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KEN WILLIAMS MINISTRIES QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER
Copyrighted Material - All Rights Reserved * RETRACING THE JEWISH ROOTS OF OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH "Finding Jesus in Leviticus" (VA-YIKRA' in Hebrew) by Ken Williams Some people consider the Book of Leviticus to be boring reading. However, between the laborious directions there are some rich tidbits about who God is, how we fit into His plan, and how He has set us apart unto Himself. Leviticus portrays Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew) as our Sacrifice for sin. Leviticus is the book in which God directs His people in the method they were to use to worship Him. He gives explicit instructions to the very smallest detail. Look quickly over the pages of Leviticus and see how often the word "LORD" (all letters in capitals) appears. Because it is in large letters in most English translations, it stands out on each page. Each time the word appears in capital lettrers, it is a translation of the word "Jehovah" - "Yahweh" in Hebrew. Remember that the word "Jehovah" is formed from the Hebrew verb "to be," meaning the Lord is ever present. With Him there is no past; there is no future. He lives in the eternal now. There is no time with God. Our feeble minds cannot even begin to comprehend that concept. We are bound by time and location. Remember that Jesus claimed, "Before Abraham was, I AM." He was making a claim to be the Jehovah of the Old Covenant (the Tanakh). As stated in the previous quarter's newsletter, there are those today who try to discount that claim, but those who heard Him, the Bible says, took up stones to stone Him to death. They understood Him perfectly. They believed He was claiming to be God! The first thing we see in Leviticus is the outline of the various offerings that are to be brought to God. In chapters 1 through 17, God outlines the five offerings they are to bring. Each points to Jesus. 1. The Burnt Offering - In Scripture "sheep" are a picture of submission. The burnt offering required a male sheep "without blemish," a picture of Messiah's total offering to His Father's will (Chapter 1). 2. The Meal Offering - This speaks of Messiah's sinless character and pure service. This offering was made with fine flour, oil and frankincense (Chapter 2). 3. The Peace Offering - This pictures the peace that Jesus made possible between God and man. It speaks of fellowship; the fellowship that was broken when sin entered creation. This is sometimes referred to as a "heave" and/or "wave" offering. First, the priest would hold the offering in his hands and "heave," making an up and down motion from the waist to above his head. Then he would "wave" it across in front of his eyes, to form the sign of the cross (Chapter 3). 4. The Sin Offering - This is a picture of Messiah as our "guilt bearer" (Chapter 4). Coming up in chapter 16, we will learn about the "scapegoat." Two goats are brought as sin offerings. One was sacrificed in the Tabernacle. The other symbolically took the sins of the people and was led out into the wilderness where it would be released to wonder. Because it was a domesticated animal, it would not survive long. Later in Israel's history, the animal was simply taken into the wilderness and was thrown over a cliff, plunging to its death. A scarlet thread was divided. One was place at the Temple entrance in Jerusalem. The other was tied to the horn of the goat. When the goat died, the scarlet thread at the Temple turned white, meaning that the sacrifice had been accepted by God. Jewish rabbis said that the familiar passage written by the Prophet Isaiah was a reference to the thread changing color, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18 KJV). The Talmud (the rabbi's commentary on the Old Covenant - The Tanakh), tells us (ib. 39a) that "the thread actually turned white as soon as the goat was thrown over the precipice: a sign that the sins of the people were forgiven." But the Talmud goes on to state that this color change continued until "forty years before the destruction of the Second Temple, when the change of color was no longer observed" (ib 39b). The Temple and the City of Jerusalem were destroyed in 70 AD. What happened 40 years before that? Messiah, Himself became the scapegoat on the cross in that very year! The symbolism that portrayed His sacrifice was no longer necessary. As our scapegoat, He took our sin, not symbolically, as did the goat, but in reality. The thread stopped turning color because Messiah had become our scapegoat, and the symbolical scapegoat was no longer necessary, and no longer acceptable. 5. The Trespass Offering - This pictures Messiah's payment for the damage of sin (Chapter 5). Sin damaged man's ability to communicate with God. Sin also damaged man (and still does today). David, the Psalmist wrote, "It is against You and You alone I sinned, and did this terrible thing. You saw it all, and your sentence against me is just (Psalm 51:4 NKJV). From the time God slew an animal to make clothing to cover the sin of Adam and Eve, through all of the Old Testament (the Tanakh), animals were sacrificed, and their blood spinkled before Jehovah. The Scriptures say, "Without shedding of blood is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22 KJV). The same thesis is presented in Leviticus 17 where it says, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh an atonment for the soul" (Leviticus 17:11 KJV). One can go through all the rituals of the Day of Atonement, pray for a lifetime, try to filfull God's holiness, but without a blood offering God says there is NO atonement. Since there is no Temple in Jerusalem, there is no blood offering to be made today. Where is your sacrifice? Has God left us without a sacrifice? No! We must understand, as the Prophet Isaiah outlined it in Isaiah 53, that the Messiah was the fulfillment of all animal sacrifices. He sacrificed Himself. His holy blood atoned for the sins of the people. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. We will take up that subject when we get to the Prophet Isaiah. The five sacrifices speak symbolically of Jesus the Messiah. There are several comparisons and contrasts made between Aaron, the first High Priest, and Messiah, our Eternal High Priest. We find the consecration of Aaron and his sons in chapters 8 through 10. Let's look at several comparisons and contrasts: 1. The priests did not consecrate themselves. They simply presented their bodies - another did the consecrating. In this case the one who consecrated them was Moses, standing in for Jehovah. Aaron and His sons were anointed before the sacrifices could begin and before the blood could be offered. In the case of Jesus, our High Priest, the Sinless One, was anointed from "before the foundations of the earth," and no additional preparation was necessary. 2. Leviticus tells us that Aaron was consecrated by the pouring of the anointing oil over him. Hebrews tells us "God, even thy God, hath anointed thee (Jesus - Yeshua) with the oil of gladness above they fellows" (Hebrews 1:9 NKJV). This is a quote from Psalm 45:6-7. 