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PAST POSTS [verses below]-
. The Jews had various responses to
the empires that ruled over them during various times.
Alexander the Great instituted
Hellenization- a sort of cultural compromise over the people he conquered.
They could keep their
religious/cultural roots- but would be subservient to Alexander and Greek rule.
Some Jewish people rejected any
compromise- we call them the Essenes- they moved out of town- so to speak, and
lived in what we refer to as the Qumran community.
This was a few centuries before
the time of Christ- and this was where the Dead Seas Scrolls were found in the
20th century.
A Bedouin boy was looking for his
goats- threw a rock in a cave right off the Dead Sea- and that’s how we found
the scrolls.
The scrolls might have been
hidden there by the Essenes-
Now- when my friends asked me
about them- I told them that it’s been a while since I read up on any of this-
but to the best of my memory the thing that made them significant was the fact
that they were very old manuscripts- from the bible- and they backed up what we
had had all along.
I did read up this week- and
basically had it right.
The earliest Hebrew manuscripts
of the Old Testament we had previously dated back to around 900- 1000 A.D.
These manuscripts went back about
1000 years earlier- and they contained portions from almost every book of the
Old testament- and some complete books.
The only book missing was Esther.
So- this was indeed a very significant
find for scholars.
But the Scrolls also contain some
of the writings from the Essenes themselves- things we never had before- so
this too was significant.
There were Jews at the time of
the first century who tried to ‘get along’ with Rome- and with the person in
charge of their region [one of the sons of Herod the Great at the time of
Christ].
These are referred to as
Herodian’s in the bible.
Some wanted a revolution to rid
Rome from Jerusalem- these were the Zealots [one of Jesus disciples was in this
group].
Some thought if they returned to
a legalistic obeisance of the law- that this would bring in a deliverer- like
the stories we read about in the Old testament- these were the Pharisees.
And some took more of a political
compromise- these were the Sadducees.
Eventually a war with Rome would
be fought [By the way- Josephus- the famous 1st century historian- fought on
the side of the Jews in the war- and after Jerusalem was sacked in A.D. 70- he
went to Rome and wrote his great works- thinking he would make a case for the
Jewish people with the Romans. This is why we have his works today- which are
very valuable to scholars].
NOTE- In time I’ll try and cover
how we ‘got our bibles’ [called the Canon- meaning Rule/ Measurement].
Frankly- there is a lot of
confusion in the general public about conspiracies [like the Catholic Church
had some type of plot to keep certain books out].
Or stories about how the Church
taught Mary Magdalene was a prostitute so they could discredit her.
Actually- we read in the gospels
that Jesus cast out ‘spirits’ from a woman who was probably living this type of
life-
And Jesus had a ministry to the
down and out- it is indeed possible that Mary was one of these women-
And if true- it would not demean
her in any way-
That’s how this tradition more
than likely developed- But- we don’t know for sure.
So a few years back the Church
officially said ‘we don’t know’.
Ok- Plot?
No- just being careful.
So there are other misguided
beliefs like this- that sincere people have- and over time I hope to get to
them.
I’ll do one more in keeping with
this post.
I mentioned above that Caesar
Augustus did indeed take the title of ‘son of God’.
And some critics of the Church
say ‘see- there were all types of religions that had Sons of God’.
I watched one show a few years
back- and it stated that these religions had ’12 disciples- a leader named Lord
and Savior- and he healed and claimed to be God’s Son- and rose from the dead’.
Ok- that show was ‘fibbing’ to
put it lightly- they went too far [historically speaking] in trying to diminish
the Christians claim of Christ by doing this.
Now- is there some truth to this
at all?
Yes- like I just mentioned above-
Octavian did indeed claim deity- a ‘son of god’.
So- how do we explain this?
In the book of Galatians the
bible says ‘in the FULLNESS of times God sent forth his Son’.
Jesus came at a set time in
history- in fulfilment of the Jewish Prophets- to be who he was- and to do what
he did.
Now- this is not special pleading
here- but I find it a masterpiece that God’s Son came at a time when the Roman
Empire had one sitting on the throne- who too claimed deity.
Yet Jesus was in a region of the
lower class- his men were not highly educated- and his followers were people
under oppression.
Augustus lived in the wealthy and
influential capital of ‘the world’- he had all you could ever ask for- he was
worshiped as a god.
