Are you prepared for the End Times in line with The Word of God?

The End Times, this is a topic that has infatuated both born-again Christians and unbelievers alike for well over 2000 years now, and there are many Old Testament prophecies expound them.

Matthew 28:20 (NLT)

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

In this article we will be looking at what Jesus himself teaches us about the end times.

The writings of the gospels capture the words of Jesus when he was teaching the disciples about the Destruction of the Temple and the Signs of the End times. This can be read in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21.

Throughout the centuries since our Lord’s crucifixion, Christians have been convinced that the End Times is just around the corner. Even today many are convinced that we are living in the End Times right now almost to the point of focusing more on the ‘End Times’ than on Jesus himself. My dear brothers and sisters, this should not be! Nothing should distract us from our personal worship and fellowship with our Saviour.

Are the End Time signs important for Christians to know? Yes, they are!

Do we need to be aware of what is happening around us and across the world? Yes, we do!

But how should we do it?

The best place to find out how is to start with the words of Jesus himself. Let’s examine what our Lord taught on the ‘end of the age’ in Matthew 24. I believe that one of the most important verses on the Signs of the End Times is this one:

Matthew 24:36 (AMP)

“But of that [exact] day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son [in His humanity], but the Father alone.

The Apostle Mark records this as well:

Mark 13:32 (NIV)

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.

So, in the verses above Jesus tells us that no one knows when he will come again, only the Father knows and the end of our time will not happen until Jesus comes again!

There are so many verses in the Bible in which God tells us not to worry or be anxious about anything; this includes not worrying about when the end of the age will come; but I will only mention a few here.

Luke 21:34-35 (NIV)

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Hebrews 13:6 (NIV)

So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?”[Ps 118:6-7]

Now taking the words of Jesus a little further let’s move on to read what He tells us about being distracted by false prophets and messiahs.

Matthew 24:4-5 (NIV)

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.

Matthew 24:24-25 (NIV)

24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

In the two verses above Jesus clearly warns us that in the end times many false prophets and messiahs will appear and will deceive many, even born-again Christians!

But even in all the furor that is going on around us today both in the world and even in the Church, the Lord’s message remains the same ‘do not worry.’ Carry on in your daily walk with him and continue to strengthen your relationship with Him.

In Matthew 24:3 the disciples asked Jesus when would the end of the age come and what would be the signs.

Matthew 24:3 (NIV)

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

This is what the Lord replies, these are the signs we need to look out for. Not so that we can worry or be so consumed by the end times that we forget the focal point of Christianity, which is our worship of Jesus Christ our Lord and saviour, but so that we are aware of what is happening around us so that we can pray accordingly and spiritually prepare ourselves accordingly. Our focus should not be on the end times event, but rather on the one who will sustain us in the end times, yes, Jesus himself, the only one by whose name we can be saved!

• We must not let ourselves be deceived as many false Messiahs will appear – vs 4 & 5.

• We will hear of wars and rumours of war – but don’t be alarmed – vs 6.

• Nation will rise against nation, there will be earthquakes and famines – vs 7.

• These signs are just the beginning - vs 8.

• Many will be persecuted and put to death and will be hated by everyone – vs 9.

• False prophets will appear and deceive many – vs 10.

• Wickedness will increase and the love of most will grow cold – vs 11.

• The false messiahs and prophets will perform great signs and wonders to deceive the Church – vs 24.

• There will be darkness over the world, no sunlight, moonlight or starlight – vs 29.

• The world will be in total sin as in the days of Noah – vs 38 & 39.

The Lord ends off this chapter by telling us that we must all keep watch and be ready at all times.

Matthew 24:42-44 (NIV)

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Luke tells us that there will be earthquakes and pestilences:

Luke 21:11 (AMP)

There will be violent earthquakes, and in various places famines and [deadly and devastating] pestilences (plagues, epidemics); and there will be terrible sights and great signs from heaven.

But in all these terrible times the Lord encourages us not to be concerned and gives us this promise:

Luke 21:18-19 (NIV)

18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 Stand firm, and you will win life.

These are the things that Jesus told to the disciples personally and those of them that wrote the gospels and the other books of the Bible also made mention of the end times as well. Let’s have a look at some of these scriptures.

This is what Peter tells us:

1 Peter 4:7 (AMP)

The end and culmination of all things is near. Therefore, be sound-minded and self-controlled for the purpose of prayer [staying balanced and focused on the things of God so that your communication will be clear, reasonable, specific and pleasing to Him.]

In the verse above Peter tells us that in the end times we need to be sound-minded and self-controlled. The Spirit we received from God is not one of fear but of a sound-mind and self-control. We must not be overcome by fear and worry. The Apostle Paul confirms this in the following scripture:

2 Timothy 1:7 (AMP)

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].

Peter also tells us that in the end times many mockers and scoffers will appear. These are already amongst us and have been so for a number of years, prosperity preachers, so called dream interpreters, so called ‘Christian magicians and many more who by their self-motivated action and corruption of scripture are mocking God and leading many astray!

2 Peter 3:3 (NIV)

Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.

And furthermore, in this same chapter, Peter warns us that the Lord will come like a thief in the night, without notice. He exhorts us therefore to live holy and godly lies, entertaining no sin and to make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with him! We need to look forward to the end times and pray for the Lord’s coming.

2 Peter 3:10-14 (NIV)

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

The Apostle that has the most to say about the end times is Paul – filled with the Holy Spirit. So, let’s take a few of his scriptures and examine them.

In Romans 13 Paul tells us how we (the Church – born-again Christians) should be behaving:

Romans 13:11-14 (AMP)

11 Do this, knowing that this is a critical time. It is already the hour for you to awaken from your sleep [of spiritual complacency]; for our salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed [in Christ]. 12 The night [this present evil age] is almost gone and the day [of Christ’s return] is almost here. So let us fling away the works of darkness and put on the [full] armor of light. 13 Let us conduct ourselves properly and honorably as in the [light of] day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and irresponsibility, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for [nor even think about gratifying] the flesh in regard to its improper desires.

