Emmanuel: God With Us

According to the Bible, you can have a personal relationship with God: there is no need for religion and priests and middle people to connect you with God: you can go directly to God by yourself.

Jesus spoke about the religious leaders of his time. What he said is as true today as it was two thousand years ago.

For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
(Matthew 23:4-12 KJV)

The Bible says that the priesthood has been done away with and that Jesus is the High Priest, author and finisher of our faith who lives forever to make intercession for us.

There is no more need for sacrifice for he is the lamb of God who has offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins: we are washed of our sins by his blood which was spilt on the cross and raised with him in newness of life.

For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.
(Hebrews 7:26-28 KJV)

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
(Ephesians 1:7 KJV)

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
(Ephesians 2:5-9 KJV)

We have now been brought into fellowship with God and indwelled with the Holy Spirit of promise who gives us understanding of God's will, teaches us about Jesus and interprets the Bible for us. Emmanuel in Hebrew means God is with us. Emanu means with us and El means God. God is literally with us. Jesus spoke of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.
(John 16:13-16 KJV)

The Bible is unclear to those who are not indwelled by the Holy Spirit because he is the one who gives us understanding. It is almost impossible to believe everything the Bible says unless the Holy Spirit lives in you because he gives us understanding and faith: he reveals the awesomeness of God in our own lives giving us a familiar reference, increasing our faith and alligning us with the people, events and miracles of the Bible.

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
(1 Corinthians 2:11-14 KJV)

Whatever your background is and whatever your religion or non-religion if you are an athiest, God is alive and ready to hear your call.

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
(Jeremiah 29:13 KJV)

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
(Matthew 7:7-8 KJV)

However ridiculous and far-fetched it may sound to you, just give it a shot: Start talking with God. You can say something like: If you exist I would like to know you. Please reveal yourself to me.

Jesus said: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6 KJV)

Peter said that salvation is in Jesus and that there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we can be saved. Acts 4:12

Put aside your fears, your inhibitions and your reservations. Don't worry about what people are going to say about your faith: The living God will provide you with everything that you need.

If you are Jewish and do not believe in Jesus, call out to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and ask him to reveal himself to you.

If you are Muslim and do not believe in the God of Israel, call out to God and ask him to reveal himself to you. God is love.

If you are Catholic, Greek Orthodox or any other nominal Christian denomination, call out to God and tell him that you want to know him personally.

When he comes into your life you will know it: there will be no doubt and no question.

Please look at the post "You must be born again"

In all cases, call out to God for an intimate relationship and ask for the Holy Spirit to come and dwell in your heart.

If the above direction is too much, just start communicating with God in your own personal way and keep an open mind. It is between you and God.

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
(John 4:23-24 KJV)

Modern Israel

My family and I moved to Cyprus from Israel two years ago. Over this period I have faced a certain amount of persecution from friends, family, colleagues and complete strangers because of my love for Israel.

Unfortunately, the main reasons for this conflict are usually a lack of historical knowledge and and a cultural disposition of anti-Semitism and anti-Israeliism.

These negative sentiments and outbursts of anti-Semitism and anti-Israeliism grew noticeably during Israel’s defensive operation in Gaza in January of 2009.

During the war, the Israeli embassy requested that I appear on a popular TV show to give my views on the Gaza war known as Operation Cast Lead. After the show, I felt that not enough had been said and that there were many questions left unanswered that I needed to address.

People's reaction to the war in Gaza prompted me to review and renew my knowledge of modern 20th century Israeli history—the history that dealt with the settlers, the British Palestine Mandate, the creation of the state of Israel and the Arab opposition to the existence of the Jewish state in the wars that followed: The war of Independence, 1948; The Sinai War, 1956; The Six Day War, 1967; The War of Atonement, 1973; The Lebanon War, 1982; The Gulf War, 1991; The Intifadas, which began in the late 1990’s; The Second Lebanon War, 2006 and the war in Gaza of January 2009.

People's lack of information and the hatred they expressed towards the Jewish people and towards Israel caused me to start this blog.

Before ignorantly accusing Israel of crimes against humanity and siding with terrorists that intentionally attack innocent civilians, people should consider the contributions that the Jewish people and Israel have made and are making to the world.

When people condascendingly ask me: Why an earth would you want to live in Israel? and How is Israel now? Is it better now or is it still a mess? I say: Israel has always had it together, from universities and institutes of research that contribute to all of humanity in military, agricultural, medical and scientific technology to an incredible infrastructure that supports a growing population of 7 million people. Only by visiting and spending some time there would someone begin to understand the awesome miracle which is Israel.

Briefly consider the article below by Ed Weiss and the lists that I have provided and think, that through the centuries, the Jewish people have built, developed and contributed to the lands they have lived in more so even than the native population of those lands. Would the Jewish people do anything less in their own land, despite being surrounded by enemies and having to deal with the constant and openly declared threat of total annihilation.

Consider 5.8 million Jews surrounded by 300,000,000 Arabs; Less than 14 million Jews in the world and between 1.3 and 1.5 billion Muslims.

The Jews have had a continuous presence in the land of Israel for over 3000 years. The Arabs should have wisely accepted the Jews as neighbours: they would have benefited from their genius and industriousness. Some Arab leaders with vision embraced the idea of the Jews settling and establishing a state in the British Mandate.

