that was perfect for you. You couldn’t wait for the day to go down to the dealer and pick out your baby. Then you sat for hours in the salesman’s office fighting to get the best deal while the salesman ran back and forth to the manager’s office doing the deal dance. Finally you had an agreement, but then you had to qualify for credit. Remember the agony? Would your credit pass? Would that shiny new baby ever be yours?

That is kind of how I feel about the imminent return of Christ. I am sure some of you feel the same way. What is He waiting for? What is taking Him so long? What has to happen before the time is right? The answer to that last question is “nothing.”  Nothing needs to happen next for the Lord Jesus Christ to return for His Bride the, the Church, i.e. the body of true believers in Christ. That is what makes His return “imminent;” it could happen at any moment.

The stage is set. Israel is back in her land (Isaiah 51:11; Jeremiah 30:9-10; Jeremiah 31:7-13; Ezekiel 31:1-14; Zephaniah 3:20). There are wars and rumors of wars in the Middle East (Matthew 24:6). Jerusalem has become “a burdensome stone for all people” (Zechariah 12:3). The depravity of mankind is rapidly increasing. Iniquity abounds, and the love of many waxes cold (Matthew 24:12). The world is “filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Back[stabbers], haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (Romans 1:29-32). People are “lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:2-4).

Jesus said that the days before His return would be like the days of Noah. So what was going on in the days of Noah? Although Genesis 6:1-5 gives us pause to scratch our heads, it portrays some very unnatural activity taking place. The “sons of God” (bene Elohim) are understood to be angelic beings in other places in the Bible, particularly in the Book of Job. They “came into the daughters of men” (Genesis 6:4). The phrase “came into” implies a sexual union. The objection to this comes from the words of Jesus who said that in heaven we neither “marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God” (Matthew 22:30). So, does that mean that angels cannot procreate or that procreation won’t be going on in heaven? Whatever was going on between the “sons of God” and human women was creating a creating a race of giants. The Hebrew word for “giants” there is nephalim, meaning “fallen ones.” God found Noah to be “perfect in his generations” (Genesis 6:9). The Hebrew word translated “perfect” is tâmı̂ym, meaning “entire, without blemish, complete, full, perfect, sound, without spot, undefiled, whole.” In other words, Noah’s generations, i.e. he and his family, had not been contaminated by this mingling by the “sons of God” with the “daughters of men.” Whether by copulation or by some other means, the human genome was compromised. Jesus said the days before His return would be like that. You might ask, how can that be? I don’t want to chase this rabbit right now, but you may want to watch these two online videos to gain some insight: https://prophecywatchers.com/videos/tom-horn-and-joe-ardis-inhuman/ and https://prophecywatchers.com/videos/tom-horn-joe-ardis-inhuman-part-2/. But in short, there are well meaning scientists that are working on human DNA manipulation to “improve” the human race. To hear them talk about it, their goal seams quite noble – engineer humans that require less food to eliminate hunger. But this is very real, and it is taking place right now. Naturally, this kind of thing is always kept from the general public for obvious reasons. So when Jesus said “as the days of Noah” I do not believe He meant things were just going on as normal – marrying and giving in marriage. No, I think He meant more than that.

So, the time is near. Christians do not have to look for the Antichrist to come on the scene because we will not be around when he shows up. In fact, our presence here in the world is the only think keeping him at bay (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8). So Christians should be looking for the Christ not the Antichrist.

I am ready. Are you? Those who love His appearing are promised a special reward – “a crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:8). Of course, being ready does not mean packing your bags and waiting for your ride. Jesus left us work to do (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8) and He instructed us to “Occupy til I come” (Luke 19:13) especially “as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9). Still, I wish He would come already. I am ready!

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January 24, 2016 · 10:30

Eyes That See Not

Miracles 9812570_ml

Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.  (Ezekiel 12:2)

In this day of technological marvels it is increasingly more difficult to believe in miracles. It seems that every extraordinary accomplishment or phenomenon can be explained by some naturalistic means. Today we possess the ability to send men to the moon and return them safely. We send probes deep into space to explore distant planets in our solar system. Our space telescopes look deep into the far reaches of our universe. Medical science, while it has yet to find the cure for cancer, has made remarkable progress in healing patients having the dread disease. Scientists in the study of eugenics continue to make inroads into the modification of human DNA with the hopes of creating super humans with capabilities for greater physical endurance, greater mental agility and intellectual acuity, better vision with the ability to see into the infrared light spectrum, and all of this while consuming less food.[1],[2] This, of course, is for the betterment of mankind, and is seen as our next step in human evolution.

