Want to have some fun this Christmas season? Get family or friends together, make some hot chocolate or coffee, and try this Christmas Story Quiz!
Keep a Bible handy. Try without a Bible and then with a Bible. See how you do! The number of traditions that have grown up around the Christmas story are so legion that the real Christmas story is hardly identifiable. Some of the questions are a little ambiguous, so don’t worry about getting them right or wrong as much as discussing them.
Answers: 1) F. The Julian calendar does not have a year 0. Our original calendar was set up by a miscalculation that He was born in 1BC, though this is impossible because Herod the Great died in 4BC. Jesus was most likely born in 7BC. If He died in AD33 then He was about 40 years old at His death, not 30 or 33 as most assume. 2) No, they were betrothed but not yet married. However, in Jewish law the betrothal was so strong that it was legal in Judea to travel together as man and wife. In fact, the arrangement was so strong it was considered a legal marriage and breaking it required a divorce. When Joseph discovered she was with child, he was planning to “put her away quietly,” which means “divorce.” It was crucial that he not do this because then he would not be the legal father of Jesus which was required to transfer David’s throne rights to Jesus. 3) 2. Matthew 1 and Luke 3. 4) Joseph. 5) A stone feeding trough. 6) Astronomers. These men studied the movement of stars. They were evidently descendants of those who were in the school that Daniel became president of in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 2) and were believers. We don’t know how many there were. The idea of “three”, embodied in the hymn “We Three Kings,” is due to the three gifts given. However, the number of gifts does not indicate the number of gift-givers. Further, three would hardly cause a disturbance in Jerusalem (Mt. 2:3). Some scholars think up to 600. They came to worship Him, which indicates they were believers. The back story is fascinating. 7) None. Modern embellishment, though it was a cave and probably attached to or underneath a house, often used for storage or shelter for animals. 8) True (Lk 1:31). Joseph was also told the name (Mt. 1:21). This confirmed that the message was from God. 9) Yes. Cousins. 10) Herod the Great. 11) John the baptizer. 12) Yes. Luke 1:36. 13) True (Mt. 2:3). They didn’t want another King (John 19:15). 14) False. A king tried to have him murdered. The wise men were not kings. 15) Jewish scribes who pointed him to Micah 5:2. 16) False. They came to a house, whereas the shepherds came to a cave. 17) No, the wise men came much later than the shepherds. 18) Probably between six months and 2 years old. Herod wanted all the baby boys under 2 years of age killed. He calculated according to the time the star appeared and added some time to make sure he successfully murdered the threat to his throne. 19) Yes. He has always been God and will always be God. 20) Yes. They went west. Why? This has a lot to do with the identification of the star which is another fascinating story. It’s not a natural star. Yes, I’ve seen The Star of Bethlehem presentation. That is an old myth. 21) False. He is eternally the Son of God. This is called the doctrine of eternal sonship. The Son no more became a Son than the Father became a Father. 22) No. He was supposedly (thought to be) the son of Joseph (Lk 3:23). This has to be clarified though. While He was not the biological son of Joseph, He was the adopted son of Joseph, which was critical to His receiving Davidic throne rights. 23) 3. 24) No. Bethlehem was a very small village. It is unlikely they had any places to lodge like a hotel. These were usually along the major highways in larger cities. The Greek word translated “inn” is kataluma and refers to a “guest-room,” whereas the Greek word that is properly translated “inn” is pandoxeion, which is used in Lk 10:34. 25) 4.
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On October 7, 2023, more than 3,000 Hamas terrorists entered Israel from the Gaza Strip. They murdered more than 1,400 Israeli's, over 1,100 of which were civilians, 300 soldiers, and kidnapped at least an additional 242. This was the largest terrorist attack since 9/11 and, proportional to population, much larger.
