By Biblestudycompany.com Ric Joyner
We will state upfront that Christmas is not a biblical holiday. But it is not unbiblical to celebrate the birth of Christ. We should also not equalize Christmas with the advent of our Savior. The Old Testament prophesized over the birth of the Savior to come. The current secular traditions of Santa, with almost God-like qualities and manipulating kids to "further fantasize" a jolly old man who can give all children on earth toys and an "elf on the shelf" that watches how they behave, is unbiblical. Still, some feel it is acceptable to create a myth around Santa Claus while children are young. We disagree. It is always best to be honest with children about Santa. Giving presents at this time of the year is not wrong because the Magi gave Christ's family gifts in worship to the young boy Messiah, who helped the family with the expenses of fleeing to Egypt. Consumerism and greed are wrong and sinful, but only the Holy Spirit can lead you to that truth, and He knows your heart.
Frustration mounts as we approach this time of year in the Christmas season. Screams of "Christmas is pagan" escalate into a crescendo with arguments against Christmas on social media and by some bible teachers. Could this be a veiled attack on the Gospel in the name of "we don't want to be idolators"?
Let's take a look. Please reread these scriptures prayerfully as we begin our biblical study.
Matthew Chapters 1-2 highlights
"30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel."
Luke Chapters 1 and 2. Pay attention to what the angels say a couple of times: "Good news," translated as the same word… Gospel. The birth of Christ was good news for Jews because their long-awaited Messiah was finally here, and the prophecy was fulfilled. We write this paper 2,000 years later for Gentiles, grateful that the apostles preached the Gospel to us: Good news: Christ came as a child to break the back of sin and death and allowed us Gentiles an eternal "home" and become children of God! Gentiles are not part of the nation of Israel, but we are part of God's family! (Eph Chap 1-4) We celebrate the birth of Christ because of the Gospel!
Read John 1 for a view from heaven of why Christ came.
"9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the intention of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. We saw His glory as the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him."
If it is, then are you a pagan for celebrating the Day of Christ's birth? The historical false proof that Christmas is pagan is thrown at you with overwhelming emotional authoritarianism. Is emotionalism based on biblical truth? How about historical facts? We know the origin of Christmas (birth of Christ) is biblical. The story of our Savior starts with His birth because the prophets mentioned He was coming. We suspect the anti-Christmas vehemence is agenda-driven. We ask this question because born-again believing Christians are not worshipping pagan deities by participating in the birth of Christ called Christmas today. I spoke to a Torah-keeping brother who said, "Yes, Christmas is pagan." I asked how that could be, and he shared, "When you put a present under the tree, you are 'bowing' down to the tree." I was stunned. The logic he displayed defied logic. Yeah, no. Worshipping a pagan deity requires one to engage the diety knowingly.
In our research, there were pagan celebrations that started around the time of 274 AD, but they appear to be in response to Christians in Rome celebrating the birth of Christ! We then ask what came first, the "chicken or the egg?" "However, it has also been argued that, on the contrary, Emperor Aurelian, who in 274 instituted the holiday of the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, did so partly as an attempt to give a pagan significance to a date already important for Christians in Rome.[76]
Is the nearness of a pagan holiday make Christmas pagan? When I sift through the concerns of 'Christmas is pagan,' people, did you know there was a pagan holiday at this time? We will deal with this later, but does that make celebrating the birth of Christ pagan today? Let's ask another question: Is Hanukkah pagan? The answer is no. Yet, Hanukkah is square in the middle of this pagan holiday called Saturnalia. The true church pushed hard against these wicked holidays, and to assume born-again believers were participating in pagan festivals doesn't make much sense since Christians had to live outside of society for several hundred years because of severe persecution.
Calling Christmas pagan because of the nearness of the same period of a pagan holiday would be the same as calling Easter (the resurrection of Christ) and Passover pagan. The proximity does not work because a pagan spring festival may happen simultaneously.
We can confidently say that born-again believers would not have observed a pagan holiday and dishonored our Lord Jesus Christ, who rescued us from sin and death. Born-again believers do not participate in pagan rituals today, and Christmas is about the birth of Christ.
Conclusion. We will focus on the birth of Christ currently and not conflate the past to today.
"Certainly today, the mix of consumerism (AKA Santa Claus) can take people's eyes off Christ, but our job is to bring them back to the salvation message of the Gospel. Will you join us?" BSC.
