The Baptism of John from a Jewish Perspective, Part 3

Isaac & Jesus

As mentioned previously, Isaac the son of Abraham nearly died at the hand of his father, Abraham in Genesis 22:

⁶And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

 ⁷And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

 ⁸And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

 ⁹And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

 ¹⁰And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

 ¹¹And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

 ¹²And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

 ¹³And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

 ¹⁴And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

 ¹⁵And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

 ¹⁶And 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:

 ¹⁷That 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;

 ¹⁸And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. (KJV)

Isaac was spared, but God always intended someone to take his place. Jesus was a direct descendent of Abraham through King David, on his mother’s side. The father of Jesus is God himself, Abraham’s best friend. This would be the same God who orchestrated the promise of Genesis 22, which means that one day, God would provide a way for the promise to ultimately come to fruition. This meant that someone was going to have to be sacrificed on Mount Moriah.

Before that could happen that someone, Jesus, had to be anointed in such a way that he could take Isaac’s place as the firstborn son of Abraham. And guess what? That’s what John did!

What was the baptism of John? What was it specifically that he was doing at the Jordan River?

Next time...when Pagans convert to Judaism...

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Forward

Ever had a conversation like that…with the air?

I know I have.

The world has a way of beating innocence out of us, doesn’t it?

When I was a kid my father introduced me to science fiction. One of my first memories was of sitting on dad’s lap watching Star Trek. Fantasy was always a big part of my life. I had an imaginary friend. I spoke to God on a regular basis and really believed that He answered me. We had conversations. We would talk about the weather, dogs, cats, what breakfast was going to be tomorrow, how awesome those clouds were…

“Look at those! Wow…”

“That one there looks like a frog! This other one looks like a lion…”

“…and that one there…it looks like…God’s Smile!”

For some reason we have very little problem accepting the idea of God—when we’re small. It seems like the most natural thing in the world to believe in a divine being who is gentle and loving, kind and caring, always having our best interest as the most important thing in His heart. I know that not everyone has had this kind of experience of God, but I know I have. I remember a time when I was around the age of three that I literally felt surrounded by God’s love. It was as if I actually LIVED in His love!

I can’t tell you how many times as an adult I wish I could return to those simpler times!

You know what I mean­­?

­Over the years, I’ve met people from all over the world, and shared so many common stories with people from all walks of life, including the two stories above. My worldview has been challenged more times than I can count. It constantly amazes me that people from such diverse cultures can have so much in common; yet have so much not in common at the same time!

I remember years ago, beckoning to a colleague on the other side of a noisy, crowded room to come join me. An innocent enough thing to do, and something I’m sure you’ve probably had a similar experience with, right? My co-worker came storming up to me with fire burning in her eyes! She could barely contain the fuming unspoken curses raging and trying to escape from her tense, pursed lips.

I had no idea what I’d done wrong.

Several days later after trying to get to the bottom of the situation, my wife came to me and explained that in her native culture, the gesture I had used was one of calling to a lady-of-the-night to engage her services.

I really had no idea!

If it is so easy to cause offence and misconstrue one person’s gesture in the midst of a room full of people, how often do we misread, misinterpret and misunderstand the people closest to us?

We all have filters through which we sift the information we are engaged with moment-by-moment. There have been volumes of psychological, theological and philosophical works on this subject. Why? Because of the amazing amount of confusion we humans all seem to be trying to clearing up about the “this, that and the other things” of life that someone didn’t quite understand about something we did, said, wrote or the expression we did (or they perceived us to) make.

Our filters don't necessarily make us right or wrong, they simply determine our point of view.

One person may have been devastated by the death of Michael Jackson, while the next person may view it as, "One less pedophile in the world." One person may perceive Barack Obama as the Messiah while the next may view George W. Bush as the anti-Christ. These are just the filters through which each person sees life’s events, situations and the actions of others.

By being aware of our filters we are more cognizant of the fact that we are not necessarily right or wrong, we're just us. Coming to a place where we understand this concept leads us to the realization that our perspective is more often, "It's all about me,” but rarely, “I am trying to understand you…”

Here’s An Exercise:

Consider a time when you went out of your way to help someone who was then offended by your words or actions. Did the recipient see your good intentions as evil "according to their filters"?

I think most people have had such an experience, no?

In my life there is at least one person I know of that seems to always read what I say in an email in exactly the opposite way of what I actually wrote.

Do you have someone like that in your life? Perhaps more than one person?

Maybe you are that person and you know it?!?

Or…maybe you don’t.

I’ve heard many people express their frustration with these “filter problems” with such sentiment as,

I love work. I just can’t stand the people I work with!

