Pilate's Trial Finds No Fault With Jesus

John 18:28-40, "The Jews led Jesus to the palace of the Roman governor (Pontius Pilate). To avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. Pilate came out to them and asked, 'What charges are you bringing against this man?' They replied, 'If he were not a criminal, we would not have brought him over to you.' Pilate said, 'Take him yourselves and judge him by your law.' The Jews objected, 'But we have no right to execute anyone!' (Sounds like guilty before trial to me! That's known as a lynch mob!) This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicated the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled. Pilate then went inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked Him, 'Are You the King of the Jews?' Jesus asked, 'Is that your own idea or did others talk to you about Me?' Pilate replied, 'Am I a Jew? It was Your people and Your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it You have done?' Jesus said, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is from another place.'  Pilate said, 'You are a king, then!' Jesus answered, 'You are right in saying I Am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me.' Pilate asked, 'What is truth?' With this he went back out to the Jews and said, 'I find no basis for a charge against Him. It is your custom to release a prisoner at the time of the Passover.  Do you want me to release the king of the Jews?' They shouted back, 'No, not Him! Give us Barabbas!' Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion."

Commentary shares more about Barabbas, "Barabbas was a rebel against Rome. He had committed murder and was probably a hero among the Jews. Barabbas had led a rebellion against Rome (which failed) and paying taxes to the despised government. He was released instead of Jesus, Who was the only One Who could truly help Israel."

Allow Jesus to free you from your sin. He came to die for mankind's sin!  All can know the salvation He brings to everyone who accepts His free gift to be with Him in heaven for eternity! "For ALL (mankind) have sinned and fallen short of the glory of GOD." (Romans 3:23) "To ALL who receive Him (Jesus), to those who believe  in His Name (Jesus), He (Jesus) gave the right to become the children of GOD." ( John 1:12) 

The Animal Kingdom Becomes Food For Mankind

Man was a vegetarian before the flood. When Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, "...by the sweat of his brow, he tilled the ground for food." (Genesis 3:15)

Man became a meat eater after the flood. When Noah's family and all the animals came out of the ark, GOD said, "The fear and dread of you (mankind) will fall upon all the beasts of the earth, birds of the air, creatures that move along the ground, and fish of the sea. They are given to your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be given to you as food. Just as I (GOD) gave you green plants, I NOW give you everything." (Genesis 9:2-3)

An important mention is "lives and moves." What we call "road kill" is for the animals to eat, not man. Another important mention GOD said was, "But you must NOT eat meat that has the lifeblood still in it." (Genesis 9:4) Matthew Henry's Commentary further explains, "...that is, man shall NOT eat the raw flesh as do the beasts of prey." (Volume 1, page 70, Column 1) That's another separation of man from the animal kingdom. We know of the consequences of salmonella and other diseases associated with eating raw meat.

 Man's cruelty definitely came upon the animal kingdom. What is so harsh is the slaughter of thousand's of elephants a year by poachers just for their ivory tusks! The slaughter of animals to make fur coats when there are so many man made fibers, silk from silkworms, cotton fibers from the cotton plant, wool from sheep that doesn't mean the taking of their lives. It's a tragedy of killing animals like  baby seals, minks, and rabbits just for the pleasure of one's edification to own such an "extravagant" coat.

  

I still claim GOD's Word for the animal kingdom from Psalm 145:21, "Let all creatures praise His Holy Name forever and ever." I believe this occurs in Eternity. In this fallen world the animals suffer to become food, clothing, and labor for mankind. GOD will reward them to forevermore be with Him upon the New Earth. They will know their Creator and He will reward them for being created only to die for man's fallen needs. Like GOD's Chosen people, once all are with GOD in Eternity forever, the animals too will never die again for in the New Heaven, New Earth, and New Jerusalem, there will never again be death. "For death will be swallowed up in Victory!" (I Corinthians 15:54)

What GOD has prepared for His Chosen of Israel and His Church (and the animal kingdom) has yet to be revealed! Make sure you belong to Him through the Salvation of Jesus Christ! Accept Christ Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross for your sin and the Holy Spirit will open your heart and mind to His Glory!

Next Sunday:  The Substitutionary Sacrifice of Baby Animals for Sin

"Darkness Came Over the Land"

Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, Luke 23:44; "From the 6th hour until the 9th hour darkness came over ALL the land." (12:00 noon to 3:00) The darkness came as Jesus took upon himself the sins of mankind! Millions times billions to the quadrillions of power the sins from Adam and Eve to the last human being He will create! So horrendous a sight that none could look upon Him as He paid the price for our sins!

