Tag: god

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?


JOHN WYCLIFFE: MORNING STAR OF THE REFORMATION (1330-1384)

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You probably have heard of John Wycliffe. You could easily argue that Peter Waldo should have that title “morning star of the reformation” one hundred years earlier, but John Wycliffe had more impact than Waldo. Waldo believed much the same as Wycliffe. Born in England, Wycliffe abhorred the corruption in the Roman Catholic church. He taught that Christ, not the pope, is the head of the church. He taught that the Scriptures, not the Catholic church papal decrees and tradition, are the sole authority for faith and practice. He taught that the Catholic church should excommunicate immoral clergymen and give away the church’s excessive wealth and property. He taught against the selling of indulgences and he rejected transubstantiation. He began voicing his teaching at Oxford University where he had taught for many years. He began writing pamphlets in English that a farmer or shopkeeper could read. The common people only had the Latin Vulgate, so Wycliffe translated or was responsible for translating the Bible into Middle English (a version now called the “Wycliffe Bible”) so the common man could read it and decide what it meant instead of relying on the priests. “Wycliffe’s followers were called Lollards because the name, derived from the Dutch word “lollaert” meaning “mumbler,” was used pejoratively by critics to describe their practice of reading scripture and making long prayers.” (AI) His preachers went throughout England carrying copies of his English translation. They were called “Poor Preachers” b/c they dressed in simple clothes and lived with the common people, unlike the Roman priests who lived apart from the people and dressed in clerical garb. He was finally expelled from Oxford and was persecuted by the Catholic church, but the church was afraid to kill him, fearing it. would cause an uprising. He never left the Catholic church; he even died of a fatal stroke while at Mass. But 17 years after his death, anyone preaching Wycliffe’s ideas was punished by death by the Catholic church. In 1415, thirty years after his death, a Catholic council ordered that his books be burned and that his remains be dug up and burned. His ashes were thrown into the River Swift.

We take it for granted that we have so many translations of the Bible into English so we can read it for ourselves and decide what we think it means. It is hard to imagine a time like in the 14th century when there were no Bibles in English. Since the 16th century, there have been around 250 translations into English alone (900 if you count revisions and partials)! The Catholic church actually did its own Douay-Rheims English version of the Bible in 1609, maybe partly as a result of the work of Wycliffe 200 years earlier. That version is older than the famous King James Version of 1611. Both versions used the Latin Vulgate as the main source. Wycliffe’s translation used the Latin Vulgate also.

The original Old Testament books were written in Hebrew mainly and the New Testament in Greek. We don’t have any of the original books of the Bible. Can we trust the English translations that we have? Yes we can. We have over 5,700 complete or partial manuscripts made or translations into other languages from which to come up with an accurate translation that we can trust. The New Testament sources go back to within 100 years of the original New Testament books in many papyri. When we compare the thousands of copies of the New Testament, they are 95 to 99% the same. The errors are typically small copyist errors. The Old Testament books were copied with extreme care for accuracy. The Dead Sea Scrolls (1948) show that the Old Testament was copied accurately over the centuries. For example, the complete copy of Isaiah called the “Great Isaiah Scroll” found in the DSS is 95% the same as the earliest Hebrew copy of Isaiah that we had, which was in 930 AD, over 1,000 years later than the Great Isaiah Scroll which was carbon dated as 125 BC. That shows that the book of Isaiah had been accurately copied for that 1,000 years and gives us confidence that the original book of Isaiah done in 800 BC was copied accurately over the centuries. There are at least portions of all the OT books except Esther in the DSS. So, yes you can trust a good English translation of the Bible. Be careful about paraphrases. There is a lot of debate about which English translation of the Bible is the most accurate. Jesus and the apostles quoted from the Septuagint, which is the translation of the Hebrew OT from Hebrew into Greek, done between the 3rd and 1st century BC. That shows that you can trust a good translation of the original languages even if you know it is not 100% accurate.

I hope this helps us appreciate our Bible translations. More importantly, I hope it encourages us to read and study those translations since we have been blessed with the Bible in our own English language.

DANIEL PREDICTS THE FUTURE HUNDREDS OF YEARS IN ADVANCE

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This is not meant to be a history lesson on Alexander the Great. Here is a great 1 hour video on that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7lb6KWBanI

The Persians had become the world empire in 539 BC when Cyrus and Darius defeated the Babylonians. The Persians reigned from India to Asia Minor to Egypt. Alexander was born in 356 BC, crowned king of Macedon when he was 20 years old, conquered the Persian Empire in the next 13 years, and died when he was 33 years old of a fever, or maybe poison. He never. lost a battle, even though the Persians usually outnumbered him greatly. He intended to expand his empire through India but his soldiers refused to go any further as most of them had been fighting and away from home for 8 years. When he died, his kingdom was divided among his 4 generals into 4 smaller kingdoms. Two of those kingdoms, the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, controlled the Jews in Palestine for many years until the Maccabean priestly family defeated the Seleucids in 167 BC and Israel became an independent state for about 100 years. The Romans took control of Israel in 63 BC and later appointed Herod as king of the Jews even though he was an Edomite. Herod is the one who, trying to kill the baby Jesus, killed all the babies in Bethlehem. The first 10 kings of Rome were from Julius Caesar (Josephus confirms that by saying that Augustus was the 2nd king) to Vespacian (who began the war with the Jews in 67 AD). The 11 emperor would be Titus who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD (he wasn’t an emperor yet when the destroyed Jerusalem).

What is amazing is that all of these events were predicted by Daniel the prophet. There was King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a statue in Daniel 2. Daniel told the king that the statue represented 4 kingdoms: Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greece, and Rome.

He added that God would set up a 5th kingdom, God’s kingdom, in the days of the 4th kingdom Rome. That 5th kingdom is the one Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mark 1:15) during the reign of the Romans, so it had to be established during Roman rule. It was established, a spiritual kingdom, the church. It was not a physical kingdom like the kingdom of David that would defeat the Romans and make Israel independent again which is what the Jews expected and why they rejected Jesus as the Messiah.

