Rachel's Tomb

"In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping,and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children,and would not be comforted, because they are not." Matt. 2:18

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. In the Christmas story we read of the angel who told the shepherds, "Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Luke 2:10 We also read of the wise men who came to worship the newborn King of the Jews who saw the star on their way to Bethlehem and "rejoiced with exceeding great joy." Matt. 2:9,10

But not everyone is rejoicing at the first advent of Christ. Herod does not understand the true nature of the newborn king of the Jews and sees Jesus as a threat to his throne and power. In his maniacal, jealous rage he commands the slaughter of the innocents and murders all the baby boys in Bethlehem and vicinity,...and causes Rachel to weep bitter, inconsolable tears, Matt. 2:18 .

This verse of scripture may be the most overlook passage in the Christmas story. After all, we know all about Joseph and Mary, the wise men, and the shepherds but quickly gloss over the weeping Rachel. So, in this study we will try to answer three questions:

1. Who was Rachel?

2. Why was she weeping?

3. What was her consolation?

Rachel was the favored wife of Jacob, who was the son of Isaac. Rachel is also the mother of Joseph (whose name means "let there be another), and Benoni (which means "son of my sorrow). However Rachel dies while giving birth to Benoni and Jacob changes his name to Benjamin ("son of my right hand"). Jacob then buries Rachel near Bethlehem (Gen. 35:18-20). Jacob becomes the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, and although she does not give birth to all twelve sons, Rachel is considered the mother of the twelve tribes because she is the one that Jacob loved the most.

Rachel's life was accompanied by great sadness. As her sister Leah and their concubines were having children, Rachel was unable to have children which caused her embarrassment and sorrow because that a seen as a sign of God's disfavor. Rachel begged God for children (Gen. 30:1) but she died giving birth to her second son, who was named Benjamin by Jacob.

In Jeremiah 31:15 we read, "Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children and refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not." Hundreds of years after the death of Rachel, in 586 B. C. (I refuse to bow to the gods of Political Correctness and use B.C.E. and C. E.) King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded and defeated Judah. Many Jews were killed and practically all the rest were rounded up and deported to Babylon and were in exile seventy years. This was such a momentous event that the Jews would never forget it, and when Matthew gave the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter one the exile is used to date the generations of Jesus' ancestors (Matthew 1:11,17). The prophet Jeremiah had foretold the coming invasion as a punishment from God because the Jews had fallen into idolatry and had forgotten God. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, was God's chosen instrument of judgment and punishment.

Ramah, was one of the conquered cities of Judah which was used as a POW camp and a staging area for the deportation. In his pronouncement the prophet Jeremiah poetically portrays Rachel although long dead by now to be weeping for "her children" the Jews for this terrible calamity. She refuses to be comforted at the death and deportation of her children because they were not, or because they were not with her anymore.

One of the principles of Old Testament Bible prophecy is this, "When the prophecy becomes history, then history becomes prophecy." My Old Testament professor, Dr. H. Leo Eddleman, used to call this double futuristic, which means that the prophecy had an immediate application for that day and time, but could also be applied to a future event as well. (Another example is Isaiah 7:14).

In the next two verses, Jeremiah 31:16,17, the prophet gives words of comfort as God promises to restore and even reward Judah in the future.

Now fast forward the tape almost six hundred years to the birth of Christ where in Matthew 2:18, Matthew applies these words as the fulfillment to Jeremiah's prophecy. Now the history has become prophecy. Rachel's tomb is located between Ramah and Bethlehem, and Rachel who wept toward Ramah in Jeremiah's day at the death and deportation of the Jews is now seen as weeping toward Bethlehem at the slaughter of the innocent children by Herod. These murdered children essentially become the first Christian martyrs. They died because of Christ, but later on Christ would die for them assuring their salvation and becoming the consolation of Rachel. By His death and subsequent resurrection Jesus would comfort Rachel and wipe away her tears. Rachel wept uncontrollably and would not be comforted because she could not have foreseen and realize the true and full purpose of Messiah.

We are never told in scripture to refrain from weeping. After all, God gave us tear ducts to use from time to time. Tears help us to express grief and relieve emotional pressure. However, True faith will keep us from cursing God and questioning His, foresight, and power. Sorrows will come to all because we live in a fallen world. Bad things do happen to good people, and we are tempted to ask such questions as, "Where was God?. God, don't you love me? or, God couldn't you have prevented this terrible thing from happening?"

