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KEN WILLIAMS MINISTRIES QUARTERLY NEWS LETTER Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved _____________________________________________________ Fall, 2011 (Sept., Oct., Nov.) Vol 4, No. 4 IN THIS ISSUE BIBLE STUDY: Finding Jesus in the Prophet Joel (Yo'el in Hebrew) THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: Dinosaurs - When Did they Really Live? Subtitled: "Are Dinosaurs Mentioned in the Bible?" OUR REAL AMERICAN HISTORY: Still More Vignettes - (Contnued from Summer Newsletter) A PERSONAL WORD: From Ken Williams _________________________________ BIBLE STUDY: THE PROPHET JOEL (Yo'el in Hebrew) By Ken Williams Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved In our quarterly newsletter, we have been going through the Old Testament Scriptures (the Jewish Scriptures) book by book, looking for Jesus, the promised Messiah of Israel. In this Fall Quarter, we arrive at the book written by the Jewish Prophet Joel. It is difficult to know exactly when the Prophet Joel lived, since there is no reference to a king or even a foreign nation. There is mention of a plague of locusts, which is brought upon the land because of Israel's disobedience to God. The locusts destroyed everything in their path, and left the nation impoverished. In chapter 2 the Prophet urges the people to turn from their wicked ways, repent and serve and worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They did, and God mercifully restored them and their nation, promising to return to them even what they lost to the locusts. After that, Joel looks well into the future in chapter 2, and writes, "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My men-servants and on My maidservants I will pour out my Spirit in those days. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance. As the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls" (Joel 2:28-32 KJV). Follow the chronology of Messiah during Passover week more than 800 years after Joel made this prophecy: 1. He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. 2. He celebrated the Spring Feasts of the Lord with His disciples. 3. He was the pure, sinless Son of God as the Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot). 4. He was taken outside the city to be sacrificed for the sins of the people on Passover (Pesach). 5. He rose from the grave on the Feast of Firstfruits (HaBikkurim). 6. He returned to Heaven, ascending into the sky from the Mount of Olives. 7. The disciples went back to Jerusalem to wait for the promised Holy Spirit. 8. The Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost, 50 days after First- fruits, on the date Israel celebrated the giving of the Law through Moses - the birthday of Judaism (Shavout). It was on this day (the Day of Pentecost), that God did something new among His chosen people, Israel. These Jews, who had been left behind by Messiah, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God came upon them and dwelt within them. Peter, an uneducated Jewish fisherman from Capernaum, preached a long and eloquent sermon, quoting over and over from the Jewish Scriptures (the Old Covenant, or Testament) to back the assertions that Jesus was and is the Messiah of Israel. A miracle took place! There were thousands of Jews in Jerusalem from all over the world who were there to celebrate the High Holy Days. While Peter preached in his native tongue, everyone heard his message of Messiah in his or her own language. 3,000 Jews became followers of "The Way" that day, believing that Jesus indeed did come as their Messiah. They trusted His sacrifice to take care of their sin. It was totally a Jewish event. It took place at the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The speakers were Jewish. The listeners were all Jewish. The Jewish (Old Testament) Scriptures were preached. They were used to point to Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. In the middle of the sermon, Peter said, "What you are witnessing today is the fulfillment of what the Prophet Joel wrote more than 800 years ago." This is what Peter said in Acts chapter 2, "But this is what was spoken of by the Prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy" (Acts 2:15-18). What is it that these people are going to be predicting? Let's read on: "I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor and smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD" (Acts 2:10-20 KJV). Most Bible scholars today, and must ancient Jewish rabbis, believed that this referred to a time of terrible tribulation that would face the Jewish nation (known by Jews as The Time of Jacob's Trouble) just prior to the return of Messiah to set up His kingdom. At that time, He will defeat the enemies of Israel and usher in a time of peace. Peter concludes, as did the Prophet Joel, "And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved (Acts 2:21 KJV). After defeating the invading nations of the world, Messiah calls them all to judgment, according to Joel. He writes, "I will also gather all nations. And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have also divided up My land. Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehosaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations" (Joel 3:2 and 12 KJV). Jesus taught about this same "Judgment of the Nations" in Matthew 25. He said the "Sheep Nations" and the "Goat Nations" would be gathered for judgment. The basis of judgment will be how they treated "...my brethren." Jesus was and is a Jew. The nations will be judged on the basis of their treatment of "God's Land" and God's People." According to the Scriptures, the land of Israel does not belong to the Jews, and it does not belong to the Arabs. It belongs, in a very special way, to God. Notice several things from this passage in Joel: 1. All nations of the world will be gathered for judgment. This is not an end-of-the-world judgment. It is a judgment to determine whether or not each nation will enter the Kingdom era. 2. The judgment will be based on the nations' treatment of "My people, My heritage, Israel." 3. The nations are accused of scattering God's people throughout the world. 4. They are accused of dividing up, not just Isreal's land, by "My land," according to God. For those Christians who believe that God is finished with Israel because of Israel's rejection of Messiah, you should read this carefully. God cannot and will not break His promises. In our coming Winter issue, we will take a look at the Prophet Amos. ___________________________________________________________ THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: Dinosaurs - When Did They Really Live? Subtitled: "Are Dinosaurs Mentioned in the Bible?" By Ken Williams Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved Ask any kindergartner what animal became extinct some 65 million years before humans appeared on the earth, and you will get, without hesitation, a shout of, "dinosaurs!" Yet, there is considerable evidence to prove that dinosaurs and humans existed together on this earth. Why is it that some scientists have tried to hide that evidence? There are two kinds of science - hard science and soft science. Hard science involves things which can be proved mathematically or in a laborabory. Soft science involves sciences which find evidence in nature, such as Geology, Archeolog, etc. Science is involved in facts that can be proven and/or demonstrated. Neither Creation Science nor Evolutionary Science is "science." Those terms are misnomers. Creationism and Evolutionism are both faith systems which try to interpret the same scientific facts and evidence. Each arrives at its widely divergent views based on their assumptions and presumptions, or what is sometimes called their foundational "World View." What is the evidence that these two opposing views are interpreting when it comes to dinosaurs? From Geology we have: 1. Petrified dinosaur footprints 2. Petrified dinosaur dung 3. Petrified dinosaur bones 4. In the last few years, in Alaska, dinosaur bones encased in ice have been found complete with live red blood cells and pliable soft tissue. From Archeology we have: 1. Ancient manuscripts 2. Petroglyphs 3. Engravings 4. Figurines From History we have: 1. Writings of actual events 2. Writings recording legends Both the Creationist and the Evolutionist look at exactly the same evidence, but come to differing conclusions based upon their foundational biases or assumptions. The Creationist looks at the evidence and says it points directly to a Creator. The Evolutonist says there is no God and can be no God, and therefore nothing supernatural can be part of the origins of the universe, earth and life. The Evolutionist says that given enough time all of this developed on its own with no outside assistance, even though some of the processes required violate known scentific laws and would require something supernatural no matter how much time was given. Most Creation Scientists were at one time Evolutionary Scientists, but changed their positions when they came to the conclusion that given an unlimited amount of time, evoluton could not have occurred on its own. Let's look first at dinosaurs as seen in geology. Let's begin with the Geologic Table. This is a diagram which shows the various rock strata divided among the various Evolutionary Ages (some say back as far as 15 billion years). Would it surprise you to learn that you cannot go anywhere in the world and view rock strata as it is shown on those tables? Most places you fill find only a few rock layers. But more importantly, they are not necessarily in the same order as shown on the charts and not in the same order from one place to another. The charts are just an average used to prove the Evolutionary Theory. Additionally, would it surprise you to know that vertebrates make up only .0125% of the fossils discovered and that mammals make up only a tiny percentage of that? Even more amazing is that dinosaur fossils are found in several rock layers, and not all of them are next to each other. Did you know that there are petrified trees that start in one rock layer and go through three, four, five or six adjoining layers that were supposed to have been laid down millions of years apart? That's an impossibility! How did we get dinosaur fossils (or any kind of fossils, for that matter)? If an animal dies a natural death in a forest, other animals and birds will likely eat its flesh, and the carcass will disintegrate over time. There will be no fossil. Fossils are formed when an animal is buried alive in mud which then comes under extreme presure