*Witness and Warning to the Powerful

The Bible contains an interesting phenomenon, one found especially in the Old Testament, in which God coordinates events to place one of His servants in a position of high visibility and sometimes great power at the center of world events. In this way, He sounds a warning and makes a witness of His will and His way among the "greats" of the time.

The Bible hints that such placements happened more often than we generally realize. A few of His servants may have held such positions or at least been highly visible to the powers that were then in control, but we are not given any Scriptural details. For instance, Noah, "a preacher of righteousness" (II Peter 2:5), may have done something of the sort before the Flood, warning the rulers of the pre-Flood world of their imminent doom. Early myth/history drops clues that his son, Shem, proved a thorn in the side of early Mesopotamian and Egyptian kings post-Flood.

Nevertheless, the Bible explicitly ties several of God's servants to rulers of kingdoms and great empires:

• When Abram hears that Lot and his family have been taken captive by a host out of Mesopotamia, he gathers his 318 trained servants and goes in pursuit. He not only recovers his relatives, but he also brings back to Sodom all of the city's captives and their plundered goods. This earns him the boundless gratitude of the king of Sodom, but Abram and Melchizedek, priest of God Most High, give all the credit to the Almighty (see Genesis 14:14-24). His rescue of Lot and his refusal of reward make a witness to all of Sodom, which would soon be destroyed by God for its sins (Genesis 19).
• Though his brothers cruelly sell young Joseph into slavery, he is eventually promoted to second-in-command over Egypt, the world's superpower of the day. The Pharaoh tells him in Genesis 41:40, "You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you." When the prophesied great famine comes, he garners even more power as the one to whom all have to come if they want to buy grain. Significantly, Joseph gives God all the credit for his wisdom, telling Pharaoh, "It is not in me [to interpret your dream]; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace" (Genesis 41:16). Through Joseph, God saves Egypt and provides for Israel throughout the famine, as well as arranging for Israel's astounding growth in Goshen while "the iniquity of the Amorites" (Genesis 15:16) ran its course in Canaan.
• A few generations later, God again manipulates events to allow Moses to be brought up by the crown princess in the very house of Pharaoh, giving him the title "son of Pharaoh's daughter" (Hebrews 11:24) and putting him in line for the throne of Egypt. He also has access to "all the wisdom of the Egyptians" so that he becomes "mighty in words and deeds" (Acts 7:22). When God later brings him out of the wilderness to confront Pharaoh and bring His people out of Egyptian slavery, Moses has both the access and stature to bring God's message directly to the king. Through ten terrible plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea, he delivers a tremendous warning and witness to Egypt.
• We may not consider the prophet Jonah in this light, but his prophecy finds its way into a palace. Once the prophet finally arrives in Nineveh, the capital city of the mighty Assyrian empire, his preaching reaches the king's ears: "Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes" (Jonah 3:6). It is the king who decrees that everyone in the city—even all the animals!—are to fast, cry out to God, and repent of their evils. A great tragedy is delayed by their repentance and a great witness made of the power and mercy of the God of Israel.
• In the story of Daniel, God takes a youth from among the captives of the Jews in Babylon, and by interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream, raises him to prominence in his court. "Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon" (Daniel 2:48). Later, Belshazzar makes Daniel third ruler in the kingdom (Daniel 5:29), behind only himself and his father. Darius, the first ruler of Babylon under the Medes and Persians, appoints Daniel to be one of three governors over the entire empire (Daniel 6:1-2), a position he holds under Cyrus when he takes up the reins of power not long thereafter. For six or seven decades, the prophet witnesses constantly before the rulers of these powerful empires, giving all the credit to God (Daniel 2:28; 5:18; 6:22).
• Less than a century later, another Persian king, Ahasuerus (most likely Xerxes I), appoints another Jew, Mordecai, to great power in the empire: "For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen" (Esther 10:3). The good service he gives to the king probably paves the way for both Ezra and Nehemiah to do their work in Jerusalem not long thereafter.
• Nehemiah, as cupbearer to the Persian king, is a highly trusted confidant of Artaxerxes (successor to Xerxes I). The cupbearer is with the king at all meals, ensuring that the king's drink is not poisoned (and perhaps his food as well). As soon as Nehemiah asks permission to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, the king immediately appoints him governor of the region and sends forces with him to make sure he arrives safely. His every action shows him to be a trustworthy and godly servant.
• Finally, among these examples should be included the apostle Paul, who appeals to Caesar while imprisoned in Caesarea on charges trumped up by the Jews (Acts 25:10-12). Through many trials, Paul is eventually delivered to Rome, where he spends two whole years "preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him" (Acts 28:31). Although we have no biblical record of it, he must have come to trial before Caesar and been acquitted of all charges, as he is released to continue his ministry after the two years are up. So, Paul witnesses before the greatest ruler of his day, the Roman emperor!

