THE SARTORIAL CHOICE

 There's a strange Scripture in Zephaniah that perplexes the Western mind but it shouldn't. Take a look at it: 

"Then it will come about on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice That I will punish the princes, the king’s sons And all who clothe themselves with foreign garments." There is, as always in the Bible, a biblical context and a cultural context to the verse. 

The biblicat context is that the Southern Kingdom of Israel has, by choice, allowed spiritual rot metastasize through every level of their society. The prophet is enumerating the corruption of the nation and he's come to the royal court charging them with practicing Baal rituals and worship, along with the infiltration of the idols of MolUck. These are foreign gods imported into Israel by Jezebel and her ilk. One of the acts of ritual and worship of this god was human sacrifice including children. 

In a word picture, the prophet displays the Southern Kingdom as a "sacrifice" prepared by God for the "guests" (the Babylonians) to eat. Then the prophet tells the princes that they will be punished for wearing "foreign garmets." That sounds odd; why punish them for their choice of robes? 

There is an excellent reason; their choice of wardrobe is making a statement of their values. Their robes were what the Babylonian or Egyptian royaly wore. By choosing that clothing, they were making a sartorial statement that they were adopting the values of the Babylonian or Egyptian culure. But is that so odd?

No, not really. Take a look at the recent mobs of Jew haters on university campuses and what do you see? The same thing as in the Southern Kingdom of Israel. The destructive and disruptive mobs  choose to wear the keffiyeh to show solidarity with the Oct. 7th terrotists. Their clothing is  a statement of rejecting America's founding upon Christian values and showing their loyalty to the values of viscious Jew hating terrorists.

These will be the bankers, lawyers, judges, senators, reprsentatives, teachers, professors, and college presidents for decades to come. As Lincoln said, "The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next."  Get ready, they're on the way!

TUCKER CARLSON ATTACKS!

Tucker Carlson is a popular star in the conservative heavens. He was a fixture on Fox News but is now an indepent host of his podcasts and widely sought speaker. He recently had a country-western singer named John Rich as his guest on a broadcast during both he and his guest, John Rich, went on the atack.  What or whom did they atack?

Following Rich's lead, Tucker Calson began attacking Scofield and the Scofield Reference Bible (SRB). Rich began by showing his ignorance of history when he said, "The SRB was the first Bible with footnotes." Not true. The first Bible with footnotes was the Bible carried on the Mayflower over 300 years before Oxford Press published the SRB in the early part of the 20th century.  That Bible the Pilgrims brought to our shores wasthe Geneva Bible which had printed notations by Calvin and John Knox in the margins. Carlson didn't correct Rich's statement. Even if the SRB was the first (which it wasn't) so what? 

Next, the country/western singer charged Scofield with being a student of John Darby who "invented the idea of a secret rapture." Not true. The doctrine of the rapture comes from I Thessalonias 4:13-18 and I Cor. 15:51-53. If one were to go back in church history, he would find that, in 1565, a man named Joseph Mede used the word "rapture" in connection with I Thessalonians 4 which shows that the rank and file folks were knowledgable of the doctrine and weretalking about it. 

But we can go farther back than that: Lee Brainard, a scholar who researched the church fathers (those who lived and wrote immediately after the Apostles) writes, "I found a Pre-Trib Rapture passage [in the church fathers]. Then I went on and investigated more than150 Greek works, and I found dozens more Rapture passages. Ten of them are crystal clear about the Rapture happening before the Tribulation. 

"I also found twenty-plus passages that are clear Rapture passages [in thewritings of the church fathers] though the context would not define if it was Pre-Trib or not."Carlson made no correction of that false statement either. (One might suspect that Rich's and Carlson's history teahers were the football coaches.)

Rich made the outlandish charge that the publication of the SRB was a Jewish conspiracy when he asked Carlson, "Do you know who financed the printing of the SRB?" Carlson admitted that he did not. 

Rich then said, "The Rothchilds." (The Rothchilds were a wealthy Jewish family originally from Germany.) Carlson accepted this as true, although Rich offered no proof of the statement. Those who heard and saw him make the statement have reseached it and found no connection whatsoever between Scofield, the Oxford Press, and the Rothchilds. Carlson didn't object to this statement which hinted at antisemitism. Arno C. Gabeline, a well known Christian speaker and author, wrote the preface to the SRB listed the four men who financed the publishing, none of them Jewish. 

Again, so what if Rich's statement is true? What difference does that make? It's a non issue, a tacit antisemetic statement that hints at something sinister.

During this broadcast, things degenerated into  name-calling as Rich said that C. I. Scofield was a "con man," and Carlson said his theology was "deceptive." They offered no instances of either and the discussion continued.  