The warnings in the Bible about the end times are there for the Church, each and every born-again Christian, to prepare ourselves for His coming and create an all-consuming doctrine around the event. We are warned so that we can pray and reach out ever more fervently to the lost. But we must ourselves be a lifestyle witness to the lost and be living righteous and holy lives in the Spirit.

In the above scriptures in Romans, Paul gives us some examples of how we should be living and how we shouldn’t be living.

How we should conduct ourselves:

• We should not be complacent in our relationships – with Jesus and with each other – we must be fully committed in all we do.

• We must shed all works of darkness (those things that are contrary to the Word) and put on the armour of light – God is light, in Him there is no darkness.

• We should be clothing ourselves with Jesus Christ – building and strengthening our relationship with Him by being doers of the Word and not just readers.

We should not be:

• Partying and getting drunk.

• Participating in sexual promiscuity of any kind.

• Acting irresponsibly.

• Quarreling amongst ourselves.

• Jealous of each other.

• Adopting the ways of the world.

Paul, in 1 Timothy tells us that in the end times many will grow cold and fall away. Let’s think about that, I believe he is saying that many who call themselves born-again Christians will grow cold in their faith and fall away!

1 Timothy 4:1-2 (AMP)

But the [Holy] Spirit explicitly and unmistakably declares that in later times some will turn away from the faith, paying attention instead to deceitful and seductive spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 [misled] by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared as with a branding iron [leaving them incapable of ethical functioning],

What is even more interesting in the above two verses is the fact that this is what the Holy Spirit declares and the falling away will be due to demonic activity. Spiritual warfare should be part of our daily prayer lives, especially in the end times. Put on the full armour of God my dear brothers and sisters in Christ – and never take it off. Be prepared to fight in the Spirit. Remember the Lord’s words when he sent out the disciples for the first time: “Cast out demons and heal the sick!”

Our battle is not against flesh and blood!

Ephesians 6:12 (AMP)

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.

In 2 Timothy Paul tells us very clearly how people will behave and to keep away from them – many in the Church who call themselves Christians will be like this:

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (AMP)

But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear]. 2 For people will be lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane, 3 [and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of [sensual] pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith]. Avoid such people and keep far away from them.

In 2 Timothy 4 Paul tells us that people, yes people in the Church too, will not want to hear sound doctrine and the truth of the Bible but that they will only want to hear preaching that tickles their ears and makes them feel good and doesn’t challenge them to change to conform to the Word of God. They will follow the teachings of man to support their own deviances from the truth.

2 Timothy 4:3-5

3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine and accurate instruction [that challenges them with God’s truth]; but wanting to have their ears tickled [with something pleasing], they will accumulate for themselves [many] teachers [one after another, chosen] to satisfy their own desires and to support the errors they hold, 4 and will turn their ears away from the truth and will wander off into myths and man-made fictions [and will accept the unacceptable]. 5 But as for you, be clear-headed in every situation [stay calm and cool and steady], endure every hardship [without flinching], do the work of an evangelist, fulfill [the duties of] your ministry.

This is happening in many Churches today and this has been so for many years. Stay away from the ‘get rich quick’ teachings of man! There is no better ‘richness’ for Christians than the plain truth of Jesus Christ and him crucified – be imitators of Christ!

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (AMP)

And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, proclaiming to you the testimony of God [concerning salvation through Christ], I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom [no lofty words of eloquence or of philosophy as a Greek orator might do]; 2 for I made the decision to know nothing [that is, to forego philosophical or theological discussions regarding inconsequential things and opinions while] among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified [and the meaning of His redemptive, substitutionary death and His resurrection]. 3 I came to you in [a state of] weakness and fear and great trembling. 4 And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom [using clever rhetoric], but [they were delivered] in demonstration of the [Holy] Spirit [operating through me] and of [His] power [stirring the minds of the listeners and persuading them], 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom and rhetoric of men, but on the power of God.

1 Corinthians 1:11 (AMP)

Imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.

There are many other scriptures both in the Old and New Testaments that tell us of the end times and the signs that will precede them. But in this article, I just wanted you, dear reader, to know how the Lord expects you to prepare yourself for His coming even if He doesn’t come in your lifetime. Please teach it to others especially to the ones who are near and dear to you and your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father
I pray in the Name of Jesus that from this day forward that you would fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to be prepared for your coming, even if you do not appear in my lifetime. Lord by your Spirit help me to discern good from evil and not to succumb to the teachings of false prophets and messiahs. Help me to follow your Word in every way and I pray, Lord, that you would write your Word indelibly in my heart that I will not forget it and will be able to recognise false doctrine. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, I pray. Help my focus to remain on you Lord and help me to bring glory to the Name of Jesus and to be a blessing to this world. Amen.

To Jesus belongs all glory honour and praise!

Jesus, the Name above all names!

Revelation 1:7-8 (NIV)

7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”[Daniel 7:13]

and “every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him”;

and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”[Zechariah 12:10]

So shall it be! Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

God's Silent Years between Malachi and Matthew - Part 2: The Social, Religious and Spiritual Development of Israel

 

How was the religious, social and cultural life of Israel being shaped during these silent years?

During this 400 year period there were not only many political changes that had taken place in Israel and the surrounding regions but just as significantly, many religious, social and spiritual changes were wrought. A number of different religious sects and groups had been formed, many of them with their own man-made rules and regulations that were added to God’s laws.

A number of these sects were very humanistic in their spiritual approach, probably a legacy from Alexander the Great’s occupation of the region. Greek philosophy and thinking had crept into the culture during the Greek and subsequent Egyptian rule.

It was during this time that the Talmud emerged, the laws of Judaism written by the Jewish religious leaders of the time. Talmud from the Hebrew translation literally means ‘instruction’ that is, man’s instruction – the myriad regulations that the religious leaders of the time (the Pharisees and Sadducees) placed on the people and that are still in practice today. These are the list of sects and institutions that had come to be during this time:

• Pharisees

• Sadducees

• Herodians

• Synagogue

• Scribes

• Sanhedrin

These changes, the rise of these new sects and institutions, and the evolution of ‘Talmudic’ Judaism (the evolving of the people and the Talmud around the Old Testament Scriptures into one and the same thing - one implying the other) had come about during the four hundred years between the Old and the New Testaments.