Nebuchadnezzar saw his dream in his 2nd year of his reign, about 603 BC. Daniel had been carried captive into Babylon in the first captivity in 605 BC. That means that Daniel predicted that in about 70 years the Persians would defeat Babylon, which they did. Alexander the Great would defeat the Persians at the battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC (after two major battles at Granicus and Issus), so that means that Daniel predicted the fall of Persian about 274 years in the future. Rome took over Israel in 63 BC, so that means that Daniel predicted the Romans coming to power 542 years in the future.

But there’s more. In Daniel 7, Daniel saw a dream during the 1st year of King Belshazzer of Babylon (556 BC) of a lion (Babylon), a bear (Media-Persia), a leopard (Greeks), and an iron beast (Rome) that corresponds to the same 4 kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar’s statue in Daniel 2. The dream even predicts that the iron teeth beast Rome would have 10 horns (the first ten kings of Rome beginning with Julius Caesar), followed by a little horn that would wage war against the saints (the Jews). That little horn was Titus, who would become the 11th king but was not an emperor yet when he destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. So this prophecy in Daniel 7 goes all the way down to 70 AD, which would be 626 years in the future.

But there’s more. In Daniel 8, in the 3rd year of Belshazzer (554 BC), Daniel saw a vision of a ram and a goat. The ram had 2 horns (Media and Persia) and conquered everything. The goat came flying from the west and defeated the ram. The goat had a “prominent horn” between his eyes. But after the prominent horn became great, it was broken and 4 prominent horns came up in its place. Then Daniel actually tells who the ram and the goat are, i.e. the Medo-Persian ram and the Grecian goat. The prominent horn has to be Alexander the Great. The 4 kingdoms that form from the broken prominent horn has to be the division of Alexander’s might empire into 4 smaller kingdoms after his death in 323 BC. The vision, as in Daniel 7, predicts a “little horn” that would claim to be equal to God and would destroy the sanctuary (the temple in Jerusalem). That, as in Daniel 7, would have to be Titus who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. So this propphecy in Daniel 8 goes all the way down to 70 AD which would be 624 years in the future.

But there’s more. In Daniel 9, in the 1st year of Darius the Median king who, along with Cyrus the Persian king, conquered Babylon in 539 BC, the angel Gabriel gave Daniel the 70 weeks prophecy. This prophecy predicts the death of the Messiah after 69 prophetic weeks (i.e. 483 years using “one day equals a year”) which would fit the death of Jesus the Messiah in about 30 AD. It also predicts the destruction of the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the temple), and the “abomination of desolation”, all of which occurred when Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. We know this “abomination of desolation” was 70 AD b/c Jesus said that the fulfillment of the “abomiation of desolatioin which was spoken through Daniel the prophet” (Matthew 24:15) would occur within the generation that he was speaking to (Matthew 24:34). That would have to be 70 AD. So this prophecy in Daniel 9 goes all the way down to Titus in 70 AD which would be 609 years in the future.

But there’s more. In Daniel 11,12 in the first year of Dairus (539 BC), In Daniel 12:11 Daniel predicts that same “abomination of desolation” as in Daniel 9:27 (i.e. the destruction of the temple in 70 AD). He also predicts in 12:1 that the Jews would undergo a time of distress as the nation had never endured, a “shattering of the power of God’s holy people the Jews (12:7), which again Jesus tells us that was fulfilled in the tribulation and suffering that the Jews experienced in the wars of the Jews (67-70 AD). Jesus cited that verse (Daniel 12:1) and said that time of distress would occur with the generation he was speaking to (Matthew 24:34). So another prophecy of Daniel that goes all the way down to 70 AD, some 609 years in the future.

A prophet’s main mission was to speak the word of God to the people, but the confirmation that he was a true prophet was in predicting the future with 100% accuracy, and Daniel did that. You can see why many liberal scholars say that the book of Daniel was written in the 2nd century during the time of the Maccabees (around 167 BC). They do not believe that prophets like Daniel could predict the future like he did. “While the debate continues, the evidence for an early dating of the Book of Daniel (in the 6th century BC) is substantial, particularly when considering its internal consistency, historical accuracy, and linguistic analysis. The discovery of Daniel manuscripts among the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating back to the second century BC, shows the text’s existence well before the period when some scholars suggest it was written.” (AI) The Jews were entrusted by God with collecting the Old Testament inspired writings of the prophets (Romans 3:1-2) and they included the book of Daniel in their OT canon which was completed by 400 BC. The liberal claim that Daniel was written in the Maccabean period is actually refuted by 1 Maccabees which was written during that period. “1 Maccabees 9:27 does mention a period of silence regarding prophets. It states that “there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them“. This phrase is often interpreted as referring to the “four hundred silent years” between the Old Testament and New Testament, a period when, according to this interpretation, there were no new prophetic voices from God.” (AI) So those living during the Maccabean period said there were no new prophets during that period which would refute some prophet other than Daniel writing the book during that period.

“In Isaiah 41:21-23, the Lord challenges false gods to declare the future, showcasing His divine ability to foresee events and bring them to pass, while the idols remain silent and incapable. The Lord essentially demands that the idols demonstrate their power by predicting and fulfilling future events, thus highlighting the true nature of God’s power and the utter weakness of false idols.” (AI) Can you imagine someone today predicting the world powers that will be in the next 600 years? Going back 600 years from today would put us at 1425 AD. The main world powers in the 1400’s were the Ottomon Empire, the Spanish Empire, the Ming Dynasty in China, etc. (not one main empire as Babylon was). Who could have predicted in 1425 AD that in the next 600 years the main world powers would be Portugal, Russia, Germany, the U.S., and Japan?

Also remember that God is active in fulfilling Daniel’s predictions in the book of Daniel His predictions are not just lucky guesses. Yahweh of Israel had an active hand to raising up and removing kings. In Daniel 4:25 “the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.”. In Daniel 2:19 “May the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him.
21 It is He who changes the times and the periods; He removes kings and appoints kings”. We are not told how God worked behind the scenes to  raise up Cyus, or Alexander, or to put the Romans in power for 500 years, but we believe God providentially made all that happen. Even then, God allowed freedom of choice: not the freedom to choose one’s circumstances but the freed of how to respond to those circumstances.

So we praise God for giving us such great confirmation of His prophets and His word. Even Jesus’s predictions of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD were made 40 years ahead of their fulfillment and confirm that He was a true prophet of God. Many people doubt that the Bible is the word of God, but the fulfillment of prophecy stands as great confirmation of His word. Thank you Holy Spirit who inspired those prophets.

