Spring, Passover, Ester, and Easter

The thing that man does most efficiently is argue, not only about everything under the sun, but over it, around it and everything else imaginable. Even concerning the Bible, there’s very little that someone doesn’t misunderstand, misinterpret, and try to cast doubt upon. The same holds true (John 1:14) of opinions regarding Jesus; the “Word (that) became flesh and dwelt among us.”

Time doesn’t permit me to present the evidence defending my statements at this moment, but I’m convinced of the truth in what I’m saying (ref. my “Easter” folder under “Categories” at my Home Page). Since God created the heavens and the earth, and since he is actually God, I’m going to say that he is, therefore, the king of Spring.

He said of the lights that he set in the heavens (Genesis 1:14), “Let them be for signs and for seasons, for days and years.” The witness of nature, along with his words spoken to the prophets, his interventions in history, and the life of his only begotten son, all tell the same story if we’re observant. We should celebrate the coming of Spring for he created it.

The celebration of Passover began with God’s deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. They had been enslaved there for around four hundred years. Centuries later, after a period of captivity and slavery under the Persian Empire, their very existence was threatened by the plot of a government official named “Haman.” Countless Jewish lives were saved by the intervention of Queen Ester, the Jewish wife of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes). This deliverance of Ester occurred near the time of the Passover, and is celebrated today as “Purim.”

This very day, there are Jewish people suffering in captivity, and I am praying for God to deliver them as he did in the days of Pharaoh, and from Haman, and from Hitler and others down through history.

Under Roman rule, the failure of Jewish leaders to accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah led to his crucifixion. This event was prophetically depicted in the ancient Passover, and also in the later intervention of Ester for her people. The crucifixion took place close enough to Passover for him to be the Lamb, and there were some hours of mysterious darkness on that Spring day, just before the time of his death. This darkness in some way corresponds to the darkness that fell upon the land of Egypt (Exodus 10:21-23) prior to the institution of the Passover.

We can’t pin the suffering of Jesus on any particular person or people. We are all responsible. We all have reason to repent. Jesus said (Matthew 18:7, Luke 17:1), “It is impossible but that offences will come; but woe unto him, through whom they come.” Our offences all reached to him in Heaven, and they all brought him down to his death on Earth (John 1:29-34). His mission was to die for us.

The argument of mankind over what became of the body of Jesus began the Sunday morning following his crucifixion. The date of the beginning of that argument is a matter of recorded history and actually establishes the fact that the body had disappeared. Jesus was gone, in spite of the fact that Guards had been posted. Reports of the appearance of the resurrected Jesus to his followers began to surface.

Passover and Purim celebrate historical events, just as we in the USA celebrate the Fourth of July. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is also an actual event in history. Easter is vindication of the Bible’s claims about him. It was fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies. It is verification of his identity as the Messiah. Easter Sunday also heralds the coming resurrection and deliverance of those who will believe in him, and especially of his people, the Jews.

Easter is not only the fulfilment of the words of Old Testament prophets, but a prophecy itself of a future event that words cannot describe. How could we ever describe all that is meant by the word “resurrection?” It is celebrated yearly in the occurrence of Spring, the deliverance of the earth from Winter.

Various cultures use different calendar systems in attempting to track the complex movements of Earth within the solar system. The result is some fluctuation of the celebration dates of holidays. God himself has had a hand in the timing of the Spring Equinox, Purim, Passover, and Easter. All of these celebrations center around the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.

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Merry Christmas From God

What has God given us for Christmas? What is the meaning of the miraculous secret? What a strange place to find it, wrapped up and lying in a manger. Mary believed in that secret. No doubt her experience was bewildering, but she knew that her baby was the Messiah, promised to mankind from the beginning of the world (Genesis 3:15). She remembered the words of an angel she had seen with her own eyes (Luke 1:26-35). Because she was yet a virgin, she understood that her child was the fulfilment of the centuries old prophecy of a virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14).

The prophecy in Genesis, from the lips of the Lord himself, was more specific than simply a prediction of a virgin birth. The reference to the “seed” of a woman rules out artificial insemination or any other interference by science. Merry Christmas, God has given himself to us, in the form of a child in a manger. He lived life as a man and suffered death to destroy the separation between man and God. His death and resurrection will ultimately destroy death itself. What we do with God’s gift is largely up to us.

It’s a secret that shouldn’t be kept. The world has purposely confused the history, and the church has made a mess of communicating the truth of the Christ. In spite of all this, the existence and content of the Bible is tangible evidence for this intervention of God. The Bible is the ancient Birth Certificate of Earth’s Messiah (Christ). It is also his death certificate and the chronicle of his resurrection.

The Old Testament, much of it written and predating the events of Christ’s life by thousands of years, was translated into the “Greek Septuagint” hundreds of years before the events occurred. The place and circumstances of his birth (Bethlehem, ref. the ruler from “old, even from everlasting” Micah 5:2) were recorded in the Old Testament and its translations long before he was born. Many major identifying factors of his life, death and resurrection are there.

The fulfilment of countless ancient prophecies proves the Old Testament and verifies that Jesus Christ is the real thing. The closer it is studied, the more ridiculous it becomes to doubt it. Most people who happen to read this have never met me. If I were to tell you that I would meet you at a particular time and place, describe myself in detail and tell what I would be doing, you would then be able to identify me upon sight. That’s what God has done in both the Old and New Testaments concerning the Messiah.

