Musing – Is the “One World Government” in the Bible?

Hebraic Musing – Is the “One World Government” in the Bible?

We have “Progressive” politicians promoting a “One World Government” and wanting countries, including the USA, to support and join the movement.  What does the Bible say about it?

The book of Revelation is the concluding book of the Bible with clearly futuristic prophecies. The rest of the Bible provides history and provides advice on how to live here and now.  Is the concept of a “One World Government” prophesied in the book of Revelation?  Here are passages that sound to me like one-world concepts:

In Chapter 10, the author, John, is told "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings." Rev 10:11  NIV  

And then we are told about the fate of the two witnesses - “…when they have finished their testimony, the beast … will attack … overpower and kill them.  Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, …where also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies….” Rev 11:7-10    How will it be possible for EVERYBODY to gaze on their bodies?

Reflecting on language like this, I’m thinking that at the time of writing this, John could not conceive how every people, tribe, language, nation and kings could possibly have the technology to reach, communicate with and govern all of the world.  While listening to a presentation of the technological progress in recent years by Wycliffe Bible Translators, it became clear to me that the whole world is connected technologically like never before – TV, Internet, FaceBook, FaceTime, Twitter, automated translation apps, etc.  And this connectivity is advancing at an exponential rate!

The seventh angel “… sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.’” Rev 11:15   This verse sounds to me like there was a “kingdom of the world”,  before the Kingdom of God took over.  Thus, the beast could enforce an economic boycott over all mankind!  “He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark…” Rev 13:16-17    Forcing EVERYONE will require whole world control.  After all “… he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.  All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast…” Rev 13:7-8

When kings are introduced, they are “kings of the whole world”.   In Rev 16:14 the dragon’s mouth spews out “…spirits of demons … and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.” 

Chapter 17 deals with “THE PROSTITUTE” and “With her the kings of the earth committed adultery…”  Rev 17:2   Then the angel says to John "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.” Rev 17:15-16   And who does she rule?  “The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."  Rev 17:18    And then another angel proclaims “The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries." Rev 18:3

Do you agree with me that the book of Revelation concludes with a “One World Government”?

Point to ponder

What is wrong with the proposed “One World Government”?

Lord, may we be encouraged to build your Kingdom.

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                   November 29, 2016

Musing – How can we be like God?

Hebraic Musing – How can we be like God?

In Genesis 18 we find Abraham recovering from his circumcision and the “Lord appeared to him” while “sitting at the entrance to his tent.”  And “Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them…”  Not only was he suffering from severe discomfort, but he was conversing with the Lord in his presence!  Yet, Abraham immediately switched his attention to the three strangers.  Mid-Eastern culture has a high regard for strangers, as Irene and I experienced when we were lost in the Muslim section of Jerusalem in October 2014. 

Why would Abraham interrupt a conversation with Almighty God to speak with three strangers?  I wonder if Abe told God “Can you hold on?  There are some people walking by.  I’ll get back to you later!”

Rabbi Eckstein claims that Abraham “understood that there is something even greater than talking to God — it’s being like God.”   What is meant by the word “image” in Gen 1:27?  “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him…”  So if we are to be in the image of God, shouldn’t we be God-like?   What would God have done?  What did God do when -- 

·         Adam was naked?  He clothed him.

·         Abraham was hurting (recovering)?  God visited with him.

·         Moses was dead?   God buried him.

·         Sick people came to Jesus?  He healed and comforted them.

·         Etc. etc. etc.

How many opportunities do we have in our daily walk to minister, comfort, visit, serve, feed, bless, … to those in need?  How can we be a God-like witness to everyone we meet?

When we encounter an unexpected opportunity for an act of kindness should we follow Abraham’s example?

Point to ponder

Will God object if you stop on your way to church to help a stranger?
Even if you it causes you to miss church?

Does God mind if you set down your Bible to call someone with a need?
Or interrupt your prayer time if the Holy Spirit brings someone to mind?

W W J D ?

“Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Eph 4:24

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                   November 15, 2016

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage” “Musings - A Victorious Life”  “Musings - The Torah and New Testament”
Weekly “Hebraic Musings”      www.InsightsByYosef.com

Note – Inspired by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein’s  “Being Like God”  November 15, 2016

Musing – Are we called to build the Kingdom or the Church?

Hebraic Musing – Are we called to build the Kingdom or the Church?

Someone asked me an interesting and important question.  What is the main Gospel message according to the Gospels?   Are the Gospels about (a) the Kingdom of God?  Or (b) the Church?  Or (c) personal salvation?

When I did an initial straw poll of traditional church-attending Christians, they said “Personal Salvation.”  And yet, most pulpit messages sound like our goal is to build the Church, especially “our church.”  But when I asked our Tuesday Torah study group, they responded in unison “Kingdom of God.”  So it is obviously an interesting and important question.   What think you?

In the NIV concordance, the word ‘salvation’ appears only 7 times in Gospels, and 33 times in Epistles.  ‘Save(s)’ appears 21 times in Gospels and 17 in Epistles. On the other hand – the word ‘kingdom’ yields 114 references in four Gospels alone, plus an additional 35 references in the Epistles. Some references are to the “Kingdom of the air” which represents the enemy’s “kingdom.”

