Monday, August 29, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
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Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
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Monday, August 15, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Presidents of the United States - TLP
Presidents of the United States - TLP: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Those in high positions
The wealthy Jews and those in high positions complied with the occupiers, the Romans, to protect their wealth and their interests, and to maintain their positions. Also, the Romans granted them special privileges. (This is normally the case in most occupations of nations.) In return the Romans held them accountable for the actions of their people. The Romans appointed the high priests, and the high priests bribed the Romans. Josephus wrote, “But as for the high priest, Ananias … was a great hoarder up of money: he therefore cultivated the friendship of Albinus {Roman procurator from 62 to 64 CE}, and of the high priest [Jesus], by making them presents.” [3] There was religious-political corruption, which caused a conflict between the common people and the high priests. The high priests were Sadducees and they collaborated with the rich Jews (which Josephus calls “men of power”). Josephus wrote, “… while the Sadducees are able to persuade none but the rich, and have not the populace obsequious to them {the crowds were not eager to obey them} …” [4] Since the high priests were appointed by the kings (who, in turn, were appointed by the Romans) they often took the side of the Romans in convincing people to stop rioting. For instance, when the Jews protested the taxation of Quirinius (around 6-7 CE) and Judas the Galilean instigated a revolt, the high priest Joazar, took the side of the Romans and persuaded the multitude to comply. [5] Because the leading priests were appointed by the kings and because they took the side of the Romans (in keeping order), the multitude of Jerusalem was against them. Josephus wrote, “About this time king Agrippa gave the high priesthood to Ishmael … And {as a result} now arose a sedition {revolt} between the high priests {Josephus uses this term to refer to the wealthy, leading priests – there was only one high priest} and the principal men of the multitude of Jerusalem.” [6] There was another reason for this conflict. To appease the Romans (who appointed them), the high priests accepted Roman offerings and sacrifices at the Temple. This offended the purists (such as, the Zealots, the Sicarii, the Essenes, and the Jewish Christians) who rioted and put a stop to the Roman offerings and sacrifices at the temple. The forbade even the entrance of non-Jews in the Temple. In response, according to Josephus, “… the men of power got together, and conferred with the high priests, as did also the principal of the Pharisees; and … took counsel what was to be done. … what they could do with the seditious by words {to convince the rioters by words}, and assembled the people before the … gate of the inner temple [court of the priests] … and told them {and tried to convince them} … that they {the rioters, the purists} did now irritate the Romans to {cause them to} take arms against them {against the Jews}, and invited them to make war upon them, … and determined to run the hazard of having their city condemned {by the Romans} for impiety, while {because} they would not allow any foreigner, but Jews only, either to sacrifice or to worship therein. And … they have no regard to the Romans or to Caesar, and forbid even their oblations {offerings} to be received also; … by thus rejecting their sacrifices … this city will lose its principality, unless they {the purists} grow wiser quickly, and restore the sacrifices as formerly, and indeed amend the injury [they have offered foreigners] before the report of it comes to the ears of those {the Romans} that have been injured.” [7] Paul was accused for polluting the Temple by bring in some Greeks, “This is the man {Paul}… brought Greeks also into the temple, and has polluted this holy place.” (Acts 21:28 KJV) Later, some purists (probably Zealots or Sicarii) made an oath to kill Paul.
Bible Plot
John 11 NIV 45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.” 49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” 51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life. 54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples. 55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, “What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?” 57 But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.
Plot To Kill Jesus
When the chief priests and the Pharisees received the news about Lazarus' resurrection, they called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the official governmental ruling body of Judea. Their power was limited because they had been conquered by Rome, but they still basically ran the nation. The topic of their meeting was, "What are we doing?" or as the NKJV states, "What shall we do? They fully recognized that Jesus was doing many miraculous signs, but that did not cause them to believe in Him. You should keep that in mind when you are witnessing to people about Jesus. Don't expect people to believe just because you have presented the truth to them. You cannot argue someone into the kingdom of heaven regardless of evidence you present. Jesus could not do that even after raising the dead! If they respond in belief to the gospel message it is because the Holy Spirit is working on them. We witness because God commands us to do so and we want to see God at work. Lazarus' resurrection should have brought them to belief, but instead, it increased their antagonism against Him. Why? Verse 48. THEIR FEAR (48) "If we let Him [go on] like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." The chief priests and Pharisees were afraid of the Romans and of losing their positions of power. Note the unbelief that is the basis of their fears. First, they do not believe in the power of God to protect them from the Romans. They all would have been well versed in Jewish history and known of His protection in the past. They knew about Joshua, the various judges including Deborah & Barak, Gideon, David, and the angel that protected Hezekiah from the Assyrians. They knew their history well enough to know that when the nation followed God, they prospered and were protected by Him, but when the nation did not follow God, then they were oppressed by their enemies. Their source of fear was founded in the fact that they knew they were not following God, so for them their only hope of protection was in their own political maneuvering.
