One new humanity for the world…but it’s not what the world thinks.

Forging a one-world peace
without an entirely new type of people is a losing effort. 
That’s why Jesus wants us “born-again”.

Look at how Jesus makes one new humanity for eternal life and lasting peace.  It’s a purchase agreement.  One new humanity out of all the parts of the old because with His blood, He “purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.” (Revelation 5:9). 

Diversity isn’t its strength. 
Salvation in Christ alone is its strength. 
As the old song goes, “There’s power in the blood.”

Questions for further thought:

Read this passage and see how mankind had no role except to be willing recipients.  It’s all by God’s grace.

Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith– and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.  10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)–12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.  13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.  17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.  18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.  19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.  21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

What was that wall of hostility? 

Jews did not mix with Gentiles for purity reasons. How did the Law keep the Jews separate until the Messiah came?

Once the Messiah clearly came “from the Jews” did the wall need to be destroyed so salvation could be “for the world?” 

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for tearing down the wall of hostility in the spiritual realm.  You have already fulfilled the Law and are in the process of lifting the world of faithful ones apart from the world of unbelief.  We thank You that Your work of salvation is already done and, in Your grace, You’ve given this world time to repent and believe.  Your Kingdom is near.  Your Day is at hand.  Your people look for Your return and pray Your mercy upon us as we preach the Good News of Your birth, life, death, and resurrection so the full number is ready–and that the full number would be from every nation, tribe, and tongue which is further evidence of Your love and mercy!  We love You, Lord, for Who You are, and for what You’ve done for us.   Amen. 

===

 By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “From the Jews for the World” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

The one thing a manmade messiah (or antichrist)
can NEVER give
is the ONE THING that JESUS CAME to give:
LIFE EVERLASTING. 

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.  This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.  But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (John 3:16-21)

He’s the Savior. From the Jews.  For the world.

Questions for further thought:

Where does human mortality originate? Why are we “dust to dust”? Genesis 3:17-19, Psalm 90:1-12 

Would you want to live forever in a state of sin?  How does that differ from hell’s everlasting punishment?

Could a manmade messiah deal with his own sin problem?  What about other people’s sin problems?

Why does dealing with the sin problem matter when it comes to mortality?

How was Jesus able to deal with our sin problems?  Hebrews 9:27-28

Prayer: Father, in Hebrews 2:1-15 you warn us to pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away…to ponder the question “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him?”  We praise You for our Lord Jesus, “who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.”  Father, remind us that our salvation was bought with a price—the most infinite cost of the life of our Lord Jesus.  We praise You that “both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call [us] brothers and sisters.”  And since “the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death– that is, the devil– and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”  No manmade messiah can bring this eternal life.  Lord, help us to communicate Your Gospel of peace during this time celebrating Your first Advent.  Amen.

===

 By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “From the Jews for the World” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless,
Christ died for the ungodly…
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6,8)

Jesus couldn’t have died in His 30’s if He’d never been born.

If there had ever been a case in which it could be argued, “My body, my choice,” Mary was it.  I’m glad she chose life.

Questions for further thought:

Think about all the reasons women use under the umbrella of “My body, my choice” to justify ending a pregnancy.  Not the right time.  Not ready.  Can’t afford a baby.  I wouldn’t want to bring a baby into this world.  The man I’m with doesn’t want to have children.

Why is it even more remarkable that Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:38)?

How did God’s Word to Mary reflect mostly traditional Messianic expectations?  “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:31-33)

How did God’s Word to Joseph display a different understanding?  “An angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:19-21)

Is saving people from their sins part of the traditional Jewish Messianic expectation?  Would righteous and observant Joseph have known this?  How was God’s plan larger than the traditional expectation?

Both Joseph and Mary would have seen His birth as being “From the Jews” and for the Jews.  How did the Word given to Joseph expand that as being of “For the world?”  Were Jews alone sinners or worse sinners?

Prayer:  Father God, we praise You that, in Your wisdom, You brought Jesus in the world at the perfect time and that the descendants of Abraham would be like sand on the seashore or stars in the sky.  Thank You that You are bringing those from every “tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10).  Thank You for Mary and Joseph doing their part “From the Jews” so that Your followers today can do our part as “For the World.”  Make us fruitful in our generation.  Remind us the harvest is still plentiful.  For Your glory.  Amen.