What made Christ's crucifixion different from the hundreds of others who were crucified? They were also flogged (with a whip), punched, spit upon, and made to carry their own crosses. 

This is what made Christ's death on the Cross different: 1. He is GOD in the flesh (John 10:30, "Jesus claimed, 'I and the Father are One.' ") 2. He was sinless, (I Peter 2:22, "He (Jesus) committed NO SIN,,,) (I John 3:5, "...in Him (Jesus) is NO SIN.") 3. "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins (and) also for the sins of the world." (I John 2:2) "GOD presented Him (Jesus) as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in His Blood." (Romans 3:25)

After effects are so exhilarating! 1. For the lost who come to His (Jesus') salvation! 2. From darkness to Light. 3. From death to eternal life!

What the LORD has in store for us in eternity is far greater than this diamond ring effect of the solar eclipse! "Eye has not seen, nor ear has heard, no mind has conceived what GOD has prepared for those who love Him, but GOD has revealed it to us by His Spirit." (I Corinthians 2:9-10)

Were The Dinosaurs On The Ark?

Atheistic evolutionist wants man to believe the universe is millions of years old. Yet, they can't agree among themselves with the theories contradicting one another due to the flaw of carbon-14 dating. 

Quote: "The flaw of carbon dating is the atmosphere has not been steady throughout history. It has fluctuated a great deal over the years; cosmic rays, climate change, natural and human activity, pollution, decades of bomb testings.  The problem is calibrations can't be made because the amount of time passed can't be investigated using this method." (Quoted from Great Discoveries in Archaeology. Spring 2013 by Andrea Cohn. Found on computer search; Radiocarbon dating: a closer look at its main flaws.) In other words, carbon-14 dating isn't a constant and since there is no record of carbon-14 dating 100's of years ago(much less thousands, even "millions" of years ago) it can't be taken into evidence as fact.

Another thing the atheistic evolutionist haven't made known is the finding of a Tyrannosaurus Rex's bone that still contains red blood cells which "blows apart" their theories of millions of years. (See DVD "The Bible Explains Dinosaurs.") 

Ken Ham, a scientist and a Christian, shares about more on this (in the previous mentioned DVD). But the atheists will never expand on these findings knowing very well it won't support their "millions of years" theories.

Also mentioned on the DVD is "50 dinosaur kinds had the average size of a sheep." Yes, there were large dinosaurs. These can be found in the Scriptures of the Bible that speaks of "behemoth" animals (large land animals that had "a tail like a cedar...bones  (like) tubes of bronze...limbs like rods of iron...all the animals play near by...he lies hidden in the reeds by the marsh...the river rages, he is secure though the Jordan should surge against his mouth..." Job 40:15-23) That sounds like a brontosaurus to me!  Another mention is of dragons, Jeremiah 14:6, 49:33, 51:37 speaks of "...dens of dragons..." "...dwelling for dragons..." "... dwelling places for dragons..." Isaiah 34:13, 35:7, 43:20 speaks  "habitation of dragons..." "...the dragons and the owls..." Job 41:21 shares "...dragon in the sea..."Ezekiel 29:3 shares "...dragon in the sea..." Another mention is of the leviathan. Isaiah 27:2 says, "...slay the dragon and leviathan..." Psalm 74:14 "...you crushed the heads of the leviathan, you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness..." Still another mention is of sea monsters, Psalm 74:13 "...broke the head of the sea monster..." 

Isaiah 30:6 speaks of "...flying serpent..." (Is that a pterodactyl?) 

Where did the word "dinosaur" come from? It was first used by Richard Owen in 1841, (see previous DVD mention) It's meaning was "giant big lizard." So, dinosaurs, is the modern name for behemoth, leviathan, dragon, sea monster, flying serpent that was previously mentioned in Scriptures. They also existed after the flood. 

God told Noah to build an ark and gave to him the stipulations of it's size. (Genesis 6:14-16) GOD brought the animals by pairs, male and female to the ark and they entered into it. Seven pairs of every kind of clean animal and seven pairs of every kind of bird and two of every kind of unclean" in other words, the rest of the animal creation (which dinosaurs are of the animal population!)

"Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." (Genesis 6:8) He, his wife, his sons and their wives along with all the animals GOD brought to the Ark entered in and "the LORD shut him in." (Genesis 7:16) GOD shut the door! Evil man and all of the animal kingdom upon the earth was destroyed. 

In our day in age we label the disappearing of species of animals as "gone extinct." Scientists are finding "7 species of the animal kingdom" are becoming extinct each day! Due to people killing them off, clearing miles of land at a time destroying their habitats and food sources, the gene pool being diluted, climate change.