This in itself shows the importance attached to the inter-Testament period. We can now have a quick peek at all these changes and developments that had taken place. It’s important for us to know the exact political and religious climate which our Lord and Saviour was born into.

To begin with, if we are to understand in general the spirit and trend of the Jewish community during this stretch of centuries, we must appreciate the profound impact that the Babylonian exile had made upon the Jewish nation. God sent the Jews into that exile because of their idolatry and complete disregard for His laws. The Jewish nation’s malaise and penchant for turning away from God was something that had plagued their existence way back to Moses and their time of slavery in Egypt.

But after the Babylonian exile, Israel has remained, right up to this day, one of the most monotheistic nations in the world with their belief in the one true God. This is quite extraordinary, isn’t it? The real tragedy of this though, was that although they believed in God, they didn’t believe that Jesus was the son of God and thus the Messiah that they were longing for, and they were also so wrapped up in the man-made Talmudic Law, that watered down and corrupted the original Law of Moses, that that they were deceived by their own intellect. The deception of the evil one is so subtle and so great!

What happened to bring about this change?

The Babylonian exile finally startled the Jews into the realization that the gods of the pagan world were lying vanities and were manufactured by man out of wood and stone and other materials and were thus powerless to do anything, and that Jehovah was the one true God, the Creator of all things, the sovereign ruler of the universe, whose will alone, is sovereign over all creation both in heaven and on earth.

With this realization they were once and forever cured of idolatry and thus they became confirmed worshippers of their covenant God Jehovah. But like us all they remained sinners and needed a saviour – they believed in the prophetic Messiah but just weren’t expecting him to come in the meekness of Jesus. But, even more tragic, many Jews have come to worship the things of the world just like we once did before we became born-again.

Right, I think we are now ready to have a quick look at the other new changes, developments and institutions that also emerged during this time:

The Synagogue
The word Synagogue comes from the Greek Language, as Hebrew has no word meaning synagogue. The Greek word 'synagein' is translated to mean 'to bring together'. It is called this because this is where the Jewish community came together to worship. However, the Hebrew language refers to the synagogue as the 'Beit Haknesset', which again similarly means 'house of assembly'.

The Law, and the Talmudic Law in particular, now became the standard of holiness and the symbol of nationality. Although at the time the Temple at Jerusalem remained the centre for Jewish worship of God, it was also the time that the Synagogue arose as a local place of worship. It was here that the Scriptures were read and expounded by the scribes in the towns and villages across Israel and in other places where the Jews had settled and put down roots.

The basic idea of the synagogue was instruction in the Scriptures, not worship, even though an elaborate liturgical service developed later which was very ritualistic, with public prayers read by appointed persons, and responses made by the congregation. Much the same as it is in many mainline churches today.

Another interesting fact that we learn about the Babylonian exile was that many of the Jews spoke Aramaic rather than Hebrew, which they had learned in Babylon, and had very little or no knowledge of the Hebrew language that the law was written in. Thus, a translation into Aramaic had to be made.

This is implied in Nehemiah 8:8 when Ezra started reading the Book of the Law to the exiles in Aramaic. Aramaic was also one of the three most common languages spoken by the Jews at the time of our Lord, the others being Hebrew and Greek.

Nehemiah 8:8 (NIV)

They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.

The Scribes
The scribes are mentioned on a number of occasions in the gospels, but just who were they? Well, the scribes mentioned in the gospels were different in function and purpose to the scribes that we know in the Old Testament.

In the Old Testament the scribes were the men that recorded things of significance, things of great historical value, prophecies, laws and decrees and so on. But in the inter-Testament period and in the New Testament gospels they had evolved into a ‘sect’ that had acquired a far more important and somewhat sinister religious status within the community than they had in the books of the Old Testament.

The ‘scribe’ institution appeared to originate when the exiles were about to return to Jerusalem. In Nehemiah 8 we see that Ezra, who is described as being a priest and scribe, stood before the people in an elevated position – upon a pulpit that had been specially made for him – and read from the Book of the Law.

Nehemiah 8:4-6 (NIV)

4 Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.

5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

It would appear that from this time on right up until the New Testament time and the arrival of Jesus, that the sect known as the ‘scribes’ grew very rapidly in religious power and status. The scribes, because of their man-made status, thus ushered in a new form of Judaism that made every Jew responsible for the keeping of the whole Law along with the man-made additions to the Law through the Talmud and a number of man-made rituals.

Along with this new type of Judaism came a complicated and complex code of practice that had to be overseen and expounded by a group of experts and guess what? The scribes were it – the dreaded religious experts of the day, or at least one of the groups along with our friends the Pharisees and the Sadducees! And of course they made it into a very lucrative business for themselves. This was such a deviation from the path of God’s anointed scribe, Ezra.

Thus, the scribes who we meet in the Gospel narratives, and the scribes that Jesus grew up with, were a class of professional experts in the interpretation and application of the Law; it must be noted that at this stage the Law of Moses was no longer adhered to as it was given by God to Moses but had evolved into the Talmudic Law.

The Talmud is a huge collection of doctrines and laws compiled and written sometime after the book of Malachi and before the 8th Century, A.D., by ancient Jewish teachers (rabbis). The Talmud, which often cites the Old Testament, is the basic book of Jewish law and contains volumes written by the leading rabbis of the age.

In the Greek of the New Testament their (the scribes) usual title is the plural, ‘grammateis’, translated as "scribes." Less frequently they are called "lawyers", nomikoi, as in Luke 7:30:

Luke 7:30 (NIV)

But the Pharisees and the lawyers [who were experts in the Mosaic Law] annulled and set aside God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.

The Pharisees
The Pharisees were different from the scribes in that they were primarily made up of priests, they were an ecclesiastical group, with common, although somewhat peculiar, religious aims and views, whereas the Scribes were a body of experts in the Law in a scholastic sense.