Note: In our extensive research, we stumbled upon a Wikipedia article. We usually would bypass Wikipedia as higher education frowns on the use of Wikipedia; however, this article has stood the test of time (2001) and is updated continually, even in 2021. Once you dive into the article, you will see the extent and expanse of the research on Christmas.
"Got you, Biblestudycompany…see, Christmas is pagan". Well, no, and not so fast. This Wikipedia article on Christmas is excellent and thorough for a balanced perspective.
Here are some highlights:
"Christmas" is a shortened form of "Christ's mass." The word was recorded as Crīstesmæsse in 1038 and Cristes-messe in 1131.[22] Crīst (genitive Crīstes) is from Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ (מָשִׁיחַ), "Messiah," meaning "anointed";[23][24] and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist.[25]”
"December 25 was the winter solstice date in the Roman calendar.[16][53] A late fourth-century sermon by Saint Augustine explains why this was a fitting day to celebrate Christ's nativity: "Hence it is that He was born on the Day which is the shortest in our earthly reckoning and from which subsequent days begin to increase in length. He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us chose the shortest Day, yet the one whence Light begins to increase." [54]
We conclude by the historical facts that the Roman Catholic Church did not exist at the beginning of Christian recognition of the birth of Christ.
"The Roman Emperor Constantine established himself as the head of the church around 313 A.D., which made this new "Christianity" the Roman Empire's official religion. The first actual Pope in Rome was probably Leo I (440-461 A.D.), although some claim that Gregory I was the first (Pope) (590-604 A.D.). This ungodly system eventually ushered in the darkest period known to man, called the "Dark Ages" (500-1500 A.D.). Through popes, bishops, and priests, Satan ruled Europe, and Biblical Christianity became illegal."
"And therefore, we should not celebrate the birth of Christ." We would say, "Tell that to the angels engaging the shepherds because heaven celebrated the birth of God's Son!" Luke 2:2-14
"And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were frightened. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."
Note: the words Good News are translated from Greek
Original word: εὐαγγελίζω
Transliteration: euaggelizó
Definition (short): preach
Description (complete): to announce good news
Yep, evangelize during Christmas. There are hurting hearts at this time of the year, and many blindly celebrate a holiday not connected to Christ's birth. Let us help people relate it to Christ, our Savior.
If not Christmas, what should we celebrate instead? We should celebrate Hanukkah to return to our Jewish roots. Hanukkah was not part of the Gospel, and the birth of Christ IS part of the Gospel.
We encourage everyone everywhere to ask God whether one should participate in the celebration of the birth of Christ. We say YES! We can confidently push back on anti-Christmas and anti-birth of Christ people with correct historical and biblical facts.
During this time of the year, people are open to the Gospel for nearly one month. Do we let this opportunity slide through our fingers? In Matthew 28, our commission is to go and make disciples. To make a disciple, we must present the Gospel first. Will we waste our time arguing over the birth of Christ, whether it is pagan or not? To this, we say that people saying Christmas or the celebration of the birth of Christ is pagan are avoiding the Gospel! Why? Who in the spiritual realm attacks the Gospel and wants it destroyed? Satan. Think about this tidbit. Imagine a worldwide focus on Christmas, even in Buddhist countries. Why not present the Gospel at this time of the year? As Paul said, his focus was on getting people reconciled to God. (2Cor 5:18-21)
"15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." The Accuser is bound and determined to use people, even with good intentions, to stop the message of the Gospel of Salvation. We use the word accusation intentionally because people who celebrate traditional Christmas are called pagans. A severe charge but, fortunately, untrue.
God is a God of prophecy. He wants us to know what is coming. He answered His word and has "healing in His wings" to "reconcile us to God." There are no other holy books that contain prophetic words fulfilled!
Every Christmas season is a literal miracle that this holiday (holy Day) is focused worldwide on Jesus Christ, our Savior. Even the Wikipedia article acknowledges this undeniable fact.
Therefore, let us turn aside from the poor handling of scripture and agenda-driven history "facts" and focus on the birth of Christ and sharing the Good news of His coming to rescue us from our sin, thus giving us eternal life without works and fear in the blood of Christ!
What can you and your family do to share the love of Christ with a hurting world this Christmas season? Here is one video that touches our hearts when we watch it.
Feel free to share the resources.
