Money grows on trees??? by Gary Rose

Behold, the wisdom of a future philosopher! This little guy has a LOT to learn; especially about money! What he says SOUNDS REASONABLE ENOUGH, but he is still dead WRONG!

Right about now, you are saying to yourself- give him a break, after all, he is just a KID. And you would be right, of course. However, adults sometimes think in a mixed up way, just like HIM...

Matthew, Chapter 16 (World English Bible)

 ¹ The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven.  ² But he answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’   ³  In the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you can’t discern the signs of the times!   ⁴  An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will be no sign given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” 

He left them, and departed.  ⁵ The disciples came to the other side and had forgotten to take bread.  ⁶ Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 

  ⁷ They reasoned among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” (emp. added vs. 6,7)

  ⁸ Jesus, perceiving it, said, “Why do you reason among yourselves, you of little faith, ‘because you have brought no bread?’   ⁹  Don’t you yet perceive, neither remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up?   ¹⁰  Nor the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up?   ¹¹ How is it that you don’t perceive that I didn’t speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 

  ¹² Then they understood that he didn’t tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

1 Corinthians, Chapter 1 (WEB)

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written, 

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.”

  ²⁰ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?  ²¹ For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.  ²² For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom,  ²³ but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks,  ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God; ²⁵ because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (emp. added vss. 20-25)

The disciples' reasoning was faulty because they really were not listening to what Jesus had to say. But, this is nothing new, because like the "smart" child in the picture- they still had a lot to learn! But, eventually they understood all that they needed to know, because The Holy Spirit guided them.

What about everyone else? Well, people don't believe God for a variety of reasons, mostly because they think too much of their own understanding and not enough of God's.

Think you are so smart that you don't need to believe in God; tell me, WHY DO BANKS HAVE BRANCHES???

Bible Reading August 7 by Gary Rose

Bible Reading August 7 

(World English Bible)

Aug. 7

Ezra 9, 10

Ezr 9:1 Now when these things were done, the princes drew near to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

Ezr 9:2 For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed have mixed themselves with the peoples of the lands: yes, the hand of the princes and rulers has been chief in this trespass.

Ezr 9:3 When I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.

Ezr 9:4 Then were assembled to me everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the trespass of them of the captivity; and I sat confounded until the evening offering.

Ezr 9:5 At the evening offering I arose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn; and I fell on my knees, and spread out my hands to Yahweh my God;

Ezr 9:6 and I said, my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God; for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our guiltiness is grown up to the heavens.

Ezr 9:7 Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty to this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to plunder, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.

Ezr 9:8 Now for a little moment grace has been shown from Yahweh our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

Ezr 9:9 For we are bondservants; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended loving kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

Ezr 9:10 Now, our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken your commandments,

Ezr 9:11 which you have commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, The land, to which you go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness:

Ezr 9:12 now therefore don't give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity forever; that you may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.

Ezr 9:13 After all that is come on us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, seeing that you our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such a remnant,

Ezr 9:14 shall we again break your commandments, and join in affinity with the peoples that do these abominations? wouldn't you be angry with us until you had consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?

Ezr 9:15 Yahweh, the God of Israel, you are righteous; for we are left a remnant that is escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before you in our guiltiness; for none can stand before you because of this.

Ezr 10:1 Now while Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there was gathered together to him out of Israel a very great assembly of men and women and children; for the people wept very sore.

Ezr 10:2 Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land: yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.

Ezr 10:3 Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

Ezr 10:4 Arise; for the matter belongs to you, and we are with you: be of good courage, and do it.

Ezr 10:5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. So they swore.

Ezr 10:6 Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came there, he ate no bread, nor drank water; for he mourned because of the trespass of them of the captivity.

Ezr 10:7 They made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together to Jerusalem;

Ezr 10:8 and that whoever didn't come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the assembly of the captivity.

Ezr 10:9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together to Jerusalem within the three days; it was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month: and all the people sat in the broad place before the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.

