Send Us More Mordecai's

"Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:10-11

Mordecai was discerning enough to understand the seriousness of the situation that seemed to be leading to the destruction of the Jewish people. His godly influence and wisdom leads Hadassah to risk her life to intercede for the people. He knew that she would not be shielded form the command even as the queen, so she needed to take an active roll in God's plan to bring deliverance to the Jews.

We live in equally distressing times. Many are calling for the destruction of Christianity and Judaism. We need the wisdom of Mordecai to speak to our hearts. God's plan will unfold exactly as He wills it too. The decision is whether we wish to be a part of the Lord's plan, or sit on the sidelines hoping our "privileged" status as believers will shield us. Many need to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Are you making the right decision about your roll in His plan?

Prophetic Headlines

Gaza terrorists fire Grad-type rocket at town of Netivot

Barak to Abbas: 'Return to the table'

'US Iran sanctions to be targeted, mild'

Abbas: Israel sabotages Palestinian achievements by killing us

Obama gives foreign cops new police powers in U.S.

Israel to outfit all residents with gas masks

Columbian Official Bans Christianity; Arrests 28 Believers

Seeing the Future

It is amazing to note that the Bible is scientific and historically accurate, but there is one other feature that is awesomely breathtaking—it can tell the future. The Holy Scriptures stand alone as being completely accurate when it comes to prophecy. While other men and other writings have made prophecies (such as Nostradamus) they have often been in error. There is no error in God’s word!

Last week I mentioned that the prophecy of Cyrus giving the order to rebuild the destroyed temple in Jerusalem was made around 150 years before the time of its fulfillment. This would be amazing if it were the only one, but one third or more of the Bible is prophecy. The claims that the Bible makes about Christ all rest on the accuracy of these prophecies. So are they really accurate? Let’s take a few predictions about Jesus, the suffering savior, and find out.

There have always been scholars and skeptics that felt Jesus manipulated Old Testament prophecies in order to appear to be the messiah. However, there are some events in the life of the messiah that could not be controlled or manipulated. How did Jesus make himself to be born in Bethlehem as Micah 5:2 states? This prophecy from Micah also states that the savior predates his birth by being eternal. How could he have made it appear that he was a descendant of King David as Isaiah 16:5 states? He would have also had to arrange a virgin birth to accommodate Isaiah 7:14, or cause himself to be born in the lines of Judah and Jesse as Isaiah 37:31 and 11:10 state. Did he arrange the massacre of the innocent children by Herod that was predicted in Jeremiah 31:15? Could he have made his parents flee to Egypt as Hosea 11:1 said? There are just too many to prophecies that could not have been controlled by anyone but God.

The crucifixion itself had many very clear and obvious predictions all written between 400 and 1000 years or more of his birth and death. Psalm 22 alone has such stunning predictions. He would be despised by many—verse 6. His bones would be pulled out of socket as would happen hanging on a cross—verse 14. His hand and feet would be pierced –verse 16. He would be encircled by wicked men and gentiles at his death—verse 16. His clothes would be gambled for—verse 18. The very first verse of this Psalm written by David around 1000 years before the birth of Jesus is the cry he made while on the cross—“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” He was forsaken when he carried our sin!

Another of the many passages that predict the cross is Isaiah 53. The prophet says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5 KJV) At his death he would be buried with the wicked and the rich—verse 9. His soul would be an offering for sin in verse 10. Amazingly, it later says God would prolong his days and Messiah would see the travail of his soul in verses 10 and 11. The only way for this to be possible is to have a resurrection.

Only around half of the prophecies that involve the savior have been fulfilled. The rest of them involve a return someday. Before that return, many things would happen such as a battle where Russia, Iran, Turkey and several other nations invade Israel. Ezekiel wrote this prediction 3500 years ago and we are beginning to see this alignment of nations today. The Bible predicted the exact time that Israel would reenter its land, prosper in the land, and become a nation in a day after being disbanded for around 2000 years. The Bible predicted that there would be an exponential explosion in the amount of knowledge men would have, and it predicts that the Messiah will someday return to Jerusalem (which would become a problem city for all men just like we see today) and the Jewish nation will look on him whom they pierced.

The Bible treats the future much as we treat history. Isn’t it time you read it anew? What can it hurt? As Blaise Pascal challenged, “If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is.”

Back From Christmas in Ohio--News Headlines

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! There is much in the news, so lets see it.