No matter what happens God does love us, and He sent His Son to prove it. We should look at our troubles against the backdrop of the cross. Because it was there that God's love was proven to us once and for all,and no matter what happens we need never wonder about whether God loves us or not.

God's nature is that He is a Redeeming, Restoring, and Rewarding God and His promises hold for the believer in our darkest hours. Because of Christ at the death of a child, or a loved one who has died in the faith we can be comforted and know that we haven't lost them,...they have just gone on before us.

In His first sermon Jesus declared that He had come to heal the brokenhearted (Lk. 4:18); at the tomb of Lazarus He proved that He is "The resurrection and the life" (Jn. 11:25,26). And the comfort for Rachel, and us, is that God is sovereign over every situation and will overcome our trials for our ultimate good and His glory (Ro. 8:28); and He will redeem, restore, and reward His faithful followers. Soli Deo Gloria!

Bethlehem

This is a picture I took in Bethlehem where shepherds still keep watch over their flocks just as they did 2,000 years ago. Actually, this hillside was in downtown Bethlehem and not on some desolate hillside outside of town. But even in the midst of the modern-day surroundings I felt as if I had been transported through time and the Christmas story automatically came to mind.

THE FACT OF THE INCARNATION

We are coming to the time of year when Christians celebrate the advent of Jesus Christ, when the Son of God became flesh by taking on the human nature to dwell among us. The theological term is "hypostatic union" which teaches that,...In Jesus Christ, there are two natures; the human and the divine. Each one has its completeness and integrity, and are organically in indissolubly united but yet no third nature is formed. Jesus Christ is not half-man and half-God, but He is 100% man and 100% God at the same time and perpetually. In the incarnation the second person of the Holy Trinity took upon Himself the full nature of man and retained the full nature of God at the same time. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem He voluntarily and temporarily laid aside His glory, but not His divinity. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He left no gap in the Holy Trinity. He became what He was not (a man) but He never ceased to be what He was (God). There is no earthly analogy that can remotely illustrate this wonderful truth. No wonder that people without faith stumble at this doctrine.

In the incarnation, the virgin Mary conceived by a miracle of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 1:20) and gave birth to the Son of God. He who had no heavenly mother was born without an earthly father. This conception and birth was not only supernatural (there is nothing natural about God) it was also unique. (Before the skeptics rise up and say "Aha, gotcha on that one!" let me say I know that there have been virgin births observed in nature. It is called "parthenogenesis" but the offspring is always female).

REASONS FOR THE INCARNATION

1. To fulfill God's promises and prophecies and to show mercy to the Gentiles...Romans 15:8-12

2. To reveal God the Father to mankind,...Jn 1:18

To see Jesus is to see the Father,...Jn. 14:9

3. To become a faithful high priest,...Heb. 4:14,15.

By identifying with us in the human experience Christ can also faithfully represent us to the Father as our great high priest.

4. To put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself,...Heb. 9:26.

Jesus came into the world to redeem us from sin by His vicarious, substitutionary death on the cross, II Cor. 5:21

5. To destroy the works of the devil,...I Jn. 3:5,8.

Christ's death on the cross brought defeat to Satan, Jn. 12:31,32; and sealed his ultimate fate, Rev. 20:10.

For these reasons, and many more, we celebrate the birth of Christ. May every blessing of the Christ of Christmas be yours.

The Upper Room

These are pictures I took of the Upper Room in Jerusaleam, the traditional site of the Last Supper that Jesus shared with His disciples.

The Gospel of St. John, chapter 13, begins what many call the Book of Passion. Chapters 13 -19 describes the events of Jesus' last night on earth before the crucifixion. These events take place in less than 24 hours. In addition to instituting the Lord's Supper, Jesus also instituted The Order of the Basin and towel. He never intended for footwashing to become an ordinance to be observed in the churches. We have no command in the New Testament from Jesus or the apostles to do so because an ordinance is a picture that preaches the gospel.

In Baptism, we have the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and our identification with Him when we are converted to faith in Christ. (By the way, immersion only is baptism according to the New Testament. Sprinkling and pouring are never mentioned in the New Testament in connection with baptism. Nor is baptism salvific; that is baptism does not save, nor help save anyone. It is faith in Christ and His shed blood as full payment for our sins that saves. The water has never atoned or covered one sin).

