Author: nrfaught

I have spent 5 years in mission work in the West Indies and South America. I have preached mainly part time for 40 years, much of that time while working with a full time job in Christian education. I am currently at Madison Academy in Huntsville, Alabama and serving as a shepherd at the Monrovia Church of Christ. God has blessed me with a wife and 3 grown children (and their families) who are much more loving than I am!

LIVING WATER (AMENDED)

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

I am sending this b/c I forgot to mention one of the most important passages on living water taken from Revelation 22.

As usual, AI said it well: “In prophetic literature, “living water” symbolizes God’s provision and sustenance, often referring to the Holy Spirit or the spiritual renewal offered by God. It contrasts with the emptiness of human-made cisterns, representing reliance on earthly things instead of God. Prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel use the imagery of living water to depict God’s abundant blessings and the restoration of his people.” Symbol of God’s Provision:In the arid landscapes of the ancient Near East, water was a precious and life-sustaining resource. “Living water” (Hebrew: mayim chayim) represents the reliable source of life and abundance that comes from God. Contrast with Broken Cisterns: Prophets often criticize their people for forsaking God, the “fountain of living waters,” and turning to unreliable, human-made cisterns that cannot sustain life.” This concept is expressed beautifully in Hebrew: “mayim chaim” —living water. To be a living water means constantly being in a state of refreshing, replenishing, and refilling.”

Let’s look at some of those prophecies about living water.

Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils:
They have abandoned Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To carve out for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That do not hold water.”

Broken cisterns: “The cisterns symbolize human-made systems, beliefs, or practices that are ultimately inadequate and fail to satisfy. This verse serves as a warning to all people to avoid placing their trust in worldly things, fleeting pleasures, or self-made solutions. True fulfillment comes from seeking God and trusting in his promises.” A cistern is not a well. A cistern is a container or tank that stores water, often rainwater, while a well is a hole dug or drilled into the ground to access groundwater. A cistern that is “broken” or cracked will not hold water and be worthless.

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Of course, rainwater could be drained into the cistern. The cistern could be quite large. Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern, which was a large storage pit, by King Zedekiah’s officials. The cistern was empty and filled with mud, and Jeremiah sank into it. Judah was trusting in foreign powers and foreign gods to deliver them from the Babylonians instead of God. That was a broken cistern that would not provide relief.

Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land
And streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring,
And My blessing on your descendants;
4 And they will spring up among the grass
Like poplars by streams of water.’

This Messianic prediction was fulfilled in the book of Acts when God poured out HIs Spirit of those who believed in Jesus as the Messiah, who became Christians. The water is the Spirit, which we will see Jesus say that the living water was the Spirit (John 7).

Jeremiah 17:13 Lord, the hope of Israel,
All who abandon You will be put to shame.
Those who turn away on earth will be written down,
Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, that is the Lord.”

Zechariah 13:1 “On that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for defilement.” I assume that would be a fountain of living water for the remnant of the Jewish nation who would accept Jesus as the Messiah. The song, “There’s a fountain free, tis for you and me,,,” would fit here.

Zechariah 14 has been debated often. The context is the gathering of the nations in battle against Jerusalem. I think this is the Romans destroying Jerusalem in 70 AD but many think this chapter is yet to be fulfilled. There is a lot of figurative language in this chapter, such as the Mount of Olives being split into. One thing for sure is that living waters will be provided when it is fulfilled. 14:8 And on that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.”


Ezekiel 40-48. Ezekiel gives a long, detailed description of a temple to be built in his future. The temple rebuilt by Zerubbabel in the first return from Babylon in 536 BC does not fit this decription. Herod’s temple was magnificent but does not fit. So is it an actual temple yet to be built? I think it is a spiritual temple, the church, that was established in the first century in the book of Acts. Zechariah 6:12 “Behold, there is a Man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the Lord. 13 Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, and He who will bear the majesty and sit and rule on His throne. So He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”’ 1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

One thing is sure though. In chapter 47 water flows from this Messianic temple. “The water initially trickles, then grows deeper as it moves eastward, becoming ankle-deep, then knee-deep, then waist-deep, and finally, a river too deep to walk in, requiring swimming. The water reaches the Dead Sea, transforming its salty waters into fresh water, and supporting an abundance of fish and other living creatures. The river and its effects symbolize God’s power to restore and heal, bringing life and abundance to a previously barren and desolate landscape.” This is “living water”, water that provided spiritual life and renewal.  

******************** Here is the added material to the previous article that I sent out. It is perhaps the most important part of the article!!!!! **************************************************************

Revelation 22:1 And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; and they will reign forever and ever.”

Revelation 22:1-5 is the fulfillment of Ezekiel 47. In Revelation 21:1-3 the new Jerusalem, which is the bride of Christ, which is the church, comes down out of heaven to earth. The destruction of the old Jerusalem in 70 AD is the context of the predictions of Revelation. After the city and the temple is destroyed in 70 AD the new Jerusalem takes its place, a spiritual Jerusalem. It is described in figurative language with jewels and streets of gold (sorry, the song about the streets of gold in heaven is not accurate). There is no physical temple in the city. Revelation 21:22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; 26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.” The church is where God dwells spiritually, not physically. The church is God’s new temple in the new covenant. Ezekiel 47 predicts this spiritual temple, the church, but in that spiritual temple there is no physical temple.

But notice that living water flows from the throne of God in the middle of that street of gold. The living water is for the healing of the nations and to provide water for the trees to bear fruit year round. That is Ezekiel 47 (go back and read the chapter). The nations refers to the Gentiles who will be brought into the church. Christians are the fruuit bearing trees. Revelation 21-22 is the perfect ending of the new testament. Everything lost in the fall in the garden of Eden is restored spiritually in the church. The living water of the Spirit and eternal life is available to Jew and Gentile believers. Everything predicted in Revelation was to be soon, near, and the book was written around 63-65 AD. The destruction of the temple in 70 AD was indeed near when the book was written.

I think these prophecies are predicting the living water that Jesus offered the woman at the well. John 4:7 A woman of Samaria *came to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away to the city to buy food. 9 So the Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, though You are a Jew, are asking me for a drink, though I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus replied to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 She *said to Him, “Sir, You have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do You get this living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well and drank of it himself, and his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”

John would later say that the living water was the Spirit. John 7:37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 But this He said in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” After Jesus ascended, the apostles promised the gift of the Spirit to those who repented and were baptized (Acts 2:38). This was the same thing as “receiving the Spirit” (Acts 8,10). Believers were given the indwelling of the Spirit. The Spirit gives spiritual life to the spiritual dead. The Holy Spirit provides eternal life, quenches spiritual thirst, and brings a sense of lasting refreshment and renewal. John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life.” 2 Corinthians 3:6 who (God) also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter (the old covenant) kills, but the Spirit gives life.“

Surely we are not waiting on these old testament predictions of the providing of living water to be fulfilled. That living water was provided in the first century to believers and would be available to believers from then on. This makes me think that Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah were predicting a spiritual temple, the church, and spiritual living water, the Spirit Himself, that would be provided in the first century. If not, then we don’t have that living water today but I believe that we do. Don’t you?

If you are a Christian, then it is the Spirit that keeps you alive spiritually (even when you sin) and gives you eternal life. 1 John 5:13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” Sometimes we think that we don’t get eternal life until we die, but John says that we have it while we are living. When you are baptized, you get a spiritual body that will live forever even after you die. I do believe that you can fall from grace and lose that eternal life, so that eternal life is conditional based on active faith in Jesus.

The Spirit gives us spiritual life that refreshes us constantly. The Spirit keeps us focused on spiritual things instead of carnal worldly things. The Spirit keeps us positive in the midst of earthly pain and problems as we anticipate eternal life with God after death. The Spirit keeps us rejoicing inside while we weep on the outside over sickness, tragedy, and death of loved ones. The Spirit gives hope when things seem hopeless.

But to really enjoy the full benefits of the Spirit and living water, we must have a thirst for living water. If we are always thirsty for the water from broken cisterns, then we will not be thirsty for living water. It will be available but we will end up drinking water that will not provide life. We will drink that impure water and never be filled. Someone stranded for days in a small boat in the ocean without fresh water will drink the salt water, but it just makes him more thirsty. But that will eventually kill him from drinking the salt water.

Isaiah 12:3 Therefore you will joyously draw water
From the springs of salvation.”

Lord, I don’t think that I am joyously drawing living water from the springs of salvation. Christians should be the happiest, most positive people on earth. Lord, help me to be more thirsty for that living water, for your Spirit.