MALACHI: THE LAST PROPHET

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The book of the prophet Malachi was written around 430 BC. The entire history of the Old Testament is found in the first 17 books: Genesis through Esther. That history ends with the 3rd return of Judah from Babylonian captivity under Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The rest of the 39 books of the OT are writings of David, Solomon, the 5 major prophets, the 12 minor prophets, and the booik of Job. But all these occur chronologically within the time frame of the first 17 books, Genesis through Esther. The only exception to this is the book of Malachi, which some think even Malachi was written just before the return of Nehemiah. Here is a great chart:

“Malachi means “my messenger”. He was a contemporary of Nehemiah. In the last 5 chapters of Nehemiah, the walls are rebuilt but the people are still committing sins that Nehemiah has to address. “None of the prophecies of the glorious kingdom to come have come to pass. Times were hard b/c of drought, famine, and blighted crops. These hardships have been met by sloth, indifference, and spiritual lethargy. The people had been in the land for almost a 100 years, but present circumstances made them apathetic. They doubted the love of God. Since the wicked prospered, they questioned whether there was any profit in walking penitently before God and obeying His commandments. Against such a background the book was written.” (Harper Study Bible intro to Malachi).

Malachi writes in question/answer form. Notice the 8 times that it says: “But or yet you say”.

  1. 1:2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” Malachi’s answer:God had shown his love for the descendants of Jacob (Israel) instead of Esau (the Edomites). The Jews would be blessed while the Edomites would be cursed.
  2. 1:6 “‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the Lord of armies to you, the priests who despise My name! But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’ Malachi’s answer: 1:7 You are presenting defiled food upon My altar.”
  3.  1:7b But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’  Malachi’s answer: By the priests offering blind, sick, or lame animals as sacrifices on the altar of burnt offerings. Malachi then gives a scathing rebuke of the Levitical priests. They had a special covenant with God to instruct the people of the Law and to offer sacrifices, but they had become corrupt. Malachi then asks this follow up question: 2:10 Do we not all have one Father? Is it not one God who has created us? Why do we deal treacherously, each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers? ” Malachi answers his own question: The mistreating of one another among the Jews went back to the sin of taking foreign wives in some way. This could refer to the sin of some charging interest of fellow Jews as condemned by Nehemiah (Nehemiah 5), thus “dealing treacherously against each other”.
  4. 2:13 And this is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and sighing, because He no longer gives attention to the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 Yet you say, “For what reason?” (i.e. for what reason does God no longer accept our offerings?) Malachi’s answer: B/c of the practice of divorce among the people. God says, “I hate divorce.” Could that be part of the moral decline in the U.S. also? According to the American Psychological Association, approximately 40-50% of first marriages end in divorce. The divorce rate for second marriages is even higher, with approximately 60-67% of second marriages ending in divorce. The breakdown of the home is then passed on to future generations.
  5. 2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” Malachi’s answer: B/c you say, “everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord.” In other words, those who do evil are considered blessed by God with power and money. Malachi then says that in the distant future God will correct this falsehood by bringing His “messenger of the covenant (i.e. Jesus the messenger of the New Covenant” to judge the evil Jews in 70 AD in the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem. The Jews took delight in the expectation of the coming of the Messiah, but they would find out that Jesus the Messiah would not only come to save the penitent Jews but also to judge and destroy the evil Jews in 70 AD. The remnant of the Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah would then be purified and able to offer acceptable offerings to God. They would become new covenant priests offering spiritual, not animal, offerings to God. 1 Peter 2:4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by people, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Those who practice sorcery or adultery or swearing falsely or who oppress the widows or orphans will be judged in the future and no longer will anyone say that those who are evil are blessed by God.
  6. 3: 7 “From the days of your fathers you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Malachi doesn’t give an answer to this question, but the answer should be obvious: “repent and keep the laws of the Lord”.
  7. 3: 8 “Would anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ Malachi’s answer: B/c you are not tithing (giving a tenth) as you were commanded by God. He challenges them to test God by tithing and then watch the windows of heaven open up to give them overflowing blessings. Is this sin another reason why Americans are making more money than ever and yet falling behind economically? The average American Christian gives around 2.5% of their income to church or charity, and about 5% of Americans regularly tithe, which is giving 10% of their income. However, some studies show that a larger portion of practicing Christians (around 40%) say they tithe at least 10% of their income. 
  8. 3: 13 “Your words have been arrogant against Me,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ Malachi’s answer: B/c you say that it is pointless to serve God and there is no benefit in obeying Him. Malachi calls this “arrogance” b/c it is challenging God’s promise to bless the righteous, calling God a liar. It might not look like God is blessing the righteous at times, but in the end they will be blessed. The time will come when it is obvious that the righeous will be blessed and the evil will be punished (again referring to 70 AD). “The day is coming” (usually this phrase refers to Messianic times in the future) when the evil will be chaff to be burned. John the Baptist predicted that the Messiah would do this in 70 AD: Matthew 3:11 “As for me, I baptize you [i]with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” But the “sun of righteousness” would bless those who fear and obey God with spiritual healing and joy. God would send a forerunner, Elijah, to try to get the evil Jews to repent before the “great and terrible day of the Lord”. Jesus said this prediction of Elijah coming was fulfilled in John the Baptist. Matthew 17:9 When they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.” 10 And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 11 And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; 12 but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.” Matthew 11:13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.” This shows that the “great and terrible day of the Lord” in Malachi 4:5 is the judgment day on the Jews in 70 AD. This is one of the many OT predictions for the Messianic times that will be fulfilled spiritually or figuratively and not literally. John the Baptist could come like Elijah trying to get the evil Jews to repent.

Here is a good slide of the 8 questions although it doesn’t match my 8 questions exactly.

