Theydorf

Ephesians 6:12

2009-08-15T16:13:00.001-04:00

This verse tells us that our warfare is against demons, and they—angels who rose up against God—look upon us as invaders. As any invaded people would, they see themselves as rising to defend their home and territory despite the fact that they probably know that God has given this earth to us as an inheritance.

This is a spiritual parallel of Israel coming out of Egypt, going through the wilderness to their inheritance in Canaan, but Canaan was already inhabited. The Canaanites rose up to defend themselves against those they saw as invaders. Who knows if the Canaanites knew that God had promised their land to Abraham and his descendants? Rahab seemed to understand this in Jericho, so it is likely that the Canaanites also knew these things.

God does not do things in a corner; He witnesses to people when He acts. The demons are well aware that they are defending themselves from those who will take over their estate—and they are going to fight to hold it.

Ephesians 6:12-17

Ephesians 6:12-17 makes especially clear that we are involved in a war, a spiritual war, and thus our weaponry must also be spiritual.

The Christian must tend to his weapons, as every soldier in warfare must, for not only is his life on the line but also the lives of his buddies, as he is their keeper too. Without serviceable weapons, the battle is often lost even before it begins. It is a terrifying thought to imagine oneself on a battlefield with nothing in hand to fight the enemy.

The Bible makes it clear that God has willed that this warfare is an absolute necessity for the development and preparation of His children to live in His Family Kingdom. It cannot be avoided; we cannot remain neutral. In one sense, we really have no choice. We must either fight or be lost.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Christian Fight (Part Two)

Related Topics: Christian Fight | Christian Warfare | Military Metaphor | Military Metaphors | Preparation for Future Role | Preparation for Rulership | Soldier Metaphor | Spiritual Armor | Spiritual Warfare

Ephesians 6:10-13

In conclusion, be strong—not in yourselves but in the Lord, in the power of his boundless strength. Put on God's complete armor so that you can successfully resist all the devil's craftiness. For our fight is not against any physical enemy: it is against organizations and powers that are spiritual. We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world, and spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil. Therefore you must wear the whole armor of God that you may be able to resist evil in its day of power, and that even when you have fought to a standstill you may still stand your ground. (Phillips)

It is clear that we are fighting a spiritual war against enemies who are far greater in numbers, intelligence, subtlety, and power than Israel had to wage war against in terms of the Amalekites, the Moabites, and so forth. In addition, our enemy is invisible.

Paul tells us to "stand," a military term for holding on to a position. In effect, before one can launch an attack, he must first hold the position he is in. In the Phillips translation, the word "against" is used four times, probably to stress the determined hostility that our enemy has. The Christian soldier is confronting something that, as a soldier, he could not overcome except that he himself also has invisible help to draw upon as a resource.

In military strategy, perhaps one of the most basic of all rules is never to underestimate the enemy. Our struggle is not merely against human foes, yet we find, in other places, that it is a war to the death. In fact, here in Ephesians 6, this idea is hidden in the Greek. It is a war to the death against supernatural forces. The word "powers" denotes those who aspire to world control, and ancient writers used the term to designate the savior gods of pagan religions. That is who we are fighting against—demons!

Our warfare, then, has all the trappings of a literal war, but it is something that we cannot see yet happening nonetheless. The qualities that we need to fight this war are not things we have inherently. We have to be given them by God. Our relationship with God is of supreme importance as to whether we are going to have the proper resources to fight this battle. We have to go to Him to get them, and we also need to be on good terms before He gives them to us.

One of the most valuable of all of these resources is the mindset that we are involved in a war. There are times when we, as a soldier, are going to face privation and hardship. There are going to be times of pain—both physical and mental. There are going to be times of sorrow that may lead us to depression or even bitterness. There will be occasions when we will be in fear and feel a great sense of insecurity. There are times we will win our battles, but other times we will lose and thus feel guilty and maybe depressed. There are going to be times of obedience that give a feeling of exhilaration and of being in control, as well as times of disobedience when just the opposite will be the effect.

There will also be times when we will be aware that God is disciplining us—sometimes in terms of punishment for sin and at other times in training to prepare us to master what we are doing. There will be times of sacrifice and even times of death. Nevertheless, all of these are part and parcel of a soldier's life.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Endure as a Good Soldier

Related Topics: Armor Metaphor | Armor, Spiritual | Demonic principalities | Endurance | Enduring Hardship | Enduring Privation | Military Metaphor | Military Metaphors | Soldier Metaphor | Spiritual Armor | Spiritual Warfare | Standing Firm

Ephesians 6:10-14

Notice the number of times in these few verses that we are exhorted to stand. We must hold our ground as we fight against the pressures of Satan and this world. In verse 11, Paul tells us to "stand against" the Devil's tricks. In verse 13, he encourages us to prepare "to withstand in the evil day" and "having done all, to stand." In the next verse, he concludes, "Stand therefore" and put on the armor that God can supply.

There are two things to notice here. First, we are to stand firm. Paul does not instruct us to be agile or swift of foot. To the contrary, he advises us not to move; we are to stand on a firm foundation, as it were. We are to be securely grounded, rooted and unmoving. A person living a life of integrity is not shifty, but has solid convictions rather than preferences that vary with circumstances.

Second, Paul details the armor we need to "take up." He lists several pieces of "the whole armor of God," but "the breastplate of righteousness" deals mostly closely with integrity.

Most soldiers in Paul's day wore a breastplate, and even today, the most basic protection offered to police and soldiers is the armored or bulletproof vest. The Roman breastplate, primarily made of bronze and backed with leather, was worn around the chest, protecting the heart and other vital organs. In Paul's spiritual analogy, the breastplate guards the heart, the seat of our attitudes and emotions. In other words, if we are to stand firm in the truth, our heart must be protected!

Interestingly, the translation of the New Testament by J.B. Phillips renders "the breastplate of righteousness" as "integrity your breastplate." Paul instructs us to protect our heart, our love, and our emotions with a breastplate of integrity! As part of the equipment each Christian needs to stand firm in the spiritual war we have been recruited to fight, we must fasten integrity right across our chests to provide protection. What happens when a soldier takes off his breastplate? He opens his soft abdomen to attack; he is unprotected! Spiritually, the heart becomes vulnerable, apt to be turned away.

How many were crucified with Christ?

2009-07-18T18:36:00.001-04:00

Concerning the scene of crucifixion, what most of us bring in mind is Christ crucified on Calvary with two others one on each side. Though this is the tradition and the idea we have all grown with, I would like today to go to the Bible and see what it says concerning this tradition. I see this as a case that will show with clarity the pureness of God’s Word and also the distortions we may get when we read our ideas and traditions into it. What I’m going to present is not something that I’m the first to see. Actually it is mostly based on the analysis of Appendix 164 of the Companion Bible1 (Title: “The “Others” crucified with the Lord”).
The problem with the traditional view
What I see as a problem with the traditional view is that on the one hand we have the record of Matthew 27:44 and Mark 15:32 that say:
Matthew 27:44
“Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.”
And Mark 15:32
“Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him”
On the other hand, we have the record of Luke 23:39-43 that tells us:
“ Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us. But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? "And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing
1 The Companion Bible, Kregel Publications
wrong." Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
To the enemies of the Bible, the record of Matthew and Mark contradicts the record of Luke, and using the tradition that wants Jesus being crucified with only two others in total, they find an opportunity to attack the Bible and the accuracy of God’s Word. It is this reason that makes me to want to present this subject today. My purpose is not to degrade traditions or “say something new”. What is my purpose here is to show the accuracy of God’s Word. It is this amazing accuracy that I hope will encourage you to study His Word and believe it as it truly is: the inerrant Word of God. Before we move further though, another discrepancy that Bible’s enemies see is that Matthew defines the act of the crucifixion of the two thieves, after the dividing of the Lord’s clothes:
Matthew 27:35-38
“Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots." Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.”
As it appears from Matthew first Jesus was crucified, then divided His garments casting lots and then they crucified the robbers. On the other hand, here is what Luke says:
Luke 23:32:34:
“There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them,
for they do not know what they do." And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on.”
The enemies of God’s Word, using the tradition of only two others crucified with our Lord, see again here one more alleged contradiction: Matthew places the crucifixion of the supposingly two others after the dividing of the Lord’s clothes but Luke places it before. However, as we will see the contradiction is only because we take tradition as truth and try to read it into God’s Word. We suggest therefore that we leave aside all traditions, paintings, art etc that want Jesus crucified with only two others on Calvary and take what God’s Word says, as truth about the subject. Leaving aside all the traditions, and taking things in a chronological order we have the following:
As Luke tell us, Jesus is arriving at Calvary. Two others are led with Him to be put to death as well. Now before we move forward look at how the Word of God calls these two others: it calls them CRIMINALS (Greek: κακούργοι (kakourgoi)). On the other hand those for which Matthew and Mark speak about they are called robbers (Greek: ληστές (listes)). In Luke one of the criminals reviled Him but the other didn’t. In Matthew and Mark both robbers reviled him. In Luke the criminals were crucified together with Jesus before the dividing of his garments. In Matthew they were crucified after the dividing of the garments. Putting therefore all the records together we have:
1. Jesus is arriving at Calvary. With him two criminals are led.
2. The three of them are crucified together.
3. The soldiers divide his garments
4. A description is set up in the cross
5. Then two robbers are crucified as well
6. The one of the criminals reviles Jesus. The other rebukes him and asks the Lord for His remembrance
7. Both of the robbers revile Jesus. None asks for His remembrance
There were two criminals of which one repented and we will see him together with Lord, and two robbers of whom none repented. There were two on the one side of Jesus and two on the other. This we can also see in John 19:32-33 where we read:
John 19:32-33
“Then came the soldiers and brake the legs of the first and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they break not His legs”
The soldiers went to the first crucified and they broke his legs. Then they moved to the second crucified and did the same. Only then, they came to Jesus. So Jesus was third in the row and not second. First was the first crucified, then the other crucified with him and then Jesus. If we read the above record assuming only two others crucified with Him, then the soldiers would break the legs of the first, then they would pass by Jesus, break the legs of the other and then return to Jesus. This would be rather irrational and it is not supported by the text. The text rather presents the act as having to do with people in a row. “When they came to Jesus”, they had already broken the legs of the other two that were before him in the row. Since Jesus was in the middle (John 19:18), this means that there were two “on this side” of Jesus and therefore “two on the other” (please see in the appendix: the record of John 19:18), making the total number of those crucified with our Lord 4.
Appendix
Concerning the references of John to the crucifixion, in general John does not focus on when the things happened but on what happened. In John 19:18 we read:
“And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the centre.”
The word “one” is not in the Greek text. Here is the text from the Interlinear version:
οπου {WHERE} αυτον {HIM} εσταυρωσαν {THEY CRUCIFIED,} και {AND} μετ {WITH} αυτου {HIM} αλλους {OTHERS} δυο {TWO} εντευθεν {ON THIS SIDE} και {AND} εντευθεν {ON THAT SIDE } μεσον δε τον{AND IN THE MIDDLE} ιησουν {JESUS.}
Or removing the Greek:
“Where him they crucified and with him others two on this side and on that side and in the middle Jesus”
The phrase “on this side and on that side” is the Greek phrase “εντευθεν και εντευθεν” (enteuthen kai enteuthen) that is also used in Revelation 22:2 and it is translated there “on either side”. The text therefore tell us that they crucified Jesus with others two on either side. Does it mean “with others two, one on each side” or does it mean “with others, two on either side?” It all depends on where the comma is placed (the ancient text had no commas). My personal view, and since this fits with the record of the same gospel (John 19:32-33) speaking of four persons crucified, is the second i.e. “with others, two on this side and two on that side”.
Tassos Kioulachoglou

It's a Question of Attitude

2009-02-14T14:27:00.002-05:00

Living the Christian life demands that we develop right attitudes and motivations. Here are some attitudes that we should definitely not develop.
Has anyone ever accused you of being in a "bad attitude"?

What, exactly, is a "bad attitude"?

It's easy, of course, to tell when others are not rightly motivated not thinking as true Christians should — isn't it? After all, you can hear their nasty remarks. You can see the wrong things they do and the selfishness they display. You may wonder. How can anyone be so bad?

Good question' But how about you'' Aren't you. at least and maybe more than occasionally, in a similar frame of mind? Do you abhor your own behavior as much as you do others? Do you always recognize when you are in a bad attitude? Are you deeply, honestly aware of it?

Perhaps you mislead someone — or maybe cloud the issue or exaggerate the facts. Or you are harsh toward a friend. Or you turn down an opportunity to help. Are you converted enough to repent of your mistake, to try to repair the damage and to do what you are supposed to do?

Some people are only in a good attitude when everything goes well with them - when their needs are fulfilled to their own satisfaction. But is there any merit in that? Can you still be in a good attitude when you are sick or when you lose a job or when people spread false rumors about you? Can you still fully live the Christian way when things get really tough''

Attitude spells success or failure depending on whether the attitude is good or bad. A good attitude can mean a happy home. a pleasant job situation, genuine friends — certainly a closer relationship with God. But a bad attitude can result in a broken home. unhappy surroundings, frustrations and loneliness!

For the true Christian, having the right attitude is all-important. God judges us according to our attitudes! Having the right attitude is our key to God's Kingdom.

After God's heart

Consider the criterion God used to choose David to be king over Israel.

When God told Samuel to go to the house of Jesse to find out which of Jesse's sons God would select to replace King Saul. Samuel first looked as we all do — at the sons' appearances.

"But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him for the lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" " (verse 7).

And God chose David. But why? What made David, and not his brothers, a man after God's own heart? The Bible clearly reveals the answer in one single verse: "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will" (Acts 13:22).

Notice it! David was a man after God's own heart because he was ready and willing to fulfill all God's will. Not his will, but God's. Despite his main sins and none of us is without sin - David's heart was right.

This mental frame of wanting to obey and serve God is the essence of a right altitude and its the opposite of a bad attitude. When you are wrong, are you willing to admit it? The hardest thing for any human being to do is admit that he is wrong. But a willingness to see and correct error is an important part of a right attitude.

Christ gave a striking example to illustrate the importance of correcting wrong: "A man had two sons." Christ said, in parable, "and he came to the first and said. "Son, go, work today in my vineyard." He answered and said. I will not, but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go" (Matt 21:28=30) Which one of the two sons resembles you? The decisions you make may not always be wise, but after thinking things over and examining the facts, arc you Christian enough to change your mind and do what you should have done in the first place?

If you are not willing to recognize your mistakes and change, then Christ will give you the same answer He gave those who heard this parable, saying, "Assuredly. I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you" (verse
31)

Let's briefly examine four major aspects of wrong attitudes. We all have wrong altitudes from time to time, and we need to overcome them. When we do. we will have made a giant step toward the Kingdom of God.

Constantly finding fault

Some people constantly look for faults in their neighbors. They criticize and condemn, making themselves judges. This always-
wanting - to - find - fault attitude makes them feel superior — fills them with self-righteousness.

Do you realize that you can never enter God's Kingdom until you get rid of this altitude?

Christ said: "Judge not. that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use. it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye. but do not consider the plank in your own eye?" (Matt. 7:1-3).

Satan was the first to develop and exercise this fault-finding attitude. As the archangel Lucifer. before he became Satan, he-found fault with God's government and began to want to take-God's place Isa. 14:12-14. Ezek. 28:12-15). He influenced a third of all the angels to develop this same rebellious attitude toward God. convincing them to join him in an unsuccessful attempt to knock God off His throne (Rev.12:3-4).

Then, alter God created the first man and woman. Satan convinced Eve that God was wrong to forbid Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The couple believed Satan and disobeyed God. Consequently, they were afraid when the) heard the sound of their Creator's voice in the garden of Eden. They hid themselves.

When God asked their why, Adam answered. "I was afraid because I was naked: and I hid myself" (Gen 3:10).

"Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat.'" asked God (verse 11).

Adam's answer is typical of one who wants to justify himself by accusing someone else. He didn't think that he should be blamed for his disobedience. According to Adam, it was the woman's fault! "The woman whom You gave to be with me. she gave me of the tree, and I ate," he told God (verse 12).

Did Eve, then, accept any Blame, No, Her answer was just as self-justifying and accusatory as Adam's: She, too, put the blame on someone else, saying. "The serpent deceived me. and I ate" (verse 1 3).

All things considered, Adam probably thought that the fault for the whole incident was God's, since God made the serpent who, in turn, deceived the woman who convinced Adam to eat the fruit.

This reasoning, strange but familial to us all, is called human logic: It enables us to blame-others for our own shortcomings or wrongdoings. Rather than admitting and correcting our mistakes. we declare ourselves innocent and expect others to repent of having been instrumental in our misbehavior.

Before it's too late, we need to get rid of this always-wanting-to-find-fault attitude.

Being unwilling to forgive
Do you easily forgive others' For instance, if there is a misunderstanding between you and another member of your family. are you willing to recognize your faults and to forgive his? Suppose one of your friends does something wrong and. afterward, tells you he really is sorry. Would you forgive him. or would you hold a grudge against him.?

Most of us don't have a forgiving attitude. We want to get even with people, vindicate ourselves. prove our own righteousness. But one thing is sure: If we don't forgive our neighbor. God will not forgive us our sins.

In the model prayer Christ gave. He taught us to ask God to "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (Malt. 6:12).
Christ added: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (verses 14-15).

God is love, He is always willing to forgive us if we truly repent of our sins. He wants us to develop this same forgiving altitude. Remember Christ's answer when Peter asked Him how often he should forgive his brother? Was it seven times? "Jesus said to him, I do not say to you. up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven" " (Matt 18:22).

Afterward, Christ spoke of a servant who owed a considerable amount of money to his master. His master, filled with compassion and showing mercy, forgave him and canceled the debt.

Shortly thereafter, the same servant was unwilling to write off a small debt someone else owed him. He "went out . . and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me what you owe!" So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying. 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all' " (verses 21-29).

But he would not. He threw his fellow servant into prison. Upon hearing this his own master called him and said: "You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity On you?" (verses 32:13).

Of what value are these parables if we don't learn the lessons they contain for our growth?

What would your attitude be if you were arrested on false accusations and sentenced to die? Suppose your persecutors even mocked you and spat on you Would your attitude be one of forgiving those who falsely condemned you?

This actually happened to Stephen. He was arrested, persecuted and falsely accused His attackers cast him out of the city and stoned him. But he knelt and "cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord. do not Charge them with this sin." And when he had said
this, he fell asleep {died]" (Acts 7:60).

A true Christian should have this type of forgiving attitude at all times. This is the attitude Christ Himself had toward His own murderers! He said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34)

When you repent, God completely forgives and forgets your sins. You cannot enter God's Kingdom unless you learn to forgive your brother's sins.

Feeling sorry for yourself

Some people are perpetual mourners, they can't stop feeling sorry for themselves. Suffering from self pity, they consider themselves victims of circumstance. They seem to be burdened with questions like. "Why me'' and "Why did it have to happen to me?" Somehow everything always seems to go wrong, for them, and they convince themselves that they have no reason to
be happy.

Are you like this? Think of all the seriously handicapped people on earth who have succeeded despite adverse circumstances. These people have worked hard in order to, in many eases, achieve simple things that those of us who are more fortunate take for granted. But whatever their trials, they had one thing in common: They never pitied themselves — never let themselves he discouraged or overcome by their physical handicaps. They didn't waste time complaining about their misfortune.

Are you like this?

Think: If people in the world without God's Spirit - can succeed despite their handicaps, how much more reason do you and I we who have God's Spirit of power — have to succeed! God loves you even it you are Crippled or handicapped. Those
are only temporary physical hindrances, He will never forsake you. Therefore, be courageous and grateful for what you have.

Stop Complaining about what you don't have. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Greatness was never attained through self-pity.

No one will enter God's Kingdom until he learns to appreciate life.

The apostle Paul suffered more than most people. He endured hardship, persecution and all kinds of false accusations He would have had good reasons, humanly, to pity himself After all, before his conversion, he was a well-respected, powerful individual, filled with zeal for a task he did (Phil. 3:4-6).

When he became a Christian, Paul just about lost everything he had, including his friends in the world. For a long lime even those in the Church doubted his conversion and turned away from him. Also, he continually suffered from a thorn in the flesh some physical handicap (II Cor. 12:7).

Wouldn't you think that Paul had enough reasons to complain and to pity himself? But he didn't. Instead, he wrote for our instruction: "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice!" (Phil 4:4).

When you rejoice in the Lord you cannot pity yourself. Rejoicing and pitying are opposites. How did Paul endure suffering and still remain in a good attitude? What formula did he use?

Under God's inspiration, he reveals it to us: "Whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, what ever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things" (Phil. 4:8). The greatest curse in life is when you are cut off from God — when you are left without His Spirit. But there is no reason for you to be cut off from God. You are not alone. If you are a true Christian, you have His Spirit Therefore, whatever your problems, you a begotten child of God must never feel sorry for yourself, never pity yourself (I John 3:22). You will always have the courage to go forward in life in the right altitude.

Feeling "holier than thou"

Some people suffer from an inferiority complex: others have a vain sense of superiority. How about you? If you pity yourself, it may be that you suffer from an inferiority complex. On the other hand, if you think of yourself as being better than others if you are boastful then you are manifesting a "holier-than-thou" attitude.

Examine yourself! Do you think of yourself as better than others little more right more generous — more Christian? When you are proven right and someone else is shown to be wrong about something, do you feel superior to them as a human being?
"Whoever desires to be first among you," said Christ, "let him be your slave" (Matt. 20.27).

The book of Proverbs gives us many admonitions regarding vanity, conceit and self-righteousness. For instance, we read in Proverbs 26:12: "Do you see a man wise in his own eyes'? There is more hope for a fool than for him." Or, "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes. But the Lord weighs the hearts" (Prov. 21:2).

In other words, you might think that you have more going for you than someone else. You might consider yourself a better person perhaps a more valuable helper! But whatever your achievements, however great they may be — if you have conceit in your heart you are in the wrong attitude. And unless you repent of that wrong attitude with all your heart, you will never enter the Kingdom of God.

"Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger. and not your own lips" (Prov. 27:2)

Read the parable Christ gave about the prayers of a publican and a Pharisee. The Pharisee, disdaining the publican next to him. had nothing but good to say about his own attitude, his praiseworthy deeds and his willingness to sacrifice. But the publican, realizing how insignificant he was before God, would not even raise his eyes while praying (Luke 18:9-14). God accepted the publican. but not the Pharisee!

Are you a Pharisee or a publican'? Where is your greatness? What do you have that you have not received from God? Every blessing comes from God. All the glory is His (II Cor. 10:17-18).

If you want to be a Christian after God's own heart, then you must get rid of conceit and boastfulness. You must serve in all humility, counting others better than yourself (Phil. 2:3). You must help without seeking glory.

God is not a respecter of persons. He loves us all and wants us all to be great. But remember The greatest among us is the humblest of all and the servant of all!

In this area, as well as in the case of every one of God's commandments, we need to strive mightily to have right attitudes pleasing to God.

Start the change now — don't put it off! Your attitude is the key to making you a Christian after God's own heart — and will unlock before you the door to the Kingdom of God!

By Dibar K. Apartian, Good News Magazine, January 1983

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brought to you as a Study Resource by the
Church of God Faithful Flock

Are You Expressing True Love?

2009-02-14T09:43:00.003-05:00

Everyone thinks he knows what real out going love is- but few do. Even fewer realize the vital importance of expressing it

Every human being is just naturally interested in his or her own things.

He knows nothing else!

He is interested in his own pleasure. His own happiness. His own profit, His own importance. Charm, Effectiveness, Success, Friends, who mean a lot to him.
Often, He is concerned for others only when he is reminded that he should be, and then it is because doing, nice things makes him feel like a better person. A small sacrifice or a charitable act becomes a means of self exaltation, TO do something nice for others makes him feel good, and makes others admire him.
Yet, in his own mind he thinks he has "love." Truly, as God's Word tells us, man's heart is deceptive above all things and desperately wicked( Jeremiah 7:9).

A Loveless Generation

One of the saddest commentaries of our time is the lack of genuine love and concern for other members of the human race.

Almost everyone suffers from the loneliness of being shut out from the thoughts and actions of others.

Loneliness has come to be a major problem in our modern way of life, it has probably been the cause of more delinquency, destructive acts and desperate behavior than any other single factor.

As Norman Roston wrote in the article "The Ones - Who Wait" published several years ago in The Saturday Evening Post,"you can see them (the unloved) in the city or town, men or women, the young and the old, gathering in the late afternoon or evenings, strolling in the streets, or wandering through stores or in the parks, or sitting on park benches or heading for bars. They are in search of others, the unnamed, the yet to be found, the hour-long or night long companions. And the numberless unseen who merely wait alone in separate rooms, in small desperate rooms, their, hope behind, accepting defeat. These are the ones who have somehow missed the miracle. Passed by while others were chosen."

"Perhaps the saddest of these are the aged and ill, betrayed by the world, forgotten by kin. The living turn cruelly and irrevocably away from the dying. And love, the root of life, withers."