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ALEX POLYAK ARTICLE: LYING SIGNS, WONDERS THEBIBLEFULFILLED.COM

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

I am copying Alex Polyak’s latest article that he sends out free of charge regularly. I don’t think he would mind since I am recommending that you subscribe to receive his articles, even buy his book (shown at the end of the article). This article is typical of his very good articles. You can go to thebiblefulfilled.com and find all his articles and great 30 minute videos. Mostly on eschatology. This article is a little longer than usual since he deals with 3 objections to what he is stating in the article. He does that in his book a lot, which makes it a lot more detailed and longer, but it is good to hear all the possible objections dealt with .I mean, when someone presents their views, I always want to ask, “but what objections would someone make to refute that?”. So here is the article in full.

False Signs and WondersBy Alex Polyak, Director of The Bible Fulfilled, 5/25/25 

Many Christians believe that Satan can do supernatural “signs and wonders.” In fact, they believe Satan will one day have a representative on earth—the Man of Sin/Antichrist—who will use supernatural signs and wonders to woo people to himself. Although this Antichrist will eventually be killed, Satan will infuse him with power from on low…and raise him from the dead three days later, mimicking Jesus’ resurrection. This view is based on Revelation 13:12-13, which describes a “beast, 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗱. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do.” 
Another passage used to support this view is 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10, which describes “the coming of the lawless one [Man of Sin] is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish.” At first glance, these passages do seem to teach that Satan can perform supernatural signs and wonders. But further study shows otherwise. 

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁, whatever these passages are describing happened long ago. Regarding the Revelation passage, John began and ended his book by saying: “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲…Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿” (Rev. 1:1–3, 22:6–10). Therefore, whatever this passage refers to had to have happened soon after Revelation was written. Regarding the Thessalonians passage, this Man of Sin was alive when Paul wrote Thessalonians in around AD 52. We can be sure of this because Paul said the Man of Sin was “already at work” and “being restrained” (2 Thess. 2:6–7). In fact, Paul said the Thessalonians knew what was restraining him. The Man of Sin is also described as “sitting in the temple” (2 Thess. 2:3–4). This is the temple that was standing in Paul’s day, the temple that Jesus had said in approximately AD 30 would be destroyed within a generation (Matt. 24:2–3, 34), and the temple that was in fact destroyed in AD 70. Therefore, unless there is 2000-year-old Man of Sin still roaming the earth, he must have died long ago. For information about the identity of the Man of Sin and the Restrainer, see my article called “The Man of Sin.” The contexts of these passages show that these events happened in the first century. And since there is no historical evidence of a satanic being doing supernatural signs and wonders in that time period, then we can safely assume these descriptions are symbolic (see more about this below). 

𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱, the satanic signs and wonders described in Revelation 13 and 2 Thessalonians 2 are called deception. John said the beast “deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs” (Rev. 13:13); and Paul called it “deception” and “lying wonders” (2 Thess. 2:9–10). So these were fake signs and wonders, not real ones. They were cheap parlor tricks, similar to what a talented magician could do today. Only God and his representatives can do real supernatural signs and wonders. If Satan and his minions could do them, than all the signs and wonders described throughout the Bible would be nothing more than interesting side shows; they would prove nothing. God parted the Red Sea? Big deal. So could Satan. Jesus healed people? Big deal. So could Satan. Jesus rose from the dead? Big deal. So could Satan’s minions. Yet the biblical prophets and apostles clearly believed these supernatural signs and wonders proved that God was on their side—precisely because Satan cannot do them. When Elijah challenged the 450 false prophets of Baal, he proved God was on his side by calling down supernatural fire from heaven, which the false prophets could not do (1 Kings 18). Jesus and the apostles, too, taught that supernatural signs and wonders confirmed/proved they were of God. • “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝘀 by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁, according to His own will (Heb. 2:4). • “If I [Jesus] do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗲, and I in Him” (John 10:38). • “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins—He [Jesus] said to the paralytic, ‘I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’ Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗱, 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴, ‘𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀!’” (Mark 2:10). Supernatural signs and wonders proved/confirmed that Jesus and the apostles were who they claimed to be. For example, Jesus proved he could forgive sins by healing a paralytic (Mark 2:5-11). And Jesus proved he was the light of the world by healing a blind man (John 9:5-7). And Jesus proved he was “the resurrection and the life” by raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:25, 42) and then raising himself (John 20:30-31, Matt. 12:38-40). If Satan could do such things, then these signs and wonders would prove nothing. Yet Jesus and the apostles clearly believed these signs and wonders confirmed they were sent by God. 

Third, men of sin (false prophets) were common in Paul’s day. However, as stated above, these false messiahs used deception, not real supernatural acts. For example, the book of Acts says Simon the sorcerer “claimed to be great.” In other words, he really wasn’t. In fact, Simon converted to Christianity after witnessing real miracles (Acts 8:9-13). The book of Acts also mentions “the slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination…who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling”—yet she too recognized the real prophets (Acts 16:16-17). In other words, she was pretending; but the real prophets were doing real supernatural signs and wonders. There was also Elymas the sorcerer, whom Paul said was full of all deceit and all fraud, the son of the devil, and the enemy of all righteousness (Acts 13:8-10). In other words, this sorcerer was using deceit and fraud to trick people. The first-century historian Josephus confirms there were many false messiahs in Paul’s day who “deceived and deluded the people under pretense of Divine inspiration, but were for procuring innovations and changes of the government; and these prevailed with the multitude to act like madmen, and went before them into the wilderness, 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆” (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Book 2, Chapter 13, Paragraph 4–5). While there were many men of sin (false messiahs) in the first century, none of them could do real signs and wonders like Jesus and the apostles. Only God’s true representatives can do real miracles. 

Possible Objections 
Objection #1: Exodus describes magicians in Moses’ day throwing down their wooden rods, which turned into snakes (Ex. 7:12). Response: While this may at first glance appear to be supernatural, it was likely nothing more than a sleight-of-hand magician’s trick. While the passage does not specifically say this, it certainly seems to suggest it and even gives clues pointing in that direction. For example, the text calls these snake handlers “magicians”—not miracle workers—and these magicians are described as doing things “in the manner with their enchantments” (Ex. 7:11). This description does not sound very supernatural to me. In fact, it sounds more like these magicians used deception and sleight-of-hand—along with a dash of illusion—to convince their spectators, much like modern-day magicians would do at a magic show. Only, the magicians of Moses’ day had evil intent. Furthermore, ancient Egyptians often used snakes in their religious and ceremonial rituals, and they were very adept at making them do amazing things (much like the “snake charmers” of India). Snakes were associated with the gods of ancient Egypt. Many Egyptian murals, carvings, paintings and writings depict snakes in connection with snake charmers, snake handlers, magicians, and even pharaohs. Because of their affinity and close association with snakes, the ancient Egyptians became quite adept at capturing, handling, charming, and displaying snakes. They could even “turn them into rods,” just as depicted in the above Exodus passage: “The magicians of Egypt in modern times have long been celebrated adepts in charming serpents; and particularly by pressing the nape of the neck they throw them into a kind of catalepsy, which renders them stiff and immoveable, thus seeming to change them into a rod. They conceal the serpent about their person, and by acts of legerdemain produce it from their dress, stiff and straight as a rod” (Kyle Butt, “Egyptian Magicians, Snakes, and Rods,” 10/23/05, Apologetics Press). This description fits nicely with the account in Exodus. The magicians described in Exodus likely did nothing more than perform a magic trick. On the other hand, when Aaron’s snake ate up the magicians’ snakes…this was truly miraculous (Ex. 7:12)! This could not be faked. 

Objection #2: The beast calls fire down from heaven (Rev. 13:13). Response: First, whatever this refers to, it must have happened in the first century because John said it would happen “soon…for the time is near” (see Rev. 1:1–3, 22:6–10). And since we have no historical record of a beast literally calling down fire from heaven, it must have been symbolic. By the way, a beast is literally an animal (a horse, hippopotamus, whale, etc.). So are we to think that an animal will one day call down fire from heaven? Of course not! This is clearly symbolic language. Second, this event is described as “deception” (Rev. 13:13), which suggests sleight-of-hand (think David Copperfield) as opposed to a supernatural event. Third, Revelation also describes God’s ministers—the famed “two witnesses” (Rev. 11:3–5)—breathing fire. But this, too, is clearly symbolic. How can we be sure of this? Because elsewhere in Scripture, this same kind of “fire-breathing” language is used figuratively, such as when God calls his ministers “a flame of fire” (Ps. 104:4, Heb. 1:7). This is not meant literally. We need to remember that Revelation is the most symbolic book in the New Testament. It describes a beast with seven heads (Rev. 13:1). It also describes a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet (Rev. 12:1). And it also describes Jesus as a lamb with seven eyes (Rev. 5:6). These passages were not meant to be taken literally—and either was the passage about the beast calling down fire from heaven. 