Yet in 3 short centuries- one of the
heirs of the empire- Constantine- would have an experience – not
[parts]
END NOTES [I posted the video for
this portion a few days ago- it goes along with Hebrews 7-9 video/post] The
past few weeks I had a few friends ask me about the Dead Sea Scrolls- and a few
other questions about the ‘lost books of the bible’ and some other common- and
mistaken ideas [like the original sin being Eve had sex with the serpent].
So- I figured I would cover a
little Jewish history- which would help in this study of Hebrews-
And also hit on a few of these
subjects.
As we read Hebrews- it helps to
also understand some of the history that we don’t have in our bibles [though
the Catholic bibles do have some of it in the Apocrypha].
Ok- the ruling empire at the time
of Christ was Rome- just prior to the appearance of Jesus- the Roman Emperor-
Caesar Augustus- consolidated the Roman Empire under his rule-
Rome was ruled by a senate- some
famous names from history were in it- Cicero being one.
Caesar Augustus was the nephew of
Julius Caesar- his real name was Octavian [Octavius].
After the death of Julius Caesar-
there were some power struggles that took place- between some other famous
people.
Marc Antony being one of them
[Cleopatra too- he was in love with the girl for sure].
Now- we read about Augustus in
the New Testament- and we read in the book of Revelation about the Mark of the
Beast- and that those who don't worship- give homage to the Beast- they will be
killed.
So- Many Christians would be
killed because they would refuse to give homage to Caesar Augustus [meaning son
of the Divine].
‘Wow- how did he get a name like
that’ [there was more than one Caesar by the way- as well as more than one
Herod- who did play a part in these power struggles- it can get confusing- even
to me].
When Octavian defeated Marc
Antony at Actium [32 BC].
Herod [The Great] had a problem-
he had previously sided with Antony and found himself on the losing side.
Yet he was smart- did some ‘brown
nosing’ as we say-and patched things up.
Herod had 3 sons- who would
eventually take positions of authority in the Roman government at the time of
Christ.
Herod Antipas was over the region
that we read about in the New Testament where Jesus did most of his ministry-
Galilee.
Ok- Octavian claimed deity
because of a heavenly sign associated with his rise to power- and this is how
he became called ‘Caesar Augustus’.
He sort of saw himself as a ‘re-incarnate’- of his great uncle Julius
Caesar.
‘John- what in the heck does this
have to do with the Dead Sea Scrolls’.
Ok- good question.
The Jews had various responses to
the empires that ruled over them during various times.
Alexander the Great instituted
Hellenization- a sort of cultural compromise over the people he conquered.
They could keep their
religious/cultural roots- but would be subservient to Alexander and Greek rule.
Some Jewish people rejected any
compromise- we call them the Essenes- they moved out of town- so to speak, and
lived in what we refer to as the Qumran community.
This was a few centuries before
the time of Christ- and this was where the Dead Seas Scrolls were found in the
20th century.
A Bedouin boy was looking for his
goats- threw a rock in a cave right off the Dead Sea- and that’s how we found
the scrolls.
The scrolls might have been
hidden there by the Essenes-
Now- when my friends asked me
about them- I told them that it’s been a while since I read up on any of this-
but to the best of my memory the thing that made them significant was the fact
that they were very old manuscripts- from the bible- and they backed up what we
had had all along.
I did read up this week- and
basically had it right.
The earliest Hebrew manuscripts
of the Old Testament we had previously dated back to around 900- 1000 A.D.
These manuscripts went back about
1000 years earlier- and they contained portions from almost every book of the
Old testament- and some complete books.
The only book missing was Esther.
So- this was indeed a very
significant find for scholars.
But the Scrolls also contain some
of the writings from the Essenes themselves- things we never had before- so
this too was significant.
There were Jews at the time of
the first century who tried to ‘get along’ with Rome- and with the person in
charge of their region [one of the sons of Herod the Great at the time of
Christ].
These are referred to as
Herodian’s in the bible.
Some wanted a revolution to rid
Rome from Jerusalem- these were the Zealots [one of Jesus disciples was in this
group].
Some thought if they returned to
a legalistic obeisance of the law- that this would bring in a deliverer- like
the stories we read about in the Old testament- these were the Pharisees.
And some took more of a political
compromise- these were the Sadducees.