The primary birthmarks of the Christ are his scars. The problem with this, besides the suffering, is that the scars wouldn’t be visible until we put them there. The primary purpose of the Bible is to provide a historical record of the interaction of God with man before his advent as the Messiah, to predict man’s rejection of him, and his future return as Lord of heaven and earth. From Genesis to Revelation, the main theme of the Bible is the foretelling and revelation of the Messiah (or the “Christ” in the Greek language).

The translation known as the Septuagint is a version of the Old Testament that the disciples of Jesus often quoted in their witness for him. Afterward, the historical written testimony of these disciples has become our New Testament. The Bible, in its historical forms and translations, is first rate evidence for the truth of its own story. Just as you or I are leaving a story behind us as we pass through life, so did Christ, only none of us have had our whole lives predicted in such detail as was his. The Bible could have been named “The Mission of the Messiah.”

Another Christmas is nearly here. Who knows if Earth will celebrate another before his return. But in the midst of the tumult and uproar of this world, some will hear the message of Christmas, learn of the mission of the Christ and receive the gift of God. What has God given us for Christmas? He has given us Christmas itself, and every good gift associated with it. He has given us himself in the form of his son (Isaiah 9:6). The receiving of this gift of forgiveness means eternal life.

This is hope for the future that is based upon the proven fulfilment of historical prophecies. God told us where he would meet us. He kept that promise in his only begotten son. God meets man in Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14, Immanuel, meaning God with us). Christmas means hope for today also, in spite of the unpredictable world that we live in.

Open that gift and believe. To quote the pre-incarnate Christ, “Then I said, Behold, I come: in the volume of the Book it is written concerning me…” (Septuagint, Psalm 39-40:6,7, note this quote in the New Testament, Hebrews 10:5-10) To avoid some confusion, note that Psalm 39 in the Septuagint is numbered Psalm 40 in other Old Testaments. As Isaiah 9:6 (KJV) clearly states, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given…and his name shall be called…the mighty God.” Come what may this Christmas, God has given us the miracle of the Christ. Love and Merry Christmas to all.

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A Christmas Panorama

“…And on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” That is from Luke 2:14 in the King James Version of the Bible. It was a message meant for all mankind, carried by angels to announce the birth of the long-expected Messiah, the peace-offering of God. Most of us use the name “Christ,” rather than “Messiah,” due to influence of the Greek language. I hope that you believe the message the angels brought.

Most ancient cultures, in the form of stories and myths, have retained some memory of God’s prophecies concerning the Savior of mankind. The mythological records don’t give us the detailed record that we have in the Bible however. I wish that all the prophetical and historical information concerning Jesus could be pulled together into one panoramic writing about Christmas. I guess it’s better to do something halfway, rather than to do nothing at all, so I’m writing a few inadequate words for the sake of Christmas.

After Adam and Eve chose to rely upon their own fragmentary comprehension of “knowledge” rather than to trust God, God gave us (Genesis 3:15) the first biblical hint of the virgin birth of a savior. It is the “seed” of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head, and finally bring peace to the earth. Only this “Seed” can fulfil the promise of God. The leaders of nations have long promised world peace, and the Antichrist will promise world peace, but only Christ can bring it to pass. Sad to say, that will only happen after mankind has brought the world to the brink of total destruction.

Unless you have studied genetics somewhat, you probably will not completely understand the following statement. According to the biblical account of his birth, Jesus would have received all of his human DNA from his mother, none at all from a human father. He would not have had the normal Y-chromosome DNA inherited from a human male, but only what he directly inherited from God. That’s why the Bible didn’t say “the seed of the man,” in Genesis 3:15 (reference Y-chromosome Adam and Mitochondrial Eve, and my April 2012 post, “Genetics and Jesus”).

The prophet Isaiah may have been considering Genesis 3:15 and other such verses when he understood that a child would be born to a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). It is foretold in that verse that the child will be called Immanuel (God with us). In that name, “El” is the short form of the Hebrew word for God, and you also see the word “man.” “Man” in Hebrew however, is the word for the bread from heaven that fed the Israelites during their wilderness trek. We get our word “manna” from this.

Amaryah is a biblical name meaning God has promised. What has God promised? The secret is in the name itself. “Amar,” means “promise.” “Yah,” is the shortened form of “YHWH,” the personal name of God. “MarYah” is an Aramaic name for Jesus. In “MarYah,” you can see the name of the virgin mother Mary, and Yah, the name of God the Father. God has promised himself (Immanuel, or Emmanuel) to us.

When an angel informed Mary of her conception, she questioned how that could happen without seed being implanted by a man, yet she believed the answer that she was given. In Matthew 1:20-23, an angel told Joseph in a dream to give Mary’s child the name “Jesus.” The angel then reminded Joseph of the prophecy of Isaiah. I haven’t the time to go into detail but according to Old Testament prophecy, the Christ’s given name would be “Jesus,” (ref. the Septuagint translation of the name Joshua as “Jesus”). The name “Immanuel” (or Emmanuel) tells us who he really is, “God with us.”

In Luke 2:10, the announcement of the advent of Jesus the Christ is called, “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” The fact that we don’t yet see peace on earth doesn’t mean that God has abandoned his desires and plans for the earth. In the song, Bells on Christmas Day, there is a line; “Then in despair I raised my head, there is no peace on earth, I said.” We will all probably feel that way at one time or another in our lives, but the way we feel will not cancel God’s promise. Ideals should not be abandoned just because they are difficult to establish, and God is not a quitter.