3. Yeshua's Priesthood is different that that of Aaron and his sons. Aaron and His sons were of the Tribe of Levi. Jesus was from the Tribe of Judah. He is called in Hebrews, "a priest after the order of Melchizedek" (Hebrews 6 & 7 KJV). Unlike Aaron, Melchizedek was set apart by God Himself, not an earthly go-between. This is brought out in the Messianic Psalm 110, "Jehovah said to my Lord the Messiah...Jehovah has taken an oath, and will not rescind His vow, that you are a priest forever like Melchizedek (Psalm 110:1 & 4 LB). There are other comparisons that are made in the Scriptures, but this will suffice for our study here. Next we come to the seven feasts of the Lord. Notice, the Bible never calls them "feasts of the Jews" (although it is mistranslated that way several places in the New Testament). These are not "Feasts of the Jews." They are "Feasts of the Lord." In Leviticus the details as to how they are to be observed are set forth in great detail (Chapter 23). 1. PASSOVER (Pesach in Hebrew) - Israel had two calendars: a religious and a civil calendar. Passover begins the spring feasts and usually is around Easter in March or April. It commemorates the tenth plague in Egypt, which released the Jews from slavery. God declared that every Jewish family shall kill a lamb, put the blood over the door and on the doorposts. That night the "Death Angel" would "Passover" and slay the first born in any home not protected by the blood. In the time of Jesus, Jews came to the Temple to celebrate Passover. It was one of the three annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem each year that God required of all males 12 and older. In the time of Jesus, Jews came to the Temple to celebrate Passover. As they entered, the priest would point toward an appropriate lamb and say, "Behold the lamb." John the Baptist, son of a priest, when he saw Jesus coming in the distance, pointed toward Him and said, "Behold the Lamb..." But he continued, adding the fulfillment, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29 NKJV). He was pointing toward Messiah's soon-to-come sacrifice that would complete the Passover message. Rabbi Shaul (the Apostle Paul) said, "Jesus, our Passover, is sacrificed for us" (I Corinthians 5:7 NIV). During the Passover Season, Jesus took one of the cups of wine and said that it represented His blood, which would very shortly be shed for the forgiveness of sin" (Matthew 26:26 KJV). During the meal, a piece of matzah (unleaved bread) is hidden. It is called the "Afikomen." This is the bread which Jesus broke and said, "This is my body which is broken for you" (Matthew 26:26 KJV). The term "Afikomen" literally means "the one who came." It was used by Jewish believers in Messiah during the first century as a title for Jesus. 2. FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD (Chag HaMatzot in Hebrew) - For one week during Passover, Jews eat nothing with leaven (yeast) in it. This was commanded in Leviticus 23:6-8. The Matzah (unleavened bread) pictured uncontaminated bread. It is pure. Leaven, or yeast, is pictured as representing evil or sin in both the Old and New Covenants. In the New Testament Rabbi Shaul (Paul) writes, "...a little leaven (sin) leavens the whole lump. Therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump (a new creation in Messiah) since you truly are unleaved (pure before God because of the blood sacrificed by Messiah)...Therefore let us keep the feast..." (I Corinthians 5:5-8 KJV). Notice that in this passage Paul tells these non-Jewish believers in the Jewish Messiah to "keep the feast." This is what Christians do when they observe or celebrate the Lord's Supper, also known as Communion or the Eucharist. 3. CEREMONY OF FIRSTFRUITS (HaBikkurim in Hebrew) - This ceremony is laid out for us in Leviticus 23:9-14. It occurs immediately after Passover. It was the time Jews brought the "first fruits" of their harvest as an offering to God. The priest waved it up and down, then back and forth as indicated earlier in this chapter. It was a symbolic way of presenting it to God "to be accepted for us" (Leviticus 23:11 (KJV). Jesus rose from the dead on "Firstfruits." Rabbi Paul wrote that by rising from the dead, "Jesus became the first-fruits of those who died" (I Corinthians 15:20 KJV). Like the Firstfruits of Levivicus, His resurrection was "accepted for us" as He was "raised for our justification" (Romand 4:25). Messiah's sacrifice was offered to the Father and accepted on our behalf. 4. PENTECOST (Shavuot in Hebrew) - Pentecost is the annivarsary of the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai. It was the beginning of Judaism. It is also the birthday of the Christian Church. For it was on the Jewish Feast of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit of God descended upon those in the upper room and the world would never be the same again. On the first day of Judaism, 3000 Jews died because they made a golden calf to represent the god who had brought them out of Egypt. On the first day of the Church, 3000 Jewish people received new life in Jesus as their Messiah. Soon another 5,000 were added, and the Bible tells us that people were "added daily." Leviticus 23:15 tells us to count seven Sabbath Days after the Feast of Firstfruits. That would be 49 days. Then, the next day after the seventh Sabbath is to be the Day of Pentecost (Shavout). For the Jew, the Day of Pentecost was to remind them that their ancestors were once slaves in Egypt before God set them free. For the Christian, Romans 6:17 reminds us that where we were once "servants to sin" we have been delivered and are no longer slaves to sin. Again we have the fulfillment of Old Covenant prophecies in Pentecost. In Jeremiah 31:32-33, God spoke of a time still future to Jeremiah when He would write His laws in our hearts. In Ezekiel 36:25-27 God relates the placing of the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh in Hebrew) in our hearts in this manner. That is indeed what happened on the Day of Pentecost when God placed his Holy Spirit in the hearts and lives of those who received His Messiah. One thing that stands out as you read the New Testament is that Jews who received Messiah did not leave Judaism. Jews who did not believe on Jesus did not see them as having left Judaism. They were considered to be followers of "The Way," a sect within Judaism. They still went to the synagogue, to the Temple, observed the Sabbath and the holy days. They simply received Jesus as their Messiah who fulfilled the Old Covenant prophecies of the Promised One. The three Spring Feasts were fulfilled by Jesus when He came the first time as the Suffering Savior to be our final sacrifice for sin. Pentecost (Shavuot) was fulfilled by the arrival of the Holy Spirit to indwell those whom the Savior had redeemed. The final three feasts, the Fall Feasts, were only partially fulfilled by Messiah's first coming. Their final and complete fulfillment is still future. They will be fulfilled at Messiah's triumphast return. 