Category: Topic Studies Page 6 of 8

Introduction: Who Is The Antichrist?

On February 1, 2018

In Biblical Figures, Prophecy, Topic Studies

This is the first installment of a series titled “Who Is The Antichrist?” Links to the remainder are at the bottom of this post.

When I first came to Christianity, I couldn’t get enough of the Bible. They call this “first love”. In particular, I was very interested in Eschatology or the study of “the end times”. I read and read. I studied. I watched videos on Youtube. I did everything I could to learn more about “the end of days”, or “the end of the era”.

One Sabbath I decided to ask an Elder at my local congregation, a couple of questions about “the end times”. His answers kind of puzzled me because he seemed to have many of the same beliefs as most in mainstream Christianity, which is rare for us, being Sabbath keepers.

At the end of our conversation, he concluded our talk by saying: “All that stuff is a LONG way off. There’s no need to worry about that stuff now. When you see the Two Witnesses preaching in Jerusalem…Then we should worry about the end.”

Now, this is a good man. I respect him, and I respect his knowledge of the Bible. But, that talk blew me away. Not only did he agree with Mainstream Christendom, he also told me not to worry until the two witnesses were in Jerusalem. It was almost as if he was telling me to not even study the end-time prophecies as they were so far off into the future that I needn’t even waste my time studying these things. I don’t think that is what he was trying to communicate, but it FELT that way.

Can Antichrist really fool the whole world?

I found this to be very strange. From everything that I had learned, identifying the “Antichrist” should be paramount to every Christian. And, what about all of the things that were going to happen before the two witnesses came onto the scene? And, what about Revelation 11 when speaking about the two witnesses, the angel describes Jerusalem as “…the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also our Lord was crucified.” Wait! This is a big deal. Jerusalem is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt?!?

There just has to be so much more going on before the two witnesses come to Jerusalem. And, I want to learn about that stuff. Why? So that if I see some of these things happening, I will know what’s going on.

In Matthew 24:24, Messiah says:

“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders; so much so that, if it were possible, they would deceive even the elect” (ESV)

If one were to read that backward. Could it not be said that: Only the elect will not be lead astray, or fooled by the false christs? Or perhaps put another way: To be counted as the elect, “the first resurrection”, you cannot be fooled by antichrist and the false prophet.

Now, I know that Matthew 24:24 isn’t necessarily saying that. And, I know my argument would only apply to the final generation, while I do believe that Messiah’s message was intended for all generations. It is something to consider.

What Are Abominations Before the Lord?

By admin

On January 6, 2018

In Christian Living, New Testament, Old Testament, Topic Studies

Where this study stemmed from

In today’s world of political correctness and permissiveness, the very word “abomination” is something that most people recoil from and completely reject. The industry I work in is very liberal, and I’m often placed in a position of needing to explain and defend my faith as tactfully as possible. Most people can wrap their heads around the fact that I don’t keep Christmas, don’t eat unclean meats, and keep a seventh-day Sabbath. But where their understanding stops is when it comes to homosexuality, because they believe that it’s bigotry or hatred on my part not to accept homosexuality as a completely natural thing.

There is a shaky line I have to walk in explaining that it has nothing to do with hating those people specifically, but that I also don’t get to pick and choose which commandments are valid within the things God says are wrong. I’ve had many people tell me that it was only considered wrong in the Old Testament, but that the New Testament doesn’t mention anything about it and Jesus did away with all that Old Testament hardline nonsense.

But the thing is, we know that Jesus didn’t do away with the Old Testament—only added to it or fulfilled some aspects (such as the need for the Levitical priesthood and physical sacrifices). And so quite some time back, I decided that I needed to do an in-depth study on what God considers abominations, so that I could confidently discuss the topic when asked.

The use of “abomination” in the Bible

It makes sense to start by finding out what things or actions God call an abomination. Interestingly, people often think about this as being mainly a hardline law/Pentateuch thing, and certainly there were a number of occurrences there. But it came as a surprise to me that the highest concentration of the word “abomination” appears to be in the book of Proverbs, in verses concerned with the heart and mind.

The words “abomination” and “abominable” are used over 170 times in the KJV and probably a similar number in the NKJV, though they tend to be used a less frequently in certain modern translations. While there’s only one Greek word translated this way, there are around five different Hebrew words. Three are from the same root word (shequets, shaqats, shiqquts) and mean roughly the same thing—filth, figuratively or literally an idolatrous object, detestable thing. These words are used when speaking of unclean animals, for instance, or often refer to pagan or idolatrous things in a more general sense. Two other words (ba ash and piggul piggul) are only translated abomination once or twice, but more often words like stank, loathsome, and abhor are used when translating them.

