Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Wise Men Look Beyond
“Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” ~The Shema; Deuteronomy 6:4-5
The Shema maintains an obligation on which Dr. Gary Cohen elaborates in the magazine, Zion’s Fire, “An Obligation of the Shema”. First, allow me to share some of today’s Bible study. The fate of every believer is battle. “…no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord.” ~ Isaiah 54:17 What are we refuting? Lies. How do we do this? “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” ~Acts 4:12 We do this by speaking the Truth in His Name, a double-edged sword—and NO WEAPON FORGED AGAINST YOU WILL PREVAIL.
To love and please God is to fight and seek Truth continually. Of course, Dr. Cohen directs his writing to Jews but I cannot diminish the fact that all creation aches to be restored to completion. People unaware of the Shema will still discover the emptiness of life without God, when all else fails. Amazingly, numero uno obligation on Cohen’s list is an open, honest study of the Word. For you spiritual types, negating intellectual pursuit is a betrayal of who we are…intelligent creations. Learning the Torah, Prophets, and Wisdom of the Bible reveals much about Messiah’s coming. Dr. D. James Kennedy claims over four hundred details about the Messiah are written AND fulfilled. I want to see that list!
Second obligation: investigate those who have claimed messiah-ship, sent by God. Did they fulfill prophecy? How did they demonstrate their claim in their lives? Jesus boldly boasted, “But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.” ~John 5:36-37 God testified of Jesus in His Word, first obligation!
Three: “Read at least part of the New Testament” All but Luke was written by first century Jews who believed the Messiah had come.
Four: As the wise men looked beyond earthly things to follow a star, Dr. Cohen implores seekers to look beyond the writings of men. Many have tried to prove the gospels wrong with fabrications of all sorts. Cohen names a few. A Passover Plot book suggests Jesus masterminded the greatest deception of all time! Another accuses Paul (whose letters comprise much of the New Testament teaching) of a similar plan because he didn’t get the promotion he wanted! The Toledot Yeshu, 5th century A.D., butchers the account of Jesus’ life, including a depiction of Christ’s body being dragged through the streets. Are these beyond reason? The best retort for most of the nonsense is: How could the many martyrs of the faith, not just a crazy few, die such horrible deaths for a lie? Could Jesus possibly suffer the cross for the sake of a plot of tomfoolery? And Jesus dragged around like Hector? So the centuries old Church is based on a mangled dead man OR a lie? Wow, I’m thinking the resurrection is comparatively easy to accept!
No, I won’t throw out the conspiracy theories that quickly. It isn’t so far fetched to buy into stories of Plot and Deception. Listen to what the Church is saying: “The prophecies hundred of years old have all been brought to fruition in one man’s life!” Inconceivable! It must have been planned! Now jump to our present situation! The coming together on all fronts of a distinct attack on Christianity, freedom and Western Civilization! Spells conspiracy with the capital C! I conclude, both “plots” are supernaturally driven. Mere men could NEVER pull it off, either one! Historical and Biblical records far better explain the persistence of Christianity, the spread of the faith, despite men’s every malicious attempt to kill, maim, and grossly distort the Story and its tellers. The Church’s survival is Divinely fantastic.
Five and six will go on hold for now.
The Shema maintains an obligation on which Dr. Gary Cohen elaborates in the magazine, Zion’s Fire, “An Obligation of the Shema”. First, allow me to share some of today’s Bible study. The fate of every believer is battle. “…no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord.” ~ Isaiah 54:17 What are we refuting? Lies. How do we do this? “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” ~Acts 4:12 We do this by speaking the Truth in His Name, a double-edged sword—and NO WEAPON FORGED AGAINST YOU WILL PREVAIL.
To love and please God is to fight and seek Truth continually. Of course, Dr. Cohen directs his writing to Jews but I cannot diminish the fact that all creation aches to be restored to completion. People unaware of the Shema will still discover the emptiness of life without God, when all else fails. Amazingly, numero uno obligation on Cohen’s list is an open, honest study of the Word. For you spiritual types, negating intellectual pursuit is a betrayal of who we are…intelligent creations. Learning the Torah, Prophets, and Wisdom of the Bible reveals much about Messiah’s coming. Dr. D. James Kennedy claims over four hundred details about the Messiah are written AND fulfilled. I want to see that list!
Second obligation: investigate those who have claimed messiah-ship, sent by God. Did they fulfill prophecy? How did they demonstrate their claim in their lives? Jesus boldly boasted, “But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.” ~John 5:36-37 God testified of Jesus in His Word, first obligation!
Three: “Read at least part of the New Testament” All but Luke was written by first century Jews who believed the Messiah had come.
Four: As the wise men looked beyond earthly things to follow a star, Dr. Cohen implores seekers to look beyond the writings of men. Many have tried to prove the gospels wrong with fabrications of all sorts. Cohen names a few. A Passover Plot book suggests Jesus masterminded the greatest deception of all time! Another accuses Paul (whose letters comprise much of the New Testament teaching) of a similar plan because he didn’t get the promotion he wanted! The Toledot Yeshu, 5th century A.D., butchers the account of Jesus’ life, including a depiction of Christ’s body being dragged through the streets. Are these beyond reason? The best retort for most of the nonsense is: How could the many martyrs of the faith, not just a crazy few, die such horrible deaths for a lie? Could Jesus possibly suffer the cross for the sake of a plot of tomfoolery? And Jesus dragged around like Hector? So the centuries old Church is based on a mangled dead man OR a lie? Wow, I’m thinking the resurrection is comparatively easy to accept!
No, I won’t throw out the conspiracy theories that quickly. It isn’t so far fetched to buy into stories of Plot and Deception. Listen to what the Church is saying: “The prophecies hundred of years old have all been brought to fruition in one man’s life!” Inconceivable! It must have been planned! Now jump to our present situation! The coming together on all fronts of a distinct attack on Christianity, freedom and Western Civilization! Spells conspiracy with the capital C! I conclude, both “plots” are supernaturally driven. Mere men could NEVER pull it off, either one! Historical and Biblical records far better explain the persistence of Christianity, the spread of the faith, despite men’s every malicious attempt to kill, maim, and grossly distort the Story and its tellers. The Church’s survival is Divinely fantastic.
Five and six will go on hold for now.
