sharetheword’s Neighborhood

What does blogging do for you?
Submitted by Madeleine Rose.

Blogging allows me to my exercise creative writing skills, investigate new areas of interest and even alter some viewpoints as I read others opinions, experiences and research.  As a Christian I have an opportunity to share areas of my studies, education and ministry. 

Incredible Patterns of the Bible

One of the most interesting studies in the Bible is looking at the patterns that are developed and then repeated in a variety of symbols. What I would like to do is compare five sets of sevens. The seven days of the creation…the seven pieces of furniture in the tabernacle…the seven feasts of Israel, the seven last words of Christ and the seven dispensational periods of history. Out of these five comparisons, the only ones that might be debated as to the order would be the last words of Christ on the cross. To find all of the seven last phrases that Jesus uttered from the cross on Calvary, one must read all four gospel accounts. The sayings would have been originally uttered by Jesus in His common tongue, the Aramaic, but only one of those last seven phrases is preserved in the original Aramaic, namely; “Eli, Eli, lama Sabacthani” or “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me.” This is also the only of the phrases found in more than one of the gospels (Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34) Three other phrases are found in Luke and three more in John. The order that I use is the generally accepted order from all of the gospels and reflected in the writings of the early church fathers. The seven dispensational periods of history are periods of time where God has used a particular theme to show man his need for a redeemer. Each historical period is also generally linked together with one of the predominant biblical events during that period of time. Innocence…Adam and Eve in Eden. Conscience…Cain and Abel. Human Government…. The Tower of Babel. Promise…. Abraham. Law….Moses. Grace….Jesus Christ. And the Millennium…… New Jerusalem.

The First Day of creation “Let there be Light”…and the separation of light from the darkness. This was not an ordinary light illuminated by the sun, moon or stars, which were created on the fourth day. This was God’s presence that entered into the darkness of this new universe. “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5) The first piece of furniture in the outer court of the tabernacle was the Brazen Altar. This is where it all begins. The place of sacrifice. A place of separation between evil (darkness) and good (light). The first feast is the Feast of Passover. It too has to do with sacrifice. “For Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” Christ is the light of the world (John 8:12) The Passover candles are lit by a woman because the light of the world would come through the seed of woman not by the seed of man. The first of the last seven phrases recorded by Jesus on the cross was , “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Like the Brazen Altar of old, the altar of the cross was a place of ultimate sacrifice…… forgiveness and grace. This is the dispensation of innocence. The sacrifices on the Altar were not righteous…they were innocent. But Jesus was the perfect righteous lamb.

The Second Day of creation saw the water formed and separated above and below the firmament. The second piece of furniture in the tabernacle is the Laver. The Laver is a large round open polished brass bowl that the priests would use for ceremonial washing of there hands and feet before coming into Gods presence. It was made of mirrors so shiny it reflected the sky…and the priest as he washed.. above and below. It was a place of cleansing of sin. A separating the clean from the unclean. As Christians we see our baptism. Buried with Christ in baptism. The Feast is the second night of Passover…the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The house is searched for leaven (sin) which is swept onto a white cloth and thrown into the fire. This was the evening before 6:00 pm (before the beginning of the Sabbath) when Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathia. “Unless a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain”. (John 12:24) Jesus said to the thief, “Today, you shall be with me in paradise”. The repentant thief was washed with the water of the Word. This is the dispensation of conscience. Like the brass mirrors that made up the Laver, we see ourselves as sinners in need of a savior. “Purge out therefore old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us;”

The Third Day of creation saw the creation of the oceans and the land. It also saw the creation of grass and all the vegetation bearing seed. Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rye. The third piece of furniture is the Table of  the Shewbread. Twelve loaves of unleavened wheat bread representing the twelve tribes as well as the 12 disciples. The Table of the Shewbread represents the place where God kneads us, forms us, and makes us into useful creations. It is the place of sanctification. It is a place seen where we are changed from glory to glory. Even as we see sanctification as an instantaneous aspect of our new birth, here we see our progressive sanctification. Here we pick our cross daily and follow Jesus. The third feast is the “Festival of First Fruits.” An offering of barley (the first grain to ripen) is offered to the Lord. On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead. The stone had been rolled away and Jesus was not there. Like the Passover prayer, “Blessed art thou, Oh Lord, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.” Jesus, the Bread of Life, brought forth from the earth. On the cross Jesus said, “Woman, behold your son. Then He said to the disciple, Behold your mother.” Part of that sanctification is that we become responsible members of Gods family. Here Jesus takes care of the last of those earthly responsibilities as the physical son of Mary, making sure she will be cared for as He prepares to leave this world. The third dispensation is that of human government. The Table of Shewbread represents nations as well as us individually. Man felt that human government is the solution to our problems. He is wrong. As Babel was destroyed and the nations scattered….mankind still is trying to prove that his own wisdom and knowledge is enough to heal the human heart and spirit but it is only in the power of His crucifixion and resurrection that mankind will ever find peace.