"Who can challenge the rights of the Jews in Palestine? Good Lord, historically it is really your country." Yusuf Diya al-Khalidi, Mayor of Jerusalem, 1899

"We Arabs, especially the educated among us, look with deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement...We will wish the Jews a hearty welcome home...Our two movements complement one another." Emir Faisal, a leader of the Arab world, 1919

"Those good Jews brought... prosperity over Palestine without damage to anyone or taking anything by force." Syrian Alawi notable's letter to French Prime Minister, June 1936

Other leaders and influential observers commented on Jewish immigration positively, understanding that the Jewish people would cultivate and develop the land thereby improving living conditions and building the economy.

“The country was…and is now, underdeveloped and under-populated.…There are…large cultivable areas that are left untilled. The summits and slopes of the hills are admirably suited to the growth of trees, but there are no forests. Miles of sand dunes that could be redeemed, are untouched.” Interim Report on the Civil Administration of Palestine to the League of Nations, June 1921

“It is manifestly right that the scattered Jews should have a national center and a national home and be reunited, and where else but in Palestine, with which for 3,000 years they have been intimately and profoundly associated?” Winston Churchill, 1920

The area included such an assortment of ethnic groups that over 50 different languages were spoken. “Palestine,” Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition, 1911, p. 600

“During the last two or three generations, the Jews have recreated in Palestine a community….This community [has] its town and country population, its political, religious and social organizations, its own language, its own customs, its own life.” The Churchill or British White Paper, June 1922

"No one doubted that the Arabs had benefited from Jewish immigration. Their numbers almost doubled between 1917 and 1940, wages had gone up, the standard of living had risen more than anywhere else in the Middle East." Historian Walter Laqueur

"Jewish agricultural colonies...developed the culture of oranges...They drained swamps. They planted eucalyptus trees. They practiced, with modern methods, all the processes of agriculture..Every traveller in Palestine...is impressed by..the beautiful stretches of prosperous cultivation about them." Interim Report of the Civil Administration of Palestine to the League of Nations, June 1921

‘If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel’ – Benjamin Netanyahu

The mess in the Middle East today exists because Israel's neighbours refuse to even accept Israel's existence. They continue to openly declare their intentions of destroying Israel and establishing an Arab Palestinian state that extends from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean, maintaining that all of Israel is occupied land.

Egypt and Jordan have both accepted Israel's right to exist and have normalised relations with Israel, thereby putting an end to the conflict.

We pray that Palestinian leaders would care enough about their people to do the same.

As Golda Meir once said: We will have peace when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us.

Please refer to "Israel: The Jewish State" May 2009.

Consider this article by Ed Weiss:

Boycott Israel? Do It Properly
[Ed Weiss]

(Note: Now that doing economic damage to Israel is the moral fashion, with European groups organizing boycotts, the Presbyterian Church voting to "selectively" divest from companies doing business in Israel and the Episcopal Church suggesting it may follow suit, the following article is a welcome reminder of the damage the boycotters, if they were — perish the thought — consistent, would do to themselves.)

O.K. So I understand that you are ticked off at Israel, and in love with the Palestinians. That's fine with me, as long as you have truly weighed up all the facts.

So, you want to boycott Israel? I'll be sorry to miss you, but if you are doing it—do it properly.

Let me help you.

Check all your medications. Make sure that you do not have tablets, drops, lotions, etc., made by Abic or Teva. It may mean that you will suffer from colds and flu this winter but, hey, that's a small price for you to pay in your campaign against Israel, isn't it?

While we are on the subject of your Israeli boycott, and the medical contributions to the world made by Israeli doctors and scientists, how about telling your pals to boycott the following:

An Israeli company has developed a simple blood test that distinguishes between mild and more severe cases of Multiple Sclerosis. So, if you know anyone suffering from MS, tell them to ignore the Israeli patent that may, more accurately, diagnose their symptoms.

An Israeli-made device helps restore the use of paralyzed hands. This device electrically stimulates the hand muscles, providing hope to millions of stroke sufferers and victims of spinal injuries. If you wish to remove this hope of a better quality of life to these people, go ahead and boycott Israel.

Young children with breathing problems will soon be sleeping more soundly, thanks to a new Israeli device called the Child Hood. This innovation replaces the inhalation mask with an improved drug delivery system that provides relief for child and parent. Please tell anxious mothers that they shouldn't use this device because of your passionate cause.

These are just a few examples of how people have benefited medically from the Israeli know-how you wish to block.

Boycotts often affect research. A new research center in Israel hopes to throw light on brain disorders such as depression and Alzheimer's disease. The Joseph Sangol Neuroscience Center in the Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer Hospital aims to bring thousands of scientists and doctors to focus on brain research.

A researcher at Israel's Ben Gurion University has succeeded in creating human monoclonal antibodies which can neutralize the highly contagious smallpox virus without inducing the dangerous side effects of the existing vaccine.

Two Israelis received the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Doctors Ciechanover and Hershko's research and discovery of one of the human cells most important cyclical processes will lead the way to DNA repair, control of newly produced proteins, and immune defense systems.

The Movement Disorder Surgery program at Israel's Hadassah Medical Center has successfully eliminated the physical manifestations of Parkinson's disease in a select group of patients with a deep brain stimulation technique.

For women who undergo hysterectomies each year for uterine fibroids, the development in Israel of the ExAblate 2000 System offers a non-invasive alternative to surgery.

Israel is developing a nose drop that will provide a five year flu vaccine.

These are just a few of the projects that you can help stop with your Israeli boycott.

But let's not get too obsessed with medical research, there are other ways you can make a personal sacrifice with your anti-Israel boycott.

Most of Windows operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel. So, set a personal example. Throw away your computer!

