My former seminary president is a remarkable man. He has a blog watcihng culture, world-events, society... This particular blog sounded really intriguing, so I thought I'd post it here. He's got other well thought out posts on his personal blogsite, www.albertmohler.com.
Posted: Thursday, November 29, 2007 at 5:19 am ET
Incongruous as it sounds, atheists are now organizing Sunday Schools. TIME magazine reports that many non-believing parents are concerned that their children are not adequately grounded in secular thought and feel left out of experiences like Sunday School that are common among their friends.
Reporter Jeninne Lee-St. John understands that the idea seems a bit strange. "On Sunday mornings, most parents who don't believe in the Christian God, or any god at all, are probably making brunch or cheering at their kids' soccer game, or running errands or, with luck, sleeping in. Without religion, there's no need for church, right?"
Well, not exactly. Lee-St. John explains this new development:
But some nonbelievers are beginning to think they might need something for their children. "When you have kids," says Julie Willey, a design engineer, "you start to notice that your co-workers or friends have church groups to help teach their kids values and to be able to lean on." So every week, Willey, who was raised Buddhist and says she has never believed in God, and her husband pack their four kids into their blue minivan and head to the Humanist Community Center in Palo Alto, Calif., for atheist Sunday school.
Packing the kids in the minivan for atheist Sunday School is likely to sound more than a little strange to those accustomed to more traditional Sunday Schools (that teach children about God) but it is fascinating that atheists are concerned that their children need secular instruction.
It seems that many atheist parents are concerned that their children should learn at an early age how to deal with the challenge of living among Christian believers. Furthermore, these parents want to ensure that their children and teenagers learn their own secular values.
The report explains that the growing number of atheists and non-believers in the nation are becoming more concerned about their children, and are establishing both Sunday Schools and atheist youth camps in order to inculcate secular beliefs and morality within the next generation.
The magazine offers a very interesting description of what goes on at a model atheist Sunday School:
The Palo Alto Sunday family program uses music, art and discussion to encourage personal expression, intellectual curiosity and collaboration. One Sunday this fall found a dozen children up to age 6 and several parents playing percussion instruments and singing empowering anthems like I'm Unique and Unrepeatable, set to the tune of Ten Little Indians, instead of traditional Sunday-school songs like Jesus Loves Me. Rather than listen to a Bible story, the class read Stone Soup, a secular parable of a traveler who feeds a village by making a stew using one ingredient from each home.
Down the hall in the kitchen, older kids engaged in a Socratic conversation with class leader Bishop about the role persuasion plays in decision-making. He tried to get them to see that people who are coerced into renouncing their beliefs might not actually change their minds but could be acting out of self-preservation--an important lesson for young atheists who may feel pressure to say they believe in God.
My guess is that these atheist Sunday Schools will not be as successful as these parents hope. "I'm Unique and Unrepeatable" just can't really compete with "Jesus Loves Me." Children have not yet developed cynicism and, in general, are quite eager to believe in God. Children taught from the Bible in Sunday School learn that they were made by a loving God who cares for them -- and then move on to learn much more about what the Bible teaches. No "secular parable" can compete with that.
In a strange way, the rise of atheist Sunday Schools illustrates the central dilemma of atheism itself. Try as they may, atheists cannot avoid talking about God -- even if only to insist that they do not believe in Him. Now, atheist parents are organizing Sunday Schools as a parallel to the Christian practice. In effect, atheists are organizing themselves in a way similar to a local church. At least some of them must sense the awkward irony in that
Friday, November 30, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
The End of The Stem Cell Debate?
It appears that science has advanced to the point of not needing to destroy human embryos (read: beings) in order to produce stem cells.
Pro-life scientist urges federal funding of new stem cell technique
Jim BrownOneNewsNow.comNovember 26, 2007
An international expert on stem-cell research and cloning is hailing the discovery of a new technique that allows scientists to obtain embryonic stem cells in an ethical fashion.