===

 By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “From the Jews for the World” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

There is no getting a lasting peace when one group seeks the obliteration of another group.  Because conquering is not enough anymore when two groups sincerely see land as rightfully theirs.  The Jews because God gave it to them (reasonable enough for those who believe in God).  The Muslims because the Ottomans claimed it.

“One of the leading clerics, Dr. Ali Daghi, Secretary-General of the International Muslim Scholars, wrote: “There is a consensus among Muslims, in the past and present, that if an Islamic land is occupied, then its inhabitants must declare jihad until it is liberated from the occupiers.” 

The Ottomans lost the remaining land by siding with the Germans in WWI and the last vestiges of the Ottoman Empire limped toward its demise in 1922.  But the ideas of infiltration, reproduction, and conquest are still alive in this idea of Once Muslim, Always Muslim.   To them, the Ottomans had it forever and amen.  They’ve got a big gold dome to suggest that it’s now occupied Islamic land in their eyes…and conquest to get it back can be overt or covert as a bloodless war of infiltration.  Jihad has been declared, demanding “liberation.” 

Back to Bethlehem, according to this article, Jews and Christians alike are being driven from Arab territories. 

“Christians are now minorities in Palestinian cities where they had historically maintained a majority. In Bethlehem, they shrank from 84 percent in 1922 to 28 percent in 2007, when the [Palestinian Authority] carried out a major census.”

So “due to the war” Bethlehem is removing all Christmas decorations.  Jesus’ birthplace is being reduced.

Palestinian groups may deny reports of only 11,000 Christians remaining in Bethlehem and insist that Christian percentage of the population is 18%.  No offense, but it’s still a decline 10% beyond the prior low in 2007 and down from 84% over the last 100 years.  That percentage decline can be because Christians are leaving (which they are) or because infiltration of migrants and high birth rates change the population to super-majority Muslim.

Either abandoning an area or becoming outnumbered serve the same purpose.  Conquest by surrender.  Conquest by invasion.  Conquest by reproduction.  It makes no difference.  It’s still conquest, it’s still jihad, and it’s still war.

And God is still working His plan to resolve it once and for all.

Sin and hostility persist and in fact, that’s why Jesus had to come in the first place.  No amount of peace accords, no matter how good or how fair or how noble, can solve the sin problem.  Only a Savior can do that.  Only God can do that.

Questions for further thought:

Where is the one place in the Middle East where minorities still thrive? 

Thinking to the new percentage of “foreign born” in the United States reaching an all-time high of 15%, how many of those “foreign born” bring ideologies and religious ideas that are incompatible with Judaism and Christianity?  Even those traveling to the US proximally from South American countries, where is their native homeland?

On one hand, it’s easy to imagine declarations of “occupied territory” happening here.  Is it just as likely that God may be bringing people to a place of hearing the Gospel?

If God could bring Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem in accordance with Scripture, could God bring foreigners to hear the Gospel in lands not their own? 

Mary and Joseph did not set up shop in Bethlehem but returned to Nazareth by way of Egypt.  What is our role as Christians, and should we welcome equipping newcomers with the Gospel and then encouraging their return to their roots to share the good news in their home countries?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we do not understand the ways of God or why He allows things that seem so antithetical to peace on this earth.  Remind us that “everything exposed by the light becomes visible– and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.”  Teach us, Lord to live as those who are wise, making the most of every opportunity “because the days are evil.”  Help us to see Your ways even amid what can instill fear, that we would “not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” (Ephesians 5:13-17). As the end of all things is near, teach us to “be alert and of sober mind so that [we] may pray.” (1 Peter 4:7).  We trust, Lord, that You know exactly what You’re doing.  Help us to work with You, for Your glory.  Amen.

===

===

 By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “From the Jews for the World” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

Throughout history, failing to finish as God commands, leads to a little left behind (as leaven) to undermine the future.  From a distant observer’s standpoint, the Temple Mount is dominated by the Dome of the Rock shrine.  Were some alien’s ship to land, overlooking the city, it would lead one to conclude it’s Muslim and totally miss the rich history of the Jews represented there. 