The Pentium NMX Chip technology was designed at Intel in Israel. Both the Pentium 4 microprocessor and the Centrium processor were entirely designed, developed, and produced in Israel.

Voice mail technology was developed in Israel. The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 in Israel by four young Israeli whiz kids. Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R.& D. facilities outside the US in Israel.

So, due to your complete boycott of anything Israeli, you now have poor health and no computer. But your bad news does not end there. Get rid of your cellular phone!

Cell phone technology was also developed in Israel by Motorola, which has its biggest development center in Israel. Most of the latest technology in your mobile phone was developed by Israeli scientists.

Feeling unsettled? You should be. Part of your personal security rests with Israeli inventiveness, borne out of our urgent necessity to protect and defend our lives from the terrorists you support.

A phone can remotely activate a bomb, or be used for tactical communications by terrorists, bank robbers, or hostage-takers. It is vital that official security and law enforcement authorities have access to cellular jamming and detection solutions. Enter Israel's Netline Communications Technologies with their security expertise to help the fight against terror.

A joint, non-profit, venture between Israel and Maryland will result in a five day Business Development and Planning Conference in March. Selected Israeli companies will partner with Maryland firms to provide innovations for homeland security.

I also want you to know that Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.

Israel produces more scientific papers per capita — 109 per 10,000 — than any other nation.

Israel has the highest number of start-up companies per capita and in absolute terms, the highest number, except for the U.S.

Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies outside of Silicon Valley.

Israel is ranked second in the world for venture capital funds, behind the U.S. Israel has the second highest publication of new books per capita.

Relative to population, Israel is the largest immigrant absorbing nation on earth. These immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom or expression, economic opportunity, and quality of life.

Believe it or not, Israel is the only country in the world which had a net gain in the number of trees last year.

So, you can vilify and demonize the State of Israel. You can continue your silly boycott, if you wish. But I wish you would consider the consequences, and the truth.

Think of the massive contribution that Israel is giving to the world—and to you—in science, medicine, communications, security.

In relation to our population we are making a greater contribution than any other nation on earth.

Ed Weiss lives in Ra'anana, Israel
[ Published: January 1, 2005 ]

Have a look at this site which lists famous Jewish people by category.

You will be surprised at some of the names that are listed.

http://www.heebz.com/categories

Consider this incomplete list of Jewish inventors:

http://en.allexperts.com/e/l/li/list_of_jewish_inventors.htm

Robert Adler
remote control

Zora Arkus-Duntov
co-designer of Corvette sports car

Herman Aron
invented the electric meter

Ralph Baer
video games console "Simon"

Lodewyk van Berken
scaif 1456 diamond polishing wheel

Emile Berliner
inventor of gramophone

Samuel Blum
co-inventor of laser eye surgery LASIK

Baruch Blumberg and Irving Millman
vaccine for Hepatitis B

Gustav Bucky
radiologist bucky grid x-ray

Joel Davidson
100% solar powered vehicle = co-inventor 1954

Carl Djerassi[1] "I literally came as a refugee. I came during the Hitler days. Both my parents and I were Jewish so we had to leave.", Gregory Pincus[2] "Jewish Heroes and Heroines in America", and Frank Colton[3]
oral contraceptive, antihistamines

Paul Eisler
inventor of printed circuit board

Gertrude Elion
anti-leukemia drugs Nobel Prize (1988) in medicine zovirax

Sam Fedida
inventor of Viewdata 1971

Joel Engel
co-inventor of cellular technology

Joseph Friedman
inventor of flexistraw

Dennis Gabor
holography Nobel Prize (1971) in physics

Uziel Gal
"Uzi" sub-machine gun

Joseph Gerber
phottoplotter phottocatter Gerber variable scale

Charles Ginsburg
video tape machine

Donald Glaser
bubble chamber Noble Prize (1960) in physics

Leopold Godowsky and Leopold Mannes
Kodachrome

Emanuel Goldberg
contact camera Zeiss

Silvan Goldman
shopping cart

Peter Carl Goldmark
vinyl record

Bernard Gordon
founder of Analogic Corporation

Ruth Handler
Barbie doll

Julius Hess
incubator for premature babies the world's first nursery 1922

Basil Hirschowitz
flexible endoscope

Gabriel Iddan
video-camera-in-a-capsule (swallowable)

Theodore von Karman
father of supersonic flight

Charles Kelman
cataract surgery

Rudolf Kompfner
inventor of traveling wave tube

Arthur Korn[4] "German Jewish inventor of the first practical system to send photos over telephone wires."
forerunner of the fax machine

Harold Kosoff
free piston engine & battery powered baby swing

Raymond Kurzweil
Reading Machine

Melvyn J. Lafitte
inventor of non-invasive ANS monitoring

Hedy Lamarr
spread-spectrum radio technology

Edwin Land
Polaroid camera

Robert Langer
transdermal delivery systems

Jerome Lemelson
inventor 500 patents

Levi ben Gershon
inventor of Jacob's staff

Julius Lilienfeld
inventor of transistor 1920

Theodore Maiman
co-inventor of LASER

Siegfried Marcus
mobile gasoline combustion engine 1870

Hinda Miller
co-inventor of the first sports bra Jogbra

Michel Mirowski and Morton Mower
implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD

Georges Montefiore-Levi
the inventor of phosphorus bronze

Pedro Nunes
mathematician inventor of the Nonius

Stanford Ovshinsky
amorphous solar cells

Jacob Rodrigues Pereira
deaf-mute language

Ron Popeil
owner of Ronco; father of infomercials (Jewish father)

