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To Whom or to What Does “Christian” Refer?

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #134 posted on December 21, 2022.

1 – Preamble

The Bible indicates the following: First, God (or the Godhead) is a triunity consisting of three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Second, God is holy and hates sin. Third, the only atonement for sin which God will accept is the shedding of innocent blood – (a) temporarily in the sacrifice of unblemished animals and birds then (b) permanently in the sacrifice of his unblemished Son, whom the Bible identifies as ‘the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world.”[1] Fourth, all of Adam and Eve’s descendants are sinners and therefore blemished and unable to atone for their sins. Thus, in the end, only God himself can atone for sin. Fifth, God is the personification of both perfect judgment and perfect love. Thus, one might say that God’s perfect judgment required the cross at Golgotha, and God’s perfect love put himself upon it.

2 – The Word “Christian”

Whenever people encounter the word “Christian,” most of them associate it with an individual or institution that is affiliated with Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure in the New Testament (or Messianic Scriptures). Moreover, if they have any familiarity with Christians and Christian institutions, they will know that they vary in significant ways. Finally, if they are familiar with the Bible, they will also know that many Christians and Christian institutions do not adhere to what the Bible says about the Messiah – even regarding essential issues such as whether He actually existed and, if so, whether  He is divine.[2]  Thus, they probably recognize that the term “Christian” is extremely broad and almost defies definition.

In addition, most people assume that the word “Christian” derived from the word “Christ,” which is a natural assumption, but is actually incorrect. Thus, they are surprised to hear (a) that the word “Christian” does not appear in the Bible, (b) that the manner in which the word originated and worked its way into common usage is complicated,[3] and (c) that some followers of the Christ do not regard themselves as Christians and believe that fellow followers of Him should refrain from identifying themselves as Christians.

Despite the foregoing, I do not think that genuine followers of the Messiah need to stop referring to themselves as Christians. First, the word is too ubiquitous. It appears in written material of every form and from every era since the 1st century AD, and it is used in common discourse today by people throughout the world. Second, the word is a perfectly good adjective or noun for people who claim allegiance to the Holy One of Israel, to whom the Messianic Scriptures refer as the “Christ.” [4] Third, the word does not imply perfect conformance to what the Bible says about Him. The word refers to a community of people and institutions with many different beliefs and practices, many of which, unfortunately, are unbiblical.

3 – The Covenantal Community

To explain what I mean by community, I need to introduce the concept of the covenant. God uses covenants to define the relationship between himself and his creatures. The Bible lists ten of them: three universal covenants involving mankind in general and seven restricted covenants involving the Hebrews in particular.

The covenantal community in the three universal covenants is mankind in general. It is divided into two groups: (1) covenant-keepers, who honor God and observe the terms of the covenant to the best of their ability and (2) covenant breakers, who dishonor God and disregard the terms of the covenant. A moment’s reflection will indicate that covenant-breakers usually outnumber covenant-keepers by a wide margin.

The covenantal community in the seven restricted covenants is Israel in particular. It is divided into two groups: (1) covenant-keepers, who honor God and observe the terms of the covenant to the best of their ability and (2) covenant breakers, who dishonor God and disregard the terms of the covenant. A moment’s reflection will indicate that covenant-breakers usually outnumber covenant-keepers by a wide margin. Also note that these covenants do not apply to the Gentiles excepting in certain cases which I will note when appropriate.

Two examples of the restricted covenant are the Mosaic Covenant and the New Covenant:

The Mosaic Covenant was in force from 1464 BC to 33 AD. Its covenantal community was Israel, which it divided into two groups: (1) covenant-keepers, who did their best to observe the Mosaic Laws, and (2) covenant-breakers who made little attempt to observe the Mosaic Laws. The mark of the covenant was circumcision, and the sacred text of the covenant was the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (OT) in general and the Mosaic Law in particular. It identified the way in which God expected all members of the community to relate to him, to fellow Jews, and to Gentiles. (Gentiles such as Caleb and Ruth could join the covenantal community by pledging allegiance to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and then serving Israel faithfully, but there were not many of them.)

The New Covenant has been in force since 33 AD and will last until the Parousia. Its covenantal community is Israel, which it divides into two groups: (1) covenant-keepers, who repent of their sins and accept the Messiah as their Lord and Savior, and who are called Israel of the Spirit or the Saved, and (2) covenant-breakers, who do not repent of their sins and accept the Messiah as their Savior and Lord, and who are called Israel of the Flesh or the Lost. The mark of this covenant is baptism, and the sacred text of the covenant is the entire Bible, which consists of both the Tenakh (OT) and the Messianic Scriptures (NT). It identifies the way in which God expects its members to relate to him and to others.