On the fourth day God created “the lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth”…the sun, the moon and the stars also. The fourth piece of furniture in the tabernacle is the lampstand. The lampstand always stayed lit, except when the moved the tabernacle and then they followed the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of smoke by day. The fourth feast is that of Pentecost…the great harvest festival of Shevous. The name “Pentecost” actually means 50 and referred to the number of days from the Festival of First Fruits (Resurrection Day) and the Great Harvest Festival of Shevous (Pentecost), which was 7 Sabbaths of days (49). Jesus told the disciples, “And behold, I send the promise of the Father upon you; buy tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49) On Pentecost that promise was fulfilled as the Holy Spirit descended upon those in the upper room, “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they all were filled with the Holy Spirit..” (Acts 2:3-4) As Jesus struggled in agony upon the cross He said, “My God, My God, Why hath thou forsaken me?” He said this as the sky gave up its light and it became as night. The Father turned his back on His son and gave Him up unto death as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. This phrase is also the first verse of Psalm 22, which is an incredible description of the crucifixion written over 500 years before crucifixion was even invented by the cruel Romans. The next dispensation was that of Promise. “For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off (even), as many as the Lord shall call.” (Acts 2:39)

On the fifth day God said, “Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that hath life and fowl (that) fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven”…..whales…fish and every winged fowl after its kind.” The fifth piece of furniture is the Golden Altar of Incense. This Altar was directly before the last veil that entered in the Holy of Holies. The Golden Altar, the Table of the Shewbread and the Lampstand were all in the Holy Place, the second of the three courts of the Tabernacle, which represents the Holy Spirit. The Holy of Holies, a 15 foot cubical room, separated from the Holy Place (15’ x 30’), by a 8” thick curtain, contained the Ark of the Covenant. It was here that God would meet with the High Priest once a year on the Day of Atonement. It was here that God met with Moses in the wilderness. But to get in there they had to offer prayers, petitions and offerings of incense at the Golden Altar. This is where every aspect of the law had to be finished exactly for the High Priest to enter into Gods presence. Like the fowls above the firmament, the prayers and smell of incense went up before God. The fifth feast was the “Feast of Trumpets” or Yom Tervah. Later it would also be called Rosh Hashanah.. the Jewish civil New Year. The Shofars (Rams horn’s) are blown and as we see in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, this is our announcement into heaven. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall ever be with the Lord.” Jesus fifth statement at the cross was “I thirst”. Truly, He must have been thirsty, but not just for physical water, but for this final fulfillment of Gods plan. Thirsty for man to come back into the presence of God again. Thirst for that paradise that was lost to be regained. The fifth dispensation is that of the law. It was here at the Golden Altar where the law was seen insufficient in truly bringing man into a relationship with God as sons and daughters. Only through the altar of the cross was this possible. Not by the law but by grace is man justified.

On the sixth day God created everything other living creature on the earth…including man and woman. The sixth piece of furniture in the Tabernacle is beyond the veil….beyond the thick curtain into the Holy of Holies. It was the Mercy Seat which sits upon the Ark of the Covenant. The Mercy Seat was a solid gold lid with two cherubim’s on top. God told Moses that He would appear between the Cherubim’s to commune with him. There was no light in the Holy of Holies, except that illumination that radiated from Gods presence. The “Shekinah”. The High Priest each year would take the blood of a sacrificed ram, without spot or blemish, into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood upon the Mercy Seat. This was done on the sixth feast of Yom Kippur…..the Day of Atonement. All this was done for man. Not for the angels or any other creature. God loved man so much that prepared a way that man could come back home. Paradise lost could be regained. Jesus would enter into the presence of His father with His own blood, shed on the altar of the cross, and like the High Priest would sprinkle His blood upon the Mercy Seat of heaven. “Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.” Jesus on the cross said, “It is finished”. His sacrifice was enough. His mission was completed. The sixth dispensation of course….is grace. “For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Roman 6:14)

“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.” The last piece of furniture in the Tabernacle is the Ark of the Covenant. It represents the abode of the Father. The veil had been ripped in twain from top to bottom and access was now open to God by man. The feast is the Feast of Tabernacles..or “Succoth”. Sometimes referred to as “booths”, Jewish families would build canopies “Succas” outside and cover them with grapes and fruit. They would celebrate as families together under Gods blessings. It was a place of joy, rest and peace.

The holy of Holies was an exact cube 15 feet by 15 feet, just like New Jerusalem as seen in Revelations 21:16. Jesus last words on the cross were, “Father, into thy hands, I commend my Spirit.” God had left His throne and entered humanity as Jesus, God the Son, in the little town of Bethlehem. Now it was time for Him to take back His mantle of majesty and prepare our new homes in heaven. The last of the dispensations is the Millennium. This is the last 1000 years of human history after the tribulation. It will be a time of peace until the very end when Satan will be allowed to once again temp mankind. God will squeeze the last bit of sin and rebellion from our race…and the rest of eternity we will “Tabernacle” with God. We will enter into His rest. “And God shall wipe away every tear from our eyes.”