Melton, James. "The Plain Truth about the Roman Catholic Church." biblebelievers.com. Bible Baptist Publications, 1998. https://biblebelievers.com/jmelton/Catholic.html.
Wikipedia Contributors. "Christmas." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, October 31, 2001. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas.
———. "Christmas." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, October 31, 2001. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas
William Federer: There is a Santa Claus - History of Saint Nicholas & Christmas Holiday Traditions
by Amazon.com Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0965355748/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_QVM4MJF835RK35KMWAHR
Christmas has nothing to do with paganism: Red pen logic
Was December 25 the date of Christ's birth? The Greek Orthodox church thinks so.
Mike Winger on Christmas:
1. Is Christmas PAGAN? In defense of Christmas
3. Stop Twisting Jeremiah 10 Because It's Not About Christmas Trees
4. Alisa Childers on Christmas
5. For the extensive history of Christmas with the discussion of the dates for the birth of Christ, God Became Incarnate James Quiggle by Amazon.com
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/149918669X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_AR6NEZ6XB0TPZ5N1VB90
6. The star of Bethlehem is an excellent movie on the astronomical view of the star. https://youtu.be/55VRdLnkvDw
Playlist of videos that will go step by step
Article On how to study the Bible from BSC step by step
Article by Dr. Baruch on how to study the Bible
Article on how numbers play a role in Bible Study
Blog article and podcast on how we learned to study the Bible with Dr. Baruch
See full post & commentsThis prayer is a guide and biblically based. All a person needs to do is cry out to God in their own words. If you are not sure how to pray, please use this as a guide.
To have a relationship with God versus religion, pray this prayer sincerely and in your own words.
Dear Heavenly Father, (Matt. 6:9) I want a relationship with You...not a religion. I come to You and open my heart. (John 3:16) I will be honest and sincere with You. (John 4) I am running my life and need Your help. (Matt. 6:10) I am made in Your image (Gen 1:26, 27), and I won't be happy until I am in a relationship with you. (Gen. 3) Most of my behavior does not please You. (Romans 3:23) I know I am a sinner, so please forgive my sins because of Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who came to die for my sins. (John 3:16) His death on the cross is the punishment I should receive, but You were gracious to die in my place through Christ. By faith, I place all of my past, present, and future sins on Christ. I believe Jesus Christ is my Savior, and salvation is a gift! I know I cannot earn my way to heaven by being good through good works. (Eph. 2:8) You did this so I can be in a relationship with You on earth and for all eternity. (Romans 10:9-13) And I will forgive those who have sinned or hurt me because you have forgiven me. Take away any bitterness or resentment I carry toward You or other people. (Matt. 6:13-14) Please show and teach me how to live a praiseworthy life on earth to You starting today. (Matt. 6:33, Acts 9 and 10) I ask you to be in my heart, as Paul said in Ephesians 3:17. I know that You love me, Father, and I want to love You and that you have a purpose and plan for my life. I accept You as my Lord and Savior. Lord, because You gave me breath in my lungs and Savior, because you paid my sin debt. Please teach me to pray. (Matt. 6:9) Thank You, Jesus, for saving me to Yourself (Ex. 19:1-8) and making me a new person! (2 Cor. 5:17) In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!
Learn to grow at www.biblestudycompany.com, Grace Bible Church, and Christ Community Church.
See full post & commentsHave you been subjected to these endless and unscriptural memes? Did you know that this is actually a lie? There is nowhere in scripture that God said any such thing. So, this is coming from man to inspire your sinful nature. Listen, folks, we at Biblestudycompany.com are dedicated to recognizing we are hopelessly lost sinners that are offending God by our actions, attitudes, and thoughts---unless we repent and ask for Jesus Christ to save us. If you prayed a sinner’s prayer and continue in a lifestyle that is unbiblical…no memes will help you at the judgment. Without Jesus Christ’s intervention into human history, to die a criminal’s horrible death we have no salvation. Shall we then live as we lived formerly? He is our Creator. This is His world and YOU ARE A GUEST. He made us a for a purpose and that was to serve Him and obey His word. But, we can’t in and of ourselves. We must turn to Him for help and change. Do that today. Your next breath is a gift from God. There may not be another. Please share this to spread the gospel. Let us know if you decided to join us in living a praiseworthy life to God.