"'I don't know why they're keeping me alive,' said the man in the sun tilled ward in the hospital, his hands flat upon the sheet his head turned toward the window where the sun danced. I'm not going anywhere if I get better. I've got a sister living in California, but she hasn't written for years, and I never hear from my daughters. No one visit's me now except a nun sometimes, who is very nice, but I don't even know her name. It doesn't mean anything."

"It is not merely a matter of age. The loveless exist wherever life may be. They are the obviously scarred or the seemingly well, the wounded with the scar hidden, they are married or single, in and out of careers, in and out of marital beds or motel adventures, all touched by that, shadow of having been denied, forgotten, unblessed."

This is a pitiful, sad commentary on real life! Perhaps you feel that you are being left out of the affection and concern of others.

But what are you doing for others? How about you? Do you have any loved ones going hungry for a word of encouragement, a note or visit that says you care about them?

Truly, outgoing love is in desperately short supply in this generation. If you and I are not careful, we will fall right into the trap that so many people without any knowledge of God's truth are in. But if we will begin to exercise outgoing concern ourselves, our own loneliness will evaporate.
Even though this godless generation makes goodwill diilicult, it is still necessary for human happiness. Life without personal warmth and goodwill is not real living.

Love Absolutely Necessary

People need to see a smile and receive a cheery greeting that some how conveys interest in their welfare, with a willingness to stop and help when necessary. Such love is a vital part of any happy society.

And it will be a prominent, personal, daily quality in God's Kingdom. Those of us who are able to see that outgoing love is, a part of God's way of life, and who have chosen to come out of this world and to learn and practice God's way, may not excuse ourselves from having and practicing outgoing love and concern for others. It is an absolute requirement for any who expect to enter His Kingdom.

Those who have not demonstrated genuine outgoing concern for others in their daily lives will not enter at all (Matthew 25:31-4)!

To those who do not aid the stranger, the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick and the confined, Jesus Christ will say, "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

True love is so important that Almighty God warns those without it that they are as worthless as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1).

A personality devoid of outgoing love is a sick personality! It is unpleasant, unwholesome and ineffective.
On the other hand, an outgoing personality adds immeasurably to health, happiness and prosperity. It is a delight to everyone, and it will certainly make the lives of those around much brighter and more worthwhile.

The apostle Paul, wrote: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing" (I Corinthians 13:1-2).
.
This knowledge comes only from, the Bible, and understanding Comes from God's Holy Spirit, which no one possesses naturally.

Without God's Holy Spirit, the only genuine interest we have is self-interest. Unconverted people are interested, in others only in relation to what others mean to them - what they get in return.
Since this world's advisers are without God's Spirit, their writings or examples unwittingly advocate "putting it on" in order to receive. But giving in order to receive is not goodwill. It is pursuing self-profit.
All of us have heard about love and goodwill from people who don't really understand it. We have seen others' examples of what it is supposed to be, but We have received wrong information. Right Knowledge was simply not available because of a lack of spiritual understanding.

Some Are Asleep

Yet even some who have been baptized, have God's Spirit, know God's plan and hope to enter God's Kingdom lack this outgoing love. They just don't think about others. Their fruitless lives make it obvious that they do not actively care for others. They intend to do right. They often think to do good works, yet seldom get around to actually doing them. They try to be nice they often say and do pleasant things They try to be fair.

Yet, no one is benefited. No one's life is being changed. No one's hope is lifted up. No happiness is radiated to others. No joy is spread,. Instead, they are forced to rationalize, defend themselves, argue or retreat. This kind of behavior falls far short of truly outgoing love.

In fact, it is, not love at all.it is merely living up to what we feel is required of us. It is a person's way of demanding credit for being nice. It is selfish.

Goodwill or true outgoing love must come from a Spirit-led heart, Even though the heart of man is not naturally inclined to love his fellows, through God's help we can change.

And there is a lot we must do ourselves.

What can we do?

The formula for receiving God's Holy Spirit is given by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2:38.

Peter said to those pricked in the heart and wanting to do something about their condition: "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Repentance means turning 'from your human way of self-centeredness And pursuing God's way. It means repenting of breaking. God's law. and setting your will to obey from here on.

God will then give you His Holy Spirit, a spirit of a sound mind -- wisdom by which you can intelligently love and consider others. You cannot work up goodwill by yourself.

To act like you have is to be false. Any act, no matter how good; is eventually discovered to be just that - acting.

On the other hand; when we receive God's Holy Spirit we do. not just automatically and mysteriously become perfect. We work toward perfection with much effort on our part using the Spirit God gives us.

God's Spirit opens our minds to realize the importance of others in our lifes and our importance in theirs. The goodwill we give and receive is a vital commodity. We come to realize that fellowship of kindred spirits is most beautiful. God's Spirit also gives us the assurance that this harmonious love and goodwill is worth working for.

If you would like to know more about this vital key, to true outgoing love, write for our free reprint "How You Can Be Imbued with the Power of God" See the middle front cover for the address nearest you.

Your part

Outgoing love requires work along with willpower and determination. It is an uphill pull: because human nature is not natrally outgoing.
Human nature, as influenced by Satan the devil, the "Prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2) is selfish.. To be outgoing in love cuts against the grain of what we have been absorbing through Satan's influence all our lives.
Wisdom to try - wisdom to correctly guide your efforts - wisdom to keep trying in spite of all adversity, wisdom to discern God's will - is an absolute necessity in learning to exercise true love.
.
If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him But let him ask in faith, with no "doubting" (James1: 5-6).

In faith, you must stand unwaveringly on your trust and conviction.

In hope, you guide your action expecting to receive the desire you have set your heart on. This hope adds the spiritual motivation to go forward. In love, you must act with un-selfishness, with initiative and genuine concern for everyone.

These three important ingredients are added to your gilt of wisdom through effort on your part they are all important, but the most important, and the one that takes most effort, is love. (I Corinthians I3:13)

Love and Godly Character

This what life is all about. This is how you have your part in your own salvation.

This process of creating Godly Character in us is God's plan of creating children. It is His doing, but we also have our part. Besides our willpower and determination, it takes our resourcefulness, perseverance and drive.

It requires breaking old habits - habits of thinking and acting selfishly. It then requires building new habits - habits of thinking and acting in outgoing love. The old habits are deeply ingrained, just as the new habits must become deeply ingrained if they are to become part of us.

To build a habit .you must do a thing over and over until it becomes automatic behavior. It has been said that we are want we habitually are, and you become godlike when you become habitually and consistently godlike.

God is love and He acts habitually 'and consistently in outgoing love. That is what we are learning to do through HIS Holy Spirit. The basic laws of God are given for the 'purpose of developing godly love and goodwill. They are laws of love (I John 4:8).

The meaning

I Corinthians 13 makes it clear what true love is. The word translated charity in the Authorized Version does not mean "giving to the poor." Verse 3 clearly demonstrates that - read it yourself.

The Greek word translated "charity" is agape, not Phileo which is more commonly used, to denote emotional love. Agape and Phileo have similar meanings, but Phileo "Comes chiefly from the heart," explains Strong's Exhaustive Concordance while agape "comes from the head." It means to think and act toward others with genuine concern and tenderness. It means having goodwill -feeling it deeply but intelligently.

While either word can be translated "love," the Authorized Version translators used "charity"to distinguish this intelligent, heartfelt concern (outgoing love or goodwill) from the kind of emotion that the word love conveys to the average person.

What True Love is Like

Verse 4 shows that this agape, this intelligent outgoing love or goodwill, is always patient with others, suffering long with any grievance received from them.

It is kind - unfailingly kind - as you will see by comparing verse 4 with verse 8.

Love never compares itself with others (II Corinthians 10:12) so that it is never envious (jealous), never vaunts itself (boasts) to get self acclaim.

It is never puffed up (arrogant, self-important). Such puffed-up ego only shows, that you have compared yourself with others and found them beneath you. Goodwill - will never behave itself unseemly (unpleasantly, unbecomingly). Phillipians 4:8 also adds information on the pleasant things we should do instead: "Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, what ever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things."

True love seeks not its own - is not self-centered, not carnal (1 Corinthians I3:5).

It is not easily provoked (aroused to anger).

It thinks no evil - does not dwell on the ugly, wicked side of others behavior, nor is resentful OR bitter!

And it never rejoices in hearing or seeing iniquity. Instead, it rejoices in truth in wholesomeness (verse 6). If a person belittles or insults you, real love never causes you to rail back, but it bears all things (forbears in all provocations). It never inflicts harm for harm, evil for evil or insult for insult.

This agape believes, the best in all matters. It does not show unpleasantness and ill-will by doubting or causing dissent, but hopes for the best in all things - is not negative!

God's Love Endures all things. Trials unpleasant episodes, differences of opinion, misunderstandings do not send it off in a corner to mope or to turn away in bitterness. It does not lose friends over them. It does not give up. It never fails! When everything else has failed, true love - .genuine goodwill and outgoing concern for others will still be going strong.

Jesus Christ's example while On the cross ,is the one we should strive to follow. He said of all His scowling, bloodthirsty, hate filled tormentors, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34).

Can you still be a friend to those who hate you? Can you still have goodwill toward them? Can you still be concerned for their welfare?

You must, you know! And, you must come to have it habitually and consistently.

How to have True Love

If you want to live and act in love and goodwill, go to the author of all that is good. Ask Him prayerfully to give you this attitude and show you the way. Expect Him to answer and to keep on, giving it to you us long us you are trying to give up your old. self-centeredness and striving to " live God's way".

Then follow God's biblical instructions on how to behave toward others in love and goodwill.-Live by the Laws of love.

Your selfish human nature has always had its way in the past and will continue to crop up so you must continue to resist self-will while you step out in faith to do God's will. - "goodwill".

Like a baby's first steps, your first attempts may not be very skillful. You may stumble, you may even fall. But dust yourself off, ask forgiveness and try sgain and again, until you habitually come to have goodwill - God's will towards all people. .

Romans 13:8-9, says: "Owe no man anything, except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandment, "You shall not commit adultery.' 'You shall not murder' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'You shall not covet,' and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, 'You shall love your neighbor, as yourself."

It takes work to be, outgoing. You won't even think to do it without effort, and it won't be successful even then if you don't stay close to God. This also takes effort of will and energy.

Yet this love is absolutely required by God. It is a wonderful thing to have. No one will enter His Kingdom without it (Matthew 25:3l-46).

Now is. The time to "marshal your energy" to make certain you have God's great love. Develop it and radiate it all the rest of your life. The time is short. It is later than you think.

Reprinted from an article by Jack H. Elliott in the Jume 1984 Good News Magazine

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brought to you as a Study Resource by the
Church of God Faithful Flock

Are you a LIVING Sacrifice

2009-02-13T22:39:00.001-05:00

Today we don't worship God by slaying a bull or a goat and offering it as a sacrifice. The sacrifice Christians are to offer is a living one. But what does that mean?

In Romans 12:1 the apostle Paul wrote that we should present our bodies "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God."

A "Living Sacrifice?" What.was Paul talking about? Aren't sacrifices killed?

Well, they were in Old Testament times. Back then the slaying of an animal foreshadowed the time when the Lamb of God would be offered for the sins of the World. Since the death of Jesus we no longer need to offer animal sacrifices as part of our religious worship.

Even under the Old Covenant, though, animal sacrifices were only substitutes for what God really wanted. It wasn't that He needed animals offered to Him. He owns every thing. "For every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle upon a thousand hills," He declares (Ps. 50:10).

Samuel put his finger on what God really desires; "Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offering and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?" He asked, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams (I Sam. 15:22).

The prophet Micah inquired: ''Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" (Mic. 6:6-7).

Would these actions satisfy God?

Here is the answer; "he hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do Justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (verse 8).

That's what God WANTS!

The sacrifice's that truly please Him involve genuine repentance, '"For thou desirest not [animal] sacrifices else would I give it," David stated. "Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart O God, thou wilt not despise.'' (Ps. 51:16-17)

The problem was that without the Holy spirit, carnal human beings, could not fulfill the requirements for Conversion. So the physical Levitical System was set up, by witch sin was acknowledged (but not paid for) by various sacrifices. Physical substitutions and profound ceremonial symbols were used to foreshadow, the spiritual administration under the New Testament, when the Holy Spirit would be given to those God called.

Physical Types

Physical Israel had a physical priesthood serving in a physical tabernacle or temple. Today the church is spiritual Israel. And the Church is the Temple. The church in one sense is also a priesthood, as the apostle Peter pointed out in I Peter 2:5 "Ye also, as lively [living] stones, are built up a spiritual house [not a physical temple], an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices." Agajn in verse 9 he staled, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation."

Of course, for we are training to be kings and priests in the coming government of God (Rev. 1:6, 5:10."

"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection... they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years" (Rev. 20:6). What an awesome calling!

In view of that calling, one cannot help but notice many parallels between various aspects of the Old Testament priesthood and what our spiritual lives should be like.

Take, for example, the clothing the priests wore. It was to be made of fine linen garments "for glory and for beauty" (Ex. 28:40-43, 39:27-31).

Revelation 19:8 tells us that "fine linen is the righteousness of saints," Fine white linen represents God's righteousness - the keeping of commandments (Ps. 119:172). David exclaimed, "Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness" (Ps, 1329).

The priests' clothing was given to them. They had to put off their own. In the same way we must get rid of our own righteousness, which Is as filthy rags, (Isa. 64:6), and let God clothe us with His righteousness (Is. 61:10).

Jesus - The Eternal- is our righteousness (Jer. 23:6). That's why we are told to "put off" the deeds of the flesh and to "put on" the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 13:14, Gal. 3:27).

God's Spirit is Unique

Some mistakenly think I there are other churches similar to God's Church. Actually, there is no such thing AS being almost God's Church. Either it is God's Church with God's Spirit, or it is as far from it as death is from life. The Holy Spirit makes the difference. There is no substitute for God's Spirit.
This is made clear by the Holy anointing oil …symbol of the Holy Spirit with which the Levitical priests were anointed, it was a special bled of prize spices and oil, not to be duplicated for any other use (Ex. 30: 22-33).

If you have received the Holy Spirit and are letting it lead you, stop and think how very different it makes you from those who do not have it. The way you think and act and react, the fruits borne in your life; We are different. GOD'S Spirit sets us apart and makes us holy. We are "holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling," "partakers OF the. Holy Spirit" (Heb. 3:1, 6:4), for we have been anointed by the Holy One" (I John 2:20, Revised Standard Version).

Not just everybody could be a priest. No one else could "join" the priesthood; only those chosen by God, the descendants of Aaron in the tribe of Levi.

When God told Moses to anoint Aaron and his sons, He pointed out that "their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations" (Ex. 40:15). We too, have been anointed to serve God forever throughout all eternity. The priests in ancient Israel had to be totally familiar with God's laws, statutes and judgments so they could teach others, the right way (Deut. 17:9-12, Lev. 10:10-11).

In the government of the world tomorrow, the church and state will not be separate. One government will enforce both civil and religious laws, Because the principles overlap. That's why we will be kings and priests. Do you know God's spiritual and, physical laws well enough that you will be able to teach the world in that day?
God told Moses "Aaron and his sons, thou shall bring unto the door of the tabernacle… and shall wash them with water" (Ex. 29:4). They had to be clean to be consecrated to God, just us we must he cleansed by the waters of baptism. Not only that, they had to continually cleanse themselves when they appeared before God! Otherwise they would die (Ex.30:19-21).

"Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord" (Isaiah 52:11 admonishes. "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (II Cor. 7:1).

Spiritual Sacrifices

What about the "spiritual sacrifices" we are offer. (1 Pet. 2:5)? Here, too, Old Testament types are instructive.

The offerings performed by the Levitical priests particularly foreshadowed facets of' Jesus Christ's life and death. Of special interest to us here is the burnt offering.

In this sacrifice the entire animal (except the skin of the larger animals) was burned upon the altar. It was not classified as an offering for sin; it had a different spiritual significance. It was a voluntary offering of a sweet savor to God (Lev. 1:3, 9), sweet because God loves voluntary serving. Not all sacrifices were voluntary. Not all were of a sweet savor (Lev. 4-6:7).

Jesus was the perfect fulfillment of the burnt offering. He was without blemish (Lev. 1:3). He gave Himself completely to God. He was completely consumed in dedication to God. We are to follow His example.
Notice, in Leviticus 1:8-9, how the different parts of a burnt offering are listed: the head (having the eyes, ears and mouth, as well as the mind and thoughts), the fat (the health and well-being), the innards (the feelings, emotions and affections) and the legs (the path or way of walking). The total being - this is what we must offer to God when we "present our bodies" to Him (Rom 12:l).
We are expected to give our lives; emotions, thoughts, desires, plans - all that make up us - as a voluntary offering to God, to be totally burned up in service to Him.

When the brethren at Philippi performed a good work bv sending help to the apostle Paul, he wrote back "I have received all, and abound: I am full having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God" (Phil. 4:18).

Of course, we are not ''without blemish'' as burnt offerings were supposed to be and as Christ was. But God has provided for that. Jesus our great High Priest, typified Aaron (Ex. 28), appears before God on our behalf. On him is the divine seal of approval that he is "Holiness to the Lord" (verses 36-37).

As far as we are concerned, even our best efforts are often imperfect. But God looks on the heart. And Jesus, is as Aaron was, before God to bear the iniquity [the imperfection] of the Holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts… that they may be accepted before the Lord" (verse 38).

That is how our spiritual, sacrifices are "acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (I Pet. 2:5).

The "GIVE" Way of Life

Voluntary sacrifices such as those even under the Old Covenant, typified the way of life called the way of giving, to take a choice, spotless animal from one's herd or flock and slay it was, an expensive proposition. It was indeed a sacrifice.

Voluntarily giving the best to God - that is the kind of offering God wants.

Obeying God has a price. There is a sacrifice: We must lay down our own lives. And - not just once - we must do it repeatedly;

God commanded that the fire on the sacrificial altar was never to go out. The priests had to keep it burning constantly (Lev. 6:12-13). There was to be a "continual burnt offering" - a sacrifice totally consumed twice a day, evening and morning, day in .and day out (Ex. 29:38-42).

Our prayers ascend before God's throne as ceremonial incense once did. David prayed, "let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and evening sacrifice" (Ps. 141:2). How sweet smelling and pleasing it is to, God when a human being sincerely offers himself totally to God, daily.

Or why not even twice a day, as the evening and morning sacrifices were offered?

An animal sacrifice died once and that was that. We are to be living sacrifices, offered anew every day. And if we are ever called on to give up even these physical lives for God, we, like the apostle Paul, must be "ready to be offered" (II Tim. 4:6) in that manner also.
Notice what Jesus is recorded as saying to God: "Sacrifice and offering [of animals] thou wouldest not [that's not what God is really after], but a body hast thou prepared me [a human body in which he could do the Work of God, giving himself daily in service, fulfilling God's will in everything and finally laying down His life for the sins of mankind]: In [animal] burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come [and here is what really matters]... to do thy will, O God (Heb. 10:5-7).

Our lives are made up of time. It takes time to visit the sick. It takes time to pray for others. It takes time to help those who need help. A Christian life is a life of outgoing giving - sacrificing selfish, personal desires.

Not that we should go around looking at everything we do for God, as a painful exercise in sacrificing, feeling sorry for ourselves us though life should be a bed of nails. Our sacrifices, should be "sacrifices of joy"(Ps. 27:6), "sacrifices of thanksgiving" (Ps, 107:22, 116:17) and "sacrifices of praise" (Heb. 13:15).

It is an honor and privilege to sacrifice anything for the One who gave more to us than we can ever give to Him. David asked, "what shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me'?'' (Ps 116:12).

God wants us to serve Him "with joyfulness and with gladness of heart" (Deut. 28:47) - not begrudgingly. A Christian should totally offer himself to God every day, seeking to obey Him and to live a life based an the principles of the way of give, ''for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul and with all the strength, and to love [one's] neighbor as himself, is more than all whole [ceremonial] burnt offerings and sacrifices" (Mark 12:32-33).
Yes, it is a living sacrifice!.

Janurary 1982 Good News Magazine Article reprint by Clayton Stoop

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brought to you as a Study Resource by the

Church of God Faithful Flock

Elohim thoughts

2009-01-31T13:53:00.003-05:00

The Word, in the beginning--before ANYTHING had been created--was with God, and he, also, was God. Now how could that be?
There might be a man named John. And John might be with the man named Smith, and John might also be Smith because John is the son of Smith, and Smith is the family name. Yet they are two separate persons.
The only point of difference in that analogy is that the Word, at the time of John 1:1, was not, yet, the Son of God. But he was with God, and he also was God.
They were not yet Father and Son--but they were the GOD KINGDOM! From Mr. Armstrong

From Randall Ricker

As he wrote, he substituted names. Substitute the word “John” for “the Word” and substitute the last name “Smith” for “God.” So what we have is: In the beginning was John and John was with Smith and John was Smith. This can be true because John is the son of Smith. Smith is the family name, but they are two separate persons. You can call them persons or personages. One is called the Word which comes from the Greek word “Logos”, which means “spokesman”.

Mr. Herbert Armstrong referred to it as a uniplural noun like family, group or church containing two or more members. Uniplural is an unusual term. Most people have not heard that term, but there is a term in English grammar called a collective noun. That is exactly what this is, like group, family and church. Elohim, this term for God, is a collective noun. Think of it that way if you like. It is the same thing. It allows for a God family with two members, as we have talked about in John 1:1 the Word and God.

collective noun - 3 dictionary results
Sponsored Links Learn English
Learn or improve your english in 3 months, guaranteed!
www.Englishtown.com
collective noun
–noun Grammar. a noun, as herd, jury, or clergy, that appears singular in formal shape but denotes a group of persons or objects.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Origin:
1510–20
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Cite This Source
collective noun
n. A noun that denotes a collection of persons or things regarded as a unit.

Usage Note: In American usage, a collective noun takes a singular verb when it refers to the collection considered as a whole, as in The family was united on this question. The enemy is suing for peace. It takes a plural verb when it refers to the members of the group considered as individuals, as in My family are always fighting among themselves. The enemy were showing up in groups of three or four to turn in their weapons. In British usage, however, collective nouns are more often treated as plurals: The government have not announced a new policy. The team are playing in the test matches next week. A collective noun should not be treated as both singular and plural in the same construction; thus The family is determined to press its (not their) claim. Among the common collective nouns are committee, clergy, company, enemy, group, family, flock, public, and team. See Usage Notes at government, group.

Fundamental of Belief #1

Part A; God Is One

Edited Sermon Transcript

Jon W. Brisby; 11-27-99

Well, what is Elohiym? Elohiym is a uniplural noun, very similar to words like church and family and kingdom. It is a single word and yet the word itself denotes more than one within the composition. When we talk about a church it is singular and yet it is a uniplural noun that implies there are multiple individuals that make up the body that forms the church. The same way that the word family implies that it is made up of several members. So it is in a kingdom, it is one kingdom, a unified kingdom, and yet within that kingdom are several parts. That's what we are talking about with this term God. Within the very uniplural noun that's talking about one God is contained a description that tells us there is more than one part. So therefore an explanation that says there is only one being that is considered God is refuted by the very Hebrew words that were inspired to describe that God.

Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

That's Elohiym, a God defined in a plural form. What's further proof of that? Skip down to verse twenty-six and what do we read? What was it that God did and accomplished?

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion of the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

If "God" refers only to a single individual, why is Elohiym a uniplural noun and why then is it translated "us" and "our" in Genesis 1? This tells us very specifically that there is more than one being in that Godhead that had a part in the design and the execution of everything that was involved in that creation. God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." Otherwise, maybe we think we are serving a God that is schizophrenic. We would be considered crazy, wouldn't we, if we talked about ourselves individually as if we were two people or if you talked about yourself as "us," "we," or "our"? I think people would wonder about our sanity. Wonder if that's what we do when we look at the scripture and see that whoever was involved in this creation talked about "us" and "our." So we know by the use of Elohiym in the Old Testament that we are dealing with God, singular God, and yet it is a divinity, a family that is composed of more than one being. Who are those beings? Well, let us look next at that word YHVH.

Jimmy Swaggart

ELOHIM

The names of God prove plurality of persons. The Hebrew word Elohim, translated "God" in Genesis 1:1 and also in more than 2,700 other places in the Old Testament, is a uniplural noun which means "more than one." Had the sacred writer been led to use the singular El, then there would have been no indication of a divine plurality. But in this initial reference to God, he was led of the Holy Ghost to pen the Word Elohim (Genesis 1:1). Also when one considers that the word Elohim is used about ten to one over the word El, we would have to conclude that this preference for the plural over the singular indicates a definite sign of plurality in the Godhead.

nccg.org

Man Created in God's Image
The first chapter of the Bible says: "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..." (Genesis 1:26, NIV). The word for "God" in the Hebrew is Elohim and is what is called a "uniplural noun". Literally translated, the word Elohim means "gods" and is frequently used in the Old Testament to describe human judges too. Here, though, Elohim is a name for God that not only depicts the plurality of His majesty but also the plurality of the Godhead.