I love God, but I can’t stand God’s people!

I Love Mankind. It’s People I Can’t Stand!

Every friendship or relationship starts out with so much hope.  We dream big about the possibilities that this person will bring to our lives.  We start out being open, generous, and giving.  Then, as people will do, we start to disagree and things get on our nerves.  In our polite, new friendship mode, we let things go to keep the peace.  Then at some point, there comes the deal breaker and all of the pent up anger gets released—and usually not in a healthy way.  Do we give in to the dark side and cling to the notion that we always have to be right?

Our filter says we are right!

Their filter says they are right!

Have you ever experienced frustrating thoughts like these?

Why is that person always reading between the lines and hearing something I am not actually saying?!?

Why does [insert person’s name here] insist that I am acting out of selfishness or malice when I only trying to be helpful?

How in the world could [so-and-so] have gotten me so wrong?

Here’s a practical example:

A while back I was at a three day conference and made some new friends with two guys who shared a common passion and vision for things. Over the course of the weekend we spent more time talking to each other than listing to the guest speakers. One of them made it clear that as much as he loves talking, he really likes doing a lot more, especially when there seemed to be so much agreement.

So we decided to meet a few more times to talk, brainstorm and pray about whether God was in these discussions and if He was, did he want us to act? As part of that prayer and excitement we thought it might be nice to bring in some more people to the prayer and discussions.

There were two other mutual friends that we invited who also shared some similar dreams and visions.

During the subsequent meeting, these other two people began accusing me of trying to force God’s hand to make things happen—when nothing could have been further from the truth. For some reason those two had the idea that I was trying to maneuver and control those gathered in order to make my own dreams come true. They had the mistaken idea that I wanted to head everything up and be the main one in charge.

It was weird. It was strange. It was very odd.

What was said was supposed to have been “from God” and maybe it was, but it sure wasn’t a message I needed to hear! Maybe it was the guy sitting next to me…because none of the things said were in my mind and heart!

I was offended.

Those two people were offended at what they thought my intentions were. They were wrong about my intentions, but they would not hear what I had to say, believing me to be trying to cover up “my sin.”

The original three of us guys were stunned at the reaction, “Where did that come from?” said one. It was actually the one guy who had done nearly all the talking who asked this question. He was the same guy who had previously said he didn’t want to just talk, he wanted to act. I think the message was for him.

The bottom line was this: the stated purpose of the meeting was to gather together to talk about mutual dreams and pray about them, and to see if God wanted to make them more than just intellectual stimulation!

The “Filter” through which those two invited guests had viewed me, was a little perplexing to say the least. Their well intentioned discussions about me with other people after the incident caused considerable harm to many relationships.

It is amazing how much damage a couple of well-intentioned “saints” can cause.

Maybe they should have come to talk to me?

Filters: Can you relate?

In our faith, it is easy to sit in church surrounded by a loving church family, and think that we will always be God-like in our interactions with others.  When the people around us are warm and wonderful, it is easy for us to reciprocate in the same manner.

But what about when false accusations come?

Our filters create difficulties in relationships, family, work environments and everyday interactions with those around us. By more clearly understanding why we (and they) react the way we do, maybe we can somehow work together toward actually being the people God wants us to be.

If our “filters” can cause so much trouble between people we love and care about, what kind of trouble do they cause between us understanding God and His intentions?

Tomorrow: Chapter 2
But if you don't want to wait, you can get the whole book right now: https://www.createspace.com/3582133

Amazing Discoveries in Mexico, Did Solomon's Navy Make It This Far?

Were Hebrews in the Americas long before Columbus? More evidence comes from the investigations of Dr. Alexander von Wuthenau, whom I interviewed at his home in Mexico City. His living room was filled to overflowing with terra cotta pottery figures and objects d' art. In his book The Art of Terra Cotta Pottery in Pre-Columbian Central and South America, Dr. Von Wuthenau published scores of photographs of these art objects. He tells of his astonishment, when he first noted that in the earliest, lower levels of each excavation he encountered -- not typical Indian heads -- but heads of Mongolians, Chinese, Japanese, Tartars, Negroes, and "all kinds of white people, especially Semitic Types with and without beards" (p. 49).

At Acapulco, von Wuthenau found that early Semitic peoples lived in considerable numbers. "The curious points about these essentially primitive figures are that, first, there is an emphasis on markedly Semitic-Hebrew features," he declared (p. 86). Female figures found in the region are also markedly Caucasian, with delicate eyebrows, small mouths and opulent coiffures.