Jacob Rabinow
inventor Vice President of CDC scanning and sorting machines

Johann Philipp Reis
inventor of telephone (a word that Reis coined)

Robert Rines
invention of sonogram sonar

Harold Rosen
geosynchronous satellite

Samuel Ruben
inventor of Duracell mercury batteries

Benjamin Rubin
vaccination needle

Reinhold Rudenberg
electron microscope

Nahum Salomon
manufacturer of bicycles; saccharin industry; introduced sewing machine in England

George D. Sax
invented drive-through banking and instant loans

Arthur Schawlow
co-inventor of LASER MASER Nobel Prize (1981) in physics (Jewish father)

Abraham Schreiner
cracked petroleum kerosene Boryslaw Galicia

David Schwartz
inventor of Dirigible Zeppelin

Raymond Scott
sequencer portable synthesizer

Joseph Slepian
Westinghouse Electric Corporation = ADR

Joel Spira
solid-state electronic dimmer

Leo Sternbach
invention of Valium and Librium Hoffmann-La Roche

Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis
blue jeans

Leo Szilard
co-invented nuclear fission reactor 1955),First nuclear reactor 1942,with (Enrico Fermi),Patent Electron Microscope (1931)

Max Tishler
poultry disease antibiotic synthesizing of B2

Selman Waksman
streptomycin Nobel Prize (1952) in medicine

Joseph Weber
ammonia microwave amplifier,

Paul Zoll
co-inventor of external pacemaker and monitor

Consider this list of Jewish Nobel Prize winners:

Taken from the Jewish Virtual Library http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/nobels.html

Literature

1910 - Paul Heyse
1927 - Henri Bergson
1958 - Boris Pasternak
1966 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon
1966 - Nelly Sachs
1976 - Saul Bellow
1978 - Isaac Bashevis Singer
1981 - Elias Canetti
1987 - Joseph Brodsky
1991 - Nadine Gordimer
2001 - Imre Kertesz
2005 - Harold Pinter

World Peace

1911 - Alfred Fried
1911 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser
1968 - Rene Cassin
1973 - Henry Kissinger
1978 - Menachem Begin
1986 - Elie Wiesel
1994 - Shimon Peres
1994 - Yitzhak Rabin
1995 - Joseph Rotblat

Chemistry

1905 - Adolph Von Baeyer
1906 - Henri Moissan
1910 - Otto Wallach
1915 - Richard Willstaetter
1918 - Fritz Haber
1943 - George Charles de Hevesy
1961 - Melvin Calvin
1962 - Max Ferdinand Perutz
1972 - William Howard Stein
1977 - Ilya Prigogine
1979 - Herbert Charles Brown
1980 - Paul Berg
1980 - Walter Gilbert
1981 - Roald Hoffmann
1982 - Aaron Klug
1985 - Herbert Hauptman
1985 - Jerome Karle
1989 - Sidney Altman
1992 - Rudolph Marcus
1998 - Walter Kohn
2004 - Avram Hershko, Aaron Ciechanover and Irwin Rose
2006 - Roger Kornberg

Economics

1970 - Paul Samuelson
1971 - Simon Kuznets
1972 - Kenneth Arrow
1973 - Wassily Leontief
1975 - Leonid Kantorovich
1976 - Milton Friedman
1978 - Herbert A. Simon
1980 - Lawrence Robert Klein
1985 - Franco Modigliani
1987 - Robert M. Solow
1990 - Harry Markowitz
1990 - Merton Miller
1992 - Gary Becker
1993 - Robert Fogel
1994 - John Harsanyi
1997 - Myron Scholes
2001 - Joseph Stiglitz
2001 - George A. Akerlof
2002 - Daniel Kahneman
2005 - Robert Aumann
2007 - Leonid Hurwicz, Eric Maskin & Roger Myerson
2008 - Paul Krugman

Medicine

1908 - Elie Metchnikoff & Paul Ehrlich
1914 - Robert Barany
1922 - Otto Meyerhof
1930 - Karl Landsteiner
1931 - Otto Warburg
1936 - Otto Loewi
1944 - Herbert Spencer Gasser
1944 - Joseph Erlanger
1945 - Ernst Boris Chain
1946 - Hermann Joseph Muller
1947 - Gerty Cori*
1950 - Tadeus Reichstein
1952 - Selman Abraham Waksman
1953 - Hans Krebs & Fritz Lipmann
1958 - Joshua Lederberg
1959 - Arthur Kornberg
1964 - Konrad Bloch
1965 - Francois Jacob & Andre Lwoff
1967 - George Wald
1968 - Marshall Nirenberg
1969 - Salvador Luria
1970 - Julius Axelrod & Bernard Katz
1972 - Gerald Maurice Edelman
1975 - David Baltimore & Howard Temin
1976 - Baruch Blumberg
1977 - Rosalyn Sussman Yalow & Andrew V. Schally
1978 - Daniel Nathans
1980 - Baruj Benacerraf
1984 - Cesar Milstein
1985 - Michael Stuart Brown & Joseph Goldstein
1986 - Stanley Cohen & Rita Levi-Montalcini
1988 - Gertrude Elion
1989 - Harold Varmus
1994 - Alfred Gilman & Martin Rodbell
1997- Stanley B. Prusiner
1998 - Robert Furchgott
2000 - Paul Greengard & Eric Kandel
2002 - H. Robert Horvitz & Sydney Brenner