The most prominent word translated “abomination” is to ebah to ebah, and signifies that which is disgusting morally, an abhorrence. It is used not only in the passages we expect (such as those on sexual sins or pagan rituals) but also passages in Proverbs and similar that speak to behaviors God finds detestable.

Touring the Holy Land: Petra & Wadi Rum, Jordan

By admin

On November 11, 2017

In History, Topic Studies

This post continues our series about our trip to Israel and Jordan, and is more photo diary than the others—meant to really give you a sense of place. Jordan is one of the most unique and fascinating places I’ve ever had the privilege of visiting. While it’s obviously its own nation today, much of its land was a part of the Israelite nation in biblical times, and all or almost all of it was part of the Promised Land.

You can also catch up on the other posts here. If you haven’t already, I’d recommend starting with the Introduction, which gives some helpful context to the geography, history, and politics of the region before we dive in.

Geography, Culture, and Background: An Introduction

Northern Israel: the Galilee Area, Tel-Megiddo, and Akko

Tel Aviv and Old Jaffa, Be’er Sheva, and the Negev Desert

Jerusalem, Masada, En Gedi, and the Dead Sea

Our friends dropped us off at the border in Eilat and we walked across, dealing with all the visas and security checkpoints. Once across (technically in Aqaba now), we waited for our taxi driver to arrive and some of the other taxi drivers shared their coffee with us while we waited.

The Land of Jordan in the Bible

Obviously that’s super broad, because the modern-day country of Jordan has even had significant boundary shifts over the last century or two. So here are just a few highlights on the ancient nations that help inform today’s Jordan.

When the kingdoms of Israel and Judah controlled the land of Canaan, the kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom ruled east of the Jordan. The bible tells us quite a lot about the origin of these peoples.

The Edomites: In the Bible, the Edomites are the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s twin and Isaac’s oldest son (Genesis 36). The Edomites controlled an area east of the Arabah, from the Zered to the Gulf of Aqaba. Their capital was Bozrah (modern Buseirah), which sat in the northern part of their territory.
The Ammonites: In the Bible, they are described as being descendants of Ben-ammi, who was the son of Lot (Abraham’s nephew) and Lot’s younger daughter (Genesis 19:38). The capital of the Iron Age (roughly 1200-600 BCE) kingdom of Ammon was Rabbah, which is located at modern-day Amman, Jordan.
The Moabites: In the Bible, the Moabites are said to have descended from Moab, the son of Lot and his oldest daughter (Genesis 19:37). The kingdom of Moab stretched “north and south of the Arnon River” with its capital at Dibon.
- Ruth was a Moabitess—it’s possible that Moab is given some slack in end-time prophecy because of her faith and her role in Christ’s geneaology

These people factor into end-time prophecies as well. Daniel tells us that “He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon” (Dan 11:41).

When You Pray: What’s In Your Closet?

By WmTell

On September 21, 2017

In Christian Living, Topic Studies, Verse Studies

But you, when you pray, enter into thy closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which seeth in secret shall reward you openly (Matt. 6:6)

We can deduce the obvious meaning here, and have heard that repeated over the decades—don’t be showy in prayer, but rather make it a private conversation with your Creator.

That is valid, and you won’t find me in disagreement. But is there an important message here that we’re missing?

I’m not one to arbitrarily find “deeper meaning” in everything or try to be the smartest person in the room. But I do think that we maybe need to look below the surface a little more here.

…enter your closet

If you were to spend any time at all looking at archaeological findings in that era of time (1st century CE), you would realize that the concept of a closet, or a separate private room in a multi-room dwelling, was foreign except to the wealthy. And I don’t think that Jesus Christ spent a lot of time instructing the wealthy, rather His time was spent with the common people. So how could this teaching connect to their lives? More importantly, what can we do with this teaching?

The best way I can illustrate this is with a phrase from the last several decades: “…coming out of the closet…” In today’s age that has a very specific meaning to us, but the phrase also has a more general meaning that should be important to us as we consider the passage in Matthew 6. This colloquial phrase means exposing a personal character trait that you or I have been keeping secret. So how should this affect the way we pray?

It is my view that we all have a closet that we keep closed and don’t really want anyone else to get a peek into, including God. Some of us have a closed door to an inner room and know it, and others have managed to fool themselves into thinking that they don’t—but we all do. To be honest, we don’t even want to look in there ourselves! It’s much easier to keep the door closed than to try to clean out the closet.

