Building on the Foundation

  As you read through the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, you see that most kings of Israel and Judah paid lip service to Almighty God, but they didn’t obey Him. They thought they could mix worship of the true God with idolatry and paganism, just as most people do today. Some kings of Judah did follow God, but not with loyal hearts. When troubles and tribulations arose, they became fearful and wandered off His path. Or, after being blessed by God for their obedience, they became puffed up with pride and forgot Him. But a few other kings of Judah truly set their hearts on God and on walking in His ways, and they remained faithful until they drew their last breath. Yet, like us all, these men, too, had their flaws. Sometimes their human nature got the best of them, and they strayed from the path until God corrected them. The apostle Paul explained to the congregation in Rome, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience ...

  Are you Jewish? That question is one I often get asked upon someone learning that I don't eat pork, that I celebrate the Biblical Festivals instead of the pagan ones, or that I keep a Saturday Sabbath.  It seems common knowledge that all the things the Bible commands in the Old Testament, were for the Jews, and that we modern people (after 30 AD.) are not required to observe such rites, and especially if we are not Jewish. Before we delve into that though, we need to define some terms:  A “Jew” is someone that is ancestrally descended from the tribe of Judah. Judah was one of the twelve sons of Jacob (later named “Israel”)    The line-up went like this: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin.   Joseph's two sons; Manaseh and Ephraim each became a tribe and replaced the tribe of Joseph.  Thus there were thirteen “tribes of Israel” that were enslaved in Egypt, and released at Passo...

Multiple commandments just seem to get overlooked, and I think that’s a real tragedy. Most of these commands are little commands, the smallest of commands, even, but they are still direct instructions from our Father in Heaven, which means we should take them seriously.  Faithfulness in the little things demonstrates our readiness to handle the big things and the things we consider to be important. We should take the little things a bit more seriously than we do, and instead of trying to moralize everything, as Christianity has been trying to do for generations, we should be absolutely obedient.  Most of these commands aren’t that difficult to follow either, and following them teaches us something important, both in diligence and in the actual command itself. God didn’t tell us to do things arbitrarily, and this knowledge of His nature gives us the ability to trust that His instructions are for our good.  One of these often overlooked commands is found in the instructions...