Objection #3: What about Revelation 13:15, which describes one beast giving breath to the image of a second beast, “so that the image of the [second] beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the [first] beast to be killed.” Response: Making statues “speak” using ventriloquism was common in the ancient world: “The ancient pagan priests had for centuries practiced deceiving superstitious worshipers into believing images made of stone, metal and wood could talk. Many of them used drugs or self-hypnosis to induce a trance in which they claimed to be speaking oracles from the gods or images. One such was the ‘oracle at Delphi,’ a Greek temple inhabited by priestesses and from which Alexander the Great demanded a revelation. Ventriloquism was a highly skilled and widely practiced art in heathen idolatry. Eurycles of Athens was the most celebrated of Greek ventriloquists. They were called engastrimanteis, or ‘belly prophets’ because the ancients believed the voices came from the bellies of the oracles. Priests of ancient pagan religions were masters of this art and to ventriloquism may be ascribed the alleged miracles of the ‘speaking statues’ of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans…Modern archeologists have found devices used for secretly piping the human voice beneath altars bearing the statues of pagan gods” (Gary DeMar, End Times Fiction, A Biblical Consideration of the Left Behind Theology, pg. 169). This fits well with what is described in Revelation 13:13. The talking statue described in Revelation was not more real that talking statue in Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas! Conclusion: Satan cannot do supernatural signs and wonders. Only God’s true representatives could (during certain times in history) do real miracles. And the reason for these supernatural signs and wonders was to confirm/prove God’s true representatives. 

For more information about the topics discussed in this article, please see my book The End Is Here: How the New Testament’s Prophecies Were Fulfilled, available NOW on Amazon!    The Already and Not Yet This video examines “the already and not yet,” a theological concept that is vitally important for properly understanding the New Testament.     Available Now!  The End Is Here: How the New Testament’s Prophecies were Fulfilled…by Alex Polyak, Director of The Bible Fulfilled. The world of Christianity is vast, deep-rooted, and surrounded by centuries of interpretations and beliefs. Yet, many of its teachings, especially concerning End Times prophecies, remain clouded in layers of speculation and traditional narratives. What if the answers to Christianity’s most intriguing questions lay not in awaiting signs but understanding that they have already occurred? This compelling read is a beacon for both devout Christians passionate about theology, eschatology, and Church history, as well as for skeptics questioning Jesus’ authenticity as a prophet. Taking you on an enlightening journey, the book skillfully intertwines Scripture with Scripture, sifting away speculative interpretations and rediscovering the true essence of biblical prophecies. By diving deep into subjects like the the Last Days, the Second Coming, and the New Heaven and Earth, the book offers a fresh perspective, suggesting that many New Testament prophecies have been fulfilled. Far from a generic overview, this exploration digs into the core of long-held beliefs, prompting readers to question and re-evaluate their faith, based on evidence rather than mere tradition. While the journey is enlightening, it is not without its challenges. Be prepared to confront doctrines you thought were set in stone and beliefs that have been passed down generations. This book promises to be a paradigm shift for many, bridging the gap between age-old teachings and a renewed understanding of the Bible’s messages. Ideal for believers keen to expand their knowledge and skeptics searching for truth, this is more than a book. It’s an invitation to reflect, rethink, and rejuvenate one’s faith, grounded in sound biblical foundations and unswayed by modern-day speculations. Purchase The End Is Here on Amazon. May God richly bless you as you study his Word! Alex Alex PolyakDirector of The Bible FulfilledAlex@TheBibleFulfilled.com

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LIVING WATER

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

As usual, AI said it well: “In prophetic literature, “living water” symbolizes God’s provision and sustenance, often referring to the Holy Spirit or the spiritual renewal offered by God. It contrasts with the emptiness of human-made cisterns, representing reliance on earthly things instead of God. Prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel use the imagery of living water to depict God’s abundant blessings and the restoration of his people.” Symbol of God’s Provision:In the arid landscapes of the ancient Near East, water was a precious and life-sustaining resource. “Living water” (Hebrew: mayim chayim) represents the reliable source of life and abundance that comes from God. Contrast with Broken Cisterns: Prophets often criticize their people for forsaking God, the “fountain of living waters,” and turning to unreliable, human-made cisterns that cannot sustain life.” This concept is expressed beautifully in Hebrew: “mayim chaim” —living water. To be a living water means constantly being in a state of refreshing, replenishing, and refilling.”

Let’s look at some of those prophecies about living water.

Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils:
They have abandoned Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To carve out for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That do not hold water.”

Broken cisterns: “The cisterns symbolize human-made systems, beliefs, or practices that are ultimately inadequate and fail to satisfy. This verse serves as a warning to all people to avoid placing their trust in worldly things, fleeting pleasures, or self-made solutions. True fulfillment comes from seeking God and trusting in his promises.” A cistern is not a well. A cistern is a container or tank that stores water, often rainwater, while a well is a hole dug or drilled into the ground to access groundwater. A cistern that is “broken” or cracked will not hold water and be worthless.

Of course, rainwater could be drained into the cistern. The cistern could be quite large. Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern, which was a large storage pit, by King Zedekiah’s officials. The cistern was empty and filled with mud, and Jeremiah sank into it. Judah was trusting in foreign powers and foreign gods to deliver them from the Babylonians instead of God. That was a broken cistern that would not provide relief.

Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land
And streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring,
And My blessing on your descendants;
4 And they will spring up among the grass
Like poplars by streams of water.’

This Messianic prediction was fulfilled in the book of Acts when God poured out HIs Spirit of those who believed in Jesus as the Messiah, who became Christians. The water is the Spirit, which we will see Jesus say that the living water was the Spirit (John 7).

Jeremiah 17:13 Lord, the hope of Israel,
All who abandon You will be put to shame.
Those who turn away on earth will be written down,
Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, that is the Lord.”

Zechariah 13:1 “On that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for defilement.” I assume that would be a fountain of living water for the remnant of the Jewish nation who would accept Jesus as the Messiah. The song, “There’s a fountain free, tis for you and me,,,” would fit here.

Zechariah 14 has been debated often. The context is the gathering of the nations in battle against Jerusalem. I think this is the Romans destroying Jerusalem in 70 AD but many think this chapter is yet to be fulfilled. There is a lot of figurative language in this chapter, such as the Mount of Olives being split into. One thing for sure is that living waters will be provided when it is fulfilled. 14:8 And on that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.”

Ezekiel 40-48. Ezekiel gives a long, detailed description of a temple to be built in his future. The temple rebuilt by Zerubbabel in the first return from Babylon in 536 BC does not fit this decription. Herod’s temple was magnificent but does not fit. So is it an actual temple yet to be built? I think it is a spiritual temple, the church, that was established in the first century in the book of Acts. Zechariah 6:12 “Behold, there is a Man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the Lord. 13 Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, and He who will bear the majesty and sit and rule on His throne. So He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”’ 1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

One thing is sure though. In chapter 47 water flows from this Messianic temple. “The water initially trickles, then grows deeper as it moves eastward, becoming ankle-deep, then knee-deep, then waist-deep, and finally, a river too deep to walk in, requiring swimming. The water reaches the Dead Sea, transforming its salty waters into fresh water, and supporting an abundance of fish and other living creatures. The river and its effects symbolize God’s power to restore and heal, bringing life and abundance to a previously barren and desolate landscape.” This is “living water”, water that provided spiritual life and renewal.  

I think these prophecies are predicting the living water that Jesus offered the woman at the well. John 4:7 A woman of Samaria *came to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away to the city to buy food. 9 So the Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, though You are a Jew, are asking me for a drink, though I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus replied to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 She *said to Him, “Sir, You have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do You get this living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well and drank of it himself, and his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”

John would later say that the living water was the Spirit. John 7:37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 But this He said in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” After Jesus ascended, the apostles promised the gift of the Spirit to those who repented and were baptized (Acts 2:38). This was the same thing as “receiving the Spirit” (Acts 8,10). Believers were given the indwelling of the Spirit. The Spirit gives spiritual life to the spiritual dead. The Holy Spirit provides eternal life, quenches spiritual thirst, and brings a sense of lasting refreshment and renewal. John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life.” 2 Corinthians 3:6 who (God) also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter (the old covenant) kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

Surely we are not waiting on these old testament predictions of the providing of living water to be fulfilled. That living water was provided in the first century to believers and would be available to believers from then on. This makes me think that Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah were predicting a spiritual temple, the church, and spiritual living water, the Spirit Himself, that would be provided in the first century. If not, then we don’t have that living water today but I believe that we do. Don’t you?