No wonder, then, that scoffers deny the miracles recorded in the Bible. However, this is nothing new. Skepticism in the Word of God has existed since the Garden of Eden: “Yea, hath God said …” (Genesis 3:1). During the Age of Enlightenment (a misnomer in my opinion) “reason” supplanted “faith” so that every effect resulted from a natural cause. Reason, then, eliminated miracles because from this perspective, everything has a natural explanation. Enlightened theologians attempted to explain the miracles of the Bible though natural means. Some who were less capable for the task simply rejected the miracles altogether and relegated them to the category of myth. Thomas Jefferson, for example, redacted the New Testament by excluding every record of Jesus’ miracles from the Gospels.[3]

Rejection of the Bible continues today in greater force due to our technological advancements. So, what is a miracle, anyway? By definition, a miracle is “an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause”[4] (emphasis mine). By definition, a miracle has no natural explanation and can only be attributed to the supernatural. Arguably, the greatest miracle of all is the universe itself, and all that it contains – from the largest star to the tiniest subatomic particle. Even though there is great disagreement among atheistic scientists about the origin of the universe, they all tenaciously seek a natural explanation for the existence of it all. The Big Bang theory is in such crisis that some have proposed an “eternal” universe disregarding the Second Law of Thermodynamics (entropy – everything is dying). Yet the Bible offers the simplest explanation of all: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, emphasis mine) – beginning (time), heaven (space), earth (matter/energy) – the universe. The existence of the universe is a miracle – an immense effect brought about by a “supernatural” cause – God.

If one rejects this greatest of all miracles, which has no natural explanation despite all the theories man can contrive, then no other miracles recorded in Scripture are credible. For this reason, liberal theologians contend that the Global Flood (Genesis 6-9) was just local in spite of the unreasonableness of the command to build an Ark for the event. The confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel mythically explains the diversity of languages. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah resulted from an asteroid impact or a long-since vanished volcano. The Red Sea crossing came about by a hot easterly wind that died up the very shallow Reed Sea – a marsh. The quail with which God fed the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 16:13) were migrating and coincidently tired out exactly where Israel was camped so that about a million Israelites ate until full. Downplaying such miracles takes little effort, but they are equally defensible by employing some simple logic. What about the sun stopping (Joshua 10:11-13), or regressing ten degrees (2 Kings 20:11)? Can an ax head really float (2 Kings 6:5-6)? These things defy the physical laws as we know them, and since the skeptic fails in concocting natural explanations for such occurrences, these miracles are attributed to either fantasy or myth. Either way, the skeptic rejects all miracles. For the skeptic, miracles either have a natural explanation, or they will have a natural explanation when “science” learns more, or they are simply fantasy.

These are they who “have eyes to see, and see not” (our starting verse); but for those who “have eyes to see,” miracles are real, and they happen every day.  The creation of a new life in the womb occurs thousands of times daily. Those who “see not” attribute that to natural biological reproduction. But out of millions of sperm cells deposited during sexual intercourse, how does one particular sperm cell just happen to fertilize one particular ovum to create one very unique individual? Who writes the DNA code for the 46 chromosomes (23 from each parent) that make up the one-of-a-kind person we are individually? Even identical twins are not exactly identical. The naturalist has no explanation for this and attributes it to random chance. God says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee …” (Jeremiah 1:5). Those who have “eyes to see” respond, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:14-16). They who “have eyes to see, and see not” suffer from a spiritual blindness that prevents them from seeing the supernatural work of God – the miracles that take place every day.

They who have “eyes to see,” believe the words of Jesus when He said, “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:19). When God answers their prayer, they who have “eyes to see” recognize the Source and give credit to Whom credit is due.

Recently my brother-in-law was involved in a farming accident where he was run over by a huge farm tractor. There are so many ways that he could have died that day. He tells me that when the tractor ran over him he was completely at peace knowing that he would soon see Jesus. He says, “I kept looking around expecting to see heaven, but all I could see was corn stalks.” The tractor he had been driving was pulling a trailer full of silage, and it was coming toward him to get him a second time. The tractor had crushed his pelvis and broken his hip so that he was unable to move, yet he felt that “Someone” rolled him out of the way of the oncoming trailer. Some time elapsed before his son-in-law found him and contacted emergency services. He was flown to Omaha where he spent two weeks in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. He had several surgeries to reconstruct his pelvis and replace his hip. Today, nearly four months after the accident, he has returned to work and is walking with the assistance of a cane. The skeptic would attribute his recovery to the excellent work of the physicians that attended him, and they completely miss the miracle that transpired. Those who have “eyes to see” know that even before anyone knew of the accident, God was already at work to preserve his life. Then as soon as “believing” friends and family were made aware of the situation, petitions to the Father started flooding the gates of heaven on his behalf and continued throughout his recovery. Those with “eyes to see” see the miracle that those who “see not” miss.

For them who “see not” the miracles that God performs every day but have a desire to see, Jesus says, “blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Jesus said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).  To have eyes that see requires only that one take God at His Word and ask. “[I]f thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). If you have “eyes that see not,” Jesus says, “anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” (Revelation 3:18). That “eye-salve” is the Word of God contained in the Bible. It will teach you how to see the miracles of God.

Notes:

[1]  http://www.inhumanthemovie.com/

[2]  Horn, Thomas and Nita Horn, Forbidden Gates: How Genetics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Synthetic Biology, Nanotechnology, and Human Enhancement Herald The Dawn Of TechnoDimensional Spiritual Warfare, (Defender Publishing LLC, January 1, 2011)

[3]  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible

[4]  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/miracle?s=t

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