5. FEAST OF TRUMPETS (Rosh Hashanah in Hebrew) - You will find the "memorial of the blowing of the trmplets" in Leviticus 23:23-25. It occurs on the first day of the seventh month (Tishri). It is sometimes called the Day of Remembrance or the Day of Judgment. But in ancient Jewish times it was referred to as The Day of Resurrection. The Feast of Trumpets is the only Feast of the Lord that does not occur on a full moon. Two witnesses would stand on the hillside outside Jerusalem. When the first sliver of the new moon was spotted, and both agreed, they would signal the Sanhedrin back in Jerusalem that it was the new moon. The Sanhedrin would then declare that the Feast of Trumpets had begun. Since no one knew exactly which day and which hour the new moon would occur, two days were designated for the feast to begin. There was a phrase used by the rabbis. It goes like this, "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not even the angels in Heaven." The ancient rabbis believed that the Messiah would appear at the Feast of Trumpets. Jesus said we should know "the signs of the times" with regard to His return. However, we would not know "the day nor the Hour" (Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32). The rabbis taught that one day the shofar (trumpet) would sound and the Messiah would come; and when He came, the dead would rise (Joseph Hertz, Daily Prayerbook, page 865). Rabbi Paul talked about this when he referred to the fact that Jesus would return for His followers. Paul wrote, "The trumpet (shofar) will sound; the Messiah will come, and the dead will rise" (I Thessalonians 4:16-18 NIV). With all the imagery found in God's plan, some Christian believe that it is likely that Messiah may return during the Feast of Trumpets in some unknown year still in the future. Rosh Hashanah anticipates the time of Messiah's return. 6. DAY OF ATONEMENT (Yom Kippur in Hebrew) - The Bible (Leviticus 23:26-32) describes the Day of Atonement as most solemn, a time of introspection and repentance. In the Jewish Scriptures, this was the day atonement was made for the entire nation. It was the only day of the year the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place. After offering a sacrifice for his own sin, the High Priest would then enter the Most Holy Place with the blood offering for the entire nation. Since the Temple is no longer standing in Jerusalem, and there is no longer any Most Holy Place to take the nation's offering, Judaism has made accomodations. Rabbis now teach that in some way God accepts the "almost sacrifice of Isaac" on Israel's behalf. Other more devout Jews swing a chicken above their heads as they recite, "This is my substitute, this is my commutation; this chicken goes to death; but may I be gathered and enter into a long and happy life and into peace." A musaf prayer found in many older Yom Kippur prayer books reads, "The Messiah our righteousness has turned from us. We are alarmed; we have no one to justify us. Our sins and the yoke of our transgressions he bore. He was brusied for our iniquities. He carried on his shoulders our sins. With his stripes we are healed. Almighty God, hasten the day that he might come to us anew; that we may hear from Mount Lebanon a second time through Messiah" (Oz M'lifnai B'reshit). Many Christians will recognize a portion of that prayer as coming from the Jewish Prophet Isaiah, chapter 53. Rabbi Paul writes of a time in the future when all Israel will be redeemed and will have atonement (Romans 11:26). The Jewish Prophet Zechariah also predicted this time of national redemption when all Israel will accept the atonement provided by the Messiah (Zechariah 12:10 and 13:9). 7. FESTIVAL OF BOOTHS OR TABERNACLES (Succot in Hebrew) - The Bible (Leviticus 23:33-43) pictures Succot as an eight-day period of rejoicing. It commemorates God's faithfulness to Israel through the wilderness wanderings after they left Egypt. Booths of leaves and wood are built in yards, rooftops and sidewalks. During this time, Jews live in these "tabernacles" (tents), taking their meals and sleeping with their families out-or-doors. In the synagogues participants carry lulay branches and the entrog (a lemon-like fruit), and wave the branches in four directions. The waving of the branches goes back to earlier days when Near Eastern people welcomed visiting dignitaries in this way. The seventh day there are special "hoshana" (save now) prayers, and the Messianic "Hallel" Psalms (113 through 118) are recited. During the time of Jesus, when the Temple was still standing, there were two events which can no longer be practiced by Jews. First, water was drawn from a nearby source and brought to the Temple and poured out by the altar. During the ceremony, Isaiah 12:3 was repeated: "Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." As the water was being poured out in the ceremony, Jesus announced, "If anyone is thirsty, let me come to me and drink. For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow from his inmost being" (John 7:37-39 NIV). Jesus was quoting from Isaiah 44:3; 55:1 and 58:11. The second was the torchlight parade, brilliantly lighting the Temple at night. With this would be sung Hallel Psalm 118:27, "God is the Lord who has show us light." The light produced in the Temple was so great that it is said to have lighted the City of Jerusalem and the surrounding hillsides. During this ceremony, Jesus shouted, "I am the light of the world...light will flood the path of the one following me" (John 8:12 LB). One of the prayers of the final day is a prayer welcoming Messiah. It goes like this: "A voice heralds, heralds and saith: Turn unto me and be saved, today if ye hear my voice. Behold the man who springs forth, Branch is his name...But to his announted, the Messiah, he giveth grace. Grant salvation to the eternal people. To David and to his seed forever..." Both terms, "Seed" and "Branch of David" are used of Messiah in both Old and New Testament Scriptures. This prayer looks forward to the coming of the Messianic kingdom. Then, the people will rejoice in the presence of the Living Torah - Jesus - the One called "The Word of God" (John 1:1 and following). The Jewish Prophet Zechariah 14:16-19) describes this as a time when all nations, not just Israel, will keep the festival of Succot and live in booths in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles. We must ask the question, realizing we do not have a good answer, "If the Feasts of the Lord given to the Jewish nation have so much Christian significance, why do we hear so little about them in Christian teaching today?" Before we leave Leviticus, there are two other things we want to note. First, God demands obedience to His way of doing things. In chapter 10 we have the story of Nadab and Abihu. Their lives were snuffed out by God because the Bible says, they "offered strange fire before the Lord which He commanded them not" (verse 1 KJV). Do you remember back in Genesis that when Cain brought an improper offering to the Lord, he was rejected? Here, in Leviticus, these two priests were actually going before the Lord to worship Him in a manner which He had not prescribed. It says, because of this, "there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord" (verse 2 KJV). The philosophy of the politically correct" is that "all roads lead to the same place." That, according to the Bible, is a fatal lie. Messiah said, "I am THE way...no man comes unto the Father but by me" (John 14:6 KJV). If God is God, then He has the right to tell His creation how to come to Him. Because God said it, I believe it. The second has to do with blood. There are two interesting statements about the significance of blood in chapter 17. In verse 11 it says, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood..." (KJV). This statement was written more than 3,400 years ago. If people had believed it, many lives could have been saved by physicians over the millennia. For centuries one of the main treatments for fever was "blood-letting." Doctors, trying to relieve the symptons of what was likely no more than a common cold or the flu, bled George Washington to death before his time. They bled him seven times in two days, believing that "bad blood" was causing the fever. Notice also in verse 11, it says, "For it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul" (KJV). Previously in our study we read, "Without