Knowing Jesus Rose from the Dead

This claim is the center-piece of Christianity. As all four Biblical narratives about Jesus life and death attest, Jesus died from severe torture and crucifixion at the hands of the Romans and the blessings of the leadership in Israel. On a purely human level, Jesus’ teaching was obviously threatening the power and status of those in the theocratic leadership of Israel, and Rome was wary of anyone causing disruptions. It created a perfect storm which resulted in Jesus’ execution. On a spiritual level, Jesus life and death fulfilled over 108 distinct prophesies and became the culmination of the Old Testament religious covenant to the Israelites and the world. The New Testament Scriptures indicate that perfect storm was actually God-orchestrated, for the purpose of providing forgiveness and grace to the human race.

It’s powerful stuff, and the deeper you get into it, the more powerful it becomes. Jesus was the culmination of the Jewish sacrificial system for sins because He was the ultimate sacrifice, taking away sins once for all according to the book of Hebrews. (It’s why John the Baptist once announced Jesus was “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” -Lambs were often used as sacrifices)

Taking away sins once for all, meant a person no longer had to feel separated from God by sin, and provided a way for anyone to approach God, without a priest to intercede. It’s one reason three of the four Gospel accounts record the curtain of the temple being torn in two by an earthquake at the time of Jesus’ death. The curtain of the temple is what separated “the Most Holy Place” -where the presence of God was- from the outside world. The meaning being that humanity no longer had to be separated from God because of Christ.

And that only begins to scratch the surface how in Jesus, or through Jesus, so much of the Old Testament religious teaching is fulfilled, or reaches the highest order of magnitude. But none of it matters, if Jesus never got out of the grave.

Did Revelation Predict What Is Happening in Egypt & the Middle East?

It’s pure speculation at this point, especially when the results of so many protests and attempts at revolution are still up in the air, but how might all this turmoil fit with the Bible? I’d keep my eye on Revelation chapter 6, specifically the four riders of the Apocalypse as they are called. Again, I wouldn’t make any grand pronouncements, but it’s like anything else, it bears watching.

As I explained in a previous post, it’s the first rider that intrigues me most. Revelation chapter 5, the prologue to the four horsemen and the other three judgments, begins with God holding a book sealed with seven seals. In the day Revelation was written, books (or scrolls) were sealed in that way when they were legal documents pertaining to life and death. Many Bible teachers say this book was “the title deed for the earth.” Well, the Bible doesn’t say that, but it is at least true that anyone reading Revelation at the time it was written, would recognize that book was about life and death. And as it turns out, it was about the earth.

It becomes clear very quickly that it is a book about judgment. Chapter 5 begins by asking the question “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” (verse 2) and no one is found in heaven or earth who is worthy.

That is, until Jesus steps forward.

The Trinity: It’s the Whole Point

Although the Bible never uses the term, and never sets aside any passage to explain it, the idea of the “Trinity” has been a pretty key doctrine for Christianity for a long time. It can be found in various early creeds and teachings, and basically explains that God is one God, but revealed to mankind as three: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit.

Arguments are made by some that Jesus never claimed to be God, but in fact, according to the Bible He did several times and did so in unmistakable ways. He took the name of God for Himself, He claimed the power of God for Himself, He claimed the authority of God for Himself, and flat out said He was equal with God in clear enough terms that many of those present tried to kill Him for blasphemy. So clear is the teaching in the Bible that Jesus is God, the Jehovah Witnesses -who do not believe in the Trinity- went to the trouble to develop their own Bible, which specifically has changed the passages of the New Testament dealing with Jesus as God. It is accurate to say then, that the Bible presents Jesus as God, with the lone exception being the version of the Bible printed by the Jehovah Witnesses in 1961.

Muslims and Jews would simply claim this is a heresy to the truth. Both the Jewish Scriptures (the Old Testament), and the Qur’an teach that God is one God. So does Christianity of course, but Christians believe in the Trinity, which adds that God is also three. On the surface it is contradictory, but in the expression and understanding of God, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I wouldn’t believe in any other way.

Sign of the Apocalypse in Egypt? -Mysterious Horseman

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show has a video clip showing various riot scenes from Egypt, and at about the 10:27 mark in a clip titled “World’s Eyes on Egypt,” there appears to be a mysterious horseman. Obviously this is a glare, or a weird reflection of the fire on the lens of the camera. Nevertheless, for anyone who knows of the four horsemen of the apocalypse in Revelation chapter 6, it’s kinda spooky, and very, very cool.

Here’s the original from Rachel Maddow’s site. The video is long, and the ghostly image appears around the 10:27 mark.

Here’s a much shorter video that plays up the spookiness factor. (It’s a little silly)

Here’s a link that demonstrates it’s just a camera lens thing.

Speculations are abounding on Youtube. While it is undoubtedly just a weird reflection, it is nevertheless a rather striking one. Why couldn’t it have looked like a racoon? Or a flaming peace symbol? Or the Eye of Sauron? For something that appears to simply be one of those camera anomalies, it sure picked a significant shape. A thought-provoking one for me.

Twenty years ago, while studying the book of Revelation, I came up with a theory about Revelation 6 that no one really took seriously, and I quickly dropped. By “no one,” I mean the 3-4 people I explained my theory to. Hey, I was just a young college student with plans to make a career in business, not dedicate my life to the ministry. Just as well. If I’d tried that theory out in Bible college, it would have undoubtedly been shot down even sooner, different as it was from a traditional interpretation. Besides, nothing really came of it. Twenty years passed, and the world didn’t end.

Which certainly may happen again, but for the record, it is somewhat interesting that something I predicted 20 years ago, seems poised to happen in the Middle East. Maybe my timing was just off?

Egypt’s Unrest and Bible Prophecy

Watch this Egypt thing play out because it’s a game changer, not only in the Middle East, but also in the way people will view Bible Prophecy. Egypt has the biggest military force in the area besides Israel, so they have been a big reason why there has been an uneasy truce between Israel and Hamas. In fact, despite all the hype about Iran, Egypt is currently the most powerful nation in the Arab world, and a nation that Israel tends to watch very closely.

It’s safe to say that Egypt is a very big deal in the Middle East peace process. As in, whether peace exists or not.

Now, if Egypt were to become radicalized lets say, then a chorus of end of the world predictions will likely start being heard, and perhaps with good reason. But by the looks of things right now, it is not radical Islam that is behind this unrest, but people who wish to be free and have a real democracy. What if the secular democracy supporters win out?

Good question. For one, it’s going to trash a lot of the predictions made by Bible prophecy guys and gals. This “turning point in history” as Geraldo Rivera said the other day, sure could end up becoming a GOOD “turning point” in the eyes of most of the world. IF democracy takes hold in Egypt, it is very possible that dictators and radical Islam will find themselves on the way out in nations all over the Middle East. That would be good news wouldn’t it?

Was the Holocaust God’s Wrath?

I got asked this question by someone who wanted me to say yes. They wanted me to say yes, because they wanted the opportunity to mock me for claiming that God loves us, while being forced to admit that God also wanted to gas millions of people.

How do you reconcile a good God… with stuff like this? If it’s OK with you, I’d like to avoid for now, the tedious philosophical arguments and just look at the big picture. By that I mean, if the God of the Bible exists, then understanding Him requires understanding what the Bible says is going on with God and the world in general. Calling God “good” or “loving” sends people off on tangents because we think of various depths of meaning when those terms are mentioned. It’s better just to stick with the source without getting sidetracked.

So back to the Jewish holocaust, was it God’s wrath?