Revelation 21 tells of this old heaven and old earth with an old Jerusalem passing away because the little left behind ruined it all, as God’s enemies tend to do. 

But there will be a New Jerusalem.  And hear me clearly, there will be no “Dome of the Rock” in it, but Scripture says the names of the Twelve Tribes of Israel will be written on its gates (Revelation 21:1-12).

How could the Jews, or worse, the Christians let that happen to the Old City?  It was as simple as Sophronius surrendering and signing Jerusalem away to the caliph in 637-638 AD. While the State of Israel was recognized in 1948 and exiles would return, the land would remain contentious, again dating all the way back to Genesis.

“Israel captured the site in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it with the rest of East Jerusalem and adjoining parts of the West Bank in a move not recognized internationally.” Fast forward to today, the State of Israel itself is still not universally recognized as legitimate and forms the backstory behind the conflict of today.

Once Muslim, always Muslim in the eyes of some.  From the river to the sea, as they say. Because the Temple Mount was “under the control of the Muslim Ottoman Empire from 1259-1924, those same Muslim extremists believe that what is now Israel – every inch of it – is rightfully Muslim.”  [explanation break:  Before you get mad at me, the author of the article apologizes to some extent for using the word “extremist” to draw a distinction between individuals and actions of a non-monolithic group in varying contexts.] 

Questions for further thought:

Do you think all land ever claimed by Muslims belongs to Muslims? 

Does praying at a site act as the functional devoting of that land to Islam?  Even something as seemingly innocuous as praying the National Mall in Washington DC or the Westminster Abbey, both of which have happened recently.

What if they just become a majority by infiltration and birth rates as has happened in Bethlehem, the city of Christ’s birth? Could it happen in America? Could it happen worldwide?

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, You’ve instructed us in Your Word that You do not call us to fight as the world does.  To the Church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul wrote: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. “(2 Corinthians 10:3-5) So, Lord, we pray Your Word over Jerusalem.  We plead Your blood of the inhabitants there whether Christian, Jew, or Muslim so that the entire world may know that Your salvation is From the Jews, but For the World.  May the strife there not lead to many lives being lost, but many lives being saved as Your Word is preached from farthest corners.  We thank You for the privilege as Your followers to share Your light in darkness.  That “On those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” (Isaish 9:2)  May all awaken and see Your goodness and grace.  Amen.

===

 By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “From the Jews for the World” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

I’m sure I’m not the only Christian bothered by the skyline of Jewish Jerusalem and seeing the Al-Aqsa Mosque and bright gold Dome of the Rock shrine dominating the land where the Temple of Solomon once stood.

According to Reuters, “The Al-Aqsa lies at the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City on a hill known to Jews as Har ha-Bayit, or Temple Mount, and to Muslims internationally as al-Haram al-Sharif, or The Noble Sanctuary. Muslims regard the site as the third holiest in Islam, after Mecca and Medina.”

(As an aside, it was built approx. 680-690 AD during a civil war to give a rivaling Islamic faction, followers of prominent Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik, a religious focal point since he didn’t have possession of Mecca.)

“Al-Aqsa is the name given to the whole compound and is home to two Muslim holy places: the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Qibli Mosque, which was built in the 8th century AD. The compound overlooks the Western Wall, a sacred place of prayer for Jews, for whom the Temple Mount is their most sacred site. Jews believe biblical King Solomon built the first temple there 3,000 years ago. A second temple was razed by the Romans in AD 70.”

The Romans laid complete siege to Jerusalem, took anything valuable or sacred, and some of the surviving Jews fled and became part of the Diaspora elsewhere in the Roman Empire. 

Time went on.  Wars were fought.  Including Christians.  (Islam didn’t exist then.  It originated in Mecca about 610 AD.)

“The twenty-five years of unprecedented conflict [Great Wars of Antiquity] greatly weakened both empires, leaving them vulnerable to attack. And when that attack finally came in the early 630s, the Romans and Persians could do little to stop the wave of Arab conquests. In the following decades, the Sasanian Empire and much of the Roman world were swallowed up by the Arabs. The emergence of Islamic faith led to a new world order and a decisive break from the classical past. The Byzantine Empire lost much of its territory to Arab conquests.”

