True Biblical Patience

During my study on The Book of Job, I was asked by one of the readers if I would do a post on the subject of patience. At the time I put it on my list for future topics, but after Post #16, I felt compelled to immediately move to the subject of patience in light of the fact the Job, among many superlatives, was indeed a man of patience. No doubt you have heard the phase, "the patience of Job." Some know the story of Job, but many scratch their head and wonder what that means. This entire post will be spent on understanding the deep, spiritual meaning of this common phrase.


Let's start by admitting to ourselves that the modern definition of patience changes with age and maturity. Early in life I can remember always wishing I would be old enough to drive a car. It seemed like an eternity as the days and months dragged on, until one day my Dad let me take the wheel in the driveway for the first time. Back then there were no driving schools to attend, no safety films to watch and no one to let you learn except someone in the family, usually Dad. Now that I had waited impatiently for years, I was frustrated even more when I had to learn on a stick shift. Then I learned some basics laws of the road, took the written test, and finally I received my "temporary" driver's license. Then I could practice legally with my Dad, while I waited for the big day. My family always had small vehicles, and of course we couldn't afford an automatic transmission, air conditioning or even power windows. It was just your basic small size family car with a 3-speed transmission and a sensitive clutch. A patrolmen was used to give the physical driving test at the police station, and when my guy came to pick me up, my heart sank, because he had a full sized patrol car. To me it was gigantic. After all these years of waiting and begging the time clock of my life to speed up, I suddenly, for the first time thought about flunking the driving skills test. I had waited for years, I had passed the written exam, I had practiced with my Dad, but no amount of preparation on my part could have taught me to parallel park that huge police cruiser. I had enough trouble with our Ford Falcon. When I failed, I was devastated and thought my young life was over. What would my girl friend say?What would my parents say? My friends would laugh me out of school.

I did pass the test on the second try, and I did it safely with confidence. You see despite waiting years, and getting myself ostensibly prepared with the blessing of my mother and father, I still failed, because it was not my time. Like many of us in our daily lives, we have spent years scrimping, saving, and waiting for things. Buying a house, having a baby, getting a car, splurging for a boat or a vacation, all seem to have waiting and timing involved. We hate to wait, so whatever we can do to shortcut the process and make it happen, we generally do with little hesitation. Patience is the exact opposite! It's enduring for the whole time necessary, even if there is no end in sight.


Patience comes from the Latin noun, "patientia/patientiae," literally meaning suffering. Over the years from Old English to French and so on, it developed a much broader meaning and was used differently over time. The evolution of the word in today's vernacular has much more to do with waiting or tapping your foot, than the historic context. Today we say, "he has the patience of a saint," meaning a mental contentment or discipline to wait for something or someone. Back when Job was walking the earth, "the patience of Job" meant, "the suffering of Job." To interpret Job correctly you need to understand the context of the word back then, not now. I am not certain why the evolution of this word changed so dramatically over time, but it happens often in the Bible, making the study of etymology crucial to meaningful interpretation or understanding of God's Word. 


Today perseverance and/or endurance would make proper synonyms for patience, and in both cases these words imply length of time or waiting. Suffering, the way it was meant for Job is a much harder word, implying pain, harm or threat to an individual. I believe this distinction paints a more accurate picture of what the writer intended every time Job's patience comes up. Satan made Job suffer much physically, but he also tormented him mentally and emotionally at the same time. The beauty of Job's story even burns brighter with the proper interpretation, because despite the suffering, he never flinched spiritually.


The lesson to be really learned here has little to do with Job patiently waiting for God. It has to do with one man's painful suffering and mental anguish. While Satan tried to stomp out Job's faithfulness to God with his free reign over him, he was met with good old spiritual perseverance and physical endurance. He was not patiently waiting for anything. He was surviving a one on one battle with the angel of darkness himself, not one of his minions. There was no subtle, backdoor approach even considered by Satan. This was all out war on one of God's creation. He meant to crush this man quickly, so that he could go back to God and literally rub it in His face. 

The truth is that Satan killed Job's children, his cattle, his servants and took away all his wealth. He then covered him in hideous, painful boils, while using his wife against him. And finally, Satan used his best friends, as a last ditch effort, to destroy the faith of Job. Satan had no idea that internally, where it counts, Job had the strength of Samson. He was spiritually muscle bound from head to toe and what's more, God knew this all along. You see, only God can look inside of our heart and soul to see what we are really made of...Satan as powerful as he may be cannot know us like our Creator.