What is this about Hell?

Hell is probably one of the most confused doctrines of in modern Christianity.  In the Old Testament Hebrew, Hell (an Old English rendition) was called "Sheol" and in the Greek ,"Hades", meaning the place of departing spirits.  It did not at that time have any negative implications except that when you died that is where your spirit went to.  The English word "hell" comes directly from Old English, where the meaning was a black fiery place of eternal torment for the damned.  But because the Vikings were converted to Christianity centuries after the Anglo-Saxons, the Old Norse hel , from the same place as the Old English hel, retained its earlier pagan senses as both a place of the abode of oath breakers, other evil persons and those unlucky enough not to have died in battle.  If you died in battle you got to go to Valhalla.

What does the Bible say about Hell.  Well, as I said, in the Old Testament Hell...or Sheol, was a place where everyone's spirit went when you died.  Jesus gave an incredible description in Luke 16:19-31.  Jesus told the story about this place that was divided in half by a huge gulf which could not be crossed.  One side was a place of comfort which he called Abrahams bosom.  Later at the cross He would call this place, Paradise.  But the other side was a place of torment.  This whole area...or dimension...was the "place of departing spirits."  When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he first descended into this place (Sheol/Hades) to the side where those you had waited in faith since the time of righteous Abel. (1 Peter 3:19-20)  I can just imagine what He said.  "Hey, guys the ransom has been paid...would you all like to leave and come to my Fathers house?"  This place now is not only a place of torment, but a place for those lost souls awaiting judgment.  Those who die in Christ now go directly to be with the Lord. (Do not pass go...do not collect $200 dollars)  This waiting place in the Old Testament was where the Catholic traditions developed the doctrine of "purgatory". 

At the end of times...Hell and Death will be thrown into Gehenna (Greek), the lake of fire.

God does not send anyone to Hell.  Hell is a place where you are separated from God's presence.  I think the worse part about being there is knowing for an eternity...that you did not have to be there.  It was your choice.  No one will end up separated from God because the means wasn't taken care of for them to spend an eternity in heaven.  It is like a million dollar check that you hold in your hand.  You're actually in the same financial situation you were before.....unless you cash it in.

I am sure glad I went to the bank and made my deposit.  Now I am a Kings kid.

Question of the Sabbath

It is interesting that over 2000 years after God divided history by manifesting Himself in human flesh and changing forever not only how we understand God but how we relate to Him, we are still arguing over “legalities” and interpretation of the scriptures. 2 Colossians 2:16 says, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat (what you eat) or in drink (what you drink) or in respect of an holy day (the 7 feasts, minor holidays, yes… Christmas or even Thanksgiving) of the new moon (Heb. - Rosh Hodesh) or of the Sabbath day.” Paul writes in Romans 14:5-6, “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day special, does so to the Lord.” Although the early church of Acts is seen in the scriptures to meet on the Jewish Sabbath, which on their calendar was the last day of the week, we see it was usually at the synagogues where they would share the good news of Jesus the Messiah. (Acts 13:4, 13:27, 13:42, 15:21, 17:21 and 18:4). Since the early Christians were Jewish believers, it wasn’t very long before many in the synagogues that did not believe in the “good news” openly opposed their attendance in the services. Although Sabbath was held on the seven day….the traditional practice in the synagogue was also to gather at the first day of the week to begin weekday prayer (Avoda Sheba-Lev and also later the Shemoneah Esrei). Early church fathers (Irenaeus and Polycarp), and others, indicate the gathering of the believers on the first day of the week (The Lord’s Day), in remembrance of the Lord’s resurrection. They partook of the Lord’s supper (communion) on the first day also. Acts 20:7 states, “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and because he intended to leave the next day, kept talking until midnight.” This was almost 200 years before Constantine. The point is…. “the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath”. It is a day of the week that is set aside to fellowship with other believers, to gather together for prayer and worship,  to support, encourage and care for each other as the Body of Christ. The Pharisees seemed to have forgotten this too when the saw Jesus do His Fathers work on that day. In actuality, we are not even sure what day it really is with the movement of the lunar calendar to the solar calendar, the Julian Calendar, the Gregorian Calendar and additional changes in the Middle Ages. And if you read Isaiah 38:8, God turned back time by almost a day as a sign for Hezekiah. “Come let us reason together” and focus on living for and in Christ…to the glory of God the Father.

