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History (Two) HE WHO HAS EARS LET HIM HEAR
For many centuries, the leaders of Israel passed on their people's legends, laws, history, stories, songs and traditions. I learned that the Masorites, Jewish scholars who flourished between the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the 10th century, transcribed the Old Testament. They exercised great care in copying. Every letter of their copy was counted and meticulously compared with the text before them. The detection of a single mistake was held to be a reason for destroying the entire copy and starting over.
The New Testament scriptures were probably written on papyrus rolls, which grows near the Sea of Galilee and Lake Morom. The work of Bible translation began at a very early time. The Jews who returned from the Babylonian exile no longer spoke Hebrew but Aramaic. Hence, the Hebrew passage read in the synagogue service had to be translated into Aramaic.
Greek was becoming a world language; the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into that tongue.
The man who first translated the entire Bible into English in 1382 was Wycliffe, Religious conditions in his days were, indeed, very bad. Bishops and priest were worldly. Popes cared more material wealth that for the spiritual welfare of their people. Believers were kept in ignorance; he boldly proclaimed that every one should read it.
One hundred years after Wycliffe’s death Tyndale was born, men began to demand a Bible translated directly from the original. On October 6, 1536, he was strangled and burned as a heretic. His last words were: “Lord open the king of England eyes.”
The King James or Authorized Version, which appeared in the year 1611, was prepared by the best Hebrew and Greek scholars of the day.
The need for more modern versions began to assert itself. So the English Revised Version appeared in 1885, the American revised in 1901.
When Jesus was on this earth He said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfill" (Matthew 5:17). Jesus often quoted from the writings of the Old Testament. In the New Testament the realism and authority found in the first three gospels, including consistencies of the portrait sketched by all authors is evident on every page. If the accounts had been invented, contradictions would surely have been corrected. Seeming inconsistencies in the reports of the resurrection, for example, make these accounts far more convincing than if they were in perfect agreement.
The Dead Sea scrolls, which were found in 1947, contain portions of all the Old Testament books except Esther and the complete text of Isaiah. These scrolls are the oldest surviving manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures and can be used for checking the accuracy of later transcriptions. But even more important to the born-again Christian is that his proof of God's existence comes when he invites Jesus and the Holy Spirit into him. As he matures in the image of Christ, the supernatural experience and personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are our certain proof.
I find it difficult to understand why intelligent people, especially businessmen who have extraordinary problem solving capabilities, put all of their security in their own abilities and possessions. Is it not true that we all have to die? Time is measured in centuries, millennia, and eons; how important is a human life of a hundred years or less? Is it not important to spend some time investigating whether or not a man has a spiritual soul and what happens to that soul when our physical body dies?
2 Corinthians 4:17: says, "Meanwhile our eyes are fixed, not on things that are seen but on things that are unseen for what is seen passes away; what is unseen is eternal."
If a person reads and understands the Bible, then he will understand that the important issue is to prepare for the residence of the soul, which lives for eternity rather than to concentrate on the short time the physical body lives. How much difference can it make whether our bodies live for 20 years or for 80 years?
Matthew 16:26: says, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the world, and lose his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
II Corinthians 4:4: says, "In whom the god of this world (Satan) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine into them."
Romans 1:21-22: says, "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools."
We must come to God simply, as a child would. The Bible says, "The least among us and the most humble shall be first." It tells us that the way to heaven is narrow and that because of our sin, few shall find it.
I Peter 4:12: says, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."
Ecclesiastes 7:3: says, "Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better."
Psalms 106:5: says, "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping carrying seeds to sow will return with songs of joy carrying sheaves with him."
When we are young, we are often caught up with superficialities, striving for security and wealth. As we grow older and become middle aged, we have the security we strived for, we have accumulated wealth, and we have bought all the toys that money can buy, but still we remain unsatisfied. There is emptiness within us for one's soul craves a relationship with its creator and nothing else can fill this void.
Others have experienced broken dreams, despair, and depression. But happiness can be found for them and one can be restored through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Christ is the open door through which God's covenant can be regained. Regardless of our financial status in life, when we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and receive the Holy Spirit, we experience the tangible, spiritual gifts of the spirit, which are love, joy, and a feeling of well being.
Psalms 100:3: "Know ye that the Lord He is God. It is He that has made us and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of His pasture."
A good example of this are the slaves of the southern United States in the 18th and 19th centuries who had a personal relationship with Jesus and who were always singing gospel songs. Were they crazy losers? Or did they know something that their masters did not? Maybe the Holy Spirit had revealed to them that soon they would be in heaven for eternity, a place where they would probably never see their masters again. Who do you think went to heaven in greater numbers, masters or slaves?
Revelation 21:4: says, "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away."
Prophecies that the Messiah would come to redeem Man
There are over 300 Prophecies in the Old Testament that predict that Jesus would come into the world to redeem mankind. Some of them are:
Genesis 3:15: And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.
Genesis 14:18: And Melchizedek the king of Salem brought forth bread and wine. And he was the priest of the highest God.
Exodus 12:5: Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You shall take from the sheep or from the goats.
Exodus 12:46: It shall be eaten in one house. You shall not carry any of the flesh out of the house. Neither shall you break a bone of it.