Al Qaeda: We're Behind
Attempted Plane Bombing

Iran Gripped by Chaos

Israel to Build 700 Apartments in East Jerusalem

US: We oppose new Israeli construction in east J'lem

Obama: We will up pressure on terrorists

Israel, Arab countries plan for war with Iran

Iran, not Israel, is Arabs’ Worst Enemy, Survey Reveals

Britain's Largest Newspaper Warns: There Will Be Nowhere To Run From The New World Government

Report: 25 British Muslims in plots to bomb airliners

Blasphemy--A sign Of The Last Days

Men have always been blasphemous, but the Bible warns that it will increase as we near the last days! This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." 2 Timothy 2:1-5 While the church celebrates God's unspeakable gift, foolish men see it as a time to blaspheme the Holy One.

Christians outraged by poster showing Mary and Joseph after sex

Today's Headlines

Islamic plan to criminalize
Gospel message crumbling

China warns Obama deficit spending must stop

Military will use 'paralyzing power' to enforce moratorium

Obama gives Iran another year's grace for nuclear dialogue

White House Transfers 12 Gitmo Detainees Overseas

'Egypt should fear Iran more than we do'

IDF: Enforcement document just a 'draft'

Anti-Semitism in the Arab World - The DNA of Islamism?

U.S. army chief: New sanctions likely against Iran

Abbas: Olmert offered PA land equaling 100% of West Bank

Indian Police Arrest “Assaulted” Christian Couple

Historically Accurate!

“In view of the overwhelming mass of authentic and well-attested evidence now available, as I thought of the skeptical criticism which from the eighteenth century onward would fain have demolished the Bible altogether, there kept hammering in my brain this one sentence: The Bible is right after all.”—Werner Keller

Many skeptics throughout the centuries have tried numerous ways to prove that the Bible cannot be trusted, and one of the most notable methods is to attack the historical accounts recorded in the text. The idea was that the prophecies contained in this work had to have been recorded after the fact since they were so accurate. There were many clear Old Testament prophecies that Christ fulfilled; however, at that time, the oldest copies of scripture were produced hundreds of years after the time of Christ. The theory was that overzealous believers changed the text to make it appear that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies. In order to prove this all one needed to do was prove that the Bible was full of historical inaccuracies and then, as a result, it would prove the supernatural events of the Bible were false too. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls nearly destroyed that argument since the writings predate Jesus by many years.

As was mentioned about the scientific concepts found in Holy Scripture, the Bible is not a history book, but rather it is His story set in the context of real world events. It is widely known that the Bible stands alone as an extremely historically accurate work. The constant attacks on its ancient record have done more to prove its authenticity and have proved the text to be a useful tool in the study of archaeology. As the old quote says, “the Bible is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.”

In Exodus there is an account of the Jewish slaves constructing buildings in Pithom with bricks made of straw. When Moses challenged Pharaoh, the slaves were forced to gather stubble for the bricks. Eventually, they made bricks without either. In the late 1800s and early 1900s archaeologists, Naville and Kyle, found buildings where the bottom section was bricks made with well cut straw. On top of these were bricks with less straw and containing stubble. The top layer of bricks contained no straw. The Bible record was clearly accurate.

I remember well studying the Hittite Empire when I was a sophomore in high school. For centuries, the only record of this people was in scripture. Several critics cited this as an example of biblical exaggeration since no record could be found anywhere and the Bible claimed it was a large empire. However, during an excavation in 1876 evidence was found of this civilization and the Word of God was proved to be true again. Today, we have overwhelming knowledge of this once great empire.

The book of Isaiah mentions a king from Assyria named Sargon. It was the only reference to him found anywhere in antiquity, and again skeptics concluded this was proof of the Bible’s lack of trustworthiness. In the 1840s the palace of Sargon was excavated by archaeologist, PE Botta. This discovery proved that this prophetic book was written at the time it claimed to be written. Why is this important? Isaiah mentioned a Medo-Persian king, Cyrus, specifically by name over 100 years before his reign!

The New Testament too has proven to be just as accurate. The books of Luke and Acts were both written by Luke who was a physician. As most doctors would do, Luke was extremely detailed in his record keeping of the events surrounding the time of Christ. Many would be attackers saw several very specific but undiscovered historical details in these works as being proof that these records were not written by an eyewitness of Jesus’ and the early churches time period, but the critics felt that they were written one to three hundred years later. As always, archaeologists have now proven these specific details to be an extremely accurate account of the time when God’s Son walked this planet.

The Bible truly is an amazing work, and it gives every reader a special invitation to become a part of His story through child like trust in the atonement purchased at the cross.

“I prefer to believe those writers who get their throats cut for what they write.”—Blaise Pascal