If you are a Christian, then it is the Spirit that keeps you alive spiritually (even when you sin) and gives you eternal life. 1 John 5:13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” Sometimes we think that we don’t get eternal life until we die, but John says that we have it while we are living. When you are baptized, you get a spiritual body that will live forever even after you die. I do believe that you can fall from grace and lose that eternal life, so that eternal life is conditional based on active faith in Jesus.

The Spirit gives us spiritual life that refreshes us constantly. The Spirit keeps us focused on spiritual things instead of carnal worldly things. The Spirit keeps us positive in the midst of earthly pain and problems as we anticipate eternal life with God after death. The Spirit keeps us rejoicing inside while we weep on the outside over sickness, tragedy, and death of loved ones. The Spirit gives hope when things seem hopeless.

But to really enjoy the full benefits of the Spirit and living water, we must have a thirst for living water. If we are always thirsty for the water from broken cisterns, then we will not be thirsty for living water. It will be available but we will end up drinking water that will not provide life. We will drink that impure water and never be filled. Someone stranded for days in a small boat in the ocean without fresh water will drink the salt water, but it just makes him more thirsty. But that will eventually kill him from drinking the salt water.

Isaiah 12:3 Therefore you will joyously draw water
From the springs of salvation.”

Lord, I don’t think that I am joyously drawing living water from the springs of salvation. Christians should be the happiest, most positive people on earth. Lord, help me to be more thirsty for that living water, for your Spirit.


JOEL 2:28-32 THE OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT

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Joel 2:28 -32

The Promise of the Spirit

28 “It will come about after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will have dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
29 And even on the male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

The Day of the Lord

30 I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
32 And it will come about that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
Will be saved;
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who escape,
Just as the Lord has said,
Even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”

We know when this prophecy was fulfilled. In Acts 2 apostles begin speaking in tongues, i.e. the languages of the many nations represented by the Jews who were present in Jerusalem at the time to keep the feast of Pentecost. Some said that they were drunk, but Peter said that the tongue speaking was the beginning of the fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32, and quoted those verses verbatim. “In the Old Testament under the old covenant, the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit was active and present in various figures, including leaders like Moses (and the 70 elders who were given the Spirit), Samson, Saul and David, artisans like Bezalel, and prophets like Joshua, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The Spirit empowered them for specific tasks, such as leading the people, creating the Tabernacle, or prophesying.” (From AI) The receiving of the Spirit would be different in the new covenant. The miraculous power (dreams, visions, prophesying) of the Spirit would be poured out on all mankind. We know that means men, women, and people of all races and professions who were baptized believers in Jesus. Every baptized believer in the book of Acts could receive the miraculous outpouring of the Spirit, i.e. the “indwelling of the Spirit”, by the laying on of the apostles’ hands.

In Acts 2:38 Peter told the Jews on that day of Pentecost that they too could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, i.e. the same miraculous power of the Spirit that Joel predicted and that they had seen manifested in the apostles speaking in tongues. Acts 2:38 says that they would receive the gift of the Spirit after they repented and were baptized, but it doesn’t say exactly how they received the Spirit. Did the Spirit just come on them as they arose from immersion in water? Acts 8 tells us how they received the Spirit. In Acts 8:4-24 Peter and John (both apostles) came to Samaria to lay their hands on those baptized by Philip to give them the Spirit. Acts 8:16 (For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

In Acts 19 Paul came to Ephesus and found some baptized disciples of Jesus. Acts 19:2 He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “On the contrary, we have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.” Just as in Acts 8, they received the miraculous power of the Spirit by the laying on of hands of an apostle, Paul.

In Acts 10 there is an exception. Peter had been sent to the house of Cornelius to preach the gospel to him. Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. 45 All the Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been poured out on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter responded, 47 “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” 48 And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.” The Spirit fell on Cornelius without the laying on of an apostle’s hands. God skipped that step and gave the miraculous power of the Spirit, as evidenced by them speaking in tongues, directly to Cornelius even before he was baptized. This is clearly an exception to the normal order of receiving the Spirit as found in Acts 2,8,19. God did this to show the Jewish Christians that Gentile believers could receive salvation through Jesus and become members of Christ’s church just as they did. They did not skip the baptism part, and were baptized in the name of Jesus. These verses also show that the “gift of the Holy Spirit” and the “receiving of the Spirit” refer to the same thing, i.e. the miraculous power of the Spirit given to baptized believers. This helps us understand what the “gift of the Spirit” is in Acts 2:38, i.e. the miraculous power given to baptized believers by the laying on of the apostles’ hands. We can safely assume that in Acts 2 that the baptized believers received the miraculous power of the Spirit as they arose from immersion in water, the apostles’ hands already being laid on them as the apostles baptized them. This refutes the idea that the gift of the Spirit in Acts 2:38 is some non-miraculous indwelling of the Spirit received after baptism. Think about it this way. They saw the miraculous speaking in tongues of the apostles, they were told that was the fulfillment of the pouring out of miraculous power of the Spirit as predicted by Joel, and they they were told they they too could receive the gift of the Spirit. What do you think they would expect to received after baptism? Some non-miraculous indwelling of the Spirit? No way. They would have expected to receive the miraculous power of the Spirit just as Joel predicted.

When would this miraculous outpouring of the Spirit be made available to baptized believers? Joel 2:29 I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” “Those days” would be defined by Joel 2:30-32 as the days “before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes”. What is that day of the Lord? It must be the coming of the Lord in judgment on the Jews in 70 AD when Jesus sent the Romans to destroy the temple and the city of Jerusalem, killing one million Jews according to Josephus. That fits the context of Acts 2 that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” from judgment on that day. Joel even says they will “escape” and will be “survivors” on that judgment. Jewish believers did escape when they left Jerusalem to go to Pella when they had the opportunity before the final 5 month siege of the city during which no one escaped. Peter told them in Acts 2:40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on urging them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” That comment shows that he is urging them to be saved from the fate that their evil generation of Jews would find in 70 AD. Josephus said that generation of Jews before 70 AD must have been the most evil that had ever lived up to that time. Jesus would often speak of the pending judgment on that “evil generation” of Jews living before 70 AD (Matthew 12:38-42; 16:4).

So “those days” in which the miraculous power of the Spirit would be poured out on baptized believers would be the “last days of the Jewish age”, i.e. from Acts 2 the day of Pentecost in 30 AD to the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. This was a 40 years period of an outpouring of the miraculous power of the Spirit in the early church. Everything was done by the miraculous power of the Spirit. The Spirit gave miraculous gifts to baptized believers and the assemblies were dominated by the exercise of those miraculous gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14). The church was taught and matured by the miraculous leadership gifts of “apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11).

The miraculous speaking in tongues and prophesying after the laying on of hands by the apostles on baptized believers was confirmation that they were indeed the true sons of God and the saved. We can know that we are saved when we believe, repent, and are baptized b/c the book of Acts tells us so. The early believers did not have the written word to confirm their salvation. They needed miraculous proof and they received it. Paul spoke of this miraculous confirmation in Galatians 3:1 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” Some in the Galatian churches were turning being led back to trusting in the keeping of the Law of Moses. Paul challenges them: did you “receive the Spirit” by keeping the Law or by the hearing of faith (we assume that would mean becoming a baptized believer)? This “receiving of the Spirit” must have been something visible, tangible or it would not be a persuasive argument by Paul. He must be referring to the miraculous gift of the Spirit they received when he laid his hands on them.


Does all this mean that baptized believers after 70 AD don’t receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as promised in Acts 2:38? It should be obvious from studying Acts 2,8,10, and 19 that the gift of the Spirit was a miraculous “indwelling of the Spirit”. So, if we do get that gift of the Spirit they they received in those chapters, then we should get the same thing they got, i.e. the miraculous indwelling. That’s what the Pentecostals and charismatics have been trying to tell us all along. But most of our scholars said that we get a non-miraculous indwelling of the Spirit immediately after baptism since our tradition doesn’t believe that we have the miraculous gifts today. But that is not the context of those chapters in Acts. We can’t ignore Acts 8,10, and 19 and just make Acts 2:38 mean what we want it to mean. We must follow those other chapters to help us define terms. The miraculous receiving of the gift of the Spirit between AD 30 and AD 70 was a special gift for that period in the early growth and development of the church. It was a scaffold to help build the church. Once a building is finished, the scaffold is no longer needed.

