Did the Lord Blind the Jews?

from Google Images

It is imperative that we understand that Jesus didn’t teach in parables until his second year of public ministry. During his first year, his speech was clear, very plain, and should have been understood by everyone. Indeed, on the very first day of his public ministry, when he stood up to read in his hometown of Nazareth (Luke 4:16), Jesus read from Isaiah 11 saying: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…” and claiming he was able to administer the office of Messiah (Luke 4:18-19), he added: “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:21). There was nothing dark or mysterious about his speech at that time. Jesus was very clear in his claim. Nevertheless, the response he received from the rulers of the synagogue and the people with them was: they rose up to seize him and thought to cast him off a nearby cliff (Luke 4:29).

 

Giving Life to the Image to the Beast

From Google Images

The false prophet commanded the “dwellers of the earth” or those who inhabited Jewish lands to make an image to the beast, which, of course, was forbidden for a Jew to do, but we need to keep in mind that the false prophet was a great deceiver (Revelation 13:14). He caused folks to do what they wouldn’t ordinarily do, if they were truly aware of the significance of their deed. So, we probably need to be looking for a figurative image rather than one made of wood or stone.

 

The Works of Their Hands

from Google Images

According to Revelation 9:20, they, who were not among the third of the population of the Jewish state who were killed, did not repent of the evil they committed that brought the Lord’s judgment upon them. The text says: they “…repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk” (Revelation 9:20). It is obvious, therefore, that the sin which the Lord judged was idolatry. 

 

No One Knows That Day and Hour

from Google Images

In the Olivet Prophecy and concerning his parousia (Matthew 24:3), Jesus told his disciples that no man knew that day and hour, not even the angels, but his Father only (Matthew 24:36). What does it mean, first of all, ‘that day and hour’? Was Jesus speaking of the night and day portions of a single day and a single 60-minute hour of a single day? I don’t think this was what he had in mind, nor do I believe the Apostles normally divided their day that closely. We do today, but I don’t think they did back then. They had three and four hour watches during the night, and the hour was important to the employer, and even for daily worship the hour was important, but normally speaking, they didn’t divide their day up into 24 one hour periods.

 

Is the Kingdom About the Food We Eat?

from Google Images

I was once a part of a church fellowship that adopted a lifestyle similar to that of present day Jews. That is, we lived under the Mosaic Law, in as much as that would be possible without a physical Temple. I worshiped on the Sabbath, tithed and kept the seven annual Jewish Feast Days, as they are mentioned in Leviticus 23. It was a big deal, if someone put a plate of ham on the table or even flavored the salad dressing with ham sauce sprinkled with little cubes of ham. Certain food was unclean and could not be eaten, according to how we understood the word of God. We had adopted a lot of physical ‘sauce’ and poured it all over the spiritual New Covenant we supposedly embraced in Christ. Nevertheless, I was so far in Moses that there was very little of Christ that could be seen in my behavior.

 

What Is the Wrath to Come?

from Google Images

In Luke 3:7 John the Baptist warned of the wrath to come. What is John referring to? The wrath to come is actually the coming wrath. That is, it is already present, coming continually upon the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2; 5:6; Colossians 3:6). The wrath itself is judgment (John 3:36; Romans 1:18; cf. Romans 8:1, 5). The particular judgment that John referred to concerned the mistreatment of the Jewish nation by the gentiles, which culminated in the Jewish war of 66-70 AD.

 

Why All the Hullabaloo Over an Idol?

from Google Images

Some time ago my son-in-law and I went to pick up our order of food from a local Chinese restaurant. While we waited for our order, I noticed an idol on display off to the side of the counter where we picked up our dinner. Before the idol was some food. I don’t remember exactly what the food was, but it was a mixture of fruit and vegetables. I caught myself smiling and so turned away, not wanting to offend the people serving us. Perhaps my reaction to the idol was too nonchalant; I don’t know. Nevertheless, I do know that such things were taken very seriously by the God of the Bible.[1] Why? What’s the big deal over what amounts to a ‘happy meal’ set before a hunk of stone (or plaster) that can neither help nor hurt anyone?

 

Worshiping and Praising God

from Google Images

What would it mean to worship or praise God, or anyone else for that matter? The Bible concludes that mankind does worship idols, so, whether or not we think it is proper, worship is not exclusive to God. In fact, we often hear of the term idol used of movie stars and famous musicians, whose admirers flock to auditoriums, stadiums and places that advertise the appearance of their favorite celebrity, and fans (short for ‘fanatic’) look on adoringly hoping to touch or speak with the one they worship so much.