Let's go to the Diner!

www.flocksdiner.com

See you there.

Essene Roots

Jesus’ movement began before Jesus.

That probably doesn’t come as any great surprise. However, it may be surprising to some that the similarities surrounding the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of the Essenes are striking.
Even the behavior of Jesus is often very Essene-like.

Written in historical Jewish writings is the true story of an Essene who walked into the Temple with a herd of sheep. He then stood on top of a crate and yelled, “My Father’s house is a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a market.”

To read the rest, come with me to www.flocksdiner.com.

Be a blessing.

Johnny

"The Hebraic Wave"

I want to know Jesus!

More than anything, I hate simply knowing about him.

During the first year of my active service as a Christian teacher and preacher, I struggled to write sermons. All around the table where I would sit for hours and hours to study and write were literally dozens of well-written books on the subject of Christian thought. However, I found myself unable to share the teachings of the Bible with confidence.

What was I missing?

To read the rest, go to www.flocksdiner.com.

Be a blessing.

Johnny

The Repentant Camel

In my latest podcast, “Malchut Shamayim,” I speak a little about the statement that Jesus made, which is recorded in Matthew 19:24, “…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.”

Why a camel through the eye of a needle? Couldn’t he have said, it’s easier for a pig to fly or a spider to eat a horse?

The reason that Jesus used the particular saying of a camel going through the eye of a needle has to do with a common teaching about repentance, as well as a first century rabbinic style of teaching.

To read the rest, go to www.flocksdiner.com.

Blessings,
Johnny

The Only Word of God

Many Christian denominations hold as a doctrine that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the only divinely inspired teachings that constitute the rule and faith of a Christian life.

In Jesus’ day, commentary on the Written Torah, which was only translated verbally through memorization until 200 A.D. was also considered authoritative and divinely inspired.

To read the rest, go to http://www.flocksdiner.com/.

Thanks,
Johnny

Why Sunday?

I have always wondered why we have collective worship on Sunday, and when I ask those I think will know, I always get the same response: “It’s the day that Jesus rose from the grave.”

Based on Jewish studies and research, I have reason to challenge that answer.

To read the rest, come to www.flocksdiner.com.

God Is Not a Babysitter!

WARNING: This may be disturbing to some readers. This article includes news of sexual brutality towards a child.

Monday evening I turned on the television in a hotel room in Gatlinburg, TN to hear something that made my blood boil…toward God. I was so disturbed by what I had heard that I found myself having difficulty sleeping. There were even moments when I wanted to scream out and cry for the misery that had been given to an innocent toddler who had no one to turn to…not even God.

Go to www.flocksdiner.com to read the rest.

The Green Pastures

The “green pastures” mentioned in Psalm 23 often give us the idea that God takes us to a place of plenty.

However, the picture that is visualized by the ancient Eastern world is one of an opposite view.

www.flocksdiner.com to read the rest of this post.

Blessings,
Johnny

Sons of God

There were many called “sons of God.”

Miracle workers were considered to be close to God and were often referred to as “sons of God.”

To read the rest, you know where to go.

The Fare is Share

What good thing must I do to get eternal life?

When a man came to Jesus to find the answer to that question (Matthew 19:16), Jesus response was close to that of Daniel’s understanding of God’s message for Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

To read the rest, click here: www.flocksdiner.com.

Blessings,
Johnny

God Is Not My "Do-Boy"

The feeling of being completely dependent upon God is expressed by the phrase, “men began to call on the name of the Lord” (Genesis 5:26b). The act of prayer was developed after the act of giving sacrifices. It is understood by the ancient Hebrews that people had not always understood their true frailty and need for God and all that He provides, hence, prayer began after the birth of Enosh.

To read the rest, come to www.flocksdiner.com.

Bless God,
Johnny

One Way

Keeping hostages separated is a common practice for terrorists and bank robbers. Congregating gives the hostages an opportunity to unify a plan for escape and/or a take-over.

In Genesis 11, the "Tower of Babel" is a story about people plotting and planning a take-over. God commanded that people are to multiply and spread out upon the earth (Gen 1:28), but the people of the earth had devised a plan to stick close together.

To read the rest, come to www.flocksdiner.com. Your meal is waiting.

Blessings,
Johnny

The Language of Angels

Paul teaches at length on the subject of speaking in unknown tongues. He makes it clear that if a person can speak in the tongues of men or angels, but doesn’t love, that person is nothing but noise (1 Corinthians 13:1).

To this day, the teaching of unknown tongues and tongues of angels is brought up often among Christians. The meaning of this has been debated for centuries, and especially since the rise of the charismatic movement of the church.

Unknown toungues are easily understood to be foreign languages or languages foreign to the teachers and readers of God’s Word.

The important question, at least for me, is: What is the language of angels?

For the answer, go to http://www.flocksdiner.com/.

Blessings,
Johnny

Too Godly for God

There are many Christian denominations that place restrictions on what God has provided. Additional restrictions are seen as more godly, and some forms of asceticism are generally respected as honorable to God.

I have heard preachers teach that we should not only devote ten percent of our assets to the work of God; we should devote one hundred percent. Maybe those preachers missed reading Jesus’ warning to those who did just that in Matthew 15:3-9. Jesus clearly taught that a person can attempt to honor God by his or her excessive self-denial, and actually be practicing disobediene to God.

For the Jews of Jesus’ day, “Total abstinence was not considered a virtue” (Abraham Cohen, Everyman's Talmud, 232).

Read the rest at http://www.flocksdiner.com/.

Blessings,
Johnny

Sharing Without Fear

Over the last few years, I have learned a great deal about the blogging world.

Whenever I post an article, I am always aware that there will be those who agree with my research and reflection, and there will be those who disagree at many levels, to include the down-right ticked-off-at-me.

Fortunately, I learn from my agreeable brothers and sisters and those who want to tar and feather me. In fact, when folks don't agree, I am challenged and privileged to dig deeper or even change my perspective based on new information shared by others.

Please feel free to post a thread on the Coffee Talk Forum at www.flocksdiner.com, even if others may call you a heretic. We can't learn and grow if we are afraid to share our deepest beliefs and philosophies.

Many blessings,
Johnny

Living With Arrows

Isn’t it true that life can be very cruel? Not all of us experience the same form or measure of cruelty as others, but all of us know the feeling of being hurt. As believers, we are instructed to forgive and love others as we would have them love us.

What if that was actually easy? What if we could all detach ourselves from the pain of the past? What if every painful experience was like a bruise; it showed up, hurt for a while, and finally went away without a trace of its existence ever to be seen again?

The ancient sages taught that hurting others could be likened to a sword or an arrow.

Come by www.flocksdiner.com to read the rest. I've saved you a seat.

Blessings,
Johnny

Dear Flock's Diner Family,

I am so grateful for you and for all that you do to encourage and support this ministry. I pray that you are all doing fantastic as you seek out God’s will for your lives.