Richard Dawkins's Delusions

I have been asked by a number of individuals to write an article commenting on Dr Richard Dawkins and his most recent book: The God Delusion. I have long admired his popular scientific works, long envied their clarity and his beautiful use of analogies. Like his American college Dr Stephen Jay Gould, who dies in 2002 of cancer, if they weren’t scientists…they might have been poets. I  have read his 1976 work, “The Selfish Gene”, a gene centered view of evolution and “The Extended Phenotype”, a theory that this observable characteristic (such as morphology, development, biochemical or physiological properties or behavior) are not limited to an organisms body but can stretch far into the environment, including the bodies of other organisms. Although his analogies, language and approach even in these scientific publications show an underlying hostility not just to religion but his individual contempt to anyone who believes in God. He holds the chair for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford and is a fellow at New College, Oxford. Finally in 2006, he officially made the jump from empirical science to uneducated theology, with his book, The God Delusion. His biggest critics were not only fellow scientists (a number from Oxford) who he would dismiss as not “real” scientists, but also fellow atheists, who could not understand his “intolerant hostility”. Fellow atheist and Ph.D., Dr Michael Ruse writes, “The God Delusion makes me embarrassed to be an atheist.” When some scientists write in their support of religion, Dr Dawkins retorts that they simply “cannot mean what they say”. Cultural and literary critic, Terry Eagleton, writes, “Imagine someone holding forth on Biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology.” You can see the effect of his book as people “parrot” Dr Dawkins comments and using them instead of sound scholarship and research. Armed with his book and the internet, they repeat his mantras of: “Real scientists reject the belief in God”, “These scientists belong to the Neville Chamberlain School of evolutionists. They are appeasers”, “These scientists are dishonest”, “The God of the Jews was a psychotic child abuser”, “Well, that’s what you would say, isn’t it?” “Why do all Christians use the same excuses?” “Faith is blind trust in the absence of evidence”, “A belief in God is just like believing in the tooth fairy and Santa Claus”, “Bringing up children within a religious tradition is a form of child abuse”, and these are but a few. It will be interesting seeing the ripostes that follow this pattern. Like many of Dr Dawkins analogies and comments, these are constructed with a specific agenda in mind……the ridiculing of religion. As Dr Alister McGrath (another PhD in molecular biophysics and former atheist, from Oxford,) who writes in his book The Dawkins Delusion, “I very much fear that the secularists would merely force there own dogmas down the throats of the same gullible children---who lack, as Dr Dawkins points out, the discriminatory capacities needed to evaluate the ideas. This whole approach sounds uncomfortably like the anti-religious programs built into the education of the Soviet children during the 1950’s, based on mantras such as “Science has disproved religion”. “Religion is superstition”!” and the like. Sounds familiar doesn’t it. Yes, there is a need for a society to reflect on how it educates it’s children but that needs to be done through accurately and fairly teaching on what religions teach rather than being subjected to the derisory misrepresentations of Christian theology that litter Dawkins piece of propaganda. Even Dr Stephen Jay Gould, a fellow atheist and one of Harvard’s most simulating teachers, wrote that “the natural sciences, including evolutionary theory, were consistent with both atheism and conventional religious belief.” To Dr Dawkins this was the highest form of treason in the religion of Atheistic Fundamentalism.

Dr McGrath writes, “Whereas Dr Gould at least tries to weigh the evidence, Dr Dawkins simply offers the atheist equivalent of slick hellfire preaching, substituting turbocharged rhetoric and highly selective manipulation of facts instead of careful, evidence-based thinking”. How could such a gifted scientist, who once had such a passionate concern for the objective analysis of evidence, turn into such an aggressive antireligious propagandist with an apparent disregard for evidence that is not favorable to his case? Every one of Dr Dawkins’s misrepresentations, overstatements, historical and cultural errors and theological nescience, can be challenged and corrected….and has. But they are met with the “parrot” rebuttals, “Well. That’s what you would say, isn’t it?” or “That is the same answers all Christians say.” Objections to his analysis are likely to be dismissed and discounted in advance precisely because they are made by “biased” religious people who are foolish and arrogant enough to criticize “objective” and “rational” atheists.

Dr Dawkins compares the threat of AIDS and "mad-cow" disease to the threat posed by faith. He writes that faith is "one of the world's great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eradicate". Dr Dawkins’s lack of Christian perspective or even a basic knowledge and understanding of Christian Theology is a fertile ground for the seeds of bigotry. The dictionary definition of faith is, “the theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.” For a Christian, this definition is not just words on a page but is a way of life. Faith is acceptance of what cannot necessarily be seen but felt in a more intuitive level. Where Dr Dawkins sees faith as intellectual nonsense, most of us are aware that we hold many beliefs that we cannot prove to be true. Theoretical Physicists and Cosmologists have long made the point that there are many scientific theories that are presently believed to be true but may have to be discarded in the future as additional evidence emerges or new theoretical interpretations develop. There is no difficulty, for example, in believing that Darwin’s theory of evolution is considered by many to be the best explanation of the available evidence, but that does not mean it is correct, and may too have to be modified or discarded as new evidence or theories emerge.

