KennethBow's Blog

The Incomparable Christ

He came from the bosom of the Father to the bosom of a woman.  He put on humanity that we might put on divinity.  He became the Son of man that we might become the sons of God.

He left the region where the rivers never freeze, winds never blow, frosts never bites, flowers never fade; where no doctors are needed, because no is ever sick; where graveyards never haunt, death never comes, where no funerals are ever conducted.

He was born contrary to the laws of nature, lived in poverty and reared in obscurity; only once did He ever cross the boundaries of His own small country.

He had no wealth, training, or education, and whose parents knew nothing of the niceties of social tradition.

In infancy He startled a king; in boyhood He puzzled the wise; in manhood He ruled the course of nature.

He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His services.

He never wrote a book; yet all the libraries of the world could not contain all the books that could be written about Him.

He never wrote a song, and yet He has provided the themes for more songs than all earthly writers combined.

He never founded a college, yet all the schools of earth have not had the students that sat at His feet.

He never practiced medicine, yet has healed more broken hearts than the world has ever taken note of.

He never marched an army, never drafted a soldier, or fired a gun, yet no leader has ever had the volunteers who under His orders, made rebels stack arms and surrender at His command, never firing a shot.

He is the Star of astronomy, the Rock of geology, the Lamb and Lion of zoology, the Harmonizer of all discord, and Healer of all diseases.

Great men have come and gone; He lives on.

Herod could not kill Him; Satan could not seduce Him, death could not destroy Him and the grave could not hold Him.

He laid aside His purple robe for a peasant’s gown.  He was rich, but for our sakes became poor, that we might be rich.

How poor?

Ask Mary!  Ask the wise men!

He slept in another’s manger; He rode another’s beast; He was buried in another’s tomb.

All others have failed; He never!

The ever perfect one: the Chief among ten thousand; altogether lovely:

THE INCOMPARABLE CHRIST

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If you look for Him, you will see Him…

In Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers Jesus is there. He was there in every chapter and every line.  You will see Him in the coats of skin that cover Adam and Eve’s sin.  You will see Jesus in the blood of Able that speaks of better things.

You will see Jesus in Moses’ face , sent to deliver his people out of Egypt.  You will see Jesus in the blood on the doorpost and lintel.

If you look for Him, you’ll see Him in the meal offering, for He is the bread of life.

You’ll see Him in the wave offering for He was offered up for our sins.

You’ll see Him in the drink offering, for He was poured out so I could be saved.

You’ll see Him in the feast of weeks and feast of the tabernacle.  He is my tabernacle, my outer court, my inner court, my holiest of holies.

He is my meal offering, my drink offering, my bread, my incense.

He is the door by which if any man shall enter in, he shall find green pastures.

He is the candlestick that lights my way into the presence of God.

He is my light, my bread, His blood is my wine, He is the veil; for when the Roman soldier pierced His side, the veil was rent in twain.

The rending of His flesh gives me access to the Father.  I have stepped behind the veil into the holiest of holies, because of Jesus.

Don’t look down your nose at me when I praise Him.  He is my “all in all”, my everything!

He is Aaron’s rod that budded, my high priest, my pot of manna, He is my ark of the testimony, He is my fulfilled law, He is my Sabbath, for when I am in Him I find rest and peace!  I cease from my labors and find rest.  “Come unto me all ye that labor… I will give you rest”.

He is my Shekinah glory, He is my glory of God.  He lights my dungeon.

He is my cloud by day pillar of fire by night, my brazen serpent in the wilderness – I had been bitten by sin, but He was lifted up and I am healed.

He is my tree that was thrown into the bitter waters of Mara, He changed my bitter life into sweet water, He is my rock, smitten on Calvary, whose gushing waters quench the thirsting of my life.

Jesus, There Is Something About That Name!

Tomorrow….The Incomparable Christ…see you then.

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(For the next few days I will be posting about Jesus.)

Jesus…there’s something about that name!

His names are many.  The Messiah, Son of Man, Son of David, King of Israel, Savior, Servant, The Prophet, Son of God, and the Christ.  He was hailed and acclaimed as the being who held the highest spiritual status attainable in human form.  The perfect one,  the Avatar, God as man.