Ezr 10:10 Ezra the priest stood up, and said to them, You have trespassed, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.

Ezr 10:11 Now therefore make confession to Yahweh, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women.

Ezr 10:12 Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, As you have said concerning us, so must we do.

Ezr 10:13 But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand outside: neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.

Ezr 10:14 Let now our princes be appointed for all the assembly, and let all those who are in our cities who have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and its judges, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, until this matter be dispatched.

Ezr 10:15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.

Ezr 10:16 The children of the captivity did so. Ezra the priest, withcertain heads of fathers' houses, after their fathers' houses, and all of them by their names, were set apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.

Ezr 10:17 They made an end with all the men who had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.

Ezr 10:18 Among the sons of the priests there were found who had married foreign women: namely, of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.

Ezr 10:19 They gave their hand that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt.

Ezr 10:20 Of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.

Ezr 10:21 Of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah.

Ezr 10:22 Of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

Ezr 10:23 Of the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (the same is Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

Ezr 10:24 Of the singers: Eliashib. Of the porters: Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.

Ezr 10:25 Of Israel: Of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, and Izziah, and Malchijah, and Mijamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah.

Ezr 10:26 Of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elijah.

Ezr 10:27 Of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza.

Ezr 10:28 Of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai.

Ezr 10:29 Of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, Jeremoth.

Ezr 10:30 Of the sons of Pahathmoab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.

Ezr 10:31 of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

Ezr 10:32 Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.

Ezr 10:33 Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei.

Ezr 10:34 Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, and Uel,

Ezr 10:35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi,

Ezr 10:36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,

Ezr 10:37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu,

Ezr 10:38 and Bani, and Binnui, Shimei,

Ezr 10:39 and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah,

Ezr 10:40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,

Ezr 10:41 Azarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah,

Ezr 10:42 Shallum, Amariah, Joseph.

Ezr 10:43 Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Iddo, and Joel, Benaiah.

Ezr 10:44 All these had taken foreign wives; and some of them had wives by whom they had children. 

Aug. 7, 8

Acts 22

Act 22:1 "Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense which I now make to you."

Act 22:2 When they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they were even more quiet. He said,

Act 22:3 "I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as you all are this day.

Act 22:4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

Act 22:5 As also the high priest and all the council of the elders testify, from whom also I received letters to the brothers, and traveled to Damascus to bring them also who were there to Jerusalem in bonds to be punished.

Act 22:6 It happened that, as I made my journey, and came close to Damascus, about noon, suddenly there shone from the sky a great light around me.

Act 22:7 I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'

Act 22:8 I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute.'

Act 22:9 "Those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they didn't understand the voice of him who spoke to me.

Act 22:10 I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' The Lord said to me, 'Arise, and go into Damascus. There you will be told about all things which are appointed for you to do.'

Act 22:11 When I couldn't see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.

Act 22:12 One Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well reported of by all the Jews who lived in Damascus,

Act 22:13 came to me, and standing by me said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' In that very hour I looked up at him.

Act 22:14 He said, 'The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth.

Act 22:15 For you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard.

Act 22:16 Now why do you wait? Arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'

Act 22:17 "It happened that, when I had returned to Jerusalem, and while I prayed in the temple, I fell into a trance,

Act 22:18 and saw him saying to me, 'Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not receive testimony concerning me from you.'

Act 22:19 I said, 'Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue those who believed in you.

Act 22:20 When the blood of Stephen, your witness, was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting to his death, and guarding the cloaks of those who killed him.'

Act 22:21 "He said to me, 'Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.' "

Act 22:22 They listened to him until he said that; then they lifted up their voice, and said, "Rid the earth of this fellow, for he isn't fit to live!"

Act 22:23 As they cried out, and threw off their cloaks, and threw dust into the air,

Act 22:24 the commanding officer commanded him to be brought into the barracks, ordering him to be examined by scourging, that he might know for what crime they shouted against him like that.