A conversation with a friend

Again, how should this affect the way we pray? I’m going to get even more basic here: what is prayer?

I think we tend to shroud certain “religious” issues with mystique. Issues like bible study, meditation, worship, and yes, prayer. The reality is, differences in personalities and experiences make each of us people that learn, muse, demonstrate passion, and talk or communicate in different ways.

Let’s take prayer. What is it? I suggest that it is simply engaging in conversation. Obviously, this is a talk with someone who is far greater than us. So anything I say here is not to mitigate intercessory prayer, thanksgiving, asking for favors or help, and so on. But those things don’t facilitate a relationship. Rather, they take advantage of a relationship.

Touring the Holy Land: Old Jaffa, Be’er Sheva, & the Negev Desert

By admin

On August 26, 2017

In History, Topic Studies

This is the third post in a series about our trip to Israel and Jordan, focusing particularly on the history and biblical relevance to areas we visited. After our first day, spent up in the north part of Israel tracing Jesus’s footsteps around the Sea of Galilee and wandering the ruins of Megiddo, we got to spend a beautiful sabbath morning in modern Tel Aviv and ancient Jaffa before driving through the Negev Desert to the Red Sea.

If you missed the other posts in the series, here are the links. I’d definitely recommend starting with the maps and introduction post, which gives some helpful context to the geography, history, and politics of the region.

Geography, Culture, & Background (start here!)

Northern Israel: the Galilee area, Tel-Megiddo, & Akko

Petra and Wadi Rum, Jordan

Jerusalem, Masada, En Gedi, & the Dead Sea

Tel Aviv & Old Jaffa (Yafo/Joppa/Japho)

We based ourselves in Tel Aviv the first couple days we were there, but didn’t end up getting to spend a lot of time in the city itself. Tel Aviv is actually quite modern, officially founded in the early 1900s by Jewish settlers as the Zionist movement was gaining traction. It’s a vibrant and interesting city with gorgeous Mediterranean beaches, and the center of tech and finance in Israel as well as one of the great tech cities in the world. So what does that have to do with biblical history?

While Tel Aviv is a young city, it was founded on the outskirts of—and eventually consumed—the ancient port of Jaffa (also known as Yafo, Japho, Joppa, etc.).

History of Old Jaffa

Basically everyone has owned Jaffa at some point—it’s one of the oldest functioning harbors in the world. As we mentioned in the last post on Akko, that means that its history is quite colorful (and lengthy!) as well.

The port is strategically located near the north-south Via Maris (“Way of the Sea”), the ancient coastal road that connected the regions north of Israel (Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Syria) to the south (Egypt).

Established as Canaanite port, conquered by Egyptians in 1500s BC (first recorded), Hittites tried to take around 1300
Came under Philistine control in 12th century BC, apparently back and forth between Philistine & Judah for a long time
- Philistines (“Sea Peoples”) from the Aegean Sea landed in Canaan and Egypt in 12^th century BC. They battled the Egyptians for control, and eventually the Philistines were confined to a small area in the southern coastal cities, from Gaza to Ashkelon, eventually moved up and conquered Jaffa as well. Ruled until King Solomon’s time.
Was a border city for tribe of Dan during the period of the judges
King Solomon used for importing timber during construction of the temple (~1000 BC)
Where Jonah tried to flee to Tarshish (8th century BC)
Hezekiah re-took the port trying to prepare for Assyrian invasion (701 BC)
- In 701 BCE the Assyrians, headed by Sennacherib, invaded Israel in order to bring it into their vast empire (2 Chronicles 32 1). In preparation for the war, King Hezekiah enlarged the borders of the kingdom and fortified the cities in Judea, including the conquest and fortification of of Jaffa (which may have still been a Canaanite seaport at that time). Spoiler alert: the Assyrians won.
Became major Greek city, renamed Joppa (4th-1st century BC)
Continued to play a role throughout history—Romans, Jewish revolts, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusades, Mamalukes and Ottomans, and even Napoleon conquered it (before the Ottomans re-took it), then the British took over in 1917

Jaffa in the Bible

Because of its strategic position and importance as a shipping port, Jaffa pops up in the bible several times, both Old and New Testament.

Touring the Holy Land: Northern Israel

By admin

On August 19, 2017

In History, Topic Studies

As I mentioned in the previous article, we’re doing a series of posts on our trip to Israel and Jordan, based on a presentation we did speaking to the historical and biblical relevance to various sites. This one is pretty lengthy because the sites are all so close together up in that area, so we were able to visit a lot in one day.

