Sketches of Jewish Social Life

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Larry Perkins

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 George Müller Biography - George Müller was one of the early brethren in the United Kingdom who is known for his work of faith among orphan children by running his organization by faith to provide for their needs.

"May it not be the will of God that I should establish schools for these children, asking Him to give me the means?"

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The Music of Glorybound

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Grace Taufeek's Story - "...an ultrasound showed a mass around my spinal canal. I was confused, sad, mad, and scared as I was trying to realize what was really happening. I was quite scared – sometimes even to tears – but deep down, I always had a sense of peace..." (more)

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James Dyck

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In Genesis 6:3," TARGET="_blank">Genesis 6:3, “The Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive With man.”

Did this apply only to that dispensation?

The words in question are in close connection with the intermarriage of “the Sons of God” and “the daughters of men,” described in Genesis 6," TARGET="_blank">Genesis 6, by which the barrier between the Seth line and the descendants of Cain was broken down. The sons of God did not make the worldly women godly, but the reverse process took place, as is nearly always the case to-day under similar circumstances. A great increase of evil was the result, and the world was filled with violence and corruption. This was foreseen by God, Who gave utterance to the above solemn declaration, adding, “for that he also is flesh.” Man had had at least two thousand years to show what “evolution” could do, if such a principle existed. Surely he would have developed into something supremely excellent. Let verse 11 reply: “The earth also was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence.” Is not such a development more consistent with the doctrine of the fall of man, than of his constant and consistent “evolution” toward a higher ideal? We need not be surprised if the Modernists wish to expunge the first ten chapters of Genesis. To believe in the evolutionary hypothesis one must not only deny the plain statements of Scripture, but shut one’s eyes to the facts of history and human experience. However, God adds in grace, “Yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years”; that is, I take it, there was to be still a respite of that duration.

There is no evidence to show that the testimony of Noah, the “preacher of righteousness” ceased before the flood. But as far as I know, God nowhere pledges Himself to continue pleading with men till the end of their careers. Indeed, such emphasis is laid on immediate decision, that it would be the height of folly to count on even one more chance. We know that when the Man of Sin will be revealed God will send on those, who will have refused the truth, a “strong delusion that they may believe the lie” (2 Thessalonains 2:10-12). This moment however has not yet arrived, and it would be both unprofitable and presumptuous to attempt to show that the Spirit has ceased to strive with anyone still alive, for this is to invade the divine prerogative, and pretend to “search the heart.”

W.H.

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In Matthew 27:9-10," TARGET="_blank">Matthew 27:9-10, the writer ascribed to Jeremiah the well known prophecy of Zechariah 11:12-13." TARGET="_blank">Zechariah 11:12-13.
Please explain why he did so.

Was Matthew as a pious Jew, long in the companionship and service of our Lord, and a man of apostolic gifts, likely, quite apart from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to confuse the prophets Jeremiah and Zechariah? Here he was engaged under the direct guidance of the Spirit, in writing a book which was to live down the ages, and which he, as a mere man, was perfectly incapable of producing. Infidels have foolishly boasted sometimes that they could write as good a book as the Bible. They ought to do it then, for it would pay them well. It would be a “best seller” for years. Matthew plainly was familiar with Zechariah, as his quotation in Matthew 21:4-5" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 21:4-5 shews, and could not have confused the books, even with his own intelligence alone.

The probable explanation is the one cited by Lightfoot, that Jeremiah, as considerably the longest of the prophets, had the first place among them, and so his name came to be used for the volume of the prophetical writings. He quotes the learned David Kimchi as his authority. We often speak of the Psalms ofDavid, without affirming he wrote them all. There is another explanation which may also be the true one. The expression, “spoken by Jeremy the prophet,” may refer to some well known word of the prophet, just as Paul in Acts xx refers to words of our Lord: “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” which are not recorded in the Gospels. The quotation of Matthew does not agree exactly either with the Hebrew or LXX of Zechariah 11." TARGET="_blank">Zechariah 11. Sometimes the prophets did receive messages as to the same events in almost identical language. Supposing, for instance, some New Testament writer had quoted Micah 4:1-3," TARGET="_blank">Micah 4:1-3, and it had not been recorded that Isaiah had said the same words in chapter 11:2-4 of his prophecy, and we had read that the well-known words of Micah “were spoken by Isaiah the prophet,” how eagerly critics would have seized upon it as a mistake! Of one thing we may be sure, Matthew, an inspired apostle, chosen of God for this wonderful ministry, did not make a mistake.
W.H.