Malachi is the last book in the OT and perhaps the last chronological event occurring simultaneously with the 3rd return from exile under Nehemiah. Malachi was the last prophet. His book begins a 400 year period where there were no prophets recognized by the Jews and no inspired writings to be collected in the Hebrew OT canon. 1 Maccabees 9:27 states that “there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them,” suggesting a period of prophetic silence. They are called the “silent years” for this reason, although they are filled with action. During this 400 years Alexander the Great would conquer the Persians just as Daniel predicted in Daniel 2,7, and 8. Alexander’s kingdom would be split among his 4 generals just as Daniel predicted in Daniel 7. Two of those 4 kingdoms that formed from the split would be the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Syria: both would control the Jews in Palestine for long periods of time during the 400 silent years. 1,2 Maccabees in the Apocrypha tells of the Maccabean priestly family who led a rebel uprising that defeated the Syrians and gained independence for Israel for about 100 years. Then in 63 BC the Romans took control of Palestine just as Daniel predicted in Daniel 2,7,and 8. After Malachi, however, there is nothing left for God to predict about the future Messianic times. All the OT predictions about the Messiah and his kingdom had been written by the prophets and collected by the Jews by 400 BC. God is just waiting for the “fulness of times” (Gal 4:4), for the Romans to rise to power, so He can send His son the Messiah to fulfill all OT predictions. It is interesting that the Apocrypha contains 1st and 2nd Esdras (the Greek name for Ezra) which duplicates a lot of the history of the returns, has apocalyptic visions of the end of the world, and answers questions about the suffering of God’s people. Those apocryphal books describe the Messianic expectations that the Jews held during the 400 silent years. That “silence” would be broken by the birth of Jesus beginning with Matthew 1. Unfortunately the Jews expected a Messiah who would restore the physical power of the Jewish kingdom and who would defeat the Romans, but Jesus came to begin a spiritual kingdom, the church. Thus most of the Jews except for a “remnant” rejected Jesus and continued in their evil ways till 70 AD when they would be judged, just as Malachi predicted.

It is an interesting parallel of the “God says but you say” today. God says that homosexuality is a sin, but you (those who reject God’s word) say it is not (many of whom form the liberal churches that have split off for the LGBQT movement). God say that Jesus is His special messenger and Son, but you (the Muslims, unbelieving Jews) say that Jesus was just a prophet or rabbi but not the Son of God. God says that there is only one God, Yahweh, but you (the Hindus) say there are many gods. God says that He created all things through Jesus in the beginning but you (the atheists) say that there is no creator god. God says that the Bible is the Word of God but you (the skeptics and liberals) say that the Bible is just the work of men and is not inspired by God).

I hope that this study in Malachi will edify you. Pray for America. We have lost our Christian foundation. You have to wonder if God will bring judgment on our nation just as He did the Jews in 70 AD. Is there a “great and terrible day of the Lord” awaiting us if we do not repent and return to keeping God’s word?

THE MURDERS OF JOHN AND BETTY STAM

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John Stam was born in 1907 and Betty Stam was born in 1906. Betty was raised in China by a missionary father. Both attended Moody Bible institute then were married in China in 1933 and began their mission work with China Inland Missions in China in November, 1934 during the Chinese Civil War. One month later they, along with their 3 month old daughter Helen were arrested by Communists for ransom, although the ransom note demanding $20,000 was never delivered. “The Communists knew that John was a Christian missionary and they despised him and his family because of it. They passionately believed in the Marxist teaching, “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the masses.” (from Eugene in BacktoJerusalem.com) They were marched 12 miles, during which in an overnight stay Betty hid baby Helen in a sleeping bag and left her. Later John were beheaded. A Christian shopkeeper was also executed for trying to get the soldiers to not kill the Stams. John Stam wrote a note to the mission authorities of how he and his wife had been captured, then wrote, “Philippians 1:20: ‘May Christ be glorified whether by life or death.'” The note was found after they died. Baby Helen was found by a Chinese pastor in an abandoned house along with $10 (which he and his wife used to buy milk for the baby) and rescued. She was taken to her maternal grandparents who were also missionaries in China, and then was raised by her aunt and uncle in the U.S.

What were you doing when you were 27 or 28 years old? My wife and I would have been about that age when we were finishing up our 2 years mission work in Colombia, South America. It was about that time that some kidnapping of Americans began. Our first child, Nicole, was about 2 years old (she was born whle we were in Trinidad) at that time although I don’t remember being concerned about the kidnappings. But I can’t imagine how the Stams felt during their ordeal. Married a little over a year and with a 3 month old baby, they are kidnapped and face execution. Is God not protecting those sent out to preach the gospel of His Son Jesus? Can you imagine Helen leaving her 3 month old baby girl hidden in a sleeping bag, saying good bye to her not knowing the fate of the child but fairly certain that the child would be killed if she stayed with the Stams. Can you imagine the feelings of the maternal grandparents when baby Helen was brought to them, knowing what happened to their daughter and son in law, knowing that the child would never know her parents? Can you imagine the horror that the kidnapping and murder of the Stams was felt back in the Moody Bible Institute among the former teachers and mentors of the Stams?

“Betty had written this in a journal entry before leaving for China, “I want something really worthwhile to live for. Like most young people, I want to invest this one life of mine as wisely as possible, in the place that yields richest profits to the world and to me … I want it to be God’s choice for me and not my own. There must be no self-interest at all, or I do not believe God can reveal His will clearly … I know very well that I can never realize the richest, most satisfying, life Christ meant for me, if I am not giving my own life unselfishly for others. I want Him to lead, and His Spirit to fill me. And then, only then, will I feel that my life is justifying its existence and realizing the maturity in Him that Christ meant for all men, in all parts of the world.” (From Melissaspoelstraministries )

The sacrifice of the Stams inspired many to go into foreign missions, citing a new generation of young missionaries. 700 young people from Moody Bible Institute and 200 from Wheaton Bible college pledge to follow the Stams example. The murder of the Stams will either inspire you to go all in for Jesus or cause you to have doubts about the existence of God. How can God stand back and allow those murders to happen? In the same way He stood back and allowed evil men to crucify and kill HIs Son on the cross. It is that simple. God knew that He was going to raise Jesus 3 days later, which is why we celebrate Easter Sunday today, April 20, 2025. He knew that He was going to bring John and Betty Stam to glory after their martyrdom. It had to be tough on them and yet joyful as they looked down from heaven and saw their precious baby being taken care of after their death. I believe that faithful saints go straight to heaven and can actually see what is going on down on earth and even feel sorrow or joy. I know there are passages about “no tears in heaven” but those passages usually refer to spiritual joy of Christians on earth.

Hopefully this story will inspire us to pray for and support missionaries who are sharing the gospel all over the world, especially among the unreached peoples groups which make up about 1/3 of the world’s population.