This covenant was promised to Israel in Jeremiah’s time (c.620-c.550 BC), and, when the covenantal period began on Passover in April 33 AD, the covenantal community consisted solely of Hebrews. When some Gentiles began repenting of their sins, accepting the Messiah as their Lord and Savior, and becoming baptized, God indicated to Peter in a vision[5] that such Gentiles could join the Christian community.

In Romans 11, Paul explains the new reality with the metaphor of two olive trees:

A Cultivated Olive Tree that represents Spiritual Israel, (a) in which covenant-keeping Jews – i.e. the Faithful Remnant of Israel – who repent of their sins and accept the Messiah as their Lord and Saviour, remain and (b) from which covenant-breaking Jews, who reject the Messiah as their Savior and Lord, are removed and cast away.

A Wild Olive Tree that represents the Gentiles, (a) from which covenant-keeping Christians are removed and grafted into the Cultivated Olive Tree and (b) in which the rest of the Gentiles, both non-Christians and covenant-breaking Christians, remain.

Please note that the covenantal community and its covenant-keepers are not synonymous and must not be conflated, which occurs when people use the word Christian to refer to both groups. Rather, the Christian Community consists of two groups: (1) covenant-keeping Christians and (2) covenant-breaking Christians.

Covenant-keeping Christians repent of their sins in their hearts, accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord, and obey Him to the best of their ability, and adopt beliefs and behavior that conform to the canonical Bible, which can be defined as the Tenakh (OT) and the Messianic Scriptures (NT).

Covenant-breaking Christians often do not repent of their sins in their hearts, often do not accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and adopt beliefs and behavior that do not conform to the canonical Bible, but to Bibles that often include the Apocrypha and even the Pseudepigrapha, and then sometimes not even to them.

We must keep in our minds and articulate in our discourse the difference between covenant-keeping Christians, whom I call either Bible-believing Christians or Biblical Christians, and covenant-breaking Christians, whom I usually call Nominal Christians. Moreover, we should recognize that Christian covenant-keepers are in the minority and covenant-breakers are in the majority, just as Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount: “Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. But narrow is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”[6]

4 – Nominal Christianity

There are many characteristics of nominal Christianity, and I will not try to enumerate all of them. The most obvious among them are the following:

Denying the divinity of the Messiah. The Bible indicates that He is the Son of God and a member of the triune Godhead.

Denying the depravity of mankind, which contradicts what God says in the Bible[7] and renders the incarnation and crucifixion of the Messiah unnecessary.

Claiming that anyone must be good in order to enter Heaven. People get into Heaven when they repent of their sins and accept the Messiah as their Savior and Lord, at which point God imputes the Messiah’s righteousness to them. Salvation cannot be earned. It is the free gift of a merciful and forgiving God.

Claiming that all baptized Christians are saved and headed to Heaven. Baptism signifies only that a person is a member of the Christian
covenantal community[8] – not that one is a covenant-keeping Christian.

Claiming that anyone other than God is infallible, such as a member of the clergy or priesthood. Only God and, I believe, His Word (the canonical Bible) are infallible.

Claiming that Christianity’s Eucharistic Rite – i.e. the eating of bread and the drinking of the juice of the grape[9] together in a worship service – is not just an act of remembrance, but actually recapitulates the death of the Son of God on the cross. His passion and death on the cross on Passover in 33 AD was a unique, one-time, all sufficient, unrepeatable sacrifice for our sins.

Claiming that any person or any institution other than the Messiah is a mediator between God and men. The Bible makes crystal clear that the only mediator between God and men is the Promised Messiah of Israel.[10] – not a church, not a clergyman, and not a dead person who has been canonized as a “saint” by a church. [11]

Praying in the name of anyone but the Messiah or Christ, which implies that this person is a mediator between God and the one who is praying.

Praying to anyone other than the three persons of the Trinity, such as praying to Mary (the mother of the Messiah),[12] a canonized saint, or an angel. Doing so constitutes idolatry.

Picking and choosing what to believe in the Bible. The Bible opens with the Creation Story, in which the reader is called upon to believe that God created Universe and all its contents and creatures in six, normal, 24-hour days simply with the power of his word, over which even many Christians stumble. We must remember that “…without faith, it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”[13] When Job questioned God about his treatment by God, God responded to Job with another question, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?”[14] and then proceeded to devote three entire chapters[15] to an elaboration on the Creation Story. God does not need to establish his credentials or explain himself. God’s omnicompetence, omnipotence, omniscience are beyond our ability to imagine, but they are evident in what he created. All we need to do is look at the heavens above, the earth below, and our fellow creatures,[16] and then take him at his Word, which means that we must believe the whole Bible.[17]

Promoting or participating in the Abomination of Desolation at the end of this age.