During the program,the viewer heard the two briefly get into a one- sentence hermeneutical discussion when Rich said, "Genesis 12:3, has nothing to do with Israel." Again, no explanation as to why the verse has nothing to do with Israel. Carlson let that statement go. And to cap it all off, when Rich asked Carlson if he had ever heard of the SRB, Carlson answered, "I have, and my sense was it's probably a lie." There was no example given to show where the SRB contained even one lie. 

Let's ask the question, "What did Scofield do in his notes? What he did is what the Apostles did when they interpreted the Old Testaent; they took the Bible literally. In the Bible and in Scofield's notations, "Israel" means "Israel." "Church" is a reference to the "Church." And the church is not "the New Israel." In the SRB, the promises and covenants to Israel are taken literally as being to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The promises in the Old Testament of the coming Messiah were literally fulfilled, as will the predictions of His 2nd coming. Scofield's notes take both literally.

The Bible predicts that in the end times, there will be a worldwide burst of Jew-hatred. Neither the left nor the right will be an exception that prediction. 

THE LORDSHIP/CALVINIST PASTOR AND ISABELLA

 Isabella, a ten year-girl, is standing at a microphone during the Q/A period, waiting her turn to ask the famous pastor* a question that's been bothering her. She asks, "How can a kid know if he or she is a Christian?" The adults in the congregation smile at such a question, never realizing the the theologian will, from that day forward send the girl into a lifetime of confusion and a never-ending cycle of a lack of assurance. 

He begins his answer: "What's your name?" She replies, "Isabella."  

The pastor begins his answer with a series of questions, each requiring a "Yes" or "No" answer:

"Do you believer that Jesus is the Son of God?" She answers, "Yes." (Does she understand what "Son of God" means?)

"Do you believe that He came to the earth and lived a sinless life and died on the cross? She answers, "Yes"

"Do you believe that He died for your sins and mine?" She answers, "Yes."

"Is Jesus your Lord?" She answers, "Yes." (He doesn't define what he means by "Lord.)

"Do you love Jesus?" She answers, "Yes."

"Do you want to honor Him?" "Yes," again.

"How do you know you love Him?" She remains silent but then answers, "Because I know I'm going to heaven."

"You're thankful." She replies, "Yes."

"Do you like to sing songs about Jesus?" She says, "Yes."

"Do you like to read the Bible?" [Here, she pauses. The congregation laughs.] She says, "Yes."

The pastor regroups, and asks, "Do you to have other people read the Bible stories to you?" "Yes." (Here he has to make an exception.)

The pastor declares,  "You are a Christian!" The congregation applauds..

The pastor says, "Unbelievers don't have those desires. Those desires will grow stronger as you grow older." (What if they don't grow stronger?"

It was a touching scene but seriously, a sad one. Isabella is now set up for a lifetime of disturbing doubts, worry, and confusion because the pastor has put her on a boat, launches her into the Sea of Subjectivity. St times, for the rest of her life, what will she do when she doesn't "honor Jesus?" What will she think when she doesn't like reading Leviticus, Deuteronomy, or Obadiah?" 

What she, her parents, and the congregation don't know is that the pastor isn't telling the truth when he  declares, "You're a Christian!" According to his system of theology, there is no way he can know that she's a Christian. That's because one of the bedrock beliefs of Calvinism. 

The bedrock belief is: the believer is so secure in Christ, that he cannot fall away. Jesus will not lose any who had been given to Him by the Father; He gives eternal life to them so they will never perish, and those who leave the faith were never believers to begin with," 

When Isabella becomes old enough to think about it, what the pastor told her is that she cannot be sure she is going to heaven until the day she dies for it is impossible for any finite creature to know if he will be faithful until the end.

How can Isabella know that she, "a kid" can know she is saved and going to heaven: "For God so  loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

*The pastor: John MacArthur

 

 

 

 

THE DAY WILL COME

 

In the news: "The bodies of murdered young children, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were just 10-months-old and 4-years-old when they were murdered no later than November 2023, after being taken hostage on October 7 of that year, were returned to Israel. The body of their mother, Shiri Bibas, was however not returned, as Hamas paraded the coffins only to send the body of an unidentified woman, who was not even one of the 251 hostages. Israel, and the rest of the world has reacted in sorrow and horror, with plans to be figured out now that Hamas has broken the ceasefire. 

"Daniel Hagari, the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) spokesperson, announced that the dead children returned Thursday to Israel from Gaza were beaten to death by terrorists.