Bad things happen in our lives, or at least we believe them to be bad. None of those things are caused by the Almighty. They are either caused by the evil one himself or our sinful selves. Don't blame God. He wants nothing except your faithfulness and love. He wants you to be happy and successful, but not so much that you forget about Him. Believe me I know! Susan and I lost our first child about 34 years ago. Jamie was born with multiple birth defects and only lived 7 days. Susan blamed herself, and I blamed God. In truth it was not Susan's fault, and it was not God's fault. It was tragic and changed our lives for many years to come. I don't know why it happened to us anymore then, than I do now, but I can tell you that we have endured that pain (patience) for 33 years. God allowed it, he did not do it to us, and today I finally can accept why. She would have never lived a normal life on this earth, but at least we got to hold her for a few days. I am consoled by the fact that she and other children taken prematurely, for one reason or another, have a special place in Heaven above. God breathed life into her giving her new soul at least a few days with her parents. This is God's definition of patience. We have endured just like Job and so can you. 


Some say that we all have our crosses to bear...I believe we need to fully comprehend biblical patience by persevering with Job's physical, mental, and spiritual endurance. If you can accomplish all three in your life, God bless...If you have to choose, the only one that matters to God is spiritual endurance, so be sure to exercise your spirituality with Him daily.


May you always maintain the strength of Samson in your heart, for only then will you be able to achieve divine patience. 


God Bless,


The Digital Disciple 

The Book of Job...

                                                                            Job

There are forty-two (42) chapters in "The Book of Job," and this Post will be centered on this amazing book of the Bible. Keep in mind that Job was the great-grandson or the great-great grandson of Noah, so he was part of the fourth or fifth generation after the flood. Depending on whose genealogy you study, it is possible that Job not only knew Noah, but could have spent time with him in the new world, you see Noah lived to be 950 years old and Job lived to be 350 years old. At the very least, he must have heard all of the stories passed down from each generation by word of mouth.

My family was lucky to have four generations together for a family photo, including my grandfather, father and my son. My children had their great-grandfather for quite a few years, but never fully appreciated his status as the grand patriarch of the family on my father's side. Today there is little respect for parents, much less grandparents or great-grandparents. Genealogy and the rich traditions of family heritage have been replaced by the "now" generation. After all, what can possibly be gained by looking backwards, when people actually spoke to people around the family dinner table. 

One of the things that I have admired about the Jewish community is that they have held on to their beliefs and tradition to this day. Certainly the orthodox Jews remain steeped in their past, but even the most modern of Jews still becomes a man at his "bar mitzvah." A Jewish man is taught the importance of his heritage at a very young age, along with the Hebrew language, all in an effort to keep Judaism a vibrant part of all their lives.

Job, or Jobab as some like to refer to him, was a model believer in his God. God makes it crystal clear that He has found a "perfect" man. His definition of perfection is right in verse one.

1. Job is Upright.
2. Job fears God.
3. Job eschewed Evil.

Upright is not discussing his posture, it is used here to describe morality, honesty and integrity; traits found in few people back then and fewer now. Fearing God here clearly means that he had not only a deep respect for his creator, but quite literally feared his power and might. Remember we are only four or five generations from Noah, when the entire world was destroyed by flooding. This healthy fear of God is referred to in the OT. Psalm 1:7 states that "the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom," meaning that Job had no illusions about his station as, the created man, in the scheme of divine creation. So without ego or prejudice blocking the path, God could fill him with wisdom that would have otherwise never happened. Lastly, he eschewed evil...This is a great ten cent word that captures Job's personality, in that he deliberately avoided evil, almost like abstaining from it. He went out of his way not to allow evil into his life or the lives of his family, and then took it one step further for all ten of them. Every day, not weekly or monthly, but every day, he performed a sacrifice for himself and each child, according to Mosaic Law, to be certain that that there was no sin in his family.

All I can say is, WOW!" He gave his whole life to God, and our Lord did nothing but reward him at every turn for his loyalty, love, and sinlessness. I don't know about you, but I find the biblical account of this man, as humbling, as I do inspirational. God recognized his devotion from Heaven, while he was living his life in Uz, which is modern day Syria. My life and probably yours pales in comparison to this faithful servant of God.