Russell Deibler (1905-1943) and Darlene Deibler Rose (1917-2004)

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When we were doing mission work in Trinidad and Colombia, S.A., a song resonated with me: Follow Me. The third stanza goes like this:

O, Jesus if I die upon
A foreign field someday,
‘Twould be no more than love demands,
No less could I repay,
“No greater love hath mortal man
Than for a friend to die”
These are the words He gently spoke to me,
“If just a cup of water
I place within your hand
Then just a cup of water
Is all that I demand.”
But if by death to living
They can Thy glory see,
I’ll take my cross and follow close to Thee.

Here is the full song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyJIU0yHzrg

Not that I wanted to do on a foreign field during our 5 years of mission work, but it was a noble thought just in case! Allow me to tell you about Russell and Darlene Diebler. They were married in 1937; Darlene was 12 years younger than Russell. They began their mission work together in Indonesia in 1938. Russell was doing mission work in the interior to unreached people groups. Darlene went to meet him. Darlene, the first woman to enter this remote area, got a glimpse of the Baliem Valley of New Guinea. She could see the people in the valley waving at her. They were as excited to meet her as she was to meet them. Darlene began to run down the mountainside to them shouting at the top of her lungs, “I’m home! I’m home!”

“In the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Darlene and her missionary friends were captured by the Japanese military. The men were the first to be taken and sent to a prison camp. Russell’s parting words to Darlene were, “Remember one thing, dear: God said that He would never leave us nor forsake us.” Darlene had no idea that that would be the last time she would speak to her husband or that she would have to endure horrific things during the next four years before the war ended and she’d be free again. Eventually the women and children were also taken to a different prison camp. Life in the POW camps was dreadful. There was often a meager food supply, and what was given was not enough to sustain the heavy labor the prisoners were expected to carry out. Prisoners were brutally beaten for small infractions, and diseases like dysentery and malaria claimed the lives of many. During Darlene’s imprisonment she tried her best to be a good soldier for the cause of Christ and strived to be an encouragement to the other women and children. She established a practice of reading a portion of God’s Word and praying as a group each night in the barracks where she lived. This helped to keep her barrack a calm center in the eye of the military storm that raged around them.” (Shari House) Russell died in his prison camp in 1943. He could indeed sing that song, “Follow Me” (if I die upon a foreign field some day…) She was tortured and forced to sign a false confession to being a spy and was set to be executed, but a kind officer saved her. She was released from prison camp in 1945 when the Japanese surrendered, emaciated and weighing 80 pounds.

“Bitterness washed over her as large and daunting as the sea that surrounded her. In that moment she told the Lord she would never return to this place that had caused her so much pain. As she reached the flyboat and started to board it, she heard the sweet voices of the natives who had come to know the Lord and who had also shared in the indescribable suffering. They stood on the shoreline waving at her singing the song “God be with you, till we meet again . . .” Eventually Darlene would say of that moment, “Their song released the waters of bitterness that had flooded my soul, and the hurt began to drain from me as my tears flowed in a steady stream. The healing had begun. I knew then that someday, God only knew when, I would come back to these my people and my island home.” (Shari House)

“She met Jerry Rose and the two fell in love and were married on April 4, 1948. In early 1949, Darlene and Jerry returned to the Wissel Lakes, the same area where she and her first husband had started their ministry. For the next 29 years Darlene and Jerry, along with their two sons, served together teaching, preaching, building landing strips, delivering babies, facing headhunters, and leading people to Christ.” (Shari House) They left New Guinea in 1978 and work the next 15 years in Australia with the Aboriginies where they led hundreds to the Lord. They returned to the U.S. in 1993 and she died in 2004 at the age of 86.

I can’t imagine what Russell and Darlene suffered in the prison camps. Paul said 2 Timothy 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.” Russell arrived in eternal glory about 60 years before Darlene arrived, but they are both enjoying eternal bless. Isn’t that what we are living for? Job said, ““Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil.” (Job 14:1, NASB) I’ve never suffered for Christ; have you? How would I handle being in a Japanese prison camp? I am thankful I have never suffered like that b/c I don’t know how I would handle it.

Let us pray for Christians all over the world who are suffering persecution. Voice of the Martyrs tell story after story of such suffering. You can subscribe to receive their free magazine. Are you praying for persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ?

JONATHAN GOFORTH (1859-1936): CHINA

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Jonathan Goforth was the first Canadian Presbyterian missionary to China, serving there for nearly forty-seven years (over half of his 77 years of life). A couple of stories tell you about the conviction of this man to “go forth” with the gospel to China. He told his wife to be Rosalind that he could not give her an engagement ring b/c he needed every penney to distribute Testaments and tracts. After a year in China, their house burned with all their possessions. He told his distraught wife “My dear, do not grieve so. After all, they’re just things.” Their first two children died in China which caused them great sorrow, but their hearts ached even more over the Chinese masses who lived without the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ. They later built a bungalow with a pump to draw water from a well and a chimney to send smoke up out of the house. As many as 2,000 in a day would pass. through the bungalow to see these novelties and Jonathan would preach Christ to them as they passed through. He had a passion for developing converts to Pauline New Testament Christians who met in indigenous house churches. He would put a red dot on a map for each house church established. By May of 1900 there were over 50 of these red dots.

Then came the infamous Boxer Rebellion. Have you ever heard of the Boxer Rebellion? AI: “The Boxer Rebellion was a Chinese nationalist uprising in 1899-1900 against foreign powers’ encroachment on China’s sovereignty and increasing influence. The rebellion was led by a secret society known as the Boxers (nicknamed that b/c of their expertise in martial arts), who targeted foreigners, Christian missionaries, and Chinese converts to Christianity (burning churches and foreign residences). The rebellion was sparked by a combination of factors, including economic hardship, resentment towards foreign powers, and the spread of Christianity. Perhaps a total of up to 100,000 or more people died in the conflict, although estimates on casualties have varied widely. The great majority of those killed were civilians, including thousands of Chinese Christians and approximately 200 to 250 foreign nationals (mostly Christian missionaries).”