To some he was nothing more than an extraordinarily wise and compassionate teacher.  To others he was a political revolutionary who had divinity projected upon him by his followers.  To some he is just a myth, a legend; he never really existed at all.

No figure in history has provoked so much controversy and debate, nor inspired so much faith, as Jesus. Today the religion based on His teachings called Christianity, is the largest religion in the world.  1 Billion, 900 hundred million, on every continent, in almost every country.

The Mexican peasant in his hovel claims to be a Christian.  The Cardinal in Rome, in rich robes and elegant rings, claims to be a Christian.  The African learning English in a missionary school, is a Christian.  The New York business man signing papers in his office 30 floors above wall street, is a Christian.

Christianity has spread across the globe touching every culture and society on earth.  Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  He was sent to earth to save humanity from their ignorance, suffering, and sin.

What we know about Jesus comes almost exclusively from the gospels.  Jesus left no writings, so the gospels are the primary source of information about His life.

Matthew and John knew Jesus and followed Him.  Luke and Mark received their information from others.

There are all kinds of debate among scholars.  Some say none of these men ever really knew Jesus and did not even use their real names.  They question everything; they are skeptics.

In the time Jesus lived, there was a strong oral tradition of passing information from generation to generation.  This oral tradition was an art form.  People carefully memorized the information.  They worked hard at retaining the original facts and flavor.  This oral method of preserving information was how Homer’s Iliad and Oddessy were preserved.  It is more reliable than our modern journalism. Some prodigys memorized up to a million words by the time they were 12 years of age.

The earliest information written on Jesus that does not come from His followers comes several years after His death.  There are remarks by Josephus, who wrote around 90 AD.  Pliney the younger wrote about 112 AD, Tacitus wrote around 115 AD, and Seutonius wrote around 120 AD.

When you combine all these, Christian and non-Christian, we get a basic outline of Jesus life.  There are large gaps in Jesus life we have no information on.  We do know of His birth in Bethlehem. His birth was probably around 6BC, when Herod the great was King.  There is a brief glimpse when Jesus is 12, then nothing more until He becomes an adult.

Jesus was born in Palestine.  It had always been a troubled area, bathed in blood.  This area was shuttled back and forth between world powers, Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Antioch Epiphanies, and Rome.  In 63 BC Pompey the Roman General captured Jerusalem.  The Romans allowed the Jews to retain their religion, and a figure head king (Herod). Then the Romans simply appointed a Governor to rule over Judea after Herod Archelaus was removed because of his cruelty.

Pompey was defeated in 63 BC, by Julius Caesar.  Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC.  Mark Antony came briefly to power, and then Octavian replaced Mark Antony.

Through all of this Herod and his line maneuvered and kept the title “King of the Jews”.  The Romans mocked, and smiled indulgently at this absurdity.

After Herod massacred the infants, Herod’s son, Archelaus, took the throne.  The night his father Herod the Great died, Herod Archelaus became tetrarch of Judea, Idumea and Samaria.  Another son Antipas was given Galilee and Perea.  Phillip became tetrarch of Trachonitis, Iturea, Batanea and Auranitis.  Caesar approved this.

Remember… Joseph and Mary had to flee to Egypt to escape Herod the Great, but when Herod Antipas imprisoned John the Baptist, Jesus simply left because Herod Antipas had authority only in Galilee.

These Herods were wicked men.  Archelaus inaugurated his reign the night his father died, carousing with friends, and slaughtered 3000 Jews in the Temple.  The Jews appealed to Caesar and Archelaus was banished.  So Judea was free of Herods.

Caesar said, okay I’ll appoint a ruler, so he appointed Quirinius Caponius, then Ambivius, Annius Rufus, Valerius Gratus, then Pontius Pilate.  Pilate ruled from 26-36 AD.  Pilate was so cruel Rome removed him 3-6 years after the Crucifixion.  It was his cruelty that led to his dismissal.

The Romans divided the area into Judea (with Jerusalem) and Galilee.  In the New Testament,  Judea was governed by Pilate; Galilee was governed by Herod’s family.  (This is the reason Pilate sent Jesus to Herod; Herod was the puppet king of Galilee).