In the not-too-distant future, Christ will raise His Two Witnesses to preach and warn the whole world that He is coming to bring His Kingdom to this earth (see Revelation 11). God always ensures that no one—and especially those with real power in the world—can claim ignorance before Him in the Day of Judgment.

RBV: Hebrews 3:6

". . . but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end." 

—Hebrews 3:6

This verse appears at the end of a paragraph in which we are asked to "consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus" (Hebrews 3:1). In the intervening four verses, the author of Hebrews, probably ultimately the apostle Paul, makes a comparison between Christ and Moses in terms of their faithfulness. Jesus is, of course, superior to Moses in many ways, but in the area of faithfulness, He is far greater because He is no mere servant, as Moses was, but the Son and Heir of His own house, the house of God.

A second distinction that the author makes is that, while Moses functioned as a faithful servant or steward of the house, Christ built the house. In other words, while Moses dutifully followed orders concerning the running of the house during his time of service, Christ gets all the credit for planning, designing, building, and maintaining the house, as He is its Creator. The author makes this plain in verse 4: "He who built all things is God." 

So the author makes two major points: 1) Jesus Christ is the faithful Son of God and Heir of all things, and 2) He Himself is the Creator God, the One who made everything (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16). For these reasons, He is worthy of all glory and honor.

In verse 6, the object of our comments, the author brings Christians, the church, into the argument. We are the house of God that Jesus has been building and that Moses faithfully served. The Son of God has been faithfully working on us both individually and collectively since the beginning to fit us into His house—whether we wish to look at it as a building or a family—in the place that most suits us and where we will function the best for His purpose.

The emphasis here needs to be on the fact that He, appointed by the Father to this task, has executed His responsibilities faithfully in every respect. He never shirks a job, never does shoddy work, and never fails to finish what He starts. Jesus Christ always does perfect work.

So, as the verse implies, we should have perfect confidence and joy in our Creator in bringing us to salvation and eternal life. We have no reason to doubt! Our responsibility, then, is to "hold fast," to stand firm, to endure to the end, through whatever assails us in the meantime.

There is nothing that can stop Christ from finishing His work perfectly—except us. We can fail Him (see Hebrews 6:4-8; 10:26-31); we can prove unfaithful, which is why the author's next section is an exhortation to be faithful and a warning not to follow the unfaithful, unbelieving example of the Israelites in the wilderness.

To this end, he repeats his encouraging remarks in Hebrews 3:14, "For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end." We have to keep hanging on, faithful and trusting that God, in His perfect work, has everything under control. So Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 24:13, "But he who endures to the end shall be saved."

RBV: I Kings 11:42

"And the period that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years."

--I Kings 11:42

The reign of King Solomon is a rather bittersweet one. Here he was, the wisest man who had ever lived, ruling over a powerful, wealthy nation at peace, yet the evidence that we glean from Scripture is that his forty-year reign was the prelude to disaster. As Solomon breathes his last breath, the kingdom is poised on the brink of rebellion because of heavy taxation and forced labor (see I Kings 9:20-22; 12:1-5); his heir, Rehoboam, is proud and listens only to his foolish friends (see I Kings 12:6-11); and God has been shunted aside to share glory with a menagerie of other deities (see what happened in Israel immediately after his reign; I Kings 12:25-33).