Second, if they believed Jesus was the Messiah then they would have also held to Him being their source of protection. Remember that Jesus had already had problems with some of the people because they wanted Him to take the role of political Messiah (John 6:15). Jesus' miracles and teaching attested that He was the Messiah, but they had to reject Him as such or they endangered their own positions of power and influence. Those were positions they were unwilling to give up. That is the bottom line of their reason for rejecting Jesus. They did not want the people following Him or they would lose their influence, and all the miracles Jesus was doing was causing that. Therefore, they must somehow get rid of Jesus and keep Rome placated. They were in fear because their own sinful quest for power blinded them to what was happening in their midst. They did not believe their own history and therefore did not trust God in anyway for themselves or the nation. They looked to themselves as the means of their own salvation. We also must be careful of falling into the same trap they did when it comes to the future of our own nation. We have the great privilege of being involved in our nations politics and we should take that privilege seriously by studying the issues and the candidates and voting appropriately. As Christians, we should understand that those on positions of governmental authority are servants of God (Rom. 13). God is sovereign regardless of who is President or who is in Congress. We pray and seek to persuade people to our position. We plead for God's mercy and grace upon us and we encourage people to vote. The chief priests and Pharisees forgot the history of their nation. They forgot the God of their nation. The result is that they lived in fear of Rome instead of the fear of God. They sought to solve their problems through politics instead of righteousness. We must be careful that we never do the same. CAIAPHAS (49-50) In verses 49 & 50 we meet Caiaphas, the epitome of a political maneuverer, yet even He is subject to the sovereign will of God. But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish." The historian Josephus said of the Sadducees that they were, "even among themselves, rather savage in their conduct, and in their intercourse with their peers are as ungentle as they are to aliens" (Jewish War II, viii, 14). Caiaphas is a good example of a rude and arrogant Sadducee. His statement to the rest of the Sanhedrin, "You know nothing at all," should be taken in the sense of calling them all ignorant and stupid. That is quite an insult, especially when you consider he was saying this not only to the Pharisees but also to his fellow Sadducees. All the various Biblical references to Caiaphas as well as other historical accounts present him to be a very shrewd and calculating opportunist. He was the son-in-law of the previous High Priest, Annas, who held that position from 6-15 A.D. The High Priest had a lot of political power including being the chairman of the Sanhedrin. The Romans had taken over the right to appoint the High Priest and Valerius Gratus, the predecessor of Pontius Pilate, had appointed him in A.D. 18. From this position, Caiaphas controlled various aspects of national life. Caiaphas takes to hear the fear that the rest of the Sanhedrin was expressing for he had the same fear, but he also had a plan. It is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish (vs. 50). It sounded like a rational plan to them, but it was in reality a cold, calculated method for Caiaphas to destroy Jesus who he considered a rival. Caiaphas' premise was that if the nation followed Jesus, then the nation would be destroyed by Rome. Therefore, it was better for Jesus to be destroyed than for the whole nation. But a false premise leads to a false conclusion. The historical irony is that it is the opposite that happened. They murdered Jesus and in doing so sealed their own doom for the Romans did come and destroy the Temple, the city and the nation. Killing Jesus did not protect them.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Prayer 5
O Lord our God, our Rock and our Strength, our High Tower and Strong Fortress, the Might of all those who put their confidence in You, grant that our sons and daughters maybe more than conquerors over everything that makes war on their souls, and, in the end, they enter into perfect peace in Your presence O You who have taught us that we are most truly free when we lose our wills in Yours, help our children to attain to this liberty by continual surrender to You, and Your will and Your service and Your ways.
Merciful Father
Merciful Father, who does not want Your children to wander in darkness, pour the light of Your Spirit into the minds and hearts of our sons and daughters, that they may discover what Your holy will is, and discern the true from the false, the evil from the good, and that they may walk in the paths of wisdom Bless them with your grace, O Lord, to work while it is day, fulfilling diligently and patiently whatever duty You appoint for them; doing small things in the day of small things and great labors if You summon them to any. Almighty God, Father of all mercies, give our children a grateful heart for all Your mercies, that they may be genuinely thankful; may they show forth Your praise, not only with their lips, but with their lives, by giving their selves to Your service, and by walking before You in holiness and righteousness all of their days
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