It is hard for me to believe that almost 7000 of you stop by the site to read and listen. We have become a very large internet campus family as Flock’s Diner continues to cross the web-sea.

Hopefully you are blessing God by what you are learning and sharing.

The next step is to get feedback from you. Flock’s Diner now has a Coffee Talk Forum where you are encouraged to share your own thoughts, fears, doubts, and celebrations in order that others may be able to grow from your words. With an average of 900 individual people every seven days, and almost 7000 individual people in the last four months stopping by, I know that we can all share something that will help others to grow.

Thank you for your willingness to minister to me and others at Flock’s Diner.

I eagerly await your comments on the blogs and your discussion topics and comments at the Coffee Talk Forum at www.flocksdiner.com.

Be a blessing,
Johnny

The Meek Shall Inherit "Eretz"

"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5, NIV)
My doctor asked me, "Who are the meek?" My guess is that when someone asks this, they want to know who is going to get the planet and all of its stuff.

Let's dig.

There are a couple of interesting points that are often overlooked or unknown by Christian readers and teachers of this verse. The Replacement theologian will quickly dismiss the fact that Jesus is speaking to Jews, while the empathetic pastor will quickly share that all of those who allow themselves to be abused without retaliating will be greatly rewarded in the afterlife to make up for their lack in this life.

Matthew Henry teaches in his commentary that "they shall inherit the land of Canaan, a type of heaven." Hurray for Mr. Henry. However, Mr. Henry is only partly right, at least according to David Stern the writer of the Jewish New Testament Commentary.

As Stern points out, Jesus is quoting Psalm 37:11 to remind them of God's promise...

To read the rest, I have saved you a seat at www.flocksdiner.com.

Blessings,
Johnny

Put Down the Flyswatter

What is the thing with smacking children for doing wrong? If someone smacked me every time I did something wrong, I’d have to wear body armor.

Not long ago, while sitting in a restaurant with a few others, there was a table across from us with a family who had a small child eating with them. The little boy was probably less than two-years-old. On the table beside the baby lay a flyswatter, and each time the baby did something wrong...

To read the rest, I have prepared a seat for you at www.flocksdiner.com.
Blessings,Johnny

Baptized for the Dead?

There is a great deal of debate over whether or not the Bible has been preserved in its original state. The fact of the matter is that we don’t have a complete Bible in its original state. In fact, the Greek New Testament that is used by Bible students and scholars is known to be put together by Erasmus using many different portions of many different ancient scripts.

According to Bart Ehrman’s studies in his book, Misquoting Jesus, even Erasmus was forced to add fillers to complete the Holy text (Mark 16:9-20, for example).

The point that those who held the only copy of the Scriptures in their town and having the ability to change the texts by adding or subtracting is well-founded. Even our beloved NIV has many passages of Scripture which have been removed, placed in the footnotes, or have added explanations stating “The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have (fill in the passage).”

One particular passage of Scripture that my feeble mind has a hard time accepting as original is found in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church.

To read the rest, I've saved you a seat at the Diner. http://www.flocksdiner.com/.

Meet the Flockers!

Meet the Flockers!

www.flocksdiner.com

New Servers at Flock's Diner

Hey everyone,

There are now two different teachers on the Flock's Diner Podcast.

You will be blessed by the passion of Captain Vance Murphy.

Thanks for listening. www.flocksdiner.com

www.flocksdiner.com/podcast/FlocksDinerPodcast.xml

Blessings,
Johnny

What's In Your Water?

Most of us are more than happy to share a glass of water with someone who is thirsty.

However, we don't all have the right to share the water that comes from our own supply. Some of us have water that will do more to harm the thirsty than help them.

What is in your water?

Check out "Living Water" at www.flocksdiner.com/podcast/FlocksDinerPodcast.xml or go to www.flocksdiner.com and click on podcast for those of you who have iTunes.

Blessings,
Johnny

Please bless me by checking out my podcast.

Hello friends,

If you haven't checked out my podcast yet, please do. I believe you'll be blessed, and you can bless me by sending me an email of your comments.

Thanks,
Johnny

Flock's Diner VIP's

If you haven't read the latest article or heard the latest podcast, come on by the Flock's Diner.

http://www.flocksdiner.com/

www.flocksdiner.com/podcast/FlocksDinerPodcast.xml

See you there.
Blessings,Johnny

Jesus Real B-Day and Latest Podcasts.

To find out what month Jesus was born, check out www.flocksdiner.com, the blog.

To hear the latest sermon, check out www.flocksdiner.com, the podcast or go to www.flocksdiner.com/podcast/FlocksDinerPodcast.xml.

Desmond,
Thank you for all of your hard work on Flock's Diner from Web and Flow Design.

Grace to all,
Johnny

Honeymoon

How important is passion in all of our relationships?

My latest audio teaching, "Honeymoon," gives us a look at the importance of keeping the fire in our relationships, including our relationship with Christ.

To hear the message go to www.flocksdiner.com/podcast/FlocksDinerPodcast.xml

You can also find it on iTunes by going to www.flocksdiner.com and click on "Podcast."

Be blessed,
Johnny

Please come to the new home of the Flock's Diner at www.flocksdiner.com.

www.flocksdiner.com

See You at the Diner

Hello friends and family,

The website is practically finished. There are only a few minor additions to be made.

If you'd like, you can go ahead and start commenting there at www.flocksdiner.com.

You'll also see a list of some of the resources that I use for study.

I'll be asking all of my friends to begin corresponding with me there soon and this site will be shut down.

See you at the Diner.

Grace and peace,
Johnny

"It's Okay, Baby."

Today, I took Ella to the cemetery near our house. We walked through the green grass, looking at all of the grave markers. I have always been intrigued by graveyards. I love to read the names and the years of their births and deaths, and try to imagine what their lives must have been like when they were alive.

I am especially curious when I read dates that reflect their births as being before the end of American slavery and their deaths being after slavery. How strange of a life they must have lived with all of the changes in such a time as the existance and abolition of humans owning humans. Disgusting sin!

As Ella and I walked through the graveyard, I would point out the grave markers of infants and tell her, “Here is where a little baby was buried. The baby died.” She really couldn’t understand exactly what I was saying, because she is not even three-years-old. But she did a very strange thing.

Every time I showed her a grave marker of an infant, she would sit on the grave marker, pull up a hand full of grass, pull the grass cupped in her hands toward her chest and cuddle it, while saying, “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay.”

I swear, it took every bit of control I had to keep from crying.

I think females are the most amazing creatures that God has placed on the earth, no matter what their age.

Forever experiencing God through my children,
Johnny

A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action

Throughout the centuries, Christians have sustained persecution. In some areas and eras the persecution has been more physical and brutal than others.

Recently, I was part of a discussion where the topic of persecution being possible in this country in the not-too-distant future, due to the more militant branch of atheism that is sweeping across Europe and is peeking its head up in the U.S.