Also, cross breeding brings the off-spring to be sterile. Man cross breeds a horse with a donkey and gets a mule which can't reproduce due to being sterile. He has also cross bred lions with tigers to get Ligers which also are sterile, unable to reproduce. There's no telling how many times this has happened in the wild. Yet, this contradicts the evolutionists theory that this is indeed how it occurred, but  it's a proven fact cross breeding different species only brings about sterile off-spring.

Most behemoths, leviathans. dragons, monsters of the deep have died off due to the previous mentions. However, there have been pictures taken of the "Loch Nest Monster."

LOOKS LIKE A DINOSAUR TO ME!!!

Another "monster" still alive today is the Monitor Lizard.

It definitely isn't your garden lizard!

Some other giants are the crocodiles and alligators. Some measure five feet across width wise! Can you image what their length must be!

What we know is dinosaurs exist(ed). There is so much evidence from there skeleton remains. Death did not occur until man sinned in the Garden of Eden. Therefore the dinosaurs did not die until after the fall of man who brought the entire world into the fallen state of condemnation. We have seen the mention of them in Holy Scripture after the flood named as behemoths. leviathans, dragons, great sea monsters, etc. We see because of man how even today 7 species a day is becoming extinct because of the sin of man.

There is coming a Great Tribulation upon the earth which will this time destroy by fire rather than water.

Whom do you believe; the second guessing of atheistic evolutionists with their flawed theories or GOD's WORD of truth given specifically to His called out writers of the Holy Scriptures? (I Corinthians 2:10) If you are not a Believer in Jesus Christ's salvation you won't understand because you won't have the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Scripture says, "To the unbeliever, these things are as foolishness. (I Corinthians 2:14) Salvation is a wonder of Almighty GOD Who reveals through His Holy Spirit the things lost man can never begin to understand. You can know the LORD! Realize you are a sinner and simply ask from your heart for Jesus to forgive you of your sins. He will and the Holy Spirit will confirm in you your salvation! Then begin experiencing the joy of your salvation as the LORD begins to reveal to you the things of Almighty GOD. Glory Hallelujah to His Name!

Peter Denies Knowing Jesus

John 18:25-27, "As Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, 'You are not one of His disciples, are you?' Peter denied it saying, 'I am not.' One of the priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter cut off (and Jesus healed), challenged him. 'Didn't I see you with him in the olive grove?' Again Peter denied it and at that moment a rooster began to crow."

Matthew 26:74-75 further entails, "He (Peter) began to call curses on himself and swore to them, 'I don't know the Man!' Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the Words Jesus had spoken, 'Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.' "

Mark 14:71-72, Luke 22:59-62 records the same incident.

"It is a serious sin to disown Christ, but Jesus forgave Peter (John 21:15-17). No sin is too great for Jesus to forgive if you are truly repentant. He will forgive even your worst sin if you turn from it and ask His pardon." (Bible commentary.)

Cast Out

GOD cast out Adam, Eve, and the animal kingdom out of the Garden of Eden upon the fall of man. Due to her sin, GOD told Eve, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing. Your desire will be for your husband and he shall rule over you.' To Adam, He said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from The Tree, cursed is the ground. Through painful toil you will eat of it all of your life. Thorns and thistles will produce. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food." (Genesis 3:16-19)

(Genesis 4:1-7) Eve, by pain bore a son, Cain. Then later she bore another son, Abel.

Cain worked the soil and brought fruit offerings to the LORD.

Abel kept flocks and brought fat portions from the first born as an offering to the LORD (causing death to come to the animals offered). God looked with favor on Abel, but did not look with favor on Cain's. 

The first murder of man occurs when in jealousy Cain kills Abel.

The LORD questions Cain and then says, "What is this you have done! Your brother's blood cries out to Me. The ground will no longer yield its crop to you." Cain became a wanderer. GOD placed a mark on Cain as a warning for no one to kill him. (Genesis 4:10-15) 

Mankind and the animal kingdom began to multiply and increase in number (and size). The Niphilim were giants 9-10 feet tall and used their size to their advantage to oppress the people (Genesis 6:4, Numbers 13:33, 1 Samuel 17). 

The wickedness of man became great upon the earth and the LORD was grieved He had made man. the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind whom I have created from the face of the earth, men and animals, and creatures along the ground, birds of the air. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." (Genesis 6:7-8) Again the animal kingdom will suffer due to man's sins.

Not much is focused on the animal kingdom in these few chapters of Genesis other than the mention of being used for sacrifices. Yet again we see where they suffer due to man's sins. 