Sometimes in the past, for just a little while, the coming of Christmas has interrupted the bitter conflicts of war. In some cases, common beliefs in Christ between countries have prevented them. A great monument called the “Christ the Redeemer of the Andes,” (not the great statue in Rio with a similar name) is erected at an elevation of 12,572 feet on the border of Argentina and Chile. It commemorates a peaceful resolution avoiding a war between the two countries because of their common submission to Christ.

One meaning of the word “mass,” refers us back to the communion, the bread from heaven broken for us (Matthew 26:26), the word “mass,” being taken from “maza,” a Greek word for a barley cake. Merry Christ’s mass! Spend the Holyday with your family, and remember the birth of our Lord and Savior. He will yet bring “Peace on Earth.”

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The Life Of God

The life of God is more important than my own. I can hardly do anything to help myself or anyone else, but God can bring us back to life. He lives to mend our hearts desires, and to give them to us in a world without end. Obviously, the existence of God is more important than my own.

On the day that we meet our maker, nothing will shine except that which we have sacrificed to help our fellow human beings along their way to God. There is much done “in his name” that doesn’t reflect God’s love for the world. Such ignorance, and any “sacrifices” that were for our own glory do not qualify as self-sacrifice. Only that which is done for his good name’s sake is real. It is then part of the Lord’s own cross, and of his own sacrifice.

God could have done nothing more noble than to come into this world as one of us, and die drawing us into reconciliation. While the evil things of life are evidence that something is seriously wrong, good things are evidence that God is good. That is plain scientific reasoning, but every good thing that I can think of is often misused. There is no further need for proof of the existence of evil. We can each see the evidence in our own mirrors.

All of us need however, to know that God is good, and that he cares for us in spite of the way things are at the moment. There is nothing that can show the love of God so plainly as his cross, either today or in the world to come. Now that I have understood this, when life is painful, as it often is, I can look at Jesus on the cross and see that he bears our blame too much already. I can’t rightfully blame God for anything. He’s not the cause of our problems, but along with us is a target of them.

It is very important that we treat other people with fairness and compassion; for love, beauty, and the good things of life, when not abused, can help us to see through the mists into another world. There will be a new world where we can truly belong. If we could only grasp how important our lives and happiness are to God, it would make a tremendous difference, even now in this world.

It is as simple as Matthew 1:23. Immanuel; God is with us, in the joy, and through the pain of life and death, and into the Everlife (ref. “Come To The Everlife” by Stryper).

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the Script (For His Name’s Sake)

There are things that are done intentionally to keep his memory alive. It isn’t wrong to speak of him in this manner if it helps us to understand some things. As a general rule, it is something the world works hard at forgetting.

That is natural when something reminds us of a bad mistake we have made. Ignorance may be bliss, but that is only so long as it lasts. Sooner or later, we stumble upon reality. I believe the only true escape is forgiveness, and to go right through the midst of the truth. Unless we accept this, I fear it is not the last of our serious mistakes. It isn’t right to want to forget him, even though his presence may remind us of something we dislike in ourselves.

He was a scientist, an artist, infinitely creative, not someone to leave the canvas blank. He could bring his thoughts to life. Was that his undoing, or is the story even yet not fully told? His knowledge and talent enabled him to create many wonders, yet he himself never changed. Always humble, though he created worlds, he condescended to live in this one.

He loved us, and that was certainly his undoing, but he expected it all along. He was murdered, but he had prepared himself for it. I don’t believe that his spirit rests in the same place as those who killed him. Neither do I believe that his body rests in the same earth. There is good evidence that he is back alive.

This may be beginning to sound like science fiction, but it is only yesterday’s news. It doesn’t suit evolutionary philosophy to admit it, but if scientists can believe that energy or matter came from nothing, and that life arose spontaneously from inorganic matter, then surely they could understand that resurrection is possible. Science is living in denial at the moment. That will no doubt continue as long as a meeting with reality (the Logos, or Reason, John 1:1) can be avoided.

In this writing, I have avoided using his name to this point because his name is so maligned. Many people are offended by it the moment it is spoken. We should ask ourselves why. Is it really because of him, or is it because others have marred his name to the point that it is mud to the earth? I believe that if we take an unbiased look at him, we’ll find he’s not to blame, and that we are guilty instead.

I think my previous posts have shown sufficient evidence from the Bible, and from history, that God is perfectly fine with the name of Jesus. I understand the temptation to keep the name of the Lord silent. People may shun you, or much worse, in some circles. The persecution of those who believe in him remains a harsh reality in much of the world.

Sometimes we must attempt to cope with great injustice. Life isn’t fair, but I think these things are part of the reason why the name is so special to God. If your offspring had the same experience as Jesus, then you would feel pretty much the same way that God feels. I think this is why God desires that we pray “in the name of Jesus.” Our love and acceptance of Jesus would naturally open some doors with God.

What happens when we pray? It is good to pray, whether or not we feel like we are getting answers. Prayer helps us to battle concerns and worries that would make mental slaves of us. It helps us to free our thoughts from things that consume our life. Even if releasing the words of our prayers is a struggle, and a thousand things interrupt us, prayer is worth it. It is more than an attempt at communication with God. It is a fight for freedom, and God does hear us, for his name’s sake (Psalm 23:3).