So do we receive the Spirit today if we don’t receive the miraculous gift of the Spirit of Acts 2:38? We actually have something better. Several times the Bible says that once the church in fully established as of 70 AD that God would make his abode in His people, the church. He would dwell in His people. Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.” This “new Jerusalem” is the church that replaced the old Jerusalem. . The “new heavens and earth” is the new Messianic system and covenant that replaced the old heavens and earth the Jewish old covenant. The prophets predicted this. Ezekiel 37:26 And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and set My sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 My dwelling place also will be among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’” That “sanctuary” is the church where God dwells. God dwells spiritually by faith in every baptized believer. Jesus dwells in us spiritually by faith. Ephesians 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” This is a spiritual presence in us by faith. So if the Father and Son swell in us by faith, then the Spirit must dwell in us also. The believers in the book of Acts received a miraculous indwelling that we do not receive, but we do receive the presence of the Spirit when we receive the indwelling of God the Father and Jesus. I don’t believe that the Spirit does the miraculous as he did in the book of Acts, but I do believe that he leads us providentially.

I first remember 50 years ago someone taking me through a study of Acts just as I have done in this article. I remember thinking, “this is the context of these chapters in Acts that can’t be refuted”. Franklin Camp’s book on the Holy Spirit just made it so simple. Some interpret the Spirit in Acts based on how they want it to mean instead of simply accepting the clear context.

DID JESUS DIE NEEDLESSLY?

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

There is a popular view that the God of the universe will accept all religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, etc. as long as a person sincerely believes in the God of his/her culture and is a good person. I recently had someone tell me that. My answer to him was that, if that view is true, then Jesus died “needlessly”. Galatians 2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” In that context, Paul is saying that one cannot achieve saving righteousness through keeping the Law of Moses (or any law of any religion) b/c no one can keep whatever law he/she is under perfectly. So when one breaks whatever law he/she is under, they sin, but the law (any law) cannot save from sin; it can only condemn, not save. If it was possible for someone to be saved by law keeping, then Jesus suffered and died in vain.

If someone can be saved by being a devout Hindu or Buddhist, then Jesus suffered and died needlessly. Why would God allow His Son to suffer and die a horrible death on the cross if someone could be saved without believing in Jesus. Someone might say, “Jesus did have to die to save sinners, but his death would save a Hindu even if he doesn’t believe in Jesus. But that contradicts what Jesus said in John 8:24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.” One must believe in Jesus or else die in one’s sins. John 3:16 “whosoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life”. Belief in Jesus is not optional. BTW universalism teaches that the death of Jesus covers all religions and all sinners whether they believe in Jesus or not. I wish that were true, but the Bible refutes that clearly.

The resurrection of Jesus confirms what I am saying in this article. In Acts 17, Paul came to Athens, Greece and walked among their many idols dedicate to their many Greek gods and goddesses. He even came to an altar to “the unknown god” (in case they missed one), and told them about Yahweh, the God of Israel, the one and only true God. He then preached to them that Jesus would be the judge of all men, “having furnished proof by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). Why would the pagans reject the religoin of their culture (the worship of Greek gods and goddesses) just b/c this foreigner came telling them that they are worshipping in “ignorance” (Acts 17:23)? The resurrection of Jesus was the “proof” that belief in Jesus was the only true religion that pleases God. God does not expect us to just believe that Jesus is the only way for salvation based on blind faith and flimsy evidence. He gave an irrefutable proof by raising Jesus who had been dead for 3 days. So what happened after his sermon? Acts 17:32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, “We shall hear from you again concerning this.” 33 So Paul went out from among them. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.” Hinduism would be a parallel to the paganism, idolatry, and worship of many gods of the Athenians.

I close with John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” That just about says it all, doesn’t it? Let’s take this one step. further. If someone rejects Jesus and continues to live in sin, then Jesus died needlessly. If someone thinks that being a good moral person can save, then Jesus died needlessly. Have you believed in the one true God, Yahweh, and Jesus His Son?

“I WILL RESTORE THEM TO THEIR LAND”?

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Jeremiah 30:1 “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. 3 For behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The Lord says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall take possession of it.’” But notice when this would be fulfilled: 30:9 But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.” We know this is a Messianic prediction b/c it predicts that one day David will be their king again, and that always is fulfilled figuratively in Jesus. Also 34:In the latter days you will understand this.” The “latter days” refers to the last days of the Jewish age from AD 30 to AD 70. So the restoration of the fortunes of Israel and being brought back to their land would be fulfilled at the same time as David, i.e. Jesus, would be their king, which was fulfilled when Jesus ascended to heaven.

Ezekiel 34:11 For the Lord God says this: “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd cares for his flock on a day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. 14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing place will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down in a good grazing place and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I Myself will feed My flock and I Myself will lead them to rest,” declares the Lord God. 16 “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will eliminate. I will feed them with judgment.” In Ezekiel 34 God condemns the elders of Israel for not shepherding the flock as they should. He predicts that in the future God himself will take over shepherding the flock. We know that this passage is a Messianic prediction fulfilled in Jesus the Good Shepherd (John 10) b/c 34:23 “Then I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.” Anytime the prophets predicted that one day David would be king, shepherd, and prince over the flock it refers to Jesus. So being brought back to their land would be fulfilled at the same time as David, i.e. Jesus, being made Shepherd of the flock. That was fulfilled when Jesus became the Shepherd of the Jewish believing remnant.

Ezekiel 36:24 For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the lands; and I will bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put My Spirit within you and bring it about that you walk in My statutes, and are careful and follow My ordinances. 28 And you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.” We know this is a Messianic prediction b/c it predicts that God will put His Spirit within them. That was fulfilled in Acts 2 and in the last days of the Jewish age when the miraculous indwelling was poured out on the remnant Jews who believed in Jesus as the Messiah (as was also predicted by the prophet Joel in Joel 2:28-32). He did not put His Spirit in the unbelieving Jews.

Ezekiel 37: 14 And I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’” 37:21 And say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land.” This is the famous “valley of dry bones”. The dry bones represent the dead in sin state of Israel and predicts that one day God will put His Spirit in them and raise them from their graves spiritually. Again, this is a Messianic prediction b/c God put HIs Spirit in the remnant Jews who accepted Jesus in Acts 2 and the last days. He did not put His Spirit in the unbelieving Jews. We know this is a Messianic prediction b/c, as in Ezekiel 34:23-25, it predicts that one day David will be their king again, and that always is fulfilled figuratively in Jesus. 37:24 “And My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes and follow them. 25 And they will live on the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and My servant David will be their leader forever. 26 And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and set My sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 My dwelling place also will be among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’” So the bringing to their own land would be fulfilled at the same time as the pouring out of the Spririt, which was fulfilled in the book of Acts as God poured out His Spirit on the believing Jewish remnant.

These prophecies from Jeremiah and Ezekiel are obviously Messianic. They are predicting a time in their future when the “fortunes of Israel” will be restored and Israel will be brought back to live on their land (the promised land). But they also predict that when that is fulfilled that David will be their king and that always figuratively is fulfilled in Jesus as king (not a literal raising of David from the grave to be king). They also predict that when that is fulfilled that God will pour out His Spirit on Israel and this would be fulfilled when God poured out His Spirit on the Jewish remnant who accepted Jesus as the Messiah in Acts 2 and during the last days of the Jewish age. So it would stand to reason that Israel’s fortunes being restored and Israel being brought back to live in the land would be fulfilled at the same time in some way for the Jewish remnant who accepted Jesus. Of course, the believing remnant did not receive physical land as fulfillment of this prediction. Paul says in Romans 9 that the promises made to Israel in the Old Testament did not fail to come to pass. But he quickly points out that the promises were fulfilled in spiritual Israel, i.e. the Jewish remnant who believed in Jesus as the Messiah, and not the whole nation of Israel. Romans 9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7 nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “through Isaac your descendants shall be named.” 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.”

So, the promises of restoration of the fortunes of Israel and returning to their land was fulfilled only for the Jewish believing remnant and not the whole nation. It was already being fulfilled spiritually and figuratively when Paul wrote Romans 9.  The prophets were not predicting, as many claim, that the whole Jewish nation would one day be restored to the physical land of Palestine, which many say was fulfilled in the 1948 statehood of Israel and their being given much of the promised land (but not all) by the United Nations.