See full post & commentsWe are studying the Bible in Exodus 28:36-41 where the pattern for the priestly garments was being discussed and came on the verses that were about Aaron's head coverings. The description had a symbolic detail that not only pointed to Christ but how we, as priests, were to focus our minds. We will serve what we think about. (Phil 4:6-8) Romans 12:1-2 1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” These verses show Aaron’s focus as a priest. Each piece of the garment is a spiritual principle that, if we obey, will lead us to a praiseworthy life to God. Are we Kingdom people? Who are they and what do they do? The first clue is obedience to God’s word which Moses was doing by responding to the pattern that God was showing him precisely as God revealed. Next God is teaching us symbolism in the priestly garments of how Christ would act and how we must follow Him too. This is important because Colossians 3:2 says; “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” His agenda is for our minds. We will eventually serve our thoughts. The gold plate with the "seal" of the ‘Holiness to the Lord’ is a powerful reminder of where our minds must be set because our hearts will soon follow. I struggle with reading the news and how bad things are getting. Meaning that it is almost scary where the entire world is headed in opposition to God’s principles. It truly is the ‘Days of Noah’ as Christ shared. And this worldly thinking causes some fear. I gently hear in these Scriptures; “get back to focus on Me and My Kingdom there is much to learn…let’s go and get walking!” Right. This is being a Kingdom person! These garment patterns will give us a clue of what our focus must be while we minister to the Lord and then how He ministers to the world. If we are ready for Him, He can use us. What if we have doubts? What if we are in the midst of trials? Where do we turn? Join us for Podcast for Pewsitters with Ric and Mary Joyner to discuss how to be a Kingdom person!
See full post & commentsThe most weighty thing has me contemplating with the events recently of loss of family and friends. Mortality. We are finite. We all know it. But I am concerned that I don't act like I am. Meaning that as Mary and I continue studying Scripture together through these tumultuous times, sadness and fondness of remembering those we lost, we can begin to see the power and majesty of the God Who Created us. This is His world and His agenda. We are His creation and have a purpose. But He gave us a free choice to live our lives either for Him or not. Consequences arise from the perspective Mary and I choose because we will give an account to Him one day. Romans 14:10-12 “For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD." 12
Are you ready to give an account of yourself to God? You can be but how?
So Mary and I want to get this life right according to what God says on how we should live. This has been our discussion and growing passion. We will shed this body at some point... that is the weight. I am mortal. The next weight is standing before Him to give an account. That is the weightious of all. As we go through another loss (of a brother-in-law mother, friend with cancer and friend’s wife) I am reminded of this weight.
And then Christ said it too! Matthew 28: “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29“Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31“So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. 32“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.”
Watching my dear friend Owen Pach with cancer at 65 and sitting by his bedside was heart-wrenching. But then asking him about his relationship with God, that we often talked about, and he confessed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and that He forgave his sins AND THEN a few days later he was gone and this has made this pressing for the two of us. I KNOW I will see him again! 😢😔😊
Thus, this is the clearest picture I can see of God whose world this is and how much He loves us because every hair is numbered! My friend’s hairs were numbered. The few that remained. 🙂
The final weight is this: These losses are spurring me (us) to faith in Jesus Christ who gives assurance of eternity (John 3) and to ask in faith for His help to obey His Word. For encouragement or comfort.
Musings for the day
See full post & commentsPodcast For Pewsitters: We are discussing the priestly garments and how they point to Christ. What happened between Exodus 19 where God told Moses He wanted a Kingdom of priests and Exodus 28 where only Aaron was the High Priest? Something drastic changed. If God loves us the way we are, as some say, then we need to love Him for the way He is. This is His world and we are His servants. But, do we act the way we were made? Did you know we were not created to serve ourselves and our happiness?
Did you know our purpose is to minister to God? Could what we desire be to our detriment unless it lines up with God's Will? Do we want to walk with Him and experience joy and peace and satisfaction in this rough, tumble and a hurtful world even if our life is crumbling? Yes! Why were the priestly garments even needed? What is God calling us to in Christ? Why did He suffer for us and die for us? Could it be we are criminals? Christ died a criminals death. Was this a picture to show us how evil sin is? Yes! No one likes this thought, but we do need to look in the mirror of our heart called the 10 commandments to see where we stack up. These are the 10 expectations of God. The "follow your feelings" society just doesn't cut it in the Kingdom of God. People are left hungry, empty and broken. But God is our Creator, and He can make way for us. What is it?