As I consider the statutes of Christianity, I can’t help but wonder if many of us have completely missed the point of what Jesus taught us to do as his followers.

Most Christians can only envision evangelism as sharing the theological, doctrinal, and scriptural facts of what we believe. Did Jesus expect that to be our task?

I don’t remember any person ever being persecuted for finding a thirsty person and bringing them a cold bottle of spring water. I also can’t remember anyone being punished for going into their house on a freezing night, finding their coat, and giving it to someone who needed one.

It appears that persecution happens more because of the fundamental verbalizing of our faith, than our washing of feet and feeding of bellies.

Check out the website. It's really coming along. www.flocksdiner.com

Thank you, Desmond.

Desmond is working very hard on creating a website for me. You can see how far he's come when you go to www.flocksdiner.com.

I'd love it if you checked it out and gave Des some well-deserved encouragement.

Creative suggestions may also be welcome and appreciated.

Thanks.

Johnny

Atheist Defense

There is a level of naiveté with which many, if not most, Christians approach the subject of atheism and its recipients. The assumption for most of us is to believe that atheists have simply made a conscious and uneducated decision to stop believing that there is any form of deity by which the world was created and/or is continued.

The following information comes from, Christianity Before Christ, a vastly respected book written by John G. Jackson.

It would probably surprise many of us that atheism is a very well thought out philosophy, complete with documentation, historical facts, and highly thought out and researched arguments. Among such documentation is the ancient tablet from Babylon that is kept in the British Museum. This tablet dates back to about 2000 B.C. and is a reference to a passion play that was acted out in ancient Babylon in reference to the god Bel, known as Baal by the Hebrews.

The scenes go as follows:

Act 1: Bel is arrested by soldiers and imprisoned.

Act 2: Bel is tried in the Hall of Justice. (Bel is found innocent, but sentenced to death.)

Act 3: Bel is smitten. (Bel is abused and jeered at by a mob.)

Act 4: Bel is led away to the Mount. (The actor playing Bel is taken to a hilltop where there is a sacred grove.)

Act 5: Two criminals are taken with Bel and one is released. (All of the people in the amphitheater have left and follow the actors to the hilltop for the death scene where the guilty are crucified, hung on a tree, or slain on an altar.)

Act 6: After Bel has gone to the mount the city breaks out into turmoil.

Act 7: Bel’s clothes are carried away. (The corpse of Bel is stripped of its clothing and the body is prepared for burial.)

Act 8: Bel goes down into the Mount and disappears from life. (There is a tomb next to the stage where the body of Bel is placed.)

Act 9: weeping women seek Bel at the Tomb. (Women are the first to see Bel after his death.)

Act 10: Bel is brought back to life. (A stone that sealed the tomb of Bel is rolled away in the final scene. As Bel comes out of the tomb, the audience stands and cheers in a great frenzy until all of their voices are hoarse. The great god Bel has reappeared to prove that death has been conquered and that all life is secure in the hereafter.)

Atheists argue that the Christian story is merely a Greek version of this play carried on among the beliefs of those who call themselves followers of Jesus.

When atheists confess their belief that there is no God, they come educated and prepared. They are not seeking to be convinced of a higher power, but of a proof that our belief is not simply an updated play.

How have we prepared to defend our faith? Or do we argue, “You just have to believe?” I have no problem with that defense. However, how many atheists will take that advice based on what they consider the ancient proofs of Christianity before Christ?

Jesus, the Construction Worker

For centuries Christians have drawn and painted pictures of Jesus using wood tools and building wood furniture to portray the Messiah’s vocation as a Jewish carpenter. Jesus the carpenter may be the result of contextual misunderstandings of Western translators.

As Ray Vander Laan points out in much of his teaching, Jesus lived in the city of Capernaum during the three and a half years of his active ministry.

In Capernaum there was an extremely valuable material that was used for making important food processing equipment, which was in great demand all over Israel. That material was the black basalt stone found only in Capernaum and was a form of volcanic rock. The reason black basalt was so important was because of its ability to be ground together without leaving any resin, such as grit. With most other forms of rock found in Israel, the grit and sand left after grinding flour to make bread was very destructive to the people’s teeth. Archeologists who dig up the remains of ancient people in Israel who used food processing tools made of limestone often have very badly worn teeth, even among those in their early twenties.

Jesus was a “tekton” in Capernaum. The word “tekton” is literally translated “construction worker.” The reason that our Bibles tell us that Jesus was a carpenter has to do with the Western definition of a construction worker.

Early Western translators, like the rest of Western society, called a “construction worker” a “carpenter.” This is because, in the Western world, construction workers were most often wood workers or carpenters. But, more than likely, because of the valuable need for basalt food processing tools in Israel, any “tekton,” in Capernaum, including Jesus, would have plied the common trade of a “stone cutter” or “brick mason.”

Another fact that helps to support this theory has to do with the very low volume of wood in Capernaum. Jesus may have worked on doors or put up fences made of wood, but according to the geography and history of Capernaum, coupled with Jesus’ common use of bricks and stones in much of his teaching, it is highly probable that Jesus, the tekton, was very much “Jesus, the Stone Cutter.”

Forever learning,
Johnny

My Easter Message Is Available on Audio

Hey everyone,
For those of you who are interested, my message from Easter is on my audio files at www.xanga.com/flocksden.

Check it out.
You will learn some really cool facts about the Garden of Gethsemane and the town of Capernaum where Jesus lived during his active ministry.

I promise, you will never see Jesus, yourself, and our relationship with him the same way again.

Grace and peace,Johnny

Happy Easter, Kids!

It is almost Easter. Tomorrow morning millions of Christians will wake their poor unsuspecting children before the sun comes up, and drag them off to church meetings.

I doubt that many of the adults themselves truly appreciate the early rising.

However, it is required because of a misinterpretation of the Scriptures and a lack of knowledge concerning the Jewish calendar.

Thursday night at 7 PM is the official beginning of Friday. The Jews believe that the new day begins at sunset, because the Bible says, “And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” (Genesis 1:5b)

To the Jews of Jesus day, Saturday night at 7 constituted the end of the Sabbath and the beginning of the first day of the week, Sunday. “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.” (John 20:1)

I think many Christians would appreciate the historically correct time of Jesus’ rising from the grave, if only to prevent the annual zombie fests with sleepy eyed, screaming, fighting children.

For the most part, children are much more willing to sing and eat at 7 PM than they are to be dragged out of bed and dressed up like prom dates at 5:30 in the morning.

Happy Easter, Kids!

Sunday Teachings Available on Audio

Hi everyone,

I want to let you know that every week I will be posting my latest teaching from the Sunday worship meeting in Sanford, NC on my xanga site.

Go to www.xanga.com/flocksden and when you click "audio" you can then click on the file and listen to the message.

The message from last Sunday, Palm Sunday, is an eye opening tour into the world of Jesus that will change the way you view palm branches during Easter.