                                                                             Lucifer

All of this comes out in a meeting that God is having up in Heaven, yes, Heaven is a real place! God had invited, "the sons of God," to this meeting to discuss business, I guess. Scholars argue over who these, "sons" were, but they all kind of agree that they were angels of some sort. Could they have been Michael, Gabriel and the lot of them? We just don't know anything accept they weren't human. So who shows up for this meeting of angels? Satan himself decides to attend and give God a personal update on what was happening on our planet. Seems like God my have been surprised, but it is apparent that Satan had access to Heaven and Earth with no problem, even after having been banished. So Lucifer, the beautiful and powerful angel had his named changed to Satan, "the adversary," for all time, but God talked to him, nonetheless. Regardless of when he actually became Satan, this is the first mention of him personally in the OT. Many are confused by this, but my take is simple. Lucifer became a sinner at some point for his pride, his arrogance and his undermining of God. Instead of being perfectly pure white, he had the black stripes of sin on his soul, viewable to all. God allowed him to attend this meeting in Heaven, not because Satan was a sinner and destroyed Adam & Eve in the Garden, but because God, the Creator of all existence, loved him anyway. I believe that Satan would be welcomed back into the fold with open arms, if he genuinely repented of his sin and loved God. How's that for some liturgical firewood? Further I believe that if events unfold according to prophesy, and Satan is chained in Hell for eternity, that God will still love him even then. What a powerful example of how divine love and loyalty shines bright even in the darkest hour of evil incarnate.

Anyway, Satan decides to challenge God in front of His angelic meeting. If you are going to show up the boss, there is safety in numbers. He tells God that Job is only "perfect," because God has him "hedged in," or protected on all sides. God gave him 10 children and made him the wealthiest man in Uz. It's great to know that God provides and protects the faithful, but Satan devised a plan to destroy this faithful servant. He tells God that if you take away all his wealth, he will, "curse thee to thy face."
Imagine the gall it takes to confront God Almighty right to his face. So God says, ok, take away his wealth, and we will see what happens. As soon as he got this permission from God, Satan bolted back to earth to get started on Job. Almost immediately, Job began to receive awful messages that his cattle and animals were taken away by the Sabeans, and that his servants were all dead. Lastly, he was told that a windstorm caused the house to fall in on his children, "and all of the young men were slain." In his grief Job tears off his clothes and shaves his head. Then, falling to the ground, he begins to worship God. He said that he came into the world with nothing, and he will die the same way. He then said that God giveth and God taketh away, finishing off with, "blessed be the name of the Lord."

The next time the "sons of God" met Satan asked God for more permission to be able to harm him physically. God says ok, but do not end his life. The rest of this story about the boils from head to toe
is known by all of us, but you may have missed the fact that his wife asks him to, "Curse God and die." Imagine having Satan and your wife against you, pushing you to sin. He tells the woman that she is foolish and simply states that he received good from God all of his life, so why should he not take some evil with it.

                                                            Job's closest friends and wife

The man was spiritually bulletproof. Satan failed, his wife failed and the final test was Job's three best friends. They came to comfort their friend in his time of need. All you need to know about them is that they said nothing to Job for the first seven days!! The sight of him and his excruciating pain shocked all of them. Some comfort for Job...While Job was constantly scraping his boils, they took in the sickening reality of the situation and basically did not know what to do. Then after a week what do they do? They lecture Job and try to tell him that he must have done something terrible. They tell him in so many words that he has to get right with God. Doesn't this message have a familiar echo in those "do-gooder" camps known as churches, where they celebrate their religiosity. There are some churches or synagogues whose pastor, reverend, priest or rabbi, really teach from the heart by the Grace of God, but many remain caught up biblical legality and religious interpretation. They leave me cold, but God loves them all anyway.

Anyway these three waste Job's time for many weeks. It reads like a courtroom drama with Job doing the best he can to respond to their accusations in his agony. At the end of he book, God restores Job's health and wealth. It appears that he even went on to have more children; however, the whole story has a surreal, unfair exploitation associated with it. Why would God put a faithful man through this ordeal? I would have failed long before my children were killed, and if I made it that far, I am afraid I would have cursed God and died. I would never have made Round #2 with Satan, or Round #3 with his "friends." May God forgive me, but I mean every word.