Again and again in the Gospel narratives the Pharisees are mentioned in conjunction with the scribes (Matthew 5:20, 12:38, 15:1, 23:2, Mark 2:16, Luke 5:21, 30, etc.), but although this reveals closeness of affinity it does not imply oneness of identity – they were often at loggerheads with each other. Satan’s age-old tactic of divide and conquer clearly in action.

Certainly, a man could be both a Pharisee and a scribe; the Pharisees and the Scribes were very close on many issues and viewpoints, yet still remained two different bodies. It was inevitable that the Pharisees should have much in common with the scribes, as many Pharisees were Scribes as well. The spirit and attitudes of the Pharisees were present in post-exile Judaism long before the sect took its historical form under the name "Pharisees."

The thing, however, that eventually crystallized the Pharisees into a clique or sect, was a body of Jews, primarily made up of the priests, whose goals and interests was the worldly aspects of religion and politics.

The Pharisees as a body were influential way beyond their numbers. According to Flavius Josephus the number of Pharisees in Herod's time was only about 6,000. Yet, despite their small number, they had in fact, such a hold on the minds of the people that no governing power could afford to disregard them. We need only read the four Gospels to see what sway they had in our Lord's days on earth - and what influence they had in bringing about His crucifixion.

The characteristic mark of the Pharisee - the ritualist -was that he was always ADDING TO (the Talmud is proof of this) THE LAW OF MOSES - He was not content with the written Word of God, and with the plain truth of the Word (the Law of Moses). He had to always start adding his own ideas and ordinances (known as humanism today), until religion and salvation became an overly complicated matter. This is just what the Pharisees did, until, with the weight of their accumulated religious ceremonies and observances, they made God’s Law (The Law of Moses) a burden too heavy for man to bear.

The Sadducees
According to the historian Flavius Josephus, the Sadducees seem to have been neither a religious sect nor a political party, but a social clique – much like the Greek philosophers. Numerically they were a much smaller body than the Pharisees and belonged for the most part to the wealthy and influential priestly families who were the aristocrats of the Jewish nation.

The leaders of the party were the elders with seats in the council, the military officers, the statesmen, and officials who took part in the management of public affairs. With the mass of the people, they never had much influence; but like true aristocrats, they did not greatly care about the people anyway and cared even less about what they thought – a truly self-serving bunch of hypocrites!

Their one ambition was to make themselves indispensable to the reigning prince, so that they might conduct the government of the country according to their own views and make lots of money out of it at the same time. The Sadducees held, like most modern politicians, that the law of God had no application to politics. If Israel was to be made a great and prosperous nation again it must be by well-filled treasuries, strong armies, skilful diplomacy, and all the resources of human abilities. To expect a Divine deliverance merely by making the people holy, they accounted as a sheer and dangerous fatalism.

As a body they rejected totally the Oral Law accumulated by the scribes and held to by the Pharisees and professed to stand by the Written Law (or should I say their own interpretation of it) alone; though, even their stand on the Written Law alone was done so with great scepticism. Matthew 22:23 and Acts 23:8 show how sceptical was their attitude to the Written Law, for we are told that they denied the bodily resurrection and did not believe either in angels or spirits and certainly did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah.

Thus, we can understand how intolerable to such a group were the teachings of Jesus and His Messianic claims. Their hatred is measured by their readiness to consort even with the detested Pharisees in order to kill Him. It was they, in fact, who were personally responsible for His crucifixion (compare Luke 3:2; John 11:49, 18:13,14,24, 19:15; Mark 15:11).

The mark of the Sadducee - the rationalist - was that he was always TAKING FROM the Law of Moses. He could not accept the written Word of God in its entirety, or the truth of it as it stands without drastic deletions. Everything had to be tried at the bar of human reason. This, that, and the other thing, had be cut out of the Law to make faith reasonable and tenable. This was precisely the attitude of the Sadducee. They could not or rather, would not believe either in angels or demons, either in the resurrection of the dead or in any other miracle and, as I said before, that Jesus was the Messiah.

The Herodians
The Herodians were purely a politically motivated group, and as the name suggests, they were devout followers of Herod the Great (who was actually not so great). Their main aim was to promote and further the political aims of the Herodian government and its systems. As such a group and because of their political viewpoint, they automatically gained the seal of approval from Herod and to a lesser degree, from the Roman authority. The Herodians as a group were referred to in scripture in Matthew 22:16, Mark 3:6 and 12:13.

Well, what more can I say about the Herodians? I can well imagine that many people of the day would consider it sound policy to strengthen the hold of the Herod house (politically speaking of course) on the Jewish leaders and public in general. What could be wiser than to back the Herodian throne, which enjoyed the favour of Rome, and thus giving Judea the protection of the mighty Roman Empire? Many saw, in the Herodians, the one Jewish hope of a separate national continuance; the one alternative to direct heathen rule. Others were inclined to favour a blend of the ancient faith and Roman culture such as the first Herod and his successors had sought to promote. This approach was the highest consummation of Jewish hopes. Nobody thought to ask God of course! Still, what can you expect from a stiff-necked people such as they were?

The Herodians were hated by the Pharisees. The two parties were bitterly intolerant of each other, which makes the consorting of the Pharisees with the Herodians against our Lord all the more astonishing. The trademark of the Herodian - the secularist – was that he was purely politically driven. He cared nothing for the Law of Moses one way or the other and cared not much more for his fellow man.

The Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin, quite often referred to as the Jewish Council, was the supreme civil and religious tribunal of the Jewish nation and also the supreme, judicial and administrative council of the Jewish people. The Sanhedrin consisted of seventy-one members, made up, so it would appear, of:

• The high priest

• Twenty-four "chief priests" who represented all twenty-four orders of the whole priesthood (1 Chronicles 24:4,6)

• Twenty-four "elders," who represented the laity, often called "elders of the people," as in Matthew 21:23, 24:3; Acts 4:8 - reminding us of the 24 elders surrounding the throne in Revelation 4:4

• Twenty-two "scribes," who were the expert interpreters of the law in matters both religious and civil.