the shedding of blood is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22 KJV). Since the destruction of the Temple some 74 years after the birth of Messiah (40 years after His sacrifice on the cross), there has been no sacrifice for those practicing traditional Judaism, and therefore, according to their Scriptures - no remission - no forgiveness. But for all who believe, there is remission through the once-for-all sacrifice of the Jewish Messiah (Hebrews 9:1-15). ------------------------- The following is from Jewish Voice Connections, a publication of Jewish Voice Ministeries International ROSH HASHANAH (Began at sundown September 29, 2008) marked the beginning of the Jewish civil year. Special shofars were blown to call the people to remember God's goodness and judgment. According to tradition, Rosh Hashanah was also the day on which God created man. Some rabbis taught that it was also the date when Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice. You can read about an observance of Roch Hashanah after the Babylonian captivity in Nehemiah chapter 8. (NOTE: Many early church leaders taught that Jesus was actually born on Rosh Hashanah) YOM KIPPUR (Began at sundown October 8, 2008) is the holiest day of the year for the Jewish People, observed with fasting, prayer, and repentance. The Day of Atonement was the day when the high priest would take the blood into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle it on the mercy seat. It was on this day that the scapegoat was chosen and led away into the wilderness to symbolize the removal of our sins. (NOTE: You can read about how Jesus is both our Priest and the Sacrifice for our sins in Hebrews chapter 9). SUKKOT (Began at sundown October 13, 2008) was a harvest feast much like our modern-day Thanksgiving. In fact, some historians believe that the Pilgrim's Thanksgiving celebration was patterned on this biblical feast. As a permanent remembrance to teach the next generation of the way God had provided for them in the wilderness, the people would build booths - temporary houses to live in during the week of the feast. (NOTE: You can read about Jesus going to Jerusalem for this last pilgrim feast of the year in John chapter 7). ------------------------- Ancient Stone Tablet: MESSIAH RISES ON 3RD DAY Much of the text, a vision of the apocalypse transmitted by the angel Gabriel, draws on the Old Testament, especially the prophets Daniel, Zechariah and Haggai. Israel Knohl, an iconoclastic professor of Bible studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem focuses especially on line 80, which begins clearly with the words "L'shloshet yamin," meaning "in three days," and says the word is "hayeh," or "live" in the imperative. He says further that such a suffering messiah is very different from the traditional Jewish image of the messiah as a triumphal, powerful descendant of King David. "This should shake our basic view of Christianity," he said as he sat in his office of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem where he is a senior fellow in addition to being the Yehezkel Kaufman Professor of Biblical Studies at Hebrew University.
* RESEARCHING THE CREATION/EVOLUTION CONTROVERSY Mount Saint Helens: Erupting Away Millions of Years By Ken Williams The eruption of Mount Saint Helens on May 18th, 1980 was the most extraordinary geologic event of the Twentieth Century. It totally disproves the evolutionary models and points to the truth of Noah's Flood. As a matter of fact, it was a catastrophic event on a much smaller scale, and in a localized area, that demonstrated exactly what happened in the worldwide flood. At 8:32 that morning, the top blew off Mount Saint Helens. 1,314 feet of the top of the mountain was blown away. Here are some of the statistics: * An avalanche of dirt, rock and debris covered 23 square miles, burying the North Fork Toutle River up to 600 feet deep, traveling at up to 150 miles per hour. * The force of the blast leveled everything over 230 square miles, reaching out as much as 17 miles in every direction, and depositing ash from 3 feet deep at the mountain to 1 inch deep at the edge. The blast destroyed more than 4 billion board feet of lumber, enough to build more than 300,000 two-bedroom homes. 57 people lost their lives. * Five separate mudslides traveled at speeds of more than 50 miles per hour, destroying 27 bridges, nearly 200 homes, 185 miles of roads and 15 miles of railroad track. It reduced the flood capacity of the Cowlitz River at Castle Rock by 80%, and filled the shipping channel of the Columbia River, reducing it from 40 feet to 14 feet and stranding 31 ships in upstream ports. * Pyroclastic Flows (hot molten lava) covered six square miles, blowing out in rivers up to 5 miles, and ranging from 3 to 30 feet thick, with some areas filled in up to 120 feet depths, and temperatures of about 1,300 degrees, traveling at speeds up to 80 miles per hour. * The Washington State Department of Game estimated nearly 7,000 big game animals (deer, elk and bear) perished as well as all birds and most mammals. They also estimated that more than 12 million Chinook and Coho salmon were killed as well as most other fish in the area. If you were to take a geologist from some other part of the world who did not know that the scene was the result of a violent volcanic eruption (and no such geologist may exist), just looking at the scene through his evolutionary faith system, he would tell you that the scene was created over millions of years. However, we know it was created in just four days in 1980. In the following paragraphs, we want to take a look at what happened in the area beginning immediately following the eruption, to about five years later. You will be amazed! We will limit ourselves to just two of the many things which resulted from that mammoth eruption: the Mount Saint Helens Mini-Grand Canyon and Spirit Lake. We'll look first at the canyon. First, the avalanches of dirt and rock rolled across the area, followed by the major mud, and then the lava flows. It laid down layers, burying plants and animals alike. That was followed by a major flood as the glaciers and snow on top of the mountain melted within minutes, cascading downhill picking up silt, stones and rocks; cutting a huge canyon through the layers. The canyon is one-fortieth the size of the Grand Canyon. The mud layers began to harden almost immediately, and within five years had become as hard as any rock in the Grand Canyon. Take a look at the Mini-Grand Canyon at Mount Saint Helens today (sorry we cannot include the color pictures which appear in this article), and the rock layers along the walls are identical to the rock layers you find at exposed areas all around the world. However, they were not laid down over millions of years, as evolutionists contend is necessary at the Grand Canyon and other locations. The layers were laid down in a matter of hours, and the canyon cut through it in one afternoon. There is one other item of interest that might give you a chuckle, and also shed some light on dating methods. Rocks from the canyon walls were sent to a dating laboratory by Creation Scientists. The rocks were known to be five years old. However, when the results came back from the lab, they were dated at between 90 and 125 million years old. That may be close enough for government work; but for science, that is a huge discrepancy. Now, let's go on to Spirit Lake. Following the blast Spirit Lake was virtually covered with an estimated one million floating logs. They