Levites 16:15: Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil. And he shall do with that blood as he did with the blood of the young bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy-seat and before the mercy-seat.
Numbers 21:9: And Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole. And it happened that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked upon the serpent of brass, he lived.
Job 19:25: For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall rise on the earth at the last;
Psalms 2:7: I will declare the decree of Jehovah. He has said to Me, You are My Son; today I have begottenYou.
Psalm 22:13-18: Many bulls have circled around Me; strong bulls Of Bashan have surrounded Me. They opened wide their mouths on Me, like a ripping and a roaring lion.
I am poured out like water, and all My bones are spread apart; My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws;
and You have brought Me into the dust of death. For dogs have circled around Me; the band of spoilers have hemmed Me in, piercers of My hands and My feet.
I can count all My bones; they look and stare at Me.
They divide My garments among them and cast lots for My clothing.
Psalm 31:5: Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Jehovah, the God of truth.
Isaiah 7:14: So, the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel.
saiah 12:2: Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation.
Isaiah 25:8: He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from all faces. And He shall take away from all the earth the rebuke of His people. For Jehovah has spoken.
Isaiah 26:19: Your dead ones shall live, together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is as the dew of lights, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
Isaiah 42:1-7: Behold My Servant, whom I uphold; My Elect, in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit on Him; He shall bring out judgment to the nations.
He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed He shall not break, and a smoking wick He shall not quench; He shall bring out judgment to truth.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged until He has set judgment in the earth; and the coasts shall wait for His Law.
So says Jehovah God, He who created the heavens and stretched them out, spreading out the earth and its offspring; He who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it.
I Jehovah have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand, and will keep You, and give You for a covenant of the people, for a Light of the nations;
to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness out of the prison house.
Isaiah 50:3-6: I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.
The Lord Jehovah has given Me the tongue of the learned, to know to help the weary with a word. He wakens morning by morning, He wakens the ear to hear as the learned.
The Lord Jehovah has opened My ear, and I was not rebellious, nor turned away backwards.
I gave My back to the strikers, and My cheeks to pluckers; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.
Isaiah 53:1-12: Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of Jehovah revealed?
He comes up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He has no form nor majesty that we should see Him, nor an appearance that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as it were a hiding of faces from Him, He being despised, and we esteemed Him not.
Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way; and Jehovah has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was stricken.
And He put His grave with the wicked, and with a rich one in His death; although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Yet it pleased Jehovah to crush Him; to grieve Him; that He should put forth His soul as a guilt-offering. He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the will of Jehovah shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul. He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify for many; and He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide to Him with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He has poured out His soul to death; and He was counted among the transgressors; and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for transgressors.
Isaiah 59:15-16: Yea, truth fails; and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. And Jehovah saw, and it displeased Him that there was no judgment.
And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore His own arm brought salvation to Him; and His righteousness sustained Him.
Isaiah 61:1-2: The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is on Me; because Jehovah has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
Mica 5:2: And you, Bethlehem Ephratah, you being least among the thousands of Judah, out of you He shall come forth to Me, to become Ruler in Israel, He whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity.
Zechariah 9:9: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your King comes to you. He is righteous and victorious, meek and riding on an ****, even on a colt, the son of an ****.
Zechariah 12:10: And I will pour on the house of David, and on the people of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of prayers. And they shall look on Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for his only son, and shall be bitter over Him, as the bitterness over the first-born.
Zechariah 13:7: Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the Man who is My companion, says Jehovah of Hosts; strike the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. And I will turn My hand on the little ones.
Other Prophecies
Ezekiel 37. In this prophecy, Jeremiah said: "And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph [Ephraim], and I will bring them again [to the Holy Land] to place them; for I have mercy on them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the Lord their God, and I will hear them" (Zechariah 10:6). The "two Israels" then unite in chapter eleven.
Psalm 83
The Bible also shows that there will be a Palestinian State. It will not occupy the WestBank of Judah or Samaria, but it will be in the area of Ashkelon, Ashdod and the Gaza Strip. These areas were always Philistine territories (even at the height of the Solomonic Empire) and they are destined, according to prophecy, to be in the hands of the Philistines (that is, the Palestinians) just before the Second Advent Those ten nations mentioned in Psalm 83 will equal the ten nations mentioned in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation.
Up to the last moment, the United States urged caution. Accept a truce and don't declare nationhood, advised General Marshall. He pointed out that war was inevitable if the Jews went ahead with their plans. The United States, he said, could not help Israel. Although the Zionists had gained control of Palestine's internal lines, the forces arrayed against them were enormous and some were British trained. The Arabs far outnumbered the Jews and the quality of the Arabs' weapons was better. They dominated half of Jerusalem. The Jewish leadership discussed the problem all the night of May 12 and finally voted to proceed with the declaration of nationhood.
At 8 am on this day, May 14, 1948, the British lowered their Union Jack over Jerusalem. For the Arabs this was the signal of war. By mid-afternoon conflict was raging across Palestine. At 4 pm Ben-Gurion read the Declaration of Israeli.
Refined by Fire (Book)
Edward Lee