Eventually a war with Rome would
be fought [By the way- Josephus- the famous 1st century historian- fought on
the side of the Jews in the war- and after Jerusalem was sacked in A.D. 70- he
went to Rome and wrote his great works- thinking he would make a case for the
Jewish people with the Romans. This is why we have his works today- which are
very valuable to scholars].
NOTE- In time I’ll try and cover
how we ‘got our bibles’ [called the Canon- meaning Rule/ Measurement].
Frankly- there is a lot of
confusion in the general public about conspiracies [like the Catholic Church
had some type of plot to keep certain books out].
Or stories about how the Church
taught Mary Magdalene was a prostitute so they could discredit her.
Actually- we read in the gospels
that Jesus cast out ‘spirits’ from a woman who was probably living this type of
life-
And Jesus had a ministry to the
down and out- it is indeed possible that Mary was one of these women-
And if true- it would not demean
her in any way-
That’s how this tradition more
than likely developed- But- we don’t know for sure.
So a few years back the Church
officially said ‘we don’t know’.
Ok- Plot?
No- just being careful.
So there are other misguided
beliefs like this- that sincere people have- and over time I hope to get to
them.
I’ll do one more in keeping with
this post.
I mentioned above that Caesar
Augustus did indeed take the title of ‘son of God’.
And some critics of the Church
say ‘see- there were all types of religions that had Sons of God’.
I watched one show a few years
back- and it stated that these religions had ’12 disciples- a leader named Lord
and Savior- and he healed and claimed to be God’s Son- and rose from the dead’.
Ok- that show was ‘fibbing’ to
put it lightly- they went too far [historically speaking] in trying to diminish
the Christians claim of Christ by doing this.
Now- is there some truth to this
at all?
Yes- like I just mentioned above-
Octavian did indeed claim deity- a ‘son of god’.
So- how do we explain this?
In the book of Galatians the bible
says ‘in the FULLNESS of times God sent forth his Son’.
Jesus came at a set time in
history- in fulfilment of the Jewish Prophets- to be who he was- and to do what
he did.
Now- this is not special pleading
here- but I find it a masterpiece that God’s Son came at a time when the Roman
Empire had one sitting on the throne- who too claimed deity.
Yet Jesus was in a region of the
lower class- his men were not highly educated- and his followers were people
under oppression.
Augustus lived in the wealthy and
influential capital of ‘the world’- he had all you could ever ask for- he was
worshiped as a god.
Yet in 3 short centuries- one of
the heirs of the empire- Constantine- would have an experience – not with a
former Caesar- but with a vison of a Cross-
He would convert to Christianity-
and declare Christianity to be the religion of the realm.
[parts]
(630) JOHN
19 (radio # 602) The reality of redemption! I want to stress the fact that
Jesus actually dieing on the Cross and really shedding his Blood for us is what
saves us. No spiritualizing here! Over the years I have seen and read how
believers in an attempt to ‘see’ the deep truths of God will sometimes fudge on
the real Blood of Christ redeeming us. Let’s make it clear, the New Testament
teaches that it was the real Blood of Jesus and his death on the Cross that
saves man. Now, were there spiritual aspects to it? Sure. But don’t
‘spiritualize’ the death and real shedding of Blood. Like the recent reproof we
did on some who taught that Jesus was not the Messiah, so here we warn that his
Blood really saves. I remember reading one of the founders of the Word of faith
movement, E.W. Kenyon. He would eventually teach that the ‘death of Jesus
[physically] didn’t touch the sin issue’ he would then teach that it was the
‘spiritual death’ that saved us. Then teach that Jesus was the ‘first born
again man’ who was separated from God and ‘born again’. The New Testament
teaches Jesus was ‘the first begotten from the dead’ meaning the first to rise
from the dead to never die again. Not the first person to ‘be born again’!
Later on you would have another famous Word of Faith brother teach the same
thing. I don't know why we have to always ‘see deeper’ than the plain truth? I
guess it offends the natural mind to believe that Jesus physical death and
separation from the father actually redeems man. I do believe Jesus ‘went to
hell’ I don't teach the ‘hell’ being a separate place called ‘paradise’ that
was really like heaven. It would seem strange for David in Psalms to say ‘thou
wilt not leave my soul in hell [paradise] nor suffer thy Holy one to see
corruption’. It just seems to fit as being ‘hell’, not ‘paradise. But I also
believe it was the real death of Jesus on the cross that saves us. He really
died and really shed his Blood and it was really finished when he said ‘it is
finished’. Jesus will also say to John ‘behold your mother’ and tell Mary to go
home and live with John after his death. Catholic apologists use this to defend
their belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary. They say ‘if Mary had other
natural kids, then it would have been offensive in Jewish culture for Mary to
not have gone and lived with them’ good point. But heck, I defend our Catholic
brothers an awful lot. Let me defend the Protestants a little. It is also
possible that Jesus strong teaching on putting the spiritual family before the
natural one might have played a role here. This could be the beginnings of the
strong family mindset that you will see playing out later in the book of Acts.