In the Lord's Supper, we have the broken body and shed blood of Christ portrayed and our reception of Him (John 6:53) when we participate. The ordinances are for Christians only.

Underground Jerusalem

This is one of the most striking scenes that I witnessed in Jerusalem, and I admit that I felt a little guilty as I turned around quickly and snapped this picture of these Jewish ladies who were so occupied in their early morning devotions. The scene is beneath the Western Wall in Jerusalem. I guess I was intruding into their "quiet time" but the reason I could not resist is because their devotion so struck me that I wanted to be able to share what a sense of consecration they have.

To tell you the truth, their devotion puts many of us to shame. Many of us would rather sleep in than make the trek to a holy place, then scurry about our busy day and leaving our appointment with God to a more convenient time. Unfortunately it seems that personal, private, quiet time alone with God so seldom arrives. I'm not talking about the capsuled, memorized, "just really" kind of prayers, but that which we should call meditation. Staying long in the presence of God and thinking deeply about what we have read in the Scriptures seems to be a dying art. We don't hear as many sermons as we should on meditation today but if we practiced it more I have a feeling we would have much more peace in our souls. If we were truly focused on God we could forget everything else for the time being to the point that we would not even notice a bunch of foreigners passing by.

Signs in the Resurrection Garden

These are two of the signs that are found in the Garden where Jesus was buried and rose again.
The first is a quotation from the book of Romans 1:4 and the other is a quote of the book of John 19:40-43 which is shown in three languages; English, Hebrew, and Greek.

Even though Jesus experienced a humiliating and excriciatingly cruel death the Father saw to it that none but loving hands touched the dead body of His Son. Not only was the tomb empty when Jesus arose from the dead,it was also empty when Jesus was hastily prepared and buried in the tomb. This way, no one could say that it was someone besides Jesus who arose. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the divine and majestic proof of His Messiahship. It is inconceivable that Jesus would have been resurrected had He not been just who He said He was, The Son of God.

The Empty Garden Tomb

This is a picture I took of the Garden Tomb, the site of the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are many reasons to believe that this is the actual and not just the traditional site of the resurrection.

The resurrection of Jesus is mentioned over 100 times in the New Testament and is the basis of all Christian doctrine. It does matter that the resurrection actually took place because that is what makes Christianity unique among the ancient world religions; it is the only one whose founder is still alive. Christ died and rose again just as He said He would, Mark. 8:31.

The New Testament never speaks of the possibility of the resurrection, but the fact of the resurrection. But the resurrection was not without a purpose; there was a divine design because God the Father had some things to demonstrate. He did not just give us mere words, He proved Himself by His actions.

1. The resurrection proves that Jesus is the Son of God...ROM. 1:3,4

2. The resurrection proves that God the Father was satisfied with Jesus' sacrifice of Himself on the cross as the full payment for the penalty of sin...I JN. 4:10

3. The resurrection means that we can be justified before God the Father...I COR. 15:17

4. Why the resurrection of Jesus Christ is important:

A. It fulfills God's promises...Acts 13:32,33

B. It establishes the deity of Christ...Rom. 1:4

C. It furnishes justification for those who believe...Rom. 4:23-25

D. It assures every Believer of their own personal bodily resurrection...I Cor. 15:51-57

E. It insures the future judgment of all...Acts 17:31.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the hope of the Believer, and the basis of our faith. If one could disprove the resurrection, then the Christian faith would crumble and go away. But I caution you, many have set out to disprove the resurrection and through their intense study became committed Christians!. The Bible can stand up to the closest scrutiny one may give it (provided, of course, that the study is done with an honest and opened mind) but the Bible is living and powerful and it will change you before you ever change it.

Golgotha

This is a picture I took of Gordon's Calvary, also known as "Golgotha, the place of the skull." It is also called "Skull Hill" because if you look closely you can see cave openings in the side of the cliff which resembles a skull. Perhaps time and erosion over the past 2,000 years have done a job on its original appearance but the site is still dramatic, and spiritual even after all these years.
Many times during the course of His earthly ministry Jesus told His disciples of the true and ultimate reason He came into the world, and that was to die for the sins of mankind. However, He never spoke of His death without also speaking of His resurrection as well, Matt. 26:28; Mk. 8:31; 9:31; 10:33,34; Heb. 9:28.