and forms quickly into rock. We have petrified and fossilized dinosaur footprints, bones, dung and eggs (both hatched and unhatched). We have many dinosaur footprints (both of individual dinosaurs and entire herds) and in most cases they appear to have been running when they made the print in the mud. Back in the 1950's, a Texas high school science teacher and his son spotted what they thought were dinosaur tracks in the rock at the bottom of a creek near their home. University scientists were called in. They dug into the creek bank, following the tracks; and to their amazement, a number of yards back under the bank, the dinosaur tracks were crossed by perfectly formed footprints of three humans. Evolutionists agree that the footprints looked exactly like human footprints, and fit no other known animal. But they said the footprints could not be human because human beings and dinosaurs did not live at the same time. Their bias would not allow them to even consider the possibility. For, if humans and dinosaurs existed together on the earth, that would open the door to the possibility that there might be a God. An even more dramatic development occurred in 1997. Dinosaur remains were found encased in ice in Alaska. To the scientists' extreme excitement and also apprehension, when they put the bones under the microscope, they discovered two things. They discovered live red blood cells in the bone and they discovered, attached to the bone, soft tissue which was described as "still transparent and pliable" (elastic). The comment was written that it appeared to be no more than 200 to 300 years old. But then they added that it was miraculous that it could have been preserved in that state for 68 million years. Again, the evolutionists saw the evidence, but they could not accept what they saw because it did not fit their Evolutionary Model. Some scientists tell us that, even encased in ice, those red cells could not have survived more than 10,000 years, and not likely for nearly that long. We could go into much more detail, but we want to keep this simple and easy to read. So let's move on to the area of Archeology. Many ancient civilizations have drawings, engravings and figurines of various kinds of dinosaurs. In ancient Babylon there were dinosaur carvings on the city gates and on their temples. There are stories of people being killed by these huge animals. If they had never seen dionsaurs, how did they know what they looked like? On the rock walls of the Grand Canyon there are petroglyphs of dinosaurs drawn by Indians hundreds of years ago. How did they know what they looked like? At the Cliff Dwellers Pueblos there are drawings of dinosaurs drawn hundreds of years ago. In Cambodia engravings of dinosaurs were found next to real animals from our time. They have been dated to about 1050 AD. How did they know what they looked like? In Peru there are dinosaurs on grave stonres, temples and pottery. In one case there are two dinosaurs attacking a person. These dinos date to between 500 and 1200 AD. In Mexico there are dinosaur figurines and legends dating between 800 BC and 500 AD. How did they know how to depict them? In the Neanderthal caves in the south of France there are drawings on the cave walls, including dinosaurs. In one case there is a large picture of a dinosaur and a bear fighting each other. There is a well know story out of Europe in which a dinosaur (and they drew pictures of it) invaded their "long house" (a meeting house where they carried on their governmental and social affairs), and killed many of their leaders. Finally, one of their warriors devised a trap to lure the dino back to the long house, where there is a lengty description of how he so wounded the beast that it ran away and was never seen again. The method he is described as using was the same method used in descriptions written by the ancient Babylonians for killing dinosaurs. During the Middle Ages there are many descriptions of what were obviously dinosaurs. Some of these reports tell of these great animals coming in and destroying gardens and stealing sheep. There are some such spotty reports in Europe of similar incidents up to as near as 400 years ago. "Is there any mention of dinosaurs in the Bible," you ask? "Yes there is," is my reply; "quite a few, as a matter of fact." The first thing we have to realize is that the word "dinosaur" is a relatively modern word in terms of the history of language. Sir Richard Owen found some of the earliest dinosaur fossils in England in 1822. Nineteen years later, in 1841, he coined (or invented) the world "dinosaur" - meaning "terrible lizard." The King James Version of the Bible was translated into English in 1611, 230 years before the word "dinosaur" was invented. Therefore, the word "dinosaur" could not have been used. There are, however, three different Hebrew words used in the Old Testament to identify dinosaurs. First, let's look at the most obvious. It is the word dragon" (tanniyn in Hebrew). This word is used 22 times in the Old Testament. It means: a land or sea monster. But the root of tanniyn (tan) means to elongate, huge, hideous. Five times in the Old Testament the word "dragon/dinosaur" (tanniyn in Hebrew) is used as a real living animal along with other existing animals - once in the Psalms, once in Job and three times in