Luke Carbis It’s more complicated than 42.

The prophetic word of Psalm 83, today.

Psalm 83:6-18 with modern day country names.

6 The tabernacles of Edom (Jordan), and the Ishmaelites (General Arab Populations); of Moab, and the Hagarenes (Egyptian Arabs);

7 Gebal (Lebanon), and Ammon (Jordan), and Amalek (Tribal Arabs from the Negev, through Iraq, all the way up to Afghanistan); the Philistines (Palestinians) with the inhabitants of Tyre (Lebanon);

8 Assur (Syria) also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.

9 Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:

10 Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.

11 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:

12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.

13 O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.

14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;

15 So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.

16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.

17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:

18 That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.

Old Testament vs New: Keeping the Sabbath (Updated)

I asked myself this question: Should we follow the law of the old testament? Or did Jesus break it when he died for our sins on the cross?

I’m going to talk about two important verses here. The first is Matthew 5:17.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

And Hebrews 7:11-19.

“11 If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come? One in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. 13 He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is declared:You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek’. 18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.”

It was Jesus role to abolish the Levitical priesthood by he himself (being from the order of Melchizedek), becoming the High Priest. He would become the High Priest by conquering death, and this would fulfill the Law. Also, when there is a change in priesthood, there must also be a change in law.

There is still one major major question unanswered, it’s to do with Matthew 5:19. Let’s take a look from verse 17.

“17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

This is what confused me. Doesn’t this say that we still need to keep the Law?

Let’s look at it one verse at a time, this time I’ll add a few untranslated words in there.

“17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law (nomos) or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

The word ‘nomos’ is used throughout the entire bible, and references Mosaic Law, or Old Testament law. Here are a few places where ‘nomos’ is used for Law:

• John 1:17
• John 15:25
• John 8:5

And remember we read before that Jesus fulfills the Law by becoming the new High Priest through death, bringing in a new Law.

“18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law (nomos) until everything is accomplished.”

Jesus is telling us that until he has actually conquered death, the ‘nomos’ law is still valid. This is why he lead his life abiding perfectly to ‘nomos’ Law – he was a Jew, and he never sinned.

This is where it gets interesting.

“19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments (entole) and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands (entole) will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

‘Entole’ is a word for Law, or Commandments that is used in a very different way to ‘nomos’. It’s only used in regards to Jesus’ commandments, or new commandments (with one single exception in Luke 23:56). A few examples:

• John 15:10
• Matthew 19:17-19
• 1 John 5:3 (this is especially interesting, saying to keep HIS (entole) commandments

So Jesus is saying that we need to follow his commandments (in this passage he’s referring specifically to the commandments mentioned earlier, and the commandments he’s about to give in his sermon on the mount) – he?s not actually referring to the commandments of the old testament.

In fact, Jesus then goes on to give commandments to do with murder and idolatry, and even negate old testament commandments, like an eye for an eye, and hating your enemies.

What about Matthew 5:8? “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath”. Put in context, Jesus was saying that it didn’t matter that his disciples were breaking the sabbath. He said that the focus needs to be on mercy, not sacrifice, and also that even though his disciples (and David when he ate the consecrated bread) were innocent.

Does Jesus command us to keep the Sabbath? No, but Hebrews 4:9 appears to. On closer inspection, however, Hebrews is all about Jesus being of a higher order than Moses (Chapter 3:1-3), and it’s written to a church of Jewish believers who are still practising Judaism.

“9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.”

Verse 9 and 10 are referring to the old covenant, verse 11 is referring to the new covenant. But when the word rest is mentioned, it’s not referring to rest on the Sabbath, it’s referring to rest in Christ.

In Christ, we have rest. He has freed us from the old covenant, which was a yoke too difficult to bear (Acts 15:10), and he has given us a new covenant, which is a yoke that is so much easier to bear that it is called a “rest” (Matthew 11:28-30).

When the Israelites were in the wilderness, they sent spies into Canaan to see the land that the Lord would be giving them. However, most of the Israelite spies were afraid of the Canaanites, and most of the Israelites believed the spies instead of God. God therefore declared that they, since they lacked faith and would not obey his order to invade Canaan, would not enter the promised land: “They shall never enter my rest” (Numbers 14:26-29; Psalm 95:11; Hebrews 3:11). Here, “rest” was a metaphor for the old covenant promise, the land of Canaan.

“Now we who have believed enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:3)

This verse is not telling us to keep the Sabbath. It is telling us that we need to enter God’s rest through Christ.

The Old Testament

The Bible – The Word Of God

By Ronald Fabri

The Old  Testament

What’s this?

If there is one area of misguided theological thinking and confusion for Christian believers it is the acceptance and understanding of the Old Testament. Many believers, including pastors, teachers, priests etc., reject, partly or wholly, the Old Testament as being non-Christian or sub-Christian.

This point of view contends that Christ has fulfilled the Old Testament for us; therefore we do not need to adhere to its teaching, nor accept the Pentateuch, which contains the first five books of the Law, including the Ten Commandments. The Christian view of the Old Testament should be very much in line with Christ’s view of it. We are told by the Apostle Paul to imitate him as he also imitates Christ.  (see 1 Cor. 11:1).

It is quite clear in the Bible that Jesus Christ accepted the authority and validity of the entire Old Testament, and by imitating Him, we also must accept fully its authority and validity.

The Bible is the Inspired Word of God

The Bible – The Word Of God

By Ronald Fabri

The Bible is the Inspired Word of God

What’s this?

The Bible itself claims that it is a book fully inspired by God. The Bible dictionary defines the word inspired as “The special influence of the Holy Spirit guiding certain persons to speak and write what God wanted communicated to others, without suspending their individual activity or personality”.

The Bible Has Special Power

The Bible – The Word Of God

By Ronald Fabri

The Bible Has Special Power

What’s this?

The Word of God (the Bible) is living and active and, like a sword, has the power to divide.

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12)

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph. 6:17)

How do we know that the Bible is divinely inspired?

Growing up as a Christian, we’re often taught that the author’s of the Bible are given their words via divine inspiration, thus making the Bible quite literally God’s Word.

But how do we know this to be true?

Here are a few places in the Bible that talk about it being inspired from God.

2 Timothy 3:16

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness

In this scripture, the word  used for “God-breathed” is the Greek word theopneustos – which is best translated in English as ‘divinely inspired’ (and it is in other versions, I’m just quoting the NIV).

It’s also written in 2 Peter.

2 Peter 1:20-21

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

So there you have it – for all those who wanted to know, it is in fact written that the Bible is divinely inspired from God.

If you found this entry helpful, let me know! Or if you have any other questions, I’d love to look into it for you. Leave your question in the comments.