Act 22:25 When they had tied him up with thongs, Paul asked the centurion who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and not found guilty?"

Act 22:26 When the centurion heard it, he went to the commanding officer and told him, "Watch what you are about to do, for this man is a Roman!"

Act 22:27 The commanding officer came and asked him, "Tell me, are you a Roman?" He said, "Yes."

Act 22:28 The commanding officer answered, "I bought my citizenship for a great price." Paul said, "But I was born a Roman."

Act 22:29 Immediately those who were about to examine him departed from him, and the commanding officer also was afraid when he realized that he was a Roman, because he had bound him.

Act 22:30 But on the next day, desiring to know the truth about why he was accused by the Jews, he freed him from the bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all the council to come together, and brought Paul down and set him before them. 

Contend earnestly for the faith! by Roy Davison

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/contend.html

Contend earnestly for the faith!

This exhortation is the theme of the letter of Jude, which is addressed: “To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ” (Jude 1).
Contend earnestly for the faith! Jude’s letter is a spiritual call to arms, a call to defend the original faith against the destructive influence of false teachers in the church.
“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

Jude’s exhortation is motivated by love.
Jude loves his brethren and is concerned about their eternal salvation. He begins and ends his letter with a blessing: “Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you” (Jude 2); “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever” (Jude 24, 25).
Jude wants his fellow Christians to continue enjoying the mercy, peace and love that are theirs in Christ. He wants them to be kept from stumbling so they can stand in the presence of God “with exceeding joy.”
Let us carefully consider Jude’s exhortation. “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

What does Jude mean by “our common salvation”?
He addresses his letter to “the sanctified ones” (Jude 1), those who have been saved from sin by Christ. Their salvation is “common” or “mutual” because it is shared by all true believers.
Mankind can be saved only through Jesus Christ: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
The saved have a common salvation because all the saved are added to the same church (Acts 2:47), the church of Christ, which is His body (Ephesians 1:22, 23).
On the first day of the week (Acts 20:7) they all eat at the Lord’s table (1 Corinthians 10:21) and partake of the loaf and cup as a communion with the body and blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16) by which they are saved. “For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:17).

What is the faith?
“The faith” is what is believed by the saved, which is “all the truth” as revealed by the Holy Spirit through the apostles (John 16:13) and believed by the church. It is “the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12), the convictions Jesus prescribes for His followers.
This collection of truths believed by the church of Christ is also called “the gospel of Christ” (Romans 15:19), “the word of Christ” (Colossians 3:16) and “the doctrine of Christ” (2 John 9).
The Christian faith is “a common faith” (Titus 1:4). All true disciples of Christ have the same faith, they believe the same things. Their “common salvation” is based on their “common faith,” practiced, not in isolation, but in a community of believers, the church of Christ. Through their mutually held faith they have fellowship with God and with each other (1 John 1:3).
Because of division at Corinth, Paul admonished: “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).
The spirit of our times would tell us that we may believe whatever we want, that one religion is as good as another, that we may join the denomination of our choice.
Once when I tried to strike up a conversation with a denominational preacher by saying that it was sad that we were divided, he objected. He thought it was good that people could select a faith they liked from among many choices!
But Jude tells us to earnestly contend for the faith. In the first century that faith was delivered to the saints once for all and it has been preserved for us as the New Testament.
There is only one faith that is from God. “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).
The one God is not the author of the thousands of conflicting “faiths” proclaimed and practiced in the guise of Christianity. “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33). The “one God” is the author of the “one faith” that includes “one baptism” and results in “one body” (one church).
Thus “the faith” consists of all the convictions Jesus has prescribed for His followers. This “most holy faith” is their foundation for edification and hope of eternal life: “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 20, 21).

