“Not the Mama!”

Remember the animatronics television series of a while back called “Dinosaurs”? It only ran a few years in the early 1990s. (I guess that certainly dates me!) Well, one of the memorable lines was from the baby, who when the mama had to be away, would tell the papa, “Not the Mama!”

 

The papa was trying to fill the mama’s role, but the baby was not going to have anything to do with it. Baby dinosaur knew the difference and wanted the real thing, no substitutes.

 

It is easy to settle for what is disguising itself, attempting to be a substitute for something else. Modern-day Jews and Christians alike have been caught up in such a deception but should be echoing the baby dinosaur, “Not the Mama!”

 

I’ve always felt there’s something suspicious about the Temple Mount. This summer, God’s Word and several archaeologists have made it clear why. The Temple Mount is, so to speak, “Not the Mama!”

 

The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the “I am,” told the disciples as they stood outside the Temple that “not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.” (Matthew 24:2 NASB) Not one! When God speaks, His word is always true to the detail. No exception.

 

The prophet, Micah, foretold that the Holy City would be plowed under (3:12). And, so it happened. Many years after the Temple was destroyed, in 135 A.D., the Romans under Hadrian destroyed Jerusalem to the extent they ran a plow over much of it, including the ground where the Temple once stood. It happened just as our God said it would.

 

But there’s more. Various Old Testament scriptures liken the City of David to Mount Zion and Mount Zion to the Temple location, which means the location of the three share an identity. The Temple was in the City of David, just south of the current Temple Mount.

 

And there’s even more. Historians, including Josephus, identify the so-called Temple Mount as the Fortress Antonia, built and named by Herod. Josephus adds that the Temple and the Fortress were separated by 600 feet. If this is true, those praying at the Western Wall are praying at the foundation wall of an enemy’s fortress. It's definitely not a Temple wall of any sort as Jesus said, "not one stone here will be left upon another."

 

Yet, will this eye witness truth in today's time of information availability make a difference to modern-day Israel? I’m not sure. Somehow, I doubt it. Tradition is hard to overcome. Most are so set on this “Not the Mama” they even argue against the plain word of Scripture, rebuking those who claim otherwise. As Jesus once said, man’s tradition has a way of nullifying the word of God.

Do some research yourself. This is the age of information. For example, here is one link (among many available) to an article by Robert Cornuke that makes the facts plain and simple: http://www.khouse.org/articles/2015/1223/.

 

You decide. Is the current Temple Mount “Not the Mama”?

 

 

Success in a Battle

But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news

about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ,

they were being baptized, both men and women.

Acts 8:12 (AMP)

 

The 2015 edition of the Amplified Bible has a footnote for this verse, Acts 8:12. The editor wrote: “In ancient Greece the word translated as “good news” or “gospel” was used to denote any good fortune, including success in a battle. So, I took a look in Strong’s at the word used in the passage and its definition.

 

The word in this verse is euaggelizo. Strong’s definition says it is to announce good news especially the gospel; to declare or bring glad tidings, to preach. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon adds that in the New Testament the word is “used especially of the glad tidings of the coming kingdom of God, and of the salvation to be obtained in it through Christ, and of what relates to this salvation.” The obtaining of salvation certainly relates to success in battle, the victory over sin and death.

 

As an ancient Greek word, we see it used in the Septuagint (LXX, from the 2^nd century BC) in 2 Samuel 4:10 (2 Reigns 4:10): “for the one who told me that Saoul had died—and he was as one bringing good news before me—and I seized him and killed him at Sekelak, to whom I ought to have given a reward of good tidings.” In this case, though, the good news was only in the minds of those bringing it—they thought they had success in battle—for David, but it turned out David did not receive it as such.

 

Cicero (1^st century BC) used this word in a letter to Atticus to describe the good news of another being acquitted of a charge against him. Plutarch (1^st century AD) used the same word to describe a victory in Mantineia. Other ancient writers also used this word in various ways that really emphasized that the glad tidings were ones that would bring great celebrations and joy far beyond the usual happy face.