Two teams of scientists have reported that they have succeeded in directly reprogramming human skin cells to turn into embryonic-like stem cells. The groups have produced what are called "iPS" cells (induced Pluripotent Stem cells) by adding four genetic factors to a human skin cell. No embryos are created or destroyed, and no cloning or eggs are needed in the process.
The breakthrough is welcome news to people like Dr. David Prentice, a senior fellow for life sciences at the Family Research Council, and prominent critic of embryo-destructive research. "It looks like very soon they'll be able to get around the use of viruses ... and just use some simple chemicals probably to do that reprogramming with the genes," he explains. "So that's really not a great hurdle."
Prentice says federal funding of existing embryonic stem-cell lines should be used to further the new technique, even though scientific questions about the research remain.
"You're still going to have the typical problems you have with any embryonic stem cell -- the potential for tumor formation, being able to control them and get the right cell," he says. "They have not yet proven that these will match the person that they're taken from."
But that does not discourage the cloning expert from calling for federal funds to be redirected. "The funds that are being used now for those embryonic stem-cell lines that were derived by destroying human embryos ought to be shifted to this research," he argues. "That way we don't have to worry about taxpayer funds going towards anything unethical."
Prentice says there also ought to be a push now to pass the Brownback-Weldon cloning ban in Congress in light of the fact that Dr. Ian Wilmut, who cloned "Dolly" the sheep, has turned his back on cloning in favor of using the iPS cells.
"They ought to just drop this whole push to destroy more embryos or to clone," he insists. "We're already hearing that some members of Congress who might have been on the fence and were sort of biting the bullet" in the embryonic stem cell debate will decide they do not need to support that bill that President Bush vetoed.
Prentice believes the new discovery is sure to "let the wind out of the sails" of proponents of embryo-destructive research.
for more: www.onenewsnow.com
Pro-life scientist urges federal funding of new stem cell technique
Jim BrownOneNewsNow.comNovember 26, 2007
An international expert on stem-cell research and cloning is hailing the discovery of a new technique that allows scientists to obtain embryonic stem cells in an ethical fashion.
Two teams of scientists have reported that they have succeeded in directly reprogramming human skin cells to turn into embryonic-like stem cells. The groups have produced what are called "iPS" cells (induced Pluripotent Stem cells) by adding four genetic factors to a human skin cell. No embryos are created or destroyed, and no cloning or eggs are needed in the process.
The breakthrough is welcome news to people like Dr. David Prentice, a senior fellow for life sciences at the Family Research Council, and prominent critic of embryo-destructive research. "It looks like very soon they'll be able to get around the use of viruses ... and just use some simple chemicals probably to do that reprogramming with the genes," he explains. "So that's really not a great hurdle."
Prentice says federal funding of existing embryonic stem-cell lines should be used to further the new technique, even though scientific questions about the research remain.
"You're still going to have the typical problems you have with any embryonic stem cell -- the potential for tumor formation, being able to control them and get the right cell," he says. "They have not yet proven that these will match the person that they're taken from."
But that does not discourage the cloning expert from calling for federal funds to be redirected. "The funds that are being used now for those embryonic stem-cell lines that were derived by destroying human embryos ought to be shifted to this research," he argues. "That way we don't have to worry about taxpayer funds going towards anything unethical."
Prentice says there also ought to be a push now to pass the Brownback-Weldon cloning ban in Congress in light of the fact that Dr. Ian Wilmut, who cloned "Dolly" the sheep, has turned his back on cloning in favor of using the iPS cells.
"They ought to just drop this whole push to destroy more embryos or to clone," he insists. "We're already hearing that some members of Congress who might have been on the fence and were sort of biting the bullet" in the embryonic stem cell debate will decide they do not need to support that bill that President Bush vetoed.
Prentice believes the new discovery is sure to "let the wind out of the sails" of proponents of embryo-destructive research.
for more: www.onenewsnow.com
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Terrorists inflict more death, they don't stop!