Which faith was delivered once for all to the saints? 
A lover of truth searching for the one faith is confronted by a bewildering multiplicity of conflicting “faiths” claiming to be Christian.
A few simple tests, however, can immediately eliminate most of them. If a faith originated after the time of the apostles, it cannot be the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. If a faith is based on alleged prophecies after the time of the apostles, it cannot be the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. If a faith changes items of faith, it cannot be the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. If a faith conforms itself to the spirit of the times, it cannot be the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. If a faith does not even try to be the original faith, it cannot be the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
With regard to those who claim adherence to the original faith, one must investigate whether their claim is correct. This eliminates all whose faith obviously differs from the original faith.
The faith that was once for all delivered to the saints has been preserved in the New Testament (John 20:30, 31; Romans 16:25, 26; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 2:19-21). That is where the one faith is found. Our task is simply to learn that faith, accept it and put it into practice.

Why must we contend for the faith?
To contend for something means to proclaim it forcefully, prove it logically and defend it from all opposition.
Jude gives this reason for his exhortation: “Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 3, 4 NASB).
Jude is gentle and mild as he exhorts his brethren, but in his denunciation of false teachers, he uses extremely forceful language. It reminds us of the scathing condemnation of the Sadducees and Pharisees by Jesus and John the Baptist (Matthew 3:7; 23:232-33). Jude condemns false teachers so vehemently because he loves his brethren and wants them to be saved.
Thus, we must contend for the faith because false teachers are constantly trying to lead Christians astray. Jesus predicted this: “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many” (Matthew 24:11). Peter wrote: “There will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies” (2 Peter 2:1).
Paul warned the elders at Ephesus: “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:29, 30).
Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia who were being influenced by false teachers: “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-9).
Paul wrote to the saints at Rome: “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them” (Romans 16:17).
“Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away” (Hebrews 2:1). We may not go beyond what is written (1 Corinthians 4:6).
Thus Jude exhorts us to contend earnestly to defend the faith against false teachers.

To be saved we must adhere to the original faith.
“Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9).
Christians must be “obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7), they must “continue in the faith” (Acts 14:22), they must be “strengthened in the faith” (Acts 16:5), they must be “established in the faith” (Colossians 2:7), they must “stand fast in the faith” (1 Corinthians 16:13), they must be “sound in the faith” (Titus 1:13), they must “keep the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7), they must “strive together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).

Jude’s exhortation is urgently needed today.
Paul warned: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith” (1 Timothy 4:1). “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4:3, 4). A better description of contemporary Christendom is hard to find!
In the midst of such widespread apostasy, it is not easy to remain true to the original faith.
In the first century there were Christians who fell away (1 Timothy 1:19; 6:21; 2 Timothy 3:8) and also in our time there are Christians who fall away. In the first century there were local congregations that went astray and today also there are local congregations that drift away from the truth.
This can also happen to us if we are not constantly on guard to avoid departures from the original faith. We must be faithful followers of Christ and the church of Christ as designated in the New Testament.

Let us take Jude’s exhortation to heart!
There is only one faith that saves, the original faith that was preached in the first century and is preserved in the New Testament. Let us therefore “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Amen.
Roy Davison

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982,
Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)

Kingly Chronology in the Book of Ezra by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

http://apologeticspress.org/AllegedDiscrepancies.aspx?article=740&b=Ezra

Kingly Chronology in the Book of Ezra

by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

As if the spelling and pronunciation of Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes were not problematic enough for the average Bible student, one must also consider these Persian kings in light of the order in which they are mentioned in the book of Ezra. According to history, the Persian kings reigned in the following order: Cyrus (560-530 B.C.), Cambyses (530-522), Smerdis (522), Darius I (522-486), Ahasuerus (486-465), Artaxerxes I (465-424), Darius II (423-405), and Artaxerxes II (405-358) [see Cook, 1983, p. 350]. The difficulty that presents itself in the book of Ezra is that events surrounding letters which King Artaxerxes received from, and wrote to, the enemies of the Jews (see Ezra 4:7-23) are mentioned before the reign of Darius I (Ezra 4:24-6:15). If it is a proven fact that Darius served as king before Artaxerxes, why is the kingship of Darius recorded in the book of Ezra subsequent to the reign of Artaxerxes (recorded in Ezra 4:7-23)?