It is plain from the text that more than one divine Person is involved in the creation, as is evidenced by the use of the plural forms "us" and "our". The New Testament teaches that Jesus pre-existed the creation and was Himself God, or part of the Godhead (John 1:1). It also teaches that Jesus Christ created the world at the command of His Heavenly Father (John 1:10). It is reasonable to suppose, therefore, that the Elohim of Genesis 1:26 refers to both God the Father and the pre-existent Jesus Christ since elsewhere we are told that God created the universe through His Son.

Mankind is therefore made in the express image of God the Father and God the Son. This same wording is used to describe the relationship between Adam and his son Seth: "When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth" (Genesis 5:3, NIV). Thus the testimony of Paul, in which he says that "we are (God's) offspring" (Acts 7:28-29), suggests that the relationship between God, Christ, and man is closer than most ordinary Christians might care to admit.

Missing Dimension in Sex

WHO—WHAT IS God?

I have quoted that passage in the English language. But when God inspired Moses to write it, originally, it was written in the Hebrew language. What I quoted is a translation from the Hebrew. And in the Hebrew, the word—or the name—translated into the English name, “God,” was Elohim. That is a uniplural [collective] noun. It is uniplural, like such words as group, church, crowd, family or organization.

Take, for example, the word church. You will read, in I Corinthians 12:20, that the Church is only one Church—the “one body” yet composed of “many members.” Even though it takes many persons to constitute the Church, it is not many churches—it is only the one Church!

A family is made up of more than one person, yet only the one family.

And so, incredible as it may seem to those who do not rightly and fully understand the Bible—and only an infinitesimal minority does—God is not merely one Person, nor even limited to a “Trinity,” but God is a Family.

The doctrine of the Trinity is false. It was foisted upon the world at the Council of Nicaea. It is the pagan Babylonish trinity of father, mother and child—substituting the Holy Spirit for the mother, Semiramis, and calling it a “person.”

God is a Kingdom—the supreme divine Family which rules the universe! The whole Gospel Jesus brought to mankind is, merely, the Good News of the Kingdom of God—and that Kingdom is God. It is a family—a ruling divine Family into which humans may be born!

It is vitally necessary that we understand this truth—if we are to understand the meaning and purposes of sex!

There is only the ONE GOD! Because of false teaching—including that of a “Trinity”—nearly all of us have been reared from childhood to assume that God is one individual Person. It is true that one Person—the Father—is head of the family, but each Person in the God Family is an individual divine Person.

Elohim is the divine Family—only one family, but more than one divine Person. Jesus Christ spoke of His divine Father as God. Jesus said He was the Son of God (as well as the Son of man). Jesus is called God in Hebrews 1:8 and elsewhere. All the holy angels are commanded to worship Jesus (Heb. 1:6, Ps. 97:7)—and none but God may be worshiped!

In Genesis 1:26, Elohim said, “Let us [not me] make man in our image.”

So the Eternal Father is a Person, and is God. Jesus Christ is a different Person—and is God. They are two separate and individual Persons (Rev. 4:2, 5:1, 6-7). The Father is Supreme Head of the God Family—the Lawgiver. Christ is the Word—the divine Spokesman.

Elohim

2009-01-31T13:25:00.001-05:00

El is the singular form of the word God, when -im is added e.g. Elohim, it is made plural. When used to refer to God Almighty, Elohim is similar to a uniplural noun. A uniplural noun can be used to indicate an object in the singular or plural sense. Example: The word sheep can be used to describe one sheep or many sheep. Example: Deer. One deer was at the lake. Many deer are in the woods.

Uniplural noun

2009-01-31T13:19:00.002-05:00

The word "God" here is Elohim. It says, "The LORD our Elohim is one LORD." This phrase is not normally grammatically correct—a plural noun [Elohim] with a singular verb, "is." Elohim is the plural of both El and Eloah. El and Eloah mean "mighty One," "strong One," or "powerful One" according to Brown, Driver, and Briggs. Elohim, being either of these two words in the plural, therefore means "strong Ones," "mighty Ones," or "powerful Ones."

Just from these definitions, Elohim consists of at least two powerful beings. But, as the New Testament shows, Elohim is not limited to two. It can actually signify an unlimited number, so Elohim is a group or assembly of powerful beings.

It is jarring to the ear to say "Gods is," because there is a plural noun and a singular verb, but it is not incorrect. Consider "United States of America." States is plural, but one does not say, "The United States are going to war." One says, "The United States is going to war." One uses a singular verb with a plural noun. Gramatically, we are speaking of collective nouns.

Elohim is plurality in one, and because the sense is singular, it calls for a singular verb. However, everyone using it knows that it is plural and represents many in unity. Our culture forces us to look for a singular being, but Elohim is not singular.

In the New Testament, it becomes very clear that Elohim is a kingdom, consisting of many! Elohim always acts in a singular way. There is never any divisiveness, only agreement.

We have no problem at all saying or hearing, "The United States is bordered on the north by Canada," or, "The United States is in the northern hemisphere," or "The United States delivered a sharp memo to the Japanese today." We always speak of the United States in the singular. We speak of it as an composite of many rather than a singular entity.

When Moses wrote this verse, it was no more discordant to a Hebrew-speaking person, no more grammatically wrong, than it is for us to say, "The United States is. . . ." Elohim, "the powerful Ones," is a Family of at least two divine beings, and many sons and daughters are being prepared to be born into it. A family, whether human or divine, is a unit of many individuals joined as one.

The Bible reveals that a nation is nothing more than a family grown great. This is why we have the Table of Nations in Genesis 10, which shows the forebears of the nations after the Flood. They began with one man and one woman, and they grew great. So it is that Elohim is one institution—a Family—growing ever larger and more complex until it becomes a nation, the Kingdom of God. We see, then, that this is what Elohim is developing.

John W. Ritenbaugh

sermon: The Nature of God: Elohim

2009-01-31T13:02:00.000-05:00

The God Family
John W. Ritenbaugh
Given 03-Jun-95; Tape #185; 76 minutes

For almost sixty years the church of God has sailed along with very little controversy about the nature of God. There were always times during that sixty-year period that the world took potshots at us because of our stand on the nature of God, that God is not a trinity, but there was never any serious problem from within. Then about mid-1993 came the "God Is ..." doctrinal papers in which over a period of about a year the Worlwide Church of God changed its doctrinal position in regard to the nature of God from being a family to a Trinity.

I do not know how much you are aware of what a bombshell this was, but it created a bombshell out in the world at least, and was the single step that was most significant in turning the world's attitude from being antagonistic toward the Worldwide Church of God to one that was looking forward to making the Worldwide as part of them.

Now no less authority than the Catholic Encyclopedia calls the Trinity the central doctrine of the Christian Church. What they are saying is that the Trinity doctrine is the doctrine around which all other doctrines revolve, and it is the concept to which all others owe their existence. They say all other doctrines hang on, lead to, and exist to support this one doctrine.

For the past two years I have been gathering papers from church of God sources in order to distill from them truth on this very important subject. There is no way that I can give you an extremely detailed account in two sermons on this weekend, but this weekend is going to be devoted to this subject. I have gathered papers from the Worldwide Church of God both before and after the change, from the Christian Biblical Church, from individuals such as Keith Hunt, Ernest Martin, and also from the Philadelphia Church of God, the Church of God International, the Church of God Seventh Day, and from quite a number of groups as well, many of them quite small.

These sermons are going to be more like two Bible studies rather than sermons. Like I said, there is no way I can cover everything in detail, so what I have decided to do is to concentrate on two very closely related areas of this subject that I think are essential for us to understand, and are essential to understanding the doctrine.

In Part Two I am going to be quoting at the beginning fairly extensively from a couple of papers that come from the world, but in this sermon almost the entirety of this (95%) is going to be taken from the Bible. We will not be delving into the esoteric writings of some of the world's scholars. I want us to see very clearly what the Bible has to say on this subject. Today we are going to focus on Elohim, because it is central to the Trinity issue. This is not going to be a technical expounding of words.

Since I have been somehow or other put into this position, more and more I am beginning to appreciate Mr. Herbert Armstrong's scorn for biblical scholars, not that he was against scholarship at all, but he meant the scholars of this world who tangle people around on studies of words. The apostle Paul warned Timothy two different times—once in I Timothy and once in II Timothy—not to allow himself, as a minister, to get bound up in arguments about words. He said that they are not profitable to godliness, and he called them to be nothing more than vain jangling.

Understanding Elohim teaches us a great deal about the nature of the Godhead, and this is essential to the direction of our lives. We must be well-grounded if indeed this is the foundational doctrine of the Church of God. Let us turn to Exodus 32.

Exodus 32:1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said to him, Up, make us gods which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.

Exodus 32:4 And he [Aaron] received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

Exodus 32:7-10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get you down; for your people which you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be your gods, O Israel, which have brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of you a great nation.

God was not faking His anger. To say He was mad is, I think, to underestimate the intensity of His anger. I think He meant exactly what He said. God does not mislead people and fake something. He was upset by what these people had done. This occurred pretty early in their journey, and it is important because it shows the concept of the nature of God that the Israelites brought with them out of Egypt. To them, God's nature—His very being—was conceived to be something no greater than an uncomprehending, non-communicating beast that had nothing in common with them, except that it was a mammal, and that it was alive.

Now what or who a nation worships is very important to the quality of life within that nation. It is going to pretty much determine the nation's morality, its kind of government, and the way that government is operated, its educational system, and its economics. It will determine much of its entertainment, music, literature, architecture, art, clothing fashion, and its vision of the future.

In our western cultures we tend to look upon God in a very narrow way. I am telling you right up front here that this way is different from the Bible's approach on this perhaps the most important of all subjects. I say most important, because what an individual worships is going to pretty much determine what he is going to do with his life, how it is going to be lived, and what is going to be big and important to him.

To understand what I mean, we are going to look right at this example. I will give you an illustration of what I am talking about, because as soon as they once again gave their mind over to the Egyptian bull-god, called in history "Apis," look what they did with their lives.

Exodus 32:6a And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings.

What happened to the God that brought them out of Egypt? Burnt offerings and peace offerings are symbols of worship. They started worshipping it. They started giving it honor, reverence, and respect.

Exodus 32:6b And the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

That is not put in there with a clean connotation to it. "They sat down to eat." This indicates gluttony. "They sat down to drink." This indicates over-imbibing and drunkenness. "And they rose up to play." This indicates fornication, sexual things that are beyond the pale of marriage.

Exodus 32:25 And when Moses saw that the people were naked: (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies.)

Here the word "naked" does not mean that they were without clothing, but rather that their spiritual condition had been exposed. It is very similar to "naked" as it is used in Revelation 3 in reference to a Laodicean. "They're wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked." They did not have the righteousness of God clothing them.

Do you see what they did? They gave their mind to a different god, and immediately things began to take place in their life. That is the principle that is involved here. You do that on a nationwide scale, and it is going to determine the direction, the morality, the government, the art, the literature, the education, the economics of the entire nation.

You already know about the record of the Israelites throughout the journey. There was a constant repetition of murmuring, of fornication, and a political and religious rebellion. That was the way of the bull-god, and that was what was driving them.

I am not kidding when I say to you that all one has to do is look at a person and see their style of clothing, and you are pretty well on your way to understanding what might be important in that person's life. The reason is that there is a very powerful drive within us to conform to what we respect. Why do you think all the little groupies, let us say, of rock stars, try to imitate and be like the one that they respect? "Birds of a feather flock together."

There are people who are always concerned about having the latest fashions in terms of dress. They always have to have the latest things. Those people have a problem with lust and with the respecting of a vanity. Where does the god tend to lie? Do you understand what I am driving at?

God is very concerned about the image that His children project, and this is called in the Bible "our witness." If we really are worshipping Him, we will be strongly motivated to be like Him, because we love Him, because we respect Him, and we want to, just like the rock star groupies, imitate, to live like, to dress like, to entertain like, to speak like, to act like, to do everything in the image of this one that we admire and respect. In this case that is exactly what our God wants. This is why He wants us to study His word so deeply and so often. He wants us to get as much an impression in our mind of what He is like as we possibly can, because it is going to profoundly affect what we do with our life; if we believe Him, that is.

Now here is a question that you can answer yourself. Are you a monotheist or a polytheist? Do you worship many gods, or do you worship one God? This is important in regard to Elohim.

Let us go to I Corinthians 8:5. Maybe you have never thought of this verse in respect of this particular subject. Notice the admission.

I Corinthians 8:5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many.)

An interesting thought, and from an apostle yet. I do not think that we would call Paul a liar. He said, "There are gods many, and lords many." In verse 6 he says, "But to us there is but one God." It looks to me like Paul is saying that God has some competition, that He is not alone among the gods.

Let us go back to the Old Testament toPsalm 86.

Psalm 86:8 Among the gods there is none like unto you, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto your works.

Now it begins to look like the Lord, the God of creation, is one God among many gods.

Psalm 135:5 For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.

You begin looking this up, and you are going to find this appears all over the Bible.

Psalm 97:9 For you, LORD, are high above all the earth: you are exalted far above all gods.

Just so you do not think that this is something that is confined to the Psalms, let us turn to Deuteronomy 10.

Deuteronomy 10:17 For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regards not persons, nor takes reward.

This is a concept that is shown throughout the Bible because it is true. There is a plurality within Elohim, and Elohim is consistently described as "the Lord of hosts." "Hosts" means armies. A little bit broader and clearer definition is, "He is Lord of many things."

We also caution throughout the Bible not to let any of these lesser gods take the place of Elohim, who is revealed to us in the very first chapter of His book. The reason our culture has such a narrow view of this is because a false Christianity has dominated its religious thinking, and that false Christianity, for the past 1600 years, has taught a false god who is non-biblical and inexplicable "three-in-one" Trinity. The reason that it is inexplicable is because they are trying to make the explanation fit into biblical context, and it does not fit, and so the final outcome is that it is a mystery that one has to accept on faith.

The following is a quote from A Handbook of Christian Truth by Harold Lindsell and Charles Woodbridge, Pages 51 and 52.

The mind of man cannot fully understand the mystery of the Trinity. He who has tried to understand the mystery fully will lose his mind; but he who would deny the Trinity will lose his soul.

Now wait a minute here! Did not Jesus say in both Mark 4 and Matthew 13 that it was given to the apostles to understand the mysteries of God? I am going to read to you exactly what He said to them in Matthew 13:11.

Matthew 13:11, 16 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given....But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

Did not the apostle Paul write in I Corinthians 2 that we were given the spirit of God in order that we might understand the things of God, and yet these people try to tell us that the Trinity is a mystery, that we will go crazy trying to understand? No. You see, their concept of the Godhead is what is not able to be fit into the Scriptures, and so they have to go into the convoluted argument in order to try to convince others who are looking to the Bible that their explanation is correct, and yet they themselves admit that nobody will ever understand the Trinity. What they are trying to palm off on us is not truth at all. It is an error, and it is beyond them, because they do not have the spirit of God, and because they do not believe what the Bible says.

But really, the nature of God is not hard to understand at all. He gives His children the ability to understand it. If I can say it, it is so simple. You see, the world has a pattern of taking simple biblical truth and making it into a complicated and confusing false teaching. That is why Paul said do not get involved in these arguments over words.

That same Catholic Encyclopedia that I referred to before, very early in their discussion of the Trinity, admitted that the Old Testament has no teaching on the Trinity at all, (I have to hand it to them for being honest) and that the New Testament had no clear statement affirming it. They admitted that the doctrine of the Trinity is developed by what they called "Christological speculation."

Speculation means we are guessing. When you speculate that something is going to happen, you are guessing. You may have a basis in fact in that, but you are still guessing. Now we will give them the benefit of the doubt and say that this central doctrine of the Christian church has been arrived at by deduction. We will change the word "speculation" into "deduction," but it is plain and simple human reason, and not clear scriptures in God's Word.

I will tell you something. It did not come easy into the church. It came in through very much disputing. It was first introduced at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. This is that famous Council that was presided over by the Roman Emperor Constantine, but it did not become firmly entrenched within the church until the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD. I am not talking here about the true church. I am talking about the false church.

I want you to compare that just briefly with the Council that was held in Acts 15, where appears to have taken God only a couple of days to get a true teaching into the true church, as compared to 125 years for the false church to pick up a false teaching. You can see how confusing it was to them. It was not until, I guess, a majority of the people were finally argued into believing it that they were able to force it into the doctrines of that false church.

It is very important for the worshipper—the one who is seeking God—to identify God as accurately as possible. When we look to the Bible to identify God, to find out much about what God is like, we are confronted with a difficulty. It is a language difficulty, and it is a cultural difficulty. The cultural difficulty I mentioned before—how that for all these centuries the western world has been under the domination of a false church teaching a false concept of God.

This has a way of picking up steam until it becomes like a tidal wave, and it is just something that is accepted, and you grow up with it from your earliest years of getting teaching on the nature of God. It had basically been on a trinitarian God, so the cultural difficulty is there.

The language difficulty is something that exists not just with those who speak the English language, but also for people who speak other languages than Hebrew as well. This has inadvertently played a part in the Trinity doctrine becoming a part of the fabric of this world's Christianity.

The English language translation consistently teaches us to identify God as a singular personality. It does this by referring to Elohim as "He" or "Him," or in the case of the Holy Spirit as a "He" or a "Him." We are monotheist, are we not, and so a monotheist would look to the Godhead and look for one personality, Supreme and unique, someone singularly different from everyone else. We would look for someone who would look like us, because right in the first chapter of His book He tells us that we are made in His image, and so we look for someone who is singular and unique. Nobody compares to Him in holiness or in power or intelligence.

Turn now to Genesis 1, and we will begin to get a handle on Elohim.

Genesis 1:1, 26 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth....And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

If we are studying with any depth at all, even before we leave the first verse we are confronted with a problem of some difficulty unless one is willing to believe what the Bible consistently shows from the beginning to the end. The fourth word in the Bible, in English translation, is "God." Do you believe that? No, it is not. That forth word is Elohim. Elohim is Gods—plural. "In the beginning Gods created the heaven and the earth." That is confirmed, for an English-speaking person, in verse 26, where the translators finally used plural pronouns to conform to the plural noun antecedent, Elohim.

Perhaps they were forced to do that, because they recognized that Elohim—God—was speaking to somebody, and He was speaking to someone who was just like Him—"Us"! They were forced into using a plural pronoun. "Let Us make man in our image." In fact Elohim is used 66 times in a row at the beginning of the Bible before any other Hebrew word is translated into the English "God." That occurs in Genesis 6:5 when finally another word is used for God.

If you were reading that in the Hebrew, I think that you would have to be impressed that the author of this book was trying to get something across to the reader that "Gods" (plural) did everything; not a singular individual, but at least two. Are you getting my drift? In fact, brethren, Elohim is used in the Old Testament 2,570 times, every one plural—"Gods."

Whoever, or whatever, this God is, or I think it would be better still to say "Godhead," consists of more than one being, or more than one person, or we might say, more than one personality.

When Jesus preached, He clearly identified one in the Godhead as being Father. Let us go back to the New Testament to the book of Matthew. Toward the end of the first chapter in the Sermon on the Mount He makes this statement about loving your enemies. The reason that we are to do this is:

Matthew 5:45 That you may be the children of your Father.

Now hang onto this term "your Father," because it is going to mean something in just a bit. Now to whom is He speaking? He is speaking to His disciples, and we are His disciples today.

Matthew 5:48 Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Matthew 6:1 Take heed that you do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

Now who is in heaven? God is.

Matthew 6:4 That your alms may be in secret: and your Father which sees in secret himself shall reward you openly.

Matthew 6:6 Pray to your Father [Do you pray to God? Sure.] which is in secret: and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray you: Our Father which art in heaven, . . .

Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

With that thought in mind, turn to John 5:17. The discussion here is in regard to Jesus' use of the Sabbath.

John 5:17-18 But Jesus answered them, My Father, [now instead of being your father, it is My Father] works hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because [according to them] He not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

You do not have to go any further than that and two of the Godhead are identified. And now they have titles: the Father, and the Son. They understood what He was driving at, because He was saying in a fact, "I am God," and He was placing Himself within Elohim. They understood it. They knew, and they were ready to jump on Him for blasphemy. Now Jesus came right back with an answer:

John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do.

That's pretty clear. Where would He see the Father do it? He would have had to have been with the Father.

John 5:20-23 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that Himself does. For as the Father raises up the dead, and quickens them: even so the Son quickens whom He will. [Now He is asserting Himself as having the powers that go with the Godhead: to raise the dead.] For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honor the Son, [in the same manner, with the same reverence, with the same respect] even as they honour the Father. He that honors not the Son honors not the Father which has sent Him.

That is pretty clear. He is clearly asserting, affirming to those people that He is one of the Godhead. One is called the Father. The other is called the Son. Now the plural "Elohim" is beginning to become much easier to understand.

John 14:6-13 Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by Me. If you had known Me, you should have known My Father also and from henceforth you know Him, and have seen Him. Philip said unto Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffices us. Jesus said unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known Me, Philip? He that has seen Me has seen the Father: and how say you then, Show us the Father? Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in Me, he does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works' sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto My Father. And whatsoever you shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Now I am going to show you something else that is in some ways rather shocking. Turn to Romans 8 and we will read a series of verses here.

Romans 8:9 But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.

We are talking about human beings in whom the Spirit of God dwells.

Romans 8:11, 14 But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal body by His Spirit that dwells in you....For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Are you with me? Are you beginning to follow the drift? If Jesus, as a human being, having the Spirit of God without measure, was still considered to be part of the Godhead, (and that's very clear), now what if God begins to give His Spirit to others, and they become the sons of God? Let us chase this out a little bit. Turn to I John 3. This is another very familiar scripture. You ought to be able to see what I am heading for here.

I John 3:1-2 Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him: for we shall see him as he is.

Let us put a cap on this principle. Go to Ephesians 3:14.

Ephesians 3:14-15 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.

Now we see that the family of God is located both in heaven and on earth. In heaven we know that there are two who are spirit who are part of the Godhead. This flies right in the face of monotheism. But even more startling brethren, is that God considers you and me right now to be part of the Godhead already!

Mr. Armstrong used to say that we are the Kingdom of God in embryo. Does that begin to make some sense? Now we have two who are spirit, but if you are with me, you can begin to see what is occurring from the beginning of the Book right till now. He said, "Let us create man in our image," and what we see from the beginning of the Bible all the way to the end is that Elohim is expanding! God is increasing what Elohim is. God is increasing the number who are in the Godhead. That is not hard to understand. We are already children of Elohim. We are in His family.

To us monotheism indicates that one is worshipping one distinct and unique almighty personality, and if anyone claims anything more than that, that person is considered to be a polytheist—worshipping many gods. This is very hard for us to accept here in this western world, and I think that the resistance to accepting what the Bible clearly reveals about the Godhead has in large measure led to the introduction of the "Trinity" because people just cannot accept the simple truth that is in the Bible—that God is expanding. He is increasing His number. We are going to be a part of that Godhead.

So powerful has the belief in the Trinity become that it is the litmus test for whether or not a person is considered to be Orthodox. I do not know how many of you have heard any of those broadcasts by The Watchmen Foundation, or have read any of their material. That is at the head of their list as to what they consider to be a cult. If a group does not believe in the Trinity, they consider them to be a cult.

It is also true that there were ancient pagan trinities, and that those things were undoubtedly drawn upon by those who forced this doctrine upon the church. However, these people still had to deal with the Bible, and so ways had to be devised to make this pagan doctrine appear to agree with it.

What they have done with the Trinity is that the Holy Spirit has been elevated to divine status as a personality, just like the Father and the Son. In fact "co-equal" is what they say—"co-equal and eternal with them"—and yet at the same time they make the "three" also to be "one." The result is this incomprehensible mixture—"a mystery"—that a true child of God—one who believes the Bible—cannot accept.

We are going to read the scripture, that along with Judaism, forced these people to do this. Let us go back to Deuteronomy 6:4.

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.

The word "God" there is "Elohim." It says, "The LORD our Elohim is one LORD." What we have here is a phrase that is not normally grammatically correct—a plural noun (Elohim) with a singular verb, "is." Elohim is the plural of both "El" and "Eloah." El and Eloah mean "mighty one." It means "strong one" or "powerful one" according to Brown, Driver, and Briggs. Now Elohim, being those two words plural, therefore means "strong ones" (plural);" "mighty ones" or "powerful ones."

Just from the definition of the word, it means then that Elohim consists of at least two powerful beings. But as we are beginning to see, Elohim is not limited to two. It can actually signify an unlimited number, and so what it means then is a group or assembly of powerful beings.

It may sound jarring to your ears to say "Gods is," where you have the plural noun and a singular verb, but I am going to give you several words in the English language, some of which you may use everyday of your life. You may use at least one of these words several times a day. If you are paying any attention to world news, if you are paying any attention at all to things that are happening in America, and you use this, it does not sound grammatically difficult or unusual to you at all. You have just grown accustomed to it.