We ask questions like why did Aaron get priestly garments and not Moses? Perhaps Moses was a model priest already? Moses heard God's voice and carried it out correctly. That is what priests did in the Old Testament, and disciples do in the New. He was truly a servant of God. We have God's Word, and we can be the same. We can say Moses was trained by God. We have the same opportunity. Will we take it?
What is God trying to say to us with the tinkling bells and pomegranates? Where does all of this show up in the new testament? Why is there so much symbolism in the old testaments? Why can't people see the connection to symbolism? Could the gospels be a parallel picture of the Exodus? The Hebrews in the desert saw the pillar of fire and the cloud and how God miraculously provided for them and healed them, yet it says they did not believe! (Hebrews 3) WHAT! The people in the new testament saw the miracles and the Words of Christ as He spoke to them, yet many did not believe! Even some of the disciples doubted! (Matthew 28) What shall we do? Could obeying God produce faith? YES! One step toward Him, even if we are confused and unsure is an act of faith. It will even produce more faith! You will start to grow up in God. Let God help you with your pain, hurt and confusion. We asked a lot of questions, and this is exactly what we should do every time we approach scripture. "What is Your agenda, Lord and how may we carry it out?" Join Ric and Mary Joyner for Podcast for Pew Sitters!
See full post & commentsIn this episode, Ric and Mary Joyner of Bible Study Company discuss why they went to Israel. What did they see? And did how Israel and the tour touched them? Ric said: "It is fair to say that we left our hearts in Israel. We see why this country has been through so much as it literally is in the center of the world and where the trade routes went through for the entire known world. Was this an accident? Or does God have plans for lands, peoples and us? Psalm 24: 1 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. 2 For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers. As always we want to line up with His agenda not our own. This is why we study the bible. We are His creation and therefore we can choose to serve Him or ourselves. Which will it be?"
Going to Israel was fraught with anxiety and safety concerns but we discovered that this was a false narrative. We went on tour with Dr. Baruch and Rivka Korman of loveisrael.org. This was a teaching tour. Meaning, that we would include tourist areas but also spend time teaching at specific spots to relate the Bible and God's agenda to the land. It was over the top good. Loveisrael.org is having another tour in 2019. Their website has details. So join us for a time of discussion in this podcast about our trip for part 1. Two pew-sitters who are studying the Bible using principles Dr. Korman taught us and we went to actually see the Holy Land! WOW!
See full post & commentsOur mission is to obey the Word of God which is the Bible. To be a disciple of Christ, we are to follow Him. The Lord has just given the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 5, which is how we should respond to the ten commandments if we want to live a praiseworthy life to God. Christ gives a picture of a person’s heart who is convicted of sin by encountering the ten commandments and is now asking for God’s help to change. In chapter 6, the Lord is showing us, now what our responding to His call looks like in daily life as we live out His words. Then He shows us how to pray. In Verse 7, He starts out by saying:
7 "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8 "So do not be like them; for your, Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” (NASB)
So we asked ourselves why do we pray the Lord’s prayer as meaningless repetition? Is there more to this prayer than how we were taught in church? We believe yes, and thus could it be an outline for us to follow? For years we have broken this prayer down and spent time walking outside or praying in a quiet place to spend time on each part of the outline. As a couple, we will use this as an outline when we pray together. Great relationship building with the Lord has occurred. We want to caution that this is no formula because this is how Christ said to pray. Faith is acting on God’s word. And if you look closely at the whole prayer, it is indeed an outline, and each part of it takes time. Join Ric and Mary Joyner in their podcast for Pewsitters spending time on each part of this prayer. Let us know what you think.
Open Matthew 6:9 and read along with us.
See full post & commentsWe are home from Israel after being on a study tour with Dr. Baruch Korman of Loveisrael.org. The tour was a treasure of experiences causing the Bible to come alive. We felt we were in "God's home" and we could literally see prophecy fulfilled.
We were able to experience the peoples' daily lives and how God cared for them. But "daily circumstances" invaded our lives too once we returned home. This podcast is about why there were no podcasts to continue our study of Exodus and what "other things" happened in our life. Grab your favorite beverage and join us for an update.
See full post & commentsI woke up this morning to a family member asking if we are OK because we are on a tour of Israel. I was puzzled. I feel the safest I have ever felt on any trip.