5 – The Abomination of Desolation.

Before identifying the Abomination of Desolation, I must set the stage.by looking at the most important event in history, which ended the Mosaic Covenantal Period and began the New Covenantal Period.

5A – The Pivotal Life in History

God sent his only Son into the world to atone for the sins of Mankind and to make possible the restoration of Creation to its original perfection, which will occur after the Parousia. Here is a summary of His life.

He was born on Tishri 1, the Feast of Trumpets (August 28, 2 BC).

He lived a sinless life[18] for just over 33.5 years (2 BC-33 AD) by observing the Mosaic Law perfectly.

He was betrayed, scourged, crucified, and buried on Nisan 14 (Tue-Wed), which was the Passover, in early April 33 AD: (3a) He was betrayed by one his disciple, Judas Iscariot, for 30 pieces of silver; (3b) He was tried by the Sanhedrin and judged guilty of blasphemy, a capital crime; (3c) He was interviewed by Pontius Pilate and King Herod and then turned over to the Roman soldiers; (3d) He was scourged for roughly nine hours; and (3e) He was forced to carry his heavy cross from the Roman Garrison in Old Jerusalem to Golgotha, just outside the city’s Damascus Gate.

He fulfilled the requirements of the Mosaic Law perfectly when He provided the unique, one-time, all sufficient, never-to-be repeated sacrifice to atone for sin: (4a) He was nailed to the cross at the third hour ( 9:00 am);[19] (4b) He hung there for the next six hours; (4c) darkness fell on the land at the sixth hour (12:00 noon); and (4d) He died at the ninth hour (3:00 pm).

Immediately afterwards, a Roman soldier refrained from breaking His legs, as was customary, but did thrust a lance in His side, from which water and blood fell to the ground.[20] (Just as God put Adam to sleep and formed a bride for him using flesh and bone from his side, so God put his Son to sleep and formed a Bride for Him using flesh and bone from His side.)

He was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea in a garden adjacent to Golgotha at the twelfth hour (6:00 pm), which was the end of Passover (Nisan 14) and the beginning of an Annual Feast Day (Nisan 15).

He spent 3 days (72 hours) in the grave,[21] which (7a) included (Nisan 15 (Wed-Thu; an annual feast day), (7b) Nisan 16 (Thus-Fri; a normal weekday), and (7c) Nisan 17, Fri-Sat; a normal Sabbath Day), which was followed by Nisan 18 (Sat-Sun; a normal First Day of the Jewish week). .

He was resurrected at 6:00 pm on Saturday, which marked the end of Nisan 17 (Fri-Sat; the Sabbath) and the beginning of Nisan 18 (Sat-Sun; the First Day of the Jewish week).

He left the tomb sometime during the night (6:00 pm to 6:00 am) on Nisan 18, before Mary Magdalen and the other women arrived there at dawn.

He appeared to more than 500 of his disciples during the next 40 days.[22]

He ascended into Heaven on Iyyar 27 in 33 AD,[23] where He now sits on the Throne of God at the right hand of the Father.[24]

In the course of the above events Messiah fulfilled most of the prophecies concerning Himself (the rest will be fulfilled at the end of this age).  The Jewish Messiah, the Son of God, is undoubtedly the central and pivotal figure in the history of Creation.

5B – The Pivotal Events in History

The pivotal events in history of Creation from Creation Week to the Parousia are undoubtedly (a) the scourging and crucifixion of the Son of God on Passover in 33 AD, which was a unique, one-time, all-sufficient, never-to-be-repeated oblation to atone for the sins of all men, women, and children who repent of their sins and accept Him as their Savior and Lord,[25] and (b) the resurrection of the Son of God, which was a victory over death and represented the first fruits of the General Resurrection.

5C – A Few of the Changes Which Occurred at 3:00 pm on Passover 33 AD

When Messiah died at the ninth hour (3:00 pm) on Passover 33 AD, some significant changes occurred, including the following:

The Relocation of the Shekinah Glory – To mark the moment of Messiah’s death and the import of what it meant, something momentous happened in the Temple. The veil concealing the Holy Holies in the Temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom,[26] which indicated that the Shekinah Glory, God’s Presence, had moved from the physical Temple in Jerusalem to a spiritual Temple of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the Messiah’s followers.[27] Because of what the Messiah did on the cross, the sacrifice of animals and birds in the Temple was no longer necessary, efficacious, or even pleasing to God. In fact, it was the most egregious affront to God which mankind could devise. Daniel called it “the abomination that makes desolate,” [28] and Messiah called it the Abomination of Desolation.

