What In The World Is Wrong With Us?

God gave Moses the law for the Hebrew people to live by at which time Moses reiterates what the leaders of the Hebrew nation had said as they requested that he ask God for rules to live by when they said, “Go near, you yourself, and hear all that the Lord our God will say. Then tell us everything that the Lord our God tells you, and we will listen and do it.”  

Now this is very important, and few people really notice it or pay attention to the significance of verse 27 of Deuteronomy chapter 5 which encapsulates the insufferable and deceitful arrogance of the human heart. Try as they will all human beings have failed to follow those ten laws perfectly. The prophet Jeremiah later puts his finger on it when he said; “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17: 9) 

Practicing Jews bind themselves to the law, whereas it has become the basis for civil law in all the nations of the world today and it is the law of the spirit in the Christian life which is encapsulated in what Jesus said; “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22: 37 - 40)

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.”

Being brought out of the land of Egypt and the house of slavery is clearly a reference not only to physical delivery from slavery and harsh cruelty but to a spiritual delivery from an eternal death, the consequence of sin until Yeshua the Christ came to deliver salvation to mankind. However in spite of that all of humankind continually fails under the law by ignoring the following admonition; “You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God..…”

Unfortunately we have so many other beguiling interests in all the electronic devices, entertainment and toys, cars, boats just to name a few things that take precedence over our daily relationship and communion with God. These then are idols that we have allowed to come before Him, so we fail the very first commandment every day in so many ways without even realizing it. How much time do we give to God each day? Do we even bother to pray and then wonder what is wrong with our lives and why the blessings are so scant or the answers are missing?

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

How often have we had an outburst of temper and used the Lord’s name in vain, for some it has become a habit of speech that is not only very unbecoming but is a clear indicator of the corrupt matters of one’s own heart. We have all failed to keep this commandment.

Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

There was a time when businesses were closed in honor of God’s admonition to make one day holy and abstain from work, everyone dressed up and attended a church or synagogue to honor the Lord either on Saturday or Sunday, for most people these things don’t happen anymore and God is not honored because of it.

Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

How often we have all failed and at times have dishonored our parents.

You shall not murder.

Some translations use the word “Kill” but the original word used was murder as in Cain's vicious murder of his brother Able which was a pre-meditated offensive act, whereas killing can be justifiable before God as a purely defensive act of self defense or in defense of another. But we are all guilty of breaking even this commandment as we are all swept up in the violence and murder produced by the entertainment business, we are complicit in the murder of millions of the unborn children in their mother’s wombs as we acquiesce look away and underwrite this egregious activity.

Neither shall you commit adultery.

We have all cheated in our minds and hearts many times over and we lie to ourselves to say otherwise. Our love of God is also adulterated by everything else that takes precedence over Him, so yes we are all adulterers.

I’ll not even bother to comment on the remaining commandments as we all know that we have all failed to keep them perfectly.

Neither shall you steal. Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor. Neither shall you covet your neighbor’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. (Deuteronomy 5: 6 - 21) 

But know this, these following verses point out the problem and hold the answers to the conditions which we suffer from and the means of how God will deliver us from it's eternal bondage.

“Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” (James 2:10)

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. (Romans 3:23)

“The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)

“Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.” (Acts 13:38-39)

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” 

(Romans 1:16)

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

  

“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14)

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” 
(Ephesians 2:8-9)

Finally……..

“I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2: 1 - 2)

War And The People Of The Book

The term “people of the book” refers to Jews and Christians who believe and understand that the Bible is the inspired word of God. Each generation of bible adherents both Jew and Christian has experienced personal attacks against their beliefs and in many cases their persons. Currently unbelievers have been embracing a delusional mindset concerning righteousness wherein good is called evil and that which is evil is called good. 

“But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; they said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who set up divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. (Jude 17 - 19) 

All throughout the Western nations Jews and Christians are coming under violent verbal and physical attacks and are being murdered for their faith by the emissaries of Satan, while national leaders are paying obeisance to the will of Anti-Christ and his Satanically inspired armies and murderous minions.