Cyrus Gordon, who has studied the collection, points out: "In the private collection of Alexander von Wuthenau is a Mayan head, larger than life-size, portraying a pensive, bearded Semite. The dolichosephalic ("long-headed") type fits the Near East well. He resembles certain European Jews, but he is more like many Yemenite Jews."

Near Tampico, the early Huastecan culture reveals portrait heads with a predominant Semitic, white element, but also Negroid features appear. At Veracruz, meanwhile, a figurine of a female dancer possesses the features just like those of a Frenchwoman of Brittany! She wears a headdress reminiscent of Phoenician fashion. Also at Veracruz a figure with a false beard, styled like an Egyptian beard, had a snake-like protrusion on the forehead.

Again and again, figures with definite Semitic features have been found. A sample of Maya ceramic painting shows a lady with a flower who has an undeniable Negroid character. The figure has an affinity with Egyptian painting, says Wuthenau. yet it was not found along the Nile, but in Central America! On the Pacific coast of Ecuador, also, evidence for the presence of early Hebrews has been found. Also discovered was a figurine of a lovely girl who wore a headdress with a remarkable Phoenician affinity. Other Ecuadorian heads show definite Semitic features. Clearly, the Semites penetrated a large part of the American continent in "prehistoric" times!

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Additional Sample Topics TOV can bring to your event whether the event is religious or not!

Teachings, Writings & Selected Presentations

Workplace:

Why Christians Don’t Connect with the Rest of the World and How to Fix it

Negotiating Faith in the Workplace

The History of Faith & The Entertainment Industry

Negotiating Faith the Set, in the Studio, on Location, On the Road

How to be a person of faith in the Industry

Ministering in the Entertainment Industry

Current Events & The Middle East:

The Middle East in Prophecy

Understanding The Arab/Israeli Conflict

80-years of Continuous Nazi Incitement

Israel: God’s Time Clock

The Great War to Come

Overview of Islam: What They Believe & Teach About Christians

The Rise & Fall of Islam

The Time of Jacob’s Trouble

The One World Government is Here to Stay

The Intentional Destruction of America

Secret Societies: Not so Secret

Aliens & UFO’s: What They Really Are and Why It Matters

Islam Will Conquer the World:

·        What it is

·        Where it Comes From

·        Where it is going

·        How it Ends

·        The Goddess They Worship

History, Science & Archeology:

2000 Years of Jewish Believers in Jesus & The Church

How Science Proves the Bible

Forbidden Archeology

The Heavens Declare the Glory of GOD: The Biblical Zodiac

Physics and the Bible (Hebrews Chapter 1)

Christian & Jewish Myths:

Paul: A Jewish Rabbi Teaching Non-Jewish People

Did Paul Create a New Religion?

Paul the Plagiarist?

Christian Fables:

·         Easter              

·         Christmas

·         Santa

·         Wise Men

·         And a Whole Lot More

TEN Christian Myths  

·         Old Testament:

1.          God created man to spend eternity in Heaven

2.          The Torah (Pentateuch) is made up of 5 separate books

3.          The Old Testament is an historical document

4.          The Old Testament is all about legalism

5.          The Old Testament is a chronological story

·         New Testament

6.          Replacement Theology

7.          Covenant Theology

8.          Renewed Covenant/Kingdom Now Theology

9.          All Christians will be part of the rapture

10.       Being saved makes you a disciple of Jesus Christ

Biblical Holidays:

Messiah in the Passover

Messiah in the Feast of First Fruits

Messiah in Pentecost

The Fall Feasts of Israel

The Day of Atonement

Jesus in The Feasts of Israel

Jesus in The Feast of Esther

Hanukkah: Messiah, the Light of the World      

Christmas is a Jewish Holiday

Israel’s Healing

Israel’s King and His Kingdom

Holocaust Memorial Day

The Feast of Trumpets/The Jewish New Year

The Feast of Tabernacles

The Spring Holidays of Israel

Evangelism:

What is Biblical Evangelism?

How to Witness/Evangelism Seminar

The Biblical Basis for Jewish Evangelism

The Priority of Jewish Evangelism

To the Jew First (Romans 1)?

The Gentile Role in Jewish Evangelism - Romans 9-11

Messiah in the Hebrew Scriptures (Traditional Messianic Prophesy)

The Good News, From the (Hebrew Bible) Old Testament

The Gospel in Genesis

The Gospel According to Moses

The Gospel in Leviticus

The Gospel in Psalm 68

Christian Doctrines:

The New Covenant or a Renewed Covenant?  