Physics

1907 - Albert Abraham Michelson
1908 - Gabriel Lippmann
1921 - Albert Einstein
1922 - Niels Bohr
1925 - James Franck & Gustav Hertz
1943 - Otto Stern
1944 - Isidor Issac Rabi
1945 - Wolfgang Pauli
1952 - Felix Bloch
1954 - Max Born#
1958 - Igor Tamm & Il'ja Mikhailovich Frank
1959 - Emilio Segrè
1960 - Donald A. Glaser
1961 - Robert Hofstadter
1962 - Lev Davidovich Landau
1963 - Eugene Wigner
1965 - Richard Feynman & Julian Schwinger
1967 - Hans Bethe
1969 - Murray Gell-Mann
1971 - Dennis Gabor
1972 - Leon Cooper
1973 - Brian David Josephson
1975 - Benjamin Mottleson
1976 - Burton Richter
1978 - Arno Penzias & Pyotr Kapitsa
1979 - Stephen Weinberg & Sheldon Glashow
1988 - Leon Lederman & Melvin Schwartz & Jack Steinberger
1990 - Jerome Friedman
1992- Georges Charpak
1995 - Martin Perl & Fredrick Reines
1996 - Douglas D. Osheroff & David M. Lee
1997 - Claude Cohen-Tannoudji
2000 - Zhores I. Alferov
2003 - Vitaly Ginzburg & Alexei A. Abrikosov
2004 - H. David Politzer & David Gross
2005 - Roy Glauber

You Must Be Born Again

Unless you are born again you cannot see the kingdom of God!

The Lord Jesus spoke these words to a Jewish rabbi by the name of Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharasee and a teacher of the law.

Nicodemus came to the Lord Jesus by night in fear of being seen by his fellow rabbis who resisted Jesus' teachings which were in conflict with their own teachings.

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
John 3:1-2

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 3:1-3

Obviously Nicodemus questioned the concept, having difficulty understanding how one could be born again.

Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
John 3:4

Jesus explained that one had to be born from above of the spirit: for that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
John 3:5-8

This revealing interaction with Nicodemus leads into the central teaching of the entire Bible:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
John 3:16-21

Adam sinned and sin passed on to the entire human race: The natural state of humankind is sinful.

A change has to transpire; a transformation must take place: You must be born again!

Religions that accept the Bible as their authoritative text understand the need to deal with Adam's sin--often referred to as original sin.

The Bible centres on the sinful nature of man from the moment Adam and Eve sin against God by disobeying his command and giving heed to the serpent which is later identified as satan himself.

According to the Bible, man's heart is altogether wicked.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9

David says:

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:5-10

Paul says:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 3:23

and

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:23

According to the Bible, there is nothing in man's power that can cleanse him of his sin:

Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
Jeremiah 13:23

Religion attempts to deal with the issue of original sin by various man made institutions and ceremonies which erroneously claim to cleanse man of original sin and bring him into communion with God.

Infant baptism is one of these ceremonies which leads people to believe that they have been cleansed and brought into communion with God. The church cannot deny the Biblical teaching that we are born sinners and claims to deal with sin with infant baptism.

The Bible says that without blood there is no remission of sins: Jesus, the lamb of God, shed his blood on the cross as the sacrificial passover lamb which cleanses humanity of sin and brings each born again believer into intimate communion with the living God being indwelled with the Holy Spirit. (Refer to "He came to die for our sins" April 2009)

In Genesis we see how when Adam and Eve sinned, God took on the role of High Priest sacrificing an animal to deal with sin. Adam and Eve then put on the skin of the animal to cover their shame. There has to be a conscious decision to receive the work that God has done for us.

There must be a decision to put on Christ and to be dressed in the garments of righteousness, to be covered by the blood of the lamb of God who died for the sins of the world, to be sacrificed with Christ, to be baptised into his death and raised into his resurrection into newness of life.

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Romans 6:3-7

There is a before and after. We who were once sinners are now saved by grace.

The natural state of the heart is wicked; however, God promises to give a new heart to those who seek him earnestly.

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2Corinthians 5:17

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Proverbs 14:12

You must be born again. Being born into a culture and into a religion does not make you a child of God. That which is flesh is flesh and the flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Romans 8:5-14

Being baptised does not cleanse sin nor does it bring you into communion with God: We are not born again by the will of man.

Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
Galatians 1:1

Saul--who was later renamed Paul--was a religious man who kept the law and the commandments and was highly respected by his peers and by the community. He was zealous for God and fiercely resisted the believers in Jesus who he considered to be heretic.

The Lord Jesus appeared to him while he was on his way to Damascus to arrest those who believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Jesus asked Saul: Why do you persecute me?

Saul had an experience with Jesus and he was transformed. He was born again. He fell in love with the living God and his life changed. He who once persecuted believers in Jesus became persecuted himself.

Read about the conversion of Saul of Tarsus a.k.a the apostle Paul in the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 9.

Paul counted everything as dung for the knowledge of Jesus his Lord. He fell in love. He was captured by Jesus' glory. He was filled with the holy spirit. He was baptised. He was born again.

There is no culture or religion that captures the essence of an intimate relationship with Jesus.

His peace passes all understanding. Jesus is alive.

Religions teach that we are saved by our good deeds, a teaching, which in fact goes against the whole concept of grace. According to the Bible, salvation is the free gift of God so that no man will boast of good works.

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Titus 3:5-7

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Ephesians 2:1-9

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Romans 3:28

If we receive salvation for free in return for what Jesus did on the cross--Jesus paid the price--then it follows that nothing we do could purchace salvation. If it could be purchased with good deeds, it would not be a gift: it would be payment for our work.

Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Romans 4:4-5

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Galatians 2:16

The wages of sin is death, but the gift us God is eternal life. Jesus paid the price on the cross and purchased us from sin with his blood. For you are not purchased with corruptable things but with the precious blood of Jesus the lamb of God.

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Ephesians 1:7

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
1Peter 1:23

Once a person calls out to Jesus for forgiveness he is washed by the blood of the lamb and is indwelled by the Holy Spirit who then teaches that person how to live a life for God.

Most people can tell you the month, day and even the hour at which Jesus came into their lives.

If someone asked you when you met your husband or wife, could you not answer accurately? If you were asked when your son or daughter was born could you not give the day and the hour?

When you fall in love with Jesus you know when it happened.

A conscious decision needs to be made to know God. Seek God and you will find him. Jesus is alive. Ask him to guide you. If you are afraid of being mislead into believing a lie, call upon God and persist in asking him to reveal the truth to you. He will answer: Seek and you will find, Ask and you will receive, Knock and the door will be answered. Those you seek him will all their heart will find him.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:8-12

The main point of "you must be born again" is that an obvious change must take place: both the person that is born again and the people around him will notice the change: The change is obvious.

Infant baptism cannot bring about this change, neither can the other mysteries and ceremonies that religion offers: you are not born again when you are married, not when you confess to a priest and not simply by being born into a religion.

You must confess your sins to the High Priest and finisher of our faith, Jesus the Messiah who gave himself for your sins.

Confess your sins and ask the Lord to come into your heart. The Holy Spirit will come into your heart and reign from there teaching you all truth and leading you in the way of righteousness and life.

Man sinned and God already had a plan of salvation even before the foundation of the world.

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelation 13:8

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
1Peter 1:18-21

He would accomplish his plan of salvation through specific people and through a specific nation.

And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.


Genesis 22:15-18

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 12:2-3








God's has blessed the whole of humanity through the nation of Israel and salvation has come to the whole world through the tiny nation of Israel: God's truth to the world has gone out to the nations through Israel's prophets and Jesus the Messiah was born in Bethlehem in Israel into a Jewish family to a Jewish girl. He taught in Israel and commanded his desciples to teach the lost sheep of the house of Israel.






Since Adam sinned and sin passed onto humanity, God has been unfolding His plan of salvation to restore humanity to Himself. He has spoken to people directly and through His prophets so that his plan of salvation would be clear to all those that know Him.


Here is a geneology leading upto the nation of Israel.
Adam had a son called Seth. Seth had a son called Enos and Enos had a son called Cainan. Mahallaleel had a son called Jared and Jared had a son called Enoch.
And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Enoch was taken by God. This is also a picture of Jesus' ascension and a picture of the rapture when all believers will be taken into heaven to be with the Lord.



Methuselah had a son called Lamech and Lamech had a son called Noah.



Noah was chosen by God to build the ark that would protect him and his family during the flood. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japhet. The children of Israel are descendents of Noah's son Shem, hence the term Semites and anti-Semite.







Shem had a son called Arphaxad and Arphaxad had a son called Eber. Eber is the father of the Hebrews. Eber is Hebrew in English.







Eber had a son called Peleg, Peleg had a son called Reu, Reu had a son called Serug, Serug had a son called Nahor, Nahor had a son called Terah and Terah had a son called Abram who was called by God and later renamed Abraham.



Isaac had a son called Jacob. After Jacob struggled with the angel of God, he was renamed Israel.






And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.



And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.







And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
Genesis 32:24-30



Jacob, who was renamed Israel, had twelve sons who were the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel who would collectively be known as the people of Israel. These are the twelve sons of Jacob after which the twelve tribes of Israel are named:






Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun: The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin: And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali: And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram.
Genesis 35:22b-26




Before his death Jacob, who was also called Israel, called his twelve sons to bless them:






And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
Genesis 49:1-2






The promise of kingship was to Judah, Jacobs fourth son.












Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?






The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Genesis 49:8-10




Jesus is also called the lion of Judah because he is a descendant of Judah. King David was from the tribe of Judah. Jesus is also called the son of David. King David established his Kingdom with his capital in Jerusalem. Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem and Jerusalem has been the centre of Judaism for the last three thousand years. Notice the coat of arms of the city of Jerusalem.






After Solomon's death the tribal kingdom was divided. Israel consisted of ten tribes and remained settled in the north of the land. Judah and Benjamin remained in the south.




The Northern kingdom of Israel, which consisted of ten tribes, was attacked and scattered by the Assyrians in the year 722 B.C. and the Southern kingdom of Judah, which consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, was attacked by the Babylonians in the year 586 B.C. The temple of Solomon was destroyed and the people were taken to Babylon into captivity.




When Ezra and Nehemiah were given permission by the King of Persia to rebuild the temple, and the exiles returned to Jerusalem, the land was called Judaea, after Judah and the people were called Jews. In Hebrew the tribe of Judah is Yehuda and a Jew is a Yehudi.




I repeat the last part of Genesis 49 verse 10:




The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him (Judah) shall the gathering of the people be.
Genesis 49:10




The image and the promise of a Messiah is formed and given throughout the Hebrew bible. The Messiah was first promised to mankind as a saviour and then to Israel as redeemer and King.




Israel was the only nation who had intimacy with God. Israel is called the apple of God's eye and God's bride.



Jesus is Israel's Jewish Messiah who is also a light to the gentiles.



As the inscription on the plaque on his cross stated in Hebrew, Greek and Latin for the whole world to understand: Jesus the King of the Jews.



And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Luke 23:38





Endless scriptures in the Old and New Testament speak of God's eternal covenant with Israel.



