Herewith is a video from National Geographic to provide a brief summary of the Reformation event. Not endorsing entirely nor rejecting whatever was written along with the said video on its website, simply because I haven’t read or checked its entire content – except the video itself. Neither am I endorsing subsequent videos from the same website.
October 31 marks the Reformation Day that occurred in 1517, with the German monk Martin Luther nailing his Ninety-Five Theses against Roman Catholicism. It was a document against the abuses and erroneous assertions of the Catholic faith that were not based on Scripture.
I have been a student of the Bible for a little over a couple of decades now. The effort of Luther that day should be recognized, but somehow I feel bad that the Christian faith then failed to go back and redeem the true teaching of the Scripture. A lot of Christian denominations came out of the Reformation. Today, it’s far worse; it became “to each his own”. Biblical passages simply became the springboard of most preachers, ignoring the original intention and context of the Scripture.
Though we can’t totally blame the Christianity of Luther’s time, Luther and his contemporaries had to counter the offensives done by the Catholics. But in later years, the then pillars of Christianity, having a better control of their prevailing circumstances, seemed to have been lost in the woods. The Christian faith has not been fully recovered; it’s not completely the same as that of first-century Christianity.
Yet, the Word of God is living and active. Anyone who sincerely seeks to study the Scripture will find the true teaching of Jesus Christ and the apostles, but the Bible needed to be understandable to people. Hence, one other major contribution of Luther in aid of restoring the Christian faith has to be his work translating the Bible from the lesser-known Latin language to the common languages of the people; namely, German, English, and French.
Today we have more than enough English translations, not to mention many other languages of the world, so no one should be excused from learning the truth. Though a little understanding of proper exegesis (the science or discipline in the interpretation of biblical text) would certainly be needed, which I believe should be taught to everyone who sincerely seeks to follow Jesus Christ. It is an essential part of discipleship.
I beg to disagree as claimed by some that it’s fine for 21st-century Christianity to be a bit different from that of the first. Simply because the Gospel message is for all time, it cannot be modified or altered.
The apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:4-6 said,
There is one body and one Spirit-just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
How then could Christianity have allowed so many denominations, diverse teachings, and interpretations?
Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 14:33, Paul made clear and said: “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints.” Can we honestly say Christianity henceforth after the Reformation Day has unified teaching about the truth?
Sorry to say that it appears even after more than 500 years later, the Reformation has gone poof. The only way for the truthful teaching of the Scripture to be restored rests on our faithfulness to Scripture alone.
It is therefore my prayer that God would raise more and more Bible-seeking believers. It is one thing to believe and another to believe the truths of the Scripture.
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Without a doubt, the story of Jonah is better known than that of Nahum, though both books spoke of God’s judgment against Assyria. In traditional Sunday school setting, perhaps the focus of Jonah’s story would often be that of his adventure – he was swallowed by the great fish for three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17) – and that of his miraculous survival after he had prayed to God for mercy (Jonah 2:10). A serious study of the book however would reveal that the subject of Jonah’s story was God and His great mercy and love for His creation. See Jonah 4:10-11.
And the LORD said, “You [Jonah] pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
God obviously does love and care for His creation, see Matthew 5:44-45, Jesus Christ said:
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
However, God’s love expressed through Jesus Christ, that alone brings salvation; see Romans 5:8-10. The apostle Paul writing to the believers in Rome said:
But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.
Again see Acts 4:10-12.
Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by Him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Continuing on our topic, it is noteworthy to know that from within the Old Testament Scripture Jonah was mentioned once outside his book (Jonah); see 2 Kings 14:23-25.
In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke by His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher.
Let me get this out first, there were two Joash in 2 Kings. One was the father of Amaziah king of Judah and the other father of Jeroboam II king of Israel.
Next, understand that after the split of the monarchy under David and Solomon, Jeroboam the son of Nebat became the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel. The other half, the southern kingdom, was known as Judah. Jeroboam the son of Josh or Jeroboam II was the fourteenth king of the northen kingdom of Israel. Also, Joash and Jehoash were the same person, the father of Jeroboam II; see 2 Kings 13:25.
Then Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again from Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities that he had taken from Jehoahaz his father in war. Three times Joash defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel.
