The dead sea scrolls: The greatest archaeological find of all times

How do you know that the Bible you read today is the same one that the apostles wrote? Or much less, what the prophets wrote thousands and thousands of years ago? We’ve all played the gossip story, where you tell a story to one who tells it to another person, who tells it to another person, and then seen the story changed dramatically in just a few generations. And for thousands of years, these writings have been copied, and recopied, and recopied, and so, how do you know that what we have today is anything what they wrote? If you’ve talked to very many people about the Bible, you’ve heard that kind of objection, and hopefully you have a good answer. I think there are a number of ways to approach it. But. I think that’s one of the powerful messages of the dead sea scrolls. Notes from the lecture continue below the video…..

Qumran in the West Bank, Middle East. In this cave the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. In dieser Höhle in Qumran wurden die Schriftrollen gefunden. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dr. Patton is the staff Geologist for the Qumran Plateu excavation in Israel, the site that produced the Dead Sea Scrolls some 2,000 years ago. These scrolls, perhaps the most significant archeological discovery of all time, have changed the way we view the Bible. Many have been led to believe that the original text of the Bible has deteriorated over years of copying and recopying. The Dead Sea Schrolls provide a test of that hypothesis, allowing us to compare modern versions with recently discovered manuscripts written over 2,000 years ago. Dr. Patton will take you to the same scene of the original caves where the scrolls were discovered with one of the Bedouins who made the discovery. This is a fascinating story with eternal implications. Dr. Patton has a broad educational background; four years at Florida College, Temple Terrace, FL (Bible); two years at Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN (Geology); two years at Indiana Univ./Purdue Univ., Indianapolis, IN (Geology); two years, Pacific School of Graduate Studies. He has worked as Geologist in US, Canada, Australia, England, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Cambodia, Israel, and Jordan. Dr. Patton has participated in dinosaur excavations in Colorado, Texas, Utah, Wyoming and Canada. He is credited with excavating the longest consecutive dinosaur trail in North America, totaling 157 tracks, extending over 500 feet. He is a member of the Geological Society of America and was a speaker at their 1997 annual convention. Dr. Patton lectures at universities across the United States. He has conducted up to twelve Creation/Evolution Seminaries a year for twenty five years. He has participated in numerous public debates on creation/evolution including radio and TV debates. He has testified three times before Texas State Textbook Committee, Austin, TX. Presently, Dr. Patton is consulting geologist & partner in Mazada Corporation, Dallas, TX. He is a staff geologist of the Creation Evidence Museum, Glen Rose, TX, staff geologist for the Qumran Plateau excavation in Israel.

Notes from the video:

How do you know that the Bible you read today is the same one that the apostles wrote? Or much less, what the prophets wrote thousands and thousands of years ago? We’ve all played the gossip story, where you tell a story to one who tells it to another person, who tells it to another person, and then seen the story changed dramatically in just a few generations. And for thousands of years, these writings have been copied, and recopied, and recopied, and so, how do you know that what we have today is anything what they wrote? If you’ve talked to very many people about the Bible, you’ve heard that kind of objection, and hopefully you have a good answer. I think there are a number of ways to approach it. But. I think that’s one of the powerful messages of the dead sea scrolls.

It is dependable. That is, the Bible that we have today is like what the apostles wrote, and  what the prophets wrote. We understand the objection and the difficulty that people have in grasping that, because everything that we know about in this world goes downhill, it deteriorates. And so, things begin to degenerate, so why not the message that the apostles and the prophets wrote? We understand from Genesis chapter 3, the beginning of this deteriorative process, where a curse was placed on the earth.

Genesis 3:17b-19 “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

This, I think, pervades the whole universe. Isaiah speaks of this effect that we see:

Isaiah 40:7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

But then, he tells us there is an exception to this degenerative process:

Isaiah 40:8 but the word of our God endures forever.” 

That’s different. This is the promise of the word of God, and some say, “Well, but, how do you know this is true? And one of the evidences would be from the dead sea scrolls. But, we need to understand what God’s words promise, and that is that there is an exception. Jesus, Himself says in Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Now, we have radical teachers like Joseph Smith, and like Mohammad, that says the word did pass away and that’s why you have to have new writings and you have to pay attention to what they’ve written, that I believe is very different. But it doesn’t need to be replaced if it’s never passed away.

Peter is quoting from Isaiah in 1 Peter 1, when he says all flesh is like grass:

“All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.

…and then, Peter goes on to apply that to what the apostles have written, not just the Old Testament Scriptures:

26 And this is the word that was preached to you. (by the apostles)

Now, that’s the promise. In spite of this promise, we are told over and over again that it has degenerated, and even from religious leaders. And that it needs to be replaced. But, in spite of the fact that information that the dead sea scrolls is filtered most of the times through liberal scholars, we have very good, I believe, confirmation of exactly what Isaiah and Jesus, and Peter are promising here. And I think, that’s the primary significance of the dead sea scrolls. Let’s begin talking about the discovery of the dead sea scrolls. photo below – wikipedia - The Psalms Scroll, designated 11Q5, with transcription

The discovery of the dead sea scrolls

When it was first announced, back in the 1940′s, it was declared even in Time magazine, to be the greatest manuscript discovery of all time, by William Albright. He was considered dean of American archaeologists. We’re told that these 2 individuals, along with several others who were with them, teenagers at the time, were near the dead sea. They were shepherding sheep, goats and they had lost one of the goats. They were hunting for it, and in the process of trying to find their long livestock, they found the dead sea scrolls.

At the 6:26 minute mark, Dr. Patton shows a picture of one of the original men who was there when the scrolls were discovered and shows the entrance to the cave, which Dr. Patton visited. He tossed a rock into the opening of the cave to see if the animal was in there, and he heard the sound of breaking pots. As a result, he realized that there were pottery vases inside. He lowered himself inside and found 37 vases, He removed at least 7 of these scrolls and carried them back to his tent, where they stayed for maybe a couple of years, before they realized the significance of it. In talking to some of the ones who were there, and had them in their tents, they were aware they were very important. The parchment on which they were written was unusual, reserved for very important documents, and so they used them for important documents. Like, if they wanted to divorce their wives, they’d take some of the dead sea scrolls and write on the back of it. (photo below wikipedia- Scholar Eleazar Sukenik examining one of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1951).

But, eventually they realized that this was important enough that they can get some money for it. Through a series of intriguing events, they finally wound up with Khalil Eskander Shahin, “Kando”, who lived in Bethlehem at the time. He had a gift antiquity shop in the St. George Hotel. He was a cobbler. He thought, originally that he could use this leather parchment  material, maybe to repair some shoes. It was in excellent condition, sealed in the jars. Eventually, it came to the attention of Professor Eleazer Sukenik of Hebrew University in Jerusalem. And he understood (I am just greatly condensing the story) that these were greatly important documents, and was able to acquire 3 of them. Four of them were purchased by  Metropolitan Athanasius Yeshue Samuel, better known as Mar Samuel of the Syrian Orthodox Church. He, along with John C. Trever verified that these were very ancient documents and Mr. Samuel then advertised them in the Wall Street Journal.  Yigael Yadin, the son of the Professor Eleazer Sukenik,  who had purchased the first three, Yadin, who was also leader of the Israeli underground army (this was before just right before Israel was a state). Jerusalem was under siege by the Arabs. Bethlehem was under total control of the Arabs and Mr. Sukenik had to travel there, against the advice of his son to purchase the first 3. And now, his son goes to Mar Samuel, who has got the other 4 advertised in the Wall Street Journal. The son saw the ad in the paper, and arranged through an intermediary, because he would not have sold them to an Israeli for $250,000. So, all 7 of them came into the possession of Hebrew University and are now housed in the Shrine of the Book. The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at Khirbet Qumran in what was then British Mandate Palestine, and since 1947 known as the West Bank.

