Israel’s exodus from Egypt, as celebrated in the Passover Seder, was a foreshadowing of a much larger escape to freedom.

A Seder is a celebratory meal. Much could be said about the ways that each item on the Seder plate reminds us of Israel’s bondage in and flight from Egypt. We might touch on precious details like having a young boy sing a song that sets forth “the four questions,” for the purpose of emphasizing the unique historical tradition of Passover.

We won’t try to cover all the details and tradition here, but will instead touch on just a few of the most meaningful aspects.

The blood of a lamb that was applied to the doorposts and lintels of all the Hebrew people’s homes — to protect them from the angel of death that would strike down the first-born of all people, and even animals, living in Egypt — would have approximately suggested a cross. As one pictures the blood being applied to each side post and to the lintel over the top, this image or connection becomes clear. The Jewish people were told to eat the lamb before they fled from Egypt.

During the celebratory Passover dinner each year, three pieces of matzoh, or unleavened bread, would be placed into a white cloth with three separate pockets. The middle matzoh, or afikomen, would be removed from the cloth late in the Seder, broken, and the pieces would then be eaten by all who were present. Jewish people had for some 1500 years — and in the last two millennia many still have — practiced this Seder without understanding its larger meaning.

Many of us are really only now coming to realize that Jesus’ “Last Supper” with His disciples was a Passover Seder!

For some 1500 years, until that “Last Supper” Passover that Jesus shared with His “brethren,” the prayer “Blessed art Thou, King of the universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth” had been offered as the afikomen, or the matzoh from the central pocket of the white cloth, was broken and then consumed by all.

But this second-person kind of prayer was brought into the first person as Yeshua dined with His disciples that night. Taking the cup of wine, He said, “This is my blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many.” (Matthew 26:28) Then “He took bread, said, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ ” (Luke 22:19)

This is also the origination of the Eucharist or Communion, as practiced in Christian churches.

We remember that when Jesus had earlier in His ministry told His disciples and others that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood, many found the teaching so appalling and incomprehensible that they departed from Him! He was speaking figuratively of the vital importance of our recognizing and coming to Him — of understanding what the long Passover tradition had been foretelling.

The placement of the afikomen in the center pocket revealed that it would be the body of the Son — among three — Father, Son (in the middle), and Holy Spirit — that would be broken. The matzoh in the central pocket represents the One in the central position in the Trinity.

Jesus was crucified on Passover, died on Unleavened Bread, and was resurrected on First Fruits. As one person put it, “Probably not a coincidence.”

The matzoh in the Passover tradition, in addition to representing the sinless Messiah — since leaven had long been a symbol for sin in the Jewish culture — also reminded the Jewish people of their hasty flight from Egypt. They had been instructed to make the bread without leaven so they wouldn’t have to wait for it to rise.

The First Fruits tradition holds great meaning. Each harvest season, the “first and best” of the grain harvest would be offered to God. Its acceptance would guarantee the acceptability to God and the security of the rest of the harvest.

Yeshua, clearly the first and best in His sinlessness and voluntary sacrifice, provides and ensures the rest of the harvest of souls. He is described in Scripture as “the first fruits of those who sleep.”

The blood of the spotless lamb that was applied to the doorposts in Egypt protected the Hebrew people from death and signaled their freedom from bondage, the beginning of their exodus. The blood of the Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus Christ — His giving Himself that we might renounce sin, recognize Him, and live — protects us from spiritual death and “makes us free.”

Israel’s feasts were called, in Hebrew, “moedim,” or “appointed times”; they were considered “rehearsals.”

The “rehearsal” idea suggests their preparing us for future events. Many people perceive that the annual timing of these feasts that Yahweh characterized as being “for all time” will parallel the timing of major “last days” events.

Who can adequately express the value of beginning to glimpse the uniting theme running through this vast history — that it is Jesus Christ (Yeshua), hailed by John the Baptist (Yohannan the Immerser) as “the Lamb of God,” who fulfills the Passover!

For all the contentiousness, cruelty, and false dichotomy that have existed down the centuries between spokespeople for the Jewish roots and for the Christian branches of the one tree that is the tree of Life — it is Jesus who is the Passover Lamb.

© ccolbert for Voice of Revolution, 2012. | Permalink

Speaking to 3,000 high school students attending a journalism conference in mid-April, Dan Savage strayed from his appointed theme – anti-bullying – and launched into a tirade against the Bible, also castigating scores of Christian students who walked out during his presentation.

He said, “We can learn to ignore the ‘bull—’ in the Bible about gay people.  The same way, the same way we have learned to ignore the ‘bull—’ in the Bible about shellfish, about slavery, about dinner, about farming, about menstruation, about virginity, about masturbation. We ignore ‘bull—’ in the Bible about all sorts of things. The Bible is a radically pro-slavery document. Slave owners waved Bibles over their heads during the Civil War and justified it.”

After the students walked out in protest, Savage said, “It’s funny, as someone who’s on the receiving end of beatings that are justified by the Bible, how pansy-a— some people react when you push back.”

Two weeks later, on April 29^th, he issued a clear apology for using the term “pansy-a—” to describe the walkout of the students but emphatically denied that he was attacking Christianity: “I did not attack Christianity. I attacked hypocrisy. [His emphasis.] My remarks can only be read as an attack on all Christians if you believe that all Christians are hypocrites. Which I don’t believe.”

So, an attack on the Bible as a “radically pro-slavery document” which was also very wrong on human sexuality is not an attack on Christianity?

The same day Savage issued his apology, he launched into a similar tirade, this time while speaking in the chapel (!) of Elmhurst College in Illinois (once again, deviating from his anti-bullying topic). He also had some choice words for the Pope: “What the Pope is saying is that the only thing that stands between my [expletive deleted] and Brad Pitt’s mouth is a piece of paper….What the Pope is saying is that once we’re all gay-married we’re going to go extinct in a generation because once we’re all gay-married, we’re gonna forget which hole [expletive deleted] babies.” And I imagine that this was not an attack on Catholicism?

Savage posted another column on May 1^st, further justifying his interpretation of Scripture: “There are untrue things in the Bible—and the Koran and the Book of Mormon and every other ‘sacred’ text—and you don’t have to take my word for it: just look at all the biblical ‘shoulds,’ ‘shall nots,’ and ‘abominations’ that religious conservatives already choose to ignore. They know that not everything in the Bible is true. All Christians read the Bible selectively. Some read it hypocritically—and the hypocrites react very angrily when anyone has the nerve to point that out.”

Perhaps there are actually principles of interpretation that help Christians (and Jews) understand and apply the Scriptures?

Let’s start here: Christians are quick to point to Leviticus 18:22 in their condemnation of homosexual practice: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”

Gay activists and their straight allies are quick to ask: “But what about all the other abominations listed in Leviticus?”

Actually, within Leviticus, only homosexual practice is singled out as an abomination, but elsewhere, the people of Israel are told that they should not eat shellfish (see Leviticus 11, although the word abomination is not used there) while in Leviticus 19, the text says, “You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material” (Leviticus 19:19). Why don’t Christians pay attention to these other verses?