Dr Dawkins calls faith a "vice". He criticizes scientists who falsify evidence. He calls science "one of the most moral, one of the most honest disciplines around - because science would completely collapse if it weren't for a scrupulous adherence to honesty in the reporting of evidence". He ignores the many examples of fraudulent evidence in a variety of scientific disciplines created by individuals seeking fame, wealth and validation of their theories by fellow scientists. Scientists are people just like anyone else. Some good and some bad. For Dr Dawkins, human beings are nothing more than animals that have evolved from lower forms of life and ultimately from non-life. Even as a scientist, I have always felt we are more than the sum of our parts. Somehow, he feels that a sense of awareness that some things are right and wrong have welled up in the human mind over the course of evolution. Ethical feelings are epiphenomena, feelings that have developed out of the chemical construction of the brain which itself evolved to possess this capacity. What does this mean? This means that ethical norms are like opposable thumbs, an inherited trait that has evolved gradually from non-life. This like others of Dr Dawkins’s pet theories that ethical and moral norms have evolved are not based in any scientific evidence but in fact fly in the face of not only man’s history but every discipline whether scientific, philosophic or theological. My observations, as a friend of mine once told me, “Man is like water…he seeks his lowest level”. Almost as an example of entropy, man’s behavior throughout history has a tendency to follow the path of least resistance. It is always easier to destroy than create. Easier to kill than to invest one’s time and resources to save a life. Man looks generally to a short term pleasure through evil, than a long term vision seeking good. A look at our history does not show a complementary evolution of man and at the same time, an evolving of ethical and moral norms. If anything man is more barbaric now than before he evolved into a biped. Dr Dawkins makes the charge that “more have died in the name of God than for any other reason”. Is this true or is it another of the misrepresentations for the internet scholar? In fact more have died in non-religious conflicts and specifically under the forced indoctrination of Atheism just in the last 100 years than all the previous wars in recorded history. Since 1900 over 232 million have died in non-religious world conflicts. The greatest mass murders being atheists Lenin (4,000,000), Pol Pot (2,000,000) Stalin (43,000,000) and Mau Zedong (77,000,000). ( Robert Conquest, The Great Terror and R.J. Rummel, Death by Government) To rebut these facts Dawkins’s starts quoting the Bible, especially the flood. The very book he spends most of his time saying is as fictional as a comic book. So much for objective analysis.

Throughout the book, Dr Dawkins’ continues on his dogmatic insistence that “real scientists ought to be atheists and has met with fierce resistance from precisely the very community that he believes should be his fiercest loyal supporters. Freeman Dyson, a world renown Physicist widely believed to be the next Nobel Prize winner for his work in quantum electrodynamics, spoke at his receiving of the Templeton Prize and not only celebrated the achievements of religion but was clear about the downside of atheism noting two of the greatest mass murders of our century (see above) were atheists. Dr Dawkins regarded this as an act of “apostasy and betrayal”.

Dr. Owen Gingerich, one of Harvards most renowned astronomers, produced God’s Universe, declaring that the “universe has been created with intention and purpose, and this belief does not interfere with the scientific enterprise.” Dr. Francais Collins writes in his Language of God, that the wonder and ordering of nature points to a creator God. Dr. Paul Davies, author of Goldilocks Enigma, while not subscribing to the Christian notion of God sees something divine out there. For Davies, his bio-friendliness of the universe points to an overarching principle that somehow pushes universe toward development of life and mind. Of course Dr Dawkins dismisses them out of hand. A survey done in 1916 helps cast some light on Dr Dawkins dogmatic belief. In 1916 active scientist were asked, “Do you believe in a personal God---specifically one that actively communicates with humanity and to whom one may pray with an expectation of receiving and answer.”
The results are well known: 40% said they did believe in this kind of God, 40% said they did not and 20% were not sure. The survey was conducted again in 1997, using the same question with almost the same results: 40% said they did, 45% said they did not and 15% were unsure. What shocked me was the manipulative phrasing of the question. The survey did not say, Do you believe in God?” The first question obviously eliminated scientists like Dr Paul Davies, who clearly believes in a Creator, just not a personal God. Or Albert Einstein, who would best be described as a pantheist, who often used religious language and imagery in his accounts of science. (Michael P. Leine: Pantheism; A Non-Theistic Concept of Deity) A more recent survey which asked scientists simply, Do you believe in God”? resulted in 82% stating that they did. Now that has to be distressing for the Atheistic Fundementalist.

In conclusion I want to leave you with a thought from Dr McGrath’s book, The Dawkins Delusion”. “Until recently, Western atheism had waited patiently, believing that the belief in God would simply die out. But now, a whiff of panic is evident. Far from dying out, belief in God has rebounded and seems to exercise still a greater influence in both public and private spheres. The God Delusion expresses this deep anxiety, partly reflecting an intense distaste for religion. The anxiety is that the coherence of atheism itself is at stake. Might the unexpected resurgence of religion persuade many that atheism itself is a fatally flawed worldview?”