As Isaiah prophesies in chapter 29:10-12 and Paul quotes in Romans 11:8, God has poured upon Israel and spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, ears that they should not hear and a heart that does not understand.




For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
Isaiah 29:10-11




(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back always.












I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?










For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.










Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
Romans 11:1-25










Jesus the Messiah, the Lamb of God, came to die for the sins of the world and his people, the Jews, were made unready to receive him so that salvation could go out to the Gentiles. Refer to "He came to die for our sins" April 2009






With the rejection of Jesus and the destruction of the temple the Jewish people were scattered to the four corners of the earth. They have suffered persecution and death in a hostile and anti-Semitic world that is indifferent to understanding neither their history nor their place in the Bible and in God's plan of salvation.






Nevertheless, the imminent fulfillment of God's promise to bring His people back to the land together with the prayer "Next year in Jerusalem" accompanied the Jewish people through almost two thousand years of hardship in exile.






The gradual fulfillment of this promise became undoubtedly evident in 1948 with the establishment of the state of Israel.






Throughout the years, there has always been a Jewish presence in the land; the return of the exiles began in the late 1800's; however, there has not been Jewish sovereignty in the land since the Maccabees in the 2ND century B.C.








When Jesus ascended to heaven after his resurrection, accompanied by two angels, the disciples watched in awe. The two angels responded to the disciples saying: Why do you marvel? Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives in the same way that He left.












And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.
Acts 1:9-12












The Lord's return to His land and His people was also prophesied by Zechariah: And His feet will descend on the mount of olives.






And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Zechariah 14.4







Jesus will return to the land of Israel to save the Jewish people from their enimies. He will bring peace to the earth, set up his millenial Kingdom in Jerusalem and reign over the nations from there.







Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
Zechariah 14.3







The Jewish people have no dreams of conquest: they want to live in peace in the land that God promised them.







Those who are religious are waiting for the promised Messiah to come and deliver them from the hatred that surrounds them; those who believe in Jesus know that He is the promised Messiah and wait for His return on the clouds of heaven: He will brring peace and reign from Jerusalem.







I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13,14

God's Plan of Salvation

Introduction and Summary

After I was saved in 1998 I started reading the Bible regularly and for the first time began to understand what was being said. I was shocked to discover that, to a great extent, the teachings, focus, message and spirit of the Bible were in direct contrast to what I had learnt growing up in the world, not knowing Jesus and not knowing the Bible.

Falling in love with Jesus and accepting that the Bible was in fact the true revelation of God caused me to let go of things I had formerly believed to be true and this—at times—caused conflict with friends and family.

As I continue to walk with the Lord Jesus and to learn his character, both from communion with him, communion with other believers and from reading the Bible, I have begun to come to terms with persecution and misunderstanding from those who don't know him.

One of the issues I have had to deal with is the issue of Israel's place in God's plan of salvation. I began discovering the Bible's position on this issue in 1999 while I was in England. Refer to "How I fell in Love with Israel" April 2009

There is a position in the Christian church today called "Replacement Theology". Replacement Theology teaches that that the church has replaced Israel as God's chosen people and that God is finished with Israel.

This doctrine is contrary to what is written in the Bible.

Those of us who are born again, love Jesus and read the Bible are waiting with expectation for Jesus to return. After the rapture, Jesus will return to the earth with all the believers and set up his millenial kingdom in Jerusalem.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Thessalonians 4:14-17

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Corinthians 15:51-52

I provide more Biblical references below concerning the calling of believers into heaven to meet the Lord. This event is known as the rapture.

After the rapture there will be a period of great tribulation upon the earth. All the nations of the earth will attack Israel and there will be great destruction in the land.

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Zechariah 14:2

Jesus will return on the clouds of heaven with all the believers that had been raptured.

and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

Zecheriah 14:5b

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh 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 1:14-15

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Hebrews 9:28

The Jewish people will see Jesus and believe that he is the Messiah finally crying out: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord and all Israel will be saved.

For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Matthew 23:39

And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Romans 11:26-27

He will set His feet on the mount of olives near Jerusalem.

Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Zecheriah 14:3-4

Jesus will establish His millenial kingdom in Jerusalem.

The best way to discover God's truth is to know him personally by inviting him into your heart.

You can learn about him by spending time reading the Bible. Please read the references from the Bible that I have provided as they will clarify and confirm what I have written. May God bless you with an understanding of the scriptures.

God's Awesome Plan of Salvation

Since Adam sinned and sin passed onto humanity, God has been unfolding His plan of salvation to restore humanity to Himself. He has spoken to people directly and through His prophets so that his plan of salvation would be clear to all those that know Him.

Omniscient as he is, God already had a plan of salvation before Adam and Eve sinned. God himself performed the duty of highpriest and sacrificed an animal using the skin to cover Adam and Eve's sin. We know from scripture that their is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. Refer to: "He died for our Sins" April 2009

Man sinned. God had a plan of salvation even before the foundation of the world.

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 13:8

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

1Peter 1:18-21

He then proceeded to unfold his plan of salvation for a fallen humanity. He planned on establishing a people who would be His own. Through them, He would bring salvation to the whole of humanity.

He spoke to Noah and saved his family from the judgment of the flood. Only Noah, his three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth and their three wives survuved the flood. Through these eight, the whole earth was repopulated. The people of Israel are descendants of Noah's son Shem: they are a semitic people.

God called Abram and changed his name to Abraham, which means, the father of all nations. He promised that He would make of Abraham a great nation and in him all the nations of the world would be blessed.