"And I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him; and they were given power over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine" - (Revelation 6: 8)

Politicians that mistakingly assume they can placate this insidious threat by soft peddling their responses are delusional and their beliefs are suicidal and a direct result of their own humanistic godlessness and misunderstanding of the machinations and dynamics at play in the world today. Because of that the economies of these formerly great nations are failing, infrastructure collapsing, the quality of life waning with much less abundance than in former times. All this is attributable to a direct affront to the will of God. Women clamoring for the legal right to murder their unborn children, men wanting to become women and women wanting to become men, corporate greed and avarice abounding, hatred and loathing of others without cause, every man’s hand on his neighbor’s throat over petty arguments. The nations are about to be judged but it may still be possible to turn God’s judgment away by doing three things; turn from all unrighteousness, call on God, elect upright leaders willing to acknowledge the truth and deal with the problems at hand and deal harshly with the nation’s enemies. 

God said: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.” 

(2 Chronicles 7: 13 - 15)

It is the will of God that we turn to Him and humbly pray in behalf of the nation and it’s leaders. Also in his admonition to Christians the apostle Paul offers advice concerning what each of our attitudes should be while facing the onset of possibly great adversity in these times: 

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6: 10 - 18)

God has prepared beforehand a final plan for the enemies of Christ who refuse to acknowledge the truth and continue in their evil ways.

For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven other persons, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomor′rah to ashes he condemned them to extinction and made them an example to those who were to be ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the licentiousness of the wicked (for by what that righteous man saw and heard as he lived among them, he was vexed in his righteous soul day after day with their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. 2 Peter 2: 4 - 9)

What Is Real Faith?

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old received divine approval.” (Hebrews 11: 1 -2)

This is the biblical definition of faith, a concept that is often difficult for human beings to grasp because it entails believing in that which can’t be seen, touched, felt or physically examined, it is ethereal. For faith to be authentic it calls for trust coupled with action consistent with the will of God. Without it men of old would not have been moved to action and thus would not have received divine approval.

By faith Noah believed God and built an arc in spite of the fact that there was no water present and it had not begun to rain, he received approval from God and his family was saved from the flood. (Genesis 6)

By faith Abraham gathered wood for a fire and was prepared to sacrifice Isaac his only son from Sarah in blind obedience to God. It was a foreshadowing of God’s sacrifice of His only Son on a cross of wood, and by it Abraham received divine approval (Genesis 22)

The bible is replete with acts of men and women who by faith responded to the will of God. One of those was known as “The Good Samaritan”.

Though his name is not mentioned and is unknown, God knows him well. In a parable Jesus commented about the Samaritan’s faithfulness to the will of God by his compassionate response to the desperate needs of a total stranger he didn’t even know. Here is that story:

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered right; do this, and you will live.”

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed mercy on him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” 

(Luke 10: 25 - 37)

What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

But some one will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead. (James 2: 14 - 26)

Here is God’s only requirement for true believers that calls for obedience.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13: 34 - 35) 

“So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10: 32 - 33)

Jesus commands us to be faithful to His calling and responsive to His will. We do not acknowledge Him and deny Him when we fail to be responsive to the only commandment given to us as believers in Christ. When we see a fellow sinner who is seeking the forgiveness of God with a repentant and contrite heart and we look the other way rather than to try to help make them whole, we are denying the love of Christ who saved us.

For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? (Luke 9:25)

Barbarians - 1; Civilization - 0

There are times when I introduce relevant commentaries from some of my favorite Jewish sources. Todays article is very timely and comes with thanks to Rabbi Daniel Lapin’s “Thought Tools” which he regularly posts for the building up of biblical understanding and edification of both Jewish and Christian believers.

Moslems have inflicted at least twelve significant attacks in France during the past twelve months.  In these attacks, Moslems have murdered well over two hundred French citizens and by the time you read these words, the numbers may have increased.  Germany has endured a similar number of attacks with a slightly lower total of victims-so far. 

The French military is considered to be the fifth strongest in the world in terms of men and weapons on land, sea, and in the sky.  To give you an idea, they have over a quarter million troops, more than seven thousand armored fighting vehicles like tanks, more than one hundred warships and more than one thousand military aircraft.  That is a pretty formidable force.  

Not to be outdone, Germany fields a comparably daunting military. About two hundred thousand troops, about six thousand armored fighting vehicles, about eighty warships, and about seven hundred military aircraft.