Jehoahaz was the twelfth king of Israel, Jehoash or Joash the thirteenth king and Jeroboam II the fourteenth king of the northern kingdom of Israel.
Jonah then had not always been a reluctant prophet of God as seen from 2 Kings 14:25 quoted above. Also, since he had or started his ministry during the reign of Jeroboam II, Jonah then could be contemporaries with Hosea and Amos or he was shortly ahead of them; see Hosea 1:1
The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
Now see Amos 1:1.
The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. (Amos 1:1)
All three prophets – Jonah, Hosea and Amos – had their ministry during the reign of Jeroboam II. On the other hand, Jonah and Nahum should be seen as Book 1 & 2 of God’s judgment against Assyria. Nahum prophesied in the time between the Assyrian capture of Thebes in Egypt which is known to have occurred in 663 or 661 B.C. (Nahum 3:8-11), and the final destruction of Nineveh in 612 B.C. (Nahum 2:8-13). Source for the dates of Nahum are taken from the Complete Word Study Bible. Nahum was a seventh century B.C. prophet; Jonah, on the other hand was an eighth century B.C. prophet of God.
An online website, History World, under History of Assyria narrated that the Assyrian empire was the greatest then destroying the northern kingdom of Israel and the coastal cities of Phoenicia in the late eighth and early seventh century B.C, next was Thebes of Egypt, far up the Nile sacked in 663 B.C. Exactly as it was detailed in Scripture.
Jeroboam II reigned in the northern kingdom of Israel 41 years (2 Kings 14:23). Zechariah succeeded him and he reigned for six months (2 Kings 15:8), followed by Shallum who reigned only for a month (2 Kings 15:13), then Menahem ruled for 10 years (2 Kings 15:17). During his reign, Assyria came against the land of northern Israel but then they left after Menahem paid tribute to the king of Assyria. Pekahiah succeeded Menahem and he reigned for two years (2 Kings 15:23), and second to the last was Pekah who reigned 20 years (2 Kings 15:27). In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Assyria again came and captured territories of the northern kingdom. This time people were exiled as captives to Assyria (2 Kings 15:29). It was also Pekah king of Israel who connived with the Syrian king in attacking Judah, the other half of the former monarchy of the unified Israel (2 Kings 16:5). Pekah however was murdered by Hoshea. He was the last king of the northern kingdom of Israel, and he reigned 9 years (2 Kings 15:30; 17:1). It was during Hoshea’s reign that the northern kingdom of Israel fell completely into the hands of Assyria and the whole of the northern kingdom of Israel was exiled and scattered (2 Kings 17:6). With the end of the northern kingdom of Israel, Scripture made an important remark; see 2 Kings 17:7-8,15.
And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced … They despised His statutes and His covenant that He [God] made with their fathers and the warnings that He gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them.
See also 2 Kings 17:18-20.
Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only.Judah also did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight.
Altogether after Jeroboam II who reigned 41 years, the succeeding kings reigned a total of 41 years and 7 months. Also, Assyria had practically and constantly theatened the northen kingdom of Israel after the reign of Jeroboam II, all 41 years beginning with Menahem’s reign. Since it was barely seven months after the reign of Jeroboam II when Menahem came to power, perhaps Jonah saw firsthand the oppression of Assyria against his homeland. He was from Gath-hepher, a border town of Zebulun, one of the ten tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel. Jonah must have wondered why God had favored Assyria, sending him to preach His divine judgment. Jonah knew God would relent from His judgment once Assyria turned to Him for forgiveness; hence, he disobeyed God’s call and went the opposite direction, see Jonah 4:2-3.
And he [Jonah] prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that You are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Perhaps we could relate to Jonah’s displeasure and anger. After all, his own homeland had been threatened by the Assyrians whom God have forgiven. Did God really favored Assyria over Israel? Could Jonah be asking as well, “Why can’t God offer the same favor and forgive Israel too as He had done for Assyria?”
Remember I explained earlier that Pekah the king of Israel connived with Syria to attack Judah. The combined attack did occur, but they just can’t conquer Judah (2 Kings 16:5). Also, it was by God’s design that Israel should fall into the hands of the Assyrian because they have broken God’s covenant (2 Kings 17:7-9,13-15). Yes, Judah also did the same against God, yet they were spared? See 2 Kings 17:18-20.
Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of His sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only. Judah also did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of his sight.
God seemed to have relented on His earlier judgment against Nineveh because Assyria was His vessel of vengeance against Israel; see Isaiah 7:7-9.
Thus says the Lord GOD: “It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you [King Ahaz of Judah] are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”
God never backed down from His word, and He changes not. Israel was punished according to the stipulation of God’s Covenant with them; see Deuteronomy 28:15.
But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all His commandments and His statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.
Continue with Deuteronomy 28:25-26.
The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away.
Also Deuteronomy 28:33-34.
A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually, so that you are driven mad by the sights that your eyes see.
And again Deuteronomy 28:36-37.
The LORD will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away.
Finally Deuteronomy 28:45-49.
All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes that He commanded you. They shall be a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand …
No wonder then, at the time of Pekah king of Israel, Isaiah 7:17 said:
The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!
As you can see, first, Nineveh turned to the LORD for forgiveness with God’s judgment by Jonah. Perhaps a second reason – God is sovereign and He knew all things, so Assyria was preserved for God’s purpose against Israel. Same with Judah, though they have followed Israel and disobeyed God’s commandments (2 Kings 17:18-19) yet they were preserved for the meantime until the coming of Jesus Christ, see Isaiah 7:13-14.
And he [Isaiah] said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.“
See also Matthew 1:22-23.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet [Isaiah]: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel (which means, God with us).
This passage spoke of the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:13-14, the coming of Jesus Christ. At that time, Jerusalem together with its temple which was in Judah was the known nation of the Jew. But within forty years after the crucifixion, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, Jerusalem (Judah) was destroyed and the surviving Jews were scattered for close to two millennium fulfilling exactly Deuteronomy 28.
It is therefore not surprising that Jonah failed to comprehend God’s purpose. Truly, just as God said in Isaiah 55:8-9,
For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
At this point, having understood how God’s word remained true and was fulfilled in history, let us learn to always trust God, especially when times are tough, perplexed and doubtful. Always put our faith in God for He alone holds our future and He is good. Let us also obey God’s word though circumstances may seem to suggest otherwise. For no one can ever thwart His good purpose and will, He alone reigns sovereign.
In conclusion, Jonah was an eighth century prophet during the reign of Jeroboam II as mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25. Biblical scholars have differing dates for Jeroboam II. Both Easton Bible Dictionary and Smith Bible Dictionary dated his reigned 825-784 B.C. But taking the dating from the Jewish Virtual Library, it should be around 789-748 B.C. Jonah then should be a hundred or so years ahead of Nahum ministry – after 663-661 B.C. but before 612 B.C.
As I have said earlier, history proved true God’s word. It is ironic that God illustrated His impending judgment against Assyria by their own capture of Thebes. See Nahum 3:8-11.
Are you [Assyria] better than Thebes that sat by the Nile, with water around her, her rampart a sea, and water her wall? Cush was her strength; Egypt too, and that without limit; Put and the Libyans were her helpers. Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity; her infants were dashed in pieces at the head of every street; for her honored men lots were cast, and all her great men were bound in chains. You [Assyria] also will be drunken; you will go into hiding; you will seek a refuge from the enemy.
I have mentioned earlier that an online website (History World, History of Assyria) proved to us the fulfillment of God’s Word. We having the benefit of history now see the truthfulness of God’s word so we should also learn that most of the time it is only on hindsight that we get to see God’s good purpose for things that He have allowed into our lives.
Also as I have said earlier, both Jonah and Nahum preached about God’s judgment against Assyria. In Jonah’s time, Nineveh repented so God relented upon His judgment; in Nahum’s, the LORD affirmed with finality His destruction of Assyria. See Nahum 2:8-13.
Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. “Halt! Halt!” they cry, but none turns back. Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of the treasure or of the wealth of all precious things. Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale! Where is the lions’ den, the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and lioness went, where his cubs were, with none to disturb? The lion tore enough for his cubs and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh. Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.