This chapter of Jerusalem might be titled “Expedience is a Poor Negotiation Skill” or “What were you thinking?  Have you lost your mind?” There was a guy named Sophronius, the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem. As the Arabs were incoming, he collected up relics and sent them off to Constantinople, and then Sophronius surrendered and signed Jerusalem away to the caliph.

The precise date (637-638) of the surrender of Jerusalem is up for debate, but the result was far-reaching.  

Questions for further Thought:

What do you think about Sophronius taking all the “holy relics” offshore to go to Constantinople but surrendering the Holy City?

Land lost through involuntary acts when defeated by an enemy, is that the same in the eyes of God as signing it away?

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, it is Your Jerusalem.  The place Your Father and our Father decreed for His temple to be built, a real place where You worshiped in Your lifetime.  By Your grace, let us not despise history nor worship manmade things or buildings which can never contain You.  You wept over Jerusalem.  You said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” He asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”” (Matthew 23:37-24:2).  Oh, Lord, I’m glad none of this takes You by surprise.  We long for the day when we cry “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord”!  Come, Lord Jesus.  Amen!

===

 By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “From the Jews for the World” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

I’m starting to get really annoyed at the appropriation by TikTok theologians of the Jewish Jesus who fulfilled Scripture.  If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it a dozen times or more the claim that Jesus was simply Palestinian (with no mention that He was a Jew or the Son of God).

The word Palestine, they claim, has been used to refer to the territory surrounding Bethlehem since 5 the century BC when Greek writer Herodotus used the word.  (A Greek writer.) They say the origin of the word itself comes from Philistine (you know, like shepherd David used a sling and 3 smooth stones, one of which landed in the head of the Philistine and killed Goliath, the evil giant). 

And since Jesus was born in the “land of the Philistines”, they argue, He must be Palestinian.  Nope.

By that line of anachronistic thought, anyone born during the Roman occupation at Jesus’ birth must be Italian.

Let’s just state this clearly.  Whether one wants to use shorthand “Palestine” to refer to Biblical areas of Judea and Samaria, it does not matter.  Jesus was not Palestinian. He was a Jew born in Judea.

The world’s oldest land dispute originated in Genesis 13:14-15 when God promised it to Abram and affirmed it in Genesis 17. 

“The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. (Genesis 17:8-9)

Questions for further thought:

Have Jewish people historically lived at peace with Christians?  Ignore the viral TikTok narrative reels of Orthodox priests supposedly spitting on everyone in sight.  I’ve been to Israel.  Walked the streets and far from being spat upon, I was welcomed.  The Jews know their Holy Land is holy to Christians, too, and that true, biblical Christians are their great friends.

Why would Jews feel as though true Christians are their great friends, but true Muslims are not?

Why might other religious groups than Jews or Christians want to claim the birthplace of Jesus, Bethlehem, as their own? 

What distinguishes the Jews of today’s Jerusalem from the Jews of Jesus’ Jerusalem?  Neither group (as a whole) believes in Jesus.  Some Jews from Jesus’ Jerusalem (Peter, Matthew, James, etc.) would come to see Jesus as their Messiah after His death/resurrection.  What about today’s Jews?  Jews for Jesus has a strong presence there believing that an ingathering is coming. Are today’s Jews beyond the reach of God?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, help us to see those from Your ancestral home through Your eyes.  Help us to speak tenderly to open the eyes of the spiritually blinded so they may see Your grace in offering salvation first to the Jew and then, importantly, for the world.  Please, Lord, give us open hearts to welcome Your people who are yet to be redeemed whether from Arab communities, Gentile communities or Jewish ones.  Grant us wisdom by which to speak, grace to offer mercy to people who need both Your message and mercy.  I pray for the Peace of Jerusalem, Lord.  For only You can give that.  Amen.

===

 By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “From the Jews for the World” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

A usual baby born in a natural way to any man in David’s family line like Joseph and any usual woman in Bethlehem.  Nothing supernatural.  He’d grow up to be powerful because he had good genes, the right education taught by premier academics, the right path opened for him by his parents’ and political connections, and, of course, a little bit of luck and a ton of charisma.  And he’ll rise to rule the world!!!

* * * * * * (That describes the antichrist.) * * * * * *

Take a moment and let that sink in. 
That description of messiah is who many Jews of today
are still waiting for–
to put their trust in a man.  