                                                                        EXTREME


We live in a cynical world, where most of us continue to have our minds dulled every day by video games, the internet and television. You Tube sprung up out of nowhere, so that people could put up for viewing some of the vilest, sickest, grossest videos. The more EXTREME, the more popular they  become. Going viral means taking things global at the speed of light and portraying them in EXTREME ways. Safety, sensibility and censorship have subtly been replaced by EXTREME travel, food, vacations, sports, music, drinking and sex. We make it bigger than life, because we no longer get the jolt from traditional, normal behavior. What comes after EXTREME? I don't really want to know, but what I do know if that we are systematically being de-sensitized on all fronts.

EXTREME is how I define what happened to Job. Figuring that it happened 3-4,000 years ago, Satan was way ahead of his time. What God allowed and Satan implemented leaves me in awe of a man named Job. God used him to put Satan in his place, while testing the mettle of one of the faithful.  Despite the outcome, I cannot help but feel sorry for the man, his children and his animals. He was a pawn in the biggest chess match of all time, but the more I think about it God the Father has a divine design for each of us. My personal story is far from EXTREME, but I still feel that it's an important part of God's grand game plan, just like with Job. I pray that this portion of his life will touch you in the EXTREME, as it has me. Take stock of your spiritual station in life. Then imagine losing everything in this world that is important to you. Job turned to God...Where would you turn?

God Bless,

The Digital Disciple

Tolerance Revisited...

In the last Post, we began the search for wisdom and understanding about a very complex word, "Tolerance." The research for Post #14 opened my eyes in many ways, and I thank God for that enlightenment; however, it became clear to me that as I drew the prior Post to a close, that there was so much more to be done on this simple, yet controversial subject. And so, here is "Tolerance Revisited."


I am often accused of being intolerant myself...In the language of current psychology, I have a "Type A" personality, and often exhibit the key traits associated with this "disorder." Here is a taste of my personality as defined by "The Jacob Goldsmith Theory."

1. Arrogant
2. Controlling
3. Business-Like
4. Aggressive
5. Competitive
6. Irritates Easily
7. Hates Delays
8. Hostile When Pushed

All I can say is that if my sister read this list, and was asked who it was, she would say, "So, you know my brother, Jimmy." Unfortunately, so would many prior associates, partners and employees. I put my personal, "40 years in the wilderness," right upfront, so that you would know something about this author, and for some reason I feel compelled to share this piece as well to preface the rest of this Post.

To the core, I was a hardened, vicious, cruel, and overbearing ogre for most of my years on this earth. Toleration was not in my vocabulary. I tolerated nothing and no one, nohow and never! If there were an Olympic game for Type A-Intolerance, I would have swept all the gold metals, and just to be perfectly clear, I have broken most of the 10 Commandments and a host of other secular laws. Fortunately for me and those I love, most of this history is just that, history.

Why God has allowed me back, I do not know. I do know that if it is temporary for any reason, it will not be His fault. He has given me a second chance where, in my humble opinion, none should have been possible. Only with this information about me, can you now know with absolute certainty that God, no matter what you believe or think you know about Him, is tolerant above all measure.

Some have asked if this all happened overnight from some epiphany or other sign from above...Sorry to disappoint, but this did not happen quickly at all. There was no thunder or lightening, no brass bands, and no near death experience. For me it was just like this inverted bell curve:

The point of this curve is to show you my personal path. If you follow the descent here it graphically reveals my last 40 years, starting in my early 20's and going until today. My slope was a steep decline during the early years, then I wallowed in a trough of ungodliness for a few years, before I gradually found my way back by the Grace of God. If you have ever read the book, "Siddhartha," by Herman Hesse, it provides you with a better picture than I can portray here.


This is Godly Tolerance that knows no boundary and the only reason I am capable of writing now is simply because He waited for me, even when I showed no sign of spiritual life. Just like the graph above, I was below flat-lined for decades, before any pulse could be found.