First, it needs to be pointed out that the Darius of the book of Ezra was in fact Darius I and not Darius II. The second Darius lived too late in history to have been contemporary with the rebuilding of the temple. Thus, one cannot solve the question at hand simply by suggesting that the Darius cited in Ezra was really Darius II, who lived after Artaxerxes I.

Second, some may attempt to solve this difficulty by alleging that Artaxerxes II was the king who reigned during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem, while Artaxerxes I was the king mentioned prior to Darius’ reign (Ezra 4:7-23). This solution is unacceptable, however, since Artaxerxes II lived several years after the events recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah.

So what is the answer? Why is the kingship of Darius recorded in the book of Ezra following events connected with the kingship of Artaxerxes (Ezra 4:7-23)—a king who is thought to have reigned after Darius? One possible solution to this difficulty is that Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes of Ezra 4:6,7-23 were respectively Cambyses (530-522) and Smerdis (522)—kings of Persia (listed above) who reigned before Darius I. Since Persian kings frequently had two or more names, it is not unfathomable to think that Cambyses and Smerdis also may have gone by the names Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes (see Wilson, 1996; see also Fausset, 1998).

Another explanation to this perceived dilemma is that the information concerning the kings of Persia in Ezra 4 is grouped according to theme rather than by chronology. Instead of having a record where everything in chapter four is in sequential order, it is reasonable to conclude that verses 6-23 serve as a parenthetical comment and that Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes (4:6-7) are indeed Ahasuerus (486-465) and Artaxerxes I (465-424) of history (rather than the aforementioned Cambyses and Smerdis).

Bible students must keep in mind that just as there is more than one way to write a book in the twenty-first century, ancient writers frequently recorded events chronologically while occasionally inserting necessary non-sequential material (e.g., Genesis 10-11; Matthew 28:2-4). It would have been natural for the writer of the book of Ezra to follow a discussion of the problems related to rebuilding the Jerusalem temple (4:1-5) with information on a similar resistance the Jews encountered while rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem (4:6-23). Although the details in verses 6-23 initially may puzzle our chronologically preconditioned mindset, they actually fit very well in their arrangement with the overall theme of the chapter. In verse 24, the story picks up where it left off in verse 5. The writer returns to his focus on the problems with the rebuilding of the temple, which lingered until “the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia” (Ezra 4:24).

Regardless of which explanation one accepts for the inclusion of verses 6-23 in Ezra 4, they both provide a sufficient answer to the perceived difficulty. It is my judgment that the second of these two possibilities serves as the best, and most logical, explanation.

REFERENCES

Cook, J.M. (1983), The Persians (London: The Orion Publishing Group).

Fausset, A.R. (1998), Fausset’s Bible Dictionary (Electronic Database: Biblesoft).

Wilson, R. Dick (1996), “Artaxerxes,” International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (Electronic Database: Biblesoft).

America's Sexual Anarchy by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=698

America's Sexual Anarchy

by	Dave Miller, Ph.D.

A host of social indicators document the continuing moral and spiritual decline of America. Two of the most recent ought to evoke national mourning. One comes from a biennial study of the sexual content of television programming by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Their findings: The number of sexual scenes on television has nearly doubled since 1998. The study found that 70% of all shows include some sexual content, and that these shows average five sexual scenes per hour (Graham and Kingsley, 2005, emp. added).

The second social indicator comes from a report by the National Center for Health Statistics that summarizes the 2004 birth rates for the United States. Childbearing by unmarried women reached a record high of almost 1.5 million births in 2004. More than 4 in 5 births to teenagers were nonmarital. Over half of births to women in their early twenties and nearly 3 in 10 births to women aged 25–29 were to unmarried women. This data means that in 2004, 35.7 percent of all births were illegitimate (Hamilton, et al., 2005, emp. added).