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Why does God allow his children to suffer trials?

The question of personal suffering is relevant to all of us.  Either we are experiencing pain right now, have just emerged from a trial or we are about to enter one.  Suffering is universal.  Our reactions to suffering, however, are varied.  The first question that usually occurs to a victim of pain is “What is God doing to me?”  

The following answer to this question assumes that you are believer in Christ – that you are already saved – and that God has sent you a personal problem.  Another relevant question you may have is “Why does God allow pain and suffering to exist?

Job, the patient sufferer, tells us a few insights to answer the question of trials in the life of a believer.  

Job 23:10" TARGET="_blank">Job 23:10 “He knows the way that I take, and when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold”

Each of the words of this verse gives us insight into how God uses trials to work in our lives:

1. God knows

“He knows” – with those two words Job answers the unexplainable.  Without knowing the why or the where to source of his trials, Job knew that God was in control of the world and therefore in control of life’s trials. 

He knows you and the circumstances of your trial.  He sees your checkbook. He hears how your children talk to your. He knows how your husband drinks. He knows how your heart aches. He knows your confusion. He sees you when you lie awake at night. He sees all of the parts of your trial. You may feel abandoned and forgotten, but God knows what is happening. He is aware.  He knows.  Can you be comforted in your trial by simply knowing that God is not ignorant of your plight?

Job was content to wait for God to show him the outcome at some future point in time.  But for the meantime, he was satisfied to say “God knows”

2. He knows my way

God can see where I am going even if I can’t.  There is a destination to the way that I take.  I don’t know where this trial will end, but God does.  Can you take strength from the fact that when he is done, you will be better off spiritually than you were before.?

Job 23:14" TARGET="_blank">Job 23:14  For he will complete what he appoints for me, and many such things are in his mind.

3. When

There is usually a time limit to the duration of the trial.  It won’t last forever.  God’s work in you may take some time, but there will be and end.  He will put you on your knees. He will make you feel the weakness and frailty of your humanity.  Changing a person’s outlook through trials is a slow process.  So you ask, when will the trial end? Answer: When He has tried me.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peacable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 12:11

4. He has tried me

Why does God have to try me?  Can’t he just leave me alone?  I haven’t sinned, so why is he trying me?  

Notice that Job uses the word “tried” instead of “punished”.  If you are trying to find a connection between your actions and your suffering, perhaps you are simply being tried.  Trials are different than consequences.

The following verse tells us of suffering because of a cause:

“But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 1 Peter 4" TARGET="_blank">1 Peter 4

If you are in jail for your crimes, or divorced because of your drug addition, your suffering cannot be called a trial.  The people you hurt as a result of your actions are suffering trials.  But what you are suffering is called a consequence.  It is a result directly related to your bad decisions.  It is a consequence.  The solution for this kind of suffering is for you is to repent of your sin, ask forgiveness to those you have harmed, make restitution and pursue a different path.  

If however, you are suffering a trial, like Job, you are probably on your face before God searching in vain for why this has happened. 

Job’s cry – “I have done nothing wrong, but yet God is bringing me suffering.  He is TRYING me.”

Job 23:7" TARGET="_blank">Job 23:7  There an upright man could argue with him, and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.

To try something is to test it.  Trying a bridge by putting weight on it is not to cause it to collapse, but to prove that the bridge is capable of holding what the engineer intended.

Instead of asking yourself “why caused God to do this to me?” you should ask “what is God trying to show through me?”

God is the teacher and you are the student. This test is not so much about God finding out how much you can bear.  He already knows you better than you know yourself.  The test is about you finding out about you. When he is done, you will know more about the endurance of your faith, your weak points and what you can do for God in the future.