were trees which had their branches ripped from them by the blast and ensuing destruction. Some had been yanked from the ground with minor portions of their root system still attached. Most had been broken off at the ground. They ranged from just a few feet to as much as fifty feet in length. Many had portions of their bark stripped and notches carved into them by the violence of the event. As the logs became waterlogged, many of them began to stand up vertically with the heavier end under water (sorry we cannot include picture of the logs standing on end). They eventually sank to the bottom. Some sank in the horizontal position. About a year after the blast, divers ventured into the lake to examine what had happened to the lake (again, sorry we cannot reproduce picture of divers in original article). They discovered both plant and animal life were returning to the lake. But they also discovered two things which put the lie to the geological charts which lay everything out over millions of years. First, they discovered that there was two to four feet of biomass all over the bottom of the lake, which was in the process of turning to coal. It has since turned to coal. The "Divisions of Geological Times" charts used by evolutionists, indicated that the coal we are presently mining around the world took 250 million years to form. Yet we have fully formed coal at Spirit Lake in less than five years. We know we can make coal in the laboratory in a matter of hours. But this was the first time we have seen coal form quickly in nature, demonstrating that under the proper conditions, coal can be formed very quickly, particularly in a catastrophic event. The second thing of interest that we want to look at is those trees. They found that those trees which had sunk in an upright position, had been buried in that biomass, and now turned to coal; and that in some cases they went through more than one layer: a rock layer below the coal, the seam of coal, and a new layer of silt that was forming above the coal. This answered the evolutionists' conundrum of fossils which sometimes straddle numerous rock layers. If, for instance, the rock layers were laid down millions of years apart, as evolutionists contend, how could a tree or other fossil survive being partially buried, wait millions of years for another rock layer to cover more of it, then more millions for subsequent layers to totally cover it. That is impossible! Yet, all around the world, we have instances where fossils traverse not just two, but as many as 10, 12 and even more strata of rock, each one of which was supposed to have been laid down millions of years after the other (I wish it were possible to show you the diagram of the logs spanning numerous strata pictured in the original article). The conclusion is that when we look at the Grand Canyon, and other such fissures around the world, we may not be looking at hundreds of rock layers laid down over millions of years, and then cut through over more millions of years by a small river. We may be looking at silt turned to rock laid down by the violence of Noah's world-wide flood, then cut through in a matter of days by huge amounts of water retreating into the oceans. Mount Saint Helens demonstrated that what evolutionists insist took millions and even billions of years to produce by natural processes, can, in fact, take place in nature in only a few days. NOTE: If you would like to see this article in its entirity and complete with color pictures, go to the "4-R's Store" page on this website, and order Essays on the Creation/Evolution Controversy by Ken Williams. The book contains a total of 12 essays and 43 vignettes. * RESCUING OUR HISTORY FROM THE REVISIONISTS "The American Revolution" By Ken Williams In the 130 years since the first missionaries had come to Jamestown and Plymouth to reach the Indians for Jesus Christ, many more people had come, and many had been born. The population had mushroomed. Major cities had grown up along the east coast. Churches of many denominations were represented. The Church of England, today known as the Episcopal Church in the United States, was the first to send missionaries. The church established by the Pilgrims is today the Congregational Church, still strong in New England. The Roman Catholics settled Maryland. The Quakers made their home in Pennsylvania. Presbyterians from Scotland moved into New Jersey. The Baptists, a rather loosely knit group, which originally settled in Rhode Island, had spread throughout the colonies, becoming the largest single group. The second largest denomination was the Methodists, as Wesleyan doctrine had crossed the Atlantic. While all of these groups had different beginnings, all had one thing in common - they fiercely defended the Scriptures, and demanded their adherents live by Biblical precepts. The pulpits of the colonies were aflame with revival preaching. It is in these pulpits that the Revolution began. The preachers proclaimed that God was King, and that the King of England was to be obeyed only so long as he did not require his subjects to violate God's holy commands. They said God's law, or natural law, superseded anything the King of England might order of them. Then from one church to another, in cities and rural communities, the resident pastors and itinerant preachers began to list the twenty-seven mandates of the King that were in violation of God's law, and God's will. They preached that all mankind was created equal before God; that they all have inalienable human rights; and that government was instituted to protect the rights that came from God. Judge Robert Borke, during his Senate confirmation hearings for appointment to the U. S. Supreme Court was ridiculed because he admitted he believed our Constitution was based on "natural law" or "God's Law." Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, during his confirmation hearings, was badgered by Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware over this issue. He had been advised that if he admitted to believing in "natural law," or "inalienable human rights," he would not be confirmed. So he side-stepped the issue. Can it be that anyone who believes in the foundation upon which our Constitution was built can no longer serve in an appointed position in our Federal Government? Four times the Declaration of Independence refers to God. If you read the writings of our Founding Fathers, you will discover the twenty-seven violations of "natural law" or "God's Law," which resulted in the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War. By the way, can you name any of the 27 reasons? Today's history books only list one -- "Taxation without Representation." It was number 17 on the list, and the only one that did not have a Scritpure reference attached to it to support it. The American Revolution was the result of holy people, wanting to live a holy life, in a holy land. Dispite their many theological differences, they were united under God. Britain's thirteen colonies had become an economic force in the world. Living standards along the North American coast had already surpassed much of Europe. The Colonies were exporting to Europe much more than they were importing, and some of the imports were forced on them by the King. When war did break out, the colonists were no match for the well trained and well equipped British soldiers arriving from England. The colonists were seriously lacking in arms and ammunition. As America's men and boys went to war, America's churches went to prayer. But still the