These social indicators are staggering! From the 1960s to the present, American civilization is being sucked into the vortex of sexual disorder and confusion. The dismantling of the Christian foundations of America has resulted in a plethora of sexually deviant actions. America is literally spiraling downward into the abyss of moral depravity and degradation. Many are emulating the adulterous woman, who “eats and wipes her mouth, and says, ‘I have done no wickedness’” (Proverbs 30:20). But God still warns: “flee sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18). Indeed, doom is inevitable for a nation gripped by such widespread sexual anarchy. “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of hell” (Proverbs 9:17-18).

REFERENCES

Graham, Rob and Sarah Kingsley (2005), “Number of Sexual Scenes on TV Nearly Double Since 1998,” Kaiser Family Foundation, [On-line], URL: http://www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedi a110905nr.cfm.

Hamilton, Brady, Stephanie Ventura, Joyce Martin, and Paul Sutton (2005), “Preliminary Births for 2004,” National Center for Health Statistics, [On-line], URL: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/prelim_births/prelim _births04.htm.

Appendix Not Useless, But Evolution Is by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=2300

Appendix Not Useless, But Evolution Is

by	Kyle Butt, M.Div.

In this month’s Reason & Revelation, Dr. Houts explains that for several decades now, evolutionists have been using various worn out, disproven lines of reasoning in an attempt to bolster their increasingly fragile theory of common descent for all organisms. One of these outmoded tactics is the idea that the human body contains leftover, virtually useless vestiges that once, in our early ancestors, were vibrant organs necessary for survival. In fact, in the late 1800s, evolutionary scientists believed that the human body supported more than 180 such organs.

These “useless” vestiges of evolution, however, turned out to be nothing of the sort. Dr. Houts noted that these organs were “useless” only in the sense that scientists and medical doctors were ignorant of their functions. As the medical community applied more research to the human body, the list quickly dwindled to a tiny fraction of the original number. Today, there is not a single organ that scientists can accurately and confidently proclaim to be a useless vestige of evolution. This realization, however, has not yet trickled down to the popularizers of evolution.

Live Science posts several “Top 10” articles that give the alleged Top 10 items in a given category. For example, there is a list of the “Top 10 Killer Tornadoes” and another of the “Top 10 Ways to Destroy Earth.” One of their lists is titled, “Top 10 Useless Limbs (and Other Vestigial Organs)” (Miller, 2007). Listed as number one in that article is the human appendix. Concerning the appendix, Miller wrote: “Biologists believe it is a vestigial organ left behind from a plant-eating ancestor” (2007). He then reiterated ideas that Alfred Romer penned in 1949, stating “that the major importance of the appendix would appear to be financial support of the surgical profession, referring to, of course, the large number of appendectomies performed annually” (2007).

As one would expect if God designed the human body, aspects of the body would exist that our finite human minds could assess only after years of intense research. Such is the case with the appendix. Elsewhere in this issue of R&R, Dr. Houts notes several functions and uses already known for the appendix. A recent article published in Theoretical Biology, however, adds another interesting function to the appendix’s increasing workload. Researchers from Duke University believe they have stumbled upon another reason humans have an appendix, and it is not because it is an evolutionary leftover (Borenstein, 2007).

Human digestion requires huge amounts of beneficial bacteria. Certain illnesses, however, destroy or remove both good and bad bacteria from the intestines. In order for digestion to continue, cultures of the good bacteria must be regrown to repopulate the gut. That is where the appendix comes in according to the latest research. Borenstein noted: “Diseases such as cholera or amoebic dysentery would clear the gut of useful bacteria. The appendix’s job is to reboot the digestive system in that case” (2007). Bill Parker, co-author of the latest research, said that the appendix “acts like a bacteria factory, cultivating the good germs” (Borenstein, 2007).