The answer is simple. Within the Torah (God’s Teaching and Law), there were many laws given to Israel to keep them separate from the nations (like Leviticus 19:19). That’s why the Torah said that certain foods, like shellfish, were unclean for the Israelites but not for all people (see Deuteronomy 14:7, 19). On the other hand, there were laws given to Israel that were universal in scope, like the command not to murder.

When it comes to homosexual practice, not only is it the only sinful action singled out in Leviticus as an abomination, but it is part of a list of universal moral prohibitions, including incest and other forbidden sexual acts. We know this because the chapter states that the Lord judged the pagan nations for these very acts, and if acts were wrong for idol-worshiping pagans, and they were wrong for the people of Israel (see Leviticus 18:24-30). And when we see that the prohibition against homosexual practice is reiterated in the New Testament, the case is settled for those who accept the Bible as God’s Word.

Dan, are you following? I’m not angry with you at all. I’m simply trying to help. We’ll tackle the issue of the Bible and slavery next.

Part 2

If the Bible is “a radically pro-slavery document” (Dan Savage), how is it that Christians who successfully fought for the abolition of slavery in the 18^th and 19^th centuries based their opposition to slavery on that very same Bible? The answer is simple: The Bible is actually not “a radically pro-slavery document.”

According to Savage (following atheist Sam Harris), “the Bible got the easiest moral question that humanity has ever faced wrong. Slavery! What’re the odds that the Bible got something as complicated as human sexuality wrong? 100% percent.”

To be candid, it’s easy to see where Savage and Harris are coming from. After all, in the Old Testament, the Law of Moses didn’t outlaw slavery, it legislated slavery. As for the New Testament, instead of renouncing slavery as an unjust and cruel institution, the authors taught slaves to obey their masters. So, the argument goes, if the Bible got the issue of slavery so terribly wrong, how can it be trusted on the complex issue of human sexuality? And if Christians today are willing to ignore what the Bible says about slavery, what gives them the right to quote the Bible when it comes to the prohibition of homosexual practice?

These are serious questions, and they deserve serious answers. (Dan, remember that I’m here to help!) In short, it was through a misuse of the Bible that Christians justified slavery (along with segregation and the oppression of women) whereas it is by a proper use of the Bible that Christians oppose homosexual practice, while affirming gays and lesbians as people created in God’s image who are objects of  Jesus’ love.

Read rightly, the Bible is actually a book of liberation for slaves, a book of equality for the races, and a book of emancipation for women. It celebrates the liberation of the Israelite slaves from Egypt, teaches that in God’s sight, people from every race are equal, and has many glowing things to say about women (did you ever read Proverbs 31:10-31?). Women also played a prominent role in the ministry of Jesus and in the early Church. (There are whole books written on these subjects, but this 2008 lecture provides lots of useful information.) In contrast, there is not a single positive reference to homosexual practice in the Bible, while every reference to homosexuality in the Scriptures is decidedly negative.

Dan Savage stated that, “The shortest book in the New Testament [called Philemon] is a letter from Paul to a Christian slave owner about owning his Christian slave. And Paul doesn’t say Christians don’t own people. Paul talks about how Christians own people.” To the contrary, Philemon was one of the key biblical texts used by the abolitionists in their argument against slavery.

The letter tells the story of a man named Onesimus who had been Philemon’s slave before escaping and then meeting the apostle Paul, who was at that time a prisoner of Rome. Paul led Onesimus to faith in Christ and then wrote to Philemon urging him to receive Onesimus back, “no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother” (Philemon 16).

What a concept! This man was your slave, he ran away and has now become a Christian, so receive him back as your brother and no longer as a slave. Savage really got this one wrong.

As for the larger question of slavery and the New Testament, the Church in its infancy could hardly challenge the entire economic and social structure of Greece and Rome, so it worked within the system, setting in motion principles of liberation and equality, encouraging masters not to threaten their slaves but to provide them “with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven” (Colossians 4:1; Ephesians 6:9). And, to the shock of many readers, Paul taught that, in Jesus, there was neither slave nor free (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11; 1 Corinthians 12:13), while Jesus himself declared that he came to set the captives free (Luke 4:18). And then there’s that letter to Philemon.

That’s why Christians like William Wilberforce, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and William Lloyd Garrison were at the forefront of the abolition movement.

As for the Old Testament, slavery was ubiquitous in the ancient Near East, but the biblical system was much more humane. It was primarily a system of voluntary, indentured servitude lasting for six years unless the slave wanted to serve his master for life. Even then, both master and slave would rest on the Sabbath, if the slave was mistreated he would go free, and there was even a periodic declaration of amnesty when lifetimes slaves would be liberated.

It is only a gross misuse of the Bible that could possibly justify the American slave trade, marked by kidnapping, the murderous and merciless transatlantic middle passage, and then the selling of chained human beings like chattel – just for starts. Each of these acts is strictly forbidden by Old Testament ethics.

Added to all this was the overarching biblical principle of “love your neighbor as yourself,” and to follow this principle means to put an end to slavery. But it does not mean affirming something (homosexual practice) that the Bible explicitly forbids.

What about Old Testament laws that called for the stoning of women who had premarital sex? There’s one more article to come.

Part 3

How can we quote the Bible in support of our moral values when the Old Testament contains laws calling for the stoning of a woman who lost her virginity before marriage? Actually, based on biblical principles, both Judaism and Christianity teach that such laws are not for today. But could you imagine what America would look like if sex outside of wedlock was as shocking and scandalous in our day as it was in ancient biblical times?

In his talk to high school journalism students, Dan Savage mocked the fact that the Bible “says that if your daughter’s not a virgin on her wedding night – if a woman isn’t a virgin on her wedding night – she shall be dragged to her father’s doorstep and stoned to death.”

Was this law ever justifiable? In ancient Israel, which the Bible states was a theocracy instituted by God himself (according to the Torah, God delivered the children of Israel from Egypt and then spoke his laws to them from Mount Sinai) and which was part of a culture where it was almost unthinkable for a girl to lose her virginity to another man before marriage, a law like this was hardly exceptional.

That being said, by New Testament times, Jewish leaders had virtually abolished the death penalty for such offenses, while Jesus stopped a Jewish crowd from stoning a woman caught in adultery and Paul taught that there were spiritual consequences rather than corporal consequences for such offenses.  In keeping with this mentality, in absolutely no shape, size, or form would I dream of advocating such laws today any more than I would dream of advocating the death penalty for adultery or homosexual practice.

But let’s ask ourselves some honest questions. While both Dan Savage and I categorically reject the idea of stoning a woman who lost her virginity before marriage, is our society today really in a position to make judgments on ancient Israel when it comes to sexual morality?

In America today, one in four teenage girls has been infected with an STD, and out of the  hundreds of thousands of cases of gonorrhea every year, “teenage girls between 15 and 19 account for more cases than any other age group.” Some of the gonorrhea strains are developing into incurable “super bugs.” And we are the enlightened ones?

The CDC reports that one in 5 gay men have HIV, while gay and bisexual men account for half of the new HIV infections in the U.S., having AIDS at a rate over 50 times higher than other groups. (The rates are alarmingly high among gay teens.) Despite this, Dan Savage and his “husband” Terry Miller advocate being “monogamish,” admitting to at least 9 extramarital encounters since they have been together, even claiming that it has been a “stabilizing force” in their relationship. And Savage is criticizing biblical morality?