Let’s think about the site of the dead sea scrolls. The northwest corner of the dead sea, about 15 miles from Jerusalem, right on the edge of the seashore. And this was a renegade community, renegade in terms of  the way orthodox jews thought about it in Jerusalem. They thought the ones in Jerusalem were renegades. I think there’s a sense in which they were both right. We see that the temple, in Jesus’s time, built by Herod, a megalomaniac, trying to outdo Solomon with all of his building program, and as Jesus reveals in the writings of the New Testament, he was very much opposed to a lot of what was going on. They were too, though they had some pretty strange ideas in this community.

The authors of the dead sea scrolls

It was excavated in the 1950′s, and it was a very elaborate complex, probably the dwelling place of about 200 people. They weren’t married, they did not believe sex was appropriate, and somehow they survived for 300 years there, through a heavy recruiting program. They had some other unusual ideas, but they also – this is usually not revealed by the liberal scholars because these were kooks according to them- they also had some very righteous conduct and some excellent insights into the Scriptures. And, there’s some facts about them that provide some excellent evidence for us, in view of the concept of the Scripture that we have today. We can see that they had a very elaborate water system. They had engineered an aqueduct to bring water from the nearby mountains and they had all kinds of washing pools, and ceremonial baths and up to 3 story buildings, with a watchtower and then the scriptorium was at least 2 stories. Because of the insights that we gain, when we look at their attitude towards Scripture and towards the Messiah, they (liberals) want to discredit that and call it just a pottery factory. But, inside the scriptorium, the benches were made to stretch out the scrolls (13:00). The inkwells are found in the ruins. And so, they were stretching out rolls, sewing them together, writing on these benches, and I think it’s pretty obvious what they were doing. Those clay benches that were designed to roll the scrolls out, and to facilitate the copying of them have of course been recovered. Several of them are on display in the Rockefeller museum today, and some of them are in Amman, Jordan. photo below wikipedia – Qumran Scriptorium.

But, this whole community was a worshipping community, considering themselves much more orthodox and righteous, appropriate, loved of God, than any of what was going on in Jerusalem. In 66 A.D. the jews revolted against Rome. At that point, they understood that there were going to be big problems and so, they began to take all of their scrolls and hide them, sealed in jars with beeswax, in the caves. That accounts for their almost miraculous preservation. The intact Isaiah scroll is just beautifully preserved, if somewhat burned around the edges. Two years after they revolted against Rome, the 10th Roman legion marched into this area in 68 A.D. and destroyed it. They completely burned it and did set up camp there and lived there for maybe 25 years. They evidently did not find the scrolls. They were hidden in the caves in the surrounding areas. There are 11 of them that have been found. We were able to go up to those caves, when I was working as a geological consultant for the dig that was going on at that time. One of the original fellows that was there when the scrolls were found went with us to cave 1 and to several other caves and told us (speaking in Arabic through a translator)  of the events and described it for us. His grandson, Yosef, is an accomplished archaeologist and has been able to work with us at the excavations.

Cave 4 is perhaps the most important of the caves. The bedouins found, eventually, over 15,000 fragments. The archaeologists found another 40,000 . Sometimes people say, “Well, they held these things for so long that the were some kind of shenanigans going on. Well, you’ve got over 50,000 fragments. You don’t just put those together easily. They’re from over 400 manuscripts, that is, from this cave. There is a total of over 800 manuscripts from all the caves. And, about 100 from this cave (cave 4) were biblical manuscripts. But, the papyrus on which they were written, and mainly the parchment, if it’s not sealed in the jars, of course does not hold together. It does deteriorate, and it had to be pieced back together. We look inside cave 4, and you see that this is a man made cave. Perhaps, an original cave that they have enlarged and embellished. (at the 18:00 minute mark you see where most of the fragments had been collected from and found).

Dr. Patton’s dig site was on the plateau immediately adjacent to the Qumran area, and was in response to the charge that they (the community) were disconnected to the scrolls, that they were just a pottery factory. We moved a lot of dirt. It is very hot, as it is the lowest spot on earth, about 1300 feet below sea level. Even in December the temperature is near 100 degrees (F), in the summer it’s about 130. Our area was on the eastern portion, which dealt with this pre-Hasmonean circular pit. The Hasmonean era is sometimes called the period between the Old and the New Testaments. We were excavating these cooking pots. One of the things that’s obvious when you excavate remains  is that these people, in the first place, ate very well and they had elaborate clothing and wine pots.

Many people say John the Baptist came from the wilderness and was an Essene, that was here in this Qumran community. But, he didn’t dress that well, he didn’t drink, he didn’t eat that well. Locusts and wild honey is different form the feasts that we saw remains of. I see no connection at all; I see a contrast. These were rather wealthy people. They gave all their money to the community, when they joined up, and they lived well from this communal arrangement. We were looking carefully at the meals which they ceremonially buried in the pottery and found from the DNA analysis of these bones that the DNA matched the sheepskin. So, that the sheep that were used to make the skins on which the scrolls were written, matches the sheep that they were eating. They were of the same family, which refutes the idea that this was just a pottery factory. (22:20)

The contents of the dead sea scrolls

There’s a lot of misinformation. Obviously, it’s not all Scripture. Some 400 of the manuscripts- about half- are these crazy things, these pseudo apocryphal fake scripture. Books that are not inspired, that somehow give the impression of inspiration. And so, what were they doing with this, if they had so much respect for Scripture. Certainly in my library I have some commentary written by some people, that have wrong ideas, which I need to know about, so I can answer. And the fact that you find some of these squirrely books, crazy ideas, is not surprising at all.

200 of the texts are what are called sectarian texts, or manuscripts. This was peculiar to the Qumran community, the Essenes. The Book of Discipline, particularly, gives us insight into how they lived and they baptized 2-3 times a day. They really believed in baptism, and they had the pools all over the place. And they didn’t believe in marriage, and held to some other ideas. But, what was really interesting is their view towards Scripture, that we’ll talk more about. And so, about 1/4 of the library, a greater percentage were of actual manuscripts, or copies of the Scriptures. They would copy and recopy, almost wear out and retire and make new copies. But, they were very devoted religious sect, devoted to studying the Scriptures. 24 copies of Genesis were found.  33 of Deuteronomy. These were the 2 books they seemed to give more emphasis to. Isaiah was popular, 22 fragments, Psalms 39 fragments. And, actually, we find every book of the Old Testament represented, with the exception of Esther, and there is reference to Esther in some of the commentaries which indicate they thought Esther was a part of the canon, what was inspired. I think we’ll find fragments as we continue to search here, of Esther. We find whole or fragmentary copies of every book in the Old Testament, with the exception of Esther, and Esther is referred to.

Perhaps, most significant is the fact that 12 of the scrolls are written in pale0-Hebrew. One of the great challenges to faith is a theory that has overthrown the faith of thousands, some of my close friends, that says that the early books of the Bible were not written by Moses- this documentary hypothesis, as it’s referred to tells us that they were actually written after the exile, made up to look like Israel was ancient to give greater political significance at the time. And they’ve got computer analysis and very technical approaches to try to prove that. 12 of these are written in the Paleo-Hebrew, which is the style that was only used prior to the exile. After the exile, they added vowels, they changed the shapes of the letters, and it’s very easy to see the difference. Now, I don’t think these were actually written before the exile, but, they’re copies of manuscripts that were written, that proves they were in existence prior to the exile. The oldest scroll is the Genesis scroll, written in Paleo-Hebrew, dated to (Wikipedia reports the dates for them, to as early as 325 B.C.) conservatively, 300 B.C. But, in Paleo-Hebrew, which indicates this is a copy  of that which was before the exile. Here is Genesis, a part of the books that they say had to e written after the exile, that we know from the dead sea scrolls, was not (meaning it was written before the exile and pointing to Moses). And that it was in existence before the exile and that documentary hypothesis is exploded for that and several other reasons.

