Hinds Feet

If you don't mind me asking, how old is your brother? Or what is his age range? (Is he mid to late teens or older?)

One of the most interesting aspects to whether or not the OT indicates a place like hell existing, is the incident where Saul went to a medium to talk to Samuel. The spirit that appeared before the medium and Saul, was it actually Samuel? Or was it a demonic spirit or fallen angel? If it was actually Samuel, that would lead credence to suggest there is an underworld, an actual place where dead souls went to. (Which at the time would have been both the wicked and righteous dead) It's such a hard passage of Scripture, because of the way this spirit is presented. Given the fact Saul had to ask the medium what she was seeing, and Saul not seeing anything assumed it was Samuel, you want to say it was a demon of course. Then you read where Saul is talking to the apparition, and the Bible simply use Samuel's name in reference to it, it gives you cause to pause. Very hard to understand indeed!

Concerning Jesus, He wasn't promoting eating unclean animals. The scribes were questioning Jesus' disciples about eating with ceremonially unwashed hands. If Jesus would have declared unclean animals were good to eat, the scribes would have had a legit complaint concerning the Law. Remember Peter's vision? Peter said he never ate anything unclean. So if the disciples were eating unclean food during the time the scribes were questioning Jesus, that would have been a lie. So Jesus didn't declare all animals were clean to eat. In the beginning, our food was the fruits and herbs of the field. Things produced out of the ground. When the perfect creation is restored, I imagine that will be our food again, to enjoy.

Begin writing a copy of Scripture for yourself. Deuteronomy 17:18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests."

Yet let's think about this. Jesus was crucified on Passover. He rose again on FirstFruits. The Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost/Shavuot. These are the spring festivals, and all of them carried events very significant for the Body of Christ. What about the fall festivals? You have the Feast of Trumpets, The Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. What events will happen on those days and how will they receive their fulfillment? Whatever happens on those days, I believe those who don't celebrate them, might not be ready for what happens. I think about what God told us concerning these times in that they are His feasts, His "appointed times". Heehee! Think about doctors appointments. You can't just walk up in a doctor's office and expect everything to be ready for you the moment you get there. Yet on days where you have an appointment, the wait for the doctor to see you is shorter if not immediate, and everything is prepared. It is sort of the same with these feasts as well. We are to present ourselves to the LORD on these days. Then I think about what Jesus said when He was weeping over Jerusalem... "For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation." Which again, Jesus was crucified on Passover. The days leading up to that Passover, were the days the people were to examine the unblemished lamb that would be the Passover lamb. God was in their midst, and they didn't know it. And Israel were celebrating the feasts. How much more unawareness will we have due to not celebrating these appointed times? Will Jesus be like a thief in the night to us? Overall, this is an example on how God's laws discipline us spiritually. The Church today is by in large undisciplined, because we reject a great deal of God's commands. Now I'm not saying we are justified by the Law. I am saying Jesus' nature enables us to keep the heart of God's commands. This is the Law of Christ. The same laws given to the people from an outward perspective, were supposed to be the laws God writes on our hearts.

We need spiritual discipline. The original apostles grew up with the Scriptures, and Jesus came and taught them fully. When the Spirit was supplied to them, they hit the ground running!!! However, here we are, 2000 years later, and there has been a kind of wall put up between the faith and it's origins in our hearts. The apostles obeyed God's commands in the newness of Christ's spirit. Yet we say Jesus fulfilled everything, and no longer see God's commands or the things written in the OT as important or relevant. Most believers today I would say are flying by the seat of their pants. Yes, we know Jesus provides salvation, but we lack spiritual discipline because it was God's commands that disciplined us. Here's an example. God commanded His people to have holy convocations or assemblies at certain times of the year. (Particularly the festivals) When we follow His commands, we are disciplined to come together and rejoice with one another. It trains us to be with one another. So for Christians today who know nothing about the festivals like the apostles did, we aren't trained to come together. And the results of this is we have become lonely Christians. Everybody keeps to themselves, eat in their rooms and watch streaming shows. Scripture tells us "Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. If we seek our own desire, we are definitely not doing God's desire. Ultimately meaning we have no power, and are definitely living in the flesh. This is one example on how Scripture disciplines us, reading and doing God's commands in Christ. But if we separate from God's commands, we will be undisciplined. Perhaps it is fair to say most believers today are undisciplined disciples.