Let’s also consider the effects of the 1960’s sexual revolution on America. In 1960, 23% of black children were born out of wedlock; by 2008, the out of wedlock birth rate among black Americans was up to 72.3%. In white America, children born out of wedlock rose from 2.3% in 1960 to 28.1% in 2008 – an increase of more than 1000%. According to a Brookings Institution report published in 1996, “Every year about one million more children are born into fatherless families. If we have learned any policy lesson well over the past 25 years, it is that for children living in single-parent homes, the odds of living in poverty are great. The policy implications of the increase in out-of-wedlock births are staggering.”

And what about the modern plague of pornography? Recent surveys indicate that 40 million Americans regularly visit porn sites, that 12% of all internet sites are pornographic, that 25% of search engine requests are pornography related, and that the average age at which a child first sees online pornography is 11. And we are the ones standing on the higher moral ground? (This recent headline from the UK says it all: “Generation XXX: 13-year-old boy sexually abuses 5-year-old sister thanks to porn, says therapist.”)

Perhaps rather than focusing on the issue of the death penalty for premarital sex in ancient Israel – which, to repeat, we categorically reject – we should take a hard look at the massive and destructive sexual promiscuity of our day. Perhaps rather than gloating about our “progressive” attitudes towards premarital, extramarital, and homosexual sex, we should rue the fact that in 1969, 21 percent of Americans believed that “Premarital sex is not wrong” while in 2009, 60 percent stated it was not wrong.

Let the naked truth be told: America today is the land of Ashley Madison ads encouraging adultery, celebrity sex tapes ad nauseam, staggering rates of STD’s, and reality TV shows like “16 and Pregnant.”

All of which leads to a simple conclusion: Putting aside the harsh nature of the penalties involved in some Torah laws (which made sense in an ancient Near Eastern theocracy but not in our world today), I’ll take biblical morality over the Dan Savage version any day of the week. In fact, I have staked my life on it.

Dr. Michael Brown is the author of A Queer Thing Happened to America and the host of the nationally syndicated talk radio show The Line of Fire on the Salem Radio Network.

© Bryan Purtle for Voice of Revolution, 2012. | Permalink

Consider this brazen case of censorship in London, coming straight from Boris Johnson, the mayor. In 2007, gay activists in England launched a campaign “to tackle homophobic bullying in schools” with a simple message: “Some people are gay. Get over it!”

According to the Stonewall.org website, “After the launch, 600 billboard panels, kindly donated by Titan Outdoor Advertising Ltd, depicted this legend in giant, tabloid-style capital letters, on a bright red background at sights in England, Scotland and Wales. In September 2009 the simple, striking poster campaign appeared on 20 major railway stations advertising screens and on 3,500 interior bus panels in November 2009 for Anti-Bullying week.”

In response, an ad campaign was recently launched by Core Issues, which describes itself as “a non-profit Christian initiative seeking to support men and women with homosexual issues who voluntarily seek change in sexual preference and expression. It respects the rights of individuals who identify as ‘gay’ who do not seek change.” The Core Issues group purchased ads to be carried on a number of buses reading, “Not gay! Ex-gay, post-gay and proud. Get over it!”

This was too much for Mayor Johnson, who explained, “London is one of the most tolerant cities in the world and intolerant of intolerance. It is clearly offensive to suggest that being gay is an illness that someone recovers from and I am not prepared to have that suggestion driven around London on our buses.” What a remarkable statement.

Aside from the fact that the ads did not say that “being gay is an illness that someone recovers from,” it is absolutely outrageous that the mayor of London – “one of the most tolerant cities in the world” – would deny the right of free expression to those who identify as “not gay, ex-gay, or post-gay,” especially in light of the ubiquitous “Some people are gay. Get over it!” campaign.

Some observers suggested that Johnson had ulterior motives in his actions, specifically, his own campaign for reelection, and his main rival in the upcoming election, Ken Livingstone, criticized Johnson for even allowing the ads to be booked:  “London is going backwards under a Tory leadership that should have made these advertisements impossible. They promote a falsehood, the homophobic idea of ‘therapy’ to change the sexual orientation of lesbians and gay men.” Yes, censorship is alive, well, and being fully justified in “most tolerant” London.

To add insult to injury, after Alexander Boot, a regular opinion columnist for the Daily Mail, published an article entitled, “So attack on free speech is a sign of tolerance,” there was an outcry from the gay community, branding it a “startlingly homophobic column.” The Daily Mail responded by pulling the article.

It appears then that even criticism of censorship is to be censored, with one Facebook comment asking, “Actually isn’t the article a crime or against the law? Because of laws against homophobia or incitement to hatred?”

Turning now to Rhode Island, we move from the outrageous to the absurd, from censorship to moral insanity.

Two weeks ago, a 17 year-old student-artist at Pilgrim High School painted a mural depicting the stages of a boy’s life, from childhood, to teen years, to graduation in cap and gown, to marriage and family. The last image showed the boy, now a man, standing with his wife and son, with wedding rings over the couple’s heads.

This was too much for the school, and the administration decided to paint over the last image, since “some of the members of the Pilgrim High School community suggested that the depiction of a young man’s development from boyhood through adulthood as displayed may not represent the life experiences of many of the students at Pilgrim High School.” I kid you not!

How dare this young artist depict an image of a traditional family, since this “may not represent the life experiences of many of the students.”

Do you see why I call this moral insanity?

The artist, Liz Bierendy, herself raised in a single-parent home, explained, “I felt bad because I didn’t want to offend anyone. I was scared that maybe it would go out to our homosexual community and I didn’t want them to get in an uprise because I was not trying to preach that’s the right thing to do at all.”

Can you imagine this? She “didn’t want to offend anyone” and she was “scared” that it would provoke a negative reaction from “our homosexual community.” And all this over an image of a married couple with their child. What has become of America?

The school ultimately let Liz decide how to complete her mural, and she stood by her initial decision. But as long as incidents like these continue to happen – here and in other parts of the world – I’m going to continue to write about them.

The best way to combat censorship is to speak out more loudly and clearly, while the best way to combat moral insanity is to expose it.

© Bryan Purtle for Voice of Revolution, 2012. | Permalink

The crowd that turned out for this drizzly Saturday was estimated at between 8,000-20,000 (I have seen atheist reports, however, that put the number at 30,000), which is actually less than some American mega-churches draw every week in their Sunday services.

There were blatantly sexist speakers at the rally, like Bill Maher and Penn Jillette, but their presence was justified by atheist bloggers like Hemant Mehta, who explained that, yes, these men “have their faults, but they amplify our way of thinking more than just about anyone else.” Therefore, Mehta explained, it is still worth having them speak because “we need big-name celebrities to attend. . . . This isn’t just about spreading science and atheism. This is about drawing attention to our movement. This is about getting media attention.”

If that was the goal, the event certainly fell short of its mark, as the Reason Rally Facebook page complained about the lack of media coverage while the Drudge Report didn’t even mention the rally in its weekend news coverage, finding items like this more newsworthy: “Hippies head for Noah’s Ark: Queue here for rescue aboard alien spaceship. Thousands of New Agers descend on mountain [in France] they see as haven from December’s apocalypse.” (It looks like the hippies are living out their legacy while the atheists are still waiting for their “Woodstock” moment.)