It seems like the terrorist groups in Israel just won't let it rest. Muslim raducals complain that Israel is oppressing the Palestinians, when if you examine the news, it is the militant muslim palestinians that are sending out terror raids and constant attacks upon Israel. Here is a sad example of that from last night in Israel.
Ido Zoldan, 29 and a father of two, was murdered in a terrorist shooting attack in Samaria around 11:00 pm Monday night.
Palestinian Authority terrorists fired on the man as he drove past the village of Funduk, near Kedumim. Paramedics who arrived at the scene were unable to save his life.
Zoldan, of Shavei Shomron, will be buried on Tuesday at 1:00 PM in Kedumim. He is survived by his wife Tehila and his two small children, three-year-old Aharon and one-year-old Rachel. The family moved to Shavei Shomron after they were displaced from Homesh in the Disengagement of 2005.
A terrorist cell was waiting in ambush in the area for Israeli vehicles.
According to initial information, a terrorist cell was waiting in ambush in the area for Israeli vehicles. When Ido, who was riding alone, came into range, the enemy attackers sprayed the vehicle with gunfire. The driver was critically injured, with multiple gunshot wounds, and he apparently died within minutes.
www.israelnationalnews.com
Ido Zoldan, 29 and a father of two, was murdered in a terrorist shooting attack in Samaria around 11:00 pm Monday night.
Palestinian Authority terrorists fired on the man as he drove past the village of Funduk, near Kedumim. Paramedics who arrived at the scene were unable to save his life.
Zoldan, of Shavei Shomron, will be buried on Tuesday at 1:00 PM in Kedumim. He is survived by his wife Tehila and his two small children, three-year-old Aharon and one-year-old Rachel. The family moved to Shavei Shomron after they were displaced from Homesh in the Disengagement of 2005.
A terrorist cell was waiting in ambush in the area for Israeli vehicles.
According to initial information, a terrorist cell was waiting in ambush in the area for Israeli vehicles. When Ido, who was riding alone, came into range, the enemy attackers sprayed the vehicle with gunfire. The driver was critically injured, with multiple gunshot wounds, and he apparently died within minutes.
www.israelnationalnews.com
Thursday, November 15, 2007
The Advent of Neo-Gnosticism
Well... really the revival of Gnosticism has been going on for sometime now, but it seems every few years or so it gets a new burst of energy to lambast the foundations and pillars of the real Christian faith. A recent book titled: Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity it seems as an attack on truth, but also with a disregard for truth. It seems the authors (graduates of Yale and Harvard) have too many factual errors! I happened upon a review on this work at the Insititue for Religous Research's website.
This helpful review is found here: http://www.irr.org/Huggins-PagelsKing.pdf
This helpful review is found here: http://www.irr.org/Huggins-PagelsKing.pdf
Global Warming a farce?
I think most sensible people would agree with that. I think it's interestin that now the founder of The Weather Channel is coming out saying that it is "manufactured [and] manipulated science."
According to Coleman, the science that supports arguments favoring global warming "has been manipulated" and much of the data has been "manufactured," resulting in what he calls "bad science" that, unfortunately, passed peer review. He argues that the research passed that review only because of an underlying agenda held by scientists. He claims they wish to strike fear of environmental catastrophe if people do not hold to their radical ideas.
In a blog posted on KUSI.com, Coleman dispels that fear by stating that the earth is not in peril. He states that natural cycles in weather are more responsible for any climate change, and that over the next two decades there is an equal chance for a cooling trend as there is for a warming trend. He also believes that once the dire predictions of global-warming scientists fail to pass, people will realize they have been "duped."
to get the full article, check out http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/11/founder_of_weather_channel_dis.php
According to Coleman, the science that supports arguments favoring global warming "has been manipulated" and much of the data has been "manufactured," resulting in what he calls "bad science" that, unfortunately, passed peer review. He argues that the research passed that review only because of an underlying agenda held by scientists. He claims they wish to strike fear of environmental catastrophe if people do not hold to their radical ideas.