Grace and peace,
Johnny

Could A Man Be Found Carrying Water In Jerusalem?

At least 250 years before the Book of Hebrews was written, a group of Jews including some of the priests decided to create their own priesthood after the line of Malkizedek. They were known as the Essenes. We also know them as the writers of the Qumran Scrolls or the Dead Sea Sect.

The village of the Essenes was in the city of Jerusalem. Their location is significant when coupled with their strict adherence to the Torah. In the Torah, God tells the Israelites that they are not to have a bowel movement in the camp while traveling through the desert on the way to the Promised Land. The Essenes believed that God’s Word never loses meaning or significance, therefore, they believed that even though they were no longer in the desert, there must still be a camp. They believed that the new camp was Jerusalem.

Because they lived in city of Jerusalem and considered it the camp of God’s people, they believed that they were not allowed to have a bowel movement in Jerusalem. This meant that they would have to designate a place outside the city where they could use the bathroom. In 1991 archeologists discovered the Essene Gate. They were boggled by its location because it seemingly led to nowhere. Then they realized that the gate served as an entrance to the woods and out of the city. It was their bathroom door.

Another interesting fact about the Essene sect was that they also held strictly to their priestly duties and would not allow women to do any kind of work within their village because of its location in Jerusalem. The normal custom of women doing things such as carrying water was not allowed in the Essene village.

In the world of Jesus, it would be inconceivable to expect a man to carry a water jar, except among the Essenes.

“On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, ‘Go into the city (Jerusalem) and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.’ The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.” (Mark 14:12-16)

Sermon after sermon teaches that finding a man carrying water in Jerusalem was a miracle in itself. This would be true, except for the men of the Essene village in Jerusalem.

Jesus was not telling his disciples to look for the impossible, but to travel to the Essene village and prepare the Passover.

Forever learning,
Johnny

More About the Palms

God appointed feasts for Israel to celebrate. In Leviticus 23 the feasts are listed. Among these feasts was the Feast of Tabernacles.

This was a seven day festival that was a huge camping party. All the native people of Israel from near and far would come to Jerusalem and live in huts made of branches for the duration of the festival. One of the significant activities which would be practiced at this festival is found in Leviticus 23:40. “On the first day you are to take choice fruit from trees, and palm fronds, leafy branches and poplars and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.”

The successful Maccabean revolt resulted in Israel’s reinstatement of power in Jerusalem, which would last for one hundred years and the rededication of the Temple, still celebrated today as Hanukah. (Read the previous post for info on the revolt.)

After the successful campaign of the Maccabees, palm branches would once again be waved and displayed, but would also take on a new symbolic meaning. The palm branch was not only used in honor of God’s instructions for the Feast of Tabernacles; it was also used to represent the Zealot clan.

As Jesus entered Jerusalem on the donkey, the Zealots placed their cloaks and palm branches on the ground for Jesus and his mode of transportation, the donkey, to travel over. Both of these, the prayer closets (talit, prayer shawls) and the palm branches both represented who they believed Jesus to be.

In 2 Kings 9:13 Jehu is recognized as king with the laying down of their prayer closets which the writer says were “spread under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, ‘Jehu is king!’”

The other symbol placed under Jesus was that of the palm branches, which signified the Zealot Jews’ acceptance of Jesus as not only their Jewish king, but their Zealot military leader who would help them to violently destroy the Romans and their Western oppressors once and for all.

Jesus’ disappointment and sadness which is written in Luke 19 reflects Jesus’ words to those who followed him into Jerusalem to say, “Zealots, put away your palm branches!” Jesus was not a fan of violence, but of peace that included loving one’s enemies.

Forever learning,
Johnny

Palms or Peace

Good Friday is quickly approaching. Its familiar display of palm branches will soon decorate many Christian chapels.

What a shame!

Around 150 B.C. the Roman emperor, Antiochus IV, decided that the Jews will no longer be allowed to worship Yahweh, nor were they to practice any of their Jewish religious ceremonies to include the great feasts. This was unacceptable to the Jews and led to the Maccabean Revolt.

This revolt resulted in developing two new Jewish sects, the Pharisees and the Zealots. The Zealots were those who believed that they were ordained and commissioned by God to kill non-Jews, to include those they considered heretics or hypocrites, anyone who would prevent them from worshiping their God, or anyone who threatened their role as the leaders of the Promised Land. It is not impossible to understand their crude manner of defense when we know that Antiochus was taking Jewish mothers who circumcised their sons and would kill them with their babies wrapped around the mother’s neck. This was a very volatile time for the Jews.

The Pharisees were those who chose passivism and believed that God would take care of their enemies. This was also Jesus’ approach to the Roman problem.

The Zealots, like many tribes, groups, and countries, had a flag or representative symbol. Their flag was a palm branch. When the Jews waved palm branches it was a symbol of the Zealot’s non-peaceful stance. And wherever the palm branch was waved or used as part of a parade or ritual, the message was that the Jews are to take Rome by force.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the donkey, the Zealots were giving the sign of the palm branches to send the message that their Zealot Messiah would help them kill the Romans.

In Luke 19:41-44 Jesus expresses his sadness over their misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the Messiah, who more like the Pharisees than the Zealots believed and taught that killing his enemies was not the answer to bringing peace to Israel. “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.’”

Jesus was not a fan of violence, but of loving one’s enemies. The palm branches symbolized peace by violence. When we decorate our chapels with the flags of violence, we misinterpret the message of the Prince of Peace.

Forever learning,
Johnny

Take the Hill!

The city of Megiddo was located along the most important trade route of the ancient world. Because of its location, Megiddo became a powerful city financially and culturally. The city’s ability to influence the world caused Megiddo to be a place of great desire for world powers, and battle after battle was fought for its possession.

In Hebrew the city of Megiddo was referred to as the hill of Megiddo, translated Har Megiddo. In the book of Revelation in the New Testament, the writer, John, mentions the “hill of Megiddo” in its Greek translation, which we read in English as Armageddon (Rev. 16:16).

Up until the time that king Solomon had possession of the city, it was used as a place of Canaanite worship. Just as the worshipers of Pan at the Gates of Hell in Caesarea Philippi believed that their gods lived in the underworld during the winter and entered the world in the spring, so did the Canaanites believe that their gods lived in the underworld in the winter and surfaced in the spring. To entice the gods, Baal and Ashera, to mate, the priests and priestesses of Baal would have sex with each other and other people, and they would burn infants alive as forms of worship.

Megiddo represented the constant spiritual battle over the souls of the world. It was here that people fought to have influence over what people believed, how they lived, and who they worshiped. This is why taking the hill of Megiddo was so important and why the city was conquered and destroyed, and then rebuilt over seventy times.

Influencing the world for Christ requires that we take the hill of Megiddo in our world today. In a pluralistic society where even Christians are beginning to reflect a more tolerant mentality toward the gods of the world, we will find it tempting to share the hill.

