SCRIPTURE ALONE GIVES TRUE FUTURE HOPE
― It is the existence of the Jew that proves the existence of God. Jewish genius is simply attributed to the tradition of book learning and Torah study ―
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour.
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ 10 Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.
11 And do this, understanding the present time: the hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. ROMANS 13.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour.
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ 10 Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.
11 And do this, understanding the present time: the hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. ROMANS 13.
Romans Chapter 13 deals with Christ’s true followers’ civil responsibilities; how to live under the authority of the government and how to be the Lord’s good witness towards neighbours especially in the end times. God announced the principles of human government after the Noah’s flood. The covenant made with Noah was an unconditional divine promise addressed to all his descendants. God reaffirmed the governmental duty in detail when He made a covenant with Moses. As long as we live on earth it is divine order for each of us to submit ourselves to the governing authorities. Armed with biblical knowledge, Christ’s followers should prepare themselves for the up-coming time of perseverance when they will be obliged to live in ‘Babylon’, while holding on to future hope in the Lord, as Jeremiah instructed the Israelites who exiled to Babylon: ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:
“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper’’’ (Jer.29:4-7).
As a New Year resolution. acknowledging how to live in a society that is gradually and steadily moving towards anti-Semitism, anti-Israel and anti-Christ, and a society also characterised by unstable governments, upheavals in international relationships, financial instability, economic uncertainty and weather unpredictability is essential for man who wishes to make this coming year successful and fruitful. The only source for such wisdom is in the Scripture, the divinely inspired book:
‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight’ (Pro.3:4-5).
Founded by numerous testimonies throughout the entire human history, the Scripture is undeniably important not only for the Jews and Christians, but for all mankind.
Every September, the Jews celebrate the gift of ‘God’s Word’, when God revealed His will and gave instructions to the ancient Israelites. The annually celebrated day is called “Simchat Torah” and occurs at the end of the ‘High Holy Day’s celebration which consists of three autumn ‘Feasts of the Lord’. The Simchat Torah day is a time of rejoicing for the giving of God’s Word to their ancestors. Accordingly, the Torah scrolls are lifted up and read aloud for all to hear. After the reading of the final annual Torah portion, a new cycle of the whole Bible reading from Genesis starts over again. This feast is a good reminder of the importance for the Jews to learn His Word by heart so that they can serve the Lord and convey His message to other nations.
It is logical to think that if the God of Israel ‘Yahweh’ is the only true God, His Word given to Israel would be true and what is written in it would be completely fulfilled. Then how do we know that Yahweh is the only true God among numerous pagan gods? Needless to say, the remarkable fact that the majority of the prophecies in the Bible have already been fulfilled is in itself proof of the author ‘Yahweh’ being the genuine, true God. At the same time the following article makes it clear that the continual existence of “the Jews” despite worldwide persecution and pogrom is very proof of the existence of God. As long as the Jews believe and live in God’s Word, the Scripture promises their bright future even through continual hardship. The speaker of the following speech concludes his piece in hope, citing Amos 9:13-15. The assurance of bright hope for those in suffering is particularly relevant to Christians as well, as Peter puts it:
‘We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit’ (2Pe.1:19-21),
Scripture alone is proof of their bright future whatever hardship awaits in this uncertain world.
The speaker, Ben Kinchlow is a former co-host of the 700 Club and a regular contributor to major conservative American news website WorldNetDaily:
‘Some years ago, the Queen of England asked then-Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli for proof of the existence of God: “What is there to prove the existence of God, Benjamin?” His response was simply, “The Jew, Your Majesty.” A simple answer on the surface, but profound in its implications. The Jew points at the heart of every human being hostile to the concept of God. Man has tried “scientifically” to explain away creation and has altered history to explain away the Exodus. We can dispute almost every human evidence of God’s existence, except one…the Jew……Israel is mentioned by name in 1207 BC on an Egyptian monument and 2,300 times in the Bible by name. Then there is Jeremiah 30:1-4……May 14, 1948: Independence: "A nation is born in a day". Israel, a country about the size of Rhode Island, with a population about equal to New Jersey, sits in the heart of more than 100 million Muslims, many who have expressed their dedication to the annihilation of this tiny nation. Today, substitute almost any radical Islamic leader for Haman in the Old Testament book of Esther and discover that the goal is identical…the total destruction of the Jewish people…It appears President Obama has made a conscious effort to reassure the Muslim world that Israel is just “another” ally and no special bond exists between us. For example, in his visit to Egypt during his first term, in an apparent attempt to reach out to and/or reassure the Muslim world, he gave a speech entitled “A New Beginning.” Many in the Israeli leadership objected to his apparent linking of the Holocaust to the creation of Israel. It seemed he was attempting to imply that Israel was new and has not always been a part of the Middle East…’ (www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24172/Default.aspx?topic=article_title).
