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The 'Great Commission' of Matthew 28:19
If Christ commanded the apostles to baptize disciples into the name of the triune God, why did Peter, on the day of Pentecost, having been baptized with God's holy spirit (Acts 1:5), declare to the crowd that they should repent and be baptized into the name of Jesus Christ? (Acts 2:38) Why did the apostles continue to baptize into the name of Jesus Christ only? read more...
For Those Who Fear God Ever since God created Adam and Eve He has addressed mankind through His chosen prophets. Through those prophets, from Moses through to Jesus, and later His apostles, He gave us the Bible, of which the Qur’an states : “We gave Moses the book – so [Muhammad] do not doubt this meeting with Him; and we made it a guide for the Children of Israel.” (Surah 32:23)
With reference to the first 5 books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, and the New Testament, the Qur’an says: “We sent Jesus, son of Mary, in their footsteps, to confirm the Torah that had been sent down before him. We gave him the Gospel, wherein is guidance and light, and confirmation of the Torah already revealed – a guide and a lesson for those who fear God.” (5:46)
With regard to the whole Bible, the Qur’an states : “We have sent down to you [Muhammed] the Book with the truth, confirming the Book that came before it, and assuring it.” (5:48, first lines)
We read these scriptures in the Qur’an and we can have no doubt that the Qur’an teaches that the Old and New Testaments in the Bible are from God, and must be believed as a lesson for true believers. You can read through the Qur’an from beginning to end and find no derogatory comments about the Bible.
Indeed it says: “There is no changing the words of God, that is truly the supreme triumph.” (10:64) “No man can change the words of God.” (6:34)
As the Qur’an tells us that the Bible is God’s word, any man who says the Bible has been changed must be contradicting the Qur’an. Although the Qur’an criticises the Jews for rejecting scripture and wanting Muslims to stray from the truth too (4:44-46), it nowhere makes such a charge against Christians, and these verses should in no way be used to deny the divinity and authority of the Bible.
The Qur’an then says it is one with the Bible, as the revelation of the Great reator: “In matters of faith, he has laid down for you [people] the same commandment He gave Noah, which We have revealed to you [Muhammad], and which we placed upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus. ‘Uphold the faith and do not divide into factions within it.” (42:13)
It asks an interesting question in 42:21 - “How can they believe in others who ordain for them things which God has not sanctioned in the practice of their faith?”
There is a danger then of being unaware of the laws which God gave to Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, part of the whole revelation of God, for there are some ignorant and deceived people who are led by Satan to despise and break those divine commandments, and so we see around the world today Muslims killing Muslims, Muslims hating Jews, and Muslims terrorising and beheading Christians.
The fate of such people is plain, according to Surah 35:36, “But those who reject the truth will stay in hellfire, where they will neither be finished off by death, nor be relieved from hell’s torment. This is how We reward hardened disbelievers.”
If the deceived had been sincere in their worship of God, they would have read the Bible as well as the Qur’an, for then they would have read Jesus Christ’s words in Matthew 5:44 – “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you.”
Not only that, but we are told (Surah 35:43), “You will never find any change in God’s practice, you will never find any deviation there.” This is echoed in the Bible’s words of the prophet Malachi, “For I am the Lord, I change not;” and in the words of the New Testament: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”
So, for both Muslims and Christians, the Bible is a sacred and holy book, to be honoured and revered as God’s word.
The Qur’an gives us little information about the last days, but in the Bible God provides extra information for those who will read all His Words. Both Muslims and Christians commonly believe that Jesus Christ will return from heaven at ‘Al Qiyamah’ - the climax of the last days, to bring peace upon the earth. This will be a time of judgment when the true hearts of men will be examined and revealed. “And [Jesus] shall be a sign (for the coming of) the Hour (of judgment): therefore have no doubt about the (Hour), but follow ye Me: this is a straight Way.” (Qur’an 43:61)
The Bible adds: “Behold the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” Jude :14-15.