God wants contact with us. Though he paid a terrible price to do so, he has revealed himself to this world through his son, Jesus Christ. “Good Friday” was salvation for us, though a black day for him. But Happy Easter Sonday; the EastStar, “the bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16), “the Sun of righteousness” is risen (Malachi 4:2, ref. my previous post). Celebrate the day, in the name of Jesus.

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the Script (The Secret Name)

Long before the birth of the Christ, ancient civilizations were aware of the prophecy that God would send his son into this world. Though commonly known, it was yet little understood. What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you can tell? This question, asked by the writer of Proverbs 30:4, is very important. The preceding lines of the verse establish that the writer is speaking of the name of God, and the name of the Son of God.

Psalm 2 is one such prophecy. It predicts the rage of this world against “his Anointed.” Those words are translated as “his Christ,” in the Greek Septuagint, a translation of the Old Testament from the pre-Christian era. Psalm 2:7 calls this Christ, the “Son.” According to John 1:1-3 and 1:14, Christ is the “Word” who pre-existed as God, before his advent into this world. If the prophecies had been made any plainer, there would probably have been even more false claims to Christ’s position than have occurred.

“Why do you ask my name, since it is secret?” This question was asked by the “angel of the Lord,” who appeared to Manoah and his wife predicting the birth of Samson (from “Shemeshone,” meaning “sunshine” in Hebrew). “Shemesh,” means “sun,” and “shamash,” means “servant”). It’s possible that even in those ancient days, common usage of “The Name” was being avoided. The Hebrew word translated as “Secret” in Judges 13:18 of the King James Version, is translated as “Wonderful,” in Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, …and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”

The secret name is “YHWH.” Without even knowing its story, our world has been profoundly affected by “The Name.” It is the personal name of God from the Hebrew language, and it is linked linguistically with the Greek word for “son.” Though it appears many times in the Jewish scriptures, those who follow the orthodox Jewish religion do not read the name, nor any of its transliterated forms aloud. Even when reading silently, they are trained to substitute other titles for God, terms such as “Adonai” (Lord), or “HaShem” (The Name).

In deference to this tradition, most translators have substituted words that mean “Lord” as the Bible has been interpreted into other languages. Scriptures that originally used “YHWH” in various combinations with “Adonai,” or “Elohim,” the Hebrew word for “God,” were rendered “Lord God” in older translations such as the King James version. It has now become “Sovereign Lord,” in modern Bibles such as the New International version.

The result of deeming “YHWH” to be “the unutterable name,” is that many implications of related families of words and names have become unknown, and the name YHWH is found in very few translations (Ref. “Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh, the Secret of YHWH,” and other posts in my November 2011 archives, plus all posts in my April 2015 through August 2015 archives. See also my page, “the Messiah,” accessible from the “Home” page of my blog). Note that the Hebrew letter “Vav,” also serves as a “U,” and a “W.”

Who is Jeus Kurios? That is my question. “Google” search suggests Jesus Kurios. That is an excellent suggestion. “Kurios,” the Greek word for “Lord,” is of the same word family as “Christ” (ref. “Crystal, Chrysalis, and Christ,” in my July 2010 archives). “Jeus,” “Ieus,” or “Ias,” as in “Elias” (Helias), the Greek form of “Elijah,” are transliterated forms of “YHWH.” The name “Jeus,” would be commonplace if existing conventions in transliteration had been followed consistently throughout the Bible. “Yah,” or “ia,” is a common shortened form.

I have heard that some ancient church writings represent “YHWH” as “Iaous.” “Iesous,” is the Greek form of the name Jesus. The Hebrew form of “Jesus” is derived from YHWH, and the Greek follows in the same tradition. The actual origin of the term “Jews,” was probably “Jeus,” being derived from the name of God, rather than the Old Testament name of “Judah.” This would lend new meaning to 2nd Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, called by my name, will humble themselves and pray….”

There is a lot of “debate” over incorrect transliterations, but these necessary patterns and procedures have been in use since ancient days. Some of the conventions have existed for thousands of years, and are probably a direct result of the confusion of languages at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9).

In a Greek transliteration of a name such as “YHWH,” “Y,” becomes an “I,” and “H,” becomes an “E,” except at the end of masculine names and such, where an “S,” is used instead. “W,” (or “V”) becomes a “U,” an “OU,” or just an “O.” “J,” is a common transliteration for “I,” in the Old English language. Many spelling variations are common, especially in the use of vowels, as could be expected. Also, many ancient spellings were invented to differentiate between words with similar sounds and meanings. The same thing happens today.

To add to the general confusion of transliteration, although the Greek language has no proper “y,” an upper case “u” (upsilon), is represented by a symbol with a similar shape to an uppercase “Y,” and a lower case “g” (gamma), is shaped like a lower case “y.”

Many Greek words related to brightness contain prefixes or suffixes of “os,” “as,” “oi,” or “ia,”as can be seen in the words for, “bright,” “morning,” and “star,” in Revelation 22:16. “Aster,” is the Greek word meaning “star” in that verse. In Hebrew, one of several corresponding syllabics is “esh” (ref. “Shemeshone” above), “ash,” or “ah.” The most commonly used Hebrew form of the name “Jesus,” is “Yeshua.” The Greek word for “sun” (or “ray”), is “helios,” and the biblical symbolism surrounding the “sun,” and the “son,” is evident in that language. The Greek word for “son,” is “uios” (pronounced “huios”).