MEMORIES OF MY FATHER

Fathers Day was just yesterday and it was a time for me to sit back a reflect on my father.  He died in 1988 and my mother died 9 months later.  My two older brothers and I have very different memories on my father.  They remember him primarily as a colleague or someone that took them to their different activities.  My memories I think are more as a child who my father taught to throw a football and who was my scoutmaster.  Out of the three boys, I had probably the most normal relationship with my father.  Camping, going to baseball or hockey games, going in the basement and sitting in his special chair and reading, building snow forts, snowball fights, listening to his stories about the war or spooky stories around a campfire.  My father was an unusual man.  I recently got his records from his time in service during WWII which confirmed much of what I had been told as a child.  At 17 my father, Lewis E Robinson Jr., with a permission slip signed by his mother, joined the US Marine Corps in 1939.  He had served for over a year as an adjutant orderly bodyguard of Admiral Kimmel at Pearl Harbor and was there when attacked by the Japanese, Dec. 7^th, 1941.  He continued in that position after Kimmel was relieved under Nimitz for several months, until his reassignment to the 2^nd Marine Raider Division, often referred as “Carlson’s Raiders”.  There were actually four Raider divisions but they were disbanded in 1944 and absorbed into standard Marine infantry divisions. His pay stub said he made $109.00 per month…combat pay, at his discharge in 1945.  I saw his picture that they took when he signed up.  I almost did not recognize him…except for his eyes.  He was just a boy.  He was at Makin Island and served on the “long Patrol” behind enemy lines at Gudalcanal from Nov 4^th, 1942 to Dec 4^th, 1942.  He also saw action in Saipan.  After developing “dingy” fever he finally was transferred to the Great Lakes Hospital where he met a young nurse, Evelyn Anderson, my mother.  When he was discharged he had lost so much weight, he looked like a starved POW.  Several of his uniforms, metals and  the black shirt from the Raiders are now at the Nimitz Museum, donated by my mother after his death.  After the end of the war, using his GI Bill, he entered College at Monmouth, Illinois and continued through University of Southern Illinois, University of Iowa, MIT...ending with a PhD in Physics.  He continued his career at Alice Chambers Labs and Arrgone National Laboratory.  He was also a professor at University of Chicago.  But with all that, he was the one who taught me astronomy, how to use a sexton, how to tie knots and make a fire, how to throw a football and make a snow fort.  I got married at 24 and had my first son within  the  year.  As an Airman First Class in the USAF force, stationed at Altus AFB, I don’t think my either of my parents understood how poor we were.  I did not have enough rank to qualify for on base housing and there was no where for my wife to work.  I worked extra jobs and we lived on credit cards.  When I could not go up to Chicago for my  fathers 60^th birthday party or his retirement or contribute to his gift, both my mother and brothers felt I was just being “cheap” or petty.  They just did not understand.  Later I sold his rifle that he had given me (which had been a present to him from my mother).  I sold it for food for my family.  All those hurts festered (probably with the help of my mother) for years.  It was twelve years later when I went to their retirement community in  Florida, that I finally got things taken care of with my father.  We forgave each other...and it was the only time I ever saw my father cry.  The medications he was on made my normally very unemotional father….cry as he told me how much he loved me and that he was sorry for those lost years and past misunderstandings.  He only lived eight months more after that and died in 1988.  There was still much more I wish I had said and time I wish I had.  He really was an enigma.  A man  born out of time who was a master chess player and loved the complexity of mathematics…and yet who taught me to listen to the trees sing as the wind passed through the branches.  He told each tree had its own song.  I remember his deep bass voice in the choir at church and his whistle that he taught all of us when he needed us to get back home for dinner.  I remember his (ugly colored) green upholstered chair/rocker in the basement that he had modified as a writing table, with a coffee holder.  I would sit in it and rock..only to be ousted out when he got home from work.  I remember all the things he built and his workshop.  How many times was I grounded for using his tools without permission…or losing a tool?  I remember the smell of his leather jacket, “British Sterling” aftershave, and the smell of his pipe.  I remember his funny coffee cup, with a whistle in the top that mom had given him.  The whistle never did work.  I remember how he liked to play golf and the times he took me on the course while in High School.  I never did get into golf…but he loved it.  I remember his India-Jones Hat he wore.  Popular at that time.  Maybe it will come back.  I remember his bolo ties with the beautiful turquoise stones and silver.  I remember going to the shooting ranges with my brothers, my own 22 rifle and his 45 revolver.  I still have both.  So many memories.  I miss you Dad.

The Tabernacle In The Wilderness

Before in the “Mystery of the Trinity”, I showed just a few of the Old Testament inferences of the “Trinity”. Probably the most beautiful and detailed explanations of not just the Trinity but the Deity of Christ .. and every other doctrines of the scriptures…is found in the study of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle, also called “Gods Dwelling Place” and the “Tent of Meeting”, was built to exact specifications given by Moses, under Gods command. It was an exact duplicate of what God had shown Moses on the mount. It is interesting that there are only 2 chapters in the Bible on creation…but 50 chapters on the Tabernacle. Another interesting point is that the symbolism used in the Tabernacle…the numbers of items, the materials, the precious gems and metals, the dimensions, the pieces of furniture, the attire of the priests, the sacrifices…all remain the same throughout the entire holy writ. The physical elements of the Tabernacle only have their meanings in the light of Christ and refer to the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the history of the church, the redemption of the believer, the body of Christ and the Kingdom of God. The tabernacle also paints a beautiful picture of the Godhead.