The Abomination of Desolation #1 – Despite God’s all-sufficient sacrifice of his Son on the cross, the Jewish Sanhedrin allowed the priests to sacrifice animals and birds in Jerusalem’s Temple for the next 37 years (33-70 AD). Again, it was the greatest offense against God which they could have devised or committed. It constituted the Abomination of Desolation about which Daniel  wrote and Messiah spoke. It invited God’s wrath on themselves and their people, which was duly manifested in the utter destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by the Roman armies under Titus in 70 AD and the subsequent banishment of the Jews from Judea for almost two millennia.

The Abomination of Desolation #2 – The Messiah indicated in the Olivet Discourse that, in spite of the above, the Abomination of Desolation will be repeated in the End Times, which means that (a) the Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt and (b) the sacrifice of animals and birds to atone for sin will be resumed. In fact, preparations for achieving these objectives are already underway.[29]

The Great Apostacy or Falling Away – Jesus indicated in the Olivet Discourse and Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11 that, during the New Covenantal Period (33-Perousia) and in order to test the quality and seriousness of church-goers professions of faith in His Son and thereby separate the wheat (Biblical Christians) from the chafe (Nominal Christians), (a) an antichrist will appear with a counterfeit religion and false doctrines that will deflect mankind’s attention from the real King of kings in Heaven to a false monarch here on Earth and (b) and a strong spirit of delusion will appear to tempt members of the churches to succumb to the antichrist’s lies. The antichrist and the spirit of delusion have been at work now for almost two millennia, and the results of their work (1) were particularly evident during (1a) the persecution of the Messianic Jews for 443 years (33-476 AD) by the Rabbinic Jews and the Roman emperors and (1b) the persecution of the Protestants for 1260 years (538-1798 AD) by the Roman Church, and  (2) will be particularly evident during the persecution of the saints for an unknown number of years by the antichrist in the End Time. During this time, (1) the saints will demonstrate their faithfulness by (1a) believing God’s Word Written (the Scriptures) and (1b) rejecting the antichrist as the head of the Universal Church and opposing the Jews’ resumption of animal and bird sacrifices to atone for sin, and (2) the apostates will demonstrate their faithlessness by (2a) ignoring Gid’s Written Word and (2b) accepting the antichrist as the head of the Universal Church and supporting the Jew’s project to rebuild Solomon’s Temple and resume the sacrifice of animals and birds to atone for sin.

Brothers and sisters in the Lord: Beware!

© 2022 John Holbrook Jr.
___________________________

[1] KJ21 John 1:29.

[2] The Bible records that God the Father identified Him as his Son in Matthew 3:16-17, 12:18, & 17:5; Mark 1:10-11 & 9:7; Luke 3:21-22, 9:34-35, & 20:13.

[3] Daniel Gruber provides an interesting analysis of this subject in Chapter 10 – A Little Case of Mistaken Identity of his book, The Separation of Church & Faith – Volume 1 – Copernicus and the Jews, Elijah Publishing, Hanover, NH, 2005, 2016.

[4] He bears the title “Mashiach” in Hebrew, “Khristos” in Greek, and “Messiah” or “Christ” in modern English, all of which mean “the Anointed One.” Hereafter, I will refer to Him as the “Messiah” in order to remind my readers continually that He is both Jewish and the Promised Messiah or Holy One of Israel.

[5] Acts 10:9-16.

[6] KJ21 Mathew 7:13-14.

[7] Psalms 14:2-3, 53:2-3; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Jeremiah 17:9; 1 John 1:8,10; Romans 3:10-12, 3:23, 5:12, 7:14-20; Galatians 3:22; and James 2:10, 4:17.

[8] Consider the number of Christians who tortured and killed others – Christians and non-Christians alike -because they differed on matters of faith and practice.

[9] Sometime fermented, sometime unfermented.

[10] 1 Timothy 2:5.

[11] The biblical definition of a saint is a sinner who repents of his or her sins and accepts the Messiah as his or her Savior and Lord. No saint deserves canonization – let alone adoration – as a particularly holy person who can serve as a mediator between God and a supplicant who is praying to him or her.

[12] She was a normal, mortal woman, who was born a sinner, lived an imperfect life, died a sinner, and now lies in the grave. She will not be resurrected until the Rapture at the end of this age, when her Son will return to Earth (the Parousia) and resurrect all who have died. Thus she cannot even hear prayers to her, let alone act on them. I imagine that she will be horrified to learn that some people claimed that (a) she was full of grace (the doctrine of the Mother of God), which implies that she was semi-divine, (b) she was born without original sin (the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, she remained a virgin throughout her life (the doctrine of Perpetual Virginity) despite the Bible’s references to Jesus’ brothers and sisters, who then would have been either adopted or the product of Joseph’s continually engaging in adultery, and (d) her body was taken up into Heaven without undergoing putrefaction (the doctrine of the Assumption).