Returning to the OT legality from Mosaic law, there are countless stories that appear completely intolerant to the casual observer, but upon reflection there was tolerance there as well. Consider Adam and Eve...Many consider this a quaint little story about the beginning of God's creation; however, most only see the obvious seduction of Eve by the serpent, and the eating of the apple from the tree of life by both of them. Do you really think that the apples on that tree were any different from the surrounding trees? It was never about the fruit opening their eyes to their nakedness. It was about trust and obedience. The souls that had just been given to them both were now damaged and no longer pure. They disobeyed, then lied about it, then blamed each other and finally blamed the serpent. God gave them everything, asking nothing in return except the 1st Law, "don't eat of this tree only."


He didn't kill them, he punished them. He didn't kill the serpent, he punished him. He didn't scorch the Garden of Eden and start over, He TOLERATED all of it, just like any loving father would do, while covering up their new found nakedness for them. Then He kicked them out of the house (Garden), so that they could live and learn on their own. Far from a perfect beginning to mankind, but at least they launched their life together, just totally different than in the confines of the Garden with God.

In further study on the subject of tolerance in the OT versus the NT, I came upon the following "idiomatic antithesis." Don't let that combination of words throw you, because from my vantage point it provides proof positive that their is a palpable, discernible difference in, "The Letter of the Law versus The Spirit of the Law."

This short phrase makes the hair stand up on the necks of the orthodox and the unorthodox alike. It commands you to THINK, not just blindly accept 6,000 years of history, and it is another key to wisdom and understanding all that has been written from Mosaic Law to the Laws of current civilization in modern society. You have to make up your own mind, based not what you were taught, but your personal stamp of understanding and acknowledgement in your own soul.

Both the letter and spirit of all Law have gotten sorely abused down through the centuries right up until those on trial this year, this month, or next week. If the letter of the written law does not provide  a loophole to minimize or eliminate responsibility, then go to the spirit of the law and plead that the law was written for a different time and place, making it no longer valid. Those in authority now and historically actually poke fun at God's Law. They have rationalized it away, because it has been stamped, "DOES NOT APPLY." But currently it is no longer good enough to trample on God, because people of my own country are now trampling our own legal system. The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are being stamped, "DOES NOT APPLY," right in our faces on the heals of home grown corruption and senseless toleration. That's right toleration, like any virtue can be used for good or evil. Focus on the pattern of activity, not on what the pundits say, and you will be able to stand up for yourself and make independent assessments. 


Mankind was divided by geography and language many years ago. I don't know how or why, but I can tell you that our world of different civilizations is "a-changin." Much of the time it is labeled, progress. We want to address and rationalize everything from global warming to the limited supply of fossil fuel in the "new" digital global community. We want to save "endangered species," while ignoring the millions of OUR species, living in in squalor, starving or worse. We sell arms to the militants for money and political gain, while we attempt to impose our rules of existence on all peoples of the globe. Somehow we believe that the way we live is the only correct way. How do we continue to rationalize our arrogance, while we continue in league with drug cartels, arms dealers, dictators and our own sin and corruption? The United States has sold its birthright for a barrel of oil. The United States has sacrificed its soul for power and control. As bad as those two observations are, the worst tragedy is that we traded away, "We The People," and replaced it with "We The Federal, State and Local Government." 


My earnest prayer is for more Divine Toleration. Here is an example that says it better than me:


In Matthew 5:20-44, Christ showed that obeying the “letter of the Law” is a matter of physical action, whereas obeying the “spirit of the Law” requires more than just outward actions—it also involves an attitude of the mind—referred to by the Apostle Paul as “circumcision of the heart” (Rom. 2:28-29). For example, Christ showed that to merely refrain from adultery is obedience to the “letter of the Law,” but to obey both the spirit and letter of the Law, one must also exercise self-control (“temperance”–Gal. 5:23), and not even lust after someone(committing “adultery in his heart”).

In my over-sized and bold words above I find another key to divine wisdom and knowledge. Being intolerant requires nothing but a weak mind and a severely damaged soul; however, being tolerant from God's perspective requires taking time for understanding and accepting, minimally, the letter or the spirit of the law, but truly divine temperance requires, "BOTH."


My words are never meant to hurt anyone of God's creation, just to make you think and decide for yourself. You see, when you meet your maker, your life will be evaluated based solely on YOUR deeds and actions, so learn to depend on your own soul and the God who put it there.


God Bless,


The Digital Disciple

TOLERANCE...