True believers living and sharing as strong [or even stronger!] than natural
families. Also we already taught how Jesus knew that John would outlive the
others. Even Jesus brother James, one of the lead apostles at Jerusalem will be martyred. Maybe Jesus knew
[maybe!] that committing Mary over to Johns care was a more long term thing
than handing her over to his brothers? We also see Nicodemus openly follow
Jesus in this chapter. He is the first of the Pharisees to confess Christ
openly. Later in the book of Acts we will see ‘Pharisees who believe’ but most
times leaders are the last to repent and change positions. Why? Well some of it
has to do with the whole persona of leadership. With this calling comes a type
of character that says ‘I preached it, any one who disagrees is simply
persecution’. While there are times when this is true, there are also times
where God calls leadership to new levels. Some get it on it early [Nicodemus]
others later! [some never!] Be part of the early group. I forgot to mention we
also see the Jews appeal to ‘King Caesar’ as opposed to King Jesus. They will
tell Pilate ‘we have no King but Caesar’. They hated Caesar. The whole Jewish
nation were treated like 2nd class citizens under Roman rule, sure
they benefited from ‘Pax Romana’ [the peace of Rome] but they hated to be
living under an occupying govt. Jesus told them earlier in this gospel ‘you
refuse my testimony of who I am, yet you will accept the testimony of another’s
name’ some feel this is a reference to anti Christ. I think it fits in good
right here!
[parts]
. HEBREWS 10-13
There’s more on the video- Kant, John Mill- Moral Theory-
Utilitarianism, Kantianism. Dead Sea Scroll-s ‘Lost Books’ of the bible-
Septuagint- Jerome- Alexander the Great- Ptolemy- Seleucids- Essenes- Qumran
community- Ecclesiology- Local Church
etc.
[parts] (890)SAMUEL 7- The Ark arrives at Abinadab's house in Kirjath
Jearim, it will remain there until David retrieves it [it was there for around
100 years in total-1100 BC- 1004 BC]. Samuel calls the people to repentance and
makes intercession for them at the same time. This leads to great victory over
the enemy. Jesus ‘lives forever to make continual intercession for us’. We need
to combine repentance and dependence upon Christ’s mediation in order to gain
victory. This chapter also has the famous name ‘Ebenezer’ that makes it into
the history of the church. Both songs and churches will use it in their names.
Martin Luther King preached at Ebenezer Baptist church. This stone was simply a
rock of remembrance for the victory of God. It spoke of Gods help for man.
Jesus is the ultimate ‘stone/rock of defense’ for man. Scripture says ‘there is
no rock like the Lord’ ‘Jesus is the precious stone, all who believe will be
delivered’. The imagery of Jesus/God as a rock of defense is all throughout
scripture. We see Samuel as the key leader of Israel and scripture says he judged
them at this time. He lived in Ramah and ‘rode a circuit’ between the various
cities on a rotating basis. He was the first ‘circuit rider’! The circuit
riders were the famous American evangelists during the 19th century.
As the Puritan east coast churches were becoming well established in the
original colonies, there was a need to reach out to the West [and south] with
the gospel. The circuit riders were the evangelists who traveled to various
areas preaching the gospel and establishing churches [The great Methodist
Frances Asbury became famous for his circuit riding and church planting].
During this time you had the famous ‘camp meetings’ where many believers from
all over would gather at these outdoor ‘brush arbors’ and hear the gospel
preached and commit their lives to the Lord. Over time the more staid Reformed
churches of the east coast would view the ‘camp meeting’ brothers as a little
‘un hinged’. You would also have some of the ‘Spirit led’ groups condemn the
old time reformed brothers as ‘unconverted’. There was a tendency to lean
towards one side or the other. The various Quaker [shaker] type groups would
emphasize the Spirit being premiere in all Christian understanding. While this
is of course true, this in no way means believers do not learn thru the normal
means of study and reading. Some of the more ‘Spirit minded’ believers would
come to view the more ‘head knowledge’ brothers as ‘unconverted’. One of the
worst cases was the Ann Hutchison controversy. She was a
[parts]
NOTE- Christianity in the first century was not born in a
vacuum.