Without going into a lot of detail, the Tabernacle, or the “Tent of Meeting” was made to be able to be taken apart and transported from place to place, as the Hebrew children followed the pillar of fire by night or the cloud by day. The “outer court” was 150 feet long by 75 feet wide and consisted of a linen barrier 7.5 feet high supported by 60 gold covered pillars with brass sockets and silver caps….10 on each width and 20 on each length. The tabernacle was laid out with the length going east to west…and had an opening on the east side, with a white linen material covered entrance, with colors of scarlet, purple and blue in designs of cherubim.

If you were to walk in through the first veil entering the outer court…. in front of you would be seen the “brazen altar”. The bronze square altar with horns on the corners was the place of sacrifice. After the “brazen altar” you would come to the laver. The laver was made of shiny brass, filled with water and was used by the priest for ceremonial washing. West of the laver was a structure, 45 feet long by 15 feet wide and 15 feet high.

The Tabernacle building was made of gold plated wooden walls on both sides and on the rear (western end) of the structure. There was an entrance on the east side made of material hung on five gold plated pillars. The three walls were constructed of wide, thick boards standing on end, having two tenons inserted into heavy silver sockets. The sockets were placed on the ground. The boards were 15 feet long, twenty-seven inches wide and 4.5 inches thick. The inside of the tabernacle building was dived into two areas: the front (eastern room) was the Holy Place and was 15 feet by 30 feet, taking up 2/3 of the structure. Another material curtain separated that area from the Holy of Holies, which was a perfect cube 15 feet in height, length and width.

The tabernacle structure was covered with 4 layers of material: a white linen with hues of scarlet, purple and blue in the designs of Cherubim; next was a tent of black goats hair; next red dyed Rams skins and lastly badger skin.

Back to your journey, you have passed the Laver and now enter through the second curtain into the Holy Place. Thirty feet in front of you is the Golden Altar of Incense (actually directly in front of the last curtain entering into the Holy of Holies). On your right is the Table of the Shewbread and on your left the Lampstand. The Lampstand is the only light in Tabernacle. Behind the last curtain, which is about 6 inches thick, is the Holy of Holies. In the center of the square room is the Ark of the Covenant. The top of the Ark is a removable lid which has two gold cherubim on it, facing each other, kneeling in prayer, which is called the Mercy Seat.

As I said, this is an incredible study, that I truly encourage you to explore. There are a number of good books on the Tabernacle by Henry Soltau, David Levy James Strong and William Brown. If you can find Alexander Ness, Patterns for Living, which has been out of print for many years…you will be blessed.

So here is some facets of this incredible teaching.

There are three courts. The outer court, which is open to the elements of this world. The light, the rain, the heat, the stars, sun and moon. To get in this outer court you must come in through the first entrance. Jesus said “ I am the door”. This is the only way. This court represents God the Son. Jesus laid aside His robe of majesty and girded Himself with the towel of humanity. God became man. The two pieces of furniture are the Brazen Altar..the place of sacrifice (the cross) and the Laver…the place of washing. (Baptism…and being washed by the water of the Word. Jesus is the Word. “In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”

The three courts represent, God the Son…God the Spirit…and God the Father. The entrances… the Way, the Truth and the Life. Only ONE Tabernacle …containing three specific partitions.

You enter through the second veil (the truth) into the Holy Place (God the Spirit). The only light is the Lampstand. Remember at Pentecost how the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples as a baptism of fire. The Holy Spirit illuminates us and shows us truth. On the right is the Table of the Shewbread. The 12 loaves of unleavened bread representing not only the 12 tribes of Israel but the 12 disciples. It represents Gods work on each of us to knead us, mold us and bake us in the fire of trials and testing. The Table of Shewbread represents “Sanctification” which is a work of the Holy Spirit within us. In front of us the “Golden Altar of Incense”. The place of prayer, supplication, praise and worship, which is our way of entering into the presence of the Father.

The last curtain (veil) representing the life.. enters us into the Holy of Holies (The Father). The only light here is the presence of God Himself. In Revelations 21:23 John describes New Jerusalem (also a perfect cube like the Holy of Holies) saying, “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it; for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” Jesus came before the Father with His own blood, sprinkling it upon the mercy seat of heaven, as a propitiation for the sins of the race of Adam. God said He would meet with Moses between the wings of the Cherubim. And Moses was a type of Christ in the Old Testament. Jesus said, “I and my Father are one.” “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.”

The Mystery of the Trinity

Everyone keeps asking for me to write a post on the Trinity, but the one I have written is really too long for this website.  But here is a little of it:

The word Trinity is derived from the Latin “tinitas”,literally meaning threefold (trin/us)., the union of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in one God head. Some have stated that the concept of the trinity is of New Testament origin and was not even created until the third century where it was confirmed at the Council of Nicea. The fact is that the plurality of God…the Godhead....was understood and taught in the Old Testament…and was more completely understood with the words of Jesus (Yeshua) and the writings of the New Testament. They understood God Almighty..(Yehovah/ El Elyon/ El Shaddai). They understood the Spirit of God….(Ruach Eloheim/ Ruach Hokodesh). But they didn’t understand the Son….Hameshea…the Messiah.