We are right here in Jerusalem and there have not been any incidents. When you are here you see what is really happening. You find out quickly that what you learned about the Jewish/Palestinian struggle is from western media sources that Israel occupied Palestinian land. If you believe that please get educated other than left-wing media such as CNN or New York Times. People yell about Fox News is right wing but at least most shows on Fox let both sides speak. But the Main Stream Media (MSM) is slanted and biased. CNN numbers are falling very fast. The headlines of NY Times on Gaza today are a total perspective lie and they are being called out on it by people and other news organizations. Israel dropped leaflets telling Hamas not to approach the fence. Hamas says the protests are peaceful, yet they are burning tires to create a smoke screen while known terrorists are trying to cut the fence and hurling large stones that could kill Israelis and flying kites with bottles of flammable liquid to burn Israeli crops. They are putting their women and children up to the fence which is a threat to use as human shields for the media attention and paying them to put themselves in harm's way. This is not a peaceful organization. But the MSM news does not show that. The news does not show the Palestinian flags with Nazi swastikas! Why not? Perhaps the knowledge of the truth may hurt their agenda! Hamas is running Gaza and is a known terrorist organization with the stated goal (Iran as well) to annihilate the Jews. Yes, you heard correctly. They want to kill Jewish people because they are Jewish. And do so. How can a peace deal be reached when that is the stated goal? Their goal is not to have a homeland but to kill Jews. Did you know Gaza was given in 2005 to the Palestinians for the hope of exchange for peace? It was a thriving Jewish community of 25 years that created an oasis of productive businesses, farms, and homes. Many of the homes and businesses were destroyed by Hamas simply because it was Jewish! Those Jewish families evicted out Gaza which was legally purchased, and some have not recovered! Get educated, please. Israel has learned that giving into a terrorist organization is futile if the stated goal is to kill Jews. Of Israel’s population, a great percentage are peaceful Arabs who live in harmony with the Jewish people. We have personally interacted with them and their kindness and generosity are amazing. They are not terrorists they are part of a country that loves them and welcomes them with open arms.
Our guide is a 10-generation immigrant to Israel and is a Jew. As we walked the streets of Jerusalem which were controlled by Jordan he said where the Jewish families in 1967 were sniped at and killed from the walls of Jerusalem!!! We drove down roads near the Golan Heights by Jewish farms and trees had to be planted to cover people from snipers! He lived all of this.
This land was a desert prior to 1948. Who would want it? But it has come alive today which is a prophecy fulfilled! Ezekiel 36.37
I have personally stopped watching news media for several months and am glad I have. The media is being called out on their bias. But they continue to lie. When you are from the outside looking in, as we were, the information is skewed. Being here is much different. Israeli children asked someone in our group today if they loved Israel. The children also were chanting a line that basically said “at least we are alive” meaning what they suffered as a people. The nation of Israel is a wakeup call to all of us who love God and want His purposes fulfilled. When we first arrived in Israel last week we met a young Colorado Jewish woman who lives now in Israel. She is a citizen. When visiting here she said that most Israelis assume people hate them! This is the feeling in Israeli citizens. How would you like to live like that?
Get educated. We are. Those who bless Israel will be blessed. Read Gen 12 because those who curse Israel will be cursed. Take a stroll near the Palestinian areas and you will see it there are marked differences. Jewish communities have large fences and the Arab population does not. Why is that? Death threats. So, do we want to pass on information that curses Israel without getting the other side? Please share so people will get the correct information or start asking questions.
See full post & commentsOur podcast and Exodus Chapter 2 has several moving parts. Since Exodus is a factual narrative, we need to “read” between the lines, so to speak, to find out what God is asking us to “see” so that we may act appropriately. What are the lessons? Why did the Israelites go into slavery in Egypt? Mary and I believe this question is highly important and relevant to today’s Christianity. The answer lies in Jeremiah 2. We can go into slavery as God’s people by not living according to His Word. One of the themes of Exodus is dependence on God. So how do we get into bondage in this modern world? And that is the biblical study principle of application. How does God want us to look at the story and get the lessons within it for our lives?
We are in Exodus 2 Part 3 where Moses is now older and is deciding there is another call on his life. He makes some choices that cause an irrevocable decision. Moses, although acting on the promises of God to Abraham, takes the situation into his own hands rather than waiting on God and is forced to flee.
But there is much more going on in this story. Through word studies, we will see the lessons God wishes to teach us, and we will see that symbolism in the old testament foreshadows Christ! Please listen and comment below.