[13] KJV Hebrews 11:6.

[14] KJV Job 38:4.

[15] Job 38-41.

[16] Romans 1:19-20.

[17] Some Christians waffle on this issue, claiming that the Bible is “authoritative” or that the Bible contains the Word of God, but does not constitute the Word of God. They have not, however, thought through the implications of their claims. If only some of the Bible is divinely inspired, what criteria are available for discerning between the passages that come from God and the passages that do not come from God? Such criteria do not exist! One cannot escape the necessity of deciding this issue by faith – by a faith informed by reason, but nonetheless by faith.

[18] Hebrews 4:15.

[19] Called the 3rd hour of daylight in the Bible, or the 15th hour of the whole day that started at 6:00 pm the previous evening.

[20] Called the 9th hour of daylight in the Bible, or the 21st hour of the whole day that started at 6:00 pm the previous evening.

[21] Matthew 12:40. Note that the definition of a day here is the same as the definition of a day in Genesis 1.

[22] 1 Corinthians 15:6.

[23] John 20:17, Ephesians 4:8-10.

[24] Acts 2:34.

[25] God wrote their names in the Book of Life before the foundations of the world were laid (Philippians 4:3 and Revelation 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, 20:12, 20:15, 21:27, & 22:19).

[26] Matthew 27:51.

[27] 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. See my essay, The Two Temples.

[28] See Daniel 9. Alas, our Lord mentioned in the Olivet Discourse that the Jews will repeat the offense toward the end of this age (Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14).

[29] See Randall Price’s Ready to Rebuild – The Imminent Plan to Rebuild the Temple the Last Days Temple (1992), The Coming Last Days Temple (1999), and The Temple and Bible Prophecy – A Definitive Look at Its Past, Present, and Future (2005).

Gender Choice – A Dangerous Delusion

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #123 posted May 2, 2021, edited 2022-11-23.

1. Preamble

Another pathogen has entered American culture with the rise of the Transgender or Gender Choice movement (I prefer and will use the latter name because it better reveals the critical flaw at the movement’s core). The proponents of Gender Choice claim that a person’s gender is a matter of choice. They argue that gender is not a biological fact, but rather a mental construct, and they demand that a person be free to change his or her gender at will. They also argue that society’s traditional recognition of only two genders, male and female, is solely the result of cultural conditioning, and that a person should be free to choose other alternatives. Although I cannot imagine what these alternative might look like, I am certain that they will be grotesque.

This pathogen has already ruined many lives and is destined to ruin countless more. It needs to be exposed, repudiated, and eradicated as quickly as possible.

2. Gender Reality

The binary reality of human gender has been evident to Mankind since God presented Eve to Adam in the Garden of Eden roughly 6,000 years ago, As late as the end of the 20th century, any two-year-old knew the difference between boys and girls. Now, a mere twenty years later, even many educated adults do not [1] – alas, not a healthy sign for the future of the human race. They completely ignore the testimony of our Creator, our Science, our Senses, and our Common Sense.

● Our Creator declares in his Word, the Bible, “…God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). Here, our Creator clearly tells us that there are only two genders, male and female.

● Our Science – in this case, microbiology – reveals that each organism’s genome or DNA provides the information for its development from a single zygote (fertilized ovum) to a living and breathing creature. The human genome consist of 23 pairs of chromosomes, of which one pair determines a person’s sex and sexual development. Two “x” chromosomes produce a female. One “x” chromosome and one “y” chromosome produce a male. Each creature’s genome is unique. It is carried in every cell of its body and remains immutable throughout his or her life. It cannot be changed.[2] Here, our Science clearly tells us that there are only two genders: male and female.

● Our Senses detect that each baby is born with either male or female genitalia, which can be see with our eyes and touched with our hands. Here, our Senses clearly tell us that there are only two genders: male and female.

● Our Common Sense tells us that nearly all living species are divided into two genders, male and female. As we move through life, we encounter representatives of other species that differ in many characteristic – form, size, weight, strength, color, abilities, etc., but they all share one fundamental characteristic: all species are divided into two genders: male and female. Moreover, we quickly perceive the reason for two genders: they are necessary for reproduction. When a male ejects his sperm into a female and the sperm merges with an egg in her uterus, a new member of the species is conceived. After a period of gestation, it leaves the mother’s womb and emerges into the world as a male or female infant. None of the foregoing is rocket-science. It is a common occurrence. It is obvious to everybody. It is known by everybody. Here, our simple Common Sense tell us that there are only two genders: male and female.