The people of Palestine suffered terribly under both the Romans and the Herods.

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Psalms

God gave mankind the five books of the law and a grateful mankind gave back to God the five books of the Psalms.

• Book 1 chapters 1-41
• Book 2 chapters 42-72
• Book 3 chapters 73-89
• Book 4 chapters 90-106
• Book 5 chapters 107-150

The collators of the Psalms took time to place these books in their current order to correspond with the first five books.

• Book 1 relates to Genesis
• Book 2 relates to Exodus
• Book 3 relates to Leviticus
• Book 4 relates to Numbers
• Book 5 relates to Deuteronomy

God presented mankind with the law and a grateful Israel responded with a Pentateuch of praise in acknowledgment of God’s gift.  The psalms are a second Pentateuch, the echo of the first.  This may be pure conjecture, but the existence of this idea from ancient times shows that the five fold division attracted early support in history.

Placed in the center of the Bible, rising like a tune from the very heart of the Bible are these songs!  These songs wrestle with the deepest sorrow and ask God the hardest questions. These songs cry out to God and at other times shout for pure joy.  The God they sing of is not a distant God, but a God that is near and personal.

They span over a thousand years of human circumstances.  There is a psalm to match every human emotion and mood! They put your unspoken thoughts into words and form your unspoken conversation toward man and toward God.  They give backbone to the raging emotions of humanity.

Psalm 1 and 2 have been called the orphan psalms and are the introduction to the entire body of psalms.  God starts out with Blessed (happy) is the man who does not do certain things.

True happiness is not in unbridled liberty, but rather in the restrictions God places in our lives.  The more narrow the channel, the more raging the current.  No boundaries or limits allow a body of water to be one inch deep and forty miles wide.

Such is our lives.  When God’s boundaries are observed, our lives are happy and blessed.  When those boundaries are ignored or removed, we are a stagnant unhappy people.

The last 5 psalms are the great doxologies of the Temple.  They were written for and sung at the dedication of the repatriated temple.  There is not a single syllable of complaint or request in these last psalms.  They are pure undistilled praise.  Each one begins and ends with “Praise ye the Lord”!

The authors:

• David 73 psalms
• Asaph 12 psalms
• Sons of Korah 9 psalms
• Solomon 2 psalms
• Moses 1 psalm
• Roughly one third are anonymous

The psalms were used in the temple daily:

• Monday psalm 48
• Tuesday psalm 82
• Wednesday psalm 94
• Thursday psalm 81
• Friday psalm 93
• Saturday psalm 92
• Sunday psalm 24

The subscriptions and superscriptions above and below the psalms are important. Many people do not even notice them. They add explanation and impact.  Here is a list that I have of the titles, subscriptions and superscriptions.

• Aijeleth shahar- the day dawn
• Al Alamoth- relationg to maidens (sopranos)
• Al Taschith- destroy not
• Gittith- the winepress (sang at harvest of grapes)
• Higgaion- a soliloquy or meditation
• Jeduthun- name of one of the 3 chief musicians
• Jonath Elim Rechokim- the dove in the far off Terebinth trees
• Mahalath- the great dance
• Mahalath leannoth- the great dancing and shouting
• Maschil- understanding or teaching psalm
• Michtam- engraving, permanent writing
• Muth Labben- death of a champion
• Neginoth- smitings (like smiting  a string on an instrument to bring forth music)
• Nehiloth- the great inheritance
• Psalm
• Selah- pause like a musical rest, can mean “what do you think of that?”
• Sheminith- the eighth
• Shiggaion- loud passionate cry, emotional outburst
• Shoshannim- lilies, re: Passover feast

To understand the psalm adds greater meaning.  Example, when David sinned with Bathsheba he repented and said he would teach transgressors God’s ways.  Psalm 32 is the psalm David wrote for that purpose.  It is a maschil psalm, a teaching psalm, to teach the transgressor how to get back to God.

Putting words to music somehow imbeds them deeper into our memory.  Like a child learning the ABC song, these psalms were sung to drive the lesson deep into the learner’s mind.