I’d recommend starting with this introductory post to get familiar with the geography of the area and all the places we went. We gave some background on the history and politics of the region as well, particularly as it relates to the modern state of Israel.

After you read the introductory post, make sure you catch these other posts:

Touring the Holy Land: Old Jaffa, Beersheba, & the Negev Desert

Touring the Holy Land: Petra & Wadi Rum, Jordan

Jerusalem, Masada, En Gedi, & the Dead Sea

Dad and I flew into Tel Aviv in the evening and our friends picked us up, got some food into us (yummy fresh falafel and pita), and then we crashed into bed. But we were up early the next morning to get on the road, since we had a ton of ground to cover in the north of Israel. Below is the route we took, then back to Tel Aviv.

Our friend Steven picked us up and we headed north, stopping in Netanya quickly for coffee and French pastries (Netanya is a community of French Jewish emigrants), then arriving in Caesarea Maritima for our first stop.

Caesarea Maritima

Touring the Holy Land: Introduction & Maps

By admin

On August 19, 2017

In History, Topic Studies

This post is a little different from what we typically share on this site. Rather than an in-depth study, it’s adapted from a presentation we gave recently at my parents’ congregation. My dad and I spent a week in Israel and Jordan this spring, and we wanted to share some of our travels in the Holy Land, focusing on where they show up in the bible and some of the history or prophecy tied to them.

Similar to how we started the live presentation, we’re starting here by talking through a few maps, just to ground the overall discussion. That way once we dive into individual sites you can refer back here if necessary. It’s also helpful to have some context on the modern state of Israel and some of the dynamics and politics of that area, so we’ll provide a (super topline) bit on that at the end of this post. Once you’ve read through this post, here are the next ones:

What do we mean by the Holy Land?

Roughly speaking, the Holy Land encompasses the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean (and including the eastern bank of the Jordan). The ruins of the world’s oldest civilizations lie within this region, and most (though not quite all) of the bible takes place within its borders.

For this particular trip, we spent time in the country of Israel as well as southern Jordan. The map below shows the modern state of Israel and some of the key cities and sites. While not marked on the map, we also visited Wadi Rum and the lost city of Petra in Jordan, which are both in the south—to the east of Eilat (Wadi Rum; Eilat is at the very tip of Israel, if the map is fuzzy) and southeast of Mitzpe Ramon (Petra); both are about halfway over in Jordan on the part pictured by this map.

Putting the modern state of Israel into perspective

Something that many people don’t really realize is how small today’s Israel is. The whole country is about the size of New Jersey. Unless you’re from the Northeast, that probably doesn’t mean much, so I overlaid it on my home state of Kansas for comparison—this fun website allows you to set a point of comparison and it will overlay Israel on it. By our U.S. standards that is so tiny!

What Does It Mean to Be ‘Ambassadors for Christ’?

By admin

On April 17, 2017

In Christian Living, New Testament, Topic Studies

The writers of the New Testament focused on many major themes—becoming like Christ, how to treat each other, how to interact and live in the world, what we shall become. In reading their letters and epistles, we can see that we are to be easily distinguishable from the world around us, yet not withdraw from society and live as hermits. We are to interact and live in the world and yet remain unspotted from it. These instructions can seem contradictory at times, and it can be difficult finding the right line to walk (the ‘narrow’ path, as it may be).

In telling the Philippians not to walk as the world, Paul tells them, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20). In other words, we do not claim citizenship of this world, and though we are currently living here, it is only a temporary home.

He then uses an analogy that all his readers would have easily understood, and from which we today can learn a lot. “Now then,” he says, “we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (II Cor. 5:20). The Greek word here translated “ambassador” is presbueo, which means “to act as a representative”. The Latin equivalent used by the Romans (who were in power at the time) was legatus or “legate” in English, which had several meanings including that of a diplomatic emissary sent on a mission abroad. In most respects, the role of an ambassador or legate in ancient Rome was not all that different from our modern-day ambassadors, and being chosen as one was a great honor.

For us today, being told we are ambassadors for Christ may not fully resonate and provide specific guidelines for living our lives. So it’s worthwhile to examine what the characteristics, responsibilities, and lifestyle of an ambassador should be, and see how we can apply them to our lives today. Obviously, though many ambassadors in today’s world (as with all politicians) use lies and manipulation in their jobs, the principles of a good ambassador remain the same.

What is an ambassador?