The meaning of the name Elias (Helias), the Greek form of “Elijah,” is “God of Jehovah” (God YHWH). “El,” means “God,” and remember that “Ias,” is a form of “YHWH.” Now, is it only coincidence that the name, “Helias,” and the word for the sun, “helios,” are so similar? There are far too many “coincidences” of this sort for that to be true. It makes more sense to think that symbolism, designed into human language, foretells the story of God’s “Son,” and coincides with Old Testament prophecies later fulfilled by Jesus. Some things in life become “incidental” due to a pre-existing foundation. By the way, in Zechariah 6:11,12 of the Septuagint, the name “Joshua, the son of Josedech,” is translated as “Jesus,” and the name “Josedech” means “righteousness.” That is another prophecy concerning “the name.”

“Helos,” a Greek word for “spikes,” or “nails,” is from the same word family as “Helios.” The connection is that a spike has a form similar to a ray of the sun. “Helos” is translated as “nails,” in the words of “doubting Thomas” in John 20:25. Stauros is the Greek word for “cross.”

I realize that this writing may seem to spin the mind in circles, but I am certain these things are more than linguistic “coincidences.” Our planet orbits the “sun,” and our lives should center around the “Son.” It may be difficult to admit, but I think that all the evidence indicates that Iesous (Jesus) is indeed “Yah’s son.” The words, “Yah’s son,” could be translated and transliterated, and represented by the Greek spelling “Iasuios.” Perhaps it should be. When I see the name “Ies,” “Ias” (Yah), and the word “Uios” (Son), they certainly appear connected. These Greek words seem to be as old as the language itself. If so, then it is direct evidence supporting the biblical account of the tower of Babel.

Much history and symbolism from the Bible record became food for imagination in the ancient Pagan mind, and altered forms of God’s name were associated with idols and forces of nature. Pagans today claim to have originated all the celebrations in nature, but God created the people who became pagans, as well as all of nature. We can’t blame God for our twists on everything.

Jesus is Theos (the Greek word for God) and TheEos (the dawn, or the east), the Easter (ref. “Dawn of the Rising Son,” in my April 2011 archives). Jesus is the bright and morning “astar.” How can anyone think that Easter isn’t about Jesus? His story was written in the formation of human language, and in the cosmos above.

The “secret name” identifies Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Suffering Servant, Malachi’s, “Sun of Righteousness,” Zechariah’s, “Jesus the son of righteousness,” the Son of God and man, predicted in the Old Testament. May the helos of helios in the hands of Iesous, pierce the grey sky of Earth’s morning, and bid you “Hello,” from YHWH Theos.

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The Winter’s Son and the Winter Sun

We don’t know for certain when Jesus was born, but Christmas is the time of year when we celebrate his birth. It’s good to have something to look forward to in winter, and a wonderful time for the birth of hope.

If we could convert God from spirit into matter, what we would then have is Jesus. We couldn’t do that of course, but God did. That is what Jesus is. Born into this world as a baby human being, that is who Jesus is; Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23), “God with us.”

I don’t think there’s a person on God’s earth who can get all these things in proper balance. I think that sometimes we don’t see the real Jesus, can’t see the real God, because we are too preoccupied with “omnipotence,” and “sovereignty.” We want to see God rule the Earth, but we seem to want God to take shortcuts. God wants human beings to listen to reason, and to learn the truth. He wants to persuade people, not force them. Jesus once rebuked his disciples for wanting to “command fire to come down from heaven,” to destroy someone (Luke 9:53-56). He told them that he had not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.

We should study his life on earth microscopically, and not attempt to set him out again beyond the reach of man, to search for him with telescopes. He came to earth as the Christ, and we need to look at him as the man, because Jesus is the full expression of God (Hebrews 1:3). The world can never see the heart of God otherwise.

Many times the church, attempting to show him in his infinite greatness and power, may make him look small to the world instead. The Bible says the weakness of God is stronger than men (1st Corinthians 1:25), and that he was made perfect through his suffering (Hebrews 2:10). In becoming a man, he touched the heart of man, though it crucified him to do so. Such a demonstration of sacrificial love makes him greater to us than he could have been otherwise. Though he was perfect to begin with, he became even more so.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with celebrating the birth of Jesus. I heard all the anti-Christmas propaganda before I was twelve years old, and for a while, they had me believing that stuff, but all days belong to God. Man worships nature (Romans 1:23,25) but the one who gave us all of nature is yet greater than the gifts that he gave us. God’s greatest gift is the gift of himself in the form of Jesus (John 1:1,14, 3:16, 4:10).

Ancient pagans turned altered forms of God’s name into the names of idols (see note below), which they associated with forces and objects in nature. But God created all of nature, the seasons, and the changing of the earth’s relationship to the heavens throughout the year. Genesis 1:14 records God saying of the sun, moon and stars, “Let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” It is wrong to try to disconnect God from the winter solstice, or any other day of the year (Colossians 2:15-17, Romans 14:5).

There is endless evidence to support my statements. The coming of the Hebrew Messiah (Greek, “Christ”) was foretold in ancient history, and witnessed and affirmed by Pagan stories and secular records. The world anticipated his coming, and at least one group of wise men from the east was able to locate him shortly after his birth (Matthew 2:1-12).