When the word Sanhedrin is used, as in Mark 14:55, it denotes this fourfold assembly; and vice versa, where "chief priests and elders and scribes" are mentioned together, as in Matthew 16:21 it is referring to the Sanhedrin. An alternate name for the elders is "rulers." In some places we find just "chief priests and rulers" (Luke 23:13 or simply "rulers" as in Acts 3:17).

Our Lord could have had in mind the president and seventy senators of the Sanhedrin when He chose His seventy representatives and co-workers, as recorded in Luke 10, just as He could have had the twelve tribes of Israel in mind when He appointed the twelve apostles. His choice of those seventy was prophetic perhaps, symbolising perhaps that, amongst other significances, that the authority of that old-time Jewish court was indeed now passing away in favour of a new "seventy" under His own ‘Kingship’. Purely conjecture on my part.

The Common People
There is, yet, one very important aspect of the old-time Judaism which we must not on any account overlook. It is not only courts and schools and leaders and political parties which compose a nation, but those thousands and thousands of individuals who are only known anonymously and collectively as "the common people”, people just like you and me.

These common people far removed from the pomp and ceremony of earthly courts and the strife of factions and the heated atmosphere of political and religious fanaticism, were waiting for just one thing, the consolation of Israel, their Messiah.

And now at last as we enter into the New Testament times, and to people such as these, the long expected Messiah was revealed. In the hour of Israel's deepest degradation, when Herod's kingdom seemed to mock the aspirations of all faithful Israelites with its cruelty and its counterfeit resemblance of the true Law, their eyes beheld the Lord's Anointed, the true King of the kingdom of God, the Ruler, whose foretelling was from of old, from the very foundations of the world and from everlasting to everlasting.

Now when the New Testament writings start at the book of Matthew, we are faced with a completely different scenario – a different world to that at the time of the Book of Malachi. Rome is now the dominant world power and Israel is one of its puppet states and its puppet king is the infamous Herod the Great (we can now change his name to Herod the Horrible!) and the Roman Governor is the equally infamous Pontius Pilate.

Now that’s the cultural, religious and social scene that our Lord Jesus was born into, lived through and ministered into!

To Jesus belongs all glory, honour and praise!

Jesus, the Name above all names!

God's Silent Years between Malachi and Matthew - Part 1: The Political Shaping of History

 From Malachi to Matthew – The Silent Years!

Part 1: The Political Climate in these years
The period between the end of Malachi until the gospel of Matthew was about four hundred years and is often referred to as God’s silent years as he sent no further prophets to speak to Israel. But although His audible voice through the prophets had stopped, there was still lots going on that He was orchestrating in and through many different nations and people and in many different ways.

God is never inactive, He is ever watchful over His creation – His Holy Spirit is always at work to bring glory to Jesus! God was shaping history and fulfilling prophecy to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus, the Messiah!

The prophet Malachi had ended his Holy Spirit inspired writings in about 397BC. Some 50,000 Jews had been restored to Israel under the decree of Cyrus the Persian-Mede emperor who had defeated the Babylonians and destroyed their empire. But many Jews did not return home and remained scattered across the Persian-Mede Empire.

The walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt under Nehemiah and a smaller temple, somewhat less eye-catching than Solomon’s, had been built. Thereafter God fell silent as it were. No more recognised prophets were sent, and the voice of God was thus not heard. This was a time of dark, spiritual dryness for the Jewish nation. Within this period, we seem to find the sad fulfilment of the prophetic words found in Psalm 74:9 that were pronounced upon Israel:

Psalm 74:9 (NIV)

We are given no signs from God;

no prophets are left,

and none of us knows how long this will be.

The social state of the Jewish nation at the beginning of this four-hundred-year period needs to be kept in mind so that we will get a better sense of their spiritual condition under their oppressive circumstances and have an idea of the spiritual and political climate of Israel when Jesus was born and when he began his ministry.

Two hundred years before Malachi, Jerusalem had been defeated and overthrown, its walls broken down and the temple destroyed. The Israelites were carried off into exile in Babylon (606 B.C,). This was in punishment for turning away from God and after ignoring many warnings from the prophets to return to Him.

During the 70 year exile punishment period the Babylonian empire was overthrown by the Persian-Mede Empire (God at work through the Holy Spirit) under the leadership of Cyrus (536 B.C.). After the 70 year exile period, Cyrus issued a decree permitting the return of the Jews to Israel and under the leadership of Zerubbabel, some fifty thousand Jews returned to Israel and to Jerusalem in particular.

Some twenty years after their return to Jerusalem, and after many setbacks, the building of the Temple was completed, a much less impressive temple than Solomon’s which had been destroyed in the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar.

Then, some fifty eight years later, in 458 B.C., Ezra the scribe returned to Jerusalem with a small group of Israelites and restored the Law and the rituals that went along with it, to the nation. Another 13 years later, in 445 B.C., Nehemiah came to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and become governor there. Now, once again, there was a Jewish state in Judea, though of course subservient to Persian-Mede rule.

This, then, was the picture of Israel and the Jewish people at the beginning of the four-hundred-year period between Malachi and Matthew:

• The Jewish Remnant back in Judea for about one hundred and forty years (536 B.C. - 397 B.C.)
• A small Jewish state subservient to Persia
• Jerusalem and the temple rebuilt
• The Law and the ritual restored
• But with the mass of the Jewish people remaining, dispersed throughout the Persian-Mede Empire.

The Political Development
Now, if we are to appreciate this Jewish community as it re-emerges in the pages of the New Testament, we need to look at their political development as well as their social and religious development. Viewed politically, the varying course of the Jewish nation in Palestine simply reflects the history of the different world-empires which ruled Palestine during this time. The one exception to this was the Maccabean revolt, which resulted for a short period of time in there being an independent Jewish government.

