Tuesday, April 5, 2011

'The Word' for Today, April 5, 2011

"For he was of the house and lineage of David..."

The Gospel of Luke in describing the ancestry of Jesus, states that his father Joseph was of the house and lineage of David, meaning that the David of the book of Psalms, King of Israel, was a direct ancestor to Jesus Christ.

Thus, Jesus was a Jew, a descendant of the ancient Hebrews, a product of Judaism.  As a young man the Bible describes him going to the Temple to sit at the feet of the rabbis, and they were astonished at his knowledge.

When I was working on my Master's degree at a noted theological school, one of my professors--a renown, published theologian, stated, 'Christians are Jews first.'  Immediately I knew what he meant.  Spiritually speaking, Christians are descendants of Judaism.  Christianity was born and bred in the religion of the Jews.

For this reason and more, I believe that Jews are to be revered as our spiritual cousins, not to mention the fact that the Bible declares them to be 'God's chosen people.'  That declaration was never rescinded.  They are still God's chosen people.  Those who disparage and attack them are in great spiritual danger.  Israel is the land God gave to them, and so it shall forever remain as long as the earth stands.

Our Gospel song for today is a very special number by the renown Florida Boys (now retired), who traveled to Israel in 1974 for a series of Gospel concerts promoted by the Israeli government.  The quartet learned a special song just for their Jewish audiences entitled, 'Jerusalem of Gold.'  Part of it is sung in the original language.

View the video and listen to the song by clicking on the link here: Jerusalem of Gold by the Florida Boys.  
  

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