British prevailed. The day after being named commander of the Revolutionary Forces, General George Washington issued his first order. It read, "The general most earnestly requires and expects the observance of those articles of which was established by the government of this army, which forbid profane swearing, profane cursing, swearing and drunkenness. And in like manner he requires and expects of all of the officers and soldiers not engaged in actual duty, a punctual attendance upon divine service, to implore the blessing of Heaven upon the means used for our safety and defense." Washington considered profanity to be a traitorous act, saying, "We cannot expect the blessing of Heaven upon our arms, if we offend the God of Heaven by our conduct." Now, his troops had been pushed back into the rugged hills northwest of Philadelphia at Valley Forge. Washington was distraught. Men were dying for lack of food and shelter in an unusually severe winter. Washington was ready to give up the fight. As was his custom, Washington walked away from the camp, back into the woods to pray in the mid-afternoon. There he bared his soul to the Lord. A story that used to appear in our history books, tells of a man (a Quaker, and therefore a pacifist, and a Torre -- a loyalist to the King) was walking through the woods and came upon Washington praying. He heard his impassioned plea; and saw the tears runing down his cheeks. When he got home that evening, he told his wife, "Our cause is lost. I came upon a man praying in the woods this afternoon, and if you would have seen his face and heard his prayer, you would know that God is on his side." The man and his family, it was said according to historical record, changed to the Whig Party and became supporters of the Revolution. History tells us that Washington would pray fervently, aloud, and with tears running down his face for his beleagured tropps, and the godly cause for which they fought. As spring approached, Washington was to the point of surrender. As he was praying in the woods, he said he had a vision. Whether it was the Son of God or an angel, he did not know. But the messenger told him the battle would be won. Shortly thereafter, encouraged by the heavenly messenger, Washington crossed the Delaware River, and engaged the British at the Battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778. It was a cold rainy day. While the numbers of soldiers were nearly even (10 or 11 thousand on each side), the colonists were much inferior in guns, ammunition, training and supplies. The battle raged on all day long. In the afternoon, it was apparent the British were getting the upper hand, and the colonists were about to be driven back. Washington began furiously riding up and down the line on his white horse, in full sight of the British and their gunfire, shouting encouragement to his troops. He was never hit. Just as the colonists were about to be completely over run, the British turned around and fled toward New York City. The British retreat was caused by the sight of thousands upon thousands of the colonists' troops on horseback riding toward them at breakneck speed. But the fact is there were no troops on horseback coming to the aid of Washington's forces. Not long afterward, the war came to an end with the surrender of the British forces. The English troops, and the King's appointed governors in each colony were on their way back to their homeland. The colonies were FREE! ------------------------- What is a Liberal? What is a Conservative? We have just gone through a summer and fall of campaigning for President and for members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Candidates have either positioned themselves, or been labeled as conservatives, middle of the road, or liberals in their political philosophies. But what do those terms mean? Various watchdog organizations have given the extreme liberal label to the Kennedy Family. Liberals are described as being as liberal as the Kennedys, less liberal than the Kennedys or more liberal than the Kennedys. Actually most watchdog organizations find only three or four members of Congress to be more liberal than the Kennedys. Both Senators Obama and Biden fall into that category. On the other hand, Senator McCain has tried to position himself as in the middle of the road, until this campaign, during which he has tried to appear more conservative. But do we Americans know what those terms mean? Actually a conservative or liberal in politics is exactly the same as a conservative or liberal in Christianity. It all goes back to the founding documents. In Christianity that would be the Bible. A church, pastor or teacher is determined to be conservative or liberal depending on their view and understanding of the Bible. A Christian conservative believes the Bible to be the inspired (God-breathed), infallible, inerrant word of the Living God. The conservative believes that the Bible is to be interpretted literally (unless the Bible itself indicates otherwise), as God meant it when He gave it, and as the people to whom it was written understood it. A Christian liberal believes that the Bible "contains" the Word of God, and that it becomes the Word of God as God applies it to your life. The liberal believes that it is not important whether the miracles and other supernatural situations reported in the Bible acually happened. The import thing is that we get the lesson from those stories that God wants for us today. The liberal would say that we have to be careful about taking the Bible too literally. It is more important, according to the liberal, to find the lesson that God has for each individual. No interpretation is wrong. In other words (and you have heard your friends use this phrase), you can make the Bible say anything you want to make it say. That is exactly true of the liberal interpretation of the Bible. You can make it say anything you want to make it say. If it doesn't mean what it says, then your interpretation is just as good as anyone else's. Transport that understanding of a liberal and conservative over to politics. The only difference is the founding document. In the case of our American government, the founding document is the Constitution. The conservative believes that the Constitution should be interpretted literally for what it says; that it should be interpretted in conjunction with what the Founding Fathers meant when they wrote it; and that it should be interpretted as the people to whom it was written understood it. By the way, there is little room for interpretation. Our Founding Fathers left us with more than 35,000 books, articles and letters explaining what they meant. We have the Federalist Papers which explained to the people of the United States just exactly how they should understand it. The Liberal, on the other hand, believes that the Constitution has grown and expanded as our country has grown and diversified. The liberal believes in a very loose interpretation and believes that present day situations should help in determining how the Constitution fits into today's governmental operations. Under such an interpretation, one can make the Constitution say anything you want to make it say. Let's look at just a few examples, mainly having to do with the Supreme Court, since the Supreme Court is supposed to deal solely with the Constitution. The U. S. Federal Government was set up with "three separate but equal branches" (our Founding Fathers found that in the Old Testament of the Bible while in prayer and Bible study during the