Jewish history during the four hundred years between the Old and the New Testaments runs in six periods of mainly subservient rule:

• the Persian rule

• the Greek rule

• the Egyptian rule

• the Syrian rule

• the Maccabean rule, and lastly

• the Roman rule

The Persian rule (536 - 333 B.C.)
The Persian rule over Palestine, which commenced with the decree of Cyrus in 536 B.C. for the return of the Jewish Remnant, continued until 333 B.C., when Palestine fell under the power of Alexander the Great (the third of the Gentile world-empires foretold by Daniel). This means that at the end of Malachi the Jews were still under Persian rule and remained so for about the first sixty years of the inter-Testament period.

Persian rule seems to have been tolerant. The high priest form of Jewish government was respected with the high priest being given an increasing degree of civil power in addition to his religious offices, though of course he still was responsible to the Persian governor of Syria.

The Greek rule (333 – 323 BC)
Alexander the Great was something of a phenomenon in history. He rose into sudden leadership of the Greek Empire through the assassination of his father, Philip II of Macedon in 336BC, when he was only twenty years old. He transformed the face of the known world at the time, both politically and geographically, in little more than ten years. It is widely believed by many Biblical scholars, that Alexander the Great is the "notable horn" in the "he-goat" vision of Daniel (Daniel 8:5-7).

Daniel 8:5-7(KJV)

And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. 6 And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

In Alexander the Great’s campaign in Judea and his march on Jerusalem, he not only spared the city, but he also offered a sacrifice to Jehovah and had the prophecies of Daniel read to him concerning the overthrow of the Persian empire by a king of Grecia, (Daniel 8:21). Thereafter he treated the Jews with great respect and gave them full rights of citizenship with the Greeks in his new city, Alexandria, and in other cities in his Empire.

This in return, created decidedly pro-Greek sympathies among the Jews, and, along with Alexander's spreading of the Greek language, philosophies and civilization, a Hellenistic spirit developed among the Jews in Palestine which greatly affected their mental outlook thereafter and ushered in a more promiscuous and atheistic view of life filled with man’s rules instead of God’s

The Egyptian Rule (323 - 204 B.C.)
This is the longest of the six periods of the inter-Testament hiatus. The death of Alexander the Great resulted in a period of confusion and bitter infighting between Alexander’s four campaign generals which was resolved by a four-fold break-up of Alexander's empire. The empire was spilt between: Ptolemy, Lysimachus, Cassander and Selenus. These are purported to be the four "kingdoms that come out" which take the place of the "great horn," as predicted in Daniel 8:21, 22

Daniel 8:21, 22

And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.

After severe fighting, Judea, along with the rest of Syria fell to Ptolemy Soter, the first of the Greek kings to rule over Egypt. This was the beginning of the Ptolemaic dynasty.

For a time, Ptolemy Soter dealt harshly with the Jews, but afterwards he became just as friendly as Alexander was. His successor, Ptolemy Philadelphus, continued this favourable attitude towards the Jews.

His reign is notable in that the famous Septuagint translation of the Old Testament Scriptures was made from the Hebrew into the Greek language during this time. We see the importance of this when we realize that the Greek language had now become the language of the civilized world. The Jews were so numerous in Egypt and North Africa that such a translation became a necessity. The Septuagint came into general use well before the birth of Jesus and was still in use during the time Jesus was on earth and was quoted by Jesus.

The Syrian Rule (204 - 165 B.C.)
When Ptolemy Philopater (the fourth Ptolemy) died, his successor, Ptolemy Epiphanes, was only five years old. Antiochus the Great the Seleucid ruler of the Hellenistic Syrian Empire seized his opportunity and in 204 B.C. invaded Egypt, and Judea, along with some other territories soon after, Israel became annexed to Syria and so came under the rule of the Seleucidae.

There are two points of special note about this period. First, it was at this time that Palestine was divided into the five sections which we find in the New Testament. (Sometimes the first three of these collectively are called Judea.) These different provinces are:

• Judea,

• Samaria,

• Galilee,

• Perea,

• Trachonitis.

Secondly, this Syrian period was the most tragic part of the inter-Testament era for the Jews of Judea. Antiochus the Great was harsh toward the Jews. So was his successor Seleucus IV Philopator. Yet the Jews in Judea were still permitted to live under their own laws, administered by the high priest and his council. But with the accession of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.) a "reign of terror" fell upon the Jews. In 170 B.C. Jerusalem was plundered and some terrible atrocities were committed:

• the wall was torn down

• the temple desecrated

• temple sacrifices were abolished

• the Holy of Holies was stripped of its costly furniture

• the Jewish religion was banned

• a pig was sacrificed on the altar

• the Temple at Jerusalem was rededicated to Jupiter Olympius with a statue of Jupiter Olympius erected on the altar

• the Jewish people were subjected to inhumane cruelties.

The Maccabean Rule (165-63 B.C.)
This excessive cruelty to the people and the subsequent desecration of the temple by Antiochus provoked the Jews to revolt against and resist his rule.

Judah Maccabeus, known as Judas (Hebrew word for hammer), gathered around him a large army of guerrilla fighters and after several victories assumed an offensive stance against Antiochus. Jerusalem was attacked and liberated, and the temple was refurnished, and on 25th December, the anniversary of its being polluted three years earlier, the orthodox sacrifices were reinstituted (which date the Jews still observed as the Feast of the Dedication: see John 10:22). Judas Maccabeus also captured the chief Syrian military outposts up and down the land.

Antiochus contemplated revenge against Judas, but a defeat in Persia to the East against King Mithridates I of Parthia, in addition to the successive defeats in Judea seemed to have brought upon him a superstitious dread which developed into a fatal sickness. He is said to have died in a state of raving madness. That’ll teach him to mess with God’s people!

What at first seemed to be deliverance for Judea and Samaria proved to be one of the deadliest crises to come. Antiochus' son, Antiochus V Eupator, was very young (purported to be between 9 – 12 years of age) when he succeeded his father as King and was completely inexperienced in matters of empire ruling. This is when Lysias, his Syrian guardian appointed himself as king-regent. 