There were a number of interpretive commentaries which I think were very insightful. The liberals don’t like them, because the Essenes believed them and they believed the Bible. The commentaries indicate that. They believed they (the books) were prophetic and that they foresaw the coming of the Messiah, and they understood the Messiah better than the apostles did. They understood, as the New Testament writers did, that this was God’s word. But, they referred to the Messiah as the pierced Messiah. One that would die and would be resurrected. The liberals think that this idea of the Messiah that would die and then be resurrected developed hundreds of years after Christ and that the New Testament was written long after the New Testament times, and that this was just a spin that put on new ideas after they developed for hundreds of years. They got it from the Old Testament prophecies hundreds of years before Christ. This is not an oddball, developed spin on the Old Testament prophecies. This is derived directly from the prophecies, even before Christ arrived.

photo below wikipedia - Great_Isaiah_Scroll Isaiah scroll discovered at Qumran.

The great Isaiah scroll is on display at the Shrine of the Book, at that museum, is the most exciting. If you study Isaiah in seminary today, you won’t study Isaiah. You’ll study Isaiah 1 and Isaiah 2. The liberals have to split this because the second part of Isaiah has prophecies in it. If it were written in the time of Isaiah, it would have to be a supernatural prophecy. And so, they fix that: They split it saying, “Yeah, this is Isaiah 1- it was written at the time of Isaiah, but Isaiah 2 (with the prophecies) had to be written after the exile. That was made up to make it look like prophecy.” And so, when they found the Isaiah scroll, which dates to 300 B.C., and a copy of that which was before the exile, they certainly expected to find 2 different scrolls, because it’s  taught in seminary: Isaiah 1 and Isaiah 2. Not so. All, one complete intact scroll, written in Paleo-Hebrew, altogether 24 feet long. Interestingly, in the margins, you have markings of the Messianic passages, that they understood, 300 years before the Messiah arrived, they understood what this was about. You see why the liberals don’t like it and they don’t tell you about this stuff, but, they tell you about the kooky stuff. (30:40) photo of Mark 6 fragment mentioning Genesareth via bitcoladopini.blogspot.com

But, there’s much more. One of the most exciting finds involves Cave #7. And, if I was speaking to a Jewish audience in Jerusalem, you would hear big groans right now. In Cave #7, of course this is from the 1st century, we have different types of manuscripts that are written on papyrus rather than on parchment, the sheepskin, and it is written in Greek, not in Hebrew or Paleo-Hebrew. Cave #7 has collapsed. It’s sides and roof have fallen away and 19 small fragments of papyrus were found. They couldn’t read them initially, and as they continued to study, “Oh Yes,” there was a fragment from Exodus, Jeremiah and with computer analysis they could see how these letters would fit into a text. But they couldn’t read the rest of them. 17 of the 19 fragments were unread. The reason was they had to find them in the Old Testament. And they weren’t Old Testament. They were New Testament fragments. One of the most obvious is from Mark, and this particular fragment mentions Genesareth, which is a peculiar word for  the Sea of Galilee, used only in the first century, and so, this helps date it, together with the style of the letters. And this is a quotation from Mark 6:52-53, that mentions Genesareth. The way you do this is you superimpose text over this and you see if it fits (see video at 32:30 minute mark) and even with just a few letters you can identify it.

And, as they continued to analyze it, they found several other passages from Mark 4:28, Mark 6:48, Mark 6:52-53, Mark 12:17, Acts 27:38, and Romans 5:11-12, and 1 Timothy 3:16, 4:1-3 and 2 Peter 1:15, which was one of the more controversial and James were verified. And the real significance is this is necessarily before 68 A.D. when the Romans came in and destroyed all of this. The style of the letters indicates about 58 A.D. Now think about it. Now we have it verified: Jesus said, in Mark 13:2 “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.” And what happened in 70 A.D.? The Romans marched in and the stones were thrown down and the streets were pummeled by the stones. This was in 70 A.D. and it was prophesied before 68 A.D. and we can prove it(68 A.D. was when the Essene community was destroyed by the Romans and the scrolls were placed in caves to be found hundreds of years later). Now you can see why they don’t like that.

The same process that allowed them to verify Ezekiel and Jeremiah , in the papyrus from the Greek, was used to find Mark. And they accept one, but not the other, because it doesn’t fit their theological views. This is ongoing, and you don’t hear a lot about his either. They’re papyrus fragments. Hanan Eshel who is a professor at one of the major universities, there in Israel, in 2005 found a number of fragments from Leviticus. The bedouins actually found it, he in his association with them, learned that they had them. They approached him. He purchased them from the bedouins and took them immediately to the Department of Antiquities, saying, “Here is what we have found.” They fired him from his university position, they imprisoned him for over a year. You’re not supposed to buy this stuff from the bedouins. He is no longer a university professor, but he is working with us in our dig, in our efforts to gain permits. He has identified the cave from which these fragments came. We just finished a dig and we have to publish before we can apply for a new permit.

Let’s summarize the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls:

1. They reveal a sect whose approach to Scripture and view of prophecy were similar to the early church. As Paul wrote, when they received this in Thessalonniki, as it was in truth the Word of God. And, as he told the people of Corinth, “If you’re spiritual, you accept this as the commandments of the Lord.” This is the way they viewed Scripture.  
2. It destroys the idea that the beliefs of the New Testament were developed over hundreds of years, after Christ and the apostles already died, and somewhat this tradition and myth grew. No, that’s not the case at all.
3. Like John the Baptist, they believed they were in the desert as forerunners of the Messiah and arrival was imminent. They believed that it was time, and it was imminent, as John the Baptist preached.
4. Like Jesus and the apostles, they believed they were living in the last days of the Old Testament era, and that Scriptures predicted the coming Messiah. A Messiah that was a suffering Messiah and one that would be resurrected. The apostles didn’t get that during the lifetime of Christ. Finally when the Holy Spirit came, they understood it. But, these people understood it ahead of time.

The accuracy of Textual Transmission

One of the lessons that we learn is the meticulous view by which these Scriptures were copied. Interestingly, Josephus comments on this. He says, “We’ve been given practical proof of our reverence for our own Scriptures. For, although such long ages have now passed, no one has ventured either to add, or remove, or to alter a syllable, and it is an instinct with every Jew, from the day of his birth, to regard them as the decrees of God, to abide by them, and, if need be, cheerfully to die for them.” And that’s reflected in the processes of copying that we see in the records, in the manual of discipline, and in the artifacts that have been excavated. They copied every letter after they finished copying a page. And if the tally did not match, they threw it away and started over. So it wasn’t just copying, and hopefully they got it right. They had ways to check.

We now have with this, manuscripts 1,000 years older than any manuscripts that existed before the discovery of the dead sea scrolls. The oldest that we had before the dead sea scrolls were discovered were the Aleppo Codex. This was the Masoretic text, that dated to 900 A.D., talking about Old Testament text. When the King James Bible was translated, that’s the best we could do. And up until the 1940′s, that’s well over 1000 years (dead sea scrolls are) after the prophets (O T Prophets wrote them). Copying them for 1000 years, it has to produce some changes. It couldn’t be like the original. Well, now then, we have the Isaiah scroll 1000 years earlier, and so we can check. What happened between the 1000 years that intervened between the oldest scrolls and the newer ones? They compare perfectly. They are identical, word for word in 95% of the text. The other 5% involve obvious slips of the pen and spelling mistakes. There is no significant difference at all. And it is one scroll from beginning to end.

When we understand the way they did it, and how it compares there is no longer a reasonable charge. The latest Old Testament book was written 325 B.C. The oldest Dead Sea scrolls was written about 300 B.C. It is less than a generation removed from the original that we have copies today. Although we don’t have the originals, we have what goes right back to it. If you have less than a generation removed from the original, you can’t be worried about that 25 years if you look at the accuracy within 1000 years (to the Dead Sea Scrolls). If you are determined not to believe you have an excuse. I think God does that to those that are not honest. But, to honest, reasonable people it’s not reasonable to think that this is not like the original. We can get to within less than a generation. And then, with the New Testament we have that which was written during the lifetime of the eyewitnesses who saw the crucifixion, who saw these events take place. It was written then, probably about 50 A.D., before the prophetic events (Jerusalem) that occurred before 70 A.D., and we can prove that (with the Mark fragment). Now that’s significant.