Of course the major World View was Judaism- but the second-
very strong influence/philosophy of the day was Greek wisdom [thus my quote in
the last post ‘The Greeks seek wisdom’].
In the letter to the Colossians- the Apostle refutes
Asceticism- which was indeed a belief of the Greek philosophers.
Greek wisdom taught that the material realm was evil.
Way back about 6 centuries before Christ- you had the famous
Philosopher Socrates.
His most famous student was Plato.
And Plato’s most famous student was Aristotle.
When Socrates was put to death- because of his supposed bad
influence on the youth of his time [he taught them to questions stuff!].
It is reported that he calmly drank the Cyanide- because he
believed that when he would die- be released from his body [the so called evil
realm of matter] that he would finally ‘be free’.
Now- do Christians believe this?
Yes and no.
Because our bibles were written in Greek [which shows you
how strong the Greek influence effected the early church- our first New
Testaments were written in Greek- though the Roman Empire was the world Empire
of the day.
But Alexander the Great- the famed Greek conqueror who came
a few centuries before Christ- he instituted what we refer to as Helenization.
A form of conquering where you let the people you conquer
keep their culture- but you also use parts of your culture [in this case the
Greek language] to permeate the vanquished.
So- the Roman Empire of Jesus day [who at one time were
under the rule of the Greek Empire] continued to write in Greek.
It wasn’t until around a few centuries after the time of Christ
that the first Latin bible was written [by Saint Jerome].
But even his bible [the Latin Vulgate] used the Greek Old
Testament [called the Septuagint] instead of the Hebrew- for his Latin
translation.
Ok- the point being- the Greek world did indeed have a
strong influence on the early church.
And the church had to refute the belief that all matter was
evil.
The Christian doctrine of creation [developed under saint
Augustine- the 4th-5th century bishop of Hippo- North
Africa].
Was the teaching that matter was good- that God created the
material realm- so it is not inherently
evil.
But- after the fall of man [Genesis 1-3] a curse did indeed
come upon the earth [some times when the bible says ‘the world’ it is speaking
of the earth- but other times it is speaking of the fallen order- the sinful
realm of man. That’s why there is some confusion- till this day- among
Christians. They might read verses like this- and think the bible is saying the
earth itself- the planet- is wicked. Actually in those verses it is speaking
about the fallen order of sinful men. See? ‘For all that is in THE WORLD- the
lust of the flesh- the lust of the eyes and the pride of life- is not of the
father- but is of the WORLD- and the WORLD is passing away’- this is one
example from the epistle of John- here the World is not saying the planet- but
the world of sinful man- a fallen ‘world’ order.]
So- in conclusion [if I ever get there!] we- as believers-
reject the belief that all matter is evil.
No- man was created in the image of God- and God is the
creator of all things- both visible [earth- man- etc] and invisible [mentioned
in the above chapter].
The evil we see in the ‘world’ today is simply a result of
mans sin- mans choice to live in rebellion against God.
We can’t escape ‘this world of sin’ by simply denying
ourselves [though that is one aspect of the Christian life].
But God sent his Son into the world to redeem man- Christ
died for all men- and this is the Divine act of Salvation.
When we as humans partake of this Salvation- we are then
free- free to enjoy this life- that God gave us- and we don’t have to have the
mindset of a Socrates- who saw this natural life as evil.
The apostle Paul says in his letter to the Romans;
‘Present your bodies as a living sacrifice- HOLY and
acceptable to God’.
See?
Our bodies- the actual flesh we live in- can be Holy-
sanctified- when submitted to the will of God.
[parts]
VERSES-
. Amos 5:24 But let
judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.. Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren,like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. Acts 3:22
.This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up untoyou of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. Acts 7
For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall liveby them. Romans 10:5
23 Then
spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
2 Saying
The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
3 All
therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye
after their works: for they say, and do not.
Matt.
22 But be ye
doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if
any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding
his natural face in a glass:
24 For he
beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of
man he was.
25 But whoso
looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a
forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his
deed.
James
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Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post
them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John.*
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