Lysias, together with the young king Eupator, now invaded Judea with an army of 120,000 men and defeated Judas Maccabeus and his army at Bethsura. Judas and his men retreated to Jerusalem which was then placed under siege. But just when things seemed to be hopeless for the Maccabean revolt a rival regent to Lysias appeared on the scene at the Syrian capital. Lysias suddenly persuaded the young King Antiochus V Eupator to make peace with Judea - promising the Jews the restoration of all their religious liberties. Thus, the Maccabean revolt was seemingly crowned with success.

Further troubles arose later, however, from a new successor on the Syrian throne, Demetrius I Soter. During this period Judas Maccabeus was killed in Nisan in about 160 B.C. In 143 B.C. Simeon, the brother of Judas assumed leadership of the Jewish army. He was able to capture all the other Syrian strongholds in Judea and forced the Syrian garrison in the citadel at Jerusalem to surrender.

Thus, Judea was freed of all alien troops; and from that time on (about 142 B.C.) was once again under independent Jewish government. Except for one short lapse, this continued until Judea became a Roman province, in 63 B.C.

The Roman rule (63 B.C. onward)
It is at this time that the notorious Herod family make an appearance on the political scene of a Judea under Roman rule. Antipater, the father of the Herod the Great who reigned at the time of our Lord's birth, managed to secure the support of the Roman general Pompey to gain control of Judea. The result was a siege of Jerusalem which lasted three months and ended with Pompey taking the city. Pompey with complete disregard for the Temple strolled into the Holy of Holies - an action which at once estranged all loyal Jewish hearts toward the Roman Empire. This was in 63 B.C.

Pompey's taking of Jerusalem ended the period of Judea's independence gained after the Maccabean revolt. Judea now became a province of the Roman Empire. A number of high profile political changes were orchestrated, one of the more significant of these political changes was that the high priest was completely deprived of any royal status, and retained priestly functions only.

The governing power of Judea was now completely placed into the hands of Antipater, who was appointed procurator of Judea by none other than Julius Cesar himself in 47 B.C. Antipater’s main concern was for feathering his own nest and appears to have had very little interest in making life better for his Jewish subjects. Another of Antipater’s political skills was that he was adept at changing allegiance to whatever Roman Emperor was in power and he managed to curry the favour of the different Roman Emperor’s with great success.

Antipater appointed Herod (his own son by marriage with Cypros, an Arabian woman) as governor of Galilee, when Herod was only fifteen years old. In about 40 B.C. after appealing to Rome, Herod was appointed king of the Jews. Herod, however, was never fully accepted by the Jewish people because of his mixed blood! Herod, seeking to ingratiate himself with the Jews, married Marianne, the granddaughter of a former high priest. He also added to this by making her brother Aristobulus high priest. 

He also further ingratiated himself to the Jews by greatly increasing the splendour of Jerusalem and building the elaborate temple which was the centre of Jewish worship in the time of our Lord. Of course, the money required to make these enhancements came from additionally taxing the general population, this further distanced him from the general population.

However, Herod was even more self-serving and cruel than his father was. He was a very capable (in a sort of sneaky, malicious way) and ambitious politician, but had no true benevolent feelings for the Jewish people. In fact, his only acts towards the Jews were those of malicious persecution.

His hands were also stained with the blood of many murders and many of these murders were from his own flesh and blood. He killed all three of his wife's brothers - Antigonus, Aristobulus and Hyrcanus. And later he murdered his own wife. And again, later, he murdered his mother-in-law. And still later he murdered his own sons by Marianne. This is the 'Herod the Great" who was king when our Lord was born. Herod at the time of Jesus, was definitely not so great!

This, then, in brief, is the political history of the Jews in Palestine during the four-hundred-year period between Malachi and Matthew. This was the political arena that Jesus and John the Baptist were born into!

(Ref: The  Complete  Works of Flavius Josephus – Public Domain)

Next week in Part 2, we will review this 'silent period' period from a social, religious and spiritual point of view!

To Jesus belongs all glory, honour and praise!

Jesus, the Name above all names!

What is God's family?

God is all about family! But what does His family look like?

Let’s first look at two scriptures from the Old Testament and then two from the New Testament.

Genesis 1:1-2 (KJV)
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

In the verses above, which are from the very beginning of the Bible in the Old Testament, we see two persons, God in verse 1 and the Holy Spirit in verse 2.

Now, moving on to the New Testament we see a third person emerge from the first chapter of the book of John:

John 1:1-2, 14 (NIV)
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

In the above verses John refers to the beginning of the Bible in the Old Testament, the Book of Genesis, when God started to create heaven and earth and then man.

We see that the Word was with God at the beginning and then that the Word became flesh and walked among us – this is Jesus.

So, when we combine the information given above; we have in John 1:1-2, 14 that Jesus was with God at the beginning (Jesus is also the Word); with the information we have from Genesis 1:1-2, where we see that we have God the Father and the Holy Spirit (who is the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus), it emerges that at the beginning was God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit! This is God with His family before the creation of mankind.

Now that we’ve established God’s family before creation, let’s now move on to the family that He established on earth as part of His creation.

Genesis 1:26-28 (NLT)
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
27 So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

Genesis 2:7 (KJV)
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Genesis 2:18 (KJV)
And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

In Gen 1:26-27 God makes a family decision and says, ‘Let us’ create man in our image – male and female. He then forms Adam!

In order for Adam to be able to multiply he had to have a wife (see Gen 2:18 above) so God made him one. He then goes on to bless them and tells them to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28) – an instruction to make a family!

Genesis 2:21-23 (NIV)
21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.
22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
So, God made Eve from the flesh of man (Adam’s rib) but Adam himself and all the animals God created were created from the ground.

Genesis 2:19 (NLT)
So, the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one.

Eve was made from the flesh of man and every human being since then has been born of the flesh, man and woman coming together, except Jesus who was born of the Spirit and of the flesh – the Spirit through God by the power of the Holy Spirit and the flesh through his mother Mary – Jesus’ human side. So, Adam and Eve multiplied (had children, a family) as per God’s instruction.

It is our spirit that is born-again, and it is the Holy Spirit that gives us life.

John 6:63 (NIV)
The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.

Family has always been on God’s heart!