Jonah and Nahum indeed are the stories of God’s justice, mercy and grace. Assyria, Israel and Judah were mere actors portraying God’s greater purpose in creation. Judah was spared for awhile simply because the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Immanuel, would be brought into the world through them. Scripture is not simply telling us stories of people but of God’s character and His divine purpose for salvation. Life is complex and profound. It is easy to be led astray by the humps and bumps of life causing us to made choices or decisions base on human perspective. Never leave God out of the equation of life. Focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, He alone should be at the center of our life and the decision we make. Only then may we truly glorify and honor God.
Blessings!
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One undeniable truth about life is that our physical existence has an end. Nobody should be surprised by it. It’s a known fact since the beginning of humanity. Perhaps we may say medical science has progress so much that the years of life have been prolonged. But I rather believe that medical science has helped improve the quality of life at the onset of diseases. It could also be argued that medical science might sometimes have unknowingly been prolonging the suffering of a terminally ill person. So it could be a matter of perspective.
Mankind has forever been trying to solve the problem of aging in the hope of addressing the reality of death. Death is a reality declared in the Bible. And Scripture did provide the solution to death.
In Genesis, God declared the punishment of death once the first humans broke His commandment – that they should not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God gave mankind everything they needed for life, just one command, and yet they chose to break it so death occured.
But wait, what exactly did God say to Adam? See Genesis 2:16 -17.
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, FOR IN THE DAY THAT YOU EAT OF IT YOU SHALL SURELY DIE.”
Fast forward to Genesis 3:6-8.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
No physical death occured immediately after mankind violated God’s commandment. The excuse that death came later cannot be acceptable if we take God’s Word accordingly. Reading from the text of Genesis 3:6-8, two things immediatly occured – mankind saw themselves naked and they became alienated from God – so spiritual death occured immediately after they broke God’s covenant. See Genesis 3:10.
And he [Adam] said, “I heard the sound of You [God] in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
Yes, God made a Covenant with Adam the moment He put him in the garden of Eden. The condition of God’s covenant was clearly stipulated in Genesis 2:16-17. Adam did not simply violate God’s commandment, he broke God’s Covenant with him. See Hosea 6:7, God said: “But like Adam they transgressed the Covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with Me.”
The Scripture in Job 1:21 said: And he [Job] said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Physical nakedness cannot be the problem. Adam and Eve were created naked (Genesis 2:25). No human was born dressed. It’s quite obvious from the narrative of Genesis that God didn’t saw nakedness as a problem, mankind did. See Genesis 3:10-11.
And he [Adam] said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He [God] said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
Also see Genesis 2:25“And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” Both Adam and Eve were naked when they were created and there seemed to be no problem with it. But when Adam told God he was afraid because he was naked so he hid himself, the LORD replied, “Who told you that you were naked?” Then He asked Adam, “Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” (Genesis 3:10-11).
Do you understand God’s question to Adam? God actually was asking Adam, “Did you broke the covenant that I have made with you?
Clearly nakedness as implied by Adam equates to his breaking of God’s covenant. And since God’s condition for mankind to remain inside the Garden of Eden was broken, Adam and Eve needed to be banished from the garden. See Genesis 3:22-24
Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever-“ therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
Before Adam and Eve broke God’s Covenant, mankind was in a state of innocence because they knew no evil, only goodness. Now that humanity had committed an evil deed breaking God’s covenant with them; hence, they now knew good and evil. Yet despite mankind’s sin, God clothed them to cover their shame – clearly an act of God’s kindness toward His creation. See Genesis 3:21.
And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
God simply provided a temporary remedy for mankind; it looks forward to the calling of Abraham and the covenant making at Mount Sinai to the coming and return of Jesus Christ. See 2 Corinthians 5:2-4.
For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened-not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
By “tent”, the apostle Paul here spoke of the Mosaic covenant, of which Paul said they groan longing to be further clothed by the New Covenant of Christ Jesus, then mortality may be swallowed up by life.
Spiritual death then means to be out of God’s Covenant. And without God’s Covenant mankind could forever be outside the Garden of Eden, where the TREE OF LIFE is.
It is quite obvious that mankind remains to be living even after Adam and Eve had broken God’s covenant and banished from the garden. In fact, they even multiplied by having children. But henceforth, every human would be born outside of the Garden of Eden and apart from God’s Creation Covenant.