Influencing the world for Christ requires a strategy of compassion and passion. Though we are not to enslave the world with rules and rituals or attack them with finger-pointing and brow-beating, we will only be effective when we share the gospel convinced that Jesus is the Way.

Break Down Your Gates of Hell

Twenty-five miles away from the Jewish worship communities of God is Caesarea Philippi. There is a large cliff there with a cave at its base that, at the time of Jesus, flowed with water from a spring. This cliff became the center of worship for a Greek god named Pan. And the followers of Pan built shrines and temples into this cliff to honor and worship him.

Those who worshiped Pan believed that the gods dwelled in the water under the earth during the winter and returned to the surface by way of the water in this cave during the spring. They believed that this opening (spring) was the (Pu li Ha doo) gate of the unseen, translated as "gates of Hades" (hah-dace) or "gates of hell" in English. The worship of Pan included sexual acts with prostitutes and between humans and goats, which they believed would entice the gods to enter through the mouth of the spring and fulfill the desires of the worshipers.

It is here at this gate of pagan gods, where worshipers are committing unthinkable sins, that Jesus tells Peter in the presence of the other disciples, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (Matthew 16:18). In essence Jesus is saying “My church will be built on the foundation of the lost, bringing them into the Kingdom. Even these Pan worshipers can be saved; even those who most people would not even dare look at can enter the kingdom of heaven.”

We all have gates of hell; places where we go and entice our selfish desires to surface. Jesus not only commissioned his followers to storm the gates of the Pan worshipers, but he bids us all to go to our own places of ungodly worship and break down our own gates of hell.

Forever learning,
Johnny

Confession Is Good for the Soul

I was listening to one of my favorite teachers a couple days ago, Ray Vander Laan, and he was teaching on the subject of stoning.

In the first century, the act of stoning involved more than simply throwing rocks at someone, though that would not be considered a small thing in itself. When someone was found guilty of a sin punishable by stoning, the person would be brought to the edge of a cliff at least eighteen feet high where they would be asked to confess their sin. If the person confessed, he or she would still be stoned, but they would “go to heaven.”

Once the person was stoned, they were then thrown off of the cliff. Upon hitting the bottom, if they were still alive, those who believed them to be guilty would drop large stones on top of them while standing on the edge of the cliff.

If the person was still alive, then the stoned person would be deemed innocent by God.

When Jesus was on the cross with the two thieves, one said “Get us down” and the other said, “Don’t you fear God since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve” (Luke 23:30-42).

Here in the common Jewish repentance practice during punishment this second thief confesses his sin. And Jesus reminds him in the usual Jewish custom, “Today (when you die) you will be in paradise.”

This portion of Scripture is often taught with the emphasis being that one thief did not believe Jesus to be the Messiah, while the other did and it was his belief in Jesus’ Messianic position that caused Jesus to grant him entrance into heaven. The knowledge of this first-century Jewish custom of repentance, gives us a clearer understanding of the context of this event.

The true message of this passage would appear to be that “confession is good for the soul.”

Forever learning,
Johnny

What's In Your Water?

In John 4:10, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that he can give her “living” water. “Living water” was not a new concept to anyone living in Israel.

It's important to note that Jesus speaks about "living" water at the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7. The Feast of Tabernacles is a seven day celebration of God’s provisions at the end of the harvest season. At the climax of the festival, which is held on the seventh day of the seven-day festival, there is an intense ceremony and prayer for rain. And it is at this heightened, climactic point of the festival that Jesus says to all those in the Temple,

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:37-38). Earlier in the same chapter of John, Jesus said, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.”(16-18).

In Jesus’ day, the teaching of a rabbi was known as “water” to his disciples. It was taught that if a rabbi’s waters or teachings were good, then his disciples would be drinking from the waters of God. If a rabbi’s water was bad, the rabbi is to be exiled to a place of evil waters and his disciples will drink and die.

"Living" water is constantly flowing water that is clean and life sustaining, such as rain or spring water. "Living" water is unlike the “dead” waters found in cisterns (manmade pits that were plastered and filled by water that ran off of roofs and streets), which were widely available in Israel. "Dead" waters were often stagnant and contaminated, but to a person who was desperate for a drink, "dead" water appears promising.

When Jesus approached the Samaritan woman who had trouble developing healthy relationships, he was offering to get rid of the “dead” water that she has been drinking (poor teaching that she has been practicing). Jesus was giving this woman the opportunity to stop sipping from the cisterns, and live her life drinking the rain of good teaching. He was inviting her to be his disciple.

We are all teachers. It has been estimated that every person will influence 10,000 people in his or her lifetime. Therefore, it’s important to know whether we are serving "living" or "dead" water. When those who learn from me do as I have taught them, will they experience a better life or will they experience failure and a continued thirst for how to live?

Living in accordance with the teachings of Jesus does not lead to thirst, but to a quenched thirst that brings vibrant, abundant life to the one who lives it. As imitators of Christ, we should all be serving "living" water.

Forever learning,
Johnny

Risky Reading! You have been warned.

If you were to find a letter written to your great-great-grandfather by your great-great-grandmother, wouldn’t you cherish every single word? What an amazing discovery that would be. I know that I would look at every word with a sense of awe and mystery, trying to see those two people and develop some kind of connection as I read the pages.

And what if you learned that the last few original lines were missing (maybe torn, stained, or lost), so, your grandmother wrote in words that she made up, in order for the letter to have an ending that would make sense?

I have a letter a lot like that, but much older. It’s a letter that was written a long time ago by a man named Mark. In Mark’s letter, the last 9 verses were added much later. Why? Because, as all textual scholars will tell you, including “believing, Christian” scholars, the last 9 verses are missing in the oldest and best manuscripts. Without adding them, the letter would end with no one being told that Jesus had risen. More than likely, according to those same scholars, the ending that was added is not a completely fictional account. However, what is very interesting in this addition, are the words of Jesus in verses 17-18 of the last chapter in Mark.

“And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Without the later addition, the Scriptures which are used as a foundation for the Pentecostal Church would not exist.

Today there are more than 5700 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament Scriptures including very small fragments, single books, and complete New Testament writings that are catalogued and used by scholars to translate the Bible. Some are cheap copies, and others are very expensive manuscripts written in gold. The oldest copies were written from the 4th to the 9th centuries, which are copies of copies of copies.............

All of these have what are called “textual variances” or differences among the texts. There are 200,000 to 400,000 variations among these texts. As Bart Ehrman says, “There are more variances in the manuscripts used by scholars to translate the Bible into the common language than there are words in the New Testament." These variances make it very difficult to translate the Bible in full, without a translator making educated decisions as to which parts of which manuscript he or she will write into the Bible from which Christians will read and teach.

The translators of the NIV have pointed out some of these variances, such as the last 9 verses in Mark. These and other more recent scholars have decided to make us aware that the oldest copies do not have some of the verses that have been added to our Bibles.