Which forces honest people to confront a very basic question.  How can the descendants of Napoleon and Jean Lafitte, Rommel and Von Bismarck be rendered impotent by a bunch of barbarians?  How can these countries, who form the military backbone of NATO, be incapable of fulfilling their most basic obligations-protecting the lives and property of their own citizens-from the murderous mania of depraved savages?  

A good question, no?  Before I set about explaining this perplexing problem, let's quickly refute a common but mistaken explanation.  It goes something like this: It is impossible for conventional forces to defeat guerrillas or terrorists.  Not true.  The Israelis do it all the time.  The Russians have done it. The Dutch did it in 19th century Indonesia and the British did it in 1950s Malaya. A determined man will find a way to destroy an annoying mosquito but in the 21st century, France and Germany fail. 

In my view, ancient Jewish wisdom provides the best explanation.  I direct your attention to the fourth chapter of Deuteronomy.  If you've heard my Genesis Journeys series, you won't need my reminder that chapter divisions of Scripture did not appear until Archbishop Steven Langton arranged them in the 13th century. Even today, ancient Jewish wisdom ignores this recent innovation and instead, depends upon the original paragraphs to gain an accurate sense of which themes belong together.   

In a traditionally hand-written Torah scroll, Deuteronomy chapter 4 contains two separate, stand-alone paragraphs that are graphically and conspicuously demarcated.  The first runs from verse 1 through verse 24 while the second paragraph comprises verses 25 through 40.  

Now, I ask you to concentrate for just a bit more as we examine the thematic structure of these two paragraphs.  I'll assign the letters A through D to label the themes verse by verse.

This beautifully symmetrical structure is fairly common in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Tanach.  It is intended to communicate to us several insights but the one we'll see now is how the pattern can be graphically depicted by a 
triangle.

  

 Moving through Deuteronomy chapter 4, by theme, we go from the A (verse 1) at lower right up to the apex of D, and then down again back to A (verse 40).  Thus we see that the climax, which is to say the highpoint of the pattern is theme D-Idolatry angers God who collapses your culture.

Of course we do need to know what constitutes 'idolatry' these days when few people are still prostrating themselves to large stone images.  

Idolatry is any overarching schematic or comprehensive moral matrix, other than Biblical, by which individuals or societies organize their lives and order their priorities.

Germany and France are the largest and most influential members of the European Union and played the biggest roles in its formation.  The European Union has a constitution.  In terms of what we have been exploring above, its biggest flaw is not its impenetrability or its length (more than ten times longer than that of the United States) but that it makes no mention of God or the religion that sculpted Europe, Christianity.  

This indicates that Europe's organizing principle is certainly not Christianity.  Its overarching moral matrix, or if you prefer, its belief system is what I call secular fundamentalism.  

In contrast to Biblical belief and God's rules, this religion postulates the following ten principles:

• There are no ultimate Divine rules of human organization

• As a source of good, government trumps God

• Equality is a higher value than freedom

• All cultures are as good as all other cultures, hence multiculturalism is a value

• National boundaries and cultural distinctions are meaningless

• Citizens serve government rather than the reverse

• Society lacks the right to take the lives of marauders 

• Religion is regressive and plays no role in the lives of thoughtful moderns

• There is no absolute good and it follows, neither is there any absolute evil

• Courage means nothing; cowardice is offending nobody which means everything

I have no doubt that by extirpating Christianity, Europe has rendered itself incapable of recognizing its culture or defending its citizens.  A man who sees no value to his blood will allow the mosquito to continue draining it. 

Did you know that according to Pew Research more than half of young Americans aged 18-29 have favorable views of socialism and that this number is growing?  To understand why this is both anti-Biblical and desperately dangerous,  Let's avoid the fate of France and Germany. I implore you to equip yourself with the 2-hour audio program and study guide that we prepared entitled Tower of Power: Decoding the Secrets of Babel.

 www.rabbidaniellapin.com

An Astounding Revelation

I felt compelled to expand on the verses in John 1 cited in the last commentary, it is filled with the revelation of the nature and personhood of God. It is such a blessing to understand and to share with others that they may have that same understanding, knowing that in spite off all the hyperbole expounded on continuously by the media concerning mankind’s need to control the earth’s environment, which is born out of ignorant arrogance, that God is in final control of all things.