 

That’s the real significance of euaggelizo as we read of the effect of the gospel throughout the book of Acts and throughout the history of the church to modern times. The gospel bears the impact that is revealed in the definition of euaggelizo that the editor of the Amplified Bible wrote of—the good fortune of success in battle. The life we live on this earth is a daily battle, always a spiritual battle and often a physical battle. It is the gospel—the good news of the victory of Christ—that gives us victory as well. That is good fortune wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ!

 

And therein lies the “good news of the kingdom of God” in this land of the living, "news of great joy." It was the message given to the shepherds.

 

Don’t be afraid! Listen! I bring good news, news of great joy,

news that will affect all people everywhere.

Luke 2:10 (VOICE)

 

 

“Out of Egypt”

Recently, well, at least to me, God has emphasized that when He told Moses the Israelites would be brought to worship Him at “this” mountain—in Midian—that’s exactly what He meant and exactly what happened. But mainstream Christianity, though not all, have been distracted by a tradition created centuries after the fact to think that the mountain, Mount Sinai, is in what became to be called the Sinai Peninsula.

 

The Bible is clear that “this” mountain was and is in Midian, in Arabia—Saudi Arabia to be current. In these the last days, as the angel told Daniel (Daniel 12:4), knowledge is increasing, and things that have been previously hidden are being revealed. The evidence of the location of Mount Sinai has always been there, however, and the local Bedouins can attest to it. Mount Sinai, Mount Horeb, is in Arabia, just as Paul wrote in Galatians 4:25, right where it’s always been in spite of the traditions of man and in spite of almost all of our current Bible maps.

 

God took the Israelites “out of Egypt” the very day they started walking. That phrase repeats itself in Exodus 12-14. They embarked on a journey through the peninsula along the straighter route to Midian avoiding the easy route that would have taken them near the Philistines. But at one point, before they could round the Red Sea (Gulf of Aqaba) into Midian, God had them turn back taking them south through a wadi’s narrow valley to the huge beach of Nuweiba on the right finger of the Red Sea.

 

There, the fire of God stood between them and the Egyptians protecting them as the Red Sea parted in front of them so they could cross. This was the perfect provision of God as Isaiah 43:16 (NASB) says, “Thus says the Lord, who makes a way through the sea and a path through the mighty waters.” Here at Nuweiba is a raised “bridge” of land under the water from shore to shore with easement slopes suitable for today’s wheelchair ramps. It is the only place in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, where this is possible. And not only that, the floor of this portion of the Red Sea is easily walkable sand, supposedly kept thin by the passing of the current over it.

 

After the Israelites crossed safely, God removed the Egyptian pursuers’ chariot wheels and the sea came down over them. Isaiah 43:17 records God’s description as He was the One, “Who brings forth the chariot and the horse, the army and the mighty man (They will lie down together and not rise again; they have been quenched and extinguished like a wick).” (NASB) Many have photographed such wheels encased in coral. Just Google it.

 

The Israelites then made their way to “this” mountain, God’s Mountain, what the locals have called for centuries the mountain of Moses, Mount Sinai. All the physical evidence and biblical evidence supports its location. God used the tradition of man (as well as the Saudis) to preserve the truth of the Exodus for such a time as this.

 

Perhaps, in His scheme of things, He is again turning us from the traditions we set up to His truth that is the reality we need to live in, especially in these last days. We need to remember His miraculous provision is not just for the Israelites. God takes notice of us, just as He took notice of the Israelites (Exodus 2:25 NASB). He is the great I AM for our lives, too.

 

His Voice

On a Live PD episode, a tweeter asked Officer N. Carmack, “If a bad man knew the commands you give to Shep [his K-9 dog], would he be confused?” Officer Carmack said, “No, he only knows my voice.”

 

This immediately made me think of John 10. In verses 4-5, Jesus said (of the shepherd), “…the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him because they do not the voice of strangers.” (NASB)

 

Then Jesus said (10:27), “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them and they follow Me.”

 

This also makes me think of Acts 2 where some heard the disciples “speaking of the mighty deeds of God” in their own languages and others said they were drunk.

“My sheep hear My voice.”

 

Lord, I praise You that Your Voice speaks life and calls Your own into Your light. May we choose to keep close to You so that we always discern Your Voice and follow You.