5. I shall come forth as gold

Job knew that he was being tested by God. Job received an “A” on his faith test.  Job learned at least three imporant concepts on his test.

1.    One thing he learned by trial is that God is good even if we experience things we think are bad.

“Naked I came into the world, and naked I will leave. God gave and God took away, blessed be the name of the Lord”

“Shall we not receive both good and evil from the Lord?”

Early on the story of Job, his wife came to a very different conclusion about these questions.

“Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!”

She wanted to curse God.  Anger, hate and resentment were spilling out of her mouth.  She wanted it to end. Die. Get it over with now. She wanted to throw away all spiritual integrity. What is the point of faithfulness if this is what God does? She failed the test.

It’s the last thing we hear her say. She disappears from the story. Perhaps like some today, she left her husband for a variety of reasons: a bankruptcy, an illness, the loss of a child. In Job’s case, the scene closes with Job sitting in ashes, covered in sores and worst of all, alone.  She walked out.

Trials show how much control we give to the Holy Spirit. Perhaps Mrs. Job wasn’t even a believer.  Maybe her church taught her that being a believer would make her wealthy.  Perhaps she believed that God’s will for her was her happiness.  Believers shouldn’t get sick.  When “claiming” God’s promises for her failed.  

In Christ’s parable of the good seed and the four soils, one of the false believers pictured there was the shallow ground. The seed sown on the shallow ground sprouted.  It looked like it would take hold.  There was an initial interest, but it turned out to be false.  When persecutions arise, the plants wither and die.  No life and hence, no fruit.

However, Job shows the gold inside. He passed the test. He was real.

2.    A second lesson Job learned from his test is that we can’t see the future.  We must wait to see God’s hand even if there is complete darkness.

Job 23:17" TARGET="_blank">Job 23:17  yet I am not silenced because of the darkness, nor because thick darkness covers my face.

“I shall come forth” means that God is in control.  There is and end not only in regards to time but also in purpose.  God is working on us.

God showed the gold in Job.  In fact, Job’s life reflects God better after being refined.  The gold in his life was bright in chapter 1. He is a man of integrity. He prays daily for his children. He has respect from his peers for his sterling character. He honors God with his sacrifice.  In the end, he shows the same consistency, but with more wisdom and even greater blessing.

God didn’t promise Job any recompense for his suffering during the trial.  But the physical situation of Job was even better after the trial.  We may not come out of a trial as a rich man, but the lessons we learn from hard experiences are invaluable.  Although we wouldn’t want to repeat the trial, we wouldn’t want to have missed the experience.

3.    A third lesson Job learned is that God always has something to teach us no matter what our spiritual state is.

Job learned more about God in the trial than he knew before.  Job was a great man of God before the trial.  Even God says “there is no one like my servant Job.” In the closing chapters of the book, however, we see Job learning that he is “vile”. Why? Was God wrong in His assessment of Job?  No.  In comparison with all other men on the planet, Job was the highest example of godliness. But in comparison with the holiness of God in heaven, Job saw his true nature – sinful.  When he learns more about God and His holiness, Job comes out of the story looking better than ever.

Conclusion

Keep in mind the words from Job’s brilliant statement about trials:

“He knows the way that I take, and when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold”

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Man is composed of spirit, soul, and body. When he dies where does the spirit go?

The spirit and the soul must not be confused, nor yet divided. They together form the spiritual part of man. When a believer falls asleep he only does so as regards his body. The spiritual part of him, with which the personality is really connected, goes at once to be with Christ (see a 2 Corinthians 5: 8)." TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 5: 8). “Absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” This, of course, cannot refer to the resurrection state, as then no believer will be absent from the body. Paul describes dying as departing to be with Christ which is far better (Philippians 1:23)." TARGET="_blank">Philippians 1:23). It is a most serious denial of God’s truth to describe the condition of the believer who dies, as that of sleep, except as regards his body.

W.H.

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What is Deliverance Ministries

"Deliverance" ministers address personal problems in people that are believed to be caused by demons or Satan.  The routine for binding a demon is something like a psychiatrist practicing exorcism.
First the deliverance minister may ask a few questions about the person and his/her problems.  "How long has this been occurring?" "When is it most frequent?" etc.

