God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet. It answers all of life’s questions. You’ll have the answers to your problems even before they arise. God’s Word is truth. Seek it while it may be found. Study it daily. A young man once asked me, "How often should I read the Bible?" I answered that if he reads it as often as he eats, he would be in good stead. If you can’t understand the Scriptures or haven’t yet made your decision for Jesus Christ, click onto "Further With Jesus" on this website for entrance into the Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Psalms 122:6-9:

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.

8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.

9 Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.

GOD SAID, Romans 4:16-18:

16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

GOD SAID, Galatians 3:16:

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

MAN SAID: Who is this Jesus? Who are these Jews? America should discard both of them!

Now THE RECORD. In their present state of rebellion against the Word of God, the Jews are, by Biblical definition, true anti-Christs. Jesus, the King of the Jews (the title posted on the cross of Golgotha), came to minister to the Jew first, then the Gentile. The Jewish people were the keepers of the covenant of the Word of God, but they rejected the message of their Messiah. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ, although carried out by Pontius Pilate and his Gentile troops, was precipitated by the demands of the Jewish leadership. Even when Pilate unsuccessfully washed his hands before the multitude saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person: se ye to it," (Matthew 27:24), the Jews responded (Matthew 27:25), "His blood be on us, and on our children." In spite of his effort to absolve himself, Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles participated in the murder of Jesus Christ.

The Jewish position concerning Jesus Christ in the days of the crucifixion remains the same as today:

1. Jesus Christ was a bastard, meaning a child born out of wedlock. The reason they say this is that if he was born of a virgin, then they crucified their Messiah. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah prophesied in chapter 7, verse 14, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

2. The Jews did not deny the great miracles that Christ performed, but attributed them to sorcery. If the miracles were not sorcery, then they were, in fact, the endorsement of God, and again, the Jews killed their Messiah.

So the Jewish position is that Jesus was a bastard and a sorcerer.

The Jewish people, as a nation (I say "as a nation" for many individual Jews have been converting to Jesus Christ), are blinded because of their unbelief, and also in part so that the fullness of the Gentiles might come in. God’s Word records the following in Romans 11:25-28:

25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.

The Jewish people who remain at the great coming battle of Armageddon will be saved as a nation when Jesus Christ returns with His saints, landing on and splitting the Mount of Olives, to fight for the earth’s remaining seed of Abraham. The Old Testament prophet Zechariah speaks of this coming day and of the reaction of the Jewish people when they see their Messiah, Jesus Christ. Zechariah 12:9-10:

9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Zechariah 13:6:

And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

This will be the time that the remnant of the Jewish nation embraces the King of Glory.

Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone of all things but Israel as a whole rejects Him. Romans 9:30- 33:

30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.

31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.

32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

One of Israel’s ancient sages said, "Who or what could have been a greater stumbling stone to the Jewish people than Jesus Christ?" He was surely correct in his assessment.

True Christians have a natural desire to win all lost souls to Jesus Christ. But, when a Jew is won to the Lord, he receives special attention, because as the Apostle Paul records, he is as one brought back from the dead (Romans 11:15). One particular such Christian, J.W., e-mailed to us the following message:

Thanks for all the effort you put into this website. It’s such a helpful resource. Hopefully you can help me with something: I’m trying to witness to a Jewish friend. She is particularly interested in the Messiah and the prophecies concerning Him. I just read some of your pages on prophecy, and I can already foresee a question she will raise: In regard to Judas betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver—how do we know that the writer wasn’t a swindler who knew about that prophecy and added it to the Gospel to make it sound authentic? Or any prophecy for that matter? This seems to be a foundational problem in trying to persuade anyone. Thanks for your help.

J.W. is in a quandary: how to convince Jewish friends of the Godly authenticity of the New Testament. The challenge to a swindler, as J.W. alludes, to doctor up the New Testament to mesh with the Old Testament prophecies would have been an impossible task. First, note there were seven writers of the New Testament. Each of them would have had to have been complicit in the scheme. The writers of the New Testament not only sacrificed their career, future, and all they possessed for the testimony of Jesus Christ, but also placed their families in very dangerous positions. We know that according to church tradition, most of these writers of the New Testament were put to death for their faith. One who did not die at the hands of his captors was the Apostle John. According to tradition, he was cast into a pot of boiling oil, but did not die. They then exiled him to the prison island of Patmos where he penned The Revelation. Do these New Testament writers sound like swindlers? I think not!

In the Old Testament there are a multitude of prophecies that foretell the coming Christ. These surely number into the hundreds. They cover a myriad of messianic attributes that no one completely understood—not in the Jewish or the Gentile community. I Corinthians 2:6-8:

6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Messianic attributes of nearly every nature are covered in these prophecies. A very short list follows. I will not narrate the Scripture references, but they are listed for your review.