To redeem mankind from the bondage of sin Jesus had to die in our place to pay the penalty because the wages of sin is death, Rom. 6:23. The cross was no afterthought or "plan B" for God for Jesus was "the Lamb (Jn. 1:29) slain from the foundation of the world", Rev. 13:8. God always knew what He would have to do because He knew what mankind would do. God's judgment on sin was foretold first in Genesis 3:15 when He announced that the woman's seed would bruise the serpent's head. This meant that Jesus, the seed of a woman, would break Satan's power by His willingness to be the only vicarious and sacrificial atonement for the sin of mankind.

This atonement becomes effectual for us when we repent of our sins and place our faith in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of our sins.

Qumran: Site of the Dead Sea Scrolls

This is a photo I took of one of the caves at Qumran. Qumran is situated some 50 kilometers north of Masada on the NW shore of the Dead Sea. (Which is referred to as the "Salt Sea"in the Bible) At Qumran also are the ruins of the ancient site of the mystical Jewish sect called the Essenes. The Essenes left Jerusalem and went into the desert to escape Roman tyranny, to prepare for the end times, and to set up their own community. Excavations at the site revealed that this sect lived in their communal lifestyle from the 2nd century B.C. to about 70 A.D. (As you can see, I'm not PC; none of that C.E and B.C.E junk for me!) The Essene Community was well organized, but simple. They lived in deliberate poverty, and shared all things in common. They rejected the temple priesthood, drew up their own solar calendar, and set strict laws on what was pure and impure. Some of their beliefs and practices, such as baptism and belief in a life of purity and cleanliness were based on early Christian beliefs.

The Essenes were responsible for producing the Dead Sea Scrolls. Written and hidden in many of the surrounding caves these treasures remained hidden for 2,000 years. Then, in 1947, an Arab shepherd boy searching for some lost goats threw a rock into one of the caves (probably the one pictured above) and heard the sound of clay jars breaking. Inside the jars were found the scrolls. Subsequent and intense searches of the caves yielded hundreds of manuscripts written in Hebrew and Aramaic and complete and partial copies of every book of the Bible except Esther. Included in the find was a complete copy of the book of Isaiah and the Apochcrypha. These scrolls and manuscripts of the scriptures are essentially identical to the scriptures we have always held even though they are a thousand years older than any copies which were known until 1947, and they substantiate our belief that the Bible is true.

The Dead Sea Scrolls prove once again that archaeology proves the Bible every time, and the Word of God, rightly divided, will increase our faith every time.

When Our World Caves In

September 11, 2001,...Katrina,...and a senseless shooting at an Amish Schoolhouse are tragedies that test our faith and tax our understanding. If our God is a God of love and is sovereign why do bad things happen to good people? If God is all-powerful He could prevent tragedies from happening. And if God is "Love" then He would love us too much to allow these things to come to pass.

Recently a "panel of experts" (made up of a Hindu, a Muslim, a Jewish Rabbi, and Roman Catholic priest) on Larry King Live offered such comments as;

"This world is not the place of ultimate justice or settling accounts"

"This is the place of testing faith or revealing the lack of it" and

"This world is not the place of reward, but of suffering, which moves men to act in faith and love."

Jesus was once asked to make some sense of two tragedies of His day, but His answer was not the expected one.

"There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell ye, nay, but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you nay, but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Luke 13:1-5

I. EVIL AND SUFFERING ARE REALITIES OF LIFE; NO ONE IS IMMUNE

The Roman governor sent soldiers to slay Galileans while they were worshipping and a tower fell on 18 people and killed all of them. The causes of these tragedies were human evil and human error. We should be saddened but not surprised when bad things happen,...it is the natural result of living in a fallen world. We could add another cause, natural disasters, Matt. 24:4-7. After all, Jesus said this is the way it will be. Humanity is cursed in that we are born with a sin nature which we inherited from our first parents, Adam and Eve. The earth is also cursed, and what was once lush garden is now producing thorns and thistles. When Adam and Eve sinned it was no small event, it was a cosmic catastrophe which ushered in sin, suffering, and death into the world. Even the earth was cursed and now we are plagued by wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, famines, etc.

II. DO NOT ASSUME THAT THOSE WHO SUFFER ARE WORSE SINNERS THAN YOU ARE

The Jews of Jesus' day and the superstitious of our time believe that good things happen to good people,and bad things happen to the bad people. Call it karma, luck, or good vibes if you want, but there is a good Greek word for that kind of thinking,...hogwash!