It is assumed that the person needs deliverance from a demon to cure the problem whether it be unexplained pain or a bad habit such as alcoholism.  
The deliverance ministries approach then tries to begin a conversation with the demon trying to evoke a response from the demon.  If this begins to sound like a prohibited practice in scripture, then you are correct.  Notice a few verses from the Bible here:

Leviticus 19:31" TARGET="_blank">Leviticus 19:31  "Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 18:10-12" TARGET="_blank">Deuteronomy 18:10-12  There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer  (11)  or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead,  (12)  for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you.

Leviticus 20:27" TARGET="_blank">Leviticus 20:27  "A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them."

1 Corinthians 10:20-21" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 10:20-21  No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.  (21)  You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.

The minister of a deliverance ministry may then try to intimidate the demon through speaking loudly, commanding in an authoritative voice, invoking the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

If there are not quick results, the practitioner may schedule future sessions to talk to the demons again.  
Other forms of deliverance may be in the attempts to bind Satan from entering into a new church or preventing him from attacking a house.

One may seriously question whether such practices border on the spells and charms that cults prefer to practice rather than praying to the Lord to protect and prosper.

If you are feeling the need of God's protection, pray directly to Him, not to Satan or to his demons.  The Lord's own example of prayer for the Disciples includes the phrases:

"lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matthew 6:9-13)" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 6:9-13)

Some verses for you to read for comfort include:

Psalm 139" TARGET="_blank">Psalm 139 – the omnipresent, omnipotent God of the Universe knows you better than you know yourself.

Psalms 91:1-4" TARGET="_blank">Psalms 91:1-4  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  (2)  I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."  (3)  For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.  (4)  He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

The most important protection that God can provide is the salvation of your soul.  See other questions regarding salvation for eternal security.

I know Christ took our sins on the cross, but for some reason I'm not sure if I'm saved. 

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To create one of Printable Bible Quizzes for Kids please choose one of the following:

Browse the 350 Sunday school worksheets that contain a variety of printable Bible quizzes for kids from nearly every story of the Bible, a coloring page, crossword puzzle and other activities to review a Bible story.

Use one of the puzzle makers below to create your own Bible quizzes for kids. 

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What is Ash Wednesday?

Ash Wednesday, also known as the “Day of Ashes” is the first day of the season of Lent.  It occurs 46 days before Easter.  Ash Wednesday and Lent are extra-Biblical holidays, meaning that they are based on traditions from centuries past, but are not mentioned in the Bible.  Lent is often associated with Catholic, Orthodox, and Lutheran churches along with others.

It is wise to have a Biblical point of view in regards to religious celebrations.  While taking time to remember Christ's work on the cross and the events preceeding his crucifiction is a wonderful activity, Christians are not commanded in the scriptures to celebrate Lent, Ash Wednesday or even to make Easter a special holiday.  God is not impressed by someone practicing a ritual to gain acceptance or forgiveness.  Instead, Jesus warned the Pharisees of celebrations without faith.

Mark 7:6-8" TARGET="_blank">Mark 7:6-8  And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, "'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;  (7)  in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'  (8)  You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men."

The pattern of the scriptures tells us that the Apostles and the first Christians regularly celebrated the Lord’s Supper to commemorate the Lord’s death and resurrection on the first day of the week meaning that we should be celebrating Christ's work on the cross 52 times a year in stead of just once.

1 Corinthians 11:26" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 11:26  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Acts 20:7" TARGET="_blank">Acts 20:7  On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.

1 Thessalonians 5:22" TARGET="_blank">1 Thessalonians 5:22  Abstain from every form of evil.

1 Thessalonians 4:3" TARGET="_blank">1 Thessalonians 4:3  For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality

During the period of Lent, some foods such as beef or pork are avoided as a penance for some sin.  This too, is a curious teaching since the scripture teach the exact opposite in regards to forbidding what a Christian may eat.

1 Timothy 4:1-4" TARGET="_blank">1 Timothy 4:1-4  Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,  (2)  through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,  (3)  who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.  (4)  For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,

Shad David Sluiter

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