                                           Bob Jones University

This year will be my 63rd birthday...I grew up in a home full of love and relatively extreme discipline for the first 18 year, then spent four years in a fundamentalist school, founded on the principles of Bob Jones, Sr. Never having been away from home farther than 20-30 miles, the trip to Greenville, S.C. was one of fear and amazement. In the 60's most simple folk stayed close to home for their entire life, and the Vietnam War and politics in general were surreal concepts to this young man, who was more concerned about playing baseball in high school and practicing the art of Judo during college. During my last two years of college, I became Captain of the University's traveling Judo team. We performed at state fairs, in penitentiaries and even churches, all on the east coast from New York to Florida. During those formative years I developed a severe case of myopic intolerance for everything from religion to dancing, dating, eating, drinking, lying, stealing, cheating and just about anything else that was considered unacceptable behavior. Any feelings I had about any of these subjects remained suppressed down deep. I did what was expected or what I was told for many years, but most importantly I gave up my right to think independently, analyse in detail and decide on my own the difference between right and wrong. 


As I reminisce about the "good 'ole days" from my current chronologically challenged status, I believe that most of the things that happened back then were for my own good as follows:

1. My fondest memories of my parents, my sister, and my brother, all center around our home. Dad was a commercial painter for most of his life, but his home was truly our castle. He idolized my mother and doted on all of his children every day of his life. Since Mom and Dad got married so young they barely could rub two pennies together, and yet not long after her 17th birthday, she had here first son...
2. When they bought their first home, it was a monumental achievement for our family, but that tiny 3-bedroom bungalow was where I learned about family love. Of course it always starts with the right example of stability, support and affection.  Mom was a hugger and a kisser, but in our house her love for my Dad was an amazing thing to observe. Their passion for each other and their kids has stayed with me all these years. I thank God for that early influence in my life. 
3. Mom was the disciplinarian in our family, and her bark was as bad as her bite! We had rules, chores, and we worked hard. We helped her keep our home immaculate, beyond compare. I remember stripping and waxing the floor every Saturday under her intense scrutiny.
4. Dad was the all about tolerance...Long before it became fashionable to add tolerance to families, religions, social groups, politics and relationships in general, he emerged as the  first pacifist. He replaced discipline with bending the rules, he replaced heated arguing with patience and rationality, and finally, he replaced bigotry with love and kindness to all.

No matter where you live on this globe, we all have come from parents and family units of some type. Mine was not perfect, but it gave me a look the key ingredients for a successful family. When I say not perfect, I mean it. Mom once chased me down with a hair brush and smacked my legs with it, because I refused to come to the dinner table. She believed in corporal punishment for her kids, and Dad, when left with no other choice, would take off his belt and give me a couple of smacks on my posterior. Truth be told, I never appreciated what they were teaching me at the time. Full appreciation from me happened posthumously. Only as I matured, did I ever realize how incredibly blessed I was with my family.

The words, tolerance, tolerate, and toleration are not used in scripture, OT or NT. This does not mean that there aren't examples of tolerance on many levels. First we need to understand the word, and, of course, its roots are in Latin. "Tolerare" is the Latin verb, meaning to tolerate. All of the variations of this word stem from here. It has several different meanings, and here are three:

1. To bear or to endure something or someone is to tolerate.
2. To permit or be permissive in the sense of authority is to be tolerant.
3. Finally, for individuals it means to be free of bigotry or undue severity is to be tolerant. 

Certainly there are a few additional definitions, such as a part being finely machined within a specific tolerance, but this does not apply in this discussion. The three definitions above at least give us the framework around which we can build an understanding of the difference between tolerance and intolerance. 

The Bible, especially in the OT, is not a tolerant book. Prior to the appearance of Jesus in history, the Jewish faith as it progressed through biblical history, spent most of those years attempting to learn and live by His Word and the Eternal Laws of Jehovah. Every one of us has failed to do so throughout man's existence. St.Thomas Aquinas wrote the "Summa Theologica" in about 1265 AD, and one of the topics he discusses in detail is tolerance. St. Thomas equivocates about the subject so much, that by the time you finish the reading, you have forgotten where you started. Anyway, here is where I come out on this subject of great importance...Tolerance.