Our text is dependable. Our view of prophecy is not something that was spinned hundreds of years later, but was inferred directly from the Old Testament, even before Christ. And the New Testament was written during the lifetime of the people who saw it. We have dependable text, and it’s not reasonable to think otherwise. And therefore, we conclude, just exactly what Isaiah concludes, as inspiration from God:

Isaiah 40:7-8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

There’s an exception, and it  has to be a supernatural exception, and it is by God’s promise that the word of God stands forever. And we can defend that proposition and show that it’s unreasonable to deny it.

Related articles

• The IAA Under Fire for its Treatment of the Dead Sea Scrolls (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)
• Rewriting and Interpreting the Hebrew Bible: The Biblical Patriarchs in the Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)
• Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit times extended (wcpo.com)
• Podcast #65: The Dead Sea Scrolls (rickleejames.com)
• Museum Center hosts Ten Commandments (wcpo.com)
• Ten Commandments scroll joins Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit for final days (wlwt.com)

Cum arata stalpul de foc care il calauzea pe Moise in pustie? What might the pillar of fire had looked like, guiding Moses through the wilderness?

Cum arata stalpul de foc care il calauzea pe Moise prin pustie- Exod 13:21 Domnul mergea înaintea lor, ziua într’un stîlp de nor, ca să -i călăuzească pe drum, iar noaptea într’un stîlp de foc, ca să -i lumineze, pentru ca să meargă şi ziua şi noaptea.

Exodus 13:21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.

Fire whirls are formed by unique air temperatures and currents and have enough force to uproot a tree up to 50 feet tall.

Infallibility vs. Inerrancy of the Bible (Essential Reading)

photo form news.tiu.edu

This is a very helpful article, written by Kevin J. Vanhoozer is currently Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illonois. The article is from http://www.theologynetwork.org Dr. Vanhoozer shows that the Word of God, as it is written in the Bible can use the common language of the day, (by employing metaphors) without committing to its literal truth. as he shows in the example of the ‘rising sun’ metaphor:

In speaking of the sun rising, does not the Bible make a scientific mistake? To this objection it may be replied that using the common language of the day is not the same as committing oneself to its literal truth. One must not confuse a social convention with a scientific affirmation. To say that the sun rises is to employ a metaphor – one, moreover, that is true to human experience. The objection proves too much: if the inspired authors have used ancient thought forms that led to scientific errors, would not these same thought forms have led to errors in matters of faith and practice too? After all, ‘To err is human’ – or is it? Though proverbial wisdom equates humanity with fallibility , the paradigm of Christ’s sinless life shows that the one concept need not follow from the other. God’s Word, we may conclude, can take on human form -incarnate, inscripturate – without surrendering its claim to sinlessness and truth.

Read the full article below the photo:

photo by godzdogz.op.org

The Inerrancy of Scripture

Whereas inspiration concerns the origin of the Bible’s authority, inerrancy describes its nature. By inerrancy we refer not only to the Bible’s being ‘without error’ but also to its inability to err (we might helpfully illustrate this point by comparing it to the distinction between Jesus’ sinlessness or being without sin, on the one hand, and his impeccability or inability to sin on the other). Inerrancy, positively defined, refers to a central and crucial property of the Bible, namely, its utter truthfulness.

The basis for the doctrine of biblical inerrancy is located both in the nature of God and in the Bible’s teaching about itself. First, if God is perfect – all-knowing, all-wise, all-good – it follows that God speaks the truth. God does not tell lies; God is not ignorant. God’s Word is thus free from all error arising either from conscious deceit or unconscious ignorance. Such is the unanimous confession of the Psalmist, the prophets, the Lord Jesus and the apostles. Second, the Bible presents itself as the Word of God written.

Thus, in addition to its humanity (which is never denied), the Bible also enjoys the privileges and prerogatives of its status as God’s Word. God’s Word is thus wholly reliable, a trustworthy guide to reality, a light unto our path.

If the biblical and theological basis of the doctrine is so obvious, however, why have some in our day suggested that the inerrancy of the Bible is a relatively recent concept? Is it true, as some have argued, that the doctrine of inerrancy was ‘invented’ in the nineteenth century at Princeton by B B Warfield and Charles Hodge and is therefore a novelty in the history of theology? In answer to this question, it is important to remember that doctrines arise only when there is need for them. Doctrine develops when something implicit in the faith is denied; false teaching provokes an explicit rebuttal. This is as true of inerrancy as it is of the doctrines of the Trinity, or of justification by faith. The notion of the Bible’s truthfulness was implicitly assumed throughout the history of the church.

Theologians were only reflecting the view of the biblical authors themselves. Jesus himself quotes Scripture and implies that its words are true and trustworthy – wholly reliable. The New Testament authors share and reflect this high estimate of the Old Testament. The question is whether this ‘high estimate’ of Scripture pertained to its reliability in matters of faith and salvation only or whether it involved a trust in all matters on which the Bible speaks, including science and history. One difficulty with this question is that it is anachronistic: it reflects the concerns of our times (including the dubious dichotomy between fact and value) rather than that of the Fathers and Reformers. With regard to the Fathers, we know that they held to the divine authorship of Scripture. Behind the many voices of the human authors is the voice of the Holy Spirit, the ultimate author of Scripture. While some used this as an excuse to search for hidden truths through allegorical interpretation, if anything the tendency was to ascribe too much truth to Scripture rather than too little. For the Fathers, to suggest that there were errors in the Bible would have been unthinkable. Augustine, for instance, wrote that biblical authority would be overthrown if the authors had stated things that were not true. Though Augustine warned Christians not to hide their ignorance of scientific fact by easy appeals to Scripture, he also believed that the biblical writers did not make any scientific errors. True scientific discoveries will always be capable of being reconciled with the Scriptures. Augustine is at pains to show that there are no contradictions, either between one part of the Bible and another, or between the Bible and truth gleaned from elsewhere. Whatever we think of such attempts, they are at least compelling evidence of the widespread Patristic presupposition of the Bible’s truthfulness.
The Reformers similarly affirmed the truthfulness of the Bible. There is some debate among scholars whether Luther and Calvin limited Scripture’s truthfulness to matters of salvation, conveniently overlooking errors about lesser matters. It is true that Luther and Calvin are aware of apparent discrepancies in Scripture and that they often speak of ‘errors’. However, a closer analysis seems to indicate that the discrepancies and errors are consistently attributed to copyists and translators, not to the human authors of Scripture, much less to the Holy Spirit, its divine author. Calvin was aware that Paul’s quotations of the Old Testament (e.g Rom 10:6 and Dt 30:12) were not always exact, nor always exegetically sound, but he did not infer that Paul had thereby made an error. On the contrary, Calvin notes that Paul is not giving the words of Moses different sense so much as applying them to his treatment of the subject at hand. Indeed, Calvin explicitly denies the suggestion that Paul distorts Moses’ words.

Doctrines are formulated in order to refute error and to preserve revealed truth. Just as biblical authority only became part of Protestant confessions in the sixteenth century to counter the idea that tradition is the supreme authority of the church, so the doctrine of biblical inerrancy was only explicitly formulated to counter explicit denials of the Bible’s truthfulness. These denials arose about the same time as did modernity and the distinctively modern way of interpreting the Bible: biblical criticism. Many so-called ‘enlightened’ thinkers of the eighteenth century accepted the Deists’ belief that the source of truth was reason rather than revelation. Increasingly, the Bible came to be studied like any other book, on naturalistic assumptions that ruled out the possibility of divine action in history. Accordingly, biblical critics grew sceptical of Scripture’s own account of its supernatural origin and sought to reconstruct the historical reality. Advances in knowledge and a changed view of the world were thought to necessitate a rethinking of biblical authority. Historical-critics argued that the authors of the Bible were children of their age, limited by the worldviews that prevailed when they wrote. It was against this backdrop of widespread suspicion of the supernaturalist appearance of Scripture, and the virtually taken-for-granted denial of divine authorship, that the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, implicit from the first, was explicitly formulated (e.g. by Warfield and Hodge). What is explicitly expressed in the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, however, is not a theological novelty so much as an articulation of what was implicitly, and virtually always, presupposed through most of church history.
What then does the doctrine of biblical inerrancy explicitly articulate? We can refine our provisional definition of inerrancy in terms of truthfulness as follows: The inerrancy of Scripture means that Scripture, in the original manuscripts and when interpreted according to the intended sense, speaks truly in all that it affirms. These specifications, by identifying the conditions under which Scripture speaks truly, do not hasten the death of inerrancy by qualification; they rather acknowledge two crucial limitations that enable believers to keep the doctrine in its proper perspective. Let us examine these two qualifications in more detail.