Do you know what that word is? It is the "United States of America." States is plural. Now use United States in a sentence. "The United States are going to do this." You do not say that! You say, "The United States is." Singular. You are using a singular verb with a plural noun. You say, "The United Nations is going to do this or that." That is exactly what Elohim is. It is plurality in one, and because the sense is singular, it calls for a singular verb; but everybody using it knows that it is plural, and represents many in unity. Is that not simple? But you see, our culture forces us to look for a singular being, and Elohim is not singular.

In the New Testament it becomes very clear that Elohim is a kingdom, consisting of many, many, many! Did I not tell you this is so simple? But let me tell you this. Elohim never acts in anything but in a singular way. That is how in agreement Elohim is. There is never any divisiveness.

The analogy kind of breaks down, because the United States is fifty states going in the opposite direction it seems, and we have a hard time doing anything in a singular way. We think of the United States as a singular institution consisting of over 260 million people. There are multitudes of towns, cities, counties, 50 states, each with its own government. There is a Federal government over them with its three branches. There is an infra-structure within it in order to support life. There is an army to act as defender, and an economy to produce income, and so forth and so on, and yet we always speak of it in the singular.

We have no problem at all saying or hearing that "The United States is bordered on the north by Canada," or "The United States is bordered on the south by the Caribbean and by Mexico," or that "The United States is in the northern hemisphere," or "The United States is in the western hemisphere," or "The United States delivered a sharp memo to the Japanese today." We always speak of the United States in the singular. We speak of it as an institution rather than a singular individual.

When Moses wrote what he did, it was no more discordant to a Hebrew-speaking person, no more grammatically wrong than it is for us to say, "The United States is." Elohim, "the powerful One," is a family of at least two divine beings, and besides that we are beginning to see many sons and daughters being prepared to be born, and the family, whether human or divine, is both joined in one. It is an institution created by the institution itself—Elohim.

The Bible gives us a very clear revelation that a nation is nothing more than a family grown great. That is why we have the table of nations there in Genesis showing the forebears. They began with one man and one woman, and they grew great; and so it is that Elohim is one institution—the family—growing ever larger and more complex until it becomes a nation—the Kingdom of God. We see then that this is what Elohim is developing.

Let us begin to expand out from this. Jesus very clearly established that there is government within Elohim.

John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify You Me with Your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world was.

The first thing that Christ does in this prayer is establish that He was with the Father. In this case the word "with" means "beside" or "along side of." This is in agreement with John 1:1 where it says, "In the beginning was the word [Christ], and the word was with [alongside of] God, and the word was God."

So the first thing that He does in this prayer is establish that He was with the Father. Let's begin to watch how this expands out.

John 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these [His disciples] are in the world, and I come to you, Holy Father, keep through Your own name those whom you have given me, that they may be one as We are.

Remember, "The Lord our God, Elohim, is one Lord." In verse 5 He established that there was a time when He was along side the Father, but now He says that He is with, He is alongside of His disciples—His apostles. He is not alongside of the Father, and in this context He asks the Father "that they [the apostles] may be one as we are." What kind of oneness is this if it is not being "alongside of"? We will see.

John 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word.

We are reading right now their word; that is, the word that the apostles wrote. And so Jesus' prayer is that those of us who now believe through the writings of the apostles, that we may be one with the Father and the Son, and that oneness may come through the reading of the word that the apostles have written.

John 17:21-23 That they all may be one; as You, Father, are in Me, [We are beginning to see this is not "alongside of," but "inside."] and I in you, that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

They most assuredly were not in the same location, alongside of, beside of, and so the request that Christ made has to be a oneness in unity, a oneness as a unit. The oneness that He is asking for consists of agreement. There ought to be a verse that may come to your mind in reference to this. It is not directly on this subject, but the principle applies to this subject. This is in Philippians 2:5 where it says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."—to be one in mind, one in heart, one in spirit.

Matthew 11:29 Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me.

Again, it is the principle that is involved here. The way we become one with Elohim is to learn of Christ until we have the knowledge of Christ. That is what Peter said there in II Peter 3:18, that we "grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ." It means "Christ's knowledge." It does not mean knowledge about Christ. It means "the knowledge of Christ.

The entire purpose of this is that we become in the image of Elohim, and the primary example is Jesus Christ, and the primary teachings are those of Christ.

Let us go now to John 11:52. We will continue to develop this thought here. This was actually a prophecy that was uttered by Caiaphas. He, of course, was used by God to utter this, but it is very interesting in light of this.

John 11:51-52 And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation. [Now why?] And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

Why did Christ die for our sins? It is for the same reason that we are talking about, that the children of God can be gathered in one. One what? One Family. One Kingdom. It begins with the one church; that we all have one spirit, that we are in one body that becomes the Kingdom of God that is "Elohim"—the Godhead.

Let us go back to that scripture in Ephesians 3, and we will complete Paul's thought where he mentioned the family of God, because that thought was a prayer. In order to really fully understand this, it actually has to be connected with the very end thought of chapter 2 where he is talking about the body of Christ.

Ephesians 2:20-22 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;In whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto an holy temple in the Lord; [It's one temple.] In whom you also are builded together for an habitation of God through the spirit.

Ephesians 3:1a, 14-19 For this cause, [for this very cause, that we are being built together] . . . I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God.

That is mind-boggling! That blows your mind! The whole purpose of everything that God is working out is that YOU, (Put your name in there!) might be filled with all the fullness of Elohim! BOOM! That blows your mind to think of that!

Is Elohim one? Yes! It is one institution. It is one family. It is one kingdom in which everybody agrees. It acts as one, and because it acts as one, even though it consists of many, it takes a singular verb. We have to change our thinking so that we understand that "Elohim" consists of more than one, even though individual members of Elohim acting in the name of our God, because they are part of the Godhead.

Jesus tried His hardest to help us to understand this by using family terminology: father, son, children, brothers, sisters. Brethren, is a family one, even though it has many members? Of course it is, and Elohim is that family.

Even in the Old Testament, brethren, there are two Jehovahs identified. Does that astound you? There is one verse that you are so familiar with. David said, "The Lord said to my Lord," clearly showing that there are two in Elohim. But that is not the only place it appears. In Daniel 7 you will find, "One like the son of man was brought before the Ancient of Days." There are other places as well where two Jehovahs—Yahwehs—are clearly shown.

I think most important of all for us right now is to get our minds straightened out to be in harmony with the Father and the Son. He tells us in this section right here that Christ may dwell—live, abide—in our heart. It means to settle down, as if in a house. Even there is a family inference, because that is where families live. They live in a house. He is telling us that we might be strong, to grasp, and to know by experience the vastness of Christ's love. This is something that cannot be adequately explained, and Paul never really attempted it. Of course, the purpose of all of Paul's request there is that we might be filled with the fullness of God.

Colossians 1:13-19 Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated [transferred] us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: [Now listen to this description in verse 16. We are going to be brought to this kind of fullness.] For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him, and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, [certainly showing that there are going to be more coming. And what was He born into? He was born into that which He left—the family—Elohim.] that in all things He might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell.

We are being brought to the fullness of God. I am not saying that as soon as we are born into the Kingdom of God that we are going to be like that, because I am sure we have a lot of growing to do afterward.

Colossians 2:8-9 Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

The enmity against God is so powerful that people would rather devise a scripturally non-supportable doctrine than accept what the Bible clearly reveals the Godhead is.

What we have seen today is that if one allows the Bible to interpret itself, it clearly shows that Elohim is an institution consisting of more than one person. We did not look at the Old Testament, but it, like the New Testament, also shows that Elohim consists of two divine beings. The New Testament adds that we are being drawn into that same institution to be one with those who are already there.

It is true that Elohim is also used in many places to indicate a singular divine being. This is because Elohim always acts as one. They are in perfect harmony, in perfect agreement. We did not examine that because of a lack of time, but it is so easy to determine I think that just about any son of God can figure that out.

We also did not examine whether the Holy Spirit is God, co-equal with the others, forming a triune Godhead. But the elements are already in place to show the fallacy of that. When one considers that almost everybody on earth is going to be part of the same Godhead that now consists of two, how could there only be three?

Hebrew questions

2009-01-31T12:57:00.002-05:00

In Strong's concordance the words are mishmereth, mitsvah,
chuqqah,torah torah..noticed did not come out good in original
post..tony

Question

Below says mismarti,miswotay, huqqotay, wetorotay. strong says mishmereth, mitsvaÌ‚h, chuÌ‚qqaÌ‚h,toÌ‚raÌ‚h toÌ‚raÌ‚h. What am I missing?Are there 2 different hebrew translations? Could not find much on the internet. Can someone shed some light for me..thanks.. tony

Most religious teachers say that God's commands given through Moses applied only to ancient Israel and are not for us today. But in drawing that conclusion, most of them overlook the full significance of what God said about Abraham's obedience in Genesis 26:5, hundreds of years before God spoke to Moses and Israel at Mt. Sinai: "Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws" (NIV).
The Hebrew words God uses here are especially important. As The Expositor's Bible Commentary explains regarding this verse: "The Lord then added a remarkable note: Abraham 'kept my requirements [mismarti], my commands [miswotay], my decrees [huqqotay] and my laws [wetorotay]' (v. 5).
"It is remarkable that this is precisely the way in which obedience to the Sinai Covenant is expressed in Deuteronomy 11:1: 'Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements [mismarto], his decrees [huqqotayw], his laws [mispatayw] and his commands [miswotayw]'

Tony ,

This is what you are looking at: Ekev asher shama Avraham bekoli, vayishmor mishmarti, mitzvotei, chukotei vetorotei.

Thats the whole sentence there as it is in hebrew. It means, All of this is because Avraham obeyed my voice(kol... is the root word inside bekoli..see it there?)kept my charges(such as killing animals in the kosher way etc.) kept my laws(mitvah. . mitzvotei means with my laws)my decrees(chuk. . the root of chukotei meaning MY decrees which are laws like the schechting of the para eduma..laws we might not readily get without contemplation) and my teaching(torah. . inside the word ve(and)torotei. .and my torahs.. this is plural. There is more than one torah.. written and spoken. The word tells us so . Torah means teachings)

Mishmeros or mishmerot means additions to the law.. this is the mishna and oral law. Mitzvah is the next word a mitzvah is a commandment

a chok or hok is also a law but it is a supernatural law that is not easily understood on the surface of it. See?

Mishmarti means my requirements and this refers also to oral law. For instance. Torah (torah meaning teaching) says that God said to Moses.."And you shall kill it as I have commanded you".

Well there is no where in all of Torah or Tanakh that you will find out how to shecht or kill an animal. It was told to Moses face to face. It is part of our history and oral traditions and law. You have to schecht and animal properly so as to kill painlessly , quickly and drain every bit of blood. So its not enough to eat beef and think its *clean* because if its not killed properly its not clean at all! So this is additional oral laws that are necessary in order to keep the written law.

So here: Torah means teaching. Mitzvah means commandment. Chuk or Hok is a law that has no readily discernable sense to it(Like our dietary laws , the law of shatznes or not combining linen and wool and other things like that)

The words you find will not make sense to you unless you remember the rules of Hebrew.

Hebrew is made up of shoreshim(roots) which are root words. They are rarely used in that way.

In hebrew you must add a prefix and/or a suffix to the word for it to make sense and have meaning.

I think this is why you are confused here.

Hope I helped some.

Ben Stein on CBS

2009-01-10T14:13:00.000-05:00

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning
Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too... But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of events like ... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,
Ben Stein

God's law statement

2009-01-03T22:44:00.003-05:00

Imposter or False Prophet which article

When God's law is rejected or assumed to be "done away," there remains no standard for good and evil. Every person is left to decide for himself or herself what is right or wrong. But only God can define sin, and He does so through His law. Sin is the transgression of the law" (1John 3:4,King James).

1 Jn.2:4 "He who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him".

Ezekiel 22:26

Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

2008-11-22T12:05:00.000-05:00

Kings of Israel and Judah

Below is a list of the rulers of Israel and Judah. Israel became a divided kingdom in about 929 BC. The northern part continued to be called Israel. The southern part was called Judah. Kings Saul, David and Solomon ruled over Israel before it became a divided kingdom.

Kings of (undivided) Israel in order of reign:
• Saul
• David
• Solomon

Kings of Judah in order of reign:
• Rehoboam
Rehoboam, or Roboam, King of Judah
Rehoboam, son of Solomon and Naamah the Ammonitess, became the first ruler of the Southern Kingdom of Judah at age 41. Rehoboam refused to alleviate the burdens of taxation and forced labor, which Solomon had laid upon them, and the northern tribes seceded from the state, proclaiming Jeroboam as their king.

Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained under Rehoboam's rule. Rehoboam tried to force the northern tribes to acknowledge him as their king, but God sent the prophet Shemaiah to stop the war before it started. Rehoboam, at the height of his power, abandoned the lord.

As a result, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign. The Egyptians conquered Jerusalem and took away all of the treasures of the Temple and palace, including Solomon's gold shields, and Judah was forced to pay annual tribute to Shishak. But the economy of Judah remained strong even after the invasion.

There were constant battles between Rehoboam and Jeroboam, and after 17 years of reign Rehoboam died. He was buried in Jerusalem and his son, Abijah, became the new king. Rehoboam had 18 wives and 60 concubines, who together bore him 28 sons and 60 daughters.

His story is found in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. The name Rehoboam means "may the people be enlarged."

• Abijah
Abijah, King of Judah, also known as Abia or Abijam
Abijah was the second King of Judah (911-908 BC). He was the son of King Rehoboam and Maacah, the grand-daughter of Absalom.

He was a sinner as was his father, and his heart was not right with God. However, in a battle with Israel, he defies Jeroboam's powerful army and tells the people of Israel "do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you will not succeed." God used Abijah and the men of Judah to turn the tide of the battle against King Jeroboam and the army of Israel, defeating Israel and capturing the cities of Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron.

Abijah's reign lasted three years, he had 14 wives, and 22 sons and 16 daughters. When Abijah died, he was buried in Jerusalem, and his son, Asa, became the new king of Judah.

The story of Abijah is found in 1 Kings 15:1-8 and in 2 Chronicles, chapter 13.

• Asa
Asa, King of Judah
Asa was the third king of Judah (reigned 908-867 BC). He was the son and successor of Abijah. His mother was Maachah. Asa became King of Judah in the 20th year of the reign of Israel's King Jeroboam, and reigned 41 years.

Asa was a loyal adherent of the worship of God and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He instituted reforms to rid the land of heathen deities and practices. He banished the perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his father had made. He also demoted Maachah from her position as Queen Mother because of her paganism.

There was a 10-year period of peace at the beginning of Asa's reign, during which he fortified cities on his frontiers and raised an army of 580,000 men. He was attacked by an army of 1,000,000 troops from Ethiopia under the leadership of General Zerah. Asa cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord defeated the Ethiopians, and Asa and the army of Judah triumphed as the Ethiopians fled. Asa then cleared the land of Judah and Benjamin of all idols. Then the people entered into a contract to worship only the Lord God of their fathers.

King Baasha of Israel then declared war on Asa. Asa paid King Ben-hadad of Syria to help him defeat King Baasha. The Israelites were defeated, but God, through the prophet Hanani, let Asa know that he had made a mistake by going to Syria for help, instead of God. Asa died in the 41st year of his reign and was buried in Jerusalem. His son, Jehoshaphat, became king.

Asa's story is found in 1 Kings 15:8-24, and in 2 Chronicles, chapters 14-16.

• Jehoshaphat
Jehoshaphat, or Josaphat, King of Judah
Jehoshaphat, the son of King Asa and Azubah, became the fourth King of Judah (873-849 BC) at the age of 35, and reigned for 25 years. During his reign he eradicated the pagan cults and sent priests and Levites all over the country to teach the Law of God.

Jehoshaphat became strong, wealthy and popular, and built fortresses and supply centers throughout Judah. He made a marriage alliance for his son, with the daughter of King Ahab of Israel.

Later he went to Samaria and allied himself with king Ahab of Israel, at Ahab's request, to fight the armies of Syria. King Ahab was killed by a stray arrow during the battle and Jehoshaphat returned to Judah. The prophet Jehu met Jehoshaphat and told him not to help the wicked and not to love those who hate the Lord.

Jehoshaphat made no more trips to Israel after that, but traveled through Judah to encourage the people to worship God. He set up courts in the larger cities, with the Levites, priests, and clan leaders as judges. Later on, the armies of Moab, Ammon and the Meunites declared war on Jehoshaphat. He prayed to the Lord for help.

The Lord gave him help by causing the opposing armies to fight amongst themselves and to destroy each other. When Jehoshaphat died, he was buried in Jerusalem, and his son Jehoram became the new ruler of Judah.

The story of Jehoshaphat is found in 2 Chronicles, chapters 17-20. The name Jehoshaphat means "Yah has judged."

• Jehoram
Jehoram, or Joram
There are two kings named Jehoram in the Bible and both of their profiles are included below:

• Jehoram, or Joram, King of Judah
• Jehoram, or Joram, King of Israel
Jehoram, King of Judah
Jehoram, son of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, was 32 years old when he became King of Judah, and he reigned for 8 years (851-843 BC). He married Athaliah the daughter of King Ahab of Israel, and renewed pagan worship in Judah. Jehoram was an evil king. After becoming king, he killed all of his brothers, and many other leaders of Israel.

The nation of Edom, which had been subjugated by Israel, revolted against Jehoram, and after a battle, Edom maintained its independence and appointed its own king. Jehoram constructed idol shrines in Judah, and compelled his people to worship them. Then Elijah the prophet wrote him a letter describing Jehoram's sins and explaining the punishment that would befall him.

Then the Lord stirred up the Philistines and Arabs to attack Jehoram, and they carried away everything of value in the king's palace, including his sons and his wives. Only his youngest son, Jehoahaz, (Ahaziah), escaped. Then Jehoram was struck down with the incurable bowel disease. He was dead in two years, and was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal cemetery.

Then the people chose Ahaziah, his youngest son, as their new king. Jehoram's story is found in 2 Kings 8:16-23, and in 2 Chronicles, chapter 21. The name Jehoram means "Yah is high."
Jehoram, King of Israel
Jehoram was the son of Ahab and Jezebel. He was the ninth King of the northern kingdom of Israel. (There was also another man named Jehoram who became king of Judah. In fact, the Jehoram of Judah married the sister, Athaliah, of Jehoram of Israel). Jehoram succeeded his brother, Ahaziah, and reigned for twelve years.

He allied himself with King Jehoshaphat of Judah to put down the Moabite rebellion. With a miracle as predicted by Elisha the prophet, the Moabites were defeated. Jehoram continued the long conflict between Israel and the nation of Aram.

After he was wounded at Ramoth Gilead, he went to the town of Jezreel to recover. While recovering, Jehu, who was anointed to be the next King of Israel, tracked down and killed Jehoram, and became the next King of Israel. The story of Jehoram is found in 2 Kings.

The name Jehoram means "Yah is high."

• Ahaziah (Jehoahaz)
Ahaziah
There are two people named Ahaziah in the Bible, and both were kings. One was king of the northern kingdom of Israel and the other was king of the southern kingdom of Judah. Both profiles are included below:

• Ahaziah, king of Judah
• Ahaziah, king of Israel
Ahaziah, king of Judah
Ahaziah reigned for one year (843-842 BC) as the king of Judah when he was 22 years old. He was the son of Jehoram. His mother, Athaliah, was King Ahab's daughter. He had many of the same failings as did King Ahab, and his mother encouraged him in doing wrong.

He made an alliance with King Jehoram of Israel (son of Ahab). Jehoram (not to be confused with King Jehoram of Judah) was wounded in a battle with Syria, and returned to Jezreel to recover. Ahaziah went to visit him, but this was a fatal mistake, for God had decided to punish Ahaziah for his alliance with Jehoram. Jehu, who was earlier anointed by one of Elisha's young prophets, as the man to wipe out the family of Ahab, was hunting down and killing the family and friends of Ahab. When he found Ahaziah hiding in Samaria, he killed him.

When Ahaziah's mother, Athaliah, found out that her son was dead, she killed her grandsons, except for Joash. Joash was rescued and hidden in a storage room of the Temple by his Aunt Jehoshabeath, who was King Ahaziah's sister. Athaliah then became queen and reigned for six years. Ahaziah was given a royal burial, because he was the grandson of King Jehoshaphat. The story of Ahaziah is found in 2 Chronicles, chapter 22. The name Ahaziah means "Yah holds firm."
Ahaziah, king of Israel
Ahaziah, King of Israel, was the uncle of Ahaziah, King of Judah. Israel's Ahaziah was the eighth king of the northern kingdom of Israel. He was the son of Ahab and Jezebel. He reigned for two years (852-851 BC).

After Ahab's death, the country of Moab, which had earlier been subjugated by Israel, declared its independence, and refused to continue paying tribute to Israel. Ahaziah suffered other losses, including his health. He fell off the balcony of his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. Instead of turning to the Lord, he sent messages to the temple of a pagan god, Baalzebub, at Ekron, to ask whether he would recover from his injuries.

But the prophet Elijah intercepted the messengers and told that them that because Ahaziah had chosen to inquire of a pagan god, rather than the Lord, that he would not leave the bed that he was lying on and that he would die. Ahaziah did die, just as Elijah had said. Ahaziah's brother, Jehoram, became the new king, because Ahaziah did not have a son to succeed him. The name Ahaziah means "Yah holds firm." The story of Ahaziah is found in 1 Kings 22:40-53 and in 2 Kings, chapter 1.

• Athaliah (Queen)
Athaliah, Queen of Judah
Athaliah was Queen of Judah from 842-836 BC. She was the daughter of Israel's King Ahab and of Jezebel, who was the wife of Jehoram King of Judah, and the mother of King Ahaziah. Following Ahaziah's death at the hands of Jehu, Athaliah seized power and killed all members of the royal family who were possible rivals for the throne, except for Joash, the infant son of Ahaziah, who had been rescued by his Aunt Jehosheba.

When Joash was seven years old, Jehoiada the priest conspired to have the young boy crowned in the Temple as king. When Queen Athaliah heard the commotion, she rushed to the Temple to see what was going on, and found the new king surrounded by army officers and people from all over the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets.

Athaliah ripped her clothes in distress and yelled "Treason! Treason!" Jehoida the priest told the army officers to take her out of the Temple and to kill her. She was killed at the Palace stables. Then, Jehoiada and others destroyed a pagan temple of Baal and destroyed pagan idols. Athaliah's story is found in 2 Chronicles 22:10-12, and in chapter 23.

• Joash (Jehoash)
Joash, or Jehoash, King of Judah
Joash ("God has bestowed/donated") was King of Judah from 836 BC to 798 BC. He was the son of King Ahaziah. His mother's name was Zibiah. He became king at the age of seven, after Jehoiada the priest rebelled against Athaliah, and proclaimed Joash the rightful ruler.

Joash tried hard to please the Lord during the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest. Jehoiada arranged two marriages for him, and he had sons and daughters. Under the influence of Jehoiada, Joash repaired the Temple and destroyed the cult of Baal. However, after Jehoiada's death, at age 130, the leaders of Judah induced King Joash to abandon the Temple of God, and to worship pagan idols instead.

Jehoiada's son, Zechariah, resisted the cult of Baal, and for this he was killed by orders from King Joash (2 Chronicles 24:22). A few months later, the Syrian army successfully attacked Judah and Jerusalem. In 2 Chronicles 24:24, the Bible explains that the tiny Syrian army was allowed to defeat Judah because people had foresaken the Lord. Joash was severely wounded by the Syrians, and after they left, his own officials assassinated him as he lay in bed.

He was buried in the City of David, but not in the cemetery of the Kings. His son, Amaziah, became the next king. The story of Joash is found in 2 Kings, chapters 11 and 12, and 2 Chronicles, chapters 23 and 24.

• Amaziah
Amaziah, King of Judah
Amaziah ("Yah is strong") was King of Judah (798-769), the son of King Joash, and mother Jehoaddin, became king at age 25, and reigned 29 years. After becoming king, he killed the men who had assassinated his father. Amaziah assembled an army from Judah and Benjamin, and re-conquered Edom, which had gained its independence from Judah about 50 year's earlier.

Amaziah also had hired 100,000 men from Israel to participate in the battle, but gave up the idea in view of the opposition it aroused. He dismissed the men, but the soldiers were displeased and on their way home, raided several cities of Judah, killing 3000 people.

When King Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought with him idols from Seir, set them up as gods, and bowed before them. This made the Lord angry and the Lord sent a prophet to warn him, Amaziah rebuked the prophet. He then declared war on King Joash of Israel. The Israelites defeated Judah, and King Amaziah was captured.

King Joash took many hostages, and all the gold and silver from the Temple and palace, and returned to Samaria. However Amaziah lived 15 years longer than Joash. Amaziah was assassinated by his enemies in Lachish. His body was returned to Jerusalem and buried in the Royal cemetery. His son Uzziah (also known as Azariah) became king. The story of Amaziah is found in 2 Kings 14:1-20 and 2 Chronicles, chapter 25.