The fact of where Jesus came from…that Jesus is the Son of God… makes the world of difference. No external human being helped Him to find the path to success or would be able to take credit for Him. No amount of being a self-made man would give Him reason to boast because Jesus was not self-made.  No getting it done without any help from God explains Jesus.  Nothing but God could account for His rise, nor for the unexpected: His Crucifixion. 

Think about this bizarre turn in the plan of God.  Kill the Messiah.

In the case of Jesus Christ, it IS about Who You are and where You’re from.  Because it explains most fully what He was doing then and what He’s about to do.

Questions for further thought:

If the target was always peace with God (by payment for sin), how was the death of the Messiah necessary?

1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

If Jesus triumphed over death at the tomb, why is the last enemy to be yet destroyed…still…death?  Did people stop dying after Jesus’ ascension?  Why not?

Prayer:

Thank You, Lord Jesus for being born King by the mercy and grace of God the Father!  Thank You that You did not waver in Your mission of bringing peace with God and fulfilling Scripture “From the Jews, for the World.”  We praise You that no one contributed to Your success and yet Your humility and grace give the awesome privilege of Your Gospel to share with the world.  Lord, I pray that the first paragraph description of the antichrist will resonate deep in the hearts of my Jewish friends. May the shock of that realization cause them to see the glorious grace by which You came as a baby in a supernatural event to do in the spiritual realm what only the Man of Heaven could accomplish.  Let them turn, by Your light and power, from earthly plane expectations (hope invested in a man who will rise to powerfully betray them) and begin the process of their coming back to You as the end draws near.  Thank You, Lord, that You’ve given this task of sharing the Gospel with Your followers to reach Your world.  May it bear fruit to Your glory.  Amen.

===

 By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “From the Jews for the World” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

Jesus’ birth was more political than His death.  The whole world was more than content to crucify Jesus after He’d been around for a while.  Sure the angels proclaimed His birth to the Jews, but that was long ago, and it didn’t turn out like they’d thought it should.  In the end, it didn’t matter when it came time to crucify Him. The Jewish elites were on board every bit as much as the Romans whose law had to be invoked to do it. 

A strange case of unity to fulfill prophecy. 

.

It wasn’t just Jews or just the Romans.  It was everyone, and ironically everyone since it was proclaimed good news for great joy for all the people (Luke 2:10-14).  Yet 30 years later, that was forgotten. Taking sides together against God became the fashion (just as it is today). 

Jesus’ birth upended everything. First, for the Jews, his birth was good news for causing great joy to all the people, not just the select few or the select Jew. Some would believe that He was the Messiah, others that He was their Messiah alone, and others would not believe at all.  It divided Jew from Jew, even members of one’s own household, just as Jesus predicted.

Jesus said, “Proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near’…Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword… a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ (Matthew 10:10, 34-36) It certainly proved true among the Jewish brethren.

But, for the world political system, Jesus’ birth (seen from the spiritual plane) meant that governments among men are only that: among men.  They will be forever subordinate to the only true government of God as His Kingdom of righteousness in this world.  It’s a Kingdom of Heaven and peace with God. The world still hates that.

Questions for further thought:

“The Canadian Human Rights Commission claims that Christianity in practice in Canada is essentially a form of discrimination in a recent paper. “Only through better understanding of how religious intolerance takes place in Canada can our legislation, policies and programs be crafted to address the causes and consequences of this intolerance,” the paper reads.

How does keeping politics out of Christmas serve only to secularize it?

Is true salvation “from the Jews, for the world” easier or harder when Christmas has been secularized and Christian religious beliefs have been downgraded to unimportant nuances? Can a Muslim or a Jew or a Hindu celebrate with Santa and reindeer and presents? Is salvation communicated in a Santa scenario?

Tertullian (one of the prominent Church fathers of the Western church) famously stated, “‘What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem?’ What concord is there between the Academy and the Church?”  How did Jesus’ birth enter into that debate before it was written and upend the religion of Jerusalem and the politics of the world with its philosophers?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to see that Your goal was far bigger than an earthly peace.  May we not dismiss the political realities of Your birth and death as if they are removed from politics entirely.  Help us to speak boldly into the world and not be ashamed of the Kingdom of Heaven and the peace with God that You came to bring.  Amen.