This year two scientists in the US won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Both are Israeli professors living in the US. As globally known, Jews have been very successful in every realm of achievement. Approximately twenty percent (1/5) of Nobel Prize laureates are said to be Jews despite the fact that only less than 0.2 percent of the world’s population is Jews. According to Israel Today.co News, a few years ago a popular theory concerning Jewish Genius was raised in an essay by Charles Murray, who attributed it to super genes and who wrote; “something in the genes explains elevated Jewish IQ.” But a new theory has emerged from an Israeli Nobel Prize winner in Economics in 2005, Robert Aumann, who attributed Jewish genius to the ‘tradition of book learning in general and Torah study in particular’. He told Israel’s Army Radio: ‘Torah study is an intellectual pursuit, and honoring this ultimate value transfers to other pursuits as well,’ and also ‘Jewish homes are full of books while other homes may or may not be. Jewish homes have overflowing bookshelves. Throughout the generations we have given great honor to this intellectual pursuit…Torah study makes the nation and its people of the finest and highest quality’. Jews whom God selectively gave Torah, have been traditionally called ‘the People of the Book’ and so, they appear to continually live out to God’s instructions according to their calling as Paul taught about Jews who have seemingly temporally become disobedient to God:
‘As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable’ (Romans 11:28-29, Emphasis added).
The Bible gives a lot of testimonies on how different the state of Israel was from other countries as a theocratic country from pagan countries. If a king of Israel had faithfully obeyed Moses’ Law as a representative of the Lord over the nation, he would have been expected to treat people, even enemies with love and integrity. The kingship of David was an ideal example. In ancient Hebrew history, whenever the leader of Israel correctly recognised that Israel’s national security ultimately depended on the Lord, their true King, and not on military forces or strategies, the whole nation was protected and placed under security and victory over enemies. The latest article below entitled ‘Christian Priest’ declaration “Israel a Shining Example of Human Rights”’ has reminded me of the disciplined nature of Israel as God’s people:
‘The Israeli Zionist organization Im Tirtzu last week hosted the “Zionist Conference for Human Rights” in Tel Aviv. Among the invited speakers was Father Gabriel Nadaf, spiritual head of the Israeli Christians Recruitment Forum, a body that encourages young Arabic-speaking Israelis (they prefer to not be labeled as “Arabs”) to join the Israeli army and fully integrate with Israeli Jewish society. In his address to the conference, Father Nadaf noted that “there are many regimes (in the region) that do not care about equal rights, they only care about catering to an elite that terrorizes the rest of the population, while brushing off the issue of human rights and dehumanizing others.” But, the Greek Orthodox priest explained, “In Israel, we [non-Jewish minorities] do not experience this.” Father Nadaf concluded by declaring how “proud” he is to live in Israel, and insisting that “Israel is a shining example of human rights in the Middle East.”’ (25th Dec. ’13, www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24329/Default.aspx?utm_source).
Learning things by heart and enthusiastically reaching out to others with personal conviction are important but the following testimony gives us a clue to what to choose to memorise. According to a former Muslim's opinion, Christians needn’t read the Qur’an and he explains a completely different nature of the Qur’an from the Bible. He also gives a hint of how to peacefully and successfully approach the Muslims to convey the truth of God’s Word from his own experience. However, we should approach such advice ‘to do the same thing as Muslims do and always be with them’ with caution as it could end up being part of the problem instead of the solution.
‘My earliest, most precious memories revolve around my family and the Qur'an. Every day, head covered, right index finger moving leftward across Arabic text, my mother recited the Islamic scriptures to me, halting for me to recite it back to her. In each of the five daily prayers, my father recited aloud portions of the Qur'an. His cadence was spellbinding. By age 5, I had finished reciting the entire Qur'an in Arabic and memorized its final seven chapters. My experience was not unusual. The Qur'an is the linchpin of the Islamic worldview ―the basis of Muhammad's prophetic claims, the foundation of Shari'a law, and the common denominator among all Muslims. It is the most frequently recited book in the world, and for Muslims, it is the closest thing to the Word made flesh。So it is with due gravity that whenever Christians ask me whether they should read the Qur'an, I answer with an emphatic "no." I have two reasons. First, the Qur'an was not designed to be read like a book. When Muhammad was alive, there was no such thing as a written book in Arabic. What the early Muslims knew as "Qur'an" were short liturgical recitations. After Muhammad died, all these recitations were compiled into a book we call "the Qur'an." This explains why many who try to read the Qur'an walk away confused and frustrated. It was not designed to be read like the Bible. This leads to my second point: The Qur'an comprises only a small part of a Muslim's worldview. Far from "sola scriptura," the Islamic way of life mostly comes from traditions, called "hadith." How many times to pray, rules for ceremonial washing and rituals, details on fasting and commerce laws... almost everything comes from hadith. Some hadith even render Quranic verses "abrogated," or repealed, depending on which imam interprets them. Thus, a complex system of time-honored traditions, authoritative leaders, and theological branches interact with the Qur'an to form Islam. As Muslims, we did not learn Islam directly through the Qur'an. We absorbed it by being immersed among other Muslims. Christians who wish to reach their Muslim neighbors should do the same thing: be with Muslims. See the world through their eyes. The time spent frustrated in the theological labyrinths of the Qur'an would be much better invested in living life with Muslims. Play together, fast together, laugh together, live together. One college student followed that advice and befriended a young, zealous Muslim before knowing anything about the Qur'an. It was through his friendship that I accepted the Lord Jesus’ (Christianity Today Online, 22nd Oct. ’13).
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This month, a money gift of￡**** has been sent to Mary Jane in the Philippines to support her ministry of reaching out to minority tribes and to the impoverished children with the Word, and also to support the installation of water system by motor in the land where an establishment of the organic vegetable gardens is planned. Pray for her ministry and water supply for her mission house especially during the dry season from January to May.