First: the Bible speaks truly ‘in the original manuscripts’. We have already seen that the Reformers were able to affirm the truthfulness of the Bible and to acknowledge errors due to faulty translation or transmission. To the objection that we do not now possess the original manuscripts, it must be pointed out that textual critical studies have brought us extremely close to the original text. The relatively small number of textual variations do not for the most part affect our ability to recognize the original text. At the same time, it is important not to ascribe inerrancy to the copies of the originals, since these are the products of an all-too human process of transmission.

The second qualification is just as important: ‘when interpreted according to the intended sense’. It is often tempting to claim the same authority for one’s interpretations as for the biblical text itself. The thrust of the doctrine of inerrancy, however, like that of sola scriptura, is to stress the distinction between the Word of God and the words of men. Interpretations of the Bible fall under the category ‘words of men’. It is thus important not to ascribe inerrancy to our interpretations. To the objection that we do not possess the correct interpretation, we must appeal not to inerrancy but to the perspicuity of Scripture. What conflicts there are about biblical interpretation ultimately must be ascribed to the fallible interpreter, not to the infallible text.

Does inerrancy do justice to the humanity of the Scriptures? Some critics of inerrancy have suggested that God had to ‘accommodate’ his message to the language and thought-forms of the day in order effectively to communicate. In taking on forms of human language and thought, does God’s communication simultaneously take on outmoded views of the world or of human nature? For example, could God speak truthfully of the sun ‘rising’ when he knows full well that the sun does not move? In speaking of the sun rising, does not the Bible make a scientific mistake? To this objection it may be replied that using the common language of the day is not the same as committing oneself to its literal truth. One must not confuse a social convention with a scientific affirmation. To say that the sun rises is to employ a metaphor – one, moreover, that is true to human experience. The objection proves too much: if the inspired authors have used ancient thought forms that led to scientific errors, would not these same thought forms have led to errors in matters of faith and practice too? After all, ‘To err is human’ – or is it? Though proverbial wisdom equates humanity with fallibility , the paradigm of Christ’s sinless life shows that the one concept need not follow from the other. God’s Word, we may conclude, can take on human form -incarnate, inscripturate – without surrendering its claim to sinlessness and truth.

Does inerrancy therefore mean that every word in Scripture is literally true? There has been a great deal of confusion on this point, both in the media and in academia. It should first be noted that mere words are neither true nor false; truth is a property of statements. Second, those who oppose biblical inerrancy have all too often contributed to the confusion by caricaturing the notion of literal truth. Critics of inerrancy typically speak of ‘literal truth’ when what they really mean is ‘literalistic truth’. Defenders of inerrancy must take great care to distinguish the notion of literal truth from the kind of literalistic interpretation that runs roughshod over the intent of the author and the literary form of the text.

Perhaps the best way to resolve this confusion is to begin at the other end. What counts as an error? If I say that my lecture lasts an hour, when in fact it lasts only fifty-nine minutes, have I made an error? That depends on your expectation and on the context of my remark. In everyday conversation round figures are perfectly acceptable; no one would accuse me of getting my figures wrong. In other contexts, however, a different level of precision is required. A BBC television producer, for instance, would need to know the exact number of minutes. The point is that what counts as an error depends upon the kind of precision or exactness that the reader has a right to expect. ‘Error’ is thus a context-dependent notion. If I do not claim scientific exactitude or technical precision, it would be unjust to accuse me of having erred.

Indeed, too much precision (‘my lecture is fifty-nine minutes and eight seconds long’) can be distracting and actually hinder clear communication. Let us define error, then, as a failure to make good on or to redeem one’s claims. The Bible speaks truly because it makes good its claims. It thus follows that we should first determine just what kind of claims are being made before too quickly ruling ‘true’ or ‘false’. If error is indeed a context-dependent notion, those who see errors in Scripture would do well first to establish the context of Scripture’s claims. To interpret the Bible according to a wooden literalism fails precisely to attend to the kinds of claims Scripture makes. To read every sentence of the Bible as if it were referring to something in the world, or to a timeless truth, may be to misread much of Scripture. Just as readers need to be sensitive to metaphor (few would react to Jesus’ claim in Jn 10:9 ’I am the door’ by searching for a handle) so readers must be sensitive to literary genre (e.g. to the literary context of biblical statements).

Is every word in Scripture literally true? The problem with this question is its incorrect (and typically unstated) assumption that ‘literal truth’ is always literalistic – a matter of referring to history or to the ‘facts’ of nature. It is just such a faulty assumption – that the Bible always states facts – that leads certain wellmeaning defenders of inerrancy desperately to harmonize what appear to be factual or chronological discrepancies in the Gospels. In the final analysis, what was new about the Princetonians’ view of Scripture was not their understanding of the Bible’s truthfulness but rather their particular view of language and interpretation, in which the meaning of the biblical text was the fact – historical or doctrinal – to which it referred. Their proof-texting was more a product of their view of language and interpretation than of their doctrine of Scripture.

What if the intent of the evangelists was not to narrate history with chronological precision? What if the evangelists sometimes intended to communicate only the content of Jesus’ teaching rather than his very words? Before extending the Bible’s truth to include history or astronomy, or restricting to matters of salvation for that matter, we must first ask, ‘What kind of literature is this?’ The question of meaning should precede the question of truth. We must first determine what kind of claim is being made before we can rule on its truthfulness. The point of biblical apocalyptic is quite distinct from the point of Jesus’ parables, from that of the Gospels themselves, or of Old Testament wisdom. We must, therefore, say that the literal sense of Scripture is its literary sense: the sense the author intended to convey in and through a particular literary form. Inerrancy means that every sentence, when interpreted correctly (i.e. in accordance with its literary genre and its literary sense), is wholly reliable.

The older term to express biblical authority – infallibility – remains useful. Infallibility means that Scripture never fails in its purpose. The Bible makes good on all its claims, including its truth claims. God’s Word never leads astray. It is important to recall that language may be used for many different purposes, and not to state facts only. Inerrancy, then, is a subset of infallibility: when the Bible’s purpose is to make true statements, it does this too without fail. Yet the Bible’s other speech acts – warnings, promises, questions – are infallible too.

The Bible’s own understanding of truth stresses reliability. God’s Word is true because it can be relied upon – relied upon to make good its claim and to accomplish its purpose. We may therefore speak of the Bible’s promises, commands, warnings, etc. as being ‘true’, inasmuch as they too can be relied upon. Together, the terms inerrancy and infallibility remind us that the Word of God is wholly reliable not only when it speaks, but also when it does the truth.

Coming March 3rd 8/7C pm- A new History Channel Mini Series will feature the Bible- from Genesis to Revelation (Preview Videos)

The Bible is an epic five-week, 10-hour television mini-series premiering March 3, 2013 on the History Channel from Emmy Award winning husband and wife team, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey. For two hours each Sunday night millions of viewers will see the Bible from Genesis to Revelation come to life in a way never before seen. The final episode of the series will air on Easter Sunday and will feature the death and resurrection of Jesus.