It's awesome if the show leads people to reading Scripture. And at the same time, we should be spiritually discerning as well. I remember when Mel Gibson first came out with "The Passion of the Christ" and how it too got people getting more serious about the faith. And now, Gibson is coming out with a sequel, which he stated will take us to what happened in the three days Jesus was in the heart of the earth. Gibson says it's going to be a wild trip. This is when our spiritual antennas should be going up. In the same way when it comes to The Chosen, it inspires us, yes, but could it also lead us astray if we become too invested in the people behind the show? (From the produces to the actors) Yes, we can be creative in the show, but we should be careful to not allow the show to effect how we read the actual Bible. And while many of us will claim they can tell the difference between the Bible and the show, we know it is not that simple. To prove that point, all I have to do is ask everyone here to visualize Jesus in their mind, and I'm willing to bet almost everyone will picture a guy with long hair and European facial features, pointing two fingers with His hand up toward the sky. Perhaps many will now picture Jonathan Roumie himself. So we should discern these things.

Of course the idea of voting for things and forcing this world to conform to God's ways, isn't exactly God's plan. Because it could be the world votes for something that opposes God's ways. If politics chooses that, if it chooses to reject God's understanding, how can we say politics is something God is involved in?

It connects well with the idea the Church is the body of Christ. And how when Jesus states if we take care of the least of the brethren, we have taken care of Him. So we become one with Jesus when we believe. Its the same with the marriage idea of becoming one flesh, and knowing Jesus. (The Church being the bride of Christ)

I'm curious. Where does it state Simeon married Dinah?

Of course the Book of Acts lays out for us God's design. God's ways shouldn't be abandoned because there are people taking advantage of it. This is why we use God's discernment, and judge based on the fruits. And let God deal with those who seek to take advantage of the Church. (Remember what happened to Ananias and Sapphira)

Politics is definitely of this world. I see governance and politics as two different things. God established governing bodies as a means to protect the people and establish order. And these bodies are simply supposed to establish justice. Politics is all about selfishness in a way. Politics is about what can I get for my group, and how can I prevent the other group from getting what they want. It is divisive by it's very nature. It prevents people from coming together. It's one thing to disagree on something. But politics paints the picture that disagreements mean the other side is the devil. So all we end up with is a bunch of devils. And no wonder, because politics is of this world, and the devil is the god of this world. Ultimately when it comes to the Church, we are supposed to be governed by God's law in Christ. We see in the Book of Acts where the Church saw each other as brothers and sisters. And of course they were. They brought in their wealth into the Church, and the apostles gave to all where there was need. So in the Church, there was no lack. Everyone saw their possessions as common among them. (This is particular to what the people gave) Back then, this was only a few thousand people. There are over 2 billion Christians in the world today. With all that wealth and possessions, we wouldn't be fighting in the political world for the things we need if we came together as brothers and sisters. So I argue what area would God want us to focus more on? In politics, or coming together as brothers and sisters like they did in the Book of Acts? Remember, the apostles lived in a time where their nation was a vassal state to Rome. There wasn't much representative democracy going about during that time. Yet, they were successful in their lives. How much more should we be living this way in this modern society?

The part about the Law Jesus dealt with on our behalf, is it's condemnation of us. But righteousness itself has not been done away with. We all agree the Law is righteous. I'm not saying we are justified by our ability to keep the Law. Jesus' righteousness justifies us. When we receive Him, He both justifies and empowers us to live righteously. All this said, I argue celebrating God's festivals is an act of faith. Just as Jeremiah stated concerning the new covenant, God would write His laws on our heart. As we grow in His faith, we will have the desire to celebrate. Think about it like this, Jesus while He was here on the earth, did many things on the Sabbath many of the Jewish scribes and leaders considered to be breaking God's Law. To them, Jesus was breaking the letter of the Law. However Jesus was living by the spirit of the Law. With Jesus, we can do this as well.

The only yoke we have is the yoke of Jesus. I challenge us, how much of Jesus do we want to experience? Why should anything dealing with Jesus be seen as a heavy burden? Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden is light. So I ultimately challenge how we see God's festivals. If I said let's celebrate Thanksgiving, they would be no objections whatsoever. God's festivals are way better than Thanksgiving, and yet most would resist it.

Paul writes this in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8.... "Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth. Now, we know the Corinthian church was primarily of Gentile believers. Yet Paul is saying to them when they celebrate the Passover, to keep these things in mind. This shows us foreign believers were celebrating God's festivals back then. It wasn't seen as an exclusive thing for Jewish people, but for all God's people. And we can also see from this, Paul saw the feasts as good for spiritual discipline. We lack these types of things in the Church today. Instead we have made our own traditions, such as Lent and Christmas. Easter is the most related celebration we have to God's festivals, but historically speaking it is on the wrong date. Again, these festivals are meant for all God's people. I encourage everyone to look into it.