One of those missionaries that was caught up in the Boxer Rebellion was Jonathan Goforth, his wife, and 4 children. They managed to make a long, hazardous, intense heat, 4 week journey to Shanghai and then safely to Canada, constantly threatened by cries of “kill the foreign devils”. A mob almost killed Jonathan with stones. The Boxer Rebellion lasted about 2 years and then the Goforths went back to China for 36 more years of mission work during which all their possessions were destroyed 4 times and where 4 of their children were buried. Spurred on by Charles Finney’s revivals in Wales, Jonathan began revivals all over China and Manchuria. On a single day, he baptized 960 soldiers. Many thriving churches were established. He suffered much hardship and pain, but always his soul was aglow with “the fulness of the Christ-life through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling”. He died as he slept on October 8, 1936.

I continue to be amazed as I read these stories of great Christian missionaries of the 1800’s, often called the “Great Century of Missions”. Their determination and sacrifice to spread the gospel in spite of suffering and obstacles is just amazing. They lived with one purpose in life, i.e. to convert people to Christ. My 5 years in mission work in Trinidad, West Indies and Colombia, South America are like a vacation compared to the tough foreign fields those missionaries worked in.

But that is not to minimize your efforts to reach people for Christ right here in the U.S., right here where you live and work. Not everyone is called to be a foreign missionary. You can share Christ with co-workers, relatives, friends, people you do business with, people you meet all day long. You might be called to take care of an aging parent or an orphan or a widow, but your example of love might inspire someone to become a Christian. You might be blessed with money which allows you to support missionaries or organizations that drill wells for clean water, print Bibles in the major languages for distribution all over the world, or provide food and medicine for the oppressed poor caught up in the many wars or famines in 3rd world countries.

I pray that God will bless you with the zeal and determination to focus on what really matters in life, which is the saving of souls for Jesus Christ, in whatever role and place God has put you in. Be courageous and not afraid to boldly share Jesus with everyone you are around. I think we are hesitant to do that b/c we don’t want to look like overzealous Christians or we fear getting a negative response from someone. “Just do it” and leave the fruit bearing or rejection to God. At least try to bring God and Jesus into every conversation all day.

God bless you.

HENRY KNOTT (1774-1844)

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How would you like a vacation to one of the many islands in the South Pacific? Bora Bora, Fiji, Cook Islands, Tahiti, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and thousands of other islands, unspoiled beaches. Henry Knott did not take a paradise vacation to Tahiti. He was an English bricklayer who set sail for Tahiti in 1796 to bring Christianity to the island. A beautiful island but the island was full of war, brutal killing of enemies, idol worship, human sacrifices even of children, drunkenness. 30 years earlier British explorer Captain Cook visited Tahiti. He said, “There is an abyss of dissolute sensuality into which these people have sunk, wholly unknown to every other nation and which no imagination could possibly conceive.” The population had declined by 90% since Cooke’s visit due probably to diseases brought in to the island by crews of foreign vessels. Henry Knott said there was not in Tahiti a girl of twelve years who had escaped moral and physical contamination. The people were threatened with complete extinction. 2/3 of all babies were killed at birth. Euthanasia was practiced. Those whose infirmities made them a burden were buried alive. The king Pomare, who had sacrificed 2,000 humans to his idols, rejected Knott’s message from John 3:16. Knott translated John 3:16 into the language of Tahiti. The missionaries in Tahiti was persecuted and threatened, often having their goods stolen by natives (there was a god who was worshipped by stealing). Many of them left the island in fear for their lives, leaving Knott there all alone. Knott kept preaching the love of God from John 3:16.

Finally in 1813 King Pomare II, son of King Pomare, turned from idolatry. Hundreds began to turn from idols. Idols were cut into firewood, even the idol of the main god Oro. Thousands later came to hear Knott’s sermons in a big church building built by Pomare II. Laws were enacted to stop heathen practices. On Sunday, May 16, 1819 King Pomare II in the presence of 5,000 people was baptized. After 22 years of hardship and disappointments, this was the first baptism in Tahiti. During the ensuing decade hundreds were converted to Christianity. A building formerly used for human sacrifices was turned into a church building. During his 50 years of mission work, Knott only returned to England twice. He finished translating the Bible into the Tahitian language around 1838. He presented the Tahitian Bible to Queen Victoria and, at her request, he read John 3:16 in Tahitian.

AI: “Christianity remains the dominant religion in Tahiti, with a majority (84%) of the population identifying as Christian, particularly Protestant. The Maohi Protestant Church, deeply rooted in Tahitian culture, is the largest and most influential Protestant denomination. While Christianity is prevalent, traditional Tahitian beliefs and practices continue to exist, often blended with Christian traditions”. There is a large Mormon presence in Tahiti. Don’t you know that Henry Knott is looking down from heaven with great joy as he sees the continuing legacy of his work???????

Knott said, “The only sure and efficacious remedy for the ignorance, the depravities, the sorrows and sins of mankind, is to be found in the gospel of John 3:16.”

As I read about Henry Knott, I think of two things. One, why is the church not more focused on mission work in the world, especially among the unreached peoples groups. It is estimated that of the 8.08 billion people alive in the world today, 3.42 billion of them live in unreached people groups with little or no access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Why do churches keep pouring millions of dollars into buildings for our comfort and staffs “preaching to the choir” instead of printing Bibles into the major languages and sending missionaries out? Henry Knott was a bricklayer! But he spread Christianity to an unreached people group in Tahiti that eventually led to an island being 84% Christian. Maybe you are not a missionary to go to foreign fields, but you can still support financially and prayerfully the organizations and missionaries who do that.

But my second thought is John 3:16. Henry Knott wasn’t caught up in eschatology or church doctrine although he was probably of the Calvinistic Reformed theology. Apparently the love of God was the primary motivation for him to love others and sacrifice so much to share God’s love with the Tahitians. There is a song, “I love you with the love of the Lord”. When you feel how much God loves you, it just makes you want to love other people and share God’s love with them. There are so many people who just don’t feel that love. Many feel worthless and unloved, maybe due to a lack of love shown them by parents. Many seek love in the wrong places in the pursuit of materialism and hedonism. They might not even feel the need for God’s love.

I personally tend to major in doctrinal and exegetical Biblical studies, as you can see from my blog articles. But how much does John 3:16 really mean to me? Do I feel God’s love? Do I get up every morning and say “God love me”? Do I thank God often every day for sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross for me? Do I try to share God’s love with everyone I am around every day? Do I see people who are struggling with life and share God’s love with them? Do I tell people that God loves them? Do I share John 3:16 with those who aren’t Christians? Do I use my resources to try to spread the love of God and the message of John 3:16 to the world, especially to those unreached people’s groups?