So, if this only refers to the Jewish believing remnant being brought back to their land, and if this was not fulfilled literally, then what does it refer to? The Jews were expecting the entire nation to be restored to its physical power just as in the kingdom of David. Even the apostles expected this after the resurrection of Jesus. Acts 1:6 So, when they had come together, they began asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time that You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Then Peter said in Acts 3:19 Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things, about which God spoke by the mouths of His holy prophets from ancient times.” That was not predicting a restoration of Israel to physical power but instead was predicting a restoration for the believing Jewish remnant of spiritual blessings, i.e. forgiveness, salvation in Jesus, grace, etc.

But what about the promise to be brought back to their land. If this was not meant to be a physical return to the land, and if it only was fulfilled for the Jewish believing remnant, then it must have been fulfilled figuratively and spiritually in some way. I have always struggled to explain how that was fulfilled, but I think I finally have it figured out. I received help on this from Philip Mauro’s book, The Hope of Israel (published in 1971). He said that this referred to “the heavenly places”. Paul said that the early Christians, Jew and Gentiles, were raised from the death spiritually to be made alive spiritually and raised to sit with Christ in the heavenly places. Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead n our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So the land promise for the believing Jewish remnant was fulfilled when they were raised to sit in the heavenly places, i.e. a spiritual realm of safety in the hands of God. John 10:27 My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” That makes sense since the physical land of Palestine is where physical Israel dwelt and a spiritual land, the heavenly places, would be a figurative spiritual fulfillment since it does not refer to a physical fulfillment.

The figurative spiritual land that the believing Jewish remnant received, and that all believers receive, is to dwell in the heavenly places with Christ, a spiritual realm, in the very hands of God HImself. That is far better than getting some piece of dirt somewhere. It does take an understanding in the figurative fulfillment of prophecies to come to this conclusion. People tend to want to understand all prophecy as being fulfilled literally. Indeed, some predictions are fulfilled literally, such as Micah 5:2 Jesus being born in Bethlehem. But many of the prophecies, as seen by “David being their king” are obviously fulfilled figuratively and spiritually, not literally. That would be true of the land promise. It is sad that so much false expectations are put on Israel returning to the holy land in 1948 as the fulfillment of the land promises. It makes Christians feel that they must support Israel in the holy land today as some part of God fulfilling HIs promises, which is just not true. Many tied the supposed 2nd coming of Jesus to the 1948 statehood of Israel and being given part of Palestine by the UN. They said that Matthew 24 would be fulfilled in our “generation” (Matthew 24:34), which would mean in the next 40 years after 1948. Some thought the year 2,000 AD was the critical year and that the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy in Daniel 9 would be fulfilled in the last 7 years before the year 2,000. Nothing happened. Here we are in 2025 AD and still nothing has happened. The further we get from 1948 and nothing happening. shows that their predictions were wrong.

That is very similar to Jesus’ actual predictions of his 2nd coming that was to be within the lifetime and generation (Matthew 24:34) (a period of 40 years in the Bible) of those he was speaking to (Matthew 10:23; 16:27,28; 24:31-34; 26:64). Either his 2nd coming was in the next 40 years or he was a false prophet. He did come back in 70 AD in judgment on the Jewish nation just as he predicted when the Romans destroyed the temple and the city of Jerusalem in 70 AD. So he is not a false prophet as the Muslims, unbelieving Jews, and atheists claim. He did not “delay” his 2nd coming, as many claim. Hebrews 10:37 For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay.” But those who expected Jesus to return and set up a physical kingdom did not realize his 2nd coming in 70 AD. They simply said that his 2nd coming was delayed, but that it would still occur soon in the first century. As they entered the 2nd century, they still claimed an imminent 2nd coming, but it became more and more difficult to explain why He had not returned as they expected. So now their “delay theory” is going on some 2,000 years. They thought 1948 would be the solution to all this, but that did not happen.

I know this is long and detailed, but I hope it helps to understand prophecy fulfillment. I hope it helps clear up all the false teaching about Israel being restored to the holy land and what the role of the nation of Israel is in our future. The “hope of Israel”, as Philip Mauro so clearly shows, is that Israel would accept Jesus as the Messiah and received spiritual, not physical, blessings today. It is not some hope of the nation of Israel receiving land or being restored as a power. We should pray for Israel. They have such a long, deep rooted connection with Yahweh of the Bible. God has rejected them as a nation (Matthew 21:43) but He still longs for them to accept Jesus.


DID YOU CONSULT THE LORD?

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Recently I was asking for wisdom from the Lord on a decision I needed to make. It was solving a 1st world problem but a problem no less that was really dominating my thinking. I decided to ask some wise people for advice. I got 3 answers that were all the same. I decided that whatever the 3rd and last person consulted with advised me to do that I would do that, considering that to be a final answer from the Lord. But my wife asked me if I would really “let it go” and quit thinking about the problem, considering it solved with the Lord’s help. I said that I would try.

How do you know when the Lord has given you answer to your quest for His wisdom? I don’t know any hard rules for determining that but maybe here are a few guidelines. First of all, we must really seek the Lord’s wisdom and be ready to follow it. We should use the minds that God gave us, of course, to come up with good possible solutions, and yet allow the Lord to filter through those possibilities to show us the best solution, or even to show us a. solution we had not thought of. I always think of David when I consider this subject. Here is a great article on David’s nine inquiries of the Lord: https://tafj.org/2012/01/06/davids-nine-inquiries-of-the-lord/

1)1 Sam 23:1-3 He consulted the Lord to see if he should defend the city of Keilah against the Philistines. The Lord told him to defend Keilah. 2) 1 Samuel 23:4-5 He asked the Lord again about defending Keilah b/c his men didn’t want to do that, and was told to defend the city. 3) 1 Samuel 23:10-11 He asked the Lord if Saul was going to come to Keilah trying to find David so he could kill him. The Lord said that Saul was coming. 4) 1 Samuel 23:12-14 He asked the Lord if the men of Keilah would deliver David to Saul even though David had saved them from the Philistines. The Lord said they would turn him over to Saul, and that he should leave the city. 5) 1 Samuel 30:8-9 David and his 600 men had been away fighting. They returned to David’s home base in Philistia, the city of Ziklag. The Amalekites had captured the women and children of David and his men and carried them off. David’s men were ready to stone him, blaming him for their not being in Ziklag to defend that Amalekite attack. David asked the Lord if he should pursue the Amalekites, and was told to do so. He brought back all the women and children that had been captured. 6) 2 Samuel 2:1-2 After Saul and Jonathon were killed, David asked the Lord where he should go to be anointed as king of Israel. God told him to go to Hebron. He was anointed king there but only reigned over Judah and Benjamin for 7 1/2 years before becoming king over all 12 tribes and reigning in his capital, Jerusalem. 7) 2 Samuel 5:17-21 When he was anointed king over all 12 tribes, the Philistines came to attack him. He asked the Lord if he should fight them, and the Lord told him to do so and gave him the victory. 8) 2 Samuel 5:22-25 The Philistines regrouped after their defeat and attacked David again. David asked the Lord if he should go attack them face to face, but was told instead to circle them and attack them from behind. David defeated the Philistines again. 9) 2 Samuel 21:1 David asked the Lord why there was a famine for 3 years. The Lord told him that it was b/c Saul had killed the Gibeonites, a people that Joshua had made a treaty with to protect them. To end the famine, David handed over 7 of Saul’s sons to be hanged.