The Bible provides us both sides of the coin of Solomon's time on the throne of Israel. He presided over Israel's Golden Age and the building of the Temple and a grand palace for the royal family (see I Kings 4:20-8:66). The Queen of Sheba and countless others visited Jerusalem to gaze on the wonders collected there by the king and to hear his wisdom firsthand (see I Kings 4:29-34; 10:1-13). Scripture informs us that gold and silver were as common in Israel's capital as baser metals were elsewhere (I Kings 10:14-23; II Chronicles 9:27). Solomon was so strong and the nations around were so weak that no one dared disturb the peace of the time (except at the very end of his reign; I Kings 11:14-40).

But the underside of the coin is far darker. Though Solomon had been humble as a young man, asking God for understanding so that he could properly rule and judge his people, his pride soon led him to disobedience. He began to flout the instructions given by God through Moses to Israel's kings (Deuteronomy 17:14-20). He made alliances with foreign nations, particularly Egypt, marrying hundreds of domestic and foreign princesses to cement these ties (I Kings 11:1-3). Of course, these women brought their own gods and goddesses to worship, and it was not long before Solomon was honoring their wishes to have various shrines and "high places" built to house their idols (see I Kings 11:4-8).

As usually happens, when the people saw that Solomon had compromised with idolatry, they followed suit, visiting the ancient groves and hilltop altars that had lain unused but not unforgotten. With few exceptions, subsequent kings either neglected God's command to destroy these high places or made half-hearted efforts. Solomon's reign set an unfortunate standard for most of the kings of Judah who followed him, and the people sank deeper into lifestyles contrary to the law of God.

The number forty is frequently a biblical indication of testing. Solomon received forty years from God to see if he would follow His ways or not. The book of Ecclesiastes indicates that, perhaps at the end of his life, Solomon made an effort to repent--or at least he realized that, in the end, it is a person's chief duty to fear God and keep His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13). We really do not know if he passed or failed his test, but we can learn a great lesson from the forty years of his wonderful, terrible reign.

Beating the Rat Race (Part Four)

Numbers 9 contains another incident in which the command to be still plays a noteworthy part. On this occasion, Moses uses these words to some of the men of Israel who had a serious question about taking the Passover. God had told the children of Israel that they needed to keep the Passover at its appointed time, on the fourteenth day of Abib/Nisan. The Passover lamb was to be eaten at twilight, and the participants were to observe the ritual according to the instructions that God had given in Exodus 12.

However, while trekking through the wilderness at the beginning of the second year of their journey, certain men had become defiled by contact with a human corpse, so that they could not keep the Passover on Abib/Nisan 14. They presented themselves before Moses and Aaron that day and complained: "We became defiled by a human corpse. Why are we kept from presenting the offering of the LORD at its appointed time among the children of Israel?" (Numbers 9:6-7).

This account reads rather plainly, but because of what Moses says in response, we come to understand that these men were not just excited—they were probably close to terror! We can imagine that they came rushing up to him, greatly agitated, saying, "Moses, why can't we take the Passover, even though we touched the body of a dead man?"In all likelihood, they thought that, by missing the Passover, they were facing the death penalty! As Moses verifies a few verses later, if an otherwise undefiled person "ceases to keep the Passover, that same person shall be cut off from among his people, because he did not bring the offering of the LORD at its appointed time; that man shall bear his sin" (Numbers 9:13). Misunderstanding this statute, the men cry, "We are as good as dead!"

Notice Moses' reply to them: "Stand still, that I may hear what the LORD will command concerning you" (Numbers 9:8). Then God spoke to Moses, giving him the instructions that we now know as those for taking the second Passover. If one is defiled, on a journey, or sick, he may take the Passover one month later, on the fourteenth day of the second month, and satisfy his obligation to God.