Ambassadors are the highest-ranking representatives of their governments abroad, and their primary responsibility is to represent and work towards the best interests of their government or head of state. They are not elected—instead they are chosen by the government or head of state, and it is a huge honor to be chosen as one. We, too, were bestowed with an enormous honor when God called and chose us to follow Him (I Cor. 1:26).

Spiritual Strongholds: Laying Siege to the “Walled City” Inside Us (II Cor. 10 Series, Part 2)

By admin

On March 11, 2017

In Christian Living, New Testament, Topic Studies, Verse Studies

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled” (II Cor. 10:3-6)

As I mentioned in the first post on this topic, this is a verse that I’ve always struggled to make super meaningful in the past. High things that exalt themselves against God, sure, that makes perfect sense to me. Even casting down arguments, assuming those are arguments against God’s way and truth, I can wrap my head around. But strongholds aren’t a concept that is immediately tangible to me.

A while back, though, I did have a little bit of a breakthrough where strongholds are concerned, and what they can represent in our lives as followers of Christ. These strongholds or “walled cities” can be external—the obstacle in front of us that we see as bigger than God (covered in the previous post)—or they can be internal.

The internal strongholds are where we have built fortresses protecting pieces of our carnal nature from being conquered. Both types need pulled down. This part of the study deals with the hostile spiritual strongholds quietly occupying our hearts and minds.

Read Part 1 and Part 3 of this series

Enemy strongholds in the heart and mind

While the strongholds in front of us are generally easier to see (if still difficult to overcome), spiritual strongholds’ power lies in their ability to fly under the radar. If you consider yourself a disciple of Christ or a Christian, at some point in your life you decided to turn from your previous life and asked God to put His spirit in you. You repented and were baptized, and ostensibly gave Him unlimited access to every part of your heart and mind—asking Him to transform your carnal mind into one led by Him.

Every one of us that has gone through this process did so with the complete intention of letting God conquer everything in His path, burn it down, and start from scratch. But every one of us also—mostly unknowingly—built walls around a few particular areas to fortify them against this process.

We don’t like to admit it, but it’s generally true of every person. We’re pretty good at identifying and rooting out certain kinds of sins and correcting wrong behaviors. We can refrain from lying, avoid adultery, keep the Sabbath and holy days, and maybe we even had to quit smoking or stop eating certain meats when we came into the knowledge of God. But despite all of this, we still have trouble recognizing or acknowledging the spiritual strongholds located within the deepest regions of ourselves.

When an army conquers a land, they must breach and take every single one of the strongholds, because if an enemy-occupied stronghold remains in the land then the native people there can continually attack whenever they sense weakness. The battle will rage on and peace can never come—the land will never be fully conquered.

What We Can Learn From Haggai About Zeal: Just Do It

By admin

On February 11, 2017

In Christian Living, Old Testament, Topic Studies, Verse Studies

“…Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord”
~Romans 12:11

The book of Haggai is the second-shortest in the Old Testament, and like many of the minor prophet books it’s often skimmed over or overlooked altogether. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t spend much time in these books, simply because I find the contents challenging to relate to. But at the Feast last year I heard a message given from this book that really resonated with aspects of my life over the past several months.

Written during the Babylonian exile, Haggai’s story tells of a complacent and lethargic people. Roughly 16 years prior, the Persian ruler Cyrus had granted them leave to return to Israel and rebuild the temple of God. The people returned to the land filled with excitement and immediately set to building. But they fairly quickly allowed discouragement and their personal concerns to delay and derail their efforts.

As a result, God had stopped blessing them and allowed significant trials to befall them. Eventually, He gave Haggai this message for the people:

“Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, ‘Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled [luxurious] houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?’ Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Consider your ways! You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes.’ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Consider your ways!’” (Hag. 1:3-7)

God points out that they had been working on improving their own lives, establishing and beautifying their own homes, but not accomplishing what He had sent them there to do. Over time they had lost sight of their purpose, and because of their misplaced priorities God had ceased to bless them—all their daily work wasn’t actually accomplishing anything. It was, as Solomon says, “vanity of vanities” (Eccl. 1:2).

Haggai shows us what happens when we neglect His house and put our own priorities first, and there are some really important warnings for us. The Israelites were required to build a physical temple for God to dwell in, but the stakes are much higher for God’s people today.

Our commission: to build His house

Much like He had centuries earlier in Egypt, God plucked the Israelites from subjugation in a foreign land and sent them back to their homeland with a specific directive—to build His house. Our situation is the same today, except we are building a spiritual temple rather than a physical one. He called each of us out of the bondage of this world, brought us into covenant with Him, and promised to provide His spirit as a helper.