David was successful when he consulted the Lord before decisions, and when he did what the Lord told him to do. His problems came when he failed to consult the Lord before doing things. 1) He obviously did not consult the Lord at all during the adultery with Bathsheeba and the cover up of his sin by having Uriah her husband killed, taking Bathsheeba as his wife. For over a year until the baby was born, he never consulted the Lord about his actions. 2) He did not consult the Lord when bringing the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem. They brought it back on an cart instead of being carried by the Levites on poles. This led to the death of Uzzah who tried to catch the ark when the oxen stumbled. 3) He did not consult the Lord when he initiated a census of the people as a remedy to the anger of the Lord that had come upon the people. Even Joab criticized the census. Apparently David was trusting in the number of fighting men that he had instead of consulting the Lord as to why He was angry with the people. If he had consulted the Lord, the Lord would have told him that He was angry with the people b/c of their sins and that they should repent. 4) Several times David failed to consult the Lord in making decisions during the 10 years that Saul was chasing him. We can understand why he was panicking at times out of fear while Saul pursued him with an army. In 1 Samuel 21 David in desperation had fled to King Achish in Philistine territory. He did not consult the Lord before doing so. He then faked insanity knowing that Achish would not kill and insane person. It worked but it would lead to further bad decisions. In 1 Samuel 27, David in desperation made a decision to take his 600 men to Philistine territory, thinking Saul would abandon his search to kill David instead of confronting the Philistines. He never consulted the Lord. It worked at first. Saul quit searching for David and Achish the Philistine king gave him the city of Ziklag for him and his men and their families to live in. But then David started killing several Canaanite peoples, telling King Achish that he was out killing Israelites. He lied. He left no survivors to tell what he was really doing. Later he had to lie to the king, acting as if he wanted to join the king in fighting Israelites. The Philistine commanders objected to David and his men fighting, which was fortunate for David or else he would have been confronted with killing his own people, the Israelites, or else Achish finding out how David had been deceiving him all along. Later, while David and his men would engaged in these Philistine battles, Ziklag was attacked by Amalekites and David’s men were ready to stone him, blaming him for their not being at Ziklag to defend the city. Again, all of these problems b/c David in desperation and fear failed to consult the Lord before making decisions. He ended up in Philistine territory, having to lie to Achish and endangering his 600 men b/c of his faking loyalty to Achish. Surely the Lord could have and would have protected David even if he had never fled to the Philistines if David had just consulted with the Lord and trusted in HIs guidance. When David, did consult the Lord while Saul was pursuing him, the Lord always led him to safety, as we saw in the 9 times that he did consult the Lord.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6) As I said, the Lord expects us to use our minds to come up with possible solutions. But before we do that, we should trust in Him for wisdom and guidance, and only after doing that should we start thinking about possible plans. James had a great comment on this. James 4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. 17 So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin.” I tend to come up with plan A, plan B, and plan C before I ever consult the Lord for His plan! If we consult the Lord first, and then come up with possible plans, I think the Lord will guide us to the right plan, or maybe even a plan we hadn’t thought of. I think He will in some providential way show us HIs plan, and discourage us from following a bad plan. We should look for those providential signs of the Lord revealing His plan to us in any decision. Back to my initial 1st world problem that was dominating my thinking, I finally asked the Lord for a sign: “I will do what the 3rd and last person that I consult with for advice tells me to do”. I really wasn’t sure what he would tell me, and there were 3 possible plans of actions to solve my problem. That person told me what he thought I should do to solve the problem. I took that as being from the Lord. I can’t prove that, but that’s what I did. It finally gave me some piece of mind over the course of action that I ended up taking to solve the problem.

I don’t know if these guidelines help you in decision making. I also tried to not worry or second guess my final actions based on the advice from the 3rd person. I still struggle with worry and second guessing, but I hope I can try to work on that.

Is there anyone out there reading this blog who can relate to what I am saying in this article?

    COUNT YOUR MANY BLESSINGS

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    Another Sunday morning McDonalds’ egg McMuffin senior coffee 7 AM with wife. The one we go to is very clean. A man was out pressure washing the entire parking lot, and it seems that they do that regularly. Another man does nothing but clean inside. So we get two overpriced muffin, egg, Canadian bacon breakfast sandwiches but the 2nd one is only $1 with the app. Senior coffee is 69 cents. Can’t beat that! The joy of being a senior citizen!

    The managers are very nice. They have come to know us as regulars. The lady manager was telling me that she lost her daughter in a car wreck 5 years ago. I asked her if today, mother’s day, was tough on her and she said it was, but she clinched a necklace that she was wearing that was her daughter’s or was given to her by her daughter (I don’t listen to details very well!) and said that she was doing ok. She also told me that her family had a history of early deaths due to cancer but that she didn’t even want to know if she had cancer b/c she was ready to just go to be with her daughter. Sounds like Paul, doesn’t it? He said that he would rather just die and go to be with the Lord. We gave her a nice tip to eat out on and that felt good. But most of all, it made us thankful that God has blessed us with 3 grown healthy children who have godly marriages and are raising godly families. Tragedy has never struck our house. Parents dying, yes, but never a tragedy like losing a child. I hope I could be as positive as that lady manager if I had a tragedy of losing a child.

    Also I must mention the debate over whether I should buy flowers for my wife on mother’s day. I had someone trying to make me feel guilty b/c I wasn’t going to buy flowers for my wife today. I argued that my wife was not my mother. My mother passed away in 2010. “But your wife is your children’s mother!” was the counter argument. “Excatly”, I said. “So my children should buy their mother flowers, not me.” I have had two or three people agree with me on this. So on the way home from House of the Harvest yesterday morning, I stop to buy chicken livers at Publix (for my grandson to fish with) and I see all these overpriced flower bouquets. To appease the person making me feel guilty for not buying flowers for my wife on mother’s day, I bought a bouquet. At least I wasn’t hypocritical about it. I told my wife that the main reason I bought the bouquet was so I would not be criticized for not buying. She just laughed so I guess all is well! Such is life in our family and 54 years of marriage. Actually I did buy them for my wife also. They look very nice on our kitchen bar and she likes them. Maybe I’m not totally bad.

    What’s that song? “Count your many blessings, name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

    Here are the lyrics to the song for us to meditate on today:

    1 When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
    When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
    Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
    And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

    Refrain:
    Count your blessings, name them one by one;
    Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
    Count your blessings, name them one by one;
    Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

    2 Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
    Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
    Count your many blessings, ev’ry doubt will fly,
    And you will be singing as the days go by. [Refrain]

    3 When you look at others with their lands and gold,
    Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
    Count your many blessings, money cannot buy
    Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high. [Refrain]

    4 So, amid the conflict, whether great or small,
    Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
    Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
    Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end. [Refrain]

    From staugustine.com. “Gipsy Smith, a famous evangelist of yesteryear, said of this song, “Men sing it, boys whistle it and women rock their babies to sleep to it.”

    Johnson Oatman, Jr., born April 21, 1856, was a citizen of Lumberton, N.J. His dad was a local merchant and just happened to be the best singer in town, with a rich, powerful voice. Young Johnson could not sing as well as his father, yet he grew up wanting to make some musical contributions of his own. However, for a time he worked in the family business, but soon gave up those opportunities and began to study for the ministry. After finishing school and ministering in the Methodist Episcopal churches for a time, Johnson continued to hope that life surely held some other plans for him.

    At 36, he realized that he did, without question, have a musical talent after all. He could write songs for other Christians to sing. So, every year some 200 songs flowed from his pen. He eventually had written 5,000 songs and was happy that in his musical compositions he had found a way to “preach the Gospel.”

    Of all the songs Oatman wrote. he seemed to claim as his own favorites, “No, Not One” (1895) and “Higher Ground (1898).” (In the Church of Christ we sang these songs many, many times).

    However, people everywhere seemed to adopt another of his very special songs, “Count Your Blessings,” written in 1897. Almost immediately it began its meteoric journey.” Oatman died in 1922.

    If you can’t sing, write songs for others to sing!


    THE HOPE OF ISRAEL

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    While preaching to the Jews who came to his house arrest living quarters during the 2 years in his first imprisonment in Rome, Paul spoke of the “hope of Israel” in Acts 28:20 For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you, since I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.”

    What was the “hope of Israel” that Paul kept mentioning? “The “hope of Israel” refers to the expectation and belief in a future restoration and salvation, often associated with the Messiah, the Anointed One, who would bring peace and righteousness to the world. This hope encompasses various aspects, including the return of Israel to the Promised Land, the establishment of God’s kingdom, and the resurrection of the dead.” (AI) This expectation was based on promises made in the Old Testament. In Paul’s trial before Festus and King Agrippa, Paul said: Acts 26:6 And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers; 7 the promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. For this hope, O king, I am being accused by Jews.” It did include the resurrection of the dead. Acts 24:14 “But I confess this to you, that in accordance with the Way, which they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and is written in the Prophets; 15 having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there is ‘about to be’ (mello which always means about to be in the NT) be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.” Daniel predicted that this resurrection of the dead would occur at the end of the Jewish Age in 70 AD. Daniel 12:2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.” That chapter 12 in Daniel is definitely referring to the destruction of the temple in 70 AD b/c 12:11 refers to the “abomination of desolation” of the temple which Jesus said would occur within the generation of those he was talking to in Matthew 24:15,34 just as Daniel predicted.

