Wednesday, November 24, 2010

"Thanksgiving Day is a time each year, dating back to our founding, when we lay aside the troubles and disagreements of the day and bow our heads in humble recognition of the providence bestowed upon our Nation. "

--President Obama, in his Thanksgiving Proclamation.

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

"They are reading it like a sacred text. ... You are not supposed to worship your constitution. You are supposed to govern your government by it. "

--Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., talking to the Washington Post about conservative Republicans, particularly Tea Party favorites, who view the Constitution as the immutable word of God.

Monday, January 10, 2011

"Our intention was to win, not to offend. "

--Dave Williams, president of Philadelphia-based Media Wave Productions, on his company's ad contest submission for PepsiCo, which featured a priest distributing Doritos and Pepsi Max for Communion. The ad was later withdrawn. He was quoted by Mashable.com.

"People just don't have the same respect for churches that they used to. "

Monday, April 18, 2011

"We're down in numbers, we're aging, we feel the pressure to do whatever we can. If this is the way the younger generation are looking things up and are communicating, then this is the place to be."

--Benedictine Abbot Caedmon Holmes of Portsmouth Abbey in Portsmouth, R.I., quoted by The New York Times about the monks' efforts to use Facebook and social media to find new members for the aging abbey.

“To be technical, Jesus made a false prophecy, and that’s not something most Christians would want to put that way,”

--Robert Miller, a professor of religion at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa.

I missed today's program, so I will have to download it and listen to it. I too wonder how Yahowsha could say He would be in the grave for 3 days AND 3 nights, and then renege on His own prophetic declaration. My understanding has always been that He was impaled on Wednesday and that He arose just before twilight on the following 7th day Sabbath. So I am interested to hear Yada's take on the timing.

Shalom.

"Then, at that time, certain individuals among the Scribes (grammateus - public servants, politicians, judges, teachers, theologians, and journalists) and Pharisees (Pharisaios - the sect of rabbis who recognized, promoted, imposed, and valued the Babylonian Talmud and man’s oral traditions over Yahuweh’s Scriptures) said, ‘Teacher (didaskalos) we want (thelo - we desire) to see (horao - to witness with our own eyes and to personally experience) a sign (semeion - an unusual occurrence, a token which distinguishes) from you.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘An annoying, works oriented (poneros - unethical, diseased and blind, worthless, wicked) and adulteress (moichalis - those in relationships with whores and false gods) generation (genea - descendants of "poneros and moichalis") seek (epizeteo - clamor for, crave, and demand) a token (semeion - a sign). But (kai - and so) no (ou) sign (semeion - unusual occurrence) shall be given (didomi - granted, supplied, or furnished) to them (autos), except (ei) the token that distinguished (semeion - the unusual occurrence of) the prophet Ionas (Greek transliteration of the Hebrew Yownah, symbolic of the Spirit). For just as (gar hosper) Ionas/Yownah was three days and three nights in the center (koilia - innermost part) of the great fish (ketos - from chasma, meaning that which opens wide) so (houto) the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in (en - by or with) the heart (kardia - the center of circulation and life) of the land (ge - earth)." (Matthew 12:25-40)
The prophetic predictions and the eyewitness confirmations are well documented and perfectly clear. Yahushua arrived in Jerusalem, the "heart and center of the land" on Monday, March 28, 33 CE, the exact day Daniel predicted over 500 years earlier. But He didn’t stay. According to Mark 14, Yahushua, sought to thwart the desire of the "Chief Priests and Scribes to seize Him by stealth and kill Him" prior to "the Feast of Passover, so as to diminish the likelihood of a riot by the people." He did this by spending "two days," those being Tuesday and Wednesday, "in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper." While the Messiah was willing to sacrifice Himself on our behalf He was not willing to have any aspect of His fulfillment of the three days depicted in the Miqra’s of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and FirstFruits occur on days other than those previously specified.
So then Yahushua returned to Jerusalem, "the heart and center of the land" on Thursday for Passover dinner. He stayed in town (courtesy of Caiphas’ dungeon accommodations) so that He could attend His own crucifixion on Friday, which was still Passover. The body of the Messiah spent the Sabbath of Unleavened Bread, which began at sundown and continued through Saturday, in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Roman guards were positioned just to make sure He remained in town. Sometime after sunset on Saturday, April 2nd, and before sunrise on Sunday the 3rd, Yahushua rose from the dead. But His body did not leave Jerusalem until later that morning, going to heaven and then to a "village called Emmaus, which was sixty stadion [seven and a half miles] separated from (apo) Jerusalem." There is a reason we were given this otherwise irrelevant information by Mark and Luke.
The bottom line is: Yahushua gave a sign that the religious and political leaders of Jerusalem "could see, personally witness and experience." "The Son of Man was three days and three nights in the heart (kardia - center of circulation and life) of the land (ge)." His promise was fulfilled uninterrupted for their viewing pleasure beginning on Thursday afternoon and ending late Sunday morning. That’s three days and three full nights.
Before we leave this verse, I must tell you that I was initially very troubled by it, at least as it appears in English translations. Clearly, Yahushua wasn’t in, as inside, the earth for three days or three nights. Many very famous pastors use this quote to claim that He was, but by so doing they are essentially saying that the precise timelines laid out by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are all wrong. They are also saying that Yahshua was wrong in claiming that there was a direct correlation between His suffering for three days with the inspired Scripture recorded by Moses and the Prophets in the Torah and Psalms.
But all one has to do is correctly translate the words and think a little, and the truth becomes obvious. This passage isn’t a contradiction; it’s a confirmation. According to Strong’s, the primary meaning of ge is land, not earth. Ge is the Greek equivalent of ‘erets, with also means "land." The majority of the time ‘erets is used in Scripture it applies to the Land of Israel - to the Promised Land. And even if ge were afforded its fourth most prevalent meaning, from the perspective of Yahuweh, from the perspective of Scripture, from the perspective of the audience listening to Yahushua, Jerusalem was, is, and forever will be the heart, the center of circulation and life, of the Earth.
The bottom line is from prophecy to fulfillment Scripture can be trusted.
Also recognize that the Scribes and Pharisees "wanted to see (horao - to witness with their own eyes, to personally experience) a sign from Him." And this is what they were given. Had the sign been three days and three nights inside the earth, they could not "have seen or experienced" it because they were not yet there.

Friday, April 29, 2011

"Look, Mom, Jesus protected our house, but he forgot to take care of his own house. "

--6-year-old Gracie “Bug’’ Briscoe of Vaughn, Ga., whose trailer home was missed by tornadoes that destroyed the United Methodist church across the street. She was quoted by United Methodist News Service.