I know that practically every sentence in the Bible is disputed by someone, but the story of the life of Jesus became world news at a time when many people would gladly have disproved it if they could. The recorded debate and argument about him from his era is evidence enough that Jesus lived and fulfilled Old Testament prophecies.

Christianity holds celebrations on days that other groups of people observe in other ways, but that doesn’t discredit God. There are only so many days in a year, and someone would claim them all if they could. There is symbolism found throughout the Bible likening the ministry of the Son of God to the sun, providing warmth and light to the earth. There is a prophetic statement in Malachi 4:2 foretelling the advent of the “Son” of God. In that verse, he is called the “Sun of Righteousness.”

To varying degrees, all the ancient world possessed some knowledge of God’s promise to send his Son. That explains the ancient legends and stories containing similarities to the biblical record. As wonderful as the sun can feel as it climbs in the sky, the sun has no feeling for us, but God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son (John 3:16). The winter’s Son, is the true winter sun. Glory (the rightful credit) to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, goodwill toward men (Luke 2:14, K.J.V.).

Note: Practically all yearly celebrations had their origins in the acknowledgement of God, and the names of many major “deities” of the most advanced civilizations began with the confusion of languages at Babel. Ancient attempts to transliterate “YHWH,” the Hebrew name for God, into other languages accounts for many early “names” for pagan “gods” (ref. All posts in my April 2015 through August 2015 archives, and also “Dawn of the Rising Son,” in my April 2011 archives). I pray and intend to follow this writing with another post giving more details.

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the Script (Knowledge, Doctrine, and Love)

I love learning, but much that is called “knowledge” is either incomplete or false, and even that which is true is often misapplied. Greater knowledge and endless data won’t solve all our problems (1st Corinthians 8:1-2). Adam and Eve would tell us that today, but we wouldn’t necessarily believe them.

Sometimes we are simply unable to do that which we know should be done. I know that my family needs more money coming in than we have going out, but that knowledge doesn’t help me. Organizations that know more about making money than I do are stealing my lunch money. What can I do about it? The devil can keep us so busy swatting at flies that it can become our way of life. Regardless of what I know, try, or pray, I’m living on the verge of simply reacting to the next crisis. The future depends upon the intervention of God.

There is some truth in the saying that it takes money to make money. Instead of striving to make necessities as affordable as possible, the focus of most of those with money is on the greatest return on investments. This means trouble for the “working poor.” It means trouble for our country, for money goes where money is to be made, whether it in the best interest of our neighbors or not. Knowledge doesn’t prevent greed; it only makes it smarter.

Misapplied knowledge is hurtful, but so is a lack of knowledge. Partially conceived doctrines, chiseled into law, can prevent us from understanding the real reasons why the world is as it is. That is true of secular doctrines as well as religious. Man’s abuse of God-given freewill, along with a quest for knowledge and fulfilment apart from God, creates an environment where many evil things happen unforeseen. The Bible says that “time and chance” happen to all of us (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Calling the consequences of all of humanity’s wrong choices “God’s will,” keeps people from understanding the goodness of God.

In many cases, laws intended to counteract evil come to stand in direct conflict with God, even to the point where God and truth are criminalized. Jesus was “counted” with the transgressors (Mark 15:28, Isaiah 53:12). Laws don’t always work out the way they were intended. Just as knowledge fails us, so does the rule of law. At their heart, both knowledge and law can be said to be good, yet both fail due to problems of the human heart, and ultimately the only thing that can pull us through is the grace of love (“God is love,” 1st John 4:16).

Since “God is love,” it follows that a doctrine that isn’t tempered by love can never be purely “Christian.” Doctrines that lift their bearers above question are almost always questionable, and doctrines devoid of love can’t express the character of the inventor and creator of love. Such doctrines can inhibit a real understanding of God, of ourselves, and our fellow human beings.

While I’m on the subject, no human being has ever mastered the art of consistently being sensitive to the feelings of others. That is something that every Christian, on every day of the week, could repent of.

Unfeigned love for others is critical in communicating truth and doctrine. If we “have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge…, and have not love,” we are nothing (1st Corinthians 13:2). It is possible to be versed in correct doctrine without possessing the thing that really counts. Without love our doctrines can become a clanging symbol just as incomprehensible as any unknown tongue (1st Corinthians 13:1).

Some parts of the Bible are “hard to understand,” and can be interpreted in a destructive way (2nd Peter 3:15-16). It follows that if we destroy someone spiritually with our “strong meat” (Hebrews 5:14), then according to Romans 14:15, we are not “walking in love.”

It is so easy to miss the trail when we speak of “walking in love.” Love rejoices in truth, thinks no evil, and seeks the good of others before its own. We often “miss it.” That is what the word sin means; a missing of the mark (ref. the Hebrew word “chata,” and the Greek “hamartano”). Sin is a lack, or an abuse, of love. Other people use the fact the we “miss it” as an excuse to embrace “no religion,” or to invent new religions, or new denominations, but Jesus died for us, and the reason that Christianity exists is because all human beings miss the mark.

Forgiveness must exist because we all fall short of perfect love. By our hand, love is sacrificed, but love is sacrificial. That is what the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is all about. Knowledge branches out on all tangents, but can never quite explain the sacrifices of love. According to 1st Timothy 1:5, the goal of the commandment is love, but no law can make us love anyone. The chain of the law can’t bind our heart to the heart of God.