    So the expectation of the Jews, based on OT promises, was a literal restoration of the Jewish kingdom brought about by the Messiah (the Anointed One), a return to the holy land, and victory over their Roman rulers. That is still the way non Christian Jews and many evangelical Christians interpret the “hope of Israel” today. They see the statehood given to Israel by the UN in 1948 as partial fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel and they expect the rest of the fulfillment in the near future.

    I do not agree with this literal interpretation of the hope of Israel. I believe all the Messianic kingdom promises were made only to the Jewish remnant in the first century who would believe in Jesus as the Messiah and become Jewish Christians. I believe the promises were fulfilled in a spiritual, not literal, way. Some OT Messianic prophecies were to be fulfilled literally, such as the prediction in Micah 5:2 that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. It is clear that was a literal fulfillment and a one time only fulfillment in the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. But there are many OT prophecies that were fulfilled in a spiritual way. For example, Malachi 4:5 predicts that Elijah would come before the great and terrible day of the Lord (70 AD judgement on the Jews). Jesus said that was fulfilled in John the Baptist, not Elijah literally coming just before Jesus came. Malachi’s prediction was fulfilled in a spiritual way, using figurative language, not literally fulfilled.

    So how can we tell if OT Messianic prophecies were to be fulfilled literally or spiritually. It can get tricky but here are my guidelines. It should be obvious that predictions about Jesus’ birth place, suffering and death (Isaiah 53), etc. were to be fulfilled literal, just as they sound. They were given to confirm that Jesus was the Messiah so they had to be fulfilled literally and not with figurative language.

    But what about the Messianic promises made to Israel in the OT? My guideline is this. If a literal fulfillment contradicts New Testament passages, then it must have been meant to be fulfilled spiritually using figurative language. For example, Daniel predicted that the kingdom of God, with Christ reigning as king forever, would be established in the days of the Roman Empire. Jesus came proclaiming that kingdom of God was “at hand” and would be established within the lifetime of some of those he was talking to. So, unless Jesus is a false prophet, then the kingdom of God that was established in the first century as Jesus predicted could not be fulfilled literally in a physical kingdom like that of David in the OT. Instead, it was fulfilled spiritually in the establishment of the church, a spiritual kingdom. Many say that Jesus meant to establish a physical kingdom on earth but delayed that until his 2nd coming which they say is still in our future, but that would contradict what Jesus predicted.

    The Messianic promises to Israel were just like that example. We go to Romans 9-11 to show that to be the case. Romans 9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7 nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “through Isaac your descendants shall be named.” 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.” (NASB) Paul answers a possible objection that I hear made today: did God not fulfill His Messianic promises made to Israel in the OT? In other words, “did the word of God in the OT promises fail to come to pass”? Paul argues that those promises did come to pass but that they were only intended for the Jewish remnant who would accept Jesus as the Messiah and become Christians in the church. He clearly says that the promies were not given to the whole nation of Israel, fleshly Israel, even if they rejected Jesus as the Messiah. As a matter of fact, he clearly taught that the Jews who rejected Jesus as the Messiah would be judged by God when He sent the Romans to destroy Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD.

    So, if God did fulfill all the Messianic prophecies made to Israel by saving the remnant of Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah, then, as Paul argue, the word of God did not fail. But those remant Jewish Christians did not get the holy land and the kingdom of Israel was not restored to the power of the days of David. So it is apparent that the predictions of being restored to the land were fulfilled in a spiritual figurative way, just as the kingdom was.

    Paul goes on to say, Romans 9:27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the sons of Israel may be like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved.” It was only the Jewish remnant that accepted Jesus that would be saved and not the rest of the unbelieving nation of Israel. The restoration of Israel and receiving of the land promises was not fulfilled in 1948. That was fulfilled in the first century as Paul argued, but it was fulfilled in a spiritual figurative way. The restored land was probably fufilled spiritually in the NT church kingdom being safely in the hands of God Himself.

    Paul deals with another possible objection: so did God reject His people? Romans 11:I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? Far from it! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” 4 But what is the divine response to him? “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.” (NASB) It is obvious that God did reject the Jews who did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. He sent the Romans in 70 AD to kill one million of them and carry off another 200,000 into captivity. So He did rejected the unbelieving Jews. But He had not rejected true Israel, which would be the remnant of the Jewish nation who would accept Jesus as the Messiah. Matthew 21:43 Jesus said that the kingdom was going to be taken away from the Jews and given to a spiritual nation and kingdom, the church.

    Then Paul says, Romans 11:25 For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and so all Israel will be saved.” If in Romans 9:27 the “remnant who would be saved” was the Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah, then the “all Israel” in Romans 11:26 must also mean the remnan Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah. Most all the Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah initially. But Paul is pedicting that some of those who rejected Jesus will see the Gentiles being saved, become envious, and later decide to accept Jesus. Paul said this partial hardening would happen until the fullness of the Gentiles had come in. That would all come to pass at Jesus’ 2nd coming in 70 AD. By then, the entire Jewish remnant who accepted Jesus would be gathered from across the whole Roman Empire and the. process of grafting in the Gentile believers would be complete (i.e. the “fulness of the Gentiles”).

    So, I don’t believe there are any OT or NT prophetic predictions to be fulfilled after 70 AD. The plan is finished by 70 AD and salvation is available from then on for anyone who wants to be saved. I believe that Romans 9-11 should carry a lot of weight in. deciding what the “hope of Israel” was/is. The hope of Israel was that any Jew who would accept Jesus as the Messiah would be saved and blessed with spiritual, not physical, blessings. Many Messianic Jews did exactly that and formed the first church. Many Messianic Jews are doing that today also. Any ethnic Jew can realize the hope of Israel if they will accept Jesus as Messiah, Son of God, and Savior.

    JOHN HUSS: BURNED AT THE STAKE

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    John Huss was born in 1369 in Bohemia (in the Czech Republic), the son of a peasant. He was influenced by John Wycliffe and became a pastor. People from common people to the wife of the king followed him and a movement of true Christianity broke out in Bohemia. The pope threatened him but he continued to preach. He taught the priesthood of believers (every Christian is a priest; not just the Roman Catholic church priests). He preached against the corruption in the Roman church and against the selling of indulgences. He was brought before the cardinals for a hearing and then cast into a sewage-filled dungeon. Eventually, his books were burned and he was burned at the stake in 1415 at the age of 46. After his execution, his followers, Hussites, engaged in the Hussite Wars between 1420 and 1431, defeating 5 papal crusades sent to wipe them out. The wars ended with a compromise with the Catholic church. Eventually most Hussites were absorbed into the Catholic church by the 17th century. One group of Hussites formed an independent church, the Unitas Fratrum (Unity of Brethren). The Moravian church emerged from the Unitas Fratrum. The Czechoslovak Hussite Church, is a recognized religious body today.  “Nearly six centuries later in 1999, Pope John Paul II expressed “deep regret for the cruel death inflicted” on Hus and added “deep sorrow” for Hus’s death and praised his “moral courage”. (Wikipedia)

    I can’t imagine the horror of being burned at the stake. This method was employed for various reasons, including treason, heresy, and witchcraft, and served as a public spectacle of punishment. “Witches were burned at the stake during European witch trials, particularly between the 15th and 18th centuries, as punishment for heresy or witchcraft, which was often seen as a crime against both the church and the state. The punishment was a standard practice in many parts of Europe, with local authorities and church leaders overseeing the executions.” (AI) Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for heresy in 1431, although her conviction was later overturned. 

    John Huss refused to recant his preaching at his trial which led to his execution. He said, “I am ready to die.” Would I recant my faith in Jesus if threatened with being burned at the stake? I hope not.

    The Bible speaks of “dying to self”. Actually, your old sinful self dies in the eyes of God when you are buried with Christ in baptism and raised as a new self cleansed by the blood of Jesus. That old sinful self stays dead in God’s eyes unless you fall from grace. Colossians 3:3 ESV  “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” me. Galatians 2:20 ESV / 104 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

    I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

    But then we are told to continually “die to self”, to deny self, to crucify the flesh, meaning relinquishing selfish desires and priorities to follow Christ. That is a constant battle every day, the flesh vs the spirit. Your salvation doesn’t depend on you winning that battle over the flesh perfectly. Your salvation is due to the grace of God and the continual cleansing of the blood of Jesus. But a truly converted sinner will constantly try to die to self out of gratitude for what Jesus did for us.

    Galatians 5:24-25 ESV “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Ephesians 4:22 ESV “To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires.”

    Some Christians are still being called upon to die for their faith like John Huss. In the U.S. we will probably never be faced with that, but we are faced with “dying to self” every day. Are you living for yourself and your own desires, or are you living for Christ to please His desires?