• Uzziah (Azariah)
Uzziah, or Ozias, also known as Azariah, King of Judah
Uzziah, also known as Azariah ("Yah is my strength") became King of Judah at age 16 and reigned 52 years. He was generally a good king. While Zechariah was alive, Uzziah was always eager to please God, and he prospered, for God blessed him (2 Chronicles 26:5). God helped him in wars against the Philistines, against the Arabs of Gurbaal, and the Meunites. His fame spread to Egypt and he was very powerful.

He built numerous fortifications in and around Jerusalem, and extended his domain in all directions. He made water reservoirs for the great herds of cattle in the valleys, and had many farms and vineyards. He organized a draft system and an army of 307,500 men. He produced war machines, invented to shoot arrows and huge stones.

But he also became proud and corrupt. He sinned against the Lord by personally burning incense upon the altar of the Temple. The High Priest went in after him and demanded that he get out. Uzziah refused to set down the incense burner that he was holding, and suddenly - leprosy appeared on his forehead. King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death, and lived in isolation.

His son, Jotham, became vice-regent in charge of the king's affairs, and became king after his father's death. Uzziah was buried in the Royal cemetery, even though he was a leper. The story of Uzziah is found in 2 Kings 15:1-7, and 2 Chronicles, chapter 26. Talmudic references report that because of his leprosy, Uzziah's remains were later removed from their original grave and reburied. A tablet was found on Mount Olives that has the inscription: "Hither were brought the bones of Uzziah, King of Judah. Do not open."

• Jotham
Jotham, or Joatham, King of Judah
There are at least two people in the Bible named Jotham. One was the son of Gideon. The other was a king.

King Jotham assumed the throne of Judah when he was 25 years old. He reigned for 16 years, although some of these years might overlap with the reign of his father, Uzziah, while Uzziah was isolated with leprosy.

Jotham's mother was Jerusha, who was the daughter of Zadok. Jotham followed the generally good example of his father. He built the upper gate of the Temple and did extensive rebuilding of the walls on the hill where the Temple was located. He also built cities in the hill country of Judah.

He had a successful war against the Ammonites and received annual tribute from them for three years. King Jotham became powerful because he was careful to follow the path of the Lord (2 Chronicles 27:6). When he died, he was buried in Jerusalem, and his son, Ahaz, became the new king.

The story of Jotham is found in 2 Kings 15:32-38, and 2 Chronicles, chapter 27.

The name Jotham means "may Yah (a name for God) complete."

The other Jotham was Gideon's youngest son. Jotham's brother, Abimelech, tried to seize power by killing all of his own brothers. Jotham escaped and was the sole survivor. Jotham pronounced judgment on Abimelech and the Shechemites by telling a parable of the trees, while standing on Mount Gerizim (Judges 9:7-20). In fear of his life Jotham fled to Beer. Jotham disappears from the Bible, and no more is recorded of him. But the judgment he placed on Abimelech and the Shechemites was fulfilled three years later.

• Ahaz
Ahaz, or Achaz, King of Judah
Ahaz, King of Judah, was 20 years old when he became king. He reigned 16 years. His father was King Jotham. Ahaz was one of the most evil kings of Judah. He not only burned incense as offerings to false gods, he even sacrificed his own children in fire. This is why the Lord allowed the king of Syria to defeat Ahaz and to deport large numbers of his people to Damascus (2 Chronicles 28:5). He also lost large numbers of men who were slaughtered by the army of the northern kingdom of Israel. In one battle, Judah lost 120,000 troops to Pekah, king of Israel, and 200,000 women and children were captured.

But Oded, a prophet of God told Israel to return the Judah captives because the anger of God was now upon them (2 Chronicles 28:11). Israel returned the captives to their families. Later, Edom and the Philistines invaded Judah. Ahaz asked the King of Assyria for help, and gave the king all of the Temple gold and the treasures of the palace. But when Tilgath-Pilneser, King of Assyria arrived, he caused more trouble for King Ahaz instead of helping him.

During this difficult time, King Ahaz collapsed spiritually. He sacrificed to the false gods of the people of Damascus, because he had thought that the false gods had helped the Syrians defeat him and that maybe they would now help him if he too offered sacrifices to the false gods. But instead, as is written in 2 Chronicles 28:22-23, the false gods were the ruin of Ahaz and his people.

When King Ahaz died, he was buried in Jerusalem but not in the royal tombs, and Hezekiah became the new king (2 Chronicles 28:27). The story of Ahaz is found in 2 Kings 26, and 2 Chronicles 28. The name Ahaz means "he held fast."

• Hezekiah
Hezekiah, or Ezekias, King of Judah
Hezekiah, son of King Ahaz, and mother Abijah, became king at age 25. He reigned 29 years. According to 2 Chronicles 29:2, his reign was a good one. He took the throne during a crucial time in Judah's history. Assyria had recently conquered Aram. And during the early part of his reign, the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. And, Judah itself had to pay an annual tribute to Assyria.

With the encouragement of the prophet Isaiah, Hezekiah undertook a religious reform, in removing idolatrous elements from worship, cleansing and sanctifying the Temple, and restoring the Levites to their Temple duties. He sent letters across Judah and Israel to have the people attend a Passover celebration. The celebration was a huge success. In fact, 2 Chronicles 30:26 says that Jerusalem hadn't seen a celebration like that since the days of King Solomon.

Hezekiah strengthened Judah politically, expanded its borders, and had the people tithe their crops. He built an underground tunnel to bring water into Jerusalem, in case of a siege. Later, King Sennacherib invaded Judah, surrounded Jerusalem, and sent Hezekiah a letter, stating, basically, that Judah should surrender, claiming that the Assyrian gods were stronger than the Lord God.

Hezekiah and Isaiah prayed to the Lord. God answered Hezekiah and Isaiah by saying that He would defend and save the city. That night, 185,000 Assyrian troops mysteriously died and their bodies were seen all across the landscape in the morning (2 Kings 19:34-35).

Later, the Lord healed Hezekiah of a deathly sickness, after Hezekiah had prayed, and added 15 years to his life. When he died, his son Manasseh became the new king. The story of Hezekiah is found in 2 Kings, chapters 18-20, and 2 Chronicles, chapters 29-32.

The tunnel Hezekiah built is still in existence today. A stone inscription was found describing how King Hezekiah's tunnel was dug by 2 teams of miners, starting at opposite ends, and meeting in the middle. There is also a clay Hebrew seal impression found, with Hezekiah's name on it, now in the Israel museum. The name Hezekiah means "Yah is my strength."

• Manasseh
Manasseh, or Manasses
There are two prominent people named kings named Manasseh in the Bible and both of their profiles are included below:

• Manasseh (also spelled as Manasses), King of Judah
• Manasseh (also spelled as Manasses), son of Joseph
Manasseh, king of Judah
Manasseh, son of King Hezekiah, and mother Hephzibah, began his reign at age 12. He reigned 55 years, the longest of any Hebrew King, but it was an evil reign. He rebuilt the heathen altars that his father Hezekiah had destroyed - the altars of Baal. He even built pagan altars in both courts of the Temple of the Lord, for worshiping the sun, moon and stars.

And Manasseh sacrificed his own children as burnt offerings in the valley of Hinnom. He consulted spirit mediums, fortune tellers and sorcerers. He angered the Lord by encouraging every sort of evil (2 Chronicles 33:4-6). He also murdered large numbers of innocent people (2 Kings 21:16).

Warnings by the Lord were ignored by both Manasseh and his people, so God sent the Assyrian armies, who captured him and took him into exile. It was in captivity that he came to his senses and cried out to God for help. As recorded in 2 Chronicles 33:13, The Lord answered his prayers by returning him to Jerusalem. At that point Manasseh realized that the Lord was really God.

Manasseh removed the foreign idols from the hills and the Temple and tore down the pagan altars. He then rebuilt the altar of the Lord, and offered sacrifices upon it. When Manasseh died, he was buried beneath his own palace, and his son Amon became the new king. The story of Manasseh is found in 2 Kings 21:1-17, and 2 Chronicles 33:1-20.

Interesting fact: The Lord had told Manasseh's father, Hezekiah, who was deathly sick, to prepare to die (2 kings 20:1). When Hezekiah broke down, cried and prayed to God, The Lord added 15 years to Hezekiah's life. Three years later his son, Manasseh, was born. If Hezekiah had accepted death when first told by the Lord, then his son Manesseh, the most evil of kings, would have never been born.
Manasseh, son of Joseph
Manasseh was the older son of Joseph and Asenath, daughter of Potiphera (priest of the sun god Re of heliopolis). Manasseh is the ancestor of the Tribe of Manasseh. According to 1 Chronicles 7:14, Manasseh had an Aramean concubine who bore Machir, the father of Gilead.

When Jacob blessed his grandsons Manasseh and Ephraim, he gave the preferential treatment to Ephraim, instead of the older brother Manasseh, explaining that Ephraim would become greater than Manasseh. Before his death Jacob adopted his grandchildren Manasseh and Ephraim to be equal with his own sons (Genesis 48:5). The tribe of Manassah is the only tribe that settled on both sides of the Jordan River.

In the census taken in Numbers 26, Manasseh had 52,700 men who were twenty-years old or older, and Ephraim had 32,500. When added together, the sons of Joseph totaled 85,200, which was more than any other of Jacob's sons. In Revelation 7:6, Manasseh is mentioned as one of the tribes receiving the Seal of God for 12,000 of its members. The name Manasseh means "to forget."

• Amon
Amon, King of Judah
Amon, son of King Manasseh, and mother Meshullemeth, became king of Judah at age 22. His reign lasted 2 years. Amon's reign was an evil one, as was the early years of the reign of his father, Manasseh. Amon sacrificed to pagan idols just as his father did.

But, unlike his father, Amon didn't change, instead he sinned more and more. Finally, his own officers assassinated him in his palace. Then, some citizens killed all those who assassinated him, and declared his son Josiah to be the new king (2 Chronicles 33:22-25). Amon was buried in a crypt in the garden of Uzza. The story of Amon is found in 2 Kings 21:18-26, and 2 Chronicles 33:20-25.

• Josiah
Josiah, or Josias, King of Judah
Josiah, son of King Amon, and mother Jedidah, became King of Judah at age 8, and reigned 31 years (639-609 BC). The Bible passage at 2 Kings 22:2 says that the character of Josiah's reign was good, and that he followed in the steps of his ancestor, King David, and was obedient to the Lord.

His reign was the last surge of political independence and religious revival before the disintegration of the Kingdom of Judah, which ended with the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. When Josiah was 20 years old, he began to clean up Judah and Jerusalem, destroying the heathen altars and the shameful idols on the hills, according to 2 Chronicles 34:3.

He did the same thing in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and Naphtali. Later on, he set up a collection system for gifts for the Temple, and paid carpenters and masons to repair the Temple, from the damage and neglect by the earlier Kings of Judah.

A scroll was found in the Temple by Hilkiah the High Priest. The scroll, containing the Laws of God, was read to King Josiah. When Josiah found out that the reason for the Lord's great anger on Judah and Israel was that the ancestors had not obeyed the laws written in the scriptures, he ripped his clothing in despair (2 Chronicles 34:21).

Josiah then gathered the elders and all the people to the Temple, read the scroll to them, and required everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin to make a pledge to the Lord, to follow His Commandments. So, Josiah removed all of the idols from the areas occupied by Jews, and required all of them to worship God (2 Chronicles 34:33).

Josiah held a great Passover celebration that was not seen in Jerusalem since the days of Samuel the prophet. Later, King Neco of Egypt led his army against the Assyrians, and warned King Josiah not to interfere while his army passed through Judah (2 Chronicles 35:21). But Josiah refused to turn back, and led his army into battle at the valley of Megiddo. The enemy archers struck King Josiah with their arrows and fatally wounded him. He died in Jerusalem, and was buried there.

All of Judah mourned for him, including Jeremiah the prophet. Josiah's son, Jehoahaz, was selected as the new king. The story of Josiah is found in 2 Kings, chapters 22 and 23, and 2 Chronicles, chapters 34 and 35. The name Josiah means "May Yah give."

• Jehoahaz
Jehoahaz
There are two kings named Jehoahaz in the Bible and both of their profiles are included below:

• Jehoahaz, king of Judah
• Jehoahaz, king of Israel
Jehoahaz, king of Judah
Jehoahaz, fourth son and successor of Josiah (609-608 BC). His mother's name was Hamutal. He became King at age 23, and only reigned three months.

Pharoah Neco removed Jehoahaz from the throne and sent him to Egypt, where he later died. The Pharoah demanded an annual tribute from Judah, and appointed Eliakim as the new King of Judah. Eliakim's name was changed to Jehoikim. The story of Jehoahaz is found in 2 Kings 23:31-34, and 2 Chronicles 36:1-4.

The name Jehoahaz means "God has held firmly."
Jehoahaz, king of Israel
Jehoahaz was the eleventh King of the northern kingdom of Israel. He was the son of King Jehu. He reigned for 17 years (814-798 BC) in Samaria, and followed the same path as Jeroboam, leading the people of Israel to sin.

The Syrian army under King Hazael and his son Ben-Hadad invaded Israel, but Jehoahaz prayed for the Lord's help, and the Lord raised up leaders within Israel and defeated the Syrians. Israel lived in peace for awhile, but as the people continued to worship the false goddess Asherah at Samaria, the Lord reduced Jehoahaz's army to 50 mounted troops, 10 chariots, and 10,000 infantry. The Syrians had destroyed the others.

When Jehoahaz died, his son Joash became king. The story of Jehoahaz is found in 2 Kings 13:1-10. The name Jehoahaz means "God has held firmly." There is a jasper seal in the Israel Museum, inscribed "Belonging to Jehoahaz son of the King."

• Jehoiakim
Jehoiakim, King of Judah
Jehoiakim was the son of Josiah and Zebidah. At age 25, he was made king by Pharoah Neco in place of his brother Jehoahaz, who was exiled to Egypt. Jehoiakim reigned for eleven years (608-598 BC) but his reign was an evil one. During his reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem. Jehoiakim surrendered and paid him tribute for three years, but then rebelled.

And the Lord sent bands of Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites and Ammonites against Judah in order to destroy the nation, just as the Lord had warned through His prophets that He would, because of the disobedience of the people at that time (2 Kings 24:1-2). When Jehoiakim died, his son, Jehoiachin, became the new king. The story of Jehoaikim is found in 2 Kings 23:34-37, 2 Kings 24:1-5, and 2 Chronicles 36:4-8. The name Jehoiakim means "God will arise."

• Jehoiachin
Jehoiachin, King of Judah, also known as Jeconiah, Coniah, or Jechonias
Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim and Nehushta, was also called Jeconiah, and Coniah, became king at age 18, but only reigned for three months. During his reign the armies, of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon besieged the city of Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived during the siege, and king Jehoiachin, all of his officials, and the queen mother surrendered to him. The surrender was accepted, and Jehoiachin was imprisoned in Babylon during the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign (2 Kings 24:10-12).

Then the king of Babylon appointed Jehoiachin's uncle, Mattaniah, to be the next king, and changed his name to Zedekiah. While in exile throughout the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Jehoiachin remained in prison, but after Nebuchadnezzar's death, he was brought to the royal palace by the new King Evil-Merodach (2 Kings 25:27-30), and he was treated as a royal hostage receiving daily rations from the king at whose table he dined.

The story of Jehoiachin is found in 2 Kings 24:6-15. The name Jehoiachin means "God will establish."

• Zedekiah
Zedekiah, King of Judah
There are at least two people named Zedekiah in the Bible. One was king of Judah and the other was a false prophet.

Zedekiah - the king of Judah - was a son of King Josiah and Hamutal, and uncle to King Jehoiachin. He was appointed King of Judah, after King Jehoiachin was exiled by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He reigned eleven years, but it was an evil reign (596-586 BC). The idea of a king appointed by a foreign ruler was not accepted by the people who continued to regard Jehoiachin as their legitimate king (Jeremiah 37:1).

King Zedekiah refused to accept the counsel of Jeremiah the prophet, who gave him messages of the Lord. He rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, even though he had taken an oath of loyality. (2 Chronicles 36:12-13). King Nebuchadnezzar then laid siege to Jerusalem in the ninth year of the reign of King Zedekiah, and continued to the eleventh year. The food had run out, and Zedekiah tried to escape, but was captured in the plains of Jericho.

He was then taken to Riblah, where he was tried and sentenced before the King of Babylon. He was forced to watch as his sons were killed before his eyes, then his eyes were put out and he was taken to Babylon (2 Kings 25:6-7). General Nebuzaradan of Babylon then burned down the Temple and the palace, and tore down the walls of Jerusalem. The story of Zedekiah is found in 2 Kings 24:17-20, 25, and 2 Chronicles 36:11-13. The name Zedekiah means "Yah is my righteousness."

The other Zedekiah - the false prophet - advised King Ahab of Israel to attack the Syrian army at Ramoth Gilead (1 Kings 22:11). This Zedekiah, who was the son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron and said, "The Lord says, 'With these you shall gore Aram until you have destroyed them.'"

Ahab's other false prophets all said the same thing. When Micaiah, a true prophet of God, was called on, he gave a disasterous prediction to the outcome of the battle for King Ahab and Israel. When Zedekiah heard this he slapped Micaiah on the cheek, saying, "Has the Spirit of the Lord, then, left me to speak with you?" (1 Kings 22:24). The battle, in which King Ahab was mortaly wounded, ended up as Micaiah predicted. The fate of Zedekiah is not written in the Bible after his false prophecy.

Kings of Israel in order of reign:
• Jeroboam 1
Jeroboam 1, King of Israel
Jeroboam 1 was the son of Nebat. He became the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel, after Israel had split away from Judah, which included the city of Jerusalem and the Temple. The prophet Ahijah prophesied that upon Solomon's death, Jeroboam would become king over ten tribes. After Solomon heard of the prophecy, he ordered Jeroboam killed, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt.

After Solomon's death, his son, Rehoboam, angered the ten tribes in the northern part of Israel with heavy taxes. This encouraged the people in the northern part of Israel to break away from Judah (the southern part of Israel) and to form a separate kingdom. Jeroboam returned from Egypt and was crowned king of the northern kingdom of Israel, which was home to ten of the tribes of Israel. Wars were continuous between Israel and Judah during Jeroboam's reign.

Jeroboam followed pagan ways. He placed golden calves in the towns of Bethel and Dan in the hopes of getting people to worship without going to the Temple in Jerusalem, which was in Judah. Jeroboam dismissed the priestly tribe of Levi and appointed his own priests. This caused many Levites to defect to Jerusalem.

The Lord sent a prophet to warn Jeroboam to turn away from his evil ways. Jeroboam's refusal eventually resulted in the destruction of his kingdom and his family.

Ahijah the prophet told Jeroboam's wife of the oncoming death of their son, and also of a king over Israel who will destroy the family of Jeroboam, and how the people of Israel will be uprooted and scattered beyond the Euphrates, because they angered the Lord by worshiping idols. All this later happened.

Jeroboam 1 reigned 22 years. When he died, his son Nadab became king. The story of Jeroboam 1 is found in 1 Kings, chapters 11-14. The name Jeroboam means " may the people grow numerous."

• Nadab
Nadab
There are at least two people in the Bible named Nadab. One was a son of Aaron and the other was a king.

King Nadab was the son of King Jeroboam and became the second king of the northern kingdom of Israel.

King Nadab reigned for two years. Like his father, he worshiped false idols and led the people of Israel into sin. He was assassinated by Baasha while he was with Israel's army during its attack on the Philistine city of Gibbethon. Baasha then became the next king.

The story of King Nadab is found in 1 Kings, chapter 15.

The other Nadab was the first son of Aaron. He was consecrated a priest along with his three brothers, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar to minister at the Tabernacle (Ex. 28:1). Later, though, Nadab and Abihu were guilty of offering "profane fire before the Lord, such as He had not authorized", in the Sinai desert. Both Nadab and Abihu died when "Fire came forth from the Lord's presence and consumed them." (Lev. 10:1-2).

• Baasha
Baasha, King of Israel
Baasha was the son of Ahijah, of the tribe of Issachar. He was the third King of the northern kingdom of Israel and he reigned for 24 years at Tirzah. He became king after assassinating King Nadab, who was the son of King Jeroboam. He then tried to strengthen his hold on the throne by killing all of the descendents of Jeroboam, so that none of the royal family remained.

This fulfilled a prophecy of Ahijah. During Baasha's reign, there was continuous warfare between Israel and Judah (the two kingdoms of the Jews after Israel split into two about 2900 years ago). Baasha worshiped idols. He was told, by the Lord, through a prophet, that because of his sins, he and his family would be destroyed (1 Kings 16:2-3). When Baasha died, his son Elah became king. The story of Baasha is found in 1 Kings, chapters 15 and 16.

• Elah
Elah, King of Israel
Elah, the son of King Baasha, became the fourth king of the northern kingdom of Israel. He reigned for two years. His reign ended suddenly. He was drunk at the home of Arza, the superintendent of the King's palace in Tirzah, when General Zimri walked up to Elah and killed him. Then, Zimri, who was in charge of half of the royal chariot troops, declared himself King of Israel (1 Kings 16:8-10).

• Zimri
Zimri, King of Israel
There are at least two people in the Bible named Zimri. One was the son of Salu, a Simeonite prince, in Numbers 25:14.

The other was the fifth king of the northern kingdom of Israel. He killed Elah, the son of Baasha, and declared himself king. He tried to protect his hold on the throne by killing the male heirs of Elah.

This fulfilled a prophecy of Jehu about the destruction of the family of Baasha (1 Kings 16:3). King Zimri reigned for only seven days. When members of the army had learned of what had Zimri had done, they appointed Omri as their commander. After a successful attack by Omri and the army, Zimri went into the palace and set fire to it. He died in the flames.

The name Zimri is featured in 2 Kings 9:31 as an example of someone who has killed his master.

The story of King Zimri is found in 1 kings 16:8-20.

The other Zimri, the son of Salu, brought a Midianite woman named Cozbi into camp while Israel was repenting for having worshiped Baal. When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, saw Zimri take her to his tent, he was enraged, took a javelin in his hand, went into Zimri's tent, and thrust both of them through.

• Tibni
Tibni
After King Zimri died, the people of Israel were divided. Some wanted Omri to be the new king and others wanted Tibni. A civil war broke out and Omri won. Omri became the successor to Zimri. (We've included Tibni because some historical references will include Tibni in the list of kings of Israel).

• Omri
Omri, King of Israel
After King Zimri died, the people of Israel were divided. Some wanted Omri to be the new king and others wanted Tibni. A civil war broke out and Omri won. He became Israel's sixth king and reigned 12 years (882-871 BC). Omri bought land and built a palace on it. He called the land Samaria, in honor of the former owner, Shemer. Omri worshiped idols and encouraged the people of Israel to do the same.

1 Kings 16:25 says that Omri was worse than any of the kings who had ruled Israel before his reign. Micah 6:16 also alludes to the evilness of Omri. An ancient record, called the Moabite Stone, says that Omri subjugated the nation of Moab and conquered Medeba. (The Moabite Stone is now in the Louvre museum). Omri also strengthened Israel's alliance with Phoenicia, by arranging the marriage of his son, Ahab, to Jezebel, the daughter of the King of Sidon. When Omri died, his son Ahab became the next king.

Omri's story is found in 1 Kings, chapter 16.

• Ahab
Ahab, King of Israel
Ahab was the seventh King of Israel. He reigned for 22 years (871-852 BC). He was the son of Omri. He married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, the king of the Sidonians. Ahab, under Jezebel's influence, built a pagan temple, and allowed idols into Samaria. Elijah the prophet warned Ahab that the country would suffer from drought if the cult of Baal was not removed from the land of Israel.

After three years of drought, Elijah challenged Ahab and his pagan priests on Mount Carmel. God sent down fire to ignite a sacrifice, but the priests of Baal could not summon Baal to do the same. Then the people realized that God was the only true God. (1 Kings 18:18-39). Then, rains came and ended the drought.

Elijah denounced Ahab as a murderer because of the stoning of Naboth, which Jezebel, had instigated. Elijah told Ahab that dogs would lick his blood outside of the city, just as they had licked the blood of Naboth. He also told Ahab that none of his male heirs would survive and that Jezebel would be torn apart by the dogs of Jezreel (1 Kings 21:17-24).

After that, Ahab went into deep repentance, and the fulfillment of the prophecy was postponed. Ahab fought Ben-Hadad the King of Damascus in several wars, and then allied himself with Jehoshaphat, King of Judah to liberate Ramoth Gilead from the Arameans.

Ahab was warned by the prophet Micaiah that he would die in the battle. But Ahab went to battle anyway, disguised as a soldier, and was killed by a stray arrow. When the blood on his chariot was washed off at a pool in Samaria, the dogs licked up his blood as Elijah said. Jezebel, and eventually all of Ahab's male heirs died as the prophet said.

The Bible lists Ahab as the most evil of all the kings before him (1 Kings 16:30). Ahab's son Ahaziah became the new king. The story of Ahab is found in 1 Kings, chapters 16-22.