It seems that God, the Creator, was not about tolerance. He was and remains about the perfection of His creation, man. He destroyed mankind on more than one occasion, and destroyed cities and tribes of people through out the 4,000 years of Jewish history BC. He chose the Jewish race for reasons that we are not certain of at this time, but I am certain that Noah, Abraham, Issac & Jacob did not happen by accident. The "Chosen Nation of Israel" provided God with a people with the history and lineage He was looking for beginning with Noah and going through to His son, Jesus. For thousand of years he nurtured and disciplined this nation, putting them through a process of purification that spanned generations of genealogy, looking for lasting faithfulness and obedience from his chosen people. No matter what laws He put in place, no matter how many times he rained manna from Heaven, or sprung water out of rocks, consistency never happened. He had them subjugated by Egypt and then miraculously saved them. He had them conquered by the Babylonians and then miraculously saved them, all the time, trying to create faithful obedience out of a "stiff-necked people." 


In the OT God dealt swiftly and decisively, without ever looking back; in fact, looking back cost Lot's wife her life. If you look at the Hebrew history, it seems like they always took one great step forward, followed by two steps in the wrong direction. Despite everything the Creator did all through those years, the best it ever got was under the rule of King David or his son Solomon. Even those amazing leaders ended up mired in sin for one reason or another causing future leaders to go back to worshiping the world around them, instead of the God who created and cared for them.


Figuring that we have just over 6 millennia of recorded Jewish history, somewhere in the 4th millennium, Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. Jesus was a game changer, because the Son of God became a man for 33 years. For 4,000 years God the Father had tried to find a workable solution of miracles and laws to remedy the inherent, flawed and sinful nature of mankind. Could He have compelled obedience? Of course, but then our lives and affection for Him would not be real, so a change had to be made.

In order to genuinely understand us, Jesus became one of us...From his birth to his death he did nothing but examine God the Father's creation to decide once and for all, whether mankind was worth salvaging. I believe that Heaven devised this plan, led by Jesus himself. It took him 33 of our years, before He decided to make the journey from life to death, and back again. It was the essence of love and the ultimate sacrifice simultaneously. Think about it, he lived in virtual poverty, he was tempted every day by Satan himself, he talked to God the Father whenever he could, he ate our food, drank our wine, and worked as a carpenter. What a perfect choice for a job. We had carpenters 6,000 years ago, and we still have them today. Jesus's entire life, though cut short, was to give Him a timeless, face-to-face experience with mankind. 


During this one short life, mankind began a new era based on what He learned during His tenure with us. Thank God that Jesus learned what he needed to know and completed the plan of universal, global redemption. You see, He did not die for the Hebrew nation, he did not die for Catholics, he did not die for the Baptists, Methodists or Lutherans, he did not die for Muslims, Buddhists, or Hindus, he did not die for black, white, red, brown or yellow, he died for every living soul on this planet past, present and future. By the way that includes atheists, gnostics, satanists, and every cult. So as intolerant as the OT was, the NT is all about tolerance for God's creation. God is not interested in your color, your creed, your country, your language or the depths of your personal sinfulness. Forgiveness and tolerance will remain inexorably linked for eternity, provided by 33 years of life and the ultimate death on the cross. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." 

Tolerance is a worthy virtue. The picture above is exactly what I am talking about. Here Jesus asked a local women of "Samaria" for a drink of water. Being of Samaritan descent placed you very low on the social pecking order back then. They were considered half-breeds or worse, by the Jewish Nation at the time. I guess racism was alive and well even back in the 1st century. Regardless, no upstanding Jew would talk to these low-life Samaritans, much less ask for a drink of water. Sounds eerily similar to the 21st century, where one race feels superior to another, especially where color is involved. This is NT toleration in action. Jesus didn't care what her lineage had to say about her, he treated her with the same dignity and respect, he would have treated anyone. This is amazing stuff about Jesus, that I had never understood until now. Here to for, it was a nice story about a thirsty man getting a drink. Remember when Jesus talked to the thieves being crucified next to him? He treated them the same way. This is what makes our amazing Trinity, so very special. It takes all three of them to save this village, we call home.


These examples help me bridge the gap of OT legality, punishment and blood sacrifice, with our tender, merciful Savior in the NT, or in current vernacular, "PRICELESS." He literally knew us inside and out, because he chose to be one of us. When He gave His mortal life for ours, He knew exactly what He was doing, and more importantly, for whom!


God Bless...


The Digital Disciple