How important are the psalms?  When dying on the cross, Jesus quotes from the psalms! (22.1,31.5).  In the disciples efforts to explain Jesus’ life, they quote the psalms more than any other book or part of the Bible.

On a personal note, I believe the 119th psalm was written by Daniel.  There is much speculation about this.  Some attribute it to Hezekiah.  My reason is the writer makes no mention of the temple, or the ritual law.  The writer has powerful enemies who could do him harm. He is a young man. He is in love with the word.  That picture speaks to me of someone in a foreign land without the formal religion to lean on.  The word was all he had, so that became the love of his life!  That speaks to me of Daniel.

May the Bible become that to each of us on our life journey.

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The Talmud

I suppose at first thought, you might wonder why a note on the Talmud, when many other books of the Bible are not included yet.  There are a couple of reasons.

First, I wanted to include some things that give support and understanding on how God views our journey here on earth.

Secondly, I wanted to include the note on the Talmud because it supports our position on holiness in this present day.

The Torah is the Jewish name for the Pentateuch.  The Pentateuch is the first five books of the Bible.  The Talmud is the collection of commentary from Jewish Rabbis on the Torah.

Why would this be important to us as gentiles?  My answer is it provides such a beautiful example of how to survive in a world that does not understand us as Apostolics.  To live in our world, which views us as outdated and eccentric, is becoming more difficult as society drifts farther and farther from the principals of the Bible.

The Jew has survived in every century, in every culture, and in every continent.  The Jewish life is as strong today as it was 2000 years ago.  As Apostolics, we need to adopt some of the same principles to insure we do not lose our identity.

The five books of Moses can be written out in about 350 pages.  The Talmud now takes up 523 books in 22 volumes.  As the Jew was scuttled from empire to empire, the need arose for a protection from the blows without and the pressure from within.  The Talmud has provided that.  The Talmud has become the home of the Jew no matter where he lives in the world.  The Talmud has single handedly provided the survival of the Jewish person.

As Apostolics, it appears to me that we are in danger of losing our heritage of holiness.  More and more I see whole churches assimilated into our worlds culture and mores.  We need holiness and separation more than ever before.

The way we dress and live must not die with this generation!  As simple as it may seem, our standards are what will keep us separated from the world.  Simple things like sleeve length, and the distinction of dress between male and female, are critical to the survival of the Apostolic heritage.  It provides us with the cold concrete of protection from the blows that come from without.

In the Talmud, there are many issues that may seem insignificant.  But upon inspection the Talmud provided the Jew with answers to the baffling questions of life.  The Talmud has done more to preserve the Jewish way of life than any other factor.

This oral law that has been discussed over the centuries has kept the Jewish people uniquely Jewish.  It is my hope that our holiness standards will keep us Apostolic in a world that has lost all sense of direction!

The Rabbi’s have haggled over every phase of Jewish life!  They have argued over every word and comma.  In the process of mulling all this over, they created a mandate for survival in a hostile world.

When the world attacked, the Talmud was there to soften the blow and stiffen the will.  Other ancient cultures have faded from the earth, but the Jew has survived.  Can we learn a lesson from them?

The authors of the Talmud seemed to think that no issue was to small to discuss.  They would debate for months whether a person could wear a false tooth on the Sabbath.  A tailor could not take his needle in his hand just before the Sabbath because he might forget and go out with it. You could have candy in your mouth as long as it was put in your mouth before the Sabbath began.

They discussed for nine years one statement in the law; “Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk”.  From this one issue came the whole idea of Kosher food and food that was not Kosher.

Our first response might be, that is foolish and insignificant.  But never forget it is the small things that have kept them as a people.  They have survived.

We need to appreciate the “small” things if we are going to preserve this Apostolic way of life.  Our standards of dress are important to our survival.  Our standards of what we watch and what entertainment we allow is important to our future.  Our survival depends on the small things.

I will be the first to admit that the Rabbis went to extremes to preserve the Jewish way of life.  However, it is beyond argument that the Jew has survived while other people have been assimilated and have vanished from the stage of time.

Our survival as a distinct people depends on the small things.  We must maintain our holiness and our standards of life.

When they become unimportant, you can write the epitaph of the Apostolic movement.

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