While Trinitarian concepts are more explicitly laid out in the New Testament, they are implicitly revealed in the Old Testament. Here are a few intimations from the Old Testament Hebrew:

1. Usage of "one" in a composite sense.

   Even though the Old Testament teaches that God is "one," (Deuteronomy 6:4) this does not conflict in any way with Trinitarian beliefs. On the contrary, it actually helps to affirm them. The use of the Hebrew word for "one" (echad) in other clearly demonstrates that this word means "one entity" …or “composite unity”. The Shema reads, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one God.” Shema Yisrael, Adoni Eluheynu Adoni Echad. Does the word for one  (Echad)…actually mean one…in singleness? How is the word used in scripture? Adam and Eve were “one flesh”…Basor Echad. Does than mean they inhabited one body? The nation of Israel stood as one man. Ish Echad Does that mean there was one one person in the nation of Israel? The spies took a huge cluster of grapes from the promised land…on a pole that several men had to carry.  Eschol Echad   Does that mean there was on ly one..300 lb grape? Of course not. The use of the word in scripture shows a “composite unity.”

 2. The three persons of the Godhead seen simultaneously both in the Old and New Testaments.

   This is truly an incredible scripture. Isaiah 48:5-17. The one speaking has already identified Himself as God. Verse 12:” I am the First. I am also the Last. 13: My hand has laid the foundation of the Earth.”

Verse 16: “Come near to me, hear this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning;  From  the time that it was…I was there. And now, the LORD GOD (Yehovah) and His Spirit (Ruach Elohhim) has sent Me.  (there is the Trinity..the Godhead)    17: Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way that you should go.” Who is this?  …. Yeshua…(Jesus).

Who is Jesus?

 Every religious persuasion whether it be a false religion, alternative thought or cult (as defined in Christian Theology), attacks four basic tenet’s of the Christian faith: the virgin birth (incarnation), the deity of Jesus Christ, the doctrine of the Trinity and the bodily resurrection of Christ. The doctrine of Christ’s deity is essential to understanding both the virgin birth and the mystery of the trinity. These are but a few of the proofs of His deity in the scriptures.

First, who does Jesus say He is? What was Christ’s own self-concept? It must be admitted that Jesus never defines His place in the Trinity in theological language. However He made many statements about Himself that would not only be inappropriate, but blasphemous if He was not God in the flesh. In Matthew, He calls both the angels and the kingdom of God His. Elsewhere angels are called “the angels of God” and the Kingdom of God is found written throughout the scriptures. Matthew 13:41, Jesus says, “ The Son of Man will send His angels and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and evildoers.”

Mark 2:5 A paralytic is lowered through the roof by his friends, for Jesus to heal. Jesus first response was to say that the man’s sins were forgiven. The Scribes knew the implications of that statement for only God can forgive sins. Jesus relies, “Why do you question thus in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Tour sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise up take up your pallet and walk? “ To confirm His authority to forgive sins, Jesus healed the man, who rose, picked up his pallet and walked home.

John 14:9, Jesus tells Thomas, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” And in John 10:30, “I and my Father are one.” At this statement the Jew picked up stones to stone Him. Jesus said, “Many good works have I shown you from My Father. For which of these good works do you stone me? The Jews answered Him saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a man, make Yourself God.” They all understood exactly what He was saying.

John 8:58, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.” Some believe this is His strongest claim to deity. The Jews responded by picking up stones again to stone Him for declaring Himself God. Jesus recognized the phrase, “I am” as one not only referring to God but used by God in the Old Testament as His name given to Moses in Exodus 3:14.

In John 5:21 and 11:25, Jesus claims to have authority over life itself, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will”. His use of the self referential “Son of God” title, point to unique power and authority and His essential equality with God.

Second, What do the His followers say who He is?

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us… speaking of Jesus.

1 Timothy 3:16, “God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory..”

John20:28, Thomas who sees Jesus after His resurrection from the dead, and touches His hands and the wound in His side, falls to his knees and says, “ My Lord and My God.”

The writer of Hebrews writes plainly of Christ’s deity as the chapter starts out, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word.”

The passage also states that Jesus is not an angel or a priest. In Colossians 1:15, Paul adds, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, For by Him (Jesus) all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

The belief in Jesus Christ being of the same essence as God the Father began with Jesus Himself, was taught to His Apostles, who in turn handed down this belief to the early church fathers and apologists. Christ’s deity is the foundation upom which the Christian faith rests.

Has anything unlucky happened to you today?

No, I don't think this is an unlucky day for me.  My first child was born on Friday,13/th ?? years ago today.  She weighed 3# 4oz.  Her father before her was also born on Fri. 13/th.