8:00 pm
Premiere

The Bible: In the Beginning/ExodusNoah endures God’s wrath; Abraham reaches the Promised Land but still must prove his faith in God; M… TV14 V | CCShow Site

source outreach.com via SermonCentral.com

Source for table below - http://www.outreach.com/the-bible/about.aspx

March 3, Episode 1	The Beginning – Noah, Abraham thru Jacob, Israel begins
March 3, Episode 2	The Exodus – Pharaoh, Moses, Red Sea and Ten Commandments
March 10, Episode 3	The Homeland – Joshua, Samson, Judges, David & Goliath
March 10, Episode 4	The Kingdom – David, Saul, Solomon
March 17, Episode 5	The Survival – Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, Jews return to Jerusalem
March 17, Episode 6	The Revolution – Roman occupation, Birth of Christ, John the Baptist, Jesus and Peter
March 24, Episode 7	The Mission – Jesus ministry & miracles, Pharasee, the Disciples
March 24, Episode 8	The Betrayal – Last supper, Judas, Peter’s Denial
March 31, Episode 9	The Passion – Nicodemus, Caiaphas, Pilate, Crucifixion, Resurrection
March 31, Episode 10	The Courage – Jesus returns, Holy Spirit comes, Martyrdom of the Disciples, John survival and exile to Patmos, Revelation

The Nativity

Mary did you know

The Bible Trailer

What implements have been made for the new Temple?

It is fascinating to watch, as the Jews in Israel await the coming of the Messiah. They have produced all of the utensils needed, in order to be able to serve in the Temple, according to the qualifications God had required in the First Temple period. The harp maker is very much looking forward to seeing King David. May the Lord open their eyes to see the true Messiah, that already came, and who showed us the Father, and through whom we have eternal life.

John 12:45 - ”He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me.

John 14:9 - Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

John 6:40 - For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

What Solomon’s Temple looked like

http://www.esvstudybible.org/sb/objects/illustration-solomons-temple.html

For more photos and Historic Bible study from II Chronicles

click here - http://www.ccmanitowoc.org/Library

Almost two thousand years ago, after nearly two years of terrible seige, the brutally efficient legions of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and burned the Temple to the ground. Led by General Titus, the son of Emperor Vespasian, the Roman army completed its mission of destruction on the ninth day of Av (August) in A.D. 70.

The glorious temple, built by King Herod, was the second of the sacred temples to stand on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The First Temple had been built by King Solomon approximately 1000 B.C. and was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C.. The Second Temple that was built by the Jews who returned to Jerusalem following the Babylonian Captivity in 536 B.C. remains in ruins today. However, exciting developments are taking place in Israel that will result in a Third Temple being built again on the ancient foundations that Solomon put in place nearly three thousand years ago. You and I are part of the prophetic generation that will live to see a Temple of God once again stand in Jerusalem, the spiritual crossroads o the world.

The rebuilding of the Temple has profound prophetic significance equal to the appearance of the Antichrist or the forming of the pagan armies to invade Israel in the coming Battle of Gog and Magog. Many students of biblical prophecy have debated the role that will be played by the Third Temple in end-times developments. But the scriptures make it clear that just before Christ returns, the Third Temple of God must stand once more on its original location on the Temple Mount.

Preparations to build the Third Temple have progressed on several fronts in recent years, with detailed plans and practical preparations that go far beyond the awareness of most people.   (Grant Jeffries)

Yeshua (Jesus) Kadosh (Holy) ! from Rodica on Vimeo.

The Temple at the time of Jesus

photo (more on site) from - http://www.katapi.org.uk

12 - Court of the Israelites

17 - Holy Place

19 - slaughtering place

20 - altar

21 - laver

22 - Court of the Priests

23 – porch

Illustration adapted from: 4. “The Lion Handbook to the Bible” ed: David & Pat Alexander (page 567). Lion Publishing. 1973.
Illustrations (1, 2 & 3) are of the 1/50th scale model by the late Prof. Avi Yonah of the Hebrew University, in the Holyland Hotel, Jerusalem. (4) is a model of the sacrificial area by Alex Gerrard.
Temple area today: “Picture Archive of the Bible,” ed: C Masom & P Alexander, Lion Publishing, 1987.
Solomon’s Stables: “Jerusalem – die lebendige stadt,” Armon, Jerusalem, 1969.

See more photos and descriptions here -  http://www.katapi.org.uk

Cel mai vechi manuscris ale celor Zece Porunci va fi inclus in Librăria Digitală Cambridge

Un manuscris evriesc, vechi de 2.000 de ani, care conţine una dintre cele mai vechi copii ale celor Zece Porunci, a devenit ultimul text care să fie inclus în Librăria Digitală Cambridge.

Înainte de a fi descoperite manuscrisele de la Marea Moartă în 1947, documentul cunoscut drept „Papirusul Nash” era cel mai vechi manuscris cunoscut, ce conţine bucăţi din Biblia Evreilor, conformLiveScience.

Aceasta este pentru prima dată când manuscrisul este disponibil online, prin librăria digitală a Universităţii Cambridge. Din cauza vechimii şi a delicateţii lor, textele pot fi foarte rar expuse şi chiar şi atunci, doar câteva pagini. „Acum, cu generozitatea Fundaţiei Polonsky, oricine are o conexiune la Internet poate explora manuscrisul în detaliu,” a declarat un bibliotecar universitar, conform Huffington Post.

Lansată în decembrie anul trecut, librăria digitală a Universităţii Cambridge a atras deja zeci de milioane de oameni. Cu ajutorul Fundaţiei Polonsky, care a donat în iunie 2010 o sumă de 1,5 milioane de euro, a fost posibilă implementarea infrastructurii tehnice care face posibil acest progres.

sursa http://www.semneletimpului.ro

Brian Robinson – Show no pity

Brian Robinson is a Pastor in Ontario,Canada and Editor of the Sovereign Grace Journal of Canada. The article was published in the Banner of Truth Trust, United Kingdom, January 2011 edition.

The adoration of the calf

In Deuteronomy 13:8 God tells Israel to show no pity. The situation is this: a dear one, whether father, mother, brother or sister is enticing other family members ‘to go and worship other gods’. God tells Israel, ‘. . . do not yield to him or listen to him – show him no pity.’ We are all aware of the importance of compassion, mercy and forgiveness. James 2:13 informs us that ‘Mercy triumphs over justice.’ And certainly we all need lessons in forgiveness and pity. But is there a time to show no pity. A time when the quality of mercy is strained? I wonder!

For example, we are all familiar with Eli and his refusal to discipline his sons. His boys were priests of the Most High God, but were violating the sacrifices and corrupting the morals of God’s people. Eli was warned by God to rein his sons in (1 Sam. 2:22ff.), but all he did was give a stern lecture. Also, in David’s own household one of his own sons raped his sister, but tragically David held his peace (2 Sam. 13) and showed ‘pity’ rather than meting out proper punishment. In both cases the failure to act and do the hard work of discipline, ended in tragedy for both families. Often a pastor in observing his congregation can recognize parents making a terrible mistake in the raising of their children by their failure to discipline as an act of love or kindness.

Churches can also fall into the same trap and show pity when no pity ought to be shown. Even though it is a violation of God’s will for his church, friendship, sentiment and false compassion can undermine truth and righteousness. It can also cause those who are observers to distrust and even lose their awe of God. Peter’s quick response to Ananias and his lie caused ‘great fear’ to all who heard what happened (Acts 5:5). I recall early in my ministry urging my congregation not to attend a ‘Women’s World Day of Prayer’ in the United Church of Canada, because the guest speaker was a Jewish lady. Following the service my hand was squeezed very forcibly as I was reprimanded for picking on a dear little Jewish lady. The truth is there were times in Scripture where God taught his people to show no pity, no matter how close or how dear that person was or is to us.

Certainly, one of the ways heresy makes its way into our churches is by false pity. The professor is a very nice person with a very loving personality, and so we can make allowances. Sincerity is also a quality that demands ‘pity’. This is also true in the sentimentalizing of the Gospel. We hold back certain truths of the gospel because they are unpalatable, or we deem them rather harsh. Funeral services are the worst. Granted one needs to tread softly, and wishes to be kind and comforting, but to say things that are patently false causes unbelievers to think that heaven is gained simply by dying.

One place where we are to show no pity is the cross of Jesus Christ. The temptation to sandpaper the cross was very strong even in Paul’s day. But his response was to show no pity. So in Galatians 1:9, ‘As we have already said, so now I say again: if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!’ Strong words, but words that need to be heard again in our meeting places. To show false pity marks us out as men pleasers, which in the long haul does harm to the message and those for whom it was intended.