Archaeological note: Carved ivory plaques were found at the site of Ahab's palace in Samaria. Ahab was known to live in a ivory palace (1 Kings 22:39).

• Ahaziah
Ahaziah
There are two people named Ahaziah in the Bible, and both were kings. One was king of the northern kingdom of Israel and the other was king of the southern kingdom of Judah. Both profiles are included below:

• Ahaziah, king of Israel
• Ahaziah, king of Judah
Ahaziah, king of Israel
Ahaziah, King of Israel, was the uncle of Ahaziah, King of Judah. Israel's Ahaziah was the eighth king of the northern kingdom of Israel. He was the son of Ahab and Jezebel. He reigned for two years (852-851 BC).

After Ahab's death, the country of Moab, which had earlier been subjugated by Israel, declared its independence, and refused to continue paying tribute to Israel. Ahaziah suffered other losses, including his health. He fell off the balcony of his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. Instead of turning to the Lord, he sent messages to the temple of a pagan god, Baalzebub, at Ekron, to ask whether he would recover from his injuries.

But the prophet Elijah intercepted the messengers and told that them that because Ahaziah had chosen to inquire of a pagan god, rather than the Lord, that he would not leave the bed that he was lying on and that he would die. Ahaziah did die, just as Elijah had said. Ahaziah's brother, Jehoram, became the new king, because Ahaziah did not have a son to succeed him. The name Ahaziah means "Yah holds firm." The story of Ahaziah is found in 1 Kings 22:40-53 and in 2 Kings, chapter 1.
Ahaziah, king of Judah
Ahaziah reigned for one year (843-842 BC) as the king of Judah when he was 22 years old. He was the son of Jehoram. His mother, Athaliah, was King Ahab's daughter. He had many of the same failings as did King Ahab, and his mother encouraged him in doing wrong.

He made an alliance with King Jehoram of Israel (son of Ahab). Jehoram (not to be confused with King Jehoram of Judah) was wounded in a battle with Syria, and returned to Jezreel to recover. Ahaziah went to visit him, but this was a fatal mistake, for God had decided to punish Ahaziah for his alliance with Jehoram. Jehu, who was earlier anointed by one of Elisha's young prophets, as the man to wipe out the family of Ahab, was hunting down and killing the family and friends of Ahab. When he found Ahaziah hiding in Samaria, he killed him.

When Ahaziah's mother, Athaliah, found out that her son was dead, she killed her grandsons, except for Joash. Joash was rescued and hidden in a storage room of the Temple by his Aunt Jehoshabeath, who was King Ahaziah's sister. Athaliah then became queen and reigned for six years. Ahaziah was given a royal burial, because he was the grandson of King Jehoshaphat. The story of Ahaziah is found in 2 Chronicles, chapter 22. The name Ahaziah means "Yah holds firm."

• Jehoram (Joram)
Jehoram
There are two kings named Jehoram in the Bible and both of their profiles are included below:

• Jehoram, or Joram, king of Israel
• Jehoram, or Joram, king of Judah
Jehoram, or Joram, King of Israel
Jehoram was the son of Ahab and Jezebel. He was the ninth King of the northern kingdom of Israel. (There was also another man named Jehoram who became king of Judah. In fact, the Jehoram of Judah married the sister, Athaliah, of Jehoram of Israel). Jehoram succeeded his brother, Ahaziah, and reigned for twelve years.

He allied himself with King Jehoshaphat of Judah to put down the Moabite rebellion. With a miracle as predicted by Elisha the prophet, the Moabites were defeated. Jehoram continued the long conflict between Israel and the nation of Aram.

After he was wounded at Ramoth Gilead, he went to the town of Jezreel to recover. While recovering, Jehu, who was anointed to be the next King of Israel, tracked down and killed Jehoram, and became the next King of Israel. The story of Jehoram is found in 2 Kings.

The name Jehoram means "Yah is high."
Jehoram, or Joram, King of Judah
Jehoram, son of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, was 32 years old when he became King of Judah, and he reigned for 8 years (851-843 BC). He married Athaliah the daughter of King Ahab of Israel, and renewed pagan worship in Judah. Jehoram was an evil king. After becoming king, he killed all of his brothers, and many other leaders of Israel.

The nation of Edom, which had been subjugated by Israel, revolted against Jehoram, and after a battle, Edom maintained its independence and appointed its own king. Jehoram constructed idol shrines in Judah, and compelled his people to worship them. Then Elijah the prophet wrote him a letter describing Jehoram's sins and explaining the punishment that would befall him.

Then the Lord stirred up the Philistines and Arabs to attack Jehoram, and they carried away everything of value in the king's palace, including his sons and his wives. Only his youngest son, Jehoahaz, (Ahaziah), escaped. Then Jehoram was struck down with the incurable bowel disease. He was dead in two years, and was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal cemetery.

Then the people chose Ahaziah, his youngest son, as their new king. Jehoram's story is found in 2 Kings 8:16-23, and in 2 Chronicles, chapter 21. The name Jehoram means "Yah is high."

• Jehu
Jehu, King of Israel
Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, was the tenth King of the northern kingdom of Israel. Jehu killed a great number of people. He killed the king of Israel, Joram, who was the son of Ahab, with an arrow through the heart. He also killed the king of Judah, Ahaziah. Joram and Ahaziah were related to each other through Ahab and Jezebel. In time, Jehu executed Ahab's entire family, including Jezebel, and fulfilled a prophecy of Elijah (1 Kings 21:17-24). Jehu also killed Ahab's friends and officials.

Aside from killing members of Ahab's family, who had encouraged the people to worship false idols, Jehu ordered his men to kill the priests of the pagan god, Baal, in a temple. He then converted the pagan temple into a public toilet.

Jehu reigned as king of Israel for 28 years. When he died, he was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz became the new king. The story of Jehu is found in 2 Kings, chapters 9 and 10.

In the British Museum, there is a limestone monument called "the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser 3" (9th century BC). It depicts Jehu presenting tribute to the king of Assyria, and is the only likeness known of any King of Israel or Judah. In the Israel Museum there is a seal impression from Lacish with Jehu's name on it. The name Jehu means "Yahweh is He."

• Jehoahaz
Jehoahaz
There are two kings named Jehoahaz in the Bible and both of their profiles are included below:

• Jehoahaz, king of Israel
• Jehoahaz, king of Judah
Jehoahaz, king of Israel
Jehoahaz was the eleventh King of the northern kingdom of Israel. He was the son of King Jehu. He reigned for 17 years (814-798 BC) in Samaria, and followed the same path as Jeroboam, leading the people of Israel to sin.

The Syrian army under King Hazael and his son Ben-Hadad invaded Israel, but Jehoahaz prayed for the Lord's help, and the Lord raised up leaders within Israel and defeated the Syrians. Israel lived in peace for awhile, but as the people continued to worship the false goddess Asherah at Samaria, the Lord reduced Jehoahaz's army to 50 mounted troops, 10 chariots, and 10,000 infantry. The Syrians had destroyed the others.

When Jehoahaz died, his son Joash became king. The story of Jehoahaz is found in 2 Kings 13:1-10. The name Jehoahaz means "God has held firmly." There is a jasper seal in the Israel Museum, inscribed "Belonging to Jehoahaz son of the King."
Jehoahaz, king of Judah
Jehoahaz, fourth son and successor of Josiah (609-608 BC). His mother's name was Hamutal. He became King at age 23, and only reigned three months.

Pharoah Neco removed Jehoahaz from the throne and sent him to Egypt, where he later died. The Pharoah demanded an annual tribute from Judah, and appointed Eliakim as the new King of Judah. Eliakim's name was changed to Jehoikim. The story of Jehoahaz is found in 2 Kings 23:31-34, and 2 Chronicles 36:1-4.

The name Jehoahaz means "God has held firmly."

• Jehoash (Joash)
Jehoash, or Joash, King of Israel
Jehoash, also known as Joash, was the 12th King of Israel. He was the son of King Jehoahaz and he reigned 16 years. Elisha, the prophet, prophesied that Jehoash would have three victorious battles over the Syrians. Jehoash was successful in recapturing the cities that his father had lost to Syria. King Amaziah of Judah goaded King Jehoash into a war.

At first Jehoash resisted, but eventually he led his men into battle at Bethshemesh and defeated Amaziah. Jehoash's men marched into Jerusalem, captured King Amaziah, looted the Temple and palace, and took many people from Judah as hostages to Samaria. When Jehoash died, his son, Jeroboam 2, became king. The story of Jehoash is found in 2 Kings 13:9-19 and in 2 Chronicles 25:17-25. The name Jehoash means "God has bestowed/donated."

• Jeroboam 2
Jeroboam 2, King of Israel
Jeroboam 2 was the son of King Joash, and the great grandson of King Jehu. He reigned 41 years (789-748 BC). He was the 13th king of the northern kingdom of Israel. He was not related to Jeroboam 1. He fought and conquered Damascus and Hamath and expanded Israel's boundaries. There were peaceful relations between Israel and Judah during the reign of Jeroboam 2, and Israel became wealthy.

Although he reigned 41 years, there is not much written about him in the Bible, other than that he was as evil as Jeroboam 1, who had led Israel into the sin of worshiping idols (2 Kings 14:24). When Jeroboam 2 died, he was buried with the other Kings of Israel, and his son Zechariah became the new king. Jeroboam's story is found in 2 Kings, chapters 13-15.

• Zechariah
Zechariah
There are three prominent people in the Bible named Zechariah (or Zacharias), and their profiles are shown below:

• Zechariah, King of Israel
• Zechariah, the prophet
• Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist
Zechariah, King of Israel
Zechariah became the 14th King of Israel. He was the son of King Jeroboam II and he reigned for only 6 months around 746 BC. He was assassinated by Shallum, who then became king. Zechariah is described as an evil king in 2 Kings 15:9. He was the fourth and final king to be descended from Jehu. This fulfilled God's prophecy to Jehu of allowing Jehu's son, grandson, and great-grandson to reign as kings of Israel for destroying the dynasty of the evil King Ahab (2 Kings 10:30). Zechariah's story is found in 2 Kings 14:29 and in 2 Kings 15:8-12.
Zechariah, the prophet
Zechariah was a prophet from 520 BC to 518 BC in Jerusalem, about 2500 years ago. During that era, many Jews were returning from the Babylonian Captivity to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, which had been destroyed by the Babylonians.

Zechariah, the son of Iddo, was instrumental in inspiring his fellow Jews to rebuild the Temple (see Ezra 6:14).

Zechariah began prophesying during the same year as the prophet Haggai, in about 520 BC. Zechariah's prophecies came from visions that showed God's power, God's judgment of sin, the importance of spiritual strength, and the promise of things to come, including the promise of the Messiah.

Zechariah's prophecies often looked far into the future, a future in which the Jews would again be exiled from their homeland and scattered throughout the world. His prophecies said that Jews would be persecuted worldwide, that Jerusalem would become a battleground of nations, and that Jerusalem would become the religious center of the world.

Today, we can see with our own eyes that Zechariah's prophecies accurately described the worldwide dispersion of Jews that has taken place during the past 1900 years, as well as the fact that Jerusalem has become a focal point of the international community (the United States and Europe, and the United Nations) and a religious focal point among Jews, Christians and Moslems.

Zechariah, means "Yah has remembered". His book is the 11th book of the twelve minor prophets.
Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist
The father of John the Baptist, and husband of Elizabeth. He was a priest belonging to the order of Abijah. While he was offering incense in the Temple, the angel Gabriel appeared to him, and told him that his wife Elizabeth who had been barron for many years would give birth to a son, and the son's name would be John. Zechariah, who was an old man, did not believe the angel, and because of his disbelief, was struck dumb unable to speak, until the prophecy was fulfilled.

When the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, she did bear a son. On the eighth day when the child was circumcised, they were going to name him Zechariah, after his father, but Elizabeth said "No, he is going to be called John." This surprized everybody because none of their relatives had this name. They then asked Zechariah, who was still mute, what name he wanted to give his son. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." Immediately Zechariah's mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. (Luke 1:5-79). There is no further mention of Zechariah or Elizabeth in the New Testament.

• Shallum
Shallum, King of Israel
Shallum was the 15th king of Israel. He was the son of Jabesh and he reigned for only one month. He became king after he assassinated King Zechariah. His reign ended as it began - with an assassination. Shallum was killed by Menahem, who then became king. Shallum's assassination of King Zechariah ended the dynasty of Jehu and fulfilled the prophecy found in 2 Kings 10:30.

Shallum is mentioned in 2 Kings 15:10-15.

• Menahem
Menahem, King of Israel
Menahem, son of Gadi, became the 16th King of Israel after he assassinated King Shallum. He reigned 10 years in Samaria. He's listed as an evil king and worshiped idols, as did king Jeroboam I. After he assassinated Shallum, he destroyed the city of Tappuah and the surrounding communities, killing everyone there. He did this because the people there had refused to accept him as king. King Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria invaded Israel, but Menahem paid him off by raising 1,000 talents of silver by taxing wealthy Israelites.

The payment allowed Menahem to retain the throne, but the event marked the beginning of Israel's submission to foreign powers. When Menahem died, his son, Pekahiah, became king. Archaeological records involving Menahem include an Assyrian inscription recording the tribute payment. It includes the phrase, "Menahem of Samaria". There is also a quartz Hebrew seal in the Israel Museum inscribed with the words, "Belonging to Menahem". The name Menahem means "comforter." The story of Menahem is found in 2 Kings15:14-22.

• Pekahiah
Pekahiah, King of Israel
Pekahiah was the 17th king of Israel, and the 6th to be assassinated. His father was King Menahem. Pekahiah reigned two years. His reign ended when he was assassinated by Pekah, a general in his army.

Pekahiah is described as an evil king who continued the worship of false idols that had been started by Jeroboam 1. Pekah conspired with 50 men from Gilead to assassinate Pekahiah at the palace at Samaria. Pekah then became king.

His story is found in 2 Kings 15:22-26. The name means "The Lord opened his eyes."

• Pekah
Pekah, King of Israel
Pekah became the 18th King of Israel after he assassinated King Pekahiah. Pekah was the son of Ramaliah. The length of Pekah's reign is uncertain. He was described as an evil king, as he continued the worship of false idols that had been started by Jeroboam 1. Pekah was an army general.

It is believed he killed Pekahiah because the Israelites were angry that the Assyrians were dominating the kingdom of Israel. Pekah, as king, aligned himself with King Rezin of Damascus. He also encouraged the Edomites and Philistines to attack Jerusalem. King Ahaz of Judah turned to Assyria for help. The Assyrians then invaded Israel and took many people there as captives to Assyria.

The Assyrians eventually brought an end to the kingdom of Israel. Pekah was assassinated by Hoshea, who became the last king of the kingdom of Israel. The story of Pekah is found in 2 Kings 15:25-37.

• Hoshea
Hoshea, King of Israel
Hoshea was the 19th and final king of the ancient kingdom of Israel. He was the son of Elah and he became king after he assassinated King Pekah. He reigned nine years in Samaria (733-724 BC). King Hoshea's army was attacked and defeated in battle by King Shalmaneser of Assyria.

Assyria forced Israel to pay hefty annual taxes to Assyria. Hoshea, however, stopped paying the taxation and he asked King So of Egypt to help him break free of Assyria's power. The Assyrians responded by placing Hoshea in prison, and by besieging and conquering Samaria.

The Assyrians were brutal in their treatment of Israel. Many Israelites were killed or exiled out of the land of Israel. Many were placed in colonies in Halah, Gozan, and among the cities of the Medes. Hoshea's story is found in 2 Kings, chapters 15, 17 and 18.

Notes on overcoming sin

2008-10-22T23:32:00.002-04:00

Ask God to show you how you look to Him-and He will do it.

Society is set up to appeal to the negative factor in our nature-and we yield to often.

Hate sin-your sins etc. Loathe them.

Sin is difficult to hate-mind seems to love sin.

Human mind loves its lusts. It hates God's way-hates to give up it's lusts.

God hates sin. And when we really hate sin as God does, then we will begin to overcome. Ask for God's mind-ask for help to hate sin. Then repent and turn.

Our sins affect God as they would any loving parent who will grieve over their errant children.

Do you want to get rid of sin for yourself or for God. Analyze this!

Make yourself do the opposite of sin. Make yourself practice the right habit.Smiling for example.

Build the habit of righteousness.

2008-10-20T22:44:00.001-04:00

Fasting
A way to stay close to God

An insert that was included in an old Good News magazine presented the following information regarding fasting. Because we are coming up to the Day of Atonement soon, this information should be of value to you. Here is the insert as it appeared:

God expects us to fast (Matt. 6:16-18; 9:14-15). It shows that we really want to humble ourselves and depend on God.

God was able to bless many people after they humbled themselves through fasting. King Ahab’s life was prolonged (I Kings 21:17-29). Nineveh was spared from destruction (Jonah 3:4-10). Jesus was able to resist Satan’s temptation (Matt. 4:1-11). The early Church leaders were guided in decision making (Acts 13:1-3).

The biblical example of a true fast is not partaking of either food or liquid (Ex. 34:28). The Bible records one-day fasts (Lev. 23:27, 29). It also teaches that two or three-day fasts are appropriate on occasions (Esther 4:16). However a person’s physical condition must be considered. If a person is not in good health, the advice of a licensed medical doctor should be obtained to determine if a fast is medically prohibited in his or her case.

Avoid seeking your pleasure, doing unnecessary work or justifying your carnal ways during a fast. Don’t view it as a form of penance designed to force God to do what you want (Isa. 58:3-4). Don’t do it to be seen of men (Matt. 6:17-18). Rather, let God reveal to you any areas where you are self-centered or weak.

Consider selecting a specific purpose to concentrate on while fasting. It might involve over-coming a personal problem, receiving guidance in decision making, gaining better understanding or seeking blessings needed in God’s work or in someone’s life (Isa. 58:6-7; Esth. 4:16).

Pray, study God’s Word, and meditate. Admit where you have sinned (Dan. 9:1-19). Thinking about God’s greatness and your need to depend on Him (Jas. 4:9-10; I Pet. 5:5-6). Seek a deeper understanding of God’s will and the strength to live it (Isa. 58:10-11). Make changes that will increase the love you show toward God and your fellowman (Rom. 13:8).

After drawing closer to God, make your requests known. Also give thanks for your blessings (II Chron. 33:11-13; Phil. 4:6).

Reap the rewards of a better attitude, more understanding and more direct intervention by God (Job 22:29; Ps. 9:11-12; Prov. 22:4).

Fast often enough to stay close to God. By doing so you’ll be much stronger spiritually (Matt. 23:12).

Fear God

2008-10-20T21:47:00.001-04:00

Plain Truth
Jan 1969
Q&A

"Isn't this a contradiction: God commands people to fear Him,yet I John 4:16,18 says, God is love, and perfect love casts out fear?"

There are two kinds of fear, one of which is a necessary part of perfect love!
Most people today are enslaved by harmful fears - chronic fears of danger and phobias of darkness, shadows,loneliness, blood, travel; fear of being unattractive to others; a morbid fear of death; etc.; ad infinitum. Such unreasoned, chronic fears and worries rob people of contentment. The other kind of fear - the helpful kind - is fear of the bad result of wrong action. Proper fear stems from wisdom and knowledge. It warns of genuine dangers so we can take action to avoid them. The fear of God is in this category. Thus, "The fear of the Eternal tendeth to life; and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil" (Prov. 19:23).
Proper fear takes two forms. One is the natural fear of physical danger the warning we need to protect this temporal life. The other is spiritual fear for our eternal protection. Spiritual fear is called the fear of God. The fear of God warns us of those things which make life miserable and endanger our eternal life. It is a learned fear. We have to learn about the power and authority of God - that He gives life and also takes life. Spiritual, Godly fear is founded on living faith. Noah believed and feared God! This resulted in his being saved alive when the whole world perished (Heb. 11:7). Godly fear warns us that God will punish sin and wickedness (Prov.16:6). It warns us to turn away from sin because it ends in death (Rom. 6:23). This kind of fear saves our lives! The fear of God is the instruction of wisdom (Prov. 15:33). God's Word tells us right from wrong - it warns of the consequences of sin and describes the blessings of righteousness (Ps. 1). Godly fear supplies motivation and furnishes impetus to obey His Word, to avoid pitfalls and mistakes that injure us. God is love (I Jobn 4:8). He loves us (Rom. 5:8) and wants us to enjoy life forever in His Kingdom. His commandments are love (I John 5: 3) - they point out the way of love and blessings. When we fear to disobey God, we are given the incentive to carefully weigh our thoughts and actions in the light of His Word and to avoid what is wrong. Thus, we are guided into the way of love that ends in every right result (Psalm 16:11). We become imbued with LOVE. The confidence and love which result, drive out and conquer the unreasoned, harmful, enslaving fears of man.
This good kind of fear is like the healthy fear and reverence instilled in children by loving parents who teach their little children to fear to touch a hot stove Or run into the street. We are God's children, and He wants us to avoid the pitfalls of life. Thus, we fear and revere Him; and this fear to disobey teaches us perfect love. God's fear is good for us. It is really part of perfect love - the force that leads us to learn and live by the law of love. That is why a loving God tells us to fear Him!

Effectiveness in Prayer quotes

2008-10-15T13:39:00.001-04:00

Good News
May 1979
By Leroy Neff

Prayer is the completion of a two way conversation between God and man. God speaks to us through His Word, and we speak to Him through prayer.

Three times a day
If you were an. engineer at a power plant and had to solve the problem of a sag in a utility line, the solution would be obvious. Add a third pole as a prop, and the power flow would be uninterrupted.. This same problem can occur spiritually. For example, most Christians pray in the morning.That's the first pole. And almost all Christians pray at night. That's the second pole. But around midday the spiritual battle can rage the strongest. For increased spiritual strength add a third prayer. You say you pray all day long when you drive to work or while you do the dishes? That's not what I mean! It's fine to 'walk with God, but I'm talking about prayer on your knees, giving God your undivided attention.Most of us eat three meals a day to be nourished physically. The Bible example is prayer three times a day for proper nourishment spiritually. David, :'a man after God's own heart," set us this example. "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and
cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice" (Ps. 55: 17). Daniel "kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed" (Dan. 6: 10). This was his habit. You can get off course by the middle of the day. The Holy Spirit needs to be replenished. Without this extra prayer you tend to forget that you are in a spiritual battle, and that you must frequently relate what you are doing to God's standards. Since you began reading this, your mind has come up with at least half a dozen good reasons why you can't pray three times a day. Get on your knees and ask your Creator to help you see its importance for you personally.
- By Ron Lohr

But the Scriptures give us other evidence beyond this. David prayed three times a day (Ps. 55:16-17) at "evening, and morning and af noon." Daniel also
prayed three times a day (Dan. 6:10). This apparently was related to the hours of prayer at the tabernacle and later at the temple, the hours of 3 p.m., 9 a.m. and 12 noon. You will find other references to these times in Acts 3:1 and 10:30.

There are two main ways we learn spiritual lessons. One is by experience. Some say it is the best teacher. No doubt it is the most effective. But it is best to learn from God's instruction and save yourself unnecessary pain and suffering.

If we had an audience with a great ruler, or person of great influence on this earth, we would be very excited and probably feel privileged. Think how far greater it is to be able to come into the presence of God, the ruler of the vast universe. "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise" (Ps.100:4). "But in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God" (Phil. 4:6). When you enter God's throne room, remember that Jesus Christ is seated at His right hand. Twenty four great spirit beings are also there, with cherubim, seraphim and an innumerable host of angels as well. The driving force of the universe is listening. Pray with energy and zeal.

Happiness Is-

2008-10-13T22:22:00.001-04:00

Quotes from above article
Good news oct/nov 1980
Clayton Steep

The happiness God has, that which He offers to us, was meant to be with us constantly. It was meant to become a permanent part of us - of our personality and character.

He created us because He wants to give us the opportunity to live as He lives, to be in His Family.

So desirous is He for us to be in His Kingdom that He has given that which was of most value to Him - the life of Jesus Christ (John 3:16). Why? In order to make it possible for Him to give us eternal life, yes, but more -- that He might be able to give us "all things" (Rom 8:32)! All things - let your mind dwell on that for a moment!

Yes God gets His pleasure - His thrills - from giving to us. Jesus said, "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). And to enter into the Kingdom is to enter "into the joy of thy Lord" (Matt.25:21,23).

Through Christ's sacrifice our sins and iniquities are forgiven, never to be remembered again (Heb. 8:12). We are recounciled to God. that makes for happiness. Therefore we can "joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement" (Rom. 5:11).

"Blessed are those... who walk in the law of the Lord" (Ps. 119:1. RSV). Obedience brings great peace of mind (verse 165). It prepares one to receive etenal life (Matt. 19:17). And that's happiness too!
God's laws are a delight (Ps.1:2). They exist for our good (Duet. 10:13). "The statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart" (Ps. 19:8). "Blessed is every one that...walketh in his ways...happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee" (Ps. 128:1-2).