In a blog posted on KUSI.com, Coleman dispels that fear by stating that the earth is not in peril. He states that natural cycles in weather are more responsible for any climate change, and that over the next two decades there is an equal chance for a cooling trend as there is for a warming trend. He also believes that once the dire predictions of global-warming scientists fail to pass, people will realize they have been "duped."
to get the full article, check out http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/11/founder_of_weather_channel_dis.php
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Are we at the End?
The LORD has really opened my eyes to some incredible things in His word! This is one of my more recent posts, the description of which is so amazing, I thought you wuld need to see it too! I truly believe we're on the razor edge of His return! Our God reigns, Hallelujah!
“Look! He is coming
with the clouds,
and every eye swill see Him, including those who pierced
Him.
And all the families of the earth
will mourn over Him. This is certain. Amen. (Rev. 1:7)
The Bride, the wife of the Lamb:
“The one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled wit the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me: ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, arrayed with God’s glory. Her radiance was like a very precious stone, like a jasper stone, bright as crystal. The city had a massive high wall, with 12 gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; on the gates names were inscribed, the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. The city wall had 12 foundations, and on them were the 12 names of the Lamb’s 12 apostles…
I did not see a sanctuary in it, because the Lord God almighty and the Lamb are its sanctuary. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s glory illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The natons will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Each day its gates will never close because it will never be night there. They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. Nothing profane will ever enter it; no one who does what is vile or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
(Rev. 21:9-14, 22-27)
“He led me to the gate… and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east… While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from the temple. He said to me, ‘Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever.” (Ezek. 43:1,6-7a)
· this passage is speaking of the future temple, when God inhabits it forevermore. God’s glory returns to dwell here.
12 You are to tell him: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Here is a man whose name is Branch; He will branch out from His place and build the Lord’s temple. 13 Yes, He will build the Lord’s temple; He will be clothed in splendor and will sit on His throne and rule. There will also be a priest on His throne, and there will be peaceful counsel between the two of them. 14 The crown will reside in the Lord’s temple as a memorial to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen son of Zephaniah. 15 People who are far off will come and build the Lord’s temple, and you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent Me to you. This will happen when you fully obey the Lord your God.” Zech 6:12-15 (HCSB)
· Jesus, at his return, fills the office of priest, king and prophet, three in one.
3 Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations as He fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley, so that half the mountain will move to the north and half to the south. 5 You will flee by My mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with Him. Zech 14:3-5 (HCSB)
· Verse 5. ye shall flee to the valley -- rather "through the valley," as in 2Sa 2:29. The valley made by the cleaving asunder of the Mount of Olives (Zec 14:4) is designed to be their way of escape, not their place of refuge [MAURER]. JEROME is on the side of English Version. If it be translated so, it will mean, Ye shall flee "to" the valley, not to hide there, but as the passage through which an escape may be effected. The same divinely sent earthquake which swallows up the foe, opens out a way of escape to God's people.—Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
· saints -- holy angels escorting the returning King (Mt 24:30, 31 Jude 1:14); and redeemed men (1Co 15:23 1Th 3:13 1Th 4:14). Compare the similar mention of the "saints" and "angels" at His coming on Sinai (De 32:2, 3 Ac 7:53 Ga 3:19 Heb 2:2). Phillips thinks Azal is Ascalon on the Mediterranean. An earthquake beneath Messiah's tread will divide Syria, making from Jerusalem to Azal a valley which will admit the ocean waters from the west to the Dead Sea. The waters will rush down the valley of Arabah, the old bed of the Jordan, clear away the sand-drift of four thousand years, and cause the commerce of Petra and Tyre to center in the holy city. The Dead Sea rising above its shores will overflow by the valley of Edom, completing the straits of Azal into the Red Sea. Thus will be formed the great pool of Jerusalem (compare Zec 14:8 Eze 47:1, &c. Joe 3:18). Euphrates will be the north boundary, and the Red Sea the south. Twenty-five miles north and twenty-five miles south of Jerusalem will form one side of the fifty miles square of the Lord's Holy Oblation (Eze 48:1-35). There are seven spaces of fifty miles each from Jerusalem northward to the Euphrates, and five spaces of fifty miles each southward to the Red Sea. Thus there are thirteen equal distances on the breadth of the future promised land, one for the oblation and twelve for the tribes, according to Eze 48:1-35. That the Euphrates north, Mediterranean west, the Nile and Red Sea south, are to be the future boundaries of the holy land, which will include Syria and Arabia, is favored by Ge 15:8 Ex 23:31 De 11:24 Jos 1:4 1Ki 4:21 2Ch 9:26 Isa 27:12; all which was partially realized in Solomon's reign, shall be antitypically so hereafter. The theory, if true, will clear away many difficulties in the way of the literal interpretation of this chapter and Eze 48:1-35.
—Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
9 On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at Me whom they pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for Him as one weeps for a firstborn. Zech 12:9-10 (HCSB)
· This brings into fulfillment Romans 11:
“The Liberator will come from Zion; He will turn away godlessness from Jacob. And this will be my covenant with them, when I take away their sins” (vv. 26,27)
“Now if their stumbling brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full number bring!” (Rom. 11:12)
The Bible, being an ethnographic book, meaning it’s written from the point of view of the author. “All the nations” referring to all the then known nations of the world. Today these are the Muslim nations of the Middle East, and to the farthest north, Russia (Magog).
Both Ezekiel and Zechariah speak of “all the nations” coming to make war against Israel, as today, those very nations are preparing for attack against Israel. Ezekiel tells us that God will bring Russia and her allies out against Israel, and then he will “display His glory among the nations” (Ezek. 39:21) as he fights against them to defend his chosen people, and in the sight of the world restore them and give them the ‘promised land’ of Israel.
Zechariah gives us the reason for the earthquake mentioned in Ezek. 38:19. He tells us that the LORD (Yahweh) Himself will stand on the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:11). When this happens the Mt. of Olives will split, thus lengthening the valley of Jehoshapat (Judgement~ Armagedon), also as a means of escape for His people.
Ezekiel says that “every man’s sword will be against his brother” (38:21). In Zechariah’s description, 13 On that day a great panic from the Lord will be among them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of one will rise against the other (Zech 14:13). After this battle, the after math of which is detailed in Ezek. 39:1-20, Zechariah tells us 10 “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at Me whom they pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for Him as one weeps for a firstborn” Zech 12:10 (HCSB). So this fulfills Romans 11:25-27.
For the Dispensationalist who holds to a rapture and 7 yr. tribulation, this is a problem, for Jerusalem still needs to go through a final ‘cleansing’ of her sins, a 1000 yr. millennial reign of Christ and a second war of Gog and Magog! Never mind the 2000 yrs. in the wilderness (nations) during which the abomination of desolation (the Dome of the Rock) has set in place (Dan. 12:11) in 688 AD. The time of the Gentiles, in which they tread under foot the city of Yahweh, was up in 1967, when Israel regained control of the holy land in the six-day war (Rev. 11:2).
Everything has been fulfilled, except the battle of Magog (Russia) coming at of the further most north against Israel. In this battle Jesus will fight against Russia and her hordes (Muslim forces), will stand upon the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and at the sounding of the trumpet will send his legions of angels to collect his people form the four corners of the earth. At this time, the eyes of the Jews will be opened (Rom. 11:25ff; Zechariah 12:10), they will recognize the One whom they pierced, and will grieve for not having recognized Him sooner.
It appears in Revelation ch. 11, after the sounding of this seventh and final trumpet (1 Corinthians 15:52), will come the great judgment, and the reward of the saints. Then God will dwell on earth with man and reign forever.
“Look! He is coming
with the clouds,
and every eye swill see Him, including those who pierced
Him.