For us, the lesson in Numbers 9 is that Moses needed and asked for stillness—both in movement and in speech—so that he and afterward they could hear God's instruction. We cannot hear God speak when we are distracted by other things. Moses knew that to hear God, one has to give Him full attention, and that is best done when one is still. The best place, the best time, the best environment to hear what God is trying to tell us is one of peace and quiet.

A similar incident that illustrates the need to be still occurred when the children of Israel found themselves boxed in by mountains on two sides and, on the third and fourth sides, trapped between the armed forces of Egypt and the waters of the Red Sea. Actually, God had led them exactly to this spot, first to "gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD" (Exodus 14:2-4), as well as to test the Israelites, to see if they would trust Him.

The next few verses relate that Pharaoh assembled the cream of his army and pursued the fleeing Israelites to this very spot. "And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD" (Exodus 14:10). The Israelites were, at this point, very far from being still. Knowing that they were no match against these elite troops, they were certain that they and all their children would be slaughtered—or at least rounded up and sent back to cruel slavery in Goshen. Convinced of their imminent demise, they turned on Moses:

Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, "Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?" For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness. (Exodus 14:11-12)

Moses, however, was too good a leader and too righteous a man to falter even under these urgent and dire circumstances. He appealed for calm: "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace" (Exodus 14:13-14).

What happened here is very interesting. The Israelites were terrified, knowing that this professional army of Pharaoh would shortly slaughter them. Not being an army but just a mass of former slaves, Israel had no visible means of defense. They may have had a few swords among them, having just spoiled the Egyptians, but being slaves by profession, they did not know how to use them. They could see no way out of the situation; they were going to die there by the waterside.

After forty years of experience learning the psychology of sheep—and thus people, in many respects— Moses knew what he had to do. He told them to calm down, to be still, and not to let fear paralyze them. Why? So that the Israelites could "see the salvation of the LORD," the deliverance that God would bring to them. If they were riled, agitated, and fearful, they would miss it. They would be so busy agonizing over their cruel fate that they would either ignore or be distracted from recognizing God's work on their behalf.

Notice that he brackets his command to stand still with another one: "You shall hold your peace."Being still is the first step, which needs to be followed by shutting up. Nervous or restless movement and incessant, woe-is-me murmuring are counterproductive, useless wastes of energy and breath. God wants us to focus on good, positive approaches to solving our predicaments—and the most sure and constructive solution is to trust God to provide a way of escape (I Corinthians 10:13).

We sometimes become so wrapped up in our trials that we fail to see God's hand in working out our deliverance from them. An agitated state of mind makes us blind to what God is doing because, essentially, it is very selfish, centered on our situation, our fears, and ourselves. The best thing we can do is to stand still—to relax, to return to a state of calm and reason—and try to observe the salvation that God is working out in our lives.

Signs and Wonders

It is hard to shrug off the impossible. Yet, when it comes to the miracles of Jesus Christ, many people do just that—and gladly. Millions, even a great many who call themselves Christians, are only too eager to avoid or ignore what they mean.

Miracles, signs, and wonders produce two simultaneous but contrary effects: They attract and repel. They attract us because they are rare and amazing, and in the case of Jesus’ miracles, they are also beneficial. People who had not walked for many years caper like goats. The blind can read the sacred scrolls at the local synagogue. The chronically ill regain their health and strength. Lepers, their skin pink and whole, can once again mingle with crowds and rejoin their families. And how many dead men, women, and children does Jesus raise to life? Jesus’ miracles are events that make us want to stand up and cheer.

But, at the same time, these same stupendous miracles repel us. We draw back in uncertainty and fear—perhaps doubtful of their authenticity, certainly terrified of the power of the Miracle Worker. Not only can He raise the dead, but He can also still a raging storm, stroll across a tossing sea, and with a word topple a whole company of soldiers. Demons—even Satan the Devil himself—leave the scene at His command. He feeds four and five thousand people with a few loaves and fishes, and without breaking a sweat, produces dozens of gallons of wine for a wedding party. Perhaps most personally terrifying of all, He knows what is in people’s hearts, almost as if He can read their thoughts.