The immediate consequence of mankind’s banishment from the Garden of Eden then demands as stipulated in Genesis 3:19 saying,
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Consequently, apart from God’s Covenant, physical birth and death became the natural cycle of humanity, and there is no way out of it. Mankind being of dust also is susceptible to degeneration, hence aging and death. The dilemma of death was the making of Adam, the representation of all humanity before God, with whom the LORD first made a covenant.
We can’t make any complaint or demands with God. The life that we have now still originated from God. See Genesis 2:7.
Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
See also Ecclesiastes 12:7; Scripture said: “And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” By “spirit”, the Bible refers to the “breath of life” which made man a living being. See also Genesis 6:3.
Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”
Our present existence or life is truly a gift from God. Eternity is not part of the original equation in creation due to Adam’s fall to sin. Rather, eternity is God’s gift for everyone whom will embrace His New Covenant. See Matthew 26:27-29.
And He [Jesus Christ] took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them [the disciples] saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
See also Hebrews 8:6.
But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.
Jesus Christ alone is the solution to the humanities problem of death. The apostle Paul on his letter to the church of Ephesus said:
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved– and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus …
The journey of faith sometimes is long and tedious. But the transition from unbelief and faith in Christ Jesus is made once and should be real and true. God’s covenant with Adam demands obedience. Similarly the New Covenant of Jesus Christ also requires faith and obedience. See John 3:35-36.
The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
It is a delusion to claim faith in Jesus Christ yet be without obedience. Consequently, the apostle James said, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17).
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Last week we studied Jonah, this morning it’s Nahum. Both books spoke of events about Nineveh – the capital city of the Assyrian Empire.
In Jonah, God relented from His judgment because Nineveh turned to the LORD for forgiveness. In Nahum, God reinforced His judgment against Nineveh because Assyria wanted to wage war against Judah (Southern Kingdom).
God had given the Northern Kingdom (Israel) over to the Assyrian Empire but not Judah. Though Judah also was not obedient to God because He had a purpose to destroy Judah after their rejection of Jesus Christ.
We may say that God’s judgment was put on hold not due to any merits from the people of Israel but because of God’s purpose – the coming of the Savior Jesus Christ.
Despite the wickedness of mankind, God still was extending His mercy upon whomever would believe in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.
Nahum 1:7 said: “The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.”
The Unchanging God, I should say. He is the same God that we worship today.
Israel failed due to their arrogance. Perhaps thinking they are the children of God. Despite John the Baptist’s declaration that the wrath of God was coming upon Israel and God is able from the stones to raise children for Abraham (Matthew 3:9), Israel remained adamant and rejected God’s Savior for humanity. In the same sense, Christians should always recognize that God’s salvation is all by the grace of God through faith in Christ Jesus – nothing more and nothing less. Religious traditions that are not from the Scripture have no value in the grace of God. Seek the grace of God, Christ Jesus and Him alone!
Study the Bible to know the Christ Jesus of the Scripture and nothing else.
Blessings!
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An online dictionary defined “cult” as a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing. Come to think of it, a lot of Christians haven’t even read a single book of the Bible, they simply rely on the teaching of a pastor, taking his every word as gospel truth. Worse, some even would chose to believe the pastor more than the Word of God.
The authority of the pastor to teach comes from the inerrant truths of the Scripture, not from claims of divine inspiration but was devoid of truths from the Word of God. No pastor could justify as God’s Word by simply picking a verse or two here and there, unless first exploring the context then explaining the message of the Bible. Without a doubt, the Bible’s message is timeless but we need to respect its immediate audience, background, and time statement. The last one is often abused by preachers and teachers of the Bible today.
For instance, Jesus declared before His disciples and said:
“Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matthew 16:28).
It was obvious Jesus was telling His immediate audience – His immediate disciples “Peter, James, John and the rest,” not us – that His Return would be within their lifetime. Go tell pastors or any other Christians about this statement from Jesus Christ. I have seen a lot just shrugging it off, not realizing that if we doubted Jesus’ promise here, how then do we believe John 3:16, also a promise of Christ Jesus our Lord?