There has always been two differing views concerning the origin of the universe and specifically of this planet we live on called earth. There is the creationist’s concept that comes straight out of the bible in Genesis, and there is the evolutionists view some of which is based on scientific evidence and some on pure speculation. Both concepts may actually dovetail and simply be two halves of the whole story. Unfortunately human beings have a penchant for tunnel vision and doggedly hang on to their own theory while flatly rejecting the other entirely. They miss something important concerning the existence of the Intelligent Designer of the universe whose existence is not governed by time like that of human beings.

(Psalm 90: 2,4) Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night.

In the very first pages of the bible we find an astounding account of how God spoke the universe and our world into existence by His “Word”. Take note of that Word as it is indicative of the second person of God’s tripartite personality, the Father, the Son and His Holy Spirit.

Genesis 1: 1 - 5) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

(John 1: 1 - 3,14) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Here again in the first chapter of John in the New Testament we have an expanded view of creation as John, who was an apostle of Jesus Christ, had an intimate understanding of who Christ is and how the pre-incarnate Christ was in fact the Word of God who spoke the universe into existence and that the triune God does not operate independently of His own three personas.

(John 1: 4 - 5) In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John goes on to expound on how Christ is the Author of life and that outside of His will men would not exist and that darkness will not exist when exposed to the light. Jesus had come to be a light to a world darkened by sin and all manner of evil and to reconcile mankind to the Father. 

(Genesis 1: 26 - 27) Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

In Genesis we can clearly understand how the tripartite nature of God works in unison as one, as foreign it is to our finite minds to grasp consider our own human makeup. We have a physical body, then there is the soul which is usually referred to as the ego or the will, then there is the spirit of life in us given by God that will return again to God, that electric spark of life that speaks at times to our conscience and gives us empathy and a heart for others. So this in essence is our own tripartite nature made in the image of God.

(John 1: 10 - 11) He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 

Here John expands on what he had said earlier in Vs 4 & 5. He was born to the Jews but they refused to acknowledge Him. The very idea that He is the incarnation of God Himself, the one who created the universe and everything in it was inconceivable to them. In spite of their religion, the trappings of the temple, it’s significance pointing to the sinfulness of man and the reasons for sacrifice had gone over their heads, their minds had been darkened. “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him”. 

There are those that do acknowledge and receive Him, predominant among them are those of the gentile nations who have acknowledged their own sinful nature and a need for His salvation that was purchased by His own sacrifice on the cross which He offers freely to all.  

(John1: 12 - 13) But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 

As we clearly see the coming of an end of an age it is incumbent on all to consider what the Risen Christ said to John who was in exile for his faith on the Isle of Patmos.

(Revelation 1: 7 - 8) Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Who Is That Knocking At Your Door?

I am referring to two major cults which in essence are unwitting agents of Satan who is relentlessly seeking after your soul, beware of them and shun their advances! They are wolves in sheep clothing playing at religion, the main premise of the first group’s belief is based in a denial of the divinity of Christ referring to Jesus as (a god) which is a lying blasphemy. I'm going to present good reasons to avoid those people.

Here we have the revelation of who Jesus the Christ is embodied in a few short paragraphs: (John 1: 1 - 14) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

(John 10:30) Jesus said,"I and My Father are one.” 

(1 John 2:23) ”Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” This sums up the fact that Jesus was and is the physical embodiment of God on earth, which religious cults deny completely. Do not encourage the agents of religious cults that come to your home under the pretext of religious zeal, bibles in hand and pamphlets to hand out, they may appear to be acceptable using pious platitudes and trite religious sayings but beware of them because things are not always as they seem. 
(2 John 9-11) “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds."

They refer to their bible tract society as their profit and since have prophesied the end of the world several times giving specific dates among other events that haven't come to pass. (Deuteronomy 18: 21-22) gives a definition of what a prophet is not. "And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”

Paul talks about this, ( 2 Cor. 11: 13 - 15) "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works."

(John 14:6) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." 