Next week's post will deal with the annihilation of mankind and the animal kingdom as well as the preservation of Noah's family and the animals GOD leads to the ark. 

Annas Questions Jesus

John 18:12-24, "The soldiers arrested Jesus. They brought Him first to Annas. Peter and another disciple followed. Jesus went into the high priest's courtyard, but Peter waited outside at the door. The other disciple spoke to the girl on duty there and brought Peter in. She spoke out, 'You are not one of His disciples are you?' the girl at the door asked Peter. He replied, 'I am not.' Meanwhile the high priest questioned Jesus about His disciples teaching. Jesus replied, 'I have spoken openly to the world. I taught in the synagogues, at the temple where the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question Me? Ask those who heard me. They know what I said.' When Jesus said this, an official nearby struck Him on the face. Annas then sent Him to Caiaphas the high priest."

Have you ever been accused of saying wrong things when all you said was the truth? If so, you can understand Jesus as He stood before those who wanted to get rid of Him. The saying, "The truth hurts," was what the Jews were feeling. They had ancient Scripture that prophesied Jesus and what He did for salvation of the human race. But, they were jealous because it included the Gentiles' salvation as well as their own. "The Gospel is the power of GOD for the salvation of everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then for the Gentile." (Romans 1:16)  Jesus said, "I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) He also said in John 10:9, "I Am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved." Have you entered that gate of His salvation by coming to Him with the confession of your sins and asking Him to come into you through His Holy Spirit? It is as simple as that if you do it from your heart and not your intellect. Meet your Savior today if you don't already know His salvation for you!

The Animal Creation Continued

Last Sunday we saw from Scripture on the fifth day, the animals that were created in the waters after their own kinds and the species of birds created after their own kinds.

This Sunday we will look from the Scripture the animals that were created after their own kinds on the sixth day as was man after all the animals were created.

Genesis 1:24-25, "And GOD said, 'Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds; livestock:

creatures that move along the ground:

(as well as small mammals after all their own kinds.)

...wild animals after their own kind (just to show a few):

And, yes I believe even the dinosaurs as part of the "great Creatures" mention in previous post. I will speak more on that in future posts.

And so it was. GOD saw that it was good."

Genesis 1:26, "Then GOD said, 'Let Us (God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them (male/female) rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the livestock over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

Genesis 1:27, "So GOD created man in His Own image, in the image of GOD He created male and female and told them to be fruitful and multiply."

So, all was in harmony with God's blessings for all provisions for the animals and man/woman.

Man was placed in control over all the animals of the earth and the animals were all under man's control to tend...until the fall occurred (see previous Sunday posts).

Next Sunday we will see what man's choice to sin would do to mankind and the animal kingdom.

Jesus Is Betrayed and Arrested

John 18:1-11, "When Jesus finished praying, He left with His disciples...Now Judas, who betrayed Him, knew the place (they went) because Jesus had often met them there. So Judas came to the grove guiding a detachment of soldiers, officials, chief priests and Pharisees. They carried torches, lanterns, and weapons. Jesus, knowing what was going to happen to Him, asked, 'Who is it you want?' They replied, 'Jesus of Nazareth.' Jesus said, 'I Am He.' They drew back from the Him and fell to the ground. 'If you are looking for Me, then let these men go.' This happened so that the words He spoke would be fulfilled: 'I have not lost one of you.' (Speaking of the disciples.) Peter drew his sword and struck the high priest's servant Malchus, cutting off his right ear. Jesus commanded Peter, 'Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?'"

Luke 22:51, "...He (Jesus) touched the man's ear and healed him." A miracle right before their eyes!

Matthew 26:53 shares Jesus' words, '...I can call on My Father and He will at once put at My disposal more than 12 legions of angels, but how then would the Scriptures  be fulfilled?' 

Jesus is the salvation for all mankind who come to Him in forgiveness of their sins. Let Him save you from your sin if you have not done so. All you need do is admit you are a sinner, no matter how great or small your sin may be it keeps you from being "perfect" and GOD only expects perfection! Jesus takes your sin upon your request for Him to do so and you are made perfect in Father GOD's sight. When you have done this, the Scripture promises, "You (GOD) hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea." (Micah 7:19) Isaiah further records, "I Am He Who blots out your sins, for My Own sake, and remember your sins no more."(Isaiah 43:25) Christ Jesus has opened up the Gates of Heaven for your salvation. Come to Him today and know in your heart you belong to His forever kingdom where He has gone to prepare a place for you! (John 14:3)