John Stott in his book The Cross of Christ warns about reducing Christ’s cross work to something to be pitied. He writes,

The essential background to the cross, therefore, is a balanced understanding of the gravity of sin and the majesty of God. If we diminish either, we thereby diminish the cross. If we reinterpret sin as a lapse instead of rebellion, and God as indulgent instead of indignant, then naturally the cross appears superfluous. But to dethrone God and enthrone ourselves not only dispenses with the cross; it also degrades both God and man (p. 110).

False pity is also rampant in our society as a whole. We find that justice is weighed now with considerations of someone’s rearing, poverty or some social aberration, or a minority status. Judges hand down sentences that in no way do justice to the crime or the criminal. In Israel a man was to be given stripes not over forty depending on the offence. God commanded men to shed the blood of those who shed blood (Gen. 9:6), but because of false pity we allow killers access to the streets to kill again. We may out of ‘pity’ abrogate capital punishment and feel good about it, but our failure to obey God by shedding the blood of killers has caused untold pain and sorrow.

Mercy is a wonderful thing, and our Lord taught us to pray for forgiveness only as we ourselves forgive others. So when is pity false pity? When we see what God has commanded, and fail to apply both the precept and the punishment for disobedience. Pity can be freely given where offences are personal, but there should be no pity when God’s commands are deliberately violated. In some cases it may mean time in prison, or even the death penalty. In some cases discipline administered in the church, so that others might fear. In other cases it may mean a public rebuke as we see in Galatians (Gal. 2:11-14). But in the Bible there is a case for no pity. And while we may well pity those who know not our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they must be warned that there is no pity for those who reject God’s gracious offer of salvation.

(VIA) Banner of Truth Trust

Beni si Nora Faragau – Comunicarea in relatie cu sot/sotie si cu copiii

Pastorul Beni Faragau impreuna cu sotia Nora vorbesc despre comunicarea in casatorie:

Ce fel de relatie o fi avut Isac si Rebeca? Noi avem impresia ca nu conteaza relatia dintre sot si sotie. Dragii mei, cred ca relatia dintre mine si sotie se transfera in viata copiilor mei. Si daca veti citi cu foarte mare atentie, veti vedea aceasta disfunctionalitate intre Isac si Rebeca. O veti gasi si intre Esau si Iacov, si-n toata istoria care a urmat si in toti descendentii lor.

Nu cumva instrainarea dintre mine si sotia mea este cauza instrainarii noastre de copii nostri? Nu cumva, asa cum a gandit Dumnezeu lucrurile in familie, pune doi oameni laolalta, un om si o femeie si ei devin originea, izvorul copiilor lor. Si cum este izvorul asa va fi si raul. Daca nu avem timp unul pentru celalalt, spuneti-mi: Nu-i logic sa n-avem timp nici pentru copiii nostri? Iar, daca nu avem timp unul pentru celalalt si tot timpul nostru il dam copiilor nostri, creiem o atmosfera absolut infectata in familia respectiva. Eu cred ca copiii nostri trebuie sa creasca simplu, fara multe filozofii, intr-o familie in care fiecare il iubeste pe Dumnezeu, se iubesc unul pe celalalt si-n care-si fac timp nul de altul.

Daca nu reusesc ca partener sa am o relatie buna de dragostecu celalalt partener si ma focalizez pe copiii mei, ajungem in situatia polarizarii in care au ajuns Isac si Rebeca. Noi avem nevoie de relatii si daca nu tinem cont de ceea ce Dumnezeu a creat si ne cere, ne imbolnavim noi si familiile noastre.

Intr-o astfel de situatie, ce ne vom face cand ramane cuibul gol? N-ai invatat 20 de ani sa vorbesti cu nevasta-ta, doar nu o sa inveti dupa aceea. Sunt si exceptii. Ce faceti atunci cand aveti timp unul cu celalalt? Despre ce vorbiti?

Daca lucrurile pleaca de la mine si de la sotia mea, atunci, un sfat simplu este: Faceti-va timp unul pentru celalalt. Vorbiti intre voi, bucurati-va unul de celalalt. Viata este extrem de scurta. Ar fi pacat ca la batranete venind din doua colturi ale cladirii, nestiind ce sa spuneti unul celuilalt, sa trageti patura peste picioarele reci ale partenerului care se pregateste sa plece (sa moara).

Primul pas pentru o comunicare buna intre parinti si copii este comunicarea intre parteneri.

(1)Sunt gata sa recunosc ca valoarea cea mai mare in viata mea sunt copii mei si sotia/sotul? Stati de vorba cu oameni care intr-o clipa au pierdut totul.

(2)Stai si gandeste-te la tot ceea ce ai adunat. Esti gata sa recunosti ca valoarea ultima peste care Dumnezeu te-a pus administrator sunt fiintele vesnice din casa ta?

(3)Am curajul sa vin in fata familiei mele sa ii spun ca in seara aceasta I-am spus Domnului ca ‘cea mai mare valoare pe care El a pus-o in viata mea sunteti voi’.

(4)Am curajul sa intreb, in ce anume, concret se vede faptul ca ei sunt cea mai mare valoare pentru mine?

(5)Am curajul sa-i intreb ce ar trebui sa schimb in programul meu, in atitudinea mea ca sa dovedesc lucrul acesta familiei mele?

Daca nu avem timp pentru copiii nostri vom fi ingropati cu desertaciunea pe care am adunat-o.

Nora Faragau incepe la minutul 34.

11 Noiembrie 2012 – Seara Familiei – Beni si Nora Faragau from Biserica Baptista Iris on Vimeo.

Jerusalem – the making of a city

This is a BBC production that aired in Europe, thus you will hear the narrator giving equal footing to the 3 major religions and at one point stating that although Christians believe every word is inspired, the narrator being in the ‘historical thinking mode’ says some of the Bible is mythological. Putting aside this caveat, the video is an excellent and useful tool in learning the history of the city, while looking at the actual places being discussed. There is a chronological timeline of historic events, some taken from the Bible. And  the BBC’s cinematography is of course excellent, with some  rare footage, including a clip from the underground, 90 feet under the site of the Holy of Holies part of where Solomon’s temple once stood (in video part 1).

Part 1

From Antiquity to Constantine

Part 2

From Islam’s rise to the 13th Century

Part 3

The divided city – 13 th Century to Present

R.C. Sproul – (1) The Holiness of God – Isaiah 6

From the 2007 Desiring God conference. For notes or audio file:  click here for the Desiring God website (www.desiringGod.org)

Text – Isaiah 6:1-8

Isaiah’s Vision

6 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. ² Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.³ And one called out to another and said,

“ Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts,
The  whole earth is full of His glory.”

⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the  temple was filling with smoke. ⁵ Then I said,

“ Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. ⁷ He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”

Isaiah’s Commission

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” ⁹ He said, “Go, and tell this people:

‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.’
¹⁰ “ Render the hearts of this people  insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”

A few (my) notes from the message given at the Desiring God Conference:

• If we are to desire God, it is imperative that we desire the God who is and not a god of our own imagination and what I’ve appreciated about John’s (Piper) ministry over these many  decades is that he knows who God is. And he doesn’t seek to hide the true God from people for convenience’s sake, but has been relentless and courageous, as we all must be to proclaim and set forth for all the people of God, the character of God in all of His glory.
• Sproul states that Isaiah 6 is his favorite text that sets forth the holiness of God. Isaiah chapter 6 gives to us the record of Isaiah’s call to be a prophet. In order to be a prophet in ancient Israel it was a lonely task because at the forefront of that vocation was to be a prosecutor of God against people that violated the terms of their covenant with God. So, the life expectancy of a prophet in Israel was about the same as a first lieutenant in combat. It was not a pleasurable enterprise and the land was filled with false prophets, who made the task of the authentic prophet all the more difficult. And the thing that distinguished the false prophet from the true prophet was not simply that the true prophet was faithful to the word that God had given him, but, the true prophet was called directly and immediately by God. That’s why the prophets were so zealous to record the circumstances of their call, which Isaiah has done for us here in this chapter (Isaiah 6).
• After reading Isaiah 6:1-10: What you have just heard is the unvarnished word of God. This is not an insight delivered from an ancient Hebrew teacher. This is a word that comes from heaven, with all of its inspiration, infallibility and inerrancy. Before which words, we as mortals should tremble. I don’t know what year King Uzziah died, sometime in the 8th century BC, but there is a bit of irony when pinpointing the kink’s demise as corresponding to the same year that a little village was founded across the Mediterranean, the village that would be named Roma. The city that, centuries later would provoke intersection between the force of the mightiest empire of antiquity with the man that was the chief subject of the future prophecy of Isaiah. The year Roma was born Isaiah was commissioned as a prophet of God. (Sproul suggests further reading on King Uzziah in 2 Chronicles ch. 26) Those of us familiar with Chronicles and Kings know that it reads like a rogue gallery, because most of the monarchs in Judah and in Israel were men of unspeakable wickedness and infidelity. We are hard pressed to find even a handful of Godly kings during that period. But, if we were to rate the great kings of that nation, surely David would be accorded first place. And in any important list of monarchs we would include Josiah and Hezekiah. But, we should  never exclude from that list this man who was Uzziah.
• Uzziah came to the throne when he was 16 years old and he reigned in Jerusalem for 52 years. And, perhaps the only king in the history of the Jewish people, that had greater accomplishments on the battlefield then Uzziah was David himself.   Uzziah built the strength of the military to a level rivaling that of David. His agricultural project reforms brought unprecedented prosperity to the land. And, the Bible says of this king that for most of his reign that he did that which was right in the face of the Lord. Unfortunately, toward the end of his reign he became full of himself and he ended his life like a Shakespearean tragic hero. He got so puffed up with himself that he irrigated  his own province the right to perform the task of the priesthood. And so, he entered with his censor into the temple and moved to offer incense there, which absolutely shocked the priest. It horrified them in fact and they moved one man to stop the king from this act of sacrilege and they pled with him and said, “King, you are not permitted to minister here, in the sanctuary. God has set us apart for that task”. When they protested this intrusion into their domain, Uziiah became furious and demanded they give way so that he could perform what he wanted to do. At that instant God struck him with leprosy and forbade him any further entrance into the temple. He could no longer be the king, he could no longer worship in the presence of his people and he was consigned to solitary confinement in his dying days.
• So, this man’s 52 year reign ended in shame and in disgrace. However, when he died it was truly the end of an era. And, when a monarch of this duration passes from the scene, there’s a sense of unsettled spirits among the people. They don’t know what the future will bring and I don’t know if that was the psychology that provoked Isaiah to enter into the temple. I don’t even know if he was in the ‘earthly’ temple  or if the vision he records here was a visit into the heavenly temple. In any case, the throne of Israel was vacant.
• “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne”- At approx. 14th minute Sproul explains the difference between the word Lord and LORD. LORD Yahweh is the name of God.  Add on Adonai, is the supreme title for God. God has many names in the Old Testament, but, the title that I say, that was most exalted is the title Adonai, which means ‘the one who is absolutely sovereign’. The God who is holy is the God who is sovereign.  He is Adonai, the supreme ruler of heaven and earth. Translation in the New Testament, of the Old Testament’s Adonai is the Greek word Kyrios (κύριος) for the title LORD. And, you know that title can be used in different ways. What is astonishing is that that  title which for the most part is reserved for God in the Old Testament Scriptures, is now given to the Son of God.
• Philippians 2:9 ‘Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,”. What is this name that is above every name? Most people say, “Jesus”. No, that is not what Paul says. The name that is above every name is the name Adonai. The name Kyrios (κύριος), which is given to Jesus. And so Paul concludes that “at the name of Jesus, let every knee bow and every tongue confess that He is Adonai. John tells us that the content of this vision that Isaiah beheld was of the exalted Son of God, on the throne, prior to His incarnation.

• Verse 1 – “I saw the Lord, sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. The train of His robe filled the temple. In the ancient times, the status of a ruler, the loftiness of a king, in many ways was measured by the stuff and substance of his garments. Were they purple? White, ermine, mink or simply wool? How big was the train of his garment? Here, Isaiah sees a monarch on the throne, high and lifted up and the train of his garment is so massive, that it furls over the sides of the throne into the front of the sanctuary and encompasses the entire interior of the sanctuary. There had never been a king like this before, where the train of his robe would fill the temple. That’s what Isaiah saw as he gazed into heaven.
• “And above Him stood Seraphim, and what follows is an anatomical description of the seraphim. One of the most remarkable aspects of God’s work of creation is the efficiency with which God makes His creatures. He makes them and shapes them suitable for their environment. When He makes the Seraphim , He creates them with the anatomy suitable for their environment, because the immediate environment of seraphim is the presence of God.  And to be in the presence of God and the presence of His unveiled glory, every moment of the day, requires a certain anatomical apparatus. They’re given 2 wings to cover their eyes. Remember when Moses was on the mountain and he makes the great request; he said, “Lord, let me see your face”. And you know what God said, he said, “Moses, I don’t think you understand what you are asking for. I will carve out a cleft in the rock, I will place you there and I will pass you by and I will pass by you and let you have a momentary glance at my back, but My face shall not be seen. To look upon My face is to die”. Looking into the face of God is banned from our eyes, from the first sin. And the reason why we cannot see God is not because there is an innate deficiency with our eyesight. The problem is not with the eye, it’s with the soul. In the Beatitudes, who is given the promise that they will see God? The pure in heart. They shall see God. Moses’ heart was not yet pure; he wasn’t allowed to see God. We have that eschatological promise that John tells us, “We don’t know yet what we’re gonna be like, but, we do know this, that when He comes, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is- in His essence. Not by way of some refraction of glory, not by way of a simple burning bush, theophany or pillar of cloud or of fire, but we will see Him as He is (which is called the beatific vision, the vision that will give to our souls its supreme blessedness. But, in the meantime, He remains invisible, hidden from our eyes, inaccessible and His glory is so intense that even when His shekinah is manifested on this planet, to the eyes of the people like Saul on the road to Damascus, he’s blinded by it and it is so glorious in its intensity, that even the angels who are made to live in the immediate presence of God  every day, have to shield their eyes from the brilliance of His glory.
• With 2 wings he covers his feet. Why that? The feet, biblically, are symbols of creatureliness. Back to Moses when he notices the bush that is burning without being consumed and the voice comes out of the bush saying to him, “Moses, Moses, take off your shoes from off your feet, for the ground on which you are standing is holy ground”. What made it holy? It was the intersection, the visitation when God came into his (Moses) presence. (Moses) your feet are a symbol that you are of the dust. Your frame is of dust and your feet are of clay and in My presence, you cover your creatureliness.  And, even the angels, the seraphim’s in heaven, as exalted as they are, are still creatures, and so they cover their feet in the presence of God.
• The other 2 wings are for flying. But, the real import of this vision that Isaiah records is not found in the anatomy of the seraphim, but in their message. ‘One called to another’, I imagine that this was some heavenly chorus, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts”- the God of the heavenly armies- the whole earth is full of His glory (his weightiness, his substance, his majesty- that provokes the angels to sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy”, what we call the three time holy. What’s the significance of that to the Jew? If they wanted  to express emphasis they used  repetition. Paul and also our Lord did it all the time. Do you notice that the seraphim’s don’t say that “God is holy”. Nor are they content to say that He is “Holy, Holy”. But the heavenly song that celebrates the character of God, declares that He is “Holy, Holy, Holy!” You see, taken now to the 3rd degree, taken now to the superlative degree, nowhere else in Scripture is an attribute of God elevated to the 3rd degree. The Bible does not say “God is love, love, love”. Or “mercy, mercy, mercy”. Or “justice, justice, justice”. Or even “sovereign, sovereign, sovereign”. But, that He is “Holy, Holy, Holy”. (40 th minute with 20 more minutes to go)

Another excellent article

• John Piper – In the Throne Room: The God of Holiness and Hope – Isaiah 6
• Isaiah’s Vision of a Holy God- executable outline for sermon preparation (an excellent website to bookmark and use for Bible study also)