● Regarding the foregoing, I must note an exception. In very rare cases, genetically abnormal children are born with both male and female sexual characteristic. They are called hermaphrodites or mixed-sex babies, of which there are two types: (1) Sometimes, two eggs are present, with one egg being fertilized by a female or X chromosome and the other being fertilized by a male or Y chromosome. Usually this leads to fraternal twins of different sexes, but occasionally the two eggs fuse and produce a mixed-sex baby. (2) Sometimes during cell-division, a sperm’s sex-determining region moves from the Y chromosome to the X chromosome, where it remains and produces a mixed-sex baby. In both cases, I believe that medical attention and therapy are appropriate; they have actually become quite sophisticated and successful. Again, however, I regard the use of medical therapies on genetically normal children to be, not just inappropriate, but pernicious. That is not the type of treatment which they need.

3. Gender Fantasy

To deny gender reality is to engage in and promote gender fantasy, which will have many pernicious consequences. Reader, please think carefully about some of the certain consequences of this fantasy. Four of the most obvious are the following:

● The acceptance of Gender Choice will further erode our society’s already tenuous grasp on reality. When people are continually indoctrinated in false doctrines,[3] they lose their ability to distinguish between reality and fantasy, which is a good definition of insanity. Again alas, America shows many signs of going insane. Tens of millions of Americans are adopting false doctrines that have not worked in the past, are not working in the present, and will not work in the future, and then they are demanding that others affirm these doctrines under threat of fine and imprisonment. This phenomenon can only be categorized as a symptoms of madness and indicates, whether or not we acknowledge the fact, that we are collectively headed for a mental breakdown. No person or community can ignore reality for very long and survive.

● The person who acts on Gender Choice will not only be confused about the most fundamental and important distinction in his or her life, but will actually be harmed by it. A person’s gender is not skin deep. It permeates his or her body, mind, and spirit. Males and females have different physical, mental, and emotional characteristics, and I suspect different spiritual characteristics as well. They have been designed by God to complement one another, to delight in one another, and, within the confines of a life-long, heterosexual marriage, to produce and raise children together. As boys and girls are developing from infancy to maturity, they should be guided by their parents, grandparents, older siblings, aunts and uncles, teachers, doctors, and pastors to adopt the attitudes, desires, and behavior that are appropriate to their sex, thereby instilling in them the desire to become the man or woman whom God intended them to be. If they show signs of gender confusion, however, they should not be encouraged to adopt the attitudes, desires, and behavior of the opposite sex. Rather, they should be discouraged from doing so and given special attention and guidance in this regard.

● If society accepts the claims of biological males that they are females trapped in male bodies, the latter will be given ready access to female bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers, which will certainly result in soaring cases of sexual abuse. Men, is this what you want for your wives? Women, is this what you want for yourselves? Parents, is this what you want for your daughters? If it is, you need to recognize that you are willingly putting women and girls in harm’s way, which is not a loving thing to do, but rather a vicious thing to do.

● Also, if society accepts the claims of biological males that they are females trapped in male bodies, the latter will be allowed to compete in and dominate every level of female sports that require strength and endurance – not just sports in schools and colleges, but professional sports and international competitions like the Olympic Games, the European Games, the Pan-American Games, etc. Consider the lure of prize money in such events as the four major tennis tournaments – the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open – where the average purse for a female winner was over $3 million in 2019. To men who cannot beat Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, the lure of Gender Change will be irresistible.

 4. Christians

Brothers and sisters, you may dismiss Gender Choice as a foolish fad, but you must not stand aside passively, just shaking your head, while this devastating psychological and physical assault on young people is underway and growing. I beg you to do the following:

● First, recognize the sheer evil of Gender Choice, because the lives of many young people are at stake. Already many of them have been ruined by (a) misguided acceptance of opposite-sex behavior by a parent, (b) sex-change propaganda in school and elsewhere that renders them uncomfortable with their biological sex, (c) inoculation with hormones of the opposite sex, thereby frustrating their bodies’ ability to develop normally, particularly during puberty, and (d) mutilation of their genitalia by surgeons, thereby leaving them scarred for life.

● Second, resolve to do something about Gender Choice, because others are in harm’s way and need your help. Proverbs 24 warns, “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work” (ESV)? Edmund Burke reduced the biblical warning to the following admonition: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” [4] Let us gird up our loins and enter the fray.

● Third, you must actually do something to stop Gender Choice. Speak up. Confront the parents, teachers, and doctors who are encouraging and enabling young people in this dangerous delusion. You may find that some of them are merely misguided and have not considered the downside of what they are doing. They may be open to persuasion. You will also encounter others of them who know exactly what they are doing and are determined to keep doing it, no matter what we say. Confront them. Expose them. Make it difficult, if not impossible for them to keep doing what they are doing. In addition, write your representatives in federal, state, and municipal governments and insist that they enact and enforce laws that put a stop to Gender Choice.