The Bible teaches that suffering does not prove someone is wicked, and blessing does not mean that a person is righteous, Eccl. 8:14. The story of Joseph tells us that God is great enough to take the evil, and turn it to good, (Gen. 50:20) because He is sovereign in all things. Therefore, there is no such thing as luck, chance, or coincidence. You cannot believe in luck and the sovereignty of God, the two are mutually exclusive.

Besides, no one in their right mind would want God to rid the world of all evil in one fell swoop. In the novel, Robinson Crusoe, Crusoe was talking with Friday about God, the devil, good and evil. Friday asked, "But if God much strong, more than the devil, why God no kill the devil so make him no more do evil?"

"You may as well ask why does God not kill you and me when we do evil things," replied Crusoe.

Were God to remove all the evil from the world He would have to remove all of us too because "There is none righteous, no not one" and "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:10, 23.

III. GOD HAS DEALT WITH THE PROBLEM OF EVIL AND SUFFERING

God the Father judged sin and suffering at the cross in Jesus Christ, II Cor. 5:21

And this is precisely where Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam all fall short. Mere religion cannot deal with the sin problem, only Christianity can do this. That also points out to us that when tragedies occur the important question is not, "Why do bad things happen?" But rather, the question to ask is, "Would I be prepared to die, if a similar tragedy happened to me?"

Suffering and death are reminders that God takes sin seriously. At the fall, even the earth was cursed but it will also be redeemed, Romans 8:22,23. As Philip Yancy wrote,"The earth is not our mother, it is our fallen sister."

Because of the fall we are all sinners, and because we are sinners we must all repent or we will likewise perish eternally. Acts 20:21. Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, turning from sin to God and trusting in Christ is the plan of salvation and the only escape from the bondage of sin.

The Wailing Wall

This photo was taken last spring and it is of our tour group at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Of course we were not praying that God would send Messiah, we were praying that many more would recognize that Messiah has already come, redeemed His people by His death on the cross, and that through faith in Christ they will be ready to meet Him when He returns to earth again.

Creation

While we're talking about the creation, let me throw this in. I found this paragraph in "Show Me God" (Vol. 1, Fred Heeren, Day Star Publication, 1997; p.130). I quote ver batim;

"Part of the reason that the Bible writers had a higher view of the universe was that they alone,among all the ancients, (emphasis mine) believed in a God who had created the universe - not a magical, eternal universe that gave birth to the gods. Only the Hebrews were true monotheists, and only they believed in a God who existed before the universe was created. Recognizing this, Fred Hoyle writes that "the general concept of gods located fairly and squarely within the Universe was common in ancient times throughout the Near East. The Hebrew departure from this position was evidently very great.""

Of all the creation accounts we have from the ancient texts, this fact alone convinces me that only the creation story found in the Book of Genesis is credible.

The Wailing Wall

This is the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. I have no way of knowing how tall it is, but judging by the gentleman praying there I estimated it at being about 70 feet high. The stones were quarried and set there without any mortar at all. The largest stone in the wall is an impressive 44'8"x14'x11' and weighs an estimated 268 tons. It is very Impressive indeed.

It is Orthodox Jewish custom that men and women worship separately, even at the Wailing Wall. Both men and women are required to wear head coverings.

It is also traditional to write down prayer requests on slips of paper and place them in between the stones of the wall. It is thought by worshippers that a prayer request placed in the wall has favor before the Lord because He chose that location for the temple. Therefore, it must have divine significance for the Lord.

As you know, Israel became a nation again in 1948, but it wasn't until1967 that she recaptured the wall in the 6 Day War. The following was written about the wall by a paratrooper on that occasion. It is very poignant in describing what these young men must have felt when they first saw and touched their hard won prize.

The Paratroopers are Crying

by Haim Hefer

This wall has heard many prayers

This wall has seen many walls fall

This wall has felt wailing women's hands

and notes pressed between its stones
This wall has seen Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi trampled in front of it

This wall has seen Caesars rising and falling

But this wall has never before seen paratroopers cry.

This wall has seen them tired and exhausted

This wall has seen them wounded and scratched-up

Running towards it with beating hearts, with cries and with silence

Pouncing out like predators from the alleyways of the Old City

And they're dust-covered and dry-lipped And they're whispering:

If I forget you, if I forget you, O Jerusalem

And they are lighter than eagles and more tenacious than lions

And their tanks are the fiery chariot of Elijah the Prophet

And they pass like lightning, And they pass in fury

And they remember the thousands of terrible years in which we

didn't even have a wall in front of which we could cry.