Romans 10:4 says that Jesus is the end of the law for the believer. The broken link between Heaven and Earth is drawn together in the crucifixion of Jesus, one hand holding yours and mine, and the other in the hand of the Father of love.

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the Script (The Suffering of Man and Messiah)

A picture of a starving child is a picture of the greed, ignorance, and apathy of man. It has always been the policy of man to starve enemies into subjection, and to ignore the undesired. That is not what God wants (Matthew 5:43-45). It is not the will of God that has led to the suffering we see in the world today, but the policies of man. We are self-willed, and we sin.

Long ago, in the garden of Eden, the first human beings chose to know good and evil, and to make their own decisions about all things as if they were gods. Because of that decision, evil is loosed to walk the earth, and human beings create many “impossible” situations, where there are no pleasant answers. We live in the shadow and consequences of prior human choices, and others will walk in ours. It is a long walk in the darkness.

Jesus said that whatever is done to others is done to him (Matthew 25:42-45), so a picture of a starving child is also a picture of God. God starves with the starving. It was God who created the empathetic and sympathetic qualities that human beings sometimes exhibit. Those are characteristics of God. In fact, the only way to hurt God is to harm his creation. The enemy of all humanity knows that when he targets a person, he nails the Messiah. God has been the primary target all along.

As any caring person knows, love draws us into the pain of others (1st Corinthians 12:12,26, and 13:4-7). Love makes God vulnerable along with us. The cross of Jesus is the physical manifestation of that phenomena. The crucifixion of Jesus is the perfect expression of God’s entanglement in our world’s problems. Where is God when we are hurting? He is there on the cross.

The name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23) means “God with us.” “El,” in the ending of the name, is a Hebrew name for God. The Greek spelling is Emmanuel. In Greek, “eme” means “me.” The Greek word “manna” comes from the Hebrew “man,” the word for the bread (Exodus 16:14-18) that fell from the heavens during the exodus of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt. Jesus compared himself to this manna (John 6:32,33) which came down from heaven. He is the broken bread (1st Corinthians 11:23-24), the antidote for the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. “Manuwn” is a little used Hebrew word meaning “heir,” or “son.” I think all these words and meanings are implied in the prophetic name Immanuel.

The Bible teaches that Jesus is the physical manifestation of God. In John 14:8, Philip said to Jesus, “Show us the Father, and it is enough for us,” but nothing is ever quite enough for man. The world is not enough. The next verse gives the answer of Jesus, “Am I with you so long, Phillip, and you haven’t known me?” “The one seeing me has seen the Father.”

The Bible tells us that Jesus wept (John 11:35), and that God was in Jesus reconciling the world unto himself (2nd Corinthians 5:19). The tears of Jesus were the very tears of God. Jesus displayed emotions, and his emotions are those of God. Evil denies all of this, and either claims that God does not exist, or it presents him as being distant and unaffected. Evil uses every possible angle against God, but it all comes into focus at the cross.

“I like pain,” a man once said to me, “It keeps me on my toes.” “I like pain,” said another. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t know I was alive.” The statements were an attempt at humor, but they are sad words nevertheless. Another man said to me, “I don’t think that other people feel things like I do, and it makes me want to hurt them.” I tried to convince him that his thoughts were not true either of man or God. How many people want to hurt God because they think that God does not feel? God sees, God hears (Psalms 94:9), and God feels (Luke 13:34).

I’m sure that God does not like pain, and I don’t like it. A man once tried to convince me that Jesus didn’t really suffer when he was crucified. That man’s professed view was that Jesus was so spiritually exalted that he was beyond physical suffering, but love doesn’t make one immune to suffering. It magnifies it instead, yet love gives us purpose.

Jesus faced the cross in spite of the suffering, because that was the way to get us to face the truth, and it is the way to change our hearts. Why doesn’t God simply force all of us to do the right thing? Well, where do we want him to start, and where do we want him to stop? Can we get a consensus on our guidelines for God’s conduct, and would that agreement be the right one? Love must be voluntary.

We hurt ourselves when we harm others, and we hurt others when we harm ourselves. We hurt God when we harm ourselves and others, and we harm ourselves and others when we hurt God. That is life on Earth in a nutshell. Is that what we want, or is evil using, and confusing us?

Jesus said, “If I am lifted up (crucified), I will draw all mankind unto myself.” This he said signifying what death that he would die (John 12:32-33). The Messiah’s death on the cross might seem to us like the all-time low of his eternal existence, and it was, but at the very same time, it is the all-time high mark of sacrificial love. Jesus, on the cross becoming one with every one of us, (2nd Corinthians 5:21, becoming sin for us) taking all our wrong into his own body, and destroying it in his death while saving the souls of all who will believe in him, is the height, depth, and breadth of God’s love.

We cannot see God in his true light (glory) if we do not see the depth of Christ’s suffering. There is a tendency in the churches to gloss this over, and only glory in the resurrection, but if we don’t acknowledge the communion of the suffering of God for man (1st Corinthians 11:26), we are missing the reason for his long journey down to Earth. If we do not see the suffering of the Messiah, we won’t be as able to deal with our own suffering, and we can’t see very far into the heavens of God’s love. This earth is a world of suffering, but it is not our final destination.