This information comes from the work of Bart Ehrman in his book, Misquoting Jesus.

Forever learning,
Johnny

A Child's Perspective On the Word

Seeing God through the eyes of a child is powerful.

Somehow most of Christendom has caused the word of God to become something to yawn about. For a great number of people, especially Christians, hearing God’s Word is like having to sit and listen to someone’s dream. You know that in the end it will take you nowhere and benefit you nothing, but you have to listen because it’s the respectful thing to do.

Yesterday, one of my teens was doing his teen Bible study lesson (nothing like reading the Bible to fire up a teen) and he said under his breath, “I hate this!”

To try and take away some of the boredom, I picked up the Bible and began paraphrasing the passage that he was reading from Luke 9:10-17. As I began to read my teenage son showed no greater interest, but something miraculous happened with my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter.

She was standing on the floor at the end of the dining room table playing with some of her toys and as soon as I began to read she stood still, folded her hands, bowed her head, and closed her eyes. Her mother and I watched in amazement. And as soon as I read the last word of the passage, she said, “Amen,” and went back to playing with her toys.

No matter what we may believe about the Bible, one thing is for sure, there is power in the teachings of Jesus.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Luke 18:17 NIV).

Forever learning,
Johnny

Read At Your Own Risk!

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately. Most of the reading I’m doing is from authors who are quite controversial and not the most popular characters to reach the Christian audience. But the subjects are wonderfully intriguing and lead the reader to search deeper.

One book I’ve been reading was a recent gift from a friend in Texas. The book’s title is “The Gift of the Jews.” Another great book that was given to me in the same week by another friend is titled “Misquoting Jesus.” These are not books that I would recommend to the average fundamentalist or anyone of a less than completely stable faith. Frankly, the two books together are a recipe for creating an atheist at worst and an agnostic at best. At the very least, they will create confusion and frustration for the average Christian.

“The Gift of the Jews” was written in the late 1990’s by Thomas Cahill and it is the history of Abraham’s ancestors who were called the Sumerians. The Sumerians were fantastic story tellers who developed their stories over literal centuries until they would reach perfection. The story of Gilgamesh is a story that began even before the Sumerians and was told over millennia.

The story of Gilgamesh included a “Tree of Life” that was protected by a serpent, a man created from a ball of clay, and a great ritual ladder that, if someone were to climb it and reach the heavens, they would become a god. There was also the belief that each individual had an angel that tended to his or her needs after a difficult time in life. The prehistoric ancestors of Abraham would pass these stories verbally long before writing was ever invented, perfecting them with each generation. And the stories are preserved in stone, the first form of writing, which archeologists and scholars use today to piece the stories together.

These are all very fascinating findings and quite faith shaking. As I said before, these are not books for anyone who wants his or her beliefs to remain unchallenged. Yet, somehow, my faith is only strengthened by the study. And I don’t mean in a rebellious way, but in a healthy kind of peaceful way that gives me the ability to say, "So what? Does it matter if the stories belong strictly to Israel or if Israel, the descendants of these great story tellers, held on to these fantastic tales and used them to build and sustain a faith in God throughout the centuries?

For me, it doesn’t give me cause to give up faith, but a hunger for more of how we have come to believe what we believe.

Forever learning, wherever it takes me,
Johnny

Grace Is A Gift From God, Not From the New Testament

Many Christians believe that God’s grace was instituted by the coming of the Messiah. It’s often understood that the old Covenant was a covenant of law, while the new Covenant is a covenant of grace.

Jews in Jesus day are thought to have been “saved-by-works” hypocrites who believe even today that they have to earn their way into God’s grace, while the Christian has the knowledge that grace is a free gift from God. We’ve heard sermon after sermon where we are taught that the Jews have missed the boat because they believe that they are saved by the “Law.” This is not the case at all.

Orthodox Jews do not believe that they are saved by the Torah. They believe that they are privileged to be the people who have received a special covenant that they are honored to practice.

When God gave the 613 instructions to Moses at Mt. Sinai, He gave them to Israel for their benefit. His intent was to allow them, through their obedience, to experience His grace as the commandments gave them the ability to experience fulfilling lives. Just as we practice certain habits like exercising, saving money, or changing the oil in our car to experience the benefits of such habits, the instructions of God for Israel were considered the wisdom of God that provided a better life for the individual and the community.

The word “grace” comes from the Hebrew word hesed and it means "beauty" or "favor." Unfortunately, most English translations translated hesed as "mercy," which causes the Hebrew Bible to appear as if there is much less grace in the old Covenant than in the new Covenant. Hesed, for the Jew, could not be bought or earned, but was the result of godly living.

How many people waste their money and still experience the blessings of wise investing? How many wives allow their husband to do nothing but watch T.V. and eat ice-cream and have a wonderful productive marriage? What kind of company allows their employees to come to work whenever they want and still benefits from a well-run organization? Have you ever known of a car that never has an oil change or a tune-up yet even after 200,000 miles, still runs like new?

Grace isn’t a ticket out of hell; it can’t be bought or earned. Grace is the benefit that is experienced by the obedient follower who lives according to the ways of God.

Forever learning,
Johnny

Honor Your Parents

My wife and I spent four days away from home this week. While we were gone, my wife’s parents watched our four children. When we returned, we received the wonderful privilege of having been honored by our children. Their grandparents told us that they were incredibly respectful and polite, and they did all that they were supposed to do while we were gone.

God tells us in the fifth commandment to honor our parents. This is a command that we could all do well to revisit as we have become a society where mothers and fathers are more apt to honor their children than then other way around.

In our world today, Mothers and fathers live to make their children smile. This is not a biblical model, but one that causes parents to be treated like bank accounts, sources of entertainment funding, and free trips to wherever rather than the wisdom granters and life teachers that they are created to be.

The Western world has done much to turn the ideals of parenting upside down and this is to the detriment of our own futures. Parents are not called to make their children happy; they are called to train their children to honor the will of God.

It’s also important to remember that “children” does not only mean “little kids.” Children are to honor their parents with their behavior and choices even as they become parents themselves.

Much of what gets us into trouble in life could be prevented if we would focus more on the command to honor our parents. Think of every sin and every crime and within them you will see that obeying the command to honor one's parents would have prevented it. How many prisoners would never have spent one day in jail had they chosen to honor their parents? With that said, I should clarify that honoring parents does not mean doing everything they say or making them happy even if it requires an immoral act. Parents are also to live according to the will and instructions of God as parents.

There is no greater way to honor God than to honor our parents. By honoring our parents, we do honor God.

I would add, after John's comments, that Mother and Father refers to the aged who should be honored rather than treated like they no longer have value. Mother and father can also be a reference to "wisdom" and "God."

In His dust,
Johnny

Interperter of Tongues

The early Church was a branch of first century Judaism. Both the synagogue and the early Church were well organized and had similar roles, titles, and positions for those who had specific responsibilities in a perspective congregation.