“We can confirm that baby Kfir Bibas, aged just 10 months old, and his older brother Ariel, aged four, were both brutally murdered by terrorists while being held hostage in Gaza no later than November 2023,” the spokesperson said. “Contrary to Hamas’ lies, Ariel and Kfir were not killed in an airstrike. Ariel and Kfir Bibas were murdered by terrorists in cold blood. The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys. They killed them with their bare hands.”

"Hamas displayed the caskets on a makeshift stage in front of an anti-Semitic sign depicting Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a bloodthirsty vampire snarling above a photo of the murdered captives. Hamas said it had placed inside the coffins Shiri Bibas, 32; her two children, 4-year-old Ariel and 9-month-old Kfir; and 83-year-old Oded Lifshitz. Hamas kidnapped them during the terror group's Oct. 7 terror rampage through Israel.

"Before being returned to Israel, the International Committee of the Red Cross dispatched one of its staffers to sit with a uniformed Hamas terrorist at a camouflage table and sign "paperwork." The coffins were then transported through Gaza as hordes of Palestinians cheered and chanted "victory" in Arabic."

Jew hatred runs dark and deep. The darkness and depth of the animosity toward Jews is of such a nature that we have to ask, "What kind of people strangle babies and children to death and what kind of people cheer and chant, celebrating the murders of a 10 month old and a 4 year old only because their victims are Jews?

Answer: The demon-possessed. Yet, according to The Times of Israel, "Since 1994, Washington has provided the Palestinians with more than $5.2 billion through USAID." 

There is a day coming. A word from God to such people: "Do not gloat over your brother’s [Israel's] day, The day of his misfortune. And do not rejoice over the sons of Judah In the day of their destruction; Yes, do not boast in the day of their distress. . . . I will bring you down declares the Lord!" (Obadiah 1:12; 1: 4)

 

A MESSAGE FROM OBADIAH TO USAID

 

"USAID (US AID)  humanitarian packages were found amidst a cache of weapons owned by terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon, an Israel Defense Forces soldier claimed to an American newspaper.

“From the American taxpayer to Hezbollah, with love,” said Asher Fredman,, a former IDF soldier and currently executive director of the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, a think tank, in Jerusalem.

"Asher told The Post that he found sniper rifles, anti-tank missiles and explosives alongside the care packages marked “USAID” while on patrol in an undisclosed village in Lebanon where the Iran-backed Hezbollah had a stronghold."

There's a line from a TV series in which the antihero, who has been found out, says to the federal agent, "If you don't know who I am, your best course would be to treas lightly."

It is evident that USAID did not know who they were dealing with when they sent aid and comfort to the Jew-hating terrorist group, Hezbollah, an ally and supporter of Hamas. They did know what Hezbollah was, and they did know Hamas but USAID didn't know Someone else. Hamas (lit. "Violence") has stated its goal: 

"Hamas’ ideology is simple and it is this simplicity that makes it so powerful to the masses: 'Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it'. This declared objective appears right at the beginning of Hamas’ Covenant, as translated and published by the Yale University School of Law.

"To dispel any doubts between being only “anti-Israel” or just plain “antisemitic”, Hamas’ Covenant spells this explicitly: “The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: ‘The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.” (The Times of Israel," Oct. 13, 2023, emphasis theirs)

In the shortest book in the Old Testament and the least read one in the Bible, Obadiah identifies who USAID is dealing with when it engages in sending care packages to an organization of Jew haters:

Obadiah 1:11, in a list of Edom's crimes against Israel, there is the notation that one of those crimes was to become one with Babylon who had attacked Israel. Obadiah described what awaited Edom for its aiding Babylon: Obadiah 1:4--"I (God) will bring you down!" despite their boast as the nation bragged, "Who will bring me down?" (Obadiah 1:3)

By sending the care packages, USAID became as Hezbollah and Hamas (Obadiah 1:11). To oppose Israel is to poke the "pupil of God's eye" (Zechariah 2:8, literal translation)  

Recalling the words of verse 4, we have now seen this result: God has has taken down the USAID website, USAID has let go of hundreds of staff, and the USAID office building has been closed, preventing other staff from accessing it.

USAID did not "tread lightly" when it came to giving aid an comfort to the Jew-hating Hezbollah.

 

 

 

THE "RELIGION" YOU'RE ALLOWED TO CRITICISE

 Someone said, "You accept the society in which you were born." In other words, we fail to recognize our own cultural norms because they are so…normal even if they're wrong and we accept them without thought.  Does a fish realize that it's always been in water until it flops ashore?  

For example, decades ago, people used to smoke cigarettes everywhere, even lighting up in hospitals. You didn't think about it; it was normal. When you watched a game show on TV, the host would be smoking (if the sponsor of the program was Camels or Winston). A thank-you gift for being a contestant on a program like "I've Got A Secret" was a carton of the sponsor's cigarettes. 