John the Baptist is quoted in the first Gospel …preaching…and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." Matt 3:1.  And Jesus opened His famous beatitudes with "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”.  Matt 5:3

The word “Church” is mentioned 76 times in the epistles.  In the gospels, “Church” is only mentioned 3 times and only in Matthew.  The defining reference is Matt. 16:18 in red letters – “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” NIV   Whose church is it?  Who will build it?  Our pastor recently stressed that our job is to build the Kingdom of God, and our church is His tool.

Why is this question important? Human nature has a strong temptation to emphasize a selfish ‘I/Me/My’ mindset.  But, the message of Jesus and writers like Paul was not focused on an individual’s entry into salvation. Their message was about the world being redeemed by God and individuals being called to join “God’s Kingdom” and reject the “Kingdom of the air.” 

Another view: The name Jesus is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Yeshua, which means ‘Salvation’ or ‘Savior’.  However we add ‘Christ’ to His name which in Greek means ‘Anointed’; however the word in Hebrew was ‘Messiah’, a deliverer.  The thinking and background of Paul, Peter and all the writers was Torah-based as they recognized that the Messiah cane to deliver us -- to take us out of the “Kingdom of the Air” and into the “Kingdom of God.”

The individual is not unimportant to Jesus or Paul; but the place of the individual is in a bigger, corporate picture.  Excessive focus on salvation demonstrates our Western culture’s ‘me-ism’ vs. the Eastern ‘corporate’ culture.

There are two differing concepts being compared. Before interpreting the question as either/or, consider that the Kingdom of God was, is and will always be the goal of Yeshua and should be the goal of today’s church – living by the guidelines that were established in the Torah. Personal salvation is the converting of our lives or repenting and joining in the Kingdom effort, which happens to also have the benefit of “personal salvation.” The challenge is for those who claim the saving grace that Yeshua provides to also accept a corporate responsibility rather than settling for the selfish ‘I/Me/My’ mindset.

I remember a pastor I respect who opened his message confessing that he had come to a realization – “My role is not to build my church, nor to build my denomination. My role is to build the Kingdom of God.”

Point to ponder

Is the good news about the kingdom, or about your personal salvation. 
What think you?  T/F?  Or somewhere in between?

Lord, help us to be effective tools in your Kingdom.

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                   November 15, 2016

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage” “Musings - A Victorious Life”  “Musings - The Torah and New Testament”
Weekly “Hebraic Musings”      www.InsightsByYosef.com

Musing – A Question to Ask Children

Hebraic Musing – A Question to Ask Children.

Up until now, my typical challenging question of children, ages 5 to 25, was “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  Maybe I am really asking “Who do you want to work for; or how will you earn a living to support a family; or what is your favorite hobby?”  And it leads to a second question like, “What do you have to study/learn in order to do that?”  Effectively I’ve been asking “What (boring) company do you want to work for (to slug out a living)?”

I’ve had to reconsider that questioning.  Maybe the better and more inspiring question would be “What problems would you like to solve in the world?”   Maybe the more people focus on what they’d like to accomplish, the more likely they will be to achieve it.

To quote Rabbi Eckstein –

“In Proverbs we learn, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” This is true for nations as well as for individuals. Every nation needs to have a vision of what they stand for and the role they hope to play in the world. If a nation lacks direction, it will ultimately fall into anarchy or into the hands of another nation. In contrast, a country that rallies around strong ideals and values will be united and strong. It will achieve great things both for its people and for the world.

“In the same way, if we as individuals don’t know what we stand for or what we want to do with our lives, we can end up in a mess. Without clear direction in our lives, we aren’t likely to accomplish much. We are all gifted with talents and abilities from God. It is our job to form a vision and a mission for our lives.”

Let’s encourage our children to think of their purpose in life.  What do they want to accomplish?  Would that thought process improve their desire to study both their textbooks and their Bible?  Similarly, at dinner time I would typically asked my children “What did you learn in school today?” Maybe a better question would be “Did you ask any good questions in school today?”  Or “What problems were solved today?”  Questions create a vacuum, thus a quest for answers.  Students who ask questions pick up far more information than those who glide passively through their school years.  BTW – Applies to adults as well!

When we ask questions, we are on a mission to get an answer. We are motivated to learn and take an active role in our development.

And for all ages – Let’s have a purpose, a “Mission Statement” for our lives.  Let’s search ourselves and answer these questions:

·         What would we like to accomplish?

·         How can we best utilize our God-given gifts and abilities?

·         What kind of person would we like to be?

·         How do we want to be remembered? Hint - Start by writing the epitaph for your tombstone.

Points to Ponder

Does this line of questioning apply only to children?

When seeking employment, we might ask ourselves “What do we want to accomplish?”

“Where there is no vision, the people perish…” — Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                   November 8, 2016

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage” “Musings - A Victorious Life”  “Musings - The Torah and New Testament”
Weekly “Hebraic Musings”      www.InsightsByYosef.com

Note:  Inspired by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein’s  “Have a Vision for Your Life”   Oct.28, 2016