Isaiah. Four times it is used to refer to a sea monster - twice in the Psalms and twice in Isaiah. Jeremiah compared Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, to a dinosaur in describing the way the Babylonian King devoured Jerusalem. Ezekiel compared Egypt's Pharoah to a dinosaur. Four passages in the Psalms, Jeremiah and Malachi tell us that dinosaurs lived in dens, desolate places and in the wilderness. The Prophet Micah said dinosaurs make a noise that sounds like wailing. Jeremiah compared donkeys to dinosaurs by the manner in which dinosaurs sniffed the wind and ate grass. The second word we want to look at is "leviathan." The Hebrew word for "leviathan" is "leviathan." The King James translators did not know what to do with this word, so they created a new English word out of the Hebrew word. It means a "sea monster." This word is used five times in the Old Testament, and in Job 40:1 there is somewhat of a description of this sea monster. The final word is "behemoth," found in Job chapter 40. This also is a transliteration out of Hebrew. The translators simply spelled out the Hebrew word in the English alphabet, without translating the word. There is a description of this animal in this passage: 1. He eats grass as an ox (verse 15). 2. He has powerful loins and muscles in his belly (verse 16). 3. His tail is like a cedar tree (reference to the tall cedars of Lebanon) (verse 17). 4. The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit together (verse 17). 5. His vertebrae are like tubes of brass (verse 18). 6. His ribs are like iron bars (verse 18). 7. He is ferocious (verse 19). 8. His food is both vegetarian and other animals (verse 20). 9. No one can catch him off guard, or tame him (verse 24). Do we have any animals today that have a tail which can be described as a cedar tree - a big base, a very long central truck that narrows to a point and when swung round can cause great damage? This is obviously a description of a dinosaur. If the Bible writers had never seen dinosaurs, how would they know about them to write about them? If the people who read or heard their writings had never seen dinosaurs, how could they have unerstood what the writers were saying, or how would they make the comparison the writers were trying to illustrate? Conclusion: there is indisputable evidence that man and dinosaurs existed together on planet earth. ___________________________________________________________ OUR REAL AMERICAN HISTORY: Still More Vignettes (Continued from the Summer Newsletter THE FUNDAMETAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT The colony's first constitution adopted in 1639 Purpose: "To maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the gospel of our Lord Jesus, which we now profess as also the disciples of the churches, which according to the truth of the said gospel is now practiced among us. ---------- THE ARTICLES OF THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION Adopted May 19, 1643 Purpose: "Whereas we all come into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the liberties of the gospel in purity with peace..." ---------- INSCRIBED OVER THE FIREPLACE IN THE WHITE HOUSE BY PRESIDENT JOHN ADAMS "I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this White House and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it." ---------- INSCRIPTION ON THE JEFFERSON MEMORIAL "Indeed, I tremble for my cuntry when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever." ---------- AT THE U.S. CAPITOL BUILDING A box was placed in the cornerstone of the Capitol Building dring the cornerstone laying ceremony. That box contained a manuscript read by Daniel Webster at the ceremony Webster said of the lawmakers, that they were "devoted to...and thankful to God for His preservation of liberty and happiness." Then he prayed, asking God that this dependence upon and service to God might continue and be the basis for the nation to "endure forever." ---------- THE AMERICAN PURPOSE Very few people today have any idea of the purpose behind the American experiment. See if you can fnd the founding purpose for America in the following: Benjamin Franklin was the U.S. Ambassador to France. He was directed to tell the French people, the French politicians and the French resistance about America's Christian revolution and advise them to follow suit. He told them, "Whoever will introduce into public affairs, the principles of Christianity will change the face of the world." What happened, instead, was a bloody, godless revolution in which Christians were exterminated at the guillotine just because they were Christians. What happened in France was said to have been "abhorrent" to Americans, especially since France had been an ally with America. Abraham Lincoln was not ignorant of the American Purpose. We remember his Gettysburg Address for its "Four score and seven years ago..." statement. But Lincoln, in that speech, recounted the reason and purpose behind the United States. He continued speaking, saying, "To that great task which remains before us, the task of building the Kingdom of God throughout the world. This was the purpose of those that first came to this shore; for the advancement of the Christian faith." --------- PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT SAID OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN... * He only mentioned one book - the Bible * He never made a speech without quoting the Bible * He memorized whole chapters of the Bible * Yet he didn't give his life to Christ until just weeks befor his assassination ---------- CHARLES FINNEY A great revival preacher of the early 1800's who came to faith in Christ through studying Blackstone's Commentary on the Law while preparing to become a lawyer. The church must take right ground in regard to politics. Politics are a part of religion in a country such as this, and Christians must do their duty to God. He will bless or curse this nation according to the course Christians take in politics. ---------- THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT On each of the 897 steps that lead to the top, has been placed either a Scripture verse with its reference, or a phrase familiar to Christians in the late early 1800's, such as: * God and our native land * "The memory of the just is blessed" (Proverbs 10:7) * Search the Scriptures * Holiness unto the Lord * Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven (the words of Jesus) * "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs) * In God we Trust * May Heaven to this union continue its beneficence A total of 897 such plaques are attached to each step of the Monument. Then, on the metal cap - the highest point in Washington, D.C. - is this phrase: "PRAISE BE TO GOD" ________________________________________________________________ A PERSONAL WORD: From Ken Williams Over the Fourth of July weekend, I had the privilege of sharing the Word with our friends at Western Hills Baptist Church in Bentonville, Arkansas. We had some great singing. I shared my testimony of being healed from cancer last year during prayer at our Spanish speaking congregation in Bentonville (La Iglesia del Nazareno). I sang a couple of songs, and then shared from God's Word. I want to share a bit of that message with you. If you have tried to share your faith in Christ with others, you likey have heard someone say, "That is just blind faith," or perhaps, "That's just pie in the sky bye-and-bye." My friend, the Christian faith is not based on "blind faith." Blind faith is putting $10.00 a week into the state lottery and hoping that against all odds you will come out ahead. Blind faith is stupidly challenging the laws of nature and believing they will not catch up with us. Christians, who according to Ephesians 2:8 are saved by God's grace, through faith in the Lord Jesus, are not in any way exercising blind faith. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith in Christ as, "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Did you notice those two defining words: "substance" and "evidence?" Our faith is not blind. Our faith is based on "substance" and "evidence." Some of the proofs we use to back up our faith in Christ are the more than 300 Old Testament prophecies which He fulfilled to the very smallest detail in the New Testament. That is a statistical impossibility. Tonight I want to talk to you about some Old Testament prophecies which Jesus fulfilled, which are never considered among that 300 number. Back in 1996 my wife and I travelled to Israel. We visited the various places mentioned in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. That wonderful, life changing experience was what kicked off a whole new area of study for me. I wanted to know the culture and the customs of Bible times. I didn't just want to know what we believe the Bible means on various subjects based on our western culture. I wanted to know how the people to whom the Bible was written understood it in their culture. Turn with me, if you will, to Matthew 5:17. I have heard many people say that Jesus "did away with the Law," or "destroyed the Law," by the shedding of His blood on Calvary. Not so, my friend! Not according to Matthew! Matthew says here, "Think not that I have come to destroy the Law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." There is a big difference between destroying and fulfilling. How long, according to Jesus, will the Law remain in effect? Verse 18: "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no way pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled." How long with the Old Testament Law remain in effect? "Till all be fulfilled!" These are Jesus' words, and they are in the New Testament! How did Jesus fulfill the Law and the Prophets? Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies concerning the first appearance of the promised Messiah. * He was born into the line of King David. * He was divine (God becoming a human being). * He was born of a virgin. * He was born in Bethlehem (we'll talk about this more later). * He was brought out of Egypt. * He carried out the teaching and healing ministry predicted of the Messiah. * He rose from the grave as had been prophesied. We could go on and on with the more than 300 Old Testament prophecies concerning the first appearance of Messiah which Jesus fulfilled. Jesus also fulfilled the Law and the Prophets by being the first, and only human being, ever to live completely within the Law, never once breaking it. He kept the Commadments. He kept the sacrificial requirements at the Temple in Jerusalem. He kept, what the New Testament called (both Jesus