This attack completely surprised Israel, which is the most significant aspect relative to Israeli defense. Coupled with statements like the following, from Hamas political bureau member Ghazi Hamad, Israel is realizing it can no longer live in the shadows of terrorists on any border. Hamad said, "Israel is a country that has no place on our land...we must remove it because it constitutes a security, military and political catastrophe to the Arab and Islamic nation. We are not ashamed to say this." Hamad is referring to Nakba, the catastrophe of 1948 when Israel took the Palestinian homeland, which in their mind is an affront to Allah because it challenges his sovereignty. Allah is in disrepute until the land is restored. Thus, it is war since 1948. Hamad continued, "we must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do it twice and three times. The al-Aqsa Deluge [the name Hamas gave its October 7 onslaught] is just the first time," and added, "will we have to pay a price? yes, and we are ready to pay it." Further, "we are the victims of the occupation. Period. Therefore, nobody should blame us for the things we do. On October 7, October 10, October one-millionth, everything we do is justified." (Jinsa.org) It becomes quite apparent that they never intend to stop fighting Israel. Therefore, what is Israel to do? Israeli Minister Gantz is now making significant comments to the effect that Israel can no longer live under the shadow of terrorists. Currently there are terrorists on all sides. Hezbollah on the North (proxy terrorist army of Iran), Fatah in the West Bank, along with Hamas in the South, and many other smaller terrorist organizations all around Israel. While the main operation is against Hamas in Gaza, things are heating up in the North with Hezbollah. Israel may be waiting for things to escalate to a breaking point, but it is already beyond anything seen since 2014. Israel probably does not want to be seen as the aggressor and be positioned in a two-front war. Things are also taking place in the West Bank with Fatah as well as Hamas operatives, and casualties are on both sides. Israel is realizing that ultimately their position in the Middle East is an untenable and unlivable one. They need to remove all terrorists from their borders. This is where Bible prophecy comes into play. Ezekiel 38:8 predicts a time when Israel is restored from the sword and living securely. No one can convincingly argue that they have been living in such conditions since 1948. For Hamas and all terrorist organizations in the region such as Hezbollah (terrorist proxy army of Iran), Fatah, Palestinian Jihad, et.al., it is war since 1948. Israel is under constant rocket fire keeping their population in constant fear and psychological stress. But if the terrorists are all rooted out, then the conditions of Ezek 38:8 would be in place. Israel would be living securely. However, if Israel took this large-scale action, it could induce international anti-Semitism, including the final turn of America against Israel, leaving Israel all alone. Then the waiting game would begin, and the question of how long Israel will be living in peace and security before the Ezek 38 war. Of course, many other prophecies get in the mix, most importantly the rise of the anti-Christ and the ten-nation confederacy. Israel may eventually sense an existential threat of an Ezek 38 war and make the treaty with the anti-Christ for security purposes. In the end, we may have to live out our days, but the situation in Ezek 38:8 is hard to imagine with terrorists living on every side, and if they are eliminated, then there can be no doubt that the rapture is very soon, as it is difficult to imagine these things taking more than 50 years seeing that Hamas planned 16 years for the current unprovoked attack. At any rate, the stage must be set, and we could be seeing that happen in Operation Swords of Iron. Last time we closed by asking whether dispensationalism is a narrative or a theology. The answer is that dispensationalism is both a narrative and a theology. A biblical narrative tells a story that communicates a theology. What’s interesting is that there are several competing narratives and resulting theologies; covenant amillennialism, covenant postmillennialism, covenant premillennialism, progressive covenantalism, progressive dispensationalism, essentialist dispensationalism, Pauline dispensationalism, mid-Acts dispensationalism, and late-Acts dispensationalism. The answer as to why there are so many competing narratives and resulting theologies is tied up with hermeneutics, which we’ll discuss in a later post, but for now, what is so powerful about the way the Bible is written is that it is a story, and stories move us.
The books we read are stories, the movies we watch are stories, and the lives we lead are stories in themselves. How many times do we sit around the kitchen table or campfire with family or friends and share stories? We love stories because we are created in the image of the One who is the greatest story-teller. God begins the story with His work of creation, putting His essence on magnificent display, as well as uniquely creating man in His own image. The image of God is not happenstance or insignificant, since all design carries an inherent purpose; our head, our arms, our feet...our personality, our conscience, our creativity are not chance aspects of our makeup. They are designed specifically to reveal the purpose of man. This purpose is to reflect God's rule over the universe by ruling over the earth. We are uniquely crafted to rule the earth for His glory. This is essentially what a dispensation is; a master initiated stewardship that involves a steward who is responsible and will be evaluated. The first dispensation is kingdom. Of course man was innocent. I don't know any non-dispensationalist that would disagree with that. There is nothing unique about that descriptive title, but if we forget the kingdom on earth concept here, we will certainly not be able to find it later in our theology. The master, God, wanted the steward, Adam, to rule over the earth. This began as a garden kingdom, but it was to grow to cover the whole earth through good stewardship. Adam started off well, naming the animals under God's watchful eye, but for the purpose of realizing that there was no counterpart like him. Thus, in the first surgery, God put Adam to sleep and created the woman out of the man's side. When the man saw the woman, far from taking billions of years to learn to speak and sing, Adam was able to serenade her immediately. The two became one flesh, and together they would work to fulfill God's stewardship responsibility. Yet, the serpent entered the story and deceived the woman, tempting her to question the truth of God's word regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When she ate the fruit, she also gave to her husband who was with her, and he ate. When he did, their eyes were open and they realized they were naked. They had acquired a sinful nature or disposition toward God that would forever plague the human race. They had also failed to fulfill their stewardship responsibility. At this point, the garden kingdom that Adam was supposed to rule was turned over to Satan who became the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, and the spirit that is at work in the sons of disobedience. God quickly judged by cursing the serpent, the woman, the man, and nature. Conflict between the serpent and the woman, conflict between man and nature, and conflict between nature and nature. Embedded within the curses is one bit of good news, the seed of the woman would defeat the serpent. But how this would all transpire was yet unknown. What theology can we learn from this narrative? The first big theological idea taught by the narrative is kingdom. God made man in His own image and likeness to rule over a kingdom on earth. This forever defines the kingdom and forever establishes the purpose of man to rule. Next time we’ll peer into the seed of the woman, and the second big theological idea taught by the narrative… Dispensationalists have listed varying numbers of dispensations ranging from as few as three to as many as twelve. Charles Ryrie traced the difference to definition. Both Ryrie and Elliot Johnson have done excellent word studies showing the biblical meaning of the Greek οικονομ- word group to consist of four basic elements; a master, a steward, a stewardship, and an evaluation. Yet, when they come to definition they differ. Consequently, the number of dispensations they see differs.