Constitutional Convention). The first time the Supreme Court ruled a law passed by Congress to be unconstitutional, the Congress started impeachment proceedings against the justices, because, under the Constitution, the Supreme Court has no control over the Legislative Branch of the government, and unelected justices (appointed for life) should never be allowed to overrule our elected Congress. The first time the Supreme Court ruled a decision by a president to be unconstitutional, President Madison simply ignored the ruling. The Supreme Court had no authority over the Executive Branch of the government. It was set up "equal" but "separate." We no longer have three separate but equal branches of government, because the Supreme Court has become more powerful than the other two branches and can now overrule anything they do. The Supreme Court creates new laws by its rulings, and directs the Executive Branch by its rulings. A group of unelected judges has usurped supreme power in our country, and it is blatendly unconstitutional by any literal interpretation of the Constitution. The Constitution does not apply to anything other than federal concerns. It does not trump state constitutions, and is limited to interstate and international situations. However, in 1940, the Supreme Court ruled that since three of the amendments to the Constitution applied directly to, and only to states, that therefore the entire Constitution must now be applied to all levels of government. The Supreme Court in effect said that, for example, where the Constitution refers to Congress, that also means the state legislatures, county legislative bodies, city councils, school boards, library boards, even your water and sewer commissions. Suddenly many state constitutions became unconstitutional, and things which our Founding Fathers guaranteed to be outside the grasp of the Federal Government, were suddenly within the scope of the Federal Court System. So, where the Constitution says, "Congress shall not...", that also now means your state legislature, your city council and even your library board. But even more revolutionary has been the Supreme Court's use of precedent. Every time the Supreme Court makes a decision, they will site the portion of the Constution which they believe applies. But they also site previous Supreme Court rulings; and those rulings have come to hold more sway in their decisions than the Constitution itself. But that's not all. In some recent decisions the Supreme Court has even sited International Law. Both of these, the use of precedent and International Law, are blatant violations of the Constitution by any literal (conservative) interpretation. But even worse than that is the fact that in several cases over recent years, the Supreme Court has made determinations, ruling that certain things are unconstitutional, without being able site anything in the Constitution, and no former rulings. These decisions have been in areas in which the Federal Government has precisely been forbidden to get involved. They are in ares specifically stated in the Constitution to be left up to the individual states. I could even take you to rulings of the Supreme Court which actually turned around portions of the Constitution to mean exactly the opposite of what our Founding Fathers meant when they wrote it. The fact is that more than 85% of what the Federal Government does today is unconstitutional by any literal interpretation of the Constitution. That may not all be bad. For many of these things are good. Some of these we certainly would not like to see abolished. However, our Founding Fathers left us with a way to do these things legally - by amending the Constitution. The frightening fact, that most Americans are totally unaware of, is that we have no guaranteeds under the Constitution any more. We have no protection of the Constitution. Liberals have found a way to make the Constitution say anything they want it to say. The long and short of it is this: when a conservation and a liberal take the oath of office, they are not swearing to the same thing. The conservative is pledging to uphold the words and meaning of the Constitution. The liberal is swearing to uphold the spirit of the Constitution, which can mean just about anything. One has a high regard for the Constitution; the other, while claiming to hold the Constution at a very high position, actually has a very low opinion of, and does not accept the actual wording of the Constution. * THE SERMON OF THE QUARTER "What Does it Mean to Repent? After World War II, up through the 1970's, there was a period of huge city-wide revivals, or evangelistic campaigns. In many cases the meetings were endorsed, and supported by most of the churches in a community. The name "Billy Graham" may come to mind immediately. He was probably the one in the forefront, but there were literally hundreds of evangelists during this time, across the country, and around the world. Huge crowds attended these meetings; sometimes well up into the five figures. Thousands upon thousands of people went forward at the end of each meeting to receive counseling and to pray and prayer of surrender to the Lord. As with anything that goes on, there are always the nay-sayer's who said that those going forward did not understand the committment they were making to the Lord, and therefore, their decision was not real. They called the movement, "easy believism." They complained that most of the people who went forward were never presented with the need for a person to "repent" in order for their decision for the Lord to be real. In the late 1950's, I heard Billy Graham preach on at least two occasions at Madison Square Garden in New York City. On one of those occasions, a chartered passenger train with more than 20 cars transported people from our community, the more than 150 miles to New York City, to hear the evangelist. I was personally acquainted with a number of people who went forward. Some were in my class in high school. To be sure, some did not follow through with their committment. But then, that is true of any group of converts. However, there were many that did. What they did at that meeting made a tremendous difference in their lives. Some even went into full-time Christian ministry later in life. I would doubt that there are very many people who understand what is happening to them at the time they turn their lives over to the Lord. It was merely the beginning of a life-long process of "growing in grace and in the knowlege of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," to quote the Scriptures. There is so much more than what we may understand at the point we come to the Lord. One of those things is "repentance." We discover that repentance is an integral part of salvation as we read through the New Testament. All my life I have heard that "to repent" means to "make an about face." In other words, I am traveling my own way, away from God; then I decide "to make about face" and travel the other direction - toward God. That is true. That is essentially what repentance means. As a Bible-believing Christian, I believe the Bible to be the Word of the Living God. In understanding the Bible, first I believe it must be taken literally, unless the Bible itself indicates that it is to be taken figuratively; such as, the Bible indicating that a story is a parable...a story to illustrate a point. Second, I believe that we need to understand the Bible as the people to whom it was written understood it. It was written in their language and in their