1. The ministry of John the Baptist, the prophesied Elijah, who prepared the way for the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 40:3-5; Malachi 3:1, 4:5-6; Matthew 3:3, 11:14, 17:12; Mark 1:2-3, 9:12-13; Luke 1:17, 3:4-6, 7:27; John 1:23.

2. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:21-23.

3. Jesus Christ as the divine Son of God.

Psalms 2:7, 12; Proverbs 30:4; Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:1-2, 5

4. King Herod’s killing of the children, in his effort to slay Jesus Christ as a child.

Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 2:16-18.

5. Jesus Christ, the Messiah, is prophesied to be born in Bethlehem.

Micah 5:2.

6. The healing ministry of Christ as foretold by God in the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah 53:4- 5; Matthew 8:17; Luke 7:22.

7. The Messiah is rejected by the Jewish nation.

Psalms 118:22-23; Isaiah 8:13-14, 53:3; Matthew 21:42-43; Luke 22:2.

8. The suffering of Christ and His death.

Psalms 22:1-21; Isaiah 53:3-10; Zechariah 12:9-10, 13:6; Mark 9:12; Luke 8:31-33; John 19:1- 42.

9. The casting of lots for the coat of Jesus.

Psalms 22:18; John 19:24.

10. Judas betrays the King of Glory.

Psalms 41:9; John 13:18-26, 18:1- 5.

11. The piercing of the side of Jesus on the cross.

Zechariah 12:10; John 19:33- 37.

12. The resurrection of Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews.

Psalms 16:8-10; Luke 24:44-48; Acts 2:22-36

As mentioned above and in various places on this website, Jesus Christ will return to this earth to battle on behalf of Israel, and to save the remaining Jews as a nation. They will finally embrace Him as their Messiah. But, it is also Jesus Christ, personally, that has restored them as a nation, and who keeps them alive at this very moment. The nation of Israel is still blinded from this truth.

I doubt that anyone would deny that the United States is Israel’s greatest friend and defender. Billions of dollars in American aid has helped support Israel in these troublesome times. American weapons have buttressed Israel’s defenses dramatically. America has vetoed droves of United Nations’ condemnations of Israel. The United States has suffered terrorism in its homeland because of its unabashed support for the Jewish people. America has gone on the attack against anti-Semitic terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq and their terrorist recruits from all over the Middle East. The fear of America brought Libya, one of Israel’s avowed enemies, to its disarmament of weapons of mass destruction. America stood up against the World Court’s condemnation of the Israeli security wall that protects its citizens against Muslim suicide killers. America supports Israel in many ways, and the list is substantial.

But why? Why does America support Israel at all? Why not follow in the footprints of France, Germany, the Middle East, and the United Nations? The reason should be obvious. The United States is a Christian nation. We were discovered by Christopher Columbus, whose name means "Christ bearer." The charter to colonize America was issued by King James of England. It was called the "Evangelistic Grant Charter," and it read in part:

"To make habitation...and to deduce a colony of sundry of our people into that part of America, commonly called Virginia...in propagating of Christian religion to such people as yet live in darkness...to bring a settled and quiet government." [End of quote]

In David Limbaugh’s book Persecution, the following excerpt is found: "The Mayflower Compact acknowledged the pilgrims’ purpose in the voyage—"for the Glory of God and the advancement of the Christian Faith,"—and it expressly purported to be a covenant between them and their sovereign God." [End of quote] 52 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were definite Christians. Our first president was a devout Christian, and every president since has confessed Jesus Christ. America is a Christian nation even though it is under heavy attack from the anti-Christ ranks.

So then why is Christian America so intent on supporting Israel, who is basically anti-Christ? Why is Christian America willing to jeopardize its wealth, world status, and the blood of its young soldiers to support the Jews? The answer is very simple. America is a Christian nation, and Jesus Christ, the leader of the Christian world, commands us to do so. Why shouldn’t America be like much of the world whose hatred for Israel is so very obvious? Jesus Christ, the leader of Christian America, commands us to love Israel, and the conservative root of Christian America does. True followers of Christ are the seed of Abraham, and that seed is Christ. We know that one day redeemed Jews and Gentiles will walk as one in Christ Jesus. We are friends of Israel because Jesus Christ commands it so, and we know the rest of the story.

J.W., tell your Jewish friend these things. Tell her that Jesus Christ is the salvation of physical Israel, and He will also be their recognized Messiah one day soon. Also tell her she can and should make her decision today.

GOD SAID, Psalms 122:6-9:

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.

8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.

9 Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.

GOD SAID, Romans 4:16-18:

16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

GOD SAID, Galatians 3:16:

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

MAN SAID: Who is this Jesus? Who are these Jews? America should discard both of them!

Now you have THE RECORD.




References:

King James Bible

House, W.H., Chronological and Backgroung Charts of the New Testament, Zondervan

Limbaugh, D., Persecution, Regnery Publishing, 2003, p302