There is yet a second insidious cult at work deceiving those not versed in the truth and posing as missionaries, knocking on doors in pairs of two, clean cut appearing they come bringing a different gospel, cloaked as it were behind the original gospel of Christ. They have another book they claim is more relevant than the bible. Do not listen to them and shun them, they are also agents of perdition seeking after the souls of those not versed in the scriptural truth of Christ found in the holy bible. They will talk about Jesus, but it’s a different Jesus who had many wives and not the true Jesus of the bible. They insist that those all can be gods in the next life upon becoming adherents to their false doctrine.

(1 Galatians 1: 6 - 9) I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

Sneering At Virtue

Occasionally I get great inspiration by reading “Thought Tools” presented by this biblically inspired man Rabbi Daniel Lapin. With permission I am reprinting his latest commentary which I think is very timely and something that deserves our immediate attention in the dark days ahead.

                                              Sneering At Virtue

Here is one of the most important lessons to teach your children:  Wrongdoers detest those who don't join in.  It's also not a bad lesson for you to understand and absorb if you want a clear picture of the behind-the-scenes politics in your place of business.  It is just as necessary in order to understand how power and money have corrupted much of our political process.  

More than one dedicated and idealistic candidate has won election promising to become a representative of the people.  Finding his place in the corridors of power, he discovers to his dismay that many of his colleagues are there to feather their nests.  What is more, he is quickly made to understand that if he holds himself aloof and refrains from participation in the plunder he will never receive invitations to the best parties. More seriously, he will be overlooked for committee appointments. There are no easy ways to deal with this reality, leading many earnest and well-intentioned people to succumb to the enticements of power.  It is very difficult to live with one's virtue being mocked.

Though far less prevalent in the private sector, there are certainly bad players who create a toxic culture of exploiting the company, other associates, or their customers.  This puts the "good guy" in a very tricky situation because wrongdoers detest those who don't join in.  As an associate with integrity you can't blend in.  However, if you don't do so, you will seldom be allowed to go about your business peacefully.  Those up to their necks in the toxic culture will imagine or feel your unspoken contempt and will strive to undermine you.  There is usually little option but to move departments or jobs. Living with those who sneer at one's virtue is painful.

This is particularly hard for children in school, since they seldom have options for changing their social circles.  The serious and moral student is often derailed by the taunts of his friends who loathe his taking the high road.

There is no simple solution or tidy little trick for coping with hatred of virtue.  In the Bible, one prophet after another encountered the hostility of the population as he not only refrained from joining in the general decadence but railed against it.  Not surprisingly the prophets' lives were often imperiled by the virtue they preached.

Therefore, so says the Lord of Hosts concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your (Jeremiah's)  life, saying, "If you do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, then you will not die by our hand." (Jeremiah 11:21)

This hatred of virtue is what lies behind two millennia of Jew hatred.  Not to say that every Jew is virtuous, of course. But the substance of a basic moral code for humanity entered the world when God gave His message for mankind to Moses on Mt Sinai. Many resent it.  Were there no Abraham and no Moses, there'd be no shared description of morality.  Anti-Semitism merely echoes the world's dismay at God's message.

People sometimes say that no Godly source of morality is needed since all humans have a deep internal sense of right and wrong.  Would that it were so. If it were, Jean Jacques Rousseau's ignorant theory of the noble savage would be true. Cannibalism would never have occurred in precolonial Africa.  Hideous tortures inflicted by Indians, native to both North and South America upon their own kind would never have taken place. No, without God's message of morality, a standard of morality wouldn't exist.  For many people, that would have been a preferable outcome.  They (and often they are Jewish themselves) hate the Jews for originally bringing virtue into the world.

Inoculating your children can best be achieved by teaching them of this phenomenon.  Whatever the threat, it is always diminished by familiarity.  The unknown is far scarier than the known.  Let them know long before they encounter it that it those who do wrong try and involve others while despising and disparaging those who don't join in.  There is no live-and-let-live when evil hates virtue. The prototype for this eternal truth appears early in Genesis. Noah didn't simply build an ark, he built it with his sons while facing threats and jeers from his wrong-doing neighbors.

       American Alliance of Jews & Christians  thoughttools@RabbiDanielLapin.com