In commercials on TV or ads on the back cover of a magazine, a man dressed in a white lab coat, a "doctor," would tell us that his favorite brand was Winston which he said,  "Winston astes good like a cigarette should." It was a catchy jingle, one not to be forgotten.

Athletes got into the trend; an ad picturing Mickey Mantle, cigarette in hand, with the words, "So many of the Yanks smoke Camels, I decided to try them. I smoked Camels a while and I knew--Camels are for me! They're mild and swell tasting." We gave it no thought.

Movies advertised in the newspaper didn't give the starting times for the feature; you might arrive in the middle or near the end. Nobody thought about; it just was.

Decades ago, parents gave us boys B-B guns and turned us loose with no supervision to go out and kill as many birds as we could for no other reason than the thrill of the kill. To kill a robin redbreast was a special achievement, one worthy of praise. Nobody thought anything about it. 

Fast forward to our day and the statement still holds, "You accept the society in which you were born." We watch a movie or TV drama in which a kidnappers take a child and hold him for ransom. The frantic parents call the police, the FBI gets involved, they set up a wire tap on the home phone. 

There's one thing the parents don't ever do in the movie: pray. It's the norm for a movie of that type. We think nothing about it. 

Here's another interesting one: there's only one "religion" our culture can criticize and mock it and its Book. Christianity and the Bible. Celebrities winning an Oscar include in their acceptance speech words that mock and blaspheme Christianity. In movies, a preacher is either a fanatical nut, a hypocrite or a devious villain. 

But does the public notice the celebrities don't mock Islam, an Imam, or the Koran. In fact, the celebrities, the academics, and the elites offer nary a jest nor a criticism of that religion. It's all so normal, no one notices the glaring omission. So, the younger generation born into such a society accept it. That's it, over and out.

Therefore, those recently born in our society accept all of this--no praying by frantic parents, no criticism of Islam because . . . there is no "because." Without thinking about it or wondering about it, or asking, "Why," to them, it just "is."  

We are in such a society. We have sown the wind. We are reaping the whirlwind.

PRESIDENT JAMES EARL CARTER JR., SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER PART III

 I have saved the worse for the last. The bulk of this, our last look at the former Sunday school teacher at a church in Plains, GA, is taken from Jewish sources concerning the attitude and actions of the former president concerning Israel and the Jews. 

From "The Jerusalem Post"

"The self-proclaimed champion of human rights, Carter was comfortable with Middle Eastern dictators like Sadat, Hafez al-Assad, and the shah of Iran, but endlessly critical of Israel’s democratically elected leaders, beginning with Menachem Begin.

"No sooner were the Camp David Accords signed in 1979 than Carter embarked on a 40-year smear campaign against Israel. Carter insisted that Israel was violating UN Resolution 242 by not withdrawing to the pre-Six Day War boundaries and failing to create a Palestinian state.

"From a mere misreading of 242, Carter descended into a dark obsession with Israel, casting it as the source of all Middle Eastern instability and a world-leading violator of human rights. His 2004 book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, though based on half-truths and outright lies, effectively legitimized Israel’s delegitimization."

FROM "THE JEWISH PRESS"

"The story of Carter’s attitude towards Israel goes deeper. He was not simply a modern-day anti-Zionist—an ignorant idealogue who wrongly believed that Israeli counter-terrorism policies harmed the “human rights” of the Palestinian people. Carter was, in fact, a traditional, old-fashioned Christian antisemite. 

"We know this because his many post-presidential activities included teaching Sunday school. In 2007, Simon & Schuster released a 13-disc CD boxed set of recorded sermons that Carter gave at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains, Ga., called “Sunday Mornings in Plains.”

"The sermons contain a slew of chillingly pre-modern antisemitic prejudices. For example, he claimed that Judaism teaches Jews to feel superior to non-Jews, that Jewish religious practices are a sleazy “trick” to enhance personal wealth, and that current Israeli policy towards Palestinians is based upon these “Jewish” values and practices.

"In the sermons recorded between 1998 and 2003, Carter attacked Israel by retreading antisemitic tropes dating back to the gospels and patristic writings of the early church. These anti-Judaic beliefs were formulated not in the 1960s or 1970s but between the first and fifth centuries C.E., ensuring well over a millennium of institutional, lethal Christian antisemitism."

AND THIS FROM "THE TIMES OF ISRAEL"

"Carter, who cancelled a planned visit to Gaza on this trip, said Saturday he “deplored” criminal acts by members of Hamas, but said he was looking to support moderate members of the group, which he said wasn’t a terrorist organization."

Enough said.