Reality Check - Year Bible #12

This book of Deuteronomy is Moses’ 5^th and final book. It’s interesting because it spends very little time in the present tense. There’s a re-cap of the past and a glance towards the future through various prophecies. These views of the past and future offered kind of a reality check to the Israelites to help them understand where they were in the big picture. In His day, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they wanted to see miracles performed but weren’t interested in prophecies fulfilled. They told Jesus “Show us a sign.” Many Christians today have a disinterest in the Old Testament. On my blog recently, a Christian basically wrote that I am wasting my time by studying and teaching the OT. Interesting how Jesus showed the Pharisees their error. He said “Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?” These men knew how to study the weather, to give a weather report each day and predict the seasons, but had no clue about the more important spiritual climate and season of history they were in. Though a lot of the news today is pessimistic, in a way it is exciting to see how many of the prophecies are being fulfilled in our generation. Internet news tends to have less censorship and propaganda than mainstream TV news and I’ll recommend some resources at the end of the article. Here are some more reasons why I believe it’s important to study both the OT and NT:

The Confusion of Compromise - Year Bible #11

The second half of the book of Numbers deals with a lot of confusion because there is a lot of compromise. Robert Frost once wrote “I'm not confused, I'm just well mixed.” If we want to, we convince ourselves of almost anything. Compromise is often just a subtle kind of rebellion against God. In Numbers there is one rebellion after another and one problem after another. We left off after Miriam and Aaron had rebelled against Moses (Nu 12), now there’s a full on revolution, 250 leaders of the people, as led by Korah, challenge Moses’ authority. Nu 16.3 says “They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?"

Christians Likely to Believe 9/11 was a Cover-up

Many facts contradict the official 9/11 report and are highly condemning of the government. For example, a now de-classified document, "199-Eye W.F. 213 589" was signed to obstruct anti-terrorist work prior to 9/11/01, as described in this Greg Palast BBC interview. One of the most affective anti-terrorist FBI agents, John O'Neill, eventually resigned from his job out of frustration. He was killed soon after he began his new job, head of security at the World Trade Center. The purpose of this article is not to prove 9/11 was a cover-up, there are many websites devoted to that (911Truth.org, for example. Also, "Want to Know" has a good section devoted to 9/11). The purpose is to reconsider the events from a Christian perspective.

A 2004 Zogby poll found that 49% of New Yorkers believe government officials had prior knowledge of an imminent attack. Increasing groups, including, but not limited to, architects and engineers, senior military, government and intelligence officials, scholars, prominent individuals and the latest, Political Leaders for 9-11 Truth, created March 6, 2009, have formed organizations and signed petitions demanding a real investigation, unobstructed and unbiased. Are there any reasons why Christians, as a group, may also be likely to question the official report? Here are some thoughts:

Crisis Training - Year Bible #10

The main definition of crisis - "A stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, esp. for better or for worse, is determined; turning point." Under some conditions a crisis may be good, leading to positive change. In other cases it may not be so good. In the news these days, many are referring to our period of history as a time of crisis. Even before talk of an economic depression began, there was serious emotional depression taking place. Statistics show the suicide rate had been climbing steadily since 1999, as shown by an AJPM study referenced at this link. And so the zeitgeist of despair has been compounded.

As we study through the Bible and come to the book of Numbers, we see the challenges the Israelites experienced in the wilderness. The trials were meant to train them positively, but they often turned into crisis situations with negative results. We see how Moses had a meltdown on more than one occasion. Many experts contend the economy will worsen in days to come, and so it may do us well to heed the lessons from this book and consider its wisdom for crisis times. The book of Numbers gets its name from the numbering of the men of Israel, which happens two times, once at the beginning of the book and once at the end before they enter the land of Canaan (26.1-51). The amount of the males over 20yrs is about the same both times, around 600,000 but it’s a completely different group of people, a whole new generation, except for two guys. Out of the approximate 2 ½ million people that left Egypt for The Promised Land, only 2 ended up finishing the Jewish “Million Man March.” That’s about one in a million – not good!

The Prophetic Feasts - Year Bible #09

Leviticus 23 presents the seven Hebrew feasts. The Hebrew word for feasts (moadim) literally means "appointed times." And so the end of Leviticus 23.2 would read: “These are my appointed times.” Through the feasts, God shows His control over time and the seasons and all creation. Though we may live in perilous times, we don’t need to be anxious because God is still in control. As a friend Isaac said “Know Jesus – no crisis, no Jesus - know crisis!”

We can have peace in Christ because He's the real thing and He's lot's of it. What am I talking about? Colossians 2.16,17 says "Therefore, let no one judge you in matters of food and drink or with respect to a festival, a new moon, or Sabbath days. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the reality belongs to the Messiah." (ISV) Jesus is the real deal. The feasts we will study are pretty intense. Jesus is found both in the foreshadowing and in the fulfilling of the feasts. They predict Him by 1,500 years and He lives out (and dies out) the meaning of the first four feasts on the calendar days of the feasts.