One such position was that of the meturganim (interpreter). A meturganim was a person who was very knowledgeable in the language of Hebrew, including the Hebrew Scriptures, and was also fluent in the common language, such as Greek or Aramaic, of the people in a particular synagogue. He would stand by the person who was reading the Hebrew Torah or teaching in the house of study, and after the reader would speak the Hebrew words directly into the ear of the interpreter, the interpreter would turn and tell the congregation, in their own language, what was read or taught.

This is the context of Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:27: “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.”

Understanding that the Scriptures of the Hebraic Jews were written in Hebrew helps us to understand Paul’s insistence upon having a meturganim when reading in a congregation where they did not understand Hebrew. Without an interpreter, “…you will just be speaking into the air” (1 Cor 14:9b).

Forever learning,
Johnny

Let Go And Let Man

People will often resort to the quickest way to get from one point to another, which is not a straight line. The shortest way to get from one point to another is by taking the path of least resistance.

Anytime a person, including myself, gets out of control, it’s because we don’t know how to handle the situation that we are in. Often parents like me will find themselves in situations of discipline where we resort to screaming like maniacs or spanking a child, not because we have great wisdom, but because, at that moment, we don’t have a clue what we should do.

When Jesus introduced the Kingdom, he did it by show and tell, and then he said, “Take over.” In fact, he gave Peter the keys (Matthew 16:19). Peter was put in charge of the Kingdom. Jesus didn’t say, “Peter, here are the keys. You are in charge, but I’m in control.” Peter was charged with leading the Kingdom of Heaven (God's children).

Peter wasn't put in charge the same way we put our six-year-old in charge of cleaning her room. Peter was in charge like the President of the United States is in charge of the country—he is the leader, supported by the rest of the people in the U.S.

Many Christians will use the cliché “God is in control” and I often wonder—what in the world does that mean?

I have been haunted for the last two days over a little four-year-old girl in Raleigh who was brutally killed by her own father by way of decapitation in their home, while her mother was at work. The father fled the state and left the mother to come home and find the unimaginable remains of her baby. I have cried twice in the last two days, because I coudn't stop myself from picturing the horror of that little girl's last few moments of life with her dad.

When God first created human beings, the first thing he did was give them the authority to kabash the world.

“God created human beings in his own image. God gave them authority and said, “Make more people; fill the world and kabash (kaw-bash) it. Rule over all the living things in the world” (Genesis 1:27-28, my translation).

Kabash is a very interesting word. We often read it translated as “subdue.” "Subdue" in our day can mean a lot of things. I would venture that most people think it means “cover.” But the real meaning of the word will probably surprise most of Christendom. Kabash is a word of great depth; it means to conquer, bring into bondage, bring into subjection, CONTROL.

God put human beings in control.

Good or bad, pretty or ugly, we are in control.

Nice or hateful, life-giving or murderous, we are in control.

Happy or sad, grateful or greedy, we are in control.

Saying to ourselves or to others, every time something goes horribly wrong, “God is in control,” may sound nice, but it’s not true. We are in control. God put us in control and we don’t have the privilege of taking the path of least resistance and giving control to God.

God said a long time ago, "Let go and let man."

Today, I stopped giving my responsibility to kabash the world back to God. It may not be easy, fun, comfortable, convenient, or simple, but it’s still our responsibility.

Forever learning,
Johnny

Who Is Your Jesus?

Whether we want to accept it or not, Jesus did not go around the country finding non-Jews and creating the Christian Church. Neither did Jesus go around converting Jews to Christianity. Jesus was a Jew in a Jewish world with a message for Israel. The non-Jews are privileged to be welcomed into the family of Israel. It’s not the other way around.

“As far as the gospel is concerned, they [the Jews] are enemies on your account but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable” (Romans 11:28-29).

The history of the Church is often written with the pre-70 A.D. Jewish world left out. This is unfortunate, because the ability to thoroughly understand Jesus and the early Church requires a person to have some understanding of the world in which Jesus lived and taught. Ignorance about the world of Jesus is also partly responsible for such atrocities as the Crusades of the early Church, the Holocaust, and the ongoing terrorism from one religious group upon another. Even the lone-ranger evangelists that in good conscience condemn others to hell with printed posters and harsh words do so out of ignorance of the true message of the true Jesus.

Christ’s movement was a very Jewish movement within a Jewish world and founded on a Jewish framework that was almost completely lost when the Church became dominated by the non-Jewish world.

Bringing a clear focus to Jesus and his Jewish world is difficult today because over the centuries the world has worked diligently to define who Jesus is outside of his Jewish culture. Almost every era has its own version of Jesus. As Dr. Ron Moseley points out in his book, Yeshua: A Guide to the Real Jesus and the Original Church, the influence of Gnosticism is probably the first to begin distorting the image of Jesus with its teachings of dualism (the idea that the soul is good and the body is sinful, and one day the soul will be freed from its sinful cage). With this thought in mind, Jesus began to take on the persona of being a mystic teacher who could show us the way for the soul to be released. This philosophy still invades the Theology of the Church today and has given life to songs such as “I’ll Fly Away.”

From the fourth to the 7th century, indicative of the Byzantine period, Jesus was presented as a powerful emperor who resembled Constantine rather than a humble rabbi.

And reflective of the medieval attitude in the Middle Ages, Jesus was portrayed as the lowly, defeated victim who is hanging on a cross.

Today, especially in the Western world, many people view Jesus as a fair skinned, blue-eyed, long-haired, middle-aged Caucasian rather than a Jewish man with a dark complexion.

Our picture of Jesus has an affect on our perspective of his words, which also has an affect on our interpretation of Jesus’ message as we share it with the world. If I picture Jesus as a lowly, defeated, suffering bearer of a cross, then I will tend to see the rest of humanity as guilty sinners who are unworthy of the Savior whom they killed by their sins. If I picture Jesus as a powerful conquering emperor, then I will view humanity as servants of a respectable king who empowers his people for an abundant life.

Our picture of Jesus, when removed from the reality of his Jewish rabbinic world can inspire an entirely different message from that of the historical Jesus, and make the message of Jesus as subjective as our individual pictures.

Jesus, the Pharisee

In Dr. Ron Moseley’s book, Yeshua, Moseley cites an essay written by Morton Smith, where Smith writes that the ancient world did not have a general term for “religion.” In the Hellenized world, the only word used for “religion” was “philosophy,” which included the religion of the Pharisees. In addition, Smith notes that the ancient Jews used the Hellenistic term “philosophy” to describe what they believed and how they expressed their beliefs.

There are some remarkable similarities between the Pharisees and Greek philosophers.

Pharisaic teachers and Greek Philosophers:
1. were not paid to teach;
2. had disciples who followed and served them;
3. had occupations and were financially supported by those who appreciated their teaching;
4. were exempt from taxes;
5. were recognized in public by the way they walked, talked, and dressed;
6. practiced some level of asceticism.