● Most important, if you encounter young people who are confused about their gender, show them what Christian love, compassion, and friendship look like. If they are boys, talk to them about what it is like to be a man, husband, and father in this world. If they are girls, talk to them about what it is like to be a woman, wife, and mother in this world. Be truthful. Describe the full experience that awaits them, including its joys and sorrows its satisfactions and difficulties, and its victories and defeats. Assure them, however, that God has designed them for these roles in life and will give them all the assistance they need to flourish in them. Men, do not be afraid to talk to the girls. Women, do not be afraid to talk to the boys. After over sixty years of marriage, I love, respect, and admire my wife and can talk as much about her experience as I can about my own. Also, do not be afraid to talk about mistakes. None of us is perfect. We are all sinners. We all make mistakes, but we learn from our mistakes and can help others avoid them. Above all keep in mind that the goals here are to connect with these youngsters and to give them an accurate picture of reality – not fantasy.

● Lastly, pray to God that he will give you the all the wisdom, courage, sensitivity, and strength – the knights of old might say might and main[5] – that you require to do all of the above. I will pray to God that he hears your prayers.

 © 2021 John Holbrook Jr.
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[1] That one of them currently occupies the White House is stunning.

[2] Since Jennifer Douglas’s invention of a method for dicing and splicing DNA strands, microbiologists have started tinkering with the human genome in the hope of “improving” it. Because they do not believe that God exists, they are unaware that they are trespassing on God’s territory. I anticipate that the results of their efforts will be negative, if not catastrophic.

[3] Some false doctrines that immediately come to mind are atheism, biological evolutionism, geological uniformitarianism, socialism, communism, systemic racism, and climate change attributed to human behavior.

[4] In a letter addressed to Thomas Mercer.

[5] A wonderful, Old English phrase that I learned from reading books about the chivalric days of yore, when men like King Arthur, Lancelot, Galahad, Gawain, El Cid, and Walter Scott’s fictional Ivanhoe rode to the aid of the weak and vulnerable.

The Jews – Their Election, Their Land, and Their Book

by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #103 posted August 26, 2019, edited March 10, 2021.

The Jews are possibly the most unpopular people on earth. Why?

Their Election

One reason the Jews are unpopular is that they claim to be God’s Chosen People. That seems to be a bit presumptuous to most Gentiles. It’s one thing for people to claim that they are special in the eyes of their own god or gods. It is quite another thing to claim that they are special in the eyes of the only God, the Creator of  Universe. Yet that is what they do.

Their Land

Another reason the Jews are unpopular is that they claim ownership of a substantial portion of the Middle East that lies athwart the crossroads of the world.

Originally the land in question was settled by the Canaanites. It was promised to Abraham by God in 1894 BC. It was seized by the Jews in a campaign led by Joshua from 1424 to 1418 BC, when it was divided among the twelve tribes of Israel. It was held by them until 685 BC, when the Assyrians under Sargon II seized a portion it (the Northern Kingdom of Israel) and carried off most of the Israelites to the territories northeast of Assyria. Then, in 555 BC, the Neo-Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar seized the rest (the southern Kingdom of Judah) and carried off the Judean elite to Babylon and its surrounding region. During the next 2502 years (555 BC-1948 AD), it suffered under the heavy hands of a series of invaders, each of whom exercised hegemony over it, all the while allowing some Jews to remain there:

    • Under the hegemony of the Neo-Babylonians (555-485 BC). The city and its Temple were in ruins, and the Jewish elite lived in exile in Babylon.
    • Under hegemony of Persia (485-330 BC), at the beginning of which many of the Jews living in exile were allowed to return to Jerusalem.
    • Under the hegemony of Macedon (330-146 BC).
    • Under the hegemony of Rome (146 BC-324 AD), which included: the Maccabean Kingdom (143-37 BC) that was instituted by rebels as an independent kingdom and then was ruthlessly suppressed by Rome; the Herodian Kingdom (37 BC – 39 AD) that was instituted by Rome as a Roman satrapy and then replaced by Rome in favor of a Roman governorship; and then the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple and the banishment of the of the Jews from Judea (70 AD).
    • Under the hegemony of the Byzantines (324-624 AD).
    • Under the hegemony of the Arabs (624-1099 AD).
    • Under the hegemony of the Crusaders (1099-1291 AD).
    • Under the hegemony of the Mamluks (1291-1517 AD).
    • Under the hegemony of the Ottoman Turks (1571-1917 AD).
    • Under the hegemony of the British (1917-1948 AD).