It is wise then for all God-fearing men and women not to neglect to learn from the Bible, as a guide and lesson, the teachings which the Qur’an confirms are the words of God. The Qur’an has this message for its followers, for when that judgment day eventually arrives:
“Satan will say, ‘God gave you a true promise. I too made promises but they were false ones: I had no power over you except to call you, and you responded to my call, so do not blame me, blame yourselves. I cannot help you, nor can you help me. I reject the way you associated me with God before. For wrongdoers there must be a Grievous Penalty.” Surah 14:22.
A Lesson from the Aviv Search
"Some patterns we have been following for some time now have been established with this year's inspections, the most important one being the fact that the red strain of self-seeded barley is by far the most advanced, regardles of location or elevation. I first noticed this specific variety in 2004, and since then it has truly been an important indicator of what will be aviv and where. I have mentioned it in the past, but I have never attached a biblical perspective to it relative to the blood of Christ.
As most of us know, Christ is our wavesheaf as well as our Passover sacrifice as the Lamb of God, the Lamb of the household of the Father. I do believe that this strain of barley is representative of both His roles, and symbolizes Him as the first of the firstfruits, and recognizes His shed blood as our Passover Sacrifice. The two are inseparable, and I do believe they are represented by this red strain of barley, which is always earlier, fuller, and healthier than any other. These are personal understandings that I feel compelled to mention."
Brian Convery
Was there no room at the inn?
Luke 2:4 "And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 7 "And she .... laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."
Did Joseph, on returning to his home village, ignore his relatives and, finding Bethlehem's only inn to be full, lodge in a stable? If indeed he enquired at his relatives' houses, were none of them prepared to help? And if all their houses were full of kinsmen returning to Bethlehem like Joseph, would none give up their lodging space for a woman in the latter stages of pregnancy?
The Greek for inn is pandocheion, which appears only once in the NT, in the parable of the Good Samaritan: "But a certain Samaritan .... brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said to him, Take care of him." (Luke 10:33-35)
In the nativity story, Luke does not use pandocheion, but kataluma, which appears once more elsewhere, in the Passover story: "And you shall say to the goodman of the house, the Master says to you, where is the guest chamber [kataluma], where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?" (Luke 22:11, Mark 14:14)
Joseph and Mary lodged with kinsmen in the guest chamber of a house. This is
confirmed by Matt 2:11, "And when they were come into the house, they saw the infant with Mary his mother....").
So Luke 2:7 should read: "And she .... laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the guest chamber."
Judean houses generally comprised one or two large open spaces, with a lower section, where the domestic animals were kept overnight.
The Politarchs of Thessalonica
On one of their missionary journeys, Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica in Macedonia (part of Northern Greece). We read in the book of Acts that, 'As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures' [Acts 17.2 NIV].
His preaching, with God's blessing, was so successful that, 'Some of the Jews
were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women' [Acts 17.4 NIV].
However, the Jews of the city were not happy about this and stirred up a mob,
that attacked the house of Jason while looking for Paul and Silas. When they
failed to find them, they dragged Jason and other followers of Christ before the
'city officials' [Acts 17.6 NIV].
The interesting thing here is that the Greek word used for 'city officials' is
'politarchs', which means rulers of a city. It is not found anywhere else in the
Greek literature that survives. Therefore we have this Greek word politarch,
used to describe these 'city officials' that is unique to the Biblical record.
The remarkable fact is that in 1835 an inscription was found with this very
word on it. It was built into a Roman arch that spanned the Egnatian Way
on the western side of Thessalonica. The arch was destroyed in 1867, but
the block of marble with the inscription on it was saved and is now in the
British Museum.
The inscription shows that in Paul's time Thessalonica was indeed governed
by rulers called politarchs, and the names of six of these 'city rulers' are
shown on this stone. The use of this word by Luke, the writer of The Acts
of the Apostles, was unique in referring to the city rulers in the area of
Macedonia at that time.
The research of the archaeologist and other scholars has resulted in another
amazing confirmation of the historical accuracy of God's Word.
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