The philosophy of the Pharisees included believing in the entirety of the Scriptures and the Oral Law (spoken commentary), resurrection of the dead, angels, and eternal judgment.

If it were not for the Pharisaic philosophy, we would not believe in life after death, the resurrection of the body, preaching on the Sabbath, the existence of angels, or the importance of commentaries.

It is widely believed by many scholars of first century Judaism that Jesus was very much in line with the Pharisaic philosophy and that his criticisms of the Pharisees were not criticisms of all Pharisees, but were part of an ongoing debate between those who followed the great teachers, Hillel and Shammai. Jesus was most closely aligned with the teachings of Hillel who was thirty years older than Jesus and was known for his great wisdom and teaching. One of Hillel’s teachings, which was supported and quoted by Jesus, was “what you would not have done to you, do not to another; that is the whole Law, the rest is commentary.”

Those who supported and followed the yoke of Hillel were often debating with those who followed the yoke of Shammai. Jesus often entered the same debate, supporting the teachings of Hillel who taught that it is okay to heal on the Sabbath and clean the outside of a cup at a later time rather than before drinking from it.

The philosophy of Jesus is his yoke, and Jesus' yoke is the yoke that we follow today. Jesus' yoke and Hillel's yoke were very similar. Therefore, the point of this article is to bring attention to the possibilities that the Pharisees, like other ancient philosophers, were varied in their beliefs and teachings, and that Jesus, like the other Jewish sages of his time, was not necessarily enforcing an entirely new philosophy for living out the Word, but was an advocate of a philosophy which was already being taught and practiced in his time by a portion of the Pharisees, a group with which Jesus was most closely aligned.

Forever learning,
Johnny

Check out this blog.

I want to invite everyone to check out Angela's blog at www.ang4him.blogspot.com.

She's sharing some really great studies on the Hebraic and Jewish roots of Christianity.

Say hello while you're there.

Grace and peace,
Johnny

Signs of A Cult

Has anyone else ever heard of these five signs?

Tantalizing if True
Five signs of a cult
Posted in Desperate Suggestions Thursday, December 7th, 2006 Trackback

1. A strong sense of group identity and community.
2. A belief that the group is somehow separate from the rest of society.
3. A strong sense of group destiny and purpose.
4. An unwavering adherence to the teachings of its founder, which may differ radically from the rest of society.
5. A total commitment to the goals of the movement which overrides personal goals and comfort.

Forever learning,
Johnny

Is the Bride Ready?

Ancient Israel had many customs and practices that would not be allowed in our culture today. One such custom was the engagement process. A young man in his twenties would go with his father to the village where the 14-year-old girl whom he was to marry lived with her parents. While there, he would meet the girl and her father for the first time.

A Jewish matchmaker called a shadkhan would put the young man and young woman together based on yihus (stock, family background, reputation in the community, and personal virtue). Jewish marriages placed an emphasis on love after marriage, as opposed to marrying the one you love.

When the young man arrived at the young woman’s house, the two fathers would settle on a “bride-price." Payment by means of money or material items was a way of honoring the family that would be losing the daughter. When the price was settled, the young man’s father would pass his son a cup of wine. The young man would drink from the cup and pass the cup to the young woman, signifying that he wanted her to be his wife and that he was giving his life to her. If she drank from the cup, she was in effect saying, “I want to marry you. I accept your life, and I will give you mine.”

Then the young man and his father would travel back to their village where the young man would begin building a room onto his parent’s home. Generations of sons would build on to the house, creating what is called an insula, a house with many rooms. The young man would work on his house until his dad, the only person who could give a final approval for the new home, would say, “It is ready. Go and receive your bride.”

While the young man worked on the new house, the bride-to-be would make wedding clothes and learn to take care of a home. She was expected to always be ready for his return at any moment. During this time of preparation, all of the people in the young woman’s village would refer to her as “one who has been bought with a price.”

Eventually, the home would be ready, the young man’s dad would give his approval and send his son to receive his bride. When the bridegroom entered the village of his bride-to-be, he would blow a shofar and all the village would hear the horn and know that the bridegroom had arrived. A wise bride would be ready when her bridegroom arrived.

Those who have been learning, preparing, and have kept themselves ready for the groom will join him when he returns and sends his angels to sound the trumpet.

“Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:1-3).

In His dust,
Johnny

There Is No Old Testament

It is often believed that when Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17) that he is saying, “I have not come to nullify them, but finish them off and start a new one.” With this thought in mind, most of Christendom believes that Jesus was teaching that he came to obey all the commands, close the old book, and write a new book. As we study the very Hebraic nature of the idiomatic words and phrases “to come,” “to abolish,” and “to fulfill,” we will find the true meaning of Jesus’ words.

According to David Bivin in his book, New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus, when Jesus says that he did not “come,” the word that he would have used was often idiomatically used to denote his intent or purpose rather than meaning he left one place and came to another. In other words, Jesus is saying, “My purpose is not to…but to…” In the King James Version, the original word for abolish was translated “to destroy the law.” According to Bivin, this is not a correct translation as the probable Hebrew equivalent of the Greek verb, levatel, which literally means “to cancel” was often used among the educated teachers during the time of Jesus, and it meant “to misinterpret a biblical mitzvah or commandment.”

Bivin goes on to teach that the probable Hebrew equivalent of the Greek verb plerosai, which is translated “fulfill,” is lekayem, which was often used as the opposite for levatel and meant “to clearly or properly interpret a commandment.”

All of this leads us to understand that it is very possible that Jesus is saying, “I did not come to misinterpret the law and the prophets, but to clearly interpret them” denoting that God’s people needed His instructions reiterated and clarified.

Knowing that Jesus as a Jewish rabbi greatly valued, respected, and kept the Hebrew Scriptures, we should consider that Jesus would not have given a new Bible to the world; he gave clarity to God’s original instructions, not to replace them, but to be placed with them. As one who agrees with this understanding of Jesus’ words, I would add that it does harm to the Church to consider the “New Testament” a new law, rather than a clarification with two amendments. The two amendments to the instructions of God are the release from making blood sacrifices as Jesus became a permanent sacrifice, and all people are now welcome to become a part of God's chosen people.

Furthermore, the approach of considering the “Old Testament” to be an outdated and finished up book of rules replaced by Jesus’ book of grace would appear to resemble the teachings of Marcion who completely rejected the Old Testament and considered it to be the scriptures of a cruel and completely different God from the God of the New testament. Marcion’s influences from Gnostic beliefs have unwittingly been carried on within Christian theology, philosophy, and practice whether overtly recognized or revealed in more sinister and hidden ways.

It may be that the practice of printing Bibles which are without the Old Testament is justified by a hint of Marcionism and the anti-Jewish culture that has been cultivated by the post-70 A. D. movement of the Church.

I want to do my best to fulfill Jesus' words and never abolish them.

In His dust,
Johnny