Who is my father?

As soon as we become born-again Christians, we immediately become part of God’s spiritual family, with God himself as our Father and head of the entire Christian household across the world. We all, male and female, become children (sons and daughters) of God.

John 1:12-13 (NLT)
12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

In the above verses, God tells us through the Apostle John, that once we have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, He gives us the power  and the right to become His sons and daughters as we are born of His will and of his Spirit.

1 John 3:1-2 (NIV)
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

In John 1:12 and 1 John 3:1-2 above, the word ‘sons’ is translated from the Greek word ‘teknon’ and can also be translated as ‘children’ of both sexes, male and female. Thus, we are the spiritual children of God, both male and female, and God is our spiritual Father in Christ Jesus.

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he says a similar thing to what the Apostle John said right at the beginning.

Ephesians 1:4-5 (NLT)
4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

In the above verses Paul tells us that we (each one of us) were chosen by God even before He placed us in our mother’s wombs! How amazing is that! He predestined us to be His children. Ane is even more amazing – this gave Him great pleasure!

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour we are automatically adopted into God’s divine family as his children. Thus, making God our heavenly Father.

Who are my brothers and sisters?

In a nutshell our spiritual brothers and sisters are all those people across the world who have repented of their sin and have accepted Jesus Christ into their hearts as Lord and Saviour.

This is part of our adoption into God’s divine family. We are one family united through Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:26 (AMP)
For you [who are born-again have been reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified and] are all children of God [set apart for His purpose with full rights and privileges] through faith in Christ Jesus.

The Apostle Paul in many of his writings often referred to his fellow believers as brothers and sisters.

1 Corinthians 15:58 (NIV)
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

And Jesus himself tells us who our brothers and sisters are.

Matthew 12:50 (NIV)
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.

The writer of the book of Hebrews also tells us how Jesus sees us as his brothers and sister.

Hebrews 2:11-12 (NIV)
11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. 12 He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.” (Ps 22:22)

The Apostle John tells us that we must love each other as brothers and sisters in Christ and it is a sin if we do not. To love our brothers and sisters in Christ is a command from God!

1 John 4:20-21 (NIV)
20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

The Apostle Paul in the book of Romans also tells us that God created us to be conformed to Christ’s image so that we can be called His brothers and sisters. It was always God’s plan that He should have many children.

Romans 8:29 (NLT)
For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

You will also notice from these scriptures that there is no denomination mentioned, that is, there is no Anglican, Methodist, Baptist etc. When we become born-again, we just become part of the Church of Jesus Christ. Denominations are a man-made concept and are not Biblical and can often lead people into a great deal of confusion and prideful sin!.

What about my natural family?

Jesus came to bring salvation to mankind and thus reconcile man to God the Father. In doing so he also introduced a new social order - the spiritual family. Thus, every believer now has both a spiritual and a natural family.

Once we become born-again, the spiritual family takes precedence over the natural family in the sense that nothing should come between the believer and Jesus and thus God the Father. This was a radical concept not only at the time of Jesus but also in today’s world.

Look at what Jesus says in the below verses in Mark 3 (An account of this can also be found in Matthew 12:46-50 and Luke 8:19-21). Jesus was in a house ministering to a group of his disciples when his natural mother and brothers arrived at the front door, and they sent someone to call him.

This is what he says:

Mark 3:33-35 (NIV)
33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Now why did Jesus say this, seemingly denying his natural family?

We’ll find out now. Just look at this verse below!

John 7:5 (NIV)
For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

Extraordinary as it may seem, at the time of Jesus’ ministry, not even his natural family yet believed that he was the Messiah or followed him – they were not yet born-again!

Jesus says in Matthew 12 that those who were following him were his family, meaning they were his Spiritual family, through believing in him they became sons and daughters of God.

Matthew 12:46-50 (NIV)
46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” 

THE SPIRITUAL ALWAYS TAKES PRESCEDENCE OVER THE NATURAL!

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT ABOUT FLESH AND BLOOD, IT IS ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL THINGS OF GOD AND ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!

1 Corinthians 15:50 (NLT)
What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.

We are related to our natural family by flesh and blood which is perishable and dies, but to our spiritual family, we are related by the Spirit which is imperishable (eternal) and lives forever.

How do we relate to our natural family – those who are not born-again?

So, now that we are born-again, how to we relate to our natural family?

The answer in words is quite simple but it’s not so easy to do in practice. We do it in the same way God relates to us and all mankind!

•   In unconditional love

•   In forgiveness

•   In humility

•   In servanthood

•   In righteous discipline

•    And to the glory of Jesus

Just be aware that your natural family that are not born-again, stand with the ranks of the devil and will on many occasions be in opposition to you, especially when it comes to the things of God!

Matthew 10:34-37 (NLT)
34 “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.
35 ‘I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
36 Your enemies will be right in your own household!’
37 “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.

Mark 10:29-30 (NIV)
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.

God’s Promises to His Children

Many Bible scholars tell us that there are over 7 000 promises in the Bible that God makes to His children.

I have never counted them personally, but I do know that there are a lot, and I do know from personal experience that there is no more faithful a promise keeper than God.

2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV)
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

In the above verse the apostle Paul tells us that all God’s promises to those of us that are in Christ (born-again) are “Yes” and “Amen” – amen meaning “let it be so” or “so be it.”

God’s promise to His children are given freely and are entirely for our benefit, we don’t have to earn them we just have to appropriate them.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

God’s promises and gifts to His children are given to us out of His heart of pure, fatherly love!

Matthew 7:11 (KJV)
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

We just have to ask God to give us his good gifts. We ask not out of selfishness, to just benefit ourselves, but out of a heart of love that is for the benefit of others! Just as Jesus’ heart is for us!

James 4:3 (NIV)
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Remember always that if we do not have love (the agape, unconditional love of God) – then we have nothing and are nothing but empty vessels!

1 Corinthians 13:1 (NIV)
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

 We, the Church of Jesus, are God’s family!

To Jesus belongs all glory, honour and praise!

Jesus, the Name above all names!