Prof. Richard Dawkins was one of the keynote speakers, calling on the faithless not only to reject religious beliefs but also to “ridicule and show contempt” for religious doctrines and sacraments, including the Eucharist (Holy Communion). (In keeping with this, he once referred to Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a “submissive cosmic doormat.”) Yes, such are the enlightened sentiments of one of the self-styled “brights” – a self-defeating designation if ever there was one – and we can only imagine how beautiful the world would be if the Dawkins’ mentality ruled the day. (Sarcasm intended.)

And while it is true that “the brights” are still trying to figure out the origin of life, physicist Stephen Hawking has now explained how the universe began without God, stating in his book “The Grand Design,” “Because there is a law of gravity, the universe can and will create itself out of nothing.” Yes, nothing (which is really something) created everything! How did we miss that for so long?

As pointed out by Oxford mathematician and scientist Dr. John Lennox (unfortunately, not one of “the brights”), “The main issue . . . is that gravity or a law of gravity is not ‘nothing’, if [Hawking] is using that word in its usual philosophically correct sense of ‘non-being’. . . . If, therefore, we say ‘X creates X’, we imply that we are presupposing the existence of X in order to account for the existence of X. This is obviously self-contradictory and thus logically incoherent – even if we put X equal to the universe! To presuppose the existence of the universe to account for its own existence sounds like something out of Alice in Wonderland, not science.” (From his book “God and Stephen Hawking.”)

But I digress from the main topic at hand, namely the “Reason Rally.” Perhaps the most illustrative part of the day was the talk given by 16 year-old atheist Jennifer Alquist, who successfully fought to have a prayer banner removed from her Rhode Island High School. Hailed as a hero at the rally, she wanted everyone to know that if she could bring about change, anyone could.

And what, exactly, was so offensive about the prayer banner? It contained these words, written with the encouragement of school leadership almost 20 years ago:

Our Heavenly Father.

Grant us each day the desire to do our best.
To grow mentally and morally as well as physically.
To be kind and helpful to our classmates and teachers.
To be honest with ourselves as well as with others.
Help us to be good sports and smile when we lose as well as when we win.
Teach us the value of true friendship.
Help us always to conduct ourselves so as to bring credit to Cranston High School West.

Amen.

If only those values were inculcated in our schools across America! What a dream that would be. But for the atheists, if those values are associated with God on a banner, then they and God must go.

Atheist David Silverman, one of the event organizers, stated before the gathering that, “We’ll look back at the Reason Rally as one of the game-changing events when people started to look at atheism and look at atheists in a different light.”

I believe he was right. From here on, we’ll probably look at them with more pity.

© Bryan Purtle for Voice of Revolution, 2012. | Permalink

We remember early glimmerings of the important ideas in Job. For example, its raising the question “Why do the righteous suffer?”

And that most-beautiful statement of faith that Job managed to voice in the midst of his grievous trials: “I know that my Redeemer lives.”

As we read to see if there was anything in Job that opened the door for dark experiences, we consider his realization “The things that I have greatly feared have come upon me.”

We might even have gone so far as to look deeply at why God, rejoicing in Job’s righteousness, more or less paraded Job before Satan for him to consider — and ultimately take aim at. We heard one analyst observe that God’s boasting over Job to Satan was done with the hope that after Satan had taken all of his best shots, God would then be able to bless Job even more. We appreciate this opinion, because it arrives at the same enormously-loving Father that Jesus “walked” before us.

But Zola’s teaching that in Job, as in other scriptural stories, there is a parallel between the central figure’s story and Israel’s story is particularly helpful.

God knew that while Satan’s worst arrows would bring Job — and Israel — very low, even close to despairing — that Job and the Jewish people would never turn their backs on God. He knew that the crusades, the pogroms, World War II — all the horrific anti-Semitic experiences — would leave Israel an emaciated, disenfranchised state of “dry bones.” But He also knew, and even prophesied for Satan to see, that the dry bones would come together again, the scales would fall from Israel’s eyes; that the second time Yeshua appears, His own beloved brethren would run to embrace Him. That like Job, God’s beloved Israel will finally come into her own.

© ccolbert for Voice of Revolution, 2012. | Permalink

“‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect [fear]?’ says the Lord of hosts to you, ‘O priests who despise My name.’ But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’” -Mal. 1.6

We need to be leery of any view of the Fatherhood of God that does not lead us into a holy esteem for the Lord. In the same way that our view of His Lordship ought always to be accompanied with a sense of His kindness, lest it become stoic and lifeless, our view of His Fatherhood must necessarily be attended by the quintessential reality of His holiness, lest we find that we are engaged headlong in activities supposedly performed “in His name,” but altogether devoid of His honor.

The prophet commences with an “oracle of the word of the Lord,” declaring, “I have loved you.”

How did Israel requite the Lord for His gracious love? From the love of God the prophet now turns to the ingratitude of His people. God has treated the people of Israel as a son; have they honored Him as Father? They have retained the relationship of servant to Him as Master; have they rendered Him due reverence? The rightful respect due God has been withheld, due mainly to the ungodliness of the priests against whom the charge is directed.

(Charles Feinberg, The Minor Prophets; Moody Press, 1990 ed. pp. 251-252)

It is becoming a rarity for the “rightful respect due God” to have a place in the consideration of modern saints. With the advent of smart phones, instant internet access, and a thousand other forms of entertainment and distraction, the idea of being “still” and knowing that He is God is taking on an archaic character to most minds. The common bustling believer is being (or has already been) reduced to a brand of humanity that can only respond to and receive from that which is quick, easy, and colorful, and the priestly distinctive of waiting and honoring and revering the One on the throne has reached the status of taboo, even if we would refuse to admit it.

We have learned to live with the offering up of blind, lame, and sickly sacrifices, and the robust faith of the apostles and prophets of old is near extinction, particularly in the Western Christian experience. We need daily to be reminded that:

The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. -Ps. 19.8-9

Many now have been raised with an idea of God as Father that is tragically bereft of the kind of honor that the prophets and the old Levites bore before the people. There is something tinpot and cheap about our hurried ministries and perfunctory thoughts of God. They do not ring with the life-giving note of the fear of the Lord, and unless we attain that, we can be sure that however busy we might be with work, play, or some ostensible expression of ministry, we will not bear the necessary priestly distinctive, “holiness unto to the Lord.” Our witness will be reduced to humanism and our ministry to mere religion.

Our great task is not first to perform externals, but to bear the knowledge of God as He is before the people, and that knowledge cannot be obtained by a people who are not in earnest pursuit of the One Who is worthy of the totality of our honor. If we give slipshod attention to Him, however feverishly engaged in ministry we might be, He will be as a Father without our honor, and we need to be arrested by the reality that He will have nothing to do with those kinds of garbled definitions of priestliness and sonship.

Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not not pleased with you,” says the Lord of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from you.” -Mal. 1.10

We need to be acutely aware of the fact that it is possible to be found functioning in a distorted kind of faith that somehow stimulates our spiritual preferences, but that is not pleasing to the Lord, and it is even possible for this infringement and offense to be committed “on My altar” or under the auspices of Christian ministry.