culture. Remember that the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, was written by Jews (directed by God to write exactly what He told them to write) to Jews (who understood the wording of it perfectly at the time it was given). I have found that there is a wealth of understanding going back into Jewish teaching and Jewish culture to find out what was meant by various communications from God to man. One of those is the word "repent." The Jewish understanding of "repentance" involves a whole lot more than most Christians could ever imagine. Repentance (Teshuvah in Hebrew) is the major theme of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur in Hebrew). Yom Kippur is often referred to as the Days of Awe or the Days of Repentance. But what does "repentance" mean in Hebrew thinking? A renowned 12th century medieval Jewish theologian and philosopher divided repentance into four specific steps. I. Confession or acknowledgment of guilt (vidduy in Hebrew) An example of confession as a part of repentance is found in the Old Testament in Nehemiah 1: 4-10, "And it came to pass when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned ceretain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, and said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awe-inspiring God who keepeth covenant and mercy for them who love him and observe his commandments: let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel, thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against three; both I and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances, which thou commandedst thy servant, Moses. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant, Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples; but if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them, though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from there, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name. Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand." Because Israel had departed from the commandments and ways of God, God had allowed the Babylonians to take them captive into another land. Nehemiah was confessing the sins of himself, his family and his people, reminding God that if He allowed them to be scattered, He had also promised to bring them back if they repent. Nehemiah then asks God to allow them to go back into the land of Israel. God heard and answer his prayer, and Nehemiah became one of the leaders who brought the people back to Israel some 400 years before the time of Jesus the Messiah. For an example of confession as a part of repentance in the New Testament, check out Luke 15:18. Here we have the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The Prodigal, who has left home (something not socially acceptable in that time period) and squandered his father's money, as a last resort desides to go home. His first words are words of confession, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee..." So we see that confession or acknowledgment of guilt is the first step in repentance. II. Remorse, regret, contrition, sorrow over having committed sin (charatah in Hebrew) An example of this type of remorse is found in King David's prayer, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Psalm 51:17). In the New Testament Peter shows this kind of shame and brokenness in Luke 5:8. "When Simon Peter saw it (the great catch of fish after they had fished all night and caught nothing), he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." III. A strong resolution not to commit the sin again, and restitution where necessary (shalem in Hebrew) This is the "about face" we wrote of earlier. This begins with making things right with anyone we have wronged, and then turning from our sin and turning toward God's way; turning from domination by sin to freedom to follow our Lord. Remember, everything in the New Testament has its foundation in the Old Testament. Many Christians try to separate the two. That cannot be done. There is one God who changes not. He is following one plan which began "before the foundations of the world, and will be complete in eternity future. Here is the principle in the Old Covenant: "And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest; and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him" (Leviticus 5:16). We don't have to sacrifice a ram anymore, because Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrificial system. He died "once for all." But we still must make "amends," as Leviticus puts it. We still must make things right and turn from our evil ways. See how Zacchaeus exemplified this in the New Testament. "And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold" (Luke 19:8). IV. Reconciliation with God Immediately after Zacchaeus had made his statement, Jesus responded, "...This day is salvation come to this house..." (Luke 19:9). Not every believer may be aware of the four stages of repentance; but at some point everyone must go through each of them in the process of repentance. To be saved from sin and made a child of God, or to be restored to fellowship after a believer falls into sin, there must be confession of guilt. Some people do not believe they are sinners. As long as they believe they have never offended God or their fellow man, they cannot be saved. Jesus said He came to save sinners. Then there must be remorse and sorrow over the sin that has been committed. Remember, nothing imperfect can enter the presence of a holy God. The only way we as human beings can be made perfect is through the shed blood of the Jewish Messiah - Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew). In addition, there must be a determination to turn from that sin, make amends if necessary, and follow the Lord. It is at this point that we become "reconciled to God," as Paul put it. REPENTANCE IS THE BASIS FOR BELIEVING THE GOSPEL In Hebrews 6:1-2 we find the order of the basic foundation of our faith in Jesus. The first principle is "repentance from dead works." The second is "faith toward God." Repentance first. Faith second. Without true repentance there can be no true faith. Consider the place of repentance in the New Testament Scriptures: * Repent was John's first word concerning the kingdom of God (Matthew 3:1-2). * Repent was Jesus' first word when He began to preach (Matthew 3:1-2). * Repent was the word the disciples used first after being sent out to preach (Mark 6:12). * Repentance was to be preached first after Jesus' resurrection (Luke 24:47). * Repent was Peter's instruction to those who heard his first sermon (Acts 2:38). * Repentance Paul said, was commanded for "all men everywhere" (Acts 17:30). * Repent was what Paul told Gentiles to do. Repent and believe. This is God's order. The first message that Jesus ever preached is just as vaild today: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). God hates sin. However, God loves sinners. He made the ultimate sacrifice so sinners could be reconciled to Him. Repent and believe! (Portions of the preceding were originally written by Messianic Rabbi Neil Lash of Fort Lauderdale, Florida) (Note: Messianic Jews are Jews who still practice Judaism, but who believe that Jesus of Nazareth - Yeshua - was and is the promised Messiah of Israel, and they have trusted Him as their Lord and Savior)
Summer 2010 - Ken Williams Quarterly News Letter Spring 2009 - Ken Williams Quarterly News Letter _____________________________________________________________________________ |
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