And all the families of the earth
will mourn over Him. This is certain. Amen. (Rev. 1:7)
The Bride, the wife of the Lamb:
“The one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled wit the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me: ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, arrayed with God’s glory. Her radiance was like a very precious stone, like a jasper stone, bright as crystal. The city had a massive high wall, with 12 gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; on the gates names were inscribed, the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. The city wall had 12 foundations, and on them were the 12 names of the Lamb’s 12 apostles…
I did not see a sanctuary in it, because the Lord God almighty and the Lamb are its sanctuary. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s glory illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The natons will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Each day its gates will never close because it will never be night there. They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. Nothing profane will ever enter it; no one who does what is vile or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
(Rev. 21:9-14, 22-27)
“He led me to the gate… and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east… While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from the temple. He said to me, ‘Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever.” (Ezek. 43:1,6-7a)
· this passage is speaking of the future temple, when God inhabits it forevermore. God’s glory returns to dwell here.
12 You are to tell him: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Here is a man whose name is Branch; He will branch out from His place and build the Lord’s temple. 13 Yes, He will build the Lord’s temple; He will be clothed in splendor and will sit on His throne and rule. There will also be a priest on His throne, and there will be peaceful counsel between the two of them. 14 The crown will reside in the Lord’s temple as a memorial to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen son of Zephaniah. 15 People who are far off will come and build the Lord’s temple, and you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent Me to you. This will happen when you fully obey the Lord your God.” Zech 6:12-15 (HCSB)
· Jesus, at his return, fills the office of priest, king and prophet, three in one.
3 Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations as He fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley, so that half the mountain will move to the north and half to the south. 5 You will flee by My mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with Him. Zech 14:3-5 (HCSB)
· Verse 5. ye shall flee to the valley -- rather "through the valley," as in 2Sa 2:29. The valley made by the cleaving asunder of the Mount of Olives (Zec 14:4) is designed to be their way of escape, not their place of refuge [MAURER]. JEROME is on the side of English Version. If it be translated so, it will mean, Ye shall flee "to" the valley, not to hide there, but as the passage through which an escape may be effected. The same divinely sent earthquake which swallows up the foe, opens out a way of escape to God's people.—Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
· saints -- holy angels escorting the returning King (Mt 24:30, 31 Jude 1:14); and redeemed men (1Co 15:23 1Th 3:13 1Th 4:14). Compare the similar mention of the "saints" and "angels" at His coming on Sinai (De 32:2, 3 Ac 7:53 Ga 3:19 Heb 2:2). Phillips thinks Azal is Ascalon on the Mediterranean. An earthquake beneath Messiah's tread will divide Syria, making from Jerusalem to Azal a valley which will admit the ocean waters from the west to the Dead Sea. The waters will rush down the valley of Arabah, the old bed of the Jordan, clear away the sand-drift of four thousand years, and cause the commerce of Petra and Tyre to center in the holy city. The Dead Sea rising above its shores will overflow by the valley of Edom, completing the straits of Azal into the Red Sea. Thus will be formed the great pool of Jerusalem (compare Zec 14:8 Eze 47:1, &c. Joe 3:18). Euphrates will be the north boundary, and the Red Sea the south. Twenty-five miles north and twenty-five miles south of Jerusalem will form one side of the fifty miles square of the Lord's Holy Oblation (Eze 48:1-35). There are seven spaces of fifty miles each from Jerusalem northward to the Euphrates, and five spaces of fifty miles each southward to the Red Sea. Thus there are thirteen equal distances on the breadth of the future promised land, one for the oblation and twelve for the tribes, according to Eze 48:1-35. That the Euphrates north, Mediterranean west, the Nile and Red Sea south, are to be the future boundaries of the holy land, which will include Syria and Arabia, is favored by Ge 15:8 Ex 23:31 De 11:24 Jos 1:4 1Ki 4:21 2Ch 9:26 Isa 27:12; all which was partially realized in Solomon's reign, shall be antitypically so hereafter. The theory, if true, will clear away many difficulties in the way of the literal interpretation of this chapter and Eze 48:1-35.
—Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
9 On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at Me whom they pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for Him as one weeps for a firstborn. Zech 12:9-10 (HCSB)
· This brings into fulfillment Romans 11:
“The Liberator will come from Zion; He will turn away godlessness from Jacob. And this will be my covenant with them, when I take away their sins” (vv. 26,27)
“Now if their stumbling brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full number bring!” (Rom. 11:12)
The Bible, being an ethnographic book, meaning it’s written from the point of view of the author. “All the nations” referring to all the then known nations of the world. Today these are the Muslim nations of the Middle East, and to the farthest north, Russia (Magog).
Both Ezekiel and Zechariah speak of “all the nations” coming to make war against Israel, as today, those very nations are preparing for attack against Israel. Ezekiel tells us that God will bring Russia and her allies out against Israel, and then he will “display His glory among the nations” (Ezek. 39:21) as he fights against them to defend his chosen people, and in the sight of the world restore them and give them the ‘promised land’ of Israel.
Zechariah gives us the reason for the earthquake mentioned in Ezek. 38:19. He tells us that the LORD (Yahweh) Himself will stand on the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:11). When this happens the Mt. of Olives will split, thus lengthening the valley of Jehoshapat (Judgement~ Armagedon), also as a means of escape for His people.
Ezekiel says that “every man’s sword will be against his brother” (38:21). In Zechariah’s description, 13 On that day a great panic from the Lord will be among them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of one will rise against the other (Zech 14:13). After this battle, the after math of which is detailed in Ezek. 39:1-20, Zechariah tells us 10 “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at Me whom they pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for Him as one weeps for a firstborn” Zech 12:10 (HCSB). So this fulfills Romans 11:25-27.
For the Dispensationalist who holds to a rapture and 7 yr. tribulation, this is a problem, for Jerusalem still needs to go through a final ‘cleansing’ of her sins, a 1000 yr. millennial reign of Christ and a second war of Gog and Magog! Never mind the 2000 yrs. in the wilderness (nations) during which the abomination of desolation (the Dome of the Rock) has set in place (Dan. 12:11) in 688 AD. The time of the Gentiles, in which they tread under foot the city of Yahweh, was up in 1967, when Israel regained control of the holy land in the six-day war (Rev. 11:2).
Everything has been fulfilled, except the battle of Magog (Russia) coming at of the further most north against Israel. In this battle Jesus will fight against Russia and her hordes (Muslim forces), will stand upon the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and at the sounding of the trumpet will send his legions of angels to collect his people form the four corners of the earth. At this time, the eyes of the Jews will be opened (Rom. 11:25ff; Zechariah 12:10), they will recognize the One whom they pierced, and will grieve for not having recognized Him sooner.
It appears in Revelation ch. 11, after the sounding of this seventh and final trumpet (1 Corinthians 15:52), will come the great judgment, and the reward of the saints. Then God will dwell on earth with man and reign forever.
First Post
Hey, this is my first post. I've been on Xanga for a while, I like it, but after talking with my wife, we decided that I should get off for safety's sake. So I'm now going to be transferring my posting to here. I enjoy interaction with people, and often post stories that may be a little more controversial, certainly more provoking (I hope).
Not that I intend on offending anyone, but I have a desire to help people see the truth. And yes, there is a truth that is true and everything else, as a metaphysical paradigm, is false. As such, the Truth can be uncomfortable (because we don't accept God's rule over our lives). I believe this truth resides in the person of Jesus Christ, who is himself God's message of love and reconciliation for all of us who believe. "The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father" (Jn 1:14).
Not that I intend on offending anyone, but I have a desire to help people see the truth. And yes, there is a truth that is true and everything else, as a metaphysical paradigm, is false. As such, the Truth can be uncomfortable (because we don't accept God's rule over our lives). I believe this truth resides in the person of Jesus Christ, who is himself God's message of love and reconciliation for all of us who believe. "The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father" (Jn 1:14).
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