Leon Morris wrote that Malachi gives attention to “laxity among the priests,” and this may well be the characteristic condition of believers in modern times, whether the expression is Evangelical or Charismatic. The laxity is not in activity, but in earnestness after God, and such is the case today. The Levites had deviated from the priestly covenant, and in like manner, the Church has largely deviated from “faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.”

‘My covenant with him [Levi] was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity. For the lips of priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi,’ says the Lord of hosts. So I also have made you despised and abased before all the people, just as your are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality in the instruction. -Mal. 2.5-9

We need to peer long and hard into the Levitic call, especially at its heart, for it is not unlike the call of every saint. We have the distinct privilege and responsibility to walk with God “in peace and uprightness,” and to turn “many back from iniquity.” If we fail to grow in the knowledge of God as God, and if we fail to recognize Him as holy “before the people,” we have deviated from the essence of priesthood. Let us see to the recovery of His honor in our own hearts and in His house, that Israel and the nations might see Him in all His glory and worth.

© Bryan Purtle for Voice of Revolution, 2012. | Permalink

What is revival? It is God “stepping down from heaven” and baring His holy arm. He comes and acts and speaks. There is a holy presence and a word on fire. God is in the midst of His people. The Lord is shaking the world. That is revival! It is a time of visitation.

If it is confined to one church it is not revival. If it is confined to the meetings themselves it is not revival. If it can all be traced to the efforts of man it is not revival. If it does not ultimately affect the society it is not revival.

When Jesus was on the earth, He explained to His disciples that it was better for Him to go away so that the Holy Spirit could come. Jesus could only be in one place at one time, but the Holy Spirit could be everywhere. Jesus could directly touch only those who heard and saw Him, but the Holy Spirit could directly touch people anywhere at anytime — even if they were resisting and running. He transcends all human agency!

In revival, the Holy Spirit moves deeply and widely, supernaturally and powerfully. He goes into the homes and schools, into the places of business and the places of sin, and He brings the sense of the reality of God. He brings conviction! It is impossible to flee from God during revival.

The words of the Lord in Jeremiah 23 and the words of the psalmist in Psalm 139 are always true, but their reality is fully sensed during times of revival:

“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the LORD. (Jer 23:23-24) Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”  even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You. (Psa 139:7-12)

During the Welsh Revival, it was commonly reported that men would go into the bars to drink, not wanting to go to their homes, because they knew their wives were praying and the presence of God was there. But they couldn’t escape Him in the bars! As they would take the drink in their hands, an unseen Hand would stop them, and they would run from that place to their homes and get saved.

As the Spirit converted many of the profane, ungodly coal miners, His presence went with them to work, and they would start their days with prayer and worship. It was said that you could feel His presence in the coal mines as much as you could in church!

Once, some visitors were asking for directions to the meetings in one part of Wales. They were told to take the train to such and such a place and get out there. “But how we will know when we are there?” they asked. “You’ll feel it!” was the reply. And they did! After getting out from the train, they asked for further directions. They were told to walk to a certain place and turn there. Again they asked, “But how we will know where to turn?” “You’ll feel it!” was the answer again. And they did!

That holy presence is not geographically limited, as Arthur Wallis documented: Ships as they drew near the American ports [in 1858] came within a definite zone of heavenly influence. Ship after ship arrived with the same tale of sudden conviction and conversion. In one ship a captain and the entire crew of thirty men found Christ out at sea and entered the harbour rejoicing. Revival broke out on the battleship “North Carolina” through four Christian men who had been meeting in the bowels of the ship for prayer. One evening they were filled with the Spirit and burst into song. Ungodly shipmates who came down to mock were gripped by the power of God, and the laugh of the scornful was soon changed into the cry of the penitent. Many were smitten down, and a gracious work broke out that continued night after night, till they had to send ashore for ministers to help, and the battleship became a Bethel.

I heard a story about a man here in the States who had witnessed to his unsaved friend and prayed for him for years. One day, that friend came over to borrow a tool but no one was home. So he went to the tool shed to find what he was looking for when, suddenly, the presence of God overtook him. He was convicted of his sins and broke down, putting his faith in Jesus at that very moment.

When he told his Christian friend what had happened to him he found out there was a simple explanation: That faithful believer had prayed with tears for his salvation for a period of years, making intercession for his soul in that very shed. The Holy Spirit was there!

Now, multiply that picture a thousand times over and spread it across cities, counties, states, and even nations, and you have a glorious picture of revival.

After the night of prayer in the Hebrides when the house literally shook with the presence of the Lord, Duncan Campbell relates that:

The following day when we came to the church we found that the meeting house was already crowded out. A stream of buses had come from the four quarters of the island. Who had told them of the services? I have no way of knowing; God has His own manner of working when men are praying in faith. A butcher’s van brought seven men from a distance of seventeen miles. We gathered in the church, and I spoke for about an hour. The Spirit of God was at work. All over the building men and women were crying for mercy. And on the road outside, I could hear the strong cries of weeping men. I saw both men and women swooning, some falling into trances. Many were crying, “Oh, God, is there mercy for me?” A young man beneath the pulpit prayed, “Oh, God, hell is too good for me.” The seven men who came in the butcher’s van were all gloriously converted that night. In the field of evangelism today, the desperate need is for conviction of sin — conviction that will bring men on their faces before God.

When the service was about to end and the last people were leaving, the young man by the pulpit, himself a new convert, began to pray, and his prayer lasted for 45 minutes. Somehow, word got out that the meetings were to be held all night! People began to return from all over, packing the church. The service lasted until 4:00 AM! But the story doesn’t end there. At 4:00 AM Campbell received a message:

Mr. Campbell, people are gathered at the Police Station, from the other end of the parish. They are in great distress. Can anyone here come along and pray with them?

Who drew them there? Who convicted them? Many of these people had been strongly opposed to the gospel right up to that very day. What was happening? The Spirit was at work! This is a true picture of revival:

We went to the Police Station and I shall never forget the scene that met our eyes. Under a starlit sky, with the moon gazing down upon us — and angels, too, I believe, looking over the battlements of glory — were scores of men and women under deep conviction of sin. On the road, by the cottage side, behind a peat stack, they were crying to God for mercy. Yes, the revival had come! For five weeks this went on. We preached in one church at seven o’clock [in the evening], in another at ten, in a third at twelve, back to the first church at three o’clock [in the morning], then home between five and six, tired, but glad to have found ourselves in the midst of  this Heaven-sent movement of the Holy Spirit.

Remarkably, in the first parish where revival hit, Campbell reports that 75% of the converts were born again before they arrived at the meeting place! There was also an amazing revival among the young people. In those days, not a single young person attended any public worship services in any of the churches, but the very first evening — without announcement or advertisement — the awareness of Godin the dance hall at midnight became so great that all the young people left there and crowded into the church! And so the revival continued, spreading in like manner to the neighboring counties.