What does John 3:16 really mean to you?

NEHEMIAH: LESSONS ON LEADERSHIP

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Leadership lessons from Nehemiah” Great godly leaders exhibit these qualities: Links to an external site.

1) Prayerful, depending on God for success, for wisdom to handle conflict, to get strength from God, to confess sin, etc. Great leaders pray, depending on God, in everything they do. 

Here are the times when Nehemiah prayed: 

Nehemiah 1:4-11 When he heard that there were no walls in Jerusalem

4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said:

“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you.7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”

I was cupbearer to the king. 

Nehemiah 2:4 Before he asked the king if he could go to Jerusalem

4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”

Then I prayed to the God of heaven

Nehemiah 4:4-5 When the work was ridiculed by the enemies

4 Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.

Nehemiah 5:19 When he dealt with charging interest to fellow Jews

19 Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people.

Nehemiah 6:9 When threatened by the Samaritan enemies

9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”

But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.”

Nehemiah 6:14 When betrayed by fellow Jews and false prophets

14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, my God, because of what they have done; remember also the prophet Noadiah and how she and the rest of the prophets have been trying to intimidate me.

Nehemiah 9:5-38 When confessing the sins of the nation

5 And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.[aLinks to an external site.]”

“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

7 “You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. 8 You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.

9 “You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.[bLinks to an external site.] 10 You sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. 11 You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. 12 By dayyou led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.

13 “You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. 14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. 15 In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.

16 “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.

19 “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.

22 “You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon[cLinks to an external site.] king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan. 23 You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess. 24 Their children went in and took possession of the land. You subduedbefore them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you gave the Canaanites into their hands, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. 25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.

26 “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. 27 So you delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.

28 “But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight.Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.

29 “You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. 30 For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. 31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

32 “Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. 33 In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep. 35 Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.

36 “But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our ancestors so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. 37 Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.

38 “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.”

Nehemiah 13:14 When tithes were not payed to support the Levites

14 Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.

Nehemiah 13:22 When the people were violating the Sabbath

22 Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.

Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.

Nehemiah 13:29 When rebuking some for marrying foreign wives

29 Remember them, my God, because they defiled the priestly office and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.

2) Develop a God-inspired vision.Links to an external site.

Ch 1 Nehemiah had a cushy job as cupbearer to the king of Persia, but he had a vision of doing something great for God. Jerusalem and the temple had been rebuilt but there were no walls and the city was defenseless. Nehemiah had a vision of going to Jerusalem to rebuild those walls. Great leaders have great visions of what God can use them to accomplish.

3) Plan diligently, trust faithfullyLinks to an external site.

Ch 2 He gets to Jerusalem and the first thing he does is to secretly at night inspect the walls to come up with a plan before he talked to the people. Great leaders trust God but they use their wisdom to come up with a good plan to accomplish their mission.

4) Lead with courage and dependence on GodLinks to an external site.

Ch 2 He must be very nervous when the king asks him why his is sad. The king’s cupbearer is supposed to always be cheerful around the king. He can’t be showing his own personal sadness before the king. So Nehemiah prays and then shows great courage in telling the king about the walls and how he wants to take a leave of absence and go rebuild them. That took courage. The king could have become angry and had him removed as cupbearer. 

Ch4 He showed great courage when the Samaritan enemies threatened the builders on the walls. He stood up to them and prayed to God for courage. The people were getting discouraged and afraid. The enemies planned to make several attacks on the builders at different places, but Nehemiah found out about their plan. He got the people back to work, carrying a defensive weapon in one hand and a bulding tool in the other. 

4:

9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.

10 And so [amLinks to an external site.]in Judah it was said:

“The strength of the burden bearers is failing,
Yet there is much rubble;
And we ourselves are unable
To rebuild the wall.”

11 And our enemies said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work.” 12 When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,” 13 then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows. 14 When I saw their fear, I stood and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

15 Now when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. 16 And from that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them kept hold of the spears, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the captains were behind all the house of Judah. 17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens carried with one hand doing the work, and the other keeping hold of a weapon. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword strapped to his waist as he built, while the trumpeter stood near me. 19 And I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. 20 At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, assemble to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

21 So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Each man with his servant shall spend the night within Jerusalem, so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.” 23 So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me—none of us [arLinks to an external site.]removed our clothes; each took his weapon even to the water.” 

Great leaders must have great courage and trust in God when their followers become discouraged and afraid. Nehemiah did.

5) Build and empower teamsLinks to an external site.

Ch 2 He inspired the men to join with him in his vision. 2:17 Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates have been burned by fire. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” 18 And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let’s arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work.

Ch 3 He appointed different men to each rebuild a small part of the wall or a gate in the wall. He delegated the work. He did not try to do it all by himself. He built teams of workers to accomplish the task. 

6) Address conflicts with wisdom and compassionLinks to an external site.

Ch 5 He had compassion on some whom he heard had been charged interest on loans and were having difficulty paying the interest. Jews were not supposed to charge interest on fellow Jews but many were doing that. Nehemiah addressed this conflic which could have divided the workers among themselves and hindered the work on the walls. Often groups can be doing a good work for the Lord but start fighting among themselves and the work gets stopped. Great leaders know how to wisely handle such internal conflicts. 

7) Maintain integrity and transparencyLinks to an external site.

Ch 5 He said that for 12 years he had payed to feed 150 of the leaders to eat at his table.  There was a “governor’s allowance” that he could have used to pay for this, but he did not. Neither did he buy any land for himself. He showed great integrity. He sacrificed a lot to lead the project. Great leaders are not in ti for the money. They usually end up spending their own money to do the Lord’s work. 5:

14 Furthermore, since the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve years, neither I nor my kinsmen have eaten the governor’s food allowance. 15 But the previous governors who were before me [azLinks to an external site.]laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even their servants domineered the people. But I did not do so because of my fear of God. 16 I also [baLinks to an external site.]applied myself to the work on this wall; we did not buy any land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. 17 Moreover, there were at my table 150 Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. 18 Now that which was prepared for each day was one ox and six choice sheep; also birds were prepared for me, and every ten days all sorts of wine were provided in abundance. Yet for all this I did not request the governor’s food allowance, because the forced labor was heavy on this people. 19 Remember me, my God, for good, in return for all that I have done for this people.