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Ironic, isn’t it? That a lot of Christians choose to believe what is comforting to them but not necessarily every Word of God? Isn’t that the behavior of a cult?
The apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians spoke of Christians deserting the grace of Christ and were turning to a different gospel (Galatians 1:6-7). To the Corinthians, Paul warned against people preaching another Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:4). It is therefore important that we are believing the Jesus Christ of the Bible and understand the Gospel as presented by the Scripture.
So Paul made it clear and said:
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the Gospel I preached is not of human origin. For I did not receive it or learn it from human source; instead I received it by a revelation of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)
Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ; he authored almost half of the New Testament writings of the Bible. Every book or writing within the New Testament Scripture has authorship of an apostle of Jesus Christ.
Paul wrote the epistles of Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. I believe Hebrews also. Luke, on the other hand was a travelling companion of Paul, he wrote the Gospel of Luke and Acts.
Peter was behind the epistles of 1 & 2 Peter. Mark, on the other hand, derived his authority to write a Gospel (Mark) from Peter.
John authored the Gospel of John, Revelation and lastly, the epistles of 1st, 2nd, and 3th John.
James, the brother of Jesus, who became an apostle and leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:13-20), wrote the epistle of James.
Jude is the same person as Judas (Not Iscariot) mentioned in John 14:22. He was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, brother of James the son of Alphaeus, also known as Thaddaeus in Matthew 10:3. If you have doubts, do a comparison of Matthew 10:2-3 with that of Acts 1:13. But bear in mind that in the Greek, it’s “Judas of James, and James of Alphaeus.” The words “the son” was added by translators, meaning James and Judas were brothers. The same may be said of Luke 6:15-16. See Jude 1:1.
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.
Finally, the apostle Matthew wrote one of the three synoptic Gospels (Matthew) of the Bible. So we have all 27 books of the New Testament Bible written under the authority of an apostle of Jesus Christ. And they all agreed and preached the same Gospel, so Paul made it clear that no one should preach a different gospel but the Gospel that was from the Lord Jesus Christ. See Galatians 1:6-12.
I am astonished that you [the Galatians] are so quick deserting Him [God] who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we [the apostles] or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
For I would have you know, brothers, that the Gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Every author of the New Testament Scripture lived within the first century of Christianity. No writings could have been done after the fall of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple in 70 AD for the simple reason that Jerusalem and the temple were at the center of the Jewish faith, yet none of the New Testament writers spoke anything on the aftermath of its destruction.
The truths about Jesus Christ and the Gospel may only be determined from within the Scripture, both New and Old Testament writings of the Bible – Scripture alone. The 66 books of the Bible were the only inspired writings of men who spoke from God (2 Peter 1:20-21), inerrant and the sole source of truth.
Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)
The apostles of Jesus Christ may no longer be with us, but by God’s divine providence, we have the authoritative writings of men who spoke from God written down, preserved, and available for us to know the truthful teaching of God’s Word.
If you treasure the Bible and your salvation, let us not be part of the flock of cult. Challenge yourselves to read the Bible. Join Bible studies that teach people how to properly read and study the Scripture, not simply seeking to hear comforting words from the preacher or pastor. The apostle Paul, in his last letter to Timothy, commanded him saying:
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by HIs appearance and His kingdom: Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
Those words were spoken to Timothy when the last few living apostles were still around, and yet the danger of straying away from the truth was already present. How much more today, we are living about two millennia away from the immediate disciples of Jesus Christ? Shouldn’t we be more careful of what to believe or not?
Listen to the exhortation of Peter for pastors/elders:
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker of the glory that is going to be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. (1 Peter 5:1-4)
Lastly, the apostle Paul said:
Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you. (1 Timothy 4:16)
What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of My Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. (Matthew 18:12-14)
Those were the words of Jesus Christ to His disciples, and it continues to resonate today through the Scripture, the Word of God. It was, and still is, the desire of Jesus Christ our Lord that we all be under His flock. Listen then to the words of the Bible, not the pastor if it isn’t according to the inerrant Word of God. Seek true undershepherds (1Pe 5:1-4; Acts 20:28) of Christ Jesus; those who holds only to the Words of Christ and rightly handles the truth (2Tim 2:15).
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Unlearning Tradition, Relearning Scripture 