Abraham had Isaac, Isaac had Jacob, who was renamed Israel and Israel had twelve sons who became the heads of the twelve tribes of the kingdom of Israel. King David and Solomon are descendants of Jacob's son Judah to whom was promised the kingship and from whom King Jesus the Messiah would arise. Jesus is also called the Lion of Judah.

Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Genesis 49:9-10

God communed with the nation of Israel throughout history with the purpose of communicating his word, bringing the Messiah into the world, restoring humanity to himself and ultimately establishing his kingdom on earth to reign from Jerusalem.

God was in constant communion with the people of Israel directly speaking to them Himself, through angels, through judges, kings and prophets.

The children of Israel rebelled against the Lord; nevertheless, God promised that he would be faithful to them, that He would never forsake them and that he would restore them in their land, with a king who would rule over them in righteousness. This king would be God himself, the Messiah and he would give Israel peace from their enemies and bring peace to the world.

Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Revelation 1:7

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13-14

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7

The Messiah would also be a light to the gentiles and he would give the gentiles the opportunity to enjoy the blessings that God promised Israel.

I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
Isaiah 42:6-7

The Messiah would breakdown the wall of separation which separated the gentiles from Israel and would open the way for the gentiles to know God.

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Ephesians 2:11-19

We read here that the Gentiles were far from God. The gentile nations were idol worshipers and pagans: only Israel worshiped the one true God. The one true God is called, the God of Israel. Paul is saying that through Jesus the Messiah, the door has been opened for the gentiles to approach God, to be accepted of God and to receive the blessings that until that point had been reserved for God's chosen people, Israel.

God's has blessed the whole of humanity through the nation of Israel and salvation has come to the whole world through the tiny nation of Israel.

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Genesis 12:2-3

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah 2:2-4

God's truth has gone out to the world through Israel's prophets and Jesus the Messiah was born in Bethlehem in Israel into a Jewish family to a Jewish girl. He taught in Israel and commanded his disciples to teach the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Matthew 10:5-6

But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Matthew 15:24

Has God rejected His people Israel?

Let's have a look at what Paul says.

I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.
Romans 11:1-2

To the contrary. When the fulness of the gentiles comes in, all of Israel will be saved.

Through Israel's rejection of Jesus the Messiah, salvation has come to the Gentiles.

Jesus the Messiah, the Lamb of God, came to die for the sins of the world and his people, the Jews, were made unready to receive him so that salvation could go out to the Gentiles. Refer to "He came to die for our sins" April 2009

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Romans 11:25-32

God has blinded Israel for a season so that the gentiles can be blessed with the gift of salvation and when the time comes he will reveal himself to Israel and all Israel will be saved.

As Isaiah prophesies in chapter 29:10-12 and Paul quotes in Romans 11:8, God has poured upon Israel and spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, ears that they should not hear and a heart that does not understand.

For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
Isaiah 29:10-12

(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.

I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.

For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
Romans 11:8-15

When Jesus ascended to heaven after his resurrection, accompanied by two angels, the disciples watched in awe. The two angels responded to the disciples saying: Why do you marvel? Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives in the same way that He left.

And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.

Acts 1:9-12

The Lord's return to His land and His people was also prophesied by Zechariah: And His feet will descend on the mount of olives.

And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

Zechariah 14.4

Jesus will return to the land of Israel to save the Jewish people from their enemies. He will bring peace to the earth, set up his millenial Kingdom in Jerusalem and reign over the nations from there.

Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

Zechariah 14.3

And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Zechariah 12:9-10

As I have already mentioned, Jesus is also called the lion of Judah because he is a descendant of Judah, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, who was also called Israel. King David was from the tribe of Judah. Jesus is also called the son of David. King David established his Kingdom with his capital in Jerusalem. Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem and Jerusalem has been the centre of Judaism for the last three thousand years. Notice the coat of arms of the city of Jerusalem.

As the inscription on the plaque on Jesus' cross stated in Hebrew, Greek and Latin for the whole world to understand: Jesus the King of the Jews.

And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Luke 23:38

So uncommon was the idea of gentiles being in communion with God and with the people of Israel, that after Pentacost when gentiles began believing in the gospel and getting saved, there was contention amongst the disciples as to what the gentiles had to do in order to complete their salvation. Some began teaching that the gentiles could not be saved unless they converted to Judasim and got circumcised.

After Jesus ascended into heaven the disciples received power when the Holy Spirit descended on them and they went out out proclaimed the gospel to all the people. When gentiles started responding to the gospel, believing in Jesus and getting saved the apostles were at odds with each other over whether it was at all possible for gentile to be saved without first converting to Judaism and being curcumcised.

And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 10:45

And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.
Acts 11:1-3

Peter goes on to explain to them how he had had a vision in which the Lord had told him not to consider anything unclean, for in the Lord all things are clean:

But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
Acts 11:9

And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Acts 15:4-9

We understand that salvation to non-Jews was not taken for granted by the disciples because the promises of a Messiah were to Israel.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:

If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.

Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 31:31-37

Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
Acts 11:17-18

The whole Bible is a testimony of God's faithfulness to Israel and through Israel his faithfulness to all humanity. If you really want to know God personally and intimately you must be born again.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 3:3

You will then receive the Holy Spirit and he will lead you in all truth.

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 14:16-17

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 14:26

The Lord Jesus is alive. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is alive. We are all sinners and we all need forgiveness. The God of Israel is waiting for you to call upon him so that he can give you new life.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 3:23

Don't be afraid and don't delay. He wants all to be saved.