8) Stay focused despite distractionsLinks to an external site.

Ch 4 The enemies ridiculed the work on the walls. 4:1 Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry, and he mocked the Jews. 2 And he spoke in the presence of his brothers and the [aeLinks to an external site.]wealthy people of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore the temple for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish it in a day? Can they revive the stones from the heaps of rubble, even the burned ones?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him, and he said, “Even what they are building—if a fox were to jump on it, it would break their stone wall down!” Nehemiah did not let this ridicule slow him down. 

So they continued the work till the wall was built up to half its height. 4:6 So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. 7 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. 8 So all of them conspired together to come to fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.” 

These distractions did not stop Nehemiah. He stayed focused on the work. Nothing could stop him from fulfilling his vision.

Ch 6 As the work on the walls was nearing completion with no gaps in the walls but no doors in the gates (the finishing touch), the enemies were desperate and sent letters to him 5 times offering to meet with him, supposedly to have “peace talks” with him, but really they were planning on killing him. They came up with false rumors that Nehemiah was trying to get himself made king and rebel against the Persians, which wasn’t true. Nehemiah stood up to them despite all the distractions to the work. 

Ch 6 One of his fellow Jews to try to scare him into going into the temple for safety which would have been a sin since he was not a priest. He refused to enter the temple and trusted God for his safety. He then discovered that his fellow Jew had been hired by the enemies to get Nehemiah to enter the temple and sin. They could have then used that to discredit him as a leader and get the work on the walls stopped. 

Ch 6 Because of his leadership, the walls were completed in 52 days despite all the distractions (6:15). The enemies lost their confidence. But some of his fellow Jews were loyal to Tobiah, a leader of the Samaritan enemies b/c they had intermarried with some of the Samaritans. They had been corresponding in letters with Tobiah the whole time, betraying Nehemiah. They tried to praise Tobiah when with Nehemiah. Tobiah sent more letters to frighten Nehemiah, threatening to cause him to lose his leadership position since many of his fellow Jews were loyal to Tobiah. None of this stopped Nehemiah. 

9) Celebrate milestones and give glory to GodLinks to an external site.

Ch 7:1 Now when the wall was rebuilt and I had installed the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites were appointed. He is getting the people ready for a great celebration over the finishing of the walls.

Ch 8 Nehemiah gathers the people and has Ezra read from the book of the Law (the Pentateuch, the fist 5 books of the OT). They made a podium for him to stand on. The people stood as he read from early morning to noon! 8:6 Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” with the raising of their hands; then they kneeled down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.” Other leaders explained what Ezra was reading in more detail. The people were crying as they heard the reading and realized how much they had sinned in not keeping the Law like they should. BTW this was the reason for Ezra making the 2nd return from Babylon, i.e. to get the people keeping the Law better. Nehemiah told them to quit weeping but instead to go get ready to celebrate a joyful feast, the Feat of Tabernacles. Ezra read to them that it was the time of the year to celebrate that feast. So they gathered branches and palms to make little booths to live in for 7 days, reading from the Law the whole time and celebrating with food and great rejoicing. The people had not celebrated this feast as they should since the days of Joshua! On the 8th day they came together for a solemn, reverent assembly. 

Nehemiah inspired the people to enjoy doing God’s work, to obey God fully, and to give God the glory for success. Great leaders know how to bring people together to enjoy doing God’s work. 

10) Commit to ongoing spiritual renewalLinks to an external site.

Great leaders are not just about getting the people to start a building program to build a new church building or an addition. They are more concerned about spiritual reforms needed among the people. It is easier to get people excited about building a building than it is to confessing and repenting of our many sins.

Ch 9 Nehemiah persuaded the people to confess their sins. 9:1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them. 2 The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the wrongdoings of their fathers. 3 While they stood in their place, they read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.”

Then comes a long summary of the history of the Jews up to that point in time. It mentions all that God had done for Israel (the plagues, the conquest of Canaan, etc.) but how that over and over the people disobeyed God. Ch 9 is a prayer of confession of the sins of Israel in their whole history up to that point in time. But it repeatedly said that God had compassion on them and asks God to have compassion on them again as they commit to have a revival and keep God’s laws.. 

9:16 “But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;
They became stubborn and would not listen to Your commandments.
17 They refused to listen,
And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You performed among them;
So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.
But You are a God of forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in mercy;
And You did not abandon them.

9:Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or abandon them,
For You are a gracious and compassionate God.

Nehemiah and Ezra inspired them to make an agreement, a covenant, in writing to obey God and the Law (9:38). The leaders all signed it. 1) To obey all the Law. 2) To divorce foreign wives they had married and not give their children in marriage to foreginers.. 3) To not buy and sell on the Sabbath. 4) To pay a yearly temple tax to support the sacrifices and work in the temple. 5) To give the firstfruits of everything they grew to the Lord to support the priests and Levites. 6) To move 1 of every 10 Jews in the land to live in the city of Jerusalem as 9/10 of the people lived in other cities. The leaders already lived in Jerusalem. 

Ch 12 This led to another celebration and “dedication” of the completed walls. 12:27 Now at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought out the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem so that they could celebrate the dedication with joy, with songs of thanksgiving and with songs to the accompaniment of cymbals, harps, and lyres.” There were 2 choirs of singers on top of the walls. 

Ch 13 Nehemiah made a trip back to Susa. No doubt he told the king about the rebuilding of the wall and how God had blessed the work. But when he returned to Jerusalem, he found several issues and addressed them. 1) Some of the Jews who were related by marriages to Tobiah, the Samaritan enemy had made a room in a chamber of the temple for Tobiah to stay in. Apparently Tobiah had fallen out of favor with his fellow Samaritans. Nehemiah kicked him out of the room. 2) He also remanded the people for not paying tithes to the Levites. 3) He rebuked them for buying and selling on the Sabbath and ordered that the gates to the city be shurt at sundown on Friday and not opened until the Sabbath ended at sundown on Saturday. 4) He severely rebuked some for marrying foreign women and made them swear to stop doing that. 13:25 So I quarreled with them and cursed them, and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take any of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.”