So is Jesus of Nazareth to be praised or feared for His powerful miracles? Both, of course, for Scripture declares, “O LORD, how great are your works!” (Psalm 92:5), yet also, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). In the miraculous demonstrations of the power of God in Jesus Christ, we see “the goodness and severity of God” (Romans 11:22). Far from being some mere sideshow, His miracles were an integral part of His ministry, and their implications still resound to our day.

Some people consider the miracles of the gospel accounts as a kind of advertizing. The idea is that Jesus would blow into town, heal some well-known leper or cripple or maybe cast out a troublesome demon, and the crowds would gather, hoping to witness more wonders performed before their very eyes. Then, having caught them in His net, Jesus would preach the gospel to them, and many would believe in Him. While they made for an effective marketing technique—and the gospel narratives admit that crowds did gather to see Him perform miracles—there is an element of cynicism in this conjecture, as if Jesus healed the sick or cast out demons callously, calculatingly, just to draw an audience to hear His pitch. In it, He becomes merely a religious huckster, the original Elmer Gantry.

However, this is not the case in the least. Matthew, Mark, and Luke often bring out the fact that, upon seeing the sick and troubled folk brought before Him, “He was moved with compassion” (Matthew 9:36; see, for instance, Matthew 14:14; 20:34; Mark 1:41; 6:34; Luke 7:13). John is the only one who tells us that, at Lazarus’ resurrection, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35) over the people’s grief, as well as over their ignorance and hopelessness. As the prophecy of Isaiah 53 informs us, He was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3), our Savior who cared for humanity so deeply that He offered Himself to redeem every last person from sin and death. Such a merciful and loving Person does not use parlor tricks, as it were, to gain a following. His concern and desire to help were real.

John’s gospel clues us in to the divine purpose for Jesus’ miracles. After narrating the miracle of the wine at the wedding feast, the apostle adds, “This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him” (John 2:11). This verse gives us three purposes for the miracles Jesus did: 1) that they are signs; 2) that they “manifested His glory”; and 3) they helped His disciples to believe in Him. They did attract attention to Him, but ultimately, God had deeper, spiritual purposes for them.

John calls this and other miracles a “sign.” A sign is something that identifies or indicates. The Greek word he uses is semeíon, “a sign or distinguishing mark whereby something is known; an event that is an indication or confirmation of intervention by transcendent powers,” according to a leading Greek-English lexicon. Jesus performed this first miracle to identify or indicate something, and the most obvious answer to what that something was centers on who Jesus is. In turning water to wine, Jesus contrasts Himself to Moses, whose first plague turned water to blood (Exodus 7:14-25). In effect, the miracle indicates “a greater than Moses is here,” and that greater One could be none other than the promised Messiah.

This sign “manifested His glory.” In other words, the miracle declared or made known Christ’s special status. Through this wonder, certain people became aware that Jesus was no ordinary man but a higher Being, worthy of all honor and praise. We could go so far as to say that these people, whose eyes had been opened, could conclude that He was indeed God in the flesh, for only the Creator God had enough power over nature to change one substance into another and with such perfect results. The same could be said of His other miracles: No one but God could do what He did.

Finally, the apostle tells us that the miracle at Cana confirmed or strengthened His disciples’ faith. Turning water into wine was a proof that erased any doubt that they may still have had about His own or John the Baptist’s claims about Him. They not only believed who He was, but they could now fully believe what He said. They could trust Him to reveal the deep spiritual truths of God because they experienced His power in action producing excellence and good. If He would go to such lengths to make a wedding feast joyous and save the couple from embarrassment, what would He not do to save us and give us eternal life?

John does not say it, but mingled with this boosting of their faith must have been at least a twinge of the fear of the Lord. When we walk with God, He will certainly help us and bless us through the working of His power. But what form would His power take if we should cross Him and become His enemy? That sword has two edges, as Hebrews 4:12 attests.

Far more than some kind of “magic,” the miracles of Jesus Christ teach us profound lessons about Jesus, His mission, His message, and our responses to Him. We scoff at them or ignore them to our peril.