On May 14, 1948, when The Proclamation of the Establishment of the State of Israel was issued by David Ben-Gurion, a portion of the land came under the sovereignty of the Jewish people. This sovereignty was extended over Jerusalem during the Six Day War (1967) and over the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War (1973). Since then the Jews have been under continuous attack by the surrounding nations, each of which claims a right to the land – or at least a portion of it – based on the time when they exercised hegemony over it. Consequently the Jews are continually forced to justify their possession of the land by word and by military force.

A good example of this occurred on Monday, April 29, 2019. Two days later, on Wednesday, May 1, 2019, CBNNews.com carried an article by Emily Jones under the headline: “’This is the Deed to Our Land’: Israel’s Ambassador Takes Out Bible at UN to Prove Jewish People’s Claim to Israel.” The article in its entirety reads as follows:

Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon used the Bible to defend the Jewish people’s claim to the land of Israel during a special session at the United Nations Security Council on Monday.

Danon was tasked with the job of proving the case for Jews’ connection to the Holy Land during the session. He outlined four reasons, “the Bible, history, international law, and the pursuit of international peace and security.”

In a dramatic moment, Danon opened the Bible and read aloud God’s covenant with Abraham from Genesis 17: “And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout the generations for an everlasting covenant. And I will give to you and your descendants after you all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession and I will be their God.”

Danon then raised up the Bible, turned to attendees and said, “This is the deed to our land.”

“From the book of Genesis to the Jews’ exodus, from Egypt to receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai, and to the realization of God’s covenant in the holy land of Israel, the Bible paints a consistent picture. The entire history of our people and our connection to Eretz Israel begins right here,” he continued while lifting up the Bible once again.

Danon argued that all of the Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – affirm the Jewish people’s connection to Israel.

“The Qur’an itself accepts the divine deed of the Jewish people to the land of Israel,” he said.

That was exactly the right way to assert Israel’s claim to the land which it occupies. He quoted from the Bible, the written Word of God, who created Universe. There is no higher authority in Universe. Yet few people took the idea of a divine deed seriously. Nonetheless, I believe that God will honor the Israelis here, for he says in KJ21 Samuel 2:30, “,,,them that honor me I will honor.”

Their Book

There is only one divine book in existence. It is the Bible. It consists of two parts: the Tenakh (or Old Testament), which was written in Hebrew by Jews, and the New Covenant Scriptures (or New Testament), which was written in Hebraic Greek by Jews.

Unfortunately, most Jews only claim the Tenakh as their own (Ambassador Danon undoubtedly help up a copy of the Tenakh at the UN) and, even worse, view the Talmud as their highest authority. Thus they miss the fact that the Jewish Messiah lies at the center of the entire Bible and is the central character in Universe’s drama. That they do so I regard as one of the genuine tragedies of history.

Moreover, few people recognize the Bible for what it is, the Word of God written. It claims to be divinely inspired and therefore completely trustworthy, yet most people pick and choose what portions of it they will believe – if any.

 Psalm 2

All of the foregoing reminds me of Psalm 2, which in the NIV translation reads as follows:

Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand
     and the rulers gather together against the LORD
     and against his Anointed One.
“Let us break their chains,” they say,”
     and throw off their fetters.”

The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
     the Lord scoffs at them.
Then he rebukes them in his anger
     and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
“I have installed my King
     on Zion, my holy hill.”

I will proclaim the decree of the LORD:
     He said to me, “You are my Son;
     today I have become your Father.
Ask of me,
     and I will make the nations your inheritance,
     the ends of the earth your possession.
You will rule them with an iron scepter;
     you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

Therefore, you kings, be wise;
     be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear
     and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry
     and you be destroyed in your way,
     for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

The psalm is speaking about God-the-Father and his Son, whom he sent into the world in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Promised Messiah of Israel, to be born of a virgin, live a sinless life, die on the cross to atone for the sins of the world, return to life on the third day, ascend to Heaven fifty days later, and come again in power and glory to wreak God’s vengeance on a rebellious world, create new heavens and a new earth, and rule the world from Jerusalem forever as Prophet, Priest, and King.

Conclusion

One cause of God’s wrath is the refusal of the nations of the world to recognize the Jews as God’s Chosen People and their right to the land which God gave them – i.e. the former land of Canaan in its entirety. Opinions vary. Some voices recognize the Jews’ right to part of the Promised Land. Other voices deny their right to any part of that land. Still other voices call for the elimination of the Jews from the face of the earth.

I find that very few people, among whom I include myself, recognize that the Jews are God’s Chosen People and that all of Palestine belongs to the them (see my blog posted September 26, 2016).  The reason is that few people recognize that the Bible is the Word of God and therefore inviolate. It created and under-girds all of Creation. All of human inquiry and investigation must start with the question, “What does God’s Word say about this?” As for what he said about Palestine, Danon quoted him accurately.

© 2019 John Holbrook Jr.
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