Evolutionists should simply admit that the idea of vestigial organs is false, they should promptly remove it from their arsenals, and reevaluate the data that supposedly prove evolution true. But that is not what happens. Because evolution is so “plastic” and can be expanded to fit any data, even data that is exactly the opposite of what has been used in the past to teach evolution is twisted as new “proof” of evolution. Borenstein quoted Brandies University biochemistry professor Douglas Theobald as saying that the explanation for the function of the appendix “seems by far the most likely” and that the idea “makes evolutionary sense” (2007). So, we are told that the appendix is a useless leftover, and that “fact” proves evolution to be true. Then we are told that the appendix has a very important function and that fact “makes evolutionary sense.” Which is it? In truth, that which proves too much proves nothing. Finding an important function for the appendix is exactly what one would expect if the human body was designed by God.

As for other organs in the human body that have been dubbed vestigial in the past, those who use the vestigial argument should proceed with extreme caution. Borenstein wrote: “The theory led Gary Huffnagle, a University of Michigan internal medicine and microbiology professor, to wonder about the value of another body part that is often yanked: ‘I’ll bet eventually we’ll find the same sort of thing with the tonsils’” (several functions of which already are known, see Bergman, 2000). The only thing that appears to be useless in this discussion is the theory of evolution and the false evidence used to support it.

REFERENCES

Bergman, Jerry (2000), “Do Any Vestigial Organs Exist in Humans?” Technical Journal, [On-Line], URL: http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v14/i2/vestigial.asp.

Borenstein, Seth (2007), “Scientists: Appendix Protects Good Germs,” [On-line], URL:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071006/ap_on_he_me/appendix_s_purpose;_ ylt=Ak5.0FtXAiVHNNcRPfiNLsus0NUE.

Miller, Brandon (2007), “Top 10 Useless Limbs (and Other Vestigial Organs),” [On-line], URL:http://www.livescience.com/animals/top10_vestigial_organs-1.html.

If He Were a Prophet... by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=10&article=2170

If He Were a Prophet...

by	Kyle Butt, M.Div.

The gospel accounts paint a picture of the character of Jesus unrivaled by any other personality in human history. On one memorable occasion, Jesus was invited to eat with a Pharisee named Simon (Luke 7:36-50). During his stay, a woman who was known in the area for her sinful lifestyle approached Jesus. She proceeded to wash His feet with her tears, dry them with her hair, and anoint Jesus with fragrant oil.

Simon, seeing the sinful woman’s behavior, said to himself, “This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner” (Luke 7:39). Notice two important aspects of Simon’s response. First, he spoke to himself. There is no indication that his thoughts were verbalized or in any way audible to those around him. Second, the criterion he set to determine whether Christ was a prophet was knowledge of the woman’s sinful lifestyle.

Jesus’ response to Simon proved that He was far more than a prophet. He answered the Pharisee by explaining that those who have sinned much and been forgiven of their sins will love God more than those who feel they have few sins to forgive. Jesus then forgave the woman’s sins. His response exhibited a knowledge, not only of the spiritual condition of the woman, but also of Simon’s inner conversation with himself. Not only did Jesus know the woman was a sinner, but He knew the conversation Simon had with himself about Jesus’ reaction to the woman. What did Jesus’ reaction prove? It should have proved to Simon that Jesus was far more than a prophet. When Jesus forgave the woman’s sins, He proved that He was God in the flesh.

The modern application of this story is profound. Jesus has exhibited far more evidence validating His deity than any reasonable person could demand. His life was prophesied in minute detail hundreds of years before He was born, He accomplished miracles that supported the prophesies, He foretold His own death and resurrection, He showed Himself alive to many witnesses after His resurrection, and ascended to Heaven in the sight of many witnesses as the culmination of His earthly ministry. The honest, reasonable response to Jesus’ personality and power is perfectly summarized in Nathanael’s reaction to Jesus’ miraculous knowledge. After Jesus explained to Nathanael that He had miraculously seen Nathanael under the fig tree, Nathanael exclaimed: “Rabbi, You are the Son of God” (John 1:49)!