and Paul used the term), "the times and the seasons." "The Times" refers to the Sabbaths (weekly Sabbaths, the seventh year Sabbath and the 49th Year of Jubilee). The term "The Seasons" refers to the seven annual Feasts of the Lord. There were three spring feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits) all within a two week period. Then came Pentecost, 50 days after Firstfruits. There were three fall Feasts of the Lord (Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles), also within a two week period. Each of these feasts looked back to some event in Israel's history (Passover - their deliverance from Egypt) (Pentecost - the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai and the establishment of Judaism). The Old Testament called these remembrances "convocations" or "rehearsals." Twice in the New Testament Paul called them "Shadows of good things to come" or "rehearsals." For 1500 years the Jews went through these ceremonies "rehearsing" for the final production in which Jesus would fulfill them. Tonight, I would like to suggest to you that Jesus fulfilled the Spring Feasts of the Lord during His first coming; and that He will fulfill the Fall Feasts of the Lord when He returns at some time still in the future. Let's go to Passion Week, beginning with Paul Sunday and follow what the Jews were doing in their celebraton of the spring Feasts of the Lord. We know what Jesus was doing. We have the record of it in the Gospels. But tonight, let's try to find out how what Jesus did fit into the Spring Feasts and how Jesus fulfilled them. Early in the morning of Palm Sunday, the High Priest, with an entourage of several hundred priests would march from the Temple, through the streets of Jerusalem, to the city wall. There he would leave most of the priests, who would line the streets and await his return. Riding off on his donkey with a group of selected priests, he would ride the five miles to Bethlehem where he would select the Passover Lamb for the nation. The Lamb had to be pure, "without spot and without blemish." All of the lambs sacrificed in the Temple were born and raised on the hills around Bethlehem. That is why Jesus had to be born in Bethlehem. Paul wrote, "Purge out, therefore, the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ, our Passover is sacrificed for us" (I Corinthians 5:7). In this passage, Paul is teaching from the Spring Feasts. "Purge out the leaven" has to do with the Feast of Unleavened Bread - part of the two week celebration. To prepare for this, children would go through the house and find leaven (dirt, impurities) and they would be ceremonially removed. All leaven (yeast) would be removed, and all cakes and breads were flat because they did not rise (leaven in the Bible is a type of sin). Paul tells his readers that they are to purge out all "leaven" because Jesus was and is their Passover Lamb. That's why there was no room in the Inn for Mary and Joseph. God arranged for the city to be filled with visitors through a Roman census. The Passover Lamb had to be born in a feeding/watering/birthing trough in Bethlehem just as all Passover Lambs were. We call it a "manger;" a much prettier sounding name than it really was. After selecting the Passover Lamb for the nation, the High Priest would get back on his donkey and head back to Jerusalem with his group of priests. Meanwhile, back in the city, the more than 150,000 people who had come for the Spring Feasts, begin lining the streets between the gate and the Temple. At the same time, Jesus comes riding down the side of the Mount of Olives on a donkey along with His disciples and followers. As Jesus and His group arrive, the priests, believing it is the High Priest returning with the Passover Lamb, swing the gates open. They begin shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of Jehovah! Hosanna in the highest" (Matthew 21:9)! They are quoting Psalm 118:26, just as they have for 1500 years. The priests and the people line the streets with palm branches and even their clothes just has they have for centuries. But as Jesus and His group enter the city and go through the crowd, you hear, "Who is this" (verse 10)? They suddenly realize that this was not the High Priest with the nation's Passover Lamb. Luke tells us in chapter 19, that the Pharisees tried to get Jesus to quiet the crowd. But Jesus said, in verse 40, that if the people would be quiet the stones would cry out. Jesus has just fulfilled the first part of Passover. The have been rehearsing for this particular Passover for 1500 years. The first part of Passover has been fulfilled to the smallest detail. Now let's go on to the second part of Jesus' fulfillment of the Passover Lamb. The Lamb which the High Priest eventually brought through the city gate and into the Temple is now tethered in the Court of the Temple for four days. The Lamb will remain there for the High Priest, the Levites and the people to inspect. It must be "without spot, and without blemish," because it will be offered for the sins of the people. Jesus, God's Passover Lamb, was in the court of the Temple for four days. Read Matthew chapters 21 through 25. Each of the four days Jesus is questioned by the Scribes, the Pharisee, the Saducees and even the Herodians. Their purpose was to find some fault with Him; even to "trick