The Prophet

Nearly fifteen hundred years before Jesus’ birth, Moses prophesied in Deuteronomy 18:15, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.” God validates the prophecy a few verses later: “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him” (verse 18). Clearly, this is a Messianic prophecy, as most Bible translations and commentaries recognize.

Many first-century Jews also considered it Messianic, for they were expecting the Prophet to arise in their day. They asked John the Baptist: “‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ And he answered, ‘No’” (John 1:21). After explaining that he was the herald of the Messiah, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” (verse 23), he explains, “It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose” (verse 27). The following day, seeing Jesus approaching, John declares, “This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me’” (verse 30).

We tend not to think of Jesus as a prophet—He was the Christ, the Savior, God in the flesh, far more than a prophet. Indeed, He transcends easy classification; He is all these things and much more. Yet, in His ministry He did fulfill the role of the Great Prophet to Israel, to the church, and to the world. Moses, to whom the Prophet is compared, casts a pale shadow beside Jesus Christ, as Hebrews 3:1-6 attests. Moses was a mere servant, sent to speak on God’s behalf before Pharaoh and Israel, “but Christ as a Son over His own house” (verse 6). If Moses is considered the pinnacle of human prophets, then Jesus is yet a magnitude greater.

The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke contain a well-known scene, the Transfiguration, that illustrates this point. Jesus, accompanied only by Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, hikes up to the summit of a lofty mountain—traditionally, Mount Tabor, but perhaps Mount Hermon—where He is “transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (Matthew 17:2). In addition, the disciples envision Moses and Elijah beside Him, holding a conversation with Him (verse 3). Later, in verse 9, Jesus confirms that what they saw was a vision; it was a sign in the form of a tableau designed to instruct them in a vital fact.

Seeing this spectacular sight, Peter exclaims, in paraphrase, “We’re so glad you chose us to see this! We’ll set up three booths: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah!” (verse 4). But before he could even finish his sentence, a voice boomed from heaven, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” (verse 5). Peter failed to understand the point of the scene, so God had to step in and make it plain. Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were not equals by any means and should not be treated as such. Jesus Christ is God’s beloved Son; He is the Master, and the other two His servants. What Jesus says sets the standard, so we must give His instruction priority.

The primacy of Jesus applies to prophecy too. Paul in Ephesians 2:20 and Peter in I Peter 2:7 recall the image of the chief cornerstone from the prophecy of Christ in Psalm 118:22. In stone construction, the cornerstone is the most important foundational stone in the building, often the stone laid in the corner upon which most of the building’s weight would rest. It can also be thought of as a keystone, the stone at the apex of an arch that locks the other stones in place. Without the cornerstone or the keystone, the whole structure falls into a pile of rubble. Additionally, Zechariah 4:7 uses the image of a capstone, the final, finishing element that completes the building.

In terms of prophecy, then, what Jesus says is foundational, pivotal, and ultimately refining. Thus, what Jesus prophesies to occur—both in the gospels and in Revelation, in which the glorified Jesus is the Revelator—should be our starting point, our map, and our compass in our search to understand what will come to pass in these last days. The other prophecies lend support and detail, but if a question or seeming contradiction arises between two prophetic statements, if one is from Jesus’ lips, it takes precedence.

His chief prophetic discourse is the Olivet Prophecy, which He gave to His disciples just prior to His crucifixion. Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, and Luke 21 record His words. His prophecy is in large part His answer to the disciples’ questions, “Tell us, when will these things be [when not one stone of the Temple will be left upon another (verse 2)]? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). He begins by giving six signs—parallel to the first six seals of Revelation 6—of world events leading up to His second coming. He tells of the horrors of the Great Tribulation before describing His glorious return in power to bring order and peace to the earth.