What the Rabbis Say About

Messiah

The Meaning of Jesus’ First Miracle in the Light of Jewish Sources

Kingdom Government Characteristics & Components

Democracy/Republic vs

Kingdom

Office of the Godhead: 

Father  & Jesus - The Distinctions Between Father and Son

5-fold ministry

Elders vs. deacons

Christian Foundations:

John’s Baptism: What it Really Is & Why it Matters: The Sacrifice of Isaac

Biblical Baptism(s)

·         Fire

·         Water

·         Repentance

·         And More…

The Miracles of Jesus Are not Predicted in the Old Testament: Why they were Required?

Communion: God will not forgive if…

The Covenant of Salt: You Can’t Be Saved Without It

The God of the Old Testament: Jesus or His Father?

The Genealogies of Jesus: King, God, Man

The Old Testament Books as presented in Hebrew Bible: The Theology of Biblical Cannon

Tabernacle = A Figure of Jesus

The Off-Color Jokes & Puns in the Biblical Text & The Apostle Paul’s un-Translated Foul Language

Being A Man of Faith: The Biblical View of Manhood

Accountability for Men

Why Men Can’t Stand Churches: Why Drinking, Gambling, Hunting, Guns and Machismo are Good Things

How to Love a Woman

Worship:

Approaching the Throne of Grace Properly: The Tabernacle

Why I Hate Christian Music/Or:  Who Learns Theology from Immature Song Writers?

Social Myths, Discipleship, Education:

What is a Disciple?

What is Heaven and Where is It & What is It?

What Really Happens When You Die?

Job: Nine Months of Hell in the Life of One Man

God’s Unbreakable Promises: A Proper Understanding the Eternal Biblical Covenants vs. Conditional Covenants

The Pentateuch (Torah) is: A Book!

The Theology of Moses is the Theology of Jesus & Paul

The Emmaus Road Revelation: What was revealed?

 Ignorance is a Choice that Will Kill You

The Myth of Adolescence: Social Engineering the Destruction of Nations

The Anti-Gospel: Historic Religions, Philosophies & Mythology

Psychology: The Intentional Creation of a Secular Religion to Replace Biblical Christianity

Heaven & Hell: Eternal Life & Eternal Living Death      

The Truth: You Will Not Live in Heaven Forever!

The End—is Just the Beginning: What will Eternity Look Like for Christians?

If You Don’t Believe the Bible, Can You Call Really Yourself A Christian?

Why A Dispensationalist is Right—and Wrong

The 21st Century “Christian” Cults: Why Are Most Christians Members?

America’s Pastors? The Poison of Mega Church Theology

Modern Messianic Heresies

Prophesy:

End Times Prophesy Applied to Current Events

The Days of Noah: Here We Go Again

The Watchers of Daniel & Isaiah: The Bible & The Book of Enoch

The Giants of the Bible: Genetic Manipulation Past, Present & Future

The Two Babylon’s of Revelation

Jerusalem, New Jerusalem, The Garden of Eden & The Four Corners of the Earth: What’s the Connection?

Genesis and Revelation: The Beginning is Like the End

End Times Prophesy (The Bible Books of Revelation, Daniel & Enoch)

The Book of Acts is a Past Tense Book: Only in America

Spiritual Discernment:

How to Minister in a Faithless World

Helping Those Who Can’t Help Themselves

The Spiritual Roots of Disease (Health & Healing for Today)

Health, Faith & God: How We Think Effects Our Health

Overcoming Spiritual Abuse

Sin & Spirit World Realities

The Seven Steps to Sin: Learn to Sin Like You Mean It!

The Father’s Love

The 9-R’s to Freedom

Distinction & Connection Between Soul and Spirit

Satan & His Kingdom: Who They Are, Where they come From, How they are Structured and How they Deceive
Overcoming the Strongholds of the Enemy:

·         Bitterness

·         Accusation

·         Door Points & Traumas

·         Occultism

·         Envy & Jealousy

·         Rejection

·         Unloving

·         Addictions

·         Fear

·         Blocks to Healing

·         Walking Out to Wholeness

The Occult:

·          Real Power

·          False Miracles

·          Signs & Wonders

·          Aliens

·          UFO’s

Contact Information

Tov Rose, founder The Entertainment Industry ChaplainsPO BOX 22231 | Saint Paul | MN 55122 Tel: (651) 686-5600 e-mail: chaplains@thechaplains.org www.TheChaplains.org | www.TovRose.com          TOV Rose is a Bible teacher, chaplain, inspirational speaker, television producer, performer, pastor, founder of The Entertainment Industry Chaplains and Author of The Book of GOD: For Men  (Every Man's Handbook for Knowing GOD):  http://tiny.cc/96vru

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