And here they are standing in front of it breathing deeply

And here they are looking at it with sweet pain

And the tears fall and they look awkwardly at each other.

How is it that the paratroopers cry?

How is it that they touch the wall with feeling?

How is it that from crying they move to singing?

Maybe it is because these 19-year-olds

were born with the birth of Israel

Carrying on their backs...2,000 years.

The Eastern Gate

I took this picture last spring while in Israel. This is the Eastern Gate of the City of Jerusalem. In the upper left, as if peering over the wall, is the Dome of the Rock. The Eastern Gate is the only double arched gate of the city and it was sealed up by Saladin during the crusades, about 1,000 years ago. Saladin sealed up the gate and placed a cemetary around the entrance in an attempt to prevent Messiah from ever returning to Jerusalem again. However..."Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. The said the Lord unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter in by way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same. Ezekiel 44:1-3

Young Earth or Old? It's About Time.

Is the earth 15 to 20 billion years old,or just a mere 4 to 6,000 years? That is a question that has divided many sincere Bible believers and scientists for many years. Scientists insist that the carbon-14 system and the fossil record are conclusive proof that the earth is billions of years old. On the other hand many Christians hold that the book of Genesis and the genealogical records in the Bible prove that the earth is a mere 4 to 6,000 years at the most. They both cannot be right,...or can they?

According to Dr. Gerald L. Schroeder, a distinguished physicist and Bible scholar, science and the Bible do not conflict. He writes in his book, The Science of God (Broadway Books, New York), that both can be right. "There is a simple answer to the problem of a scientifically old and a biblically young universe, an answer that has within it the core of complex biblical truth. Time as described in the Bible may not be the same as we know it today. We find a hint in the 2,900 year old book of Psalms: A thousand years in your sight are as a day that passes, as a watch in the night." (See Psalm 90:4 and II Peter 3:8)

Ancient commentators described those six 24 hour days as containing "all the secrets and ages of the universe."

Moses Maimonides, a 12th century commentator, advised that we study astronomy and physics if we desired to comprehend the world and God's management of it. A superficial understanding of the former will only lead to misconceptions in the latter. True science and the Bible, rightly interpreted, will never conflict because the same God created them both.

2,000 years ago the starting date of the biblical calendar was set at the creation of the souls of humankind (Genesis 2:7), and not at the creation of the universe which the "In the beginning" of Genesis 1:1. If, as the ancients say, the 6 days of creation are only 24 hours in length, why aren't they included in the calendar? Albert Einstein's theory of relativity (now called the law of relativity) says that the rate at which time passes is not the same in all locations. Changes in gravity and changes in the velocity at which we travel will actually change the rate at which time passes. In a hypothetical situation, an astronaut traveling at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second) in outer space will age at a much slower rate than his twin brother on earth. It is the absence of gravity and the high velocity which makes this possible. Gravity not only affects the weight of mass, it also impacts the flow of time. This means that each planet in the universe has its own gravitational potential, its own relative velocity, and its own unique rate at which local time passes, or its own age.

To measure the age of the universe we have to look backward in time. From our perspective, and using earth-based clocks, running at a rate determined by the conditions of today's earth, we measure a 15 billion year age, (give or take a few billion). The Bible adopts this earthly perspective, but only for times after Adam and Eve. The clock of the Bible before Adam is not tied to any one location. The description of time in the Bible is divided into 2 categories:

1. The first 6 days of creation

2. All the time thereafter

Time in the biblical calendar after Adam must have been earth based, that is 24 hour days. Archaeology proves this. However, we know that time before Adam could not possibly be earth-based because for the first 2 of those 6 days there was no earth as we know it today and the sun wasn't created until the 4th day!

Those who insist that the heavens and the earth was created in 6, 24 hour days must expalin how this could be when the sun wasn't created until the 4th day! But as in all the miracles we must finally acknowledge that, with men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)

Genesis and true science are both correct whether we can understand and explain all the mysteries or not. When one asks if 6 days or 15 billion years passed before the creation of humankind, the correct answer is "yes." Dr. Schroeder sums it all up like this:

1. Science confirms the wisdom of the Bible.

2. The Bible already has all the answers we need relative to an understanding of humanity's place in the scheme of existence.