Him." They were amazed at His answers, wondering how One with no eduaton could answer like this. After the four days of examination comes the Day of Preparation for the Passover. Jesus was arrested the night before in the Garden of Gethsemane. He has stood before the Sanhedrin, and the High Priest, Caiaphas, in a trial that lasted all night. He was found guilty of blasphemy for saying He was the Son of the Most High God. The Sanhedrin then sent Jesus on to the Roman Governor, Pilate, early in the morning before dawn. Also early in the morning, just after dawn, the High Priest entered the Court of the Temple. He is there to inspect the Passover Lamb for the last time. Just as Pilate comes out on his balcony, and the High Priest finishes his inspection in the Temple Court, they both cry out in concert, "I find no fault in Him!" Now, in the Temple, hundreds of priests begin the ceremonial slaying of the individual family lambs. Each family brings a lamb to the Temple. A priest kills the lamb according to ceremonial regulations. The family takes the lamb home to prepare for the Passover meal that night. The blood of the Lamb is splashed on the door posts and above the door just as it was in Egypt on that first Passover night 1500 years earlier. Thousands of lambs are slain - the killing continues all day long in the Temple. At noon, the skies suddenly grow black as night. The torches on the Temple platform are lit, and the killing of the lambs goes on. Then, at exactly 3:00, with all of the family lambs killed, it is time to offer the official Passover Lamb for the nation. Caiaphas raised the knife; slew the official Passover Lamb; offered the required sacrifice before the Lord. Then, in perfect concert with Jesus, hanging on the Cross, both cried out, "It...is...finished!" And the one foot think 25 foot tall veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom, opening the Holy of Holies (the place where God met mankind) to the view of everyone. Three days later Jesus rose from the grave on Firstfruits (the third of the Spring Feasts of the Lord). This was the day a section of a special barley field on the side of the Mount of Olives would be harvested. The shocks of barley would be brought back to the Temple. The grain would be beat out of the stalk. The grain would then be pulverized by a stone grinder into flour. The flour would be baked into loaves of bread. Then the High Priest would take those loaves before the Lord and offer them as the first fruit of the harvest. This would be a "wave offering." He would hold the loaves before the Lord, "wave" them up and down in front of himself, then back and forth at eye level, in the sign of a Cross. Jesus, when He met Mary in the garden on Resurrection Morning, told her not to touch Him, because He had not yet ascended into Heaven to present Himself before the Father. In I Corinthians 15, Paul said that just like the Feast of First Fruits, when the first fruits of the harvest were presented to God; just so the resurrection of Jesus from the grave was the first fruits of those who would have faith in Him and be raised to be with Him in the resurrection. Listen: "But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive; But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming" (I Corinthians 15:20-23). Unfortunately, the people who were rehearsing the Feast of Firstfruits ritual did not understand that after 1,500 years of rehearsing, this was the real thing. This was the live performance! Wow! What a God we serve! No human being, or group of human beings, could possibly have put together such a chain of events. The fulfillment of the three Spring Feasts of the Lord by our Savior, is, perhaps, even more impressive than the fulfillment of the more than 300 individual prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament. We do not believe with "blind faith." We have a God Who can, and has, changed the course of human history in order to bring His plan to fufillment. Our faith is based on "substance" and "evidence." What more proof could anyone want? If you are a believer in, and a follower of, the Lord Jesus Christ, I have a question for you. Are you living in the light of this glorious "substance" and "evidence" we have been talking about this evening? Our God will fulfill His promises. We have "substance" and "evidence" to prove it. We can rest unflinchingly on the Word of God. If you have never placed your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Chrst, do it now! Our God, according to the Bible, is a holy God. Nothing sinfull or imperfect can enter His presence. If you or I ever want to spend eternity with Him, we will have to received His gift of eternal life, by accepting Jesus Christ, and His shed blood as a substitute for us. Either we can pay for our own sin (eternal separation from the presence of God), or, we can accept the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from our sin, and make us children of God. It is by faith; this same faith which is substantiated by "sustance" and "evidence." Come to Christ today. _____________________________________________________ Click here to return to Home Page Click here to go to the Summer 2011 News Letter ________________________________________________________________ |
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