One of the greatest keys to happiness is being thankful. We start off each day with a bonus - life - because, let's face it, nobody owes us life! But of even more value than life is knowing God and partaking of His salvation.
Nothing else in life really matters. Other blessings may come and go. Wealth, material possessions, health - they all have wings. We should be grateful when we have them, serving God "with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abuundance of all things" (Deut. 28:47). But when they are gone, we still have that which counts most: God, His Word, His Church, His Spirit.
The apostle Paul realized this and admonished Christians to always give thanks (Eph. 5:20). "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (I Thess. 5:18).
Paul always found a lot to be grateful for. He could say, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Phil. 4:11). Thankful contentment is happiness!

Christians have the promise of eternal life. This is a hope the
people in the world do not have (Eph. 2:12).When we who are called begin to feel burdened down we can remember that the present distress is only a temporary condition. While other people's hearts are failing them for fear and worry, and while the world falls apart around us, we can lift up our heads because our redemption draws near (Luke 21:25-28).
That's why the apostle Paul tells us to be "Rejoicing in hope" even
though at the same time we may need to be "patient in tribulation" (Rom.12:12). For a short season we may be "in heaviness through manifold temptations." Yet knowing we will be grateful throughout eternity for what these trials produce in us, we can "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (I Pet. 1:6-9).
The world can offer no thrill or happiness as exciting as
anticipating the moment when our change will take place and real life will begin.

We have a God we can trust. We can take all our problems to Him.
He has never failed. "Take delight in the Lord.... Commit your way to
the Lord; trust in him, and he will act" (Ps. 37:4-5, RSV). "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love
[obey - John 14:15] God" (Rom.8:28). Since the promise is that all
things work together for good, there is nothing left to worry about, is there? Talk about freedom! Talk about peace of mind! "The
righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles" (Ps. 34: 17).
Jesus Christ proved" that He could overcome every obstacle. There is no problem in the world that He cannot solve for us. That is why He tells us, "Be of good cheer [in other words, be happy!]; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

Although there are additional ways in which the Bible describes true happiness, they may all be summed up in one definition: Happiness is -doing God's will. It really works. "If ye know these things, happy
are ye if ye do them" (John 13:17)!

What Kind of Example are You Setting

2008-10-11T16:08:00.003-04:00

Quotes from magazine

How do we grow in this thing called faith? It is simple. We just do what Israel did not. Whenever trials come upon us, we face them as opportunities to build faith, rather

than as calamities to be feared. We know that although the physical circumstances may look disastrous we look to an invisible circumstance that can affect the outcome.

God is that invisible reality standing beside us ready to make "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28).

Our daily troubles are opportunities to build faith. Problems intrude into all our lives. Our trials can come from almost any area of life school, work, home or play. We also have Satan's influence and the pull of the world to continually cope with. We have to contend with our own human nature. Unless we fearlessly approach these trials as

opportunities to build faith in God, life can become a tremendous burden. None of us enjoy adverse circumstances in our lives, but if we can accept them as necessary in building faith, then we can at least approach our trials with. a positive rather than negative attitude. Peter said "the trial of your faith" is "much more precious than ... gold" (I Pet. 1:7).

Why? Because faith is the essential element we must build in order to do the Work and enter the Kingdom of God. Without faith we would all fail. At times life seems filled with many "Red Seas," some little and some so big they look impossible for us to cross. But let us learn the beautiful truth that ancient Israel did not- that there is no "Red Sea" too big to cross with God. Let's view each day of our lives, with all its joys and sorrows, as just another step toward the Kingdom of God.

June-July 1980 Good News

What Kind of Example are You Setting

By David Carley

Love Thy Neighbor Just What Does It Mean

2008-10-11T16:08:00.001-04:00

Quotes from the Article

Trials and tests are common in all our lives. We have trials, and so does our neighbor. While Christ was undergoing the trial of His life, He was praying for Peter, a key disciple whom Satan wanted to destroy. And yet Christ Himself was about to be sacrificed. What a selfless love! Christ instructed Peter, "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren" (Luke 22:31-32). This is the type of love we must manifest toward our neighbor.

The same as loving God

God actually puts Himself in the place of our neighbor. Whatever we do to our neighbor, we are actually doing to God (Matt. 25:31-46). Do we always consider, as we deal with another human being, that we are doing to God whatever we do to that person? This knowledge should have powerful impact when we consider our relationship with our neighbor!

Do we begin to see the importance God places on relationships between human beings made in His likeness? Every human being is a potential member of the God Family, and we must not do anything to deter our neighbor from fulfilling God's purpose in his life. This must be the underlying premise upon which we base our every thought and deed toward our neigh bor.

Good News Feb.82

Love Thy Neighbor Just What Does It Mean

By Ellis LaRavia

Are You Just " Enduring To The End"?

2008-09-28T14:30:00.000-04:00

Some in God's Church simply intend to "tough it out" until
Christ returns. Literally, they are "ENDURING to the end"

(Matt. 24:13) - but not the way Christ intended. Are you

making their mistake?

by Richard A. Wiedenheft
Good News Magazine
July-September 1973

THINK BACK to the time just before your first contact with the message proclaimed by God's Church. Your life had probably become somewhat frustrating and purposeless. You had problems and worries. You saw inequities and wrongs all around you. Perhaps you wondered, "What is it all about?"

Something was missing!

And them came the thrill and challenge of God's truth. You saw in it the answers to many gnawing doubts, the solutions to problems - real, positive, workable principles that could make your life fuller, happier and more abundant.

You seized God's way with zest and put those principles into action - at the cost of your hobbies, perhaps of your job, your friends, even your family. But it was well worth the sacrifice because your life now had meaning and direction - and you had the promise of eternal life! You abounded with the zeal that God calls the "first love" for His truth.

Routine of Christian Living

As the days, weeks and months rolled by, however, you discovered that you were still you, that life still had its frustrations, disappointments and heartaches. Even as a converted and changed Christian, you continued to have trials and tests, some of which were burdensome and wearing.

And so your "first love" began to fade, your original childlike excitement now tempered with the mature realization that God's way is not a magical, mystical solution to all ills - that it requires hard work on your part.

Are you now therefore one of those who are simply "waiting it out" - tolerating your problems and shortcomings - hoping that somehow when Christ appears in the clouds your whole mental attitude will be instantly changed? Are you looking for God's Kingdom to bring you "instant happiness"?

Brethren, don't be deceived. God is not going to end all our problems, trials and tests for us while we are rising to meet Christ in the air - we must be working on and conquering them now, by our own hard effort magnified and made effective through God's spiritual help!

God promises eternal spirit life and rulership in His Kingdom only to those who in this life develop righteous spiritual character - who practice love, joy, peace, happiness and overcome and solve their problems now!

God's People Should Be Happy

Jesus explained to His disciples that one who is faithful in little will be faithful in much (Luke 16:10). If we learn here and now to lead full, happy, purposeful physical lives, to master and overcome our afflictions, God knows we can be happy for all eternity in His Kingdom.

In John 10:10 Christ told the Pharisees: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." God intended our physical life to be an abundant one - not necessarily full of wealth and earthly possessions, but full of love, joy, peace and happiness.

"Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance . . ." are among the fruits of God's Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Notice that love, joy and peace head the list. These are the spiritual works by which God is judging us.
Can we really evidence love, joy, and peace if we are just "waiting it out"? Obviously not. Putting up with our shortcomings and allowing circumstances subject to our control to toss us about - hoping that Christ will return before our endurance runs out - is not the way to peace and happiness!

When Christ returns He wants to find His servants "so doing" (Matt. 24:46) - actively and aggressively making changes in themselves; actually solving problems - not simply "marking time" and putting up with their lacks - not relying on someone else to push them into overcoming. He wants to find in us ever-increasing joy and the sense of purpose that comes only with spiritual growth.

Take a test.

Can you say that since you were put into God's Church you have been very blessed - and that you are being spiritually blessed more all the time?

If not, something is amiss.

If you don't feel very blessed and happy - and increasingly so as time passes, you may be "missing the boat."
Trials, Yes! Unhappiness, No!

Certainly God did promise trials and tribulation for true Christians. Anyone who will live godly is in for some rough times.

But even in the face of trials, a Christian should not become unhappy and frustrated. James commanded, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations [trials]; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience" (James 1:2-3).

No crisis or dilemma seems cause for us to shout for joy - at least not in the immediate physical sense. But we are commanded by our Creator to rejoice in the long range good that a trial can produce. We can have the vision and foresight to know that God is absolutely in control, allowing a problem only for our ultimate spiritual good.

Trials can be traumatic; but they need not destroy the overall contentment and joy we have in knowing we are now learning how to live so we can reign for all eternity with Christ.

Nothing must be allowed to blur our vision of our goal. Then, nothing can destroy our happiness! Christ exhorted His disciples: ".. . rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you" - or because of any supernatural abilities we might be given - "... but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20). That is our cause for great rejoicing, regardless of our physical circumstances.

Be Deeply Converted

Although the temporary physical blessings of this life can add to our happiness, we must never let the lack or desire for them destroy or ruin our rejoicing. No attempt to base our life and happiness on physical things which an so easily be taken from us can ever succeed.

But to be able to get our minds off the physical things of this world, we must be deeply converted - we must strive to rid ourselves of the habits, aspirations and vanity of our carnal lives. We must understand and despise the carnality we see in our own minds. We must be willing to accept correction and admit our weaknesses and faults.

We should pray for God to show us our errors and shortcomings, to correct us in His mercy; and we should also ask God's ministers to help us see where we need to change.

Admitting error, accepting correction, then striving to overcome, must become a daily challenge for us --knowing that we are qualifying for an eternal goal which is the foundation of our happiness.

With this spiritual goal in mind, we can greatly appreciate any physical blessings God has granted us and use them to the fullest. Sin and unhappiness come from misuse or abuse - but happiness, peace and joy come from the proper appreciation and use of all that God has created.

Enjoy the taste of delicious food; be inspired by beautiful music; be thrilled by the fellowship of other members of God's family; appreciate the glory of God's creation. In proper balance drink in of all of God's physical creation, but always seek His Kingdom first (Matt. 6:33).

Solve Your Problems

As true Christians, we must actually solve the problems of this life. Never think or say, "I can't do things any different. That is the way I am," or, "I can't help it if conditions are that way" - and slip into a do-nothing attitude.

Too many of us are satisfied with second place - with less than a fulfilling marriage, with less than obedient children. We bounce from job to job without direction. We allow circumstances to shape our lives. We slip by from paycheck to paycheck just keeping our financial noses above water. We allow our own physical bodies to remain too fat, or enervated, or in pain, when it lies within our power to correct the situation - if we only would exert the effort to do so.

Are you developing and using your mind, broadening your mental horizons, learning in fields you have previously ignored or had no opportunity? Then again, perhaps you are already too broad in your interests and need to narrow them down and begin to specialize in certain fields.

Granted, there are limitations to what we can alter in this life - but are we really changing to the utmost? It's true that change is often arduous, embarrassing and traumatic, but are we really measuring it as we should in comparison to the jubilation beyond?

Are you solving and overcoming problems - putting them into the past? Or engaged in a simple endurance contest?

Accentuate the Positive

"A basic human tendency is to see the negative side of things. It doesn't matter who you are, you can always find something to be discouraged about if you want to. There is always trouble in the world, in the nation, in every community. There are aches and pains, discouragement and disappointment in our personal lives.

But one thing is sure: worrying about these problems, brooding about them, being unhappy about them, won't make them go away.

So what should we do?

We must learn to thrust our problems into the hands of God through prayer and meditate about the positive aspects of our life and His way. We of all people do know who we are - we know where we're going. We have the absolute promise that ".. . all things work together for good to them that love God . . ." (Rom. 8:28). Before us lies the greatest goal that a human being could imagine - the promised goal of being in God's family for all eternity.

Brethren, let's accentuate the positive!

Let's recapture the original zest and happiness we experienced when we first began to walk in God's way of life.

Remember, this physical existence is the training and testing ground for an eternal spiritual life in God's glorious family. Eternal happiness is available only to those who learn true happiness here and now!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brought to you as a study resource by the
Church of God Faithful Flock

What is Your Idol?

2008-08-30T16:22:00.000-04:00

A UNITED STATES senator preached a sermon in a Methodist pulpit in Los Angeles, Calif.

Of all things, imagine a well-known senator saying that patriotism is a false god to many people! And he was right.

"Love of country can transcend the love of God," he said, "and we must, in time of stress, avoid making patriotism a religion."

He said a number of other things I could have said, myself. Among the idols professing Christians worship, he cited prosperity, science, patriotism, peace - and some people actually make an idol of the Bible, strange as that may sound. Some, he said, worship the Bible for itself, NOT as containing TRUTHS necessary for salvation, and, I add, as a GUIDE to a WAY OF LIFE.

What is your idol? What are you really dedicated to? Is it earning a living - making money? What absorbs your mind, your thoughts, your time - what are you really devoted to?

Is it God - above all else? Or is it your hobby, your wife or husband, your children, your home, your sports - or amusements and entertainments?

What do you keep your MIND on most of the time? What most occupies your INTEREST? Is it friends - society? Is it PEOPLE - Or is it THINGS?

It surely couldn't be GOD, could it?

Probably not. And, if not, then it is an IDOL. You are breaking the First Commandment. You have this other god before Him.

Just WHAT IS RELIGION?

Is it merely an incidental interest, secondary to many other things, such as earning a living, your home, your family, your friends, hobbies, sports, entertainments? Possibly secondary to television or movies?

Religion is your CONNECTION WITH GOD - your relationship with Him.

Religion is realizing the PURPOSE of your life - the reason why God had you to be born - the reason you draw the breath of air and exist - the PURPOSE or end GOAL of your life, and HOW to live that life so as to arrive there.

I have written of the seven laws of SUCCESS. You may have the free booklet on The Seven Laws of Success by writing our office nearest you. They are really the seven laws of LIFE. They are the seven laws of RELIGION. Yet most people do not know or practice or apply a single one of them.

The first is to have the RIGHT GOAL.

That GOAL - God's PURPOSE for having put the breath of life in you - is that you be born of GOD, to share with Him the GLORY of creation, to inherit His divine NATURE, to be LIKE HIM - to do what He does, to accomplish what He accomplishes, enjoy what He ENJOYS - peace, happiness, joy, resplendent GLORY in LIFE EVERLASTING.

No other goal could be as great. It is superlative.

But what are you,now? Just a mass of matter, put together like a machine. Your present existence has to be constantly SUSTAINED. You have to keep drawing a breath of air into your lungs about every four or five seconds. You have to eat food on the average of at least three times every day. You have to take care of eliminating the impurities from food, and of bathing and cleansing your body.

Maybe you don't really have to "brush your teeth after every meal" as a certain toothpaste TV commercial keeps repeating like a phonograph record that got stuck.

But you do have to maintain and sustain your physical anatomy to keep on existing - and even then you are aging and degenerating every day and every year - and the most certain thing in this existence we call "life" is that this machine process is going to run down - You ARE GOING TO DIE.

Actually, we have to simply keep pumping life into ourselves constantly - daily - to continue existing - to continue consciousness.

Yet most people keep on, day after day, year after year, pumping that existence into themselves, with NO MORE PURPOSE than to try to be comfortable, free from pain, and to be pleasing the five senses - with their minds on the passing physical and material things of the moment - things that are not lasting, and are soon gone.

Unless God's own CHARACTER is being formed and developed in your mind and your life, replacing the carnality that is there now, you shall have missed your GOAL.

God's PURPOSE is to CREATE within you, during this life, a new and perfect CHARACTER, so that you may be given eternal life - self-containing, inherent life.

If you are converted - that is, if you do once establish actual contact with God - He supernaturally puts within you His HOLY SPIRIT. This impregnates you with HIS LIFE - begets you as His child, actually yet unborn.

Actually, what many professing Christians call "being born again" should be termed "being begotten."

Technically, to be "born of God" means to be changed in composition from flesh and blood matter to SPIRIT - no longer mortal, no longer human.

But it does put within you a NEW NATURE, entirely opposite to HUMAN NATURE with which you were first born.

You are, as Scripture says, given "exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE"(II Pet. 1:4). Of course the old human nature remains, and your mind makes the continual decisions whether to yield to the downward pull and appetites and established habits of human nature, or to resist it by yielding to the new divine nature - to BE LED BY GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT.

This, then, BECOMES your very life!

You can only succeed if your GOAL is kept constantly - continually - before your eyes.

When you drive a car, if you take your eyes and attention off what is in front of you (and sometimes coming from the side or behind) even for two or three seconds, you may find yourself "coming to" in a hospital, dying and saying "It all happened so suddenly!"

Driving carefully means BEING ALERT - being DILIGENT every second - KEEPING YOUR EYE and your mind and attention on the matter of DRIVING - not on conversation or other things.

In the same manner, if you let other interests, material pursuits, steal first place in your mind and heart and interest, even for a few days, you are in danger of a SPIRITUAL SMASHUP that will let you wake up being plunged into the LAKE OF FIRE, which will mean eternal DEATH.

That's why God doesn't want you to have these other gods BEFORE Him.

For your own sake - in your own interest - you must keep Him enthroned and enshrined constantly ABOVE ALL.

You must study His WORD in order to be instructed by Him.

Instructed in what? Instructed in true KNOWLEDGE - knowledge of God's PURPOSE for you - knowledge of and about God - and knowledge of HOW TO LIVE. Jesus Christ said you must actually LIVE BY the words of the Bible. It is your GUIDE TO LIVING - your INSTRUCTION BOOK the Maker sent along to instruct you HOW to OPERATE this mechanism that is YOU.

More, you must study His Word - your BIBLE - to find what you now believe that is wrong, and what you are now DOING that is wrong - to be CORRECTED and reproved by it. You must study it to let it INSTRUCT you in the ways of God's RIGHTEOUSNESS - His WAY OF LIFE. And then you must devote yourself to LIVING IT!

Still, without regular and constant PRAYER, you cannot maintain CONTACT with God. And when that contact is broken, you are CUT OFF from Him - and His spiritual LIFE, LOVE and very NATURE ceases flowing into you.

For, understand, these divine attributes of His Spirit DO FLOW! They are IN MOTION. They do not stagnate.

You either GROW spiritually - in knowledge - in grace - in God's character - or you deteriorate back toward becoming a mere physical animal, to die in ETERNAL PUNISHMENT in the lake of fire!

But if God, and the things of God - His revealed knowledge - His law - His love - His WAY for you to live - are constantly foremost in your mind, your thoughts, your interest, then you are PRAYING ALWAYS - that is, in a constant SPIRIT OF PRAYER - a constant MENTAL ATTITUDE of prayer.

The contact with God must be perpetual!

This kind of Christian life - the only kind that truly is Christian - requires, as the Bible emphasizes repeatedly, zealous DILIGENCE. YOU must CONCENTRATE on it. You must be DEDICATED to it. It requires utter CONSECRATION. It requires total EARNESTNESS.

Yes, it requires the application of the other six laws of SUCCESS - education, in which the Bible is the main textbook; good physical health; DRIVE, or concentrated DILIGENCE and EFFORT; resourcefulness; sticking to it - enduring; and continual contact with, and the guidance, help and power of, GOD.

True spiritual mindedness is not a sticky sentimentalism. It is NOT a certain emotional mood. It is not the use of a certain religious phraseology, saying constantly, "Praise the Lord," or, "Glory, hallelujah."

I have known many people whose TALK is so very "spiritual" - but whose hearts were as far from God as the prophet Isaiah described (Isa. 29:13).

Jesus Christ was a perfectly SPIRITUAL man. But He did not go about using such mushy language.

He was not a girlish, effeminate, sentimental or emotional weakling. He was a strong, virile, masterful, yet kind and gentle, MAN.

He possessed LEADERSHIP, STRENGTH, PURPOSE, SUPREME STRONG WILL - and yet these masculine qualities of strength and power were perfectly blended with wisdom, judgment, knowledge, understanding, justice and also patience, compassion and mercy. He was filled with PEACE, LOVE, FAITH.

And His WILL, strong as it was, was totally yielded and obedient to GOD. All this was the character of GOD.

He is our PATTERN. We must imitate Him - copy Him.

Look at the men of God in the Old Testament - Abraham, Noah, Joseph, David, Daniel, Elijah. They were all different from Christ in one respect - in which you and I must also be different - they had human weaknesses, and all did sin, yet these men all repented and strove to overcome.

But they were all men of strong PURPOSE, strong WILL guided by God; all possessed leadership, but also love and faith and a consecrated OBEDIENCE to the will of GOD. But they were not effeminate, sentimental men indulging in an affected, put-on, religious-sounding way of talking.

Look at the apostles Peter and Paul. They were the same. You don't find any of this pseudo "spirituality" in them - yet they were truly SPIRITUAL men, devoted to obeying God and serving the needs of the people.

But one thing to watch and guard against every second, in the way of attitude, is resentment, bitterness, hatred.

Don't let ANYTHING, no matter how unjust, make you sour and bitter.

That is the deadliest mental and spiritual POISON. We must LOVE even our enemies who perpetrate the greatest outrages - though we do not condone their evils.

If you ever think I'M wrong about anything, don't get sour or bitter about it - let God correct and punish me - vengeance is His, you know.

Resentment against me won't either punish me or benefit you, but it could consign you to eternal punishment!

Whether you believe it or not, I have come, by years of experience learning the HARD WAY, to have supreme faith that God will never neglect to correct or punish me wherever I deserve it! You may TRUST Him to do it!

Remember what a GLORIOUS GOAL we have before us!

How GRATEFUL we ought to be! How our hearts ought to be FLOODED with love and gratitude to the great God for His matchless LOVE toward us.

I'm sure we don't grasp what a supreme price He paid to make it possible. He wants us to be CHANGED - to overcome and root out this debasing, rotten carnality we all have in us - and to GROW into His righteousness, that we may SHARE His GLORY.

And, you know, I believe God wants and longs to share the supreme GLORY that He has with you! Make it your supreme overall life VOCATION, and WORK HARD AT IT!

The Japanese spy who stealthily and secretly obtained all the information the Japanese needed to bomb Pearl Harbor said that he was not a very brilliant man, and learning came hard to him, BUT HE WORKED HARD AT IT, relentlessly, with zeal, and with purpose, and with diligence. He SUCCEEDED - in terrible DESTRUCTION - in plunging the United States into World War II - and, finally, in the ignominious defeat of his own nation.

Let us work hard at our calling and mission of being real Christians. We shall succeed, with God's help - in final and eternal GLORY!

Gossip And Accusation Must Stop

2008-07-27T11:32:00.001-04:00

Good News - 1978 July 31, Page 1

PREFACE BY GOD'S APOSTLE

by Herbert W. Armstrong

Perhaps the No. 1 problem -- yes, and even the No. 1 and most prevalent SIN IN God's Church today is careless GOSSIP and rumor spreading. Whether or not realized, it often becomes accusation and slander.

If a hostile student demonstration, such as organized and promoted by Communists, had appeared on the Ambassador campus I would have made it my business to identify the LEADER and get rid of him. Once such actions lose their leadership they disintegrate. It's the same on our problem of rumors -- especially those ugly rumors that discredit or accuse, actually, perhaps unrealized, a form of character assassination.

I fully realize that often this is mere carelessness -- a sort of thinking through the mouth -- with no deliberate intention to harm. But it DOES HARM! And sometimes it is intended to harm!

The subject came up in a conversation with David Antion. At my request he has prepared the following memorandum on GOD'S LAW covering this subject.

This sort of thing MUST BE STAMPED OUT OF GOD'S CHURCH. Our Leader and HEAD of the Church, Jesus Christ, is TURNING GOD'S CHURCH AROUND, though He uses His human servant in so doing.

However, because 1) we have perhaps carelessly neglected emphatic TEACHING on this subject, and 2) much of such gossip or rumor has probably been done carelessly without full realization of the seriousness of it, I have decided to hold off direct and definite punitive corrective action UNTIL THIS THING HAS BEEN EMPHASIZED by the ministry, and in print, before the membership.

I realize that even many of us, including myself, may have been guilty of this through carelessness, thoughtlessness or neglect. I have decided, therefore, that first we must PUT EMPHATIC EMPHASIS on this matter in teachings, sermons and articles.

But this is to be followed by DIRECT ACTION, seeking out the SOURCE -- the one who started the rumor, false accusation or whatever, and then making an example of that person, if necessary, before the whole Church. I feel that this is CHRIST'S WAY of stamping out this evil from God's Church, and I act, therefore, in His name.

Following is Mr. Antion's memo to me on this subject.

____________________________________________________

Here is the memo you asked me to write when I was in your office last Friday. It is on the subject of what God's Law has to say about false witnesses and accusation.

As you have taught for many years, the statutes of Scripture are derived from the GREAT LAWS of God in the Ten Commandments.

The Ninth Commandment
The Ninth Commandment -- "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" -- is the basis for the other statutes and judgments in this category in the Bible.