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the Script (The Being)

The lands called Mesopotamia, that lie along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, have also been called the “cradle of civilization.” The Bible is in agreement with history and archaeology on this, for this area is where the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11) was located. Suddenly unable to understand the language of one another, tribes of Noah’s descendants abandoned the tower project and scattered across the globe (Genesis 11:9).

It’s possible that several words, or names, for “God” came into existence with the creation of these different languages, while others developed over time. The fact that people suddenly began speaking different languages would naturally have been attributed to the intervention of God. Though myths have become attached to some of them, we find many records from ancient civilizations concerning this event.

There is no hint of myth however, in the record (the Old Testament) of the Semitic people who founded the nation of Israel. Though condensed by necessity, the Bible is an accurate history of the involvement of God in human affairs. According to the Bible, man once knew his creator, but has distanced himself from that which was once understood (Genesis 3:8-10, Romans 1:21-23).

As human beings, we are more receptive of someone if they will meet us on “our level.” That is why God chose a family (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:20-23) through which to be born into this world, and the genealogies of the Old Testament were recorded primarily for the purpose of predicting the birthright of Jesus. The revelation of the expected Christ, the Jewish Messiah, grew with the writings of the Old Testament prophets.

When the Lord (YHWH) first appeared to Moses (Exodus 3:-14), he called himself “I AM.” The Hebrew word translated as “I AM,” is “HYH” (Hayah). It has the same basic meaning as “HVH” (Havah). Both “HYH,” and “HVH,” are derived from the name “YHWH” (pronounced Yahweh, or sometimes Jehovah). I mentioned in an earlier post (JE S O S) that my favorite translation of “I AM” is “JE SUIS” in the French Bible. I believe that it is the pre-incarnate JE SUS who is speaking to Moses in Exodus 3:14.

It is very important for us to know that God exists, and who he is. To the atheist who insists that God is no one, he says, “I am one.” God says to us, “I am someone.” The word “Hayah,” in English usually translated as “I Am,” is “On,” in Exodus 3:14 of the Greek Septuagint. “On,” is then translated as “The Being,” in the English rendering of the Septuagint.

The name “On,” is likely the origin of the English word “one,” and is probably a factor in the “I” shape coming to represent the number “one.” “The Being,” is similar to the English meaning of the name “YHWH,” usually given as “The Self-Existent One,” or something similar. It could be rendered “The Eternal-Being,” or “the “Ever-Existent.”

The Hebrew youth Joseph, sold into Egypt as a slave, eventually married a daughter (Genesis 41:45) of “the priest of On.” There was a city in Egypt named “On,” and I once assumed that Joseph married the daughter of a pagan priest of that city. It’s possible however, that Joseph’s father-in-law believed in the one true God, and was not a pagan. The Septuagint has the name of that Egyptian city as “Heliopolis.”

I think that the name “I Am,” is interesting as translated into other languages also. I mentioned the French, “JE SUIS.” That is similar to the Portugese, “EU SOU,” the Lithuanian, “AS ESU” (ref. the English poetic “Jesu” for “Jesus”). The Italian “IO SONO,” and the Spanish “YO SOY,” are also similar (“I” and “Y” are inter-changable).

In many foreign translations, the “Y” of “YHWH,” becomes a “J.” “I AM,” in Croatian is “Ja jesam,” the Czech is “JSEM,” and the Albanian, “UNE JAM-i.” Also of interest is the Afrikaans, “EK IS, WAS, SAL WEES.” God is saying to us, “I exist.” “I am the one.”

God’s longer statement in Exodus 3:14 of the King James Bible is “I AM THAT I AM.” Most English versions have it as, “I AM WHO I AM.” We really can’t make God into someone, or something, that he is not. He is our creator (John 1:10-12), and our savior.

Jesus made several statements identifying himself with “I AM.” He said to some religious leaders in John 8:24, “If you believe not that I am he, you will die in your sins.” A few minutes later, he told them, “Before Abraham was, I AM,” and they tried to stone him (John 8:58,59). That strange statement testifies of his existence before his advent into this world.

Several similar statements of Jesus are recorded in the Bible. In John 18:3-8, soldiers sent to arrest him fell backward to the ground when he said, “I am he” (Greek, “Ego eime,” or, “I am”). Something about the words, or the way he said them, caused the men to stumble backward.

The wording of the passage makes it sound as if a wind out of nowhere blew them back, but it could have been just a domino effect when whoever was in the lead suddenly backed up. The word “domino” comes from the Latin word for “Lord.”

The great being who said, “I am Alpha and Omega,” is the same benevolent Lord who called himself, “meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). It was his love, and not only man’s nails, that held him to the cross. His sacrifice should be enough to make humble creatures of human beings.

Inheriting a different race, culture, or language does not mean that we must serve a different God. He is the God of every nation, tribe, and tongue (Revelation 7:9-10). It is fine for you to pronounce the name of Jesus, or of God, in the way that it has been translated into your language. The Lord knows who you’re talking to. When he returns, he may give us the most accurate pronunciation of his name, but we don’t need to be too concerned with that until then.

If we could assemble all languages together, I think we could have a much greater understanding of who God is. Perhaps, that is one of the things he will do when he returns. The prophecy in Isaiah 11:9 reads, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” I’m not sure of the perfect interpretation of Zephaniah 3:9, but eventually God will give us, “a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.”

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