===

 By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “From the Jews for the World” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

Acknowledging inquiries about an entire season’s devotionals for your study group’s planning purposes, Seminary Gal’s prior seasons’ Advent devotionals can be accessed via the archives to the right and are as follows:  

• “Awaken Remnant” was the devotional topic for 2022. It began November 27, 2022, and highlighted the remnant found throughout Scripture as evident in Jesus’ lineage.
• The multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King was the theme of 2021’s devotional series. It is archived beginning November 28, 2021.
• 2020’s Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

.

Jesus’ mom was Jewish.  His Dad is God.  To all the so-called church leaders out there diminishing His birth by removing all celebrations because of the war between Hamas and Israel, is that what Jesus would do? Wow, there’s strife in the world among men.  I guess we should put communicating peace with God for all eternity on hold until a better time.

Maybe Bethlehem hasn’t had a problem with the commercialization of the Nativity, but for quite a while, they’ve had a problem with the Jews and demonstrably with Christians of faith (not ecumenism or The Church of the Holy Tourist). 

“According to the statistics provided to CNA by the Ministry of Tourism, the economy of Bethlehem relies on tourism for 60%-70%. “We were expecting that 2023 was supposed to be the peak year” … But the war has changed everything. “We expect that 12,000 out of 15,000 workers are no longer employed in the tourism industry. I can estimate that 90% among them are Christians,” he said.”

Many Christians have chosen to flee the area due to persecution and religious harassment.

“In 1950, Bethlehem and the surrounding villages were 86 percent Christian. But by 2016, the Christian population dipped to just 12 percent, according Bethlehem mayor Vera Baboun. Across the West Bank, Christians now account for less than 2 percent of the population, though in the 1970s, Christians were 5 percent of the population. In Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, today there are just 11,000 Christians.”

Bethlehem was administered by the British Mandate from 1920 to 1948 when Israel became a recognized state.  However, since 1995, Bethlehem is located in territory under Palestinian National Authority administration and military control by decree from the UN.  The influx of refugees from the war-torn region into Bethlehem changed the demographic profile from a Christian majority into a Muslim one.

“In 2020, when the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) asked Christian Palestinians “how they felt under Israeli occupation,” 70 percent responded that they felt safe, 94 percent said they were free to travel, and 57 percent said they never felt harassed when crossing Israeli checkpoints.

“If Israel does not make Christian Palestinians feel unsafe, then who does? According to PCPSR, 87 percent of Christians worried about a surge in crime in PA territory, 77 percent feared radical Islamist groups, including Hamas, and 67 percent of Palestinian Christians said they felt unsettled about a provision in the Palestinian Basic Law that stipulates that “the principles of Islamic sharia are a main source of legislation.”

The one place in the Middle East where minorities have continued to thrive is… yes, Israel.

Questions for further thought:

Dating back to Bethlehem’s mention in the Bible, there was neither Christian majority nor Muslim.  When Joseph and Mary went to the census, Christianity did not exist.  It was Jews, nomadic tribes of Arabs, and Roman pagans.  Islam wasn’t invented until Muhammad in 610 AD.  Galilee and Judea were considered Jewish though under Roman rule.  Hence, the census.  “So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.” (Luke 2:4-5).   

How did the Roman census serve to have the Messiah born exactly where Scripture foretold?

Today, by making sure there are no Jews remaining in Bethlehem, how does that dash any remaining Jewish expectation for the Messiah to be born there?  How does that serve to discourage Jews in their Messianic hopes?  How ought it help Jews of faith to reconsider that their Christ has, in fact, come?

Prayer:

Lord God, please use me to communicate the arrival of the Messiah 2000 years ago in a manger in Bethlehem and the ways in which He is presently fulfilling every expectation the Jewish people ever had regarding their Messiah.  The ingathering of Jews has begun, the capital of the nation of Israel is Jerusalem, and You will return.  We look to the clouds for Your coming and ask in today’s moment, You will help us to communicate the love of God “from the Jews for the world.”  We praise You that You wrapped Him up in a tiny package of an unexpecting baby to be crucified as a man and to rise to the glory of God.  We praise You for Your plan of salvation.  Amen.