Ryrie defined a dispensation as "A distinguishable economy in the outworking of God's purpose." He admits that this is a theological rather than biblical definition. He justifies the theological approach by comparing it to what we commonly do when we discuss the substitutionary blood atonement in relation to Christ's finished work, even when the word atonement is not used of Christ's finished work. The result of his definition is that he sees seven dispensations; innocence, conscience, human government, promise, law, grace, and kingdom. Johnson defined a dispensation as "God's entrusting His revelation to elect stewards in service on behalf of the world." This is a biblical definition. The result of his definition is that he sees four dispensations; promise, law, grace, and kingdom. Johnson's approach was more interested in the overall biblical narrative, so he discussed the setting, plot-conflict, and resolution of the story, placing the dispensations within the narrative. Consequently, the dispensations did not cover the entire Bible from cover to cover. This contrasted with Ryrie's view that the dispensations must cover the entire Bible from cover to cover. While it is often stated that the number and names of the dispensations are "relatively minor matters," the differences add up and make a difference. Are we to view the Bible more theologically, as Ryrie suggested, and divide the entirety of biblical history into dispensations? Or are we to view the Bible more narratively, as Johnson suggested, and establish the setting, plot-conflict, and resolution, placing dispensations within that narrative structure? In the next post I'll discuss the difference it makes... This is a very personal story. I am writing it with false names to protect the people involved, but this is a true story.
My name is Benjamin and my wife is Netanya. Our youngest daughter, Ali, came to us on two prior occasions expressing a specific fear and anxiety. She was afraid she would become something that God did not create her to be. She is only 12 years old. We thought she was far too young to be having these fears. We talked her through it both times, asking her questions about why she was afraid this would happen to her. She did not know. She was crying each time. We would pray about it. The third time she came I grabbed the book Basics of the Faith because I knew there was a chapter on Promises of God. I quickly found it in the contents and turned to the chapter and skimmed the promises. I found the section on Anxiety/Worry. With my arm around Ali, we read the verses and the short, but illuminating explanations. When we finished we prayed. As she walked away she took the book. I said, "Where are you going with the book?" She said, "I want to keep these promises by my bed." She carefully placed the bookmark that came with the book on the page of promises and left the room. A few days later I saw her with the book at bedtime. She was reading it, but not the promises section. Instead, she was reading the first chapter, which is about God. I thought about something my older son Jonathan had said a few weeks before. "Dad, the chapter on God is more than basic. It is a little hard to get through." I do not think he got past that chapter. I hoped Ali would not think that. I forgot about all these things. Four weeks passed. I was downstairs passing by an adjacent room. It was dark, but I glanced and saw Ali huddled up under a desk with her book light and a book. I looked closer to see what book she was reading. It was Basics of the Faith! This shocked me. I did not think that she would keep reading this book. I immediately was thanking God for His work in her life. I walked closer in the dark room to take a picture. She was now in the middle of the book. It was obvious from the page wear that she was reading it chapter by chapter. I quietly left the room. Later that day I saw the book sitting on some of her things. It's pages, well-worn on every side, and the cover with some creases and curled edges, beckoned me to open it. When I could not resist I opened the book to the cover page. There I read the words, "Sept 09, 2023, Ali who owns this book." That was the day we first opened the book to read Promises of God. My heart was warm with more thanks to God for His incredible gift! Perhaps this book can help you or your children too. I know that all of us parents want one thing for our children more than anything; for them to walk with the Lord, and to seek out His treasures. Welcome to the Bible blog. This is a place where I will share stories, thoughts on passages, answers to questions, and practical application of doctrine. There is no set timing to when I will post, but when there is something of particular interest, I will post it here for your enjoyment and insight. Many conversations take place in my seminary courses that include things I have never heard, read, or thought about. I hope to share some of those conversations.
Check back soon to see what is new. Soli de gloria, Jeremy |
AuthorJeremy Thomas has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner. Archives
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