Why can’t we believe God for similar outpourings in our day? Why cheapen revival by dragging it down to the feeble level of our unbelief-ridden, flesh-dependent expectations? Why not ask God for the real thing? And here’s a good check-point for Pentecostals and Charismatics: With all our emphasis on the power of God and miracles, another sign of revival for us will be true, frequent New Testament healings in our midst. They will not be the exception to the rule but they will be the norm. Such things cannot be fabricated! But as long as our healing ministers reach multiplied millions of sick people through TV, radio, book, tape, and magazine, yet continue to have relatively meager results, we have little to boast about. All the more should we cry out for a real visitation that will not disappoint!

In 1922, when Smith Wigglesworth was ministering in Wellington, New Zealand, he called for a special prayer meeting with a group of eleven leaders. After each of them had prayed, Wigglesworth rose to seek the Lord, and the presence of God began to fill the room. Soon the glory of God became terrible. The light became too bright, the heat too intense. The other men couldn’t take it any longer. Every one of them left the room! Only Wigglesworth could continue in the midst of the Shekinah.

Another minister heard what had happened and determined at the next gathering, no matter how strong the presence of God became, he would stay until the end. Once again the scene repeated itself: Wigglesworth began to pray, the holy presence of God filled the room, and the glory became unbearable. Everyone left, except this one leader. He would not be overcome and driven out by the manifest presence of the Lord. But it was too much. Wigglesworth was caught up in the Spirit, radiant with holy fire, and even the determined minister couldn’t stand the intensity. Soon enough he was gone too!

That is the presence of God that comes with revival. It becomes unbearably intense. Its light breaks through the darkness. Its heat raises the temperature all around! It cannot be localized or confined. By its very nature, it must make an impact on its surroundings, otherwise it is not true revival. And while it will not completely change the world, it will make a radical impact. It will drive sin out!

With this in mind, we can speak quite clearly about “revival” in America today: As long as homosexuals march brazenly down our streets and serve in leading positions in our governments; as long as abortion clinics and pornography theaters thrive; as long as “Christian” young people watch MTV and “Christian” adults watch HBO; as long as the jails have too many prisoners and the mission fields have too few laborers; as long as greed and materialism rule most of the world and much of the church; as long as humanists, new agers, and atheists dominate our college faculties; as long as these things are at the forefront of our society — we are not experiencing revival! Sweeping revival in America would mean upheaval. The holy presence would change the complexion of our nation dramatically.

And what if all of America does not experience revival? Then its powerful impact will be felt in select towns, cities, or states. And even with these limitations, the far reaching effects of revival will be experienced well beyond local church walls. The divine “invasion” — actually, to most Americans, a return to New Testament reality would be as abrupt and shocking as an “invasion” — will cause a shake down and a shake up.

Of course, we praise God for the refreshing that He is now bringing to many of His people. We thank Him for the joy and encouragement. Yet we can roll on the floor and laugh every night until three in the morning, but if the world around us remains unchanged that is not revival.

If the way we live outside the building does not become characterized by holiness and sacrificial love for the Lord and the lost, that is not revival. And if everything that happens in our “revival” meetings comes through the hands of human vessels — without the supernatural visitations outside the church, without the abiding Presence, without the clear evidence that God Himself has “stepped down from heaven” in power – that is not revival.

For many ministers, that’s frustrating. We like to do it ourselves! If revival is truly a heavenly visitation, that means that we can’t manufacture it or produce it. We are utterly dependent on God. But that’s the best place to be! He wants to bring revival more than we want to see it. He wants to bless more than we want to be blessed. He has invested far more into this dying world than we have, and He has far more at stake. What better place to be than at the feet of the Lord in fervent prayer, crying out: “Revive Your people O God!”

And when He comes in power He will not only act. He will speak! Revival is characterized by the Word of God on fire. It is not simply a matter of making time in every service for teaching and preaching. It is not just giving the Word its proper place. We’ve had our fill of lifeless pulpits that “honor the Word,” and many believers today are “taught to death.” No, it is a matter of the Word on fire, a matter of holy unction, a matter of hearing the urgent message of the hour.

The effects of the Welsh Revival at the beginning of this century were far reaching and world wide. Clearly, these were days owned by the Lord. But the revival was not perfect, and many believe that it could have had an even greater and more lasting impact — especially in Wales itself — if there had been a deeper, more consistent ministry of the Word of God.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the fervor of revival, in the excitement of the manifestations, that we forget about something critical: God wants the heart, and through the Word of God, He probes the heart and changes the heart. The excitement will pass and the manifestations will wane. But if the trumpet has been sounded, if the awakening cry has been raised, if the burden of the Lord has been delivered, if the radical call to follow Jesus in a radical way has gone forth — that will determine just how deeply individuals will be changed. The Word is the road map for the revival’s future.

Trivial, non-challenging messages will not lead the way. Those who were nourished by lightweight meals will falter during the hard times. They will find themselves swerving and veering, lacking clear direction. Soon enough, they will rebuild the walls that revival tore down and revert to the habits from which revival delivered them. Within a few years, they will be living on memories and trying to perpetuate those memories through now-dead forms. If only there had been a prophetic, piercing, challenging, truthful proclamation of the Word! If only there had not been so much entertainment and frivolity!

Matthew records that:

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. (Matt 4:23)

Do we know better than Jesus? He gave Himself to teaching and preaching as well as healing — and He taught without compromise. (His words are so disturbing!) He taught with authority. What better time than during true revival to bring the uncompromising, prophetic call? What better time to preach the cross than during times of renewal when Jesus is seen in His glory?

Even in the intensity of the spiritual outpouring in the Book of Acts, the anointed Word was still central:

Every Sabbath [Paul] reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. . . . So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. (Acts 18:4-5, 11)

Do we know better than Paul?

But someone will say: “Oh, in our current ‘revival’ meetings, there is always time devoted to the Word of God” — especially before the offerings, I might add! But putting that aside, when the Word is preached, what is the substance? One prominent leader has asked some questions about the current preaching emphasis. Does it exalt Jesus? Does it produce a real burden for the lost? Does it present the wrath of God along with the love of God? Does it challenge and convict?

God used Charles Finney mightily in the first half of the nineteenth century. But his words still speak today! His sermons on revival preached in New York City in 1832 were subsequently published asLectures on the Revival of Religion, and these messages have gone around the world in multiple languages. Through the anointed word, the revival lives on. At the turn of this century, Jonathan Goforth, the Canadian missionary to China and Manchuria, began to get reports about the Welsh Revival. At the same time he began reading Finney’s Revival Lectures and he put into practice what he read. A move of God swept the cities where he ministered!

The Great Awakening and the Methodist Revival ended more than 200 years ago. But the messages of Edwards and Wesley still challenge us today. They being dead yet speak. Their words still burn and set our hearts aflame.

Now look for a moment at the compromised worldly church of America. We know almost nothing of the dedication, sacrifice, fervor, or faith lived out daily by our brothers and sisters around the world. We know almost nothing of the gospel of martyrdom. We have little understanding of the cross. What does the Spirit want to say to us? Do we need froth or fire? What is the divine prescription for the sick patient? Do we need surface manifestations or serious movings, frivolity or fervor, glitz or glory? Enough with all the fluff!