3. Therefore, science is unnecessary as a tool for understanding man's place in the scheme of existence.

To be a Christian, one need not deny legitimate science. Science and the Bible are complementary, not mutually exclusive. More on this later...

In the Beginning, God...

I believe that any consideration of God must begin with the creation account of Genesis. In the very first phrase of the Bible we have an introduction to Christian thought and a powerful statement of faith which tells us what God did, when He did it, and it also refutes all the major philosophies of the world in one fell swoop. Those who refuse to believe that there is a God who created and sustains the universe do so not for a lack of facts or proof (Romans 1:8) nor is it due to their superior knowledge (Psalm 14:1) but for a lack of faith (Hebrews 11:3). The book of Genesis is not so much a defense but a declaration,...In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Look at the world philosophies which are refuted in that first phrase alone.

ATHEISM...There is a God. The Bible never attempts to prove the existence of God, but from the beginning it assumes that God exists and that He created and sustains all that there is. How can any rational human being look at a shoe and deny the existence of a shoemaker? How could anyone take an objective look at the creation with all its order, purpose, and beauty and deny the existence of a creator? How could anything create itself? How could order come out of chaos?

POLYTHEISM...The Bible declares that there are not many gods, but only one. He is not only the creator, He is also the sovereign ruler who sustains and controls His creation. Polytheism teaches that there are many gods all of which are limited in power and knowledge. In light of this we can see the significance of the contest between God and the false gods of Egypt. (Actually it wasn't a contest at all) pharaoh dared to ask Moses, "Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? (Exodus 5:2) God's answer was a series of ten plagues on Egypt each of which was a deliberate "slap in the face" to an Egyptian deity which proved powerless against the one sovereign God.

It should also be noted here that Genesis 1:1 also affirms the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. The Hebrew word for God is "Elohim" which is the plural form of the word. God is "one" (Deut. 6:4; Isa. 44:6; Eph. 4:4-6) who has decided to reveal Himself in three persons. It is not the equation 1+1+1=3, but rather 1x1x1=1 that illustrates the Trinity. The doctrine is further taught in Genesis 1:26, "And God said, let us create man in our image, after our likeness."

EVOLUTION...The God of Genesis created all that there is. The Hebrew word for create is 'bara" which means ex nihilo, or "to create out of nothing." When God decided to create the universe, He used no existing materials. He spoke it all into existence. It is God who is the proper object of worship, and not the creation, but mankind goes astray when the creation is worship (can you say "Mother Earth?") instead of the Creator.

PANTHEISM...God is over, and apart from His creation, and not a part of it. Pantheism teaches that "all is god." Only God is eternal and transcendent (Psalm 102:25-27). God is not a part of His creation, and unlike the created order He is personal. God speaks, creates, and expresses emotions such as grief, love, and hate. Since God is personal, we can have a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ.

MATERIALISM...The universe is not eternal, but had a definite beginning. Through faith, we understand that God created the universe (Hebrews 11:3), and He created everything through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:2; John 1:3).

FATALISM...God created the universe with a definite purpose in mind because He created it through wisdom, (Proverbs 8:22-36).

Again, the Bible never attempts to prove the existence of God,it opens with a matter-of-fact statement that there is a God, and He created and sustains all that there is. Faith is not a blind leap into dark. The proof is everywhere, however many do not acknowledge that truth.

Are You A Pilgrim?

There are three kinds of people who live in the wilderness. They are: Bedouins, Hermits, and Pilgrims. The Bedouins are herders who spend their lives traversing the desert in a never ending cycle of looking for pasture. The Hermit has chosen to shut himself off from everyone else and prefers to live alone. The Pilgrim is someone who is just passing through the desert on his way to a better place. He never turns back, never settles down in the wilderness,...he knows where he is going.
Believers are to be like the Pilgrims. We realize that this world is not our home and like Abraham we look for a city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11:10). However, from time to time we must pause along the way for refreshment and rest. We need a place where we can meet with other Pilgrims to enjoy their fellowship and to either give or receive a word of instruction or encouragement to help us along on the grand journey. One such place is The Pilgrim's Cafe.

The Pilgrim's Cafe is always open, and I trust it will be a place of refreshment and encouragement for you.

Living Water..."Love has a sensitivity that prevents quarrels. True Christian love disposes people to be peaceable, forgiving injurious treatment as scripture commands: Hatred stirreth up strifes, but love covereth all sins." Jonathan Edwards