Most people assume that the Ninth Commandment is only against lying. Though it does cover lying (Revelation 21:8, Colossians 3:9) it is mainly against false accusations made against another!

You have also taught that the main object of the last six commandments is love of your neighbor (Romans 13:9-10). And the Ninth Commandment forbids making a false witness against your neighbor -- thus harming him. The Moffatt and the New English Bible say, "You shall not give false evidence [against your neighbor]."

Not a light thing
Does God consider it a light thing for a man to falsely accuse his neighbor (brother)?

And what about Jesus' words: "Judge not that ye be not judged"? We know that we can judge a person's actions as being either in conformity or not with God's law. But can we judge his heart?

"But why doest thou judge thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ" (Romans 14:10). And in verse 13, "Let us not therefore judge another any more."

The apostle James must have had trouble with judging and accusing in his day, for he writes: "Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who are thou that judgest another?" (James 4:11-12).

Those who would speak evil of another and judge their brothers are in reality judging the law and speaking evil of GOD'S LAW! And like you have said, "The one who accuses us usually is guilty of the very thing he accuses others of."

False accusations divisive
If a minister got up in the pulpit and spoke evil of the Law of God (which is holy, just and good), he would be dismissed from the ministry! But what happens to him if he judges the intent, thought and beliefs of his brother?

For too long God's Work and God's MINISTRY have been divided BECAUSE OF FALSE ACCUSATIONS AND JUDGING! It is time that God's Law be applied and that God's own judgments be enforced against those who judge and falsely accuse.

It was false accusers that got Jesus crucified! Should God's Church house them now? Should it allow false accusers (thus encouraging them in their deeds) to continue their satanic actions?

What is the motive?
Many people don't mean or intend to be malicious with their words. They are just careless and neglectful. They say and pass on information without checking it out -- without responsibility! For some it is just habit. But God's Law also deals with neglect. And one can forfeit his life through neglect! (See Exodus 21:28-36.)

Sometimes people accuse because they want to get another person in trouble and see him thrown out of his job or the Church.

Whatever the motive, whether neglect, carelessness or malice, Jesus' words still ring true: "But I say unto you, that every idle [Moffatt says 'careless'] word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shall be condemned" (Matthew 12:36-37).

Another translation says it this way: "I tell you this: there is not a thoughtless word that comes from men's lips but they will have to account for it on the day of judgment" (New English Bible).

God's judgment
BUT WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN TO PEOPLE WHO FALSELY ACCUSE?

HERE IS GOD'S JUDGMENT: "If a malicious witness appears against a man to accuse him of evil-doing, then the two parties in the dispute shall appear before the Eternal, that is before the priests and the presiding judges: The judges shall investigate the matter carefully, and if it turns out that the witness is malicious and that he has given false witness against his fellow, YOU MUST TREAT HIM AS HE MEANT HIS FELLOW TO BE TREATED: SO SHALL YOU ERADICATE EVIL FROM YOUR MIDST. THE OTHERS SHALL HEAR AND FEAR AND NEVER AGAIN BE GUILTY OF SUCH A SIN" (Deuteronomy 19:16-20 Moffatt translation).

But what should happen to the person who makes these accusations?

In the last few years God's Church has been a house divided and filled with this deadly evil. Accusers take verbal rifle shots at others trying to get them fired or excommunicated or to damage their reputations. But the only thing that happens to the accuser is that he is told he is mistaken. Or if confronted by his intended victim, he apologizes.

He -- the accuser -- risks absolutely nothing. He damages others, almost succeeds in getting them fired, demoted, thrown out of the Church or cast in suspicion, considered untrustworthy and avoided. At the very least, he causes them to consume enormous amounts of time trying to straighten out the problem and track down the rumor.

But NOTHING happens to the accuser. He is fine -- alive and well -- and ready for another try in the future.

Slander affects relationships
One of the worst things about all of this is that often the victim of the accusation doesn't even know that he is being slandered, accused, cast in suspicion, judged. Things are said that may stick in the minds of those who hear. Though no action is taken, these slanders affect the relationship that people have with the accused person. People avoid him. Mistrust him. He is passed over for important jobs or assignments. ALL OF THIS JUST BECAUSE OF A WORD OR TWO SAID CARELESSLY, NEGLECTFULLY OR MALICIOUSLY!

Only by applying God's Law -- HIS GOVERNMENT -- to the Church can we rid the Church of this evil and have the HAPPINESS, PEACE, UNITY AND JOY that God will approve and BLESS in His Church!

Can you recognize counterfeit faith?

2008-07-18T23:33:00.001-04:00

Could you be fooling yourself about your faith?

Physically tired and spiritually exhausted, another minister and I sat in a coffee shop, sipping pensively on cups of Sanka and rehearsing the last two hours. We couldn't believe what had just almost happened.

We, two ministers of the Worldwide Church of God, had just visited a severely depressed woman and her husband (both "members"), and had come within an inch of being physically thrown out of the house!

Why.' Simply because we saw that the woman probably lacked the faith necessary to be healed of a serious tumor she had growing in her body, and we had. in love and tact, told her so.

The reaction we received gave us quite a jolt. She became furious! To think that we would "accuse" her — 'her' — of lacking faith.

She, after all, was a "leading member" and a constant server in the church. She said hello to the ministry each week, and she helped the elderly people, and, and . . . well, how could we accuse her of such a thing?

How could we? It was simple. She lacked faith. And we felt an obligation to, in love, tell her so she wouldn't continue to labor under the false notion that she had faith when she did not.

This woman's problem of misjudging the amount of her own faith is not unique. Many people
— perhaps all of us, at some time — have mistaken our natural, human desires, fears or emotions for faith. The woman I described above was deceiving herself by confusing her human, carnal longing for health as faith. Yes. she may have known what faith is — in other words, she may have been able to recite the Bible definition (Heb. 11:1) — but she didn't know what faith is not.

Do you?

Your need to discern your own faith is important, because the Stakes are high indeed, for the promises God makes to us to heal us or to answer our prayers or to put us into His Kingdom all
depend upon faith.

But take notice: God will save us, heal us or answer our prayers according to the real faith we have, not according to the faith we think we have, or wish we had, or want others to think we have, or that we should have. God is not fooled by our human substitutes for faith.

But are you?

False substitutes for faith

Sadly, some people, even in God's Church, are fooled by emotions, fears or wishes that disguise themselves as faith. And this is true even for people who may have been in God's church for years. That is why many people lack faith today. They think they have it when they do not.

But the real tragedy occurs when these people meet trials that demand real faith, and instead of real faith they find only a poor substitute. The substitute quickly crumbles under pressure and they are left with nothing. Such a person who finds his false faith crumbling beneath him quickly learns about his lack of faith the hard way by experience.

But there is a better way to learn. That way is to recognize how deceitful our human nature is and to identify the false substitutes for faith before they take root and block the growth of real, godly faith.

Here are some of the most common human substitutes and counterfeits for faith:

Wishing: Wishing is simply wanting something to happen. All of us at one time or another wish for something. We wish for a new house or a new car, or we even wish to be healed. And wishing may not necessarily be wrong as long as our wishing doesn't degenerate into daydreaming or coveting. But it's most important that we do not confuse wishing for faith. Wishing is wishing, and faith is faith.

Hope: Hope is an optimistic expectation that you will get the results you want. Hope is a necessary element of the human experience (Prov. 13:12). And 1Corinthians 13:13 shows that hope is a positive Christian quality. But that does not mean it is faith.

An example of a situation that most of us have experienced at one time or another will serve to illustrate the difference between faith and hope. Most people at some time must approach their bosses and ask for time off from their jobs. If the person has an optimistic expectation that the boss will grant his wish, then that person has hope.

But faith is more than just an optimistic expectation faith is believing that God will do what He says, in His Word, He will do. For instance, God has not said that He will not allow you to lose your job, although He has said that He will never allow the righteous to starve ( Ps 37:25).

The point is that faith and hope are different. We must be careful not to confuse the two.

positive attitude:. This is the ability to look at the facts and concentrate on a possible positive outcome. A good illustration is a gambler Everyone knows that the house always wins in the end, but a gambler is able to look at the odds, which are drastically against him, and somehow believe that with the next pull of the slot machine handle or roll of the dice he will be a big winner.

It certainly requires a positive altitude to concentrate only on the narrow potential for winning and ignore the overwhelming odds for losing. And it is true that having a positive attitude is a good quality — a characteristic we should all strive to obtain. We are, after all, to concentrate on good, happy positive things (Phil. 4:8). But a positive attitude is not faith and should not be confused with faith.

Emotional enthusiasm. A temporary surge of emotional enthusiasm is just that. A person who has thousands of dollars in the stock market on a day when his stock skyrockets may feel a flush of warmth and the prospect of potential wealth. Such an experience would give a person an emotional high. Certainly the children of Israel must have fell that way when they came out of the land of Lg\pt with a "high hand" (Ex. 14:8).

But the enthusiasm that comes from winning on the stock market or leaving the captivity of ancient Egypt or from hearing a powerful prayer for healing — is not faith.

Fear of punishment: It's amazing how some people can be motivated into doing something because they fear the punishment of disobeying. Ancient Israel, after refusing to enter the promised land, had a dramatic change of heart and wanted to charge in after being told they would be punished for not doing so (Num. 14:40).

It would be easy for some to assume that the Israelites had. overnight, developed a great surge of real faith, so that they now were ready lo put aside their fears of giants or war and, instead, stalk into the land with renewed bravery. But the fact is that they did not develop faith overnight.

Instead, they developed a fear of the punishment that would come upon them (wandering 40 years in the wilderness) if they didn't do what they were told.

Unfortunately, some people obey God only out of fear of punishment. Fear of punishment certainly should not be confused with faith. It may be a motivation in obeying God, but if we lack faith we should obey anyway and ask God for the faith.

Hear of a worse alternative: Some people put off operations or decide not to seek a doctor's help not because they have deep faith in God for healing, but because they are afraid of the surgery or afraid of the doctors.
This was the real reason why the woman I spoke of at the beginning of this article did not want to see a physician. She, clearly, did not have the faith. But she was also fearful of the alternative to trusting on God, a surgeon's knife. I could not blame her for having the fear, but can find fault with her for confusing the fear with faith. Such a mistake can be deadly.

Peer pressure: Suppose a person came into God's Church and had to ask his employer for time off to keep God's Sabbath, even though the person did not have the faith to trust in God if he were to lose his job. If the employer threatened to fire him, the person might capitulate and work on the Sabbath anyway.

Why would such a person not stand up to his boss and take off the Sabbath after he had asked for it? There could be many reasons, of course, but one reason is that, often, such a person does not have the faith to trust God in the first place His real motivation for asking for the Sabbath off was fear of what other people in the Church would think if he didn't keep the day. But unfortunately, not even peer pressure, in the long run, can make a person obey if he doesn't have the faith to back it up.

Guilt: A person's conscience can be a powerful motivator toward obedience. Someone may tithe, for example, not because he has real faith or not even because he might fear < rod's punishment. but because he would feel guilty if he didn't. The person is not motivated by faith but by guilt
Of course, tithing because of guilt may be better than not tithing at all — we truly understand God's way only after we begin following it (Ps. 111:10) - but the tither should not confuse and mis-diagnose his guilt as faith. God is not deceived, although the person might be. No wonder some are not blessed for tithing.

Intimidation: Have you ever bought something, not because you wanted it or needed it, but because the salesman was slick and aggressive and talked you into it? Sure you have. We all have. Many a used-car salesman has sold many a used car to many a person solely by intimidating him into the purchase. And a minister who gives a powerful sermon might unintentionally intimidate you into obeying God in some area.

Of course, obeying God is good. But someone who is obeying solely because he is intimidated is not obeying out of faith.

Resignation or hopelessness: Most of God's ministers, at one time or another, meet a person who, on his deathbed after having tried all of the doctors' methods and approaches, comes to us and asks to be anointed for healing (Jas. 5:14). Sometimes, of course, the person has real faith and will be healed (Luke 8:43-48). Other times, the person comes for anointing or for advice simply because there are no other alternatives left. Out of sheer hopelessness or resignation, a person may seek God's help.
Of course, we should lake all of our trials to God. Trials are a tool God Himself uses to draw men to Him. But one who seeks God or "prays about it" simply because there is nothing else to do is not exercising faith. He is simply exercising good old carnal logic and doing what any soldier in a foxhole, under the thunder of blasting shells, would do.

Self-righteousness: Believe it or not. people sometimes obey God, pray for healing or other needs or even endure trials not because they have the real faith that God is looking for, but simply because they have told other people in similar situations that they wouldn't do whatever the other "weak" people had done instead of seeking God.
One may put on a show of righteousness by toughing it out. But such a show of righteousness occasioned merely by self-righteousness is unrighteousness in God's eves ( Isa. 64:6).

Stubbornness: From time to time a person will be confronted by a great trial and will see it through to the end in grand Style, keeping a Stiff upper lip. We may assume the motivating factor behind his great steadfastness is a deep and abiding faith in God. It may be. But it also might be plain old human stubbornness.
Stubbornness can be a good quality at times. It may help a person or group of people hold on and endure in times of stress or trial. But it won't get you into God's Kingdom, because it's not faith. In fact, stubbornness can be as much of a liability as it may be an asset. If you don't believe that, read the story of ancient Israel and their legacy of being stiff-necked (Deut. 9:6).

What faith is
An article on what faith is not would not be complete without a simple definition of faith. Faith is easy to define: The Bible tells us, Faith is simply the belief that God exists and that He will do what He, in His Word, says He will (Heb. 11:6).

Read that again. Faith is not merely wishing, nor hoping, nor a positive mental attitude, nor a temporary surge of emotional enthusiasm, nor fear of punishment. nor fear of a worse alternative. nor peer pressure, guilt, intimidation, resignation, self-righteousness, nor stubbornness. But it is confidently knowing that God will do what He says He will do, when He says He'll do it.

This faith — real, saving faith — comes only from God. It is a gift only He can give, and it in no way comes, in any part or fragment, from our own human nature or attitudes, such as the false "faiths'" listed above do (Eph. 2:8).

True faith is a gift God wants to give you. He will give it to you when you ask. But you will not ask until you see that you don't have it and that you may have been fooling yourself with worthless counterfeits. For an in-depth study of the kind of faith required for salvation, write for a free copy of our booklet. What Is Faith?

And. finally, realize this: All of the false "faiths" have two deadly things in common: First, none of them fool God. And second, all of them can fool us humans unless we ask God to show us our human self-deceptions.

Don't you be fooled — know what faith is. and what it is not!

by Bernie Schnippert Good News October-November 1982

Just What do yo mean-Self Righteous?

2008-07-16T15:56:00.000-04:00

There is a spiritual disease as common as the common cold — but seldom recognized for what it really is. What are its symptoms? How can you tell if you are afflicted with it?

All diseases have symptoms. Red eyes, runny nose and a hacking cough are all symptoms of the common cold.

Self-righteousness is a spiritual disease, and has its own peculiar symptoms which can be recognized, isolated and worked upon.

Of and by themselves the symptoms do not explain what self-righteousness is. They only point out the presence of the malady. But isolating the symptoms will nevertheless be of help in defeating and wiping out the disease.

Here then are seven symptoms of self-righteousness, and what can be done to curb and stamp it out.

Unteachability

First and foremost, a self-righteous person is not teachable. The patriarch Job, before his total conversion, was a classic example of self-righteousness. He was not teachable. We read his statement in Job 27:6, "My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go . . . ." Job was sure in his own mind that he was righteous and was not about to be taught to the contrary!

Another example of this symptom of unteachableness can be found in Jeremiah 2:35. Jeremiah wrote what God said to the ancient nation of Judah: "Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with you, because thou sayest, I have not sinned."

Ancient Judah was self-righteous. The people felt they were innocent; they felt they had not sinned. This made God's job of teaching them very difficult. It is virtually impossible to teach a person who thinks and is convinced he is right. However, whenever that person is willing to admit he may be wrong, he has begun to open his mind to instruction.

And so a clear sign of self-righteousness is resistance to being teachable. Are you teachable? Are you easy to be intreated? Or are you stubborn — difficult to instruct?

Pride in Obedience

In Luke 18:11-12, we read about the Pharisee who fasted twice in the week. He was proud of his obedience.

Today most of us are more sophisticated in the expression of our pride. Rather than telling people outright when we are fasting, or that we give tithes of all our increase and generous offerings besides, we go around dropping hints. But being more sophisticated about it does not make us any less self-righteous.

Do you glory in telling your friends you won't be able to accept a dinner invitation because you are fasting? Are you happy to share with your brethren the fact that you don't have finer things because you have "given most of your money to God"? Such hints are symptoms of self-righteousness. They show that in one form or another we are proud of our obedience to God.

The opposite of this attitude is humility. True humility leaves no place for self-righteousness. When we strive to do our best in fasting, giving or whatever, but without bragging, recognizing our own shortcomings at the same time, we won't be expressing self-righteousness.

The Self-Oriented Mind

To a self-righteous person, the main theme of conversation revolves around the self. "I," "me" and "my" become the center of conversation, since it is the focal point of one's thoughts.

In Job 29, we have an excellent example of the self-oriented mind. In just 25 short verses Job uses the personal pronouns, "I," "me" and "my" 52 times! Job was clearly self-oriented. This is epitomized in verse 14: "I put on righteousness, and it clothed me...."

A truly converted spirit-led mind is interested in other people. In Philippians 2:4 we read: "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." This Godly focus of attention is clearly away from self.

Have you ever listened to a candid tape recording of your own conversation? It is a very interesting exercise. You might be highly embarrassed if you did. It could show how oriented toward self you may really be.

Think about the topics of your daily conversations. Do you detect too much self-orientation? The Bible teaches us to love our neighbor as ourselves. We need to do this more every day, for only then will we truly have other people in our hearts and minds, instead of only the self.

"Doing God a Favor"

The fourth symptom of the disease of self-righteousness is that of feeling we are doing God a service. In Job 35:7 we read that Elihu pointed out to Job:

"If you be righteous, what give you him [God]? Or what receives he of your hand?" Job somehow felt that God was highly honored and helped by his service. But in reality God does not need us. We desperately need Him!

The self-righteous person remembers what he has "given up" to serve God. Rather than thinking about what he has gained by serving God, he feels he is a tremendous asset to God, and that God is tremendously benefitted by his servitude.

If your child were to come to you and tell you he really adds to the family and that you, the parent, just could not do without him (or her), you would tend to think that child was rather vain in his thinking. Wouldn't you much rather see your child come to you with the attitude, "Thanks, mom and dad, for allowing me to be a part of this family. Thanks for sharing all that you have with me."

In this analogy, we should be able to see the difference between the person who thinks he's doing God a service and the person who is grateful that God has allowed him to be part of His Church and His Family.

Lack of Compassion

The self-righteous person lacks compassion — an empathy and feeling for other people. (The word "compassion" comes from the Latin meaning "with feeling.") He is almost invariably critical of others when they sin and judges them harshly. "Why, I wouldn't do that," he tells himself. Thus he can't understand one who does. He is so "righteous" in his own sight it is difficult for him to make allowances for another's weaknesses!

He is quick to condemn and point out where he could have done better — but slow to empathize and admit he might have done the same thing under the same circumstances.

In Isaiah 65:1-5, we read of ancient Judah's attitude toward people who were sinners. God condemns the people who, while they themselves were sinners, said to other sinners, "Stand by your self, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou." This "holier than thou" attitude is typical of a self-righteous person. Not being able to see his own faults and sins, he is critical of others' mistakes and shortcomings.

The parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) gives us a good example of a self-righteous person. Three characters are mentioned in this parable, though we often overlook the elder brother of the prodigal son.

The elder brother was angry when the prodigal son received forgiveness. He lacked compassion for his licentious, wastrel brother, and was not happy to see him rescued from destitution and at home once again. He was proud of his own obedience while his brother sinned. Thus he was very self-oriented.

And lacking compassion, the elder brother was unable to understand that his brother had changed and repented. He thought his brother's return merely meant he — the "faithful" one — was about to lose even more of his patrimony. He was angry at his father for giving more of it to the spendthrift son. In his self-righteousness, he felt that he had been overlooked by his father.

Have you ever been prevented from having and expressing true Christian love and doing good deeds for others by similar feelings? Examine yourself to see if you have compassion for your fellow man — especially for your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Self-Pity

The sixth sign or symptom of self-righteousness is self-pity. We read in Genesis 4:13 that Cain said to God "My punishment is greater than I can bear." In this sense, Cain was self-righteous. He did not want to change his attitude; he didn't ask forgiveness for his sin; he just wanted to wallow in self-pity.

Was God so harsh that Cain could not have found forgiveness? The point is that Cain didn't feel truly sorry for his sin. He didn't want to repent. When he was punished, he only felt sorry for himself!

Self-pity is a cancer of the spiritual life. It eats away at a person's morale and well-being and destroys the desire to fight back at one's sins and hurdle one's difficulties.

Self-pity is a self-defeating attitude, You may recognize wrong in your life, you may see your mistakes, but self-pity will cause you to act as if the situation is hopeless. Self-pity is expressed in the attitude, "Que sera, sera — whatever will be, will be." Rather than change, fighting to pull yourself out of the rut, you just accept the way things are. But self-pity will never make you happy because it is a symptom of self-righteousness!

Justification of Sins

The seventh and last symptom of self-righteousness to be discussed in this article is justification of sin.

The truly self-righteous, self-oriented person will justify his own sins. Being righteous in his own eyes, it is easy for him to think he does not have any real sins. So when a fault or a problem is pointed out to him, he justifies and excuses it. This justification makes wrong seem right in his eyes.

Long before he comes to the point of calling out and out sin right and good, however, the self-righteous person hides his eyes from his own sins.

In Revelation 3:17 we see how this self-righteous attitude works. A great deal of self-righteousness is imputed to the Laodiceans. They have an "answer for everything," including their spiritual slothfulness. In the eyes of God, they are "lukewarm and neither cold nor hot...." But not so in their own eyes. They say, "I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing ...." They justify their lukewarm attitude. In their own minds they make it right.

In Job 32:1-2, we find that Job "justified himself rather than God." Job was experiencing a physical trial. He was seemingly being punished by God. So he searched his own heart but could not find a reason for his plight. Therefore, Job concluded that since he was not wrong, God had to be at fault. He felt all of his trials were totally undeserved — that God was unfair and unjust for treating him in such a manner. He wanted to argue the point with God.

In one translation we read that Job wanted an umpire or an unbiased judge to sit in judgment between him and God (Job 23). This is the height of self-righteousness!

God finally answered Job's self-justifying argument in Job 40:8, "Will you also disannul my judgment? Will you condemn me, that you may be righteous?" This, in fact, is what had happened.

Then God was able to convince Job that his attitude was wrong and Job finally saw his own folly. We read his repentant words in Job 42:3, "Therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not." He had come to real repentance, loathed himself, surrendered to God and now repented in dust and ashes (Job 42:6).

SELF-Righteousness — or GOD'S Righteousness?

Job had earlier said, as we read in Job 29:14, "I put on righteousness and it clothed me...." And he continued to boast of himself. But that righteousness clearly was not God's righteousness.

In Philippians 3:4-9 the Apostle Paul plainly defined the difference between human self-righteousness and God's righteousness. Paul began by listing the various things he could be "proud" of. He then went on to show in verse 8 that he counted all of these past glories as nothing — as so much dung!

In verse 9 we read why he had given it up, "[To] be found in him [Christ], not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is [comes] through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is OF God by faith."

Paul recognized the difference between self-righteousness and God's righteousness. Before his conversion, Paul had been self-righteous. But after his conversion he became filled with God's righteousness as a result of the faith of Christ in him.

In Romans 10:1-3, Paul showed the difference between the Israelites' righteousness and God's righteousness. Lacking the Holy Spirit, the Israelites
tried to establish their own righteousness, which became self-righteousness. In verse 3 we read, "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God."

Brethren, are any of us still trying to do the same thing?

Seek God's Righteousness

Jesus said that of Himself He could do nothing (John 5:19). He knew it. He admitted it. As a result His righteousness was not self-righteousness; it was God's righteousness. He did not trust in His own power to be righteous. He prayed without ceasing and asked God to impart His righteousness to Him.

And just as Jesus looked to His Father for that strength, so we are admonished to "seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness..." (Matt. 6:33).

The fight against self-righteousness is a constant battle. It involves daily contact with God through prayer and Bible study — having God and Christ through the Holy Spirit living in you. As God continues to live in you, His righteousness will replace self-righteousness.

Galatians 2:20 shows Paul lived with the power of Christ in him. It was his contact with God that gave him the righteousness that he manifested daily. Zechariah 4:6 also explains it: "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts." It is total trust in God for the righteousness that can make you truly righteous. We must do our part, certainly, but the real strength and the help to do it comes from God. And we must seek His help in prayer every day.

So during this Passover season, let's each examine himself or herself, searching our hearts and examining our motives, and begin to root out every trace and vestige of self-righteousness!

by Stephen Martin January-March 1973 GOOD NEWS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brought to you as a Study Resource by the
Church of God Faithful Flock