We must never forget: Revival is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit (not the “Happy Spirit” — although He brings great joy; not the “Hollow Spirit” — in spite of the impression given by some of our empty meetings; and not the “Hollywood Spirit” — in spite of our superstar preachers. He is the Holy Spirit). I have heard Him described as “wild,” “exciting,” and “creative.” But have we forgotten that He is HOLY? His manifest presence is holy and His work is to make us holy. Peter wrote that we

have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood. (1 Pet 1:2)

The Spirit is not a showman; He is a Sanctifier. He may cause us to weep or laugh or stagger or fall. But His goal is holiness. His goal is separation. His goal is to make us like the Son, shining in His glory and radiance.

What is holiness? According to Samuel Logan Brengle, “holiness is pure love.” Holiness is beautiful, not binding, and wonderful, not wearisome. Holiness is being like God — in character and inner nature, in heart and soul. What a blessed state! It is marked by Christlikeness instead of corruption, by divine attributes instead of devilish attitudes, by loyalty instead of lust, by generosity instead of greed, by devotion instead of drunkenness. Holiness is perfect goodness. Holiness is purity of life.

But holiness will not be attained by spiritual excitement alone. It is not an abstract, nebulous “something” existing “somewhere,” no more than God Himself is just an abstract “something” existing “somewhere.” Holiness does not float in and skip out. Holiness means definite, concrete, radical change. It means a whole new way of living. And it is grounded in the Word of God.

Without a clear call to holiness, revival will run amuck. If the standards of the Lord are not clearly lifted up, the people will soon fall down (and I don’t mean in the Spirit). If their experience is not grounded in the Scriptures, they will have the long term stability of a feather blowing in the wind. When the shouting dies down, disappointment will set in. Some will even turn against their initial, transforming experience. Why? It didn’t last. It had no solid foundation!

Revivals have been famous for their revival preachers, and true revival preaching — not emotional ranting and raving or pseudo-spiritual rambling — must become central once again. Otherwise we will quickly lose our bearings. Otherwise we will drift!

There are at least six things the Holy Spirit will commonly do in times of revival: He will sanctify (Heb 9:13-14); convict (John 16:8-11); glorify Jesus (John 16:14); deliver and heal (Acts 10:38); empower (Acts 1:8); and refresh (Acts 3:19). He can do all these things by means of His inner, secret work on our hearts. But just think of how much more effective the working would be if it was coupled with His voice!

The Holy Spirit was upon Jesus to preach the Good News and to liberate the captives (Luke 4:16-18). In fact, it was through His anointed Word that the captives were set free. The Spirit does not contradict the Word, compete with the Word, or confine the Word. He confirms the Word (Heb 2:1-4).

Seven times in Revelation 2-3 Jesus addressed His Church. Seven times John recorded the Lord’s exact words. And all seven times He ended by saying:

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (Rev 2:7, etc.)

Jesus speaks to His people by His Spirit! Are we hearing His voice today? The Spirit speaks His words. During revival, those words thunder forth. The message has not changed; we have changed. We need to get back to the Word! (Of course, most of our churches boast about their faithfulness to the Word, and some are even called “Word” churches — yet there’s a lot more to the Word than what you may hear in some of these places.) We need truly anointed, holy pulpits and truly anointed, holy preachers. This generation is crying for a fresh word from above. As Leonard Ravenhill expressed:

Evangelistic preaching is often a heart massage. Revival preaching is heart surgery. We have had varieties of evangelistic preaching — million dollar gospel crusades, charismatic healing evangelism. It is now time for confrontational preaching of holiness unto the Lord. Evangelism touches the emotions. Revival preaching touches the conscience.

Although the Welsh Revival did not have an emphasis on public preaching or teaching, it began with a message of immediate repentance and instant obedience. That remained as the foundation of the Spirit’s work. The Azusa Street outpouring was known far and wide for its Pentecostal manifestations, and some of its leaders strayed into strange doctrines like British Israelitism. But if you look at the doctrinal statement they drew up you will see something very clearly. It put repentance first, second, third, fourth, and fifth — leading to a holy, Spirit-baptized life.

Has that become passé? Is such a message no longer needed in this hour? Have we advanced beyond repentance and holiness? Has the Lord finally decided to look the other way? Is He choosing to ignore the fact the most of the American “Spirit-filled” (or, as I have said many times before, “Spirit-frilled”) church is hardly distinguishable from the world?

I think back to the fire-baptized preachers of past generations — to the Whitefield’s and Tennent’s, to the Savonarola’s and Fox’s, to the Finney’s and Campbell’s — and I long to see a new breed of no-compromise leaders arise in our day. I think back to their heart-rending messages, their challenging calls to get right with God, their tearful offers of the mercy of the Lord, their fearless proclamation of the cross, their devastating descriptions of the state of the lost and their wonderful promises of the glory to come — and I can only shudder when I compare this to most of our contemporary North American “revival” preaching.

Do the people of God today need a master surgeon or a circus master? Do we need to be provoked or primped? Do we need our leaders to tell us the truth or to tell us a joke?

The world is self-destructing without God. The harvest is more ripe than it has ever been. The need for holy laborers is absolutely pressing. The time to go for it without reserve is now. What are we waiting for?

Implore the Lord of harvest to raise up spokesmen who will bring His prophetic message. Ask Him to bring to the fore those who will “cry out and spare not” (Isa 58). Beseech Him to speak clearly and directly to His people. We cannot afford a shallow revival. We cannot afford a spurious work.

Pray for the Word on fire that will set us on fire so we can go and set the world on fire — for the glory of God. The time is short. The potential is breathtaking. Let’s not miss the opportunity of a lifetime. NOW — not never.

(This selection is an excerpt from Dr. Brown’s book It’s Time for Holy Fire)

Dr. Michael Brown is the author of A Queer Thing Happened to America and the host of the nationally syndicated talk radio show The Line of Fire on the Salem Radio Network.

© Michael L. Brown for Voice of Revolution, 2012. | Permalink

Zola Levitt once said in a broadcast: “When God chooses a people, Satan chooses them too.” Dr. Brown has detailed the history of anti-Semitism, pointing out that it has had longer tenure and more depraved manifestations than any other prejudice in the world.

Yeshua invited every one of us to “become one with” Him, which He presented in the parable or paradigm of the ancient Jewish wedding tradition. The beauty of the language He chose slowly dawns on us as we become acquainted with the unique features of this tradition. It is a tradition that is well worth looking into — because throughout the New Testament His most reassuring promises are framed in an analogy to this wedding paradigm.

But Jesus issued to Israel — to His Jewish brethren — a unique opportunity. He told them that only when they invite Him to return will He return! “You [Israel] will not see me again until you say ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”

Rabbi Jonathan Bernis recently mentioned that Satan knows all too well that Jesus’ return will wait for this unique invitation from Israel. Jonathan explained that this is why some of the most vicious recent hate crimes and harassment have been directed toward Messianic Jews. We have seen reports of these incidents — one particularly barbaric, all deeply disturbing. They have occurred in recent months in Israel.

We’ve seen reports of young Messianic Jewish children being tormented about their faith by other children. They’re mockingly called “Christians” — as if this were a deplorable thing to be. But Messianic Jews are certain that they are Jewish. They’ve realized that recognizing the Jewish Messiah doesn’t detract from being Jewish — this recognition completes and fulfills Judaism. This is what the Orthodox don’t want Jews to know.

This is why some among the Orthodox try so desperately to keep other Jews from reading the New Testament — the B’rit Hadashah. Some among the Orthodox will even use listeners’ memories of the Holocaust, pogroms, and other terrible suffering at the hands of people who pretended to be Christians to remind Jewish hearts or minds that are beginning to open that “the New Testament is for Christians.” The Orthodox persuade other Jews that reading it is “disloyal” to all the Jews who suffered and died over the centuries at the hands of people who posed as Christians — “disloyal” to being Jewish.

Scripture is full of such amazing and beautiful “pictures” and reversals. In a picture of Jesus’ return, David refused to return as king of Israel after Saul finally died until David’s (and Yeshua’s!) own tribe — Judah — invited him to return. Ultimately the people of Judah not only invited David to return — they went out “to conduct him over the Jordan.”

Peter was so broken and remorseful after having denied knowing Jesus three times before the crucifixion that he thought he would just go back to fishing — he thought he might be “good enough” to do this. But Jesus restored him to his higher calling by extending a single question to him three times — a question that allowed Peter to affirm three times the very bond that he had three times denied — and to receive his personal commission as well.

Apparently the ultimate “Playwright” wants the same people who, through their “representatives” who were in power at the time, “did not know the time of their visitation” when He lived on earth — to be the very ones to call Him back to all of us. This is the world’s Story; and no person could have written it.

Yeshua said that when Jews at long last look up in recognition to invite Him back He will come. The One who “alone knows the end from the beginning” indicated that this will happen! We can be in prayer to strengthen His beloved Israel — the Jewish people — against all the slings and arrows of Israel’s — and God’s — outrageous enemies. And to strengthen the Jewish people toward “the scales falling from their eyes” and the recognition’s dawning.

© ccolbert for Voice of Revolution, 2012. | Permalink

What began as a means of helping those disfigured by war, fire, or accident, has now broadened to the removal or correction of something that these people feel hinders their overall appearance or well being.

Listed under the heading of cosmetic surgery you will find the following: liposuction, breast augmentation, eyelid surgery, face lift, tummy tuck, forehead lift, collagen injections etc. The list is almost endless. Ask anyone who has had this type of surgery and they will tell you how much better they feel about themselves. Surgery had removed for them their ‘problem’ and given them the appearance and acceptance they always wanted.

While I don’t begrudge these people this luxury, I’m more concerned with the spiritual counterpart that I see happening in the Body of Christ. I’m referring to what I call ‘cosmetic theology’.

There is a new generation of believers who seem to think that God is too old and decrepit, and therefore greatly in need of a ‘facelift’ to enhance His image. They reason that in order to ‘sell’ God to the masses He needs to shed a few pounds, remove a few wrinkles, and adopt a more positive image.

One of the blemishes that these ‘plastic theologians’ have tried to remove is the occasional scowl they see on God’s face. Nobody likes to be around someone who gets angry, jealous, or revengeful. After all, everybody knows that a smile will win you , but a frown will put people off. A ‘god’ that would send someone to hell is just not marketable. Neither is a ‘god’ of absolutes. Who wants a ‘god’ that doesn’t compromise or bend a little? If we can do away with the moral Law, and substitute it with ‘grace’ instead, perhaps then ‘god’ will be a little more appealing. Have you noticed the recent ‘Botox’ injection? God is increasingly being referred to these days as ‘Papa’. Now I don’t have a problem with God as our Father, but He is also the Judge of all the earth, as well as the King of Kings. Papas are loving, playful, and fun to hang around. Kings and Judges on the other hand are not so endearing. You get my point.

This type of cosmetic theology has been taking place for some time now without us even being aware of what has been happening. We tend to focus on all the so called positive attributes of God, and avoid anything that we deem negative. I remember as a child people having promise boxes, from which they would draw a promise from the Scriptures. Like fortune cookies, they always had something good to say to the reader. This is like Moses reading only the blessings of God to His people, but never the curses that resulted from their disobedience.

Yes, I too love verses like Jeremiah 29:11 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and hope’ But God also warns His people what will happen to them if they disobey Him – ‘For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “As my anger and my wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a curse, an object of horror…” Jeremiah 42:18.

The leader of the nation’s largest ‘church’ openly admits he is not called to preach against sin but rather to encourage people. We all love ice cream, but a good preacher, like a good parent, will make us eat our spinach too.

Well, you get my point. God isn’t in need of our help. He’s not looking for a new PR firm to help Him bolster His image. He is perfect in all His ways, and therefore, has no need for plastic surgery!

David Ravenhill is a guest writer for VOR and has served the Body of Christ as a Pastor and Teacher for more than four decades. Find out more about him here:  http://www.davidravenhill.com/

© Bryan Purtle for Voice of Revolution, 2012. | Permalink

Recently Jews and Christians met at the historic villa to commemorate the actions of the victors of WWI in establishing a permanent homeland for world Jewry.  By the time of its signing in July 1922, by the League of Nations the original mandate territory was already reduced by 75%  and the Jews accepted the remaining 25% as their homeland.  Thus the Jewish people had rights to all the land west of the Jordan River and were prohibited from settling in what became modern Jordan.  The land in question was not the ARAB’S to loose but had been under the Ottoman Empire.  It was controlled by the Turks who were allied with Germany in the war (see map). Another important note made in the CBN segment was that in the transition from the League of Nations to the UN, all prior agreements with regard to the mandates must be upheld.

One interesting note is that in the current situation some of the original European countries who signed onto the San Remo agreement are poised to break that commitment by siding with the PA’s bid for statehood.

For a more detailed look at this conference the European Coalition for Israel has a 15 minute video demonstrating the legal claims.

One key comment in this video is the “reconstituting of a national home” for the Jewish people.  This recognizes the HISTORICAL RIGHTS of the Jews to the land.  One could also replace that word with “BIBLICAL”  rights.  Quoting from the Executive Summary at EC4I:

Thus, in a word, the primary foundations in international law for the claim based on “historic rights” or “historic title” of the Jewish people in respect of Palestine are the San Remo decisions of April 1920, the Mandate for Palestine of July 1922, approved by the Council of the League of Nations and bearing the signatures of that international treaty by the Principal Allied Powers in July 1922, and the Covenant of the League of Nations itself (Art. 22). The rights thereby granted to the Jewish people (with the exception of the provisions of Article 25 of the Mandate, relating to Trans-Jordan) were aimed at the establishment of a Jewish national home throughout Palestine. These rights have never been rescinded.

The world is a different place than 90 years ago.  If the same events were to have taken place today, the Jews would be still be wondering among the nations.  The sentiment of nations is to lie in in the falsehoods of the nations that cannot tolerate to have a Jewish state in their neighborhood.  As we embrace the reality of the Lord’s hand in dealing with the seed of Jacob, we can appreciate his sense of timing.  This week the world will have a referendum to side with Israel’s enemies or with Israel.  Choose wisely.

John Paul is is an Associate Editor for Voice of Revolution, overseeing Jewish Issues.

© John Paul for Voice of Revolution, 2012. | Permalink