From this point, His prophecy, while still predictive, turns to exhortation and warning. He urges us to be aware of the signs, while cautioning that we will not know exactly when He will return, so we must be ready at all times. He refines what course our preparations are to take: We must be faithfully at work, growing in godly character. To illustrate His points, He presents three parables in Matthew 25: the Parables of the Ten Virgins, the Talents, and the Sheep and the Goats, all of which describe the good and bad characteristics of those waiting for Christ to return. Of course, He wants us to imitate the Wise Virgins, the Good and Faithful Servants, and the caring Sheep.

However, Jesus’ prophecies are not all confined to the Olivet Prophecy. Obviously, He predicted His death at the hands of His enemies, as well as His resurrection after three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. He foretold of Judas’ betrayal, Peter’s denials, the disciples’ scattering, and even Peter’s martyrdom and John’s long life. Yet, there are many more prophecies hidden within parables and sayings throughout the gospels. And, as mentioned earlier, the entire book of Revelation contains scores of detailed prophecies focused on the Day of the Lord and the years leading up to it—not to mention the glorious aftermath, Christ’s millennial reign, the White Throne Judgment, and the New Heavens and the New Earth.

Deuteronomy 18:19 adds a warning from God concerning the Prophet: “And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.” In other words, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” Sounds like excellent advice.

'By Any Other Name'

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President Barack Obama. Frown. President Mike Huckabee. Grimace.

These names just do not sound Presidential or even quite American. Despite their respective victories in the Democrat and Republican Caucuses in Iowa, putting them in the driver's seat for their parties' nominations for President of the United States, they have a long way to go. Winning Iowa does not make a candidate's nomination certain; in fact, over the past several decades, the Republican nomination went to the Iowa winner about half the time, and the Democrat nomination, about sixty percent of the time. Nothing is a foregone conclusion at this point.

In covering elections, pundits talk about name-recognition all the time. If a candidate's name is well-known—even if he or she has done a shoddy job in office, or has never been in office but is publicly popular—he or she will likely garner a sizable number of votes just because his or her name is immediately recognizable. This is especially true when the well-known person's opponent is not known from Adam. People will pull the lever for someone they have some knowledge of rather than the one they would fail to pick out of a police lineup.

Yet, in this country and probably in many others, the name itself—its origin, its form, its sound—is important. The forebears of a majority of this nation's citizens emigrated from Europe, and European names feel familiar and comfortable to them. Beyond this, most citizens have some English, Scots, Irish, and Welsh blood in them, even if they are of German, Italian, Scandinavian, Polish, or some other European derivation. Frankly, many blacks also have British surnames, given to their ancestors when brought in slavery to these shores or taken after emancipation. Thus, to a large majority of Americans, even though we proclaim our acceptance of "your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," a British name has immediate value.

In this time of multiculturalism, such a statement sounds terribly discriminatory and provincial. No matter how it sounds, it is true nevertheless. Why do agents of talented artists insist that many of them change their names? Sometimes, it is because their real names simply clank when spoken. For instance, "Margaret Hyra" is a bit clumsy in the mouth, but "Meg Ryan" sounds great. At other times, a person's name is changed to project the right image: "Marion Morrison" sounds like a wimp, but one could never back down with a name like "John Wayne." The same is true for why the very normal Mark Vincent became tough guy "Vin Diesel."

However, in many cases, a potential star's name is changed because it just sounds too foreign, not American enough. This is why Jennifer Anastassakis became "Jennifer Anniston," instantly changing her immediate persona from Greek-American to simply American. From a talented Spanish-Irish family, actor Emilio Estévez, part of the 80s "Brat Pack," uses his real Spanish name on screen. Yet, his dad, Mondergard Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez, is best known as "Martin Sheen" (naming himself after Catholic Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen), and his youngest brother, Carlos Irwin Estévez, is of course, "Charlie Sheen." In like manner, Robert Allen Zimmerman could never have become America's premier modern folk singer, but "Bob Dylan" could. And who would want to see a magic show performed by David Kotkin? But people flock to see "David Copperfield's" illusions.

The importance of having the right name is especially true in Presidential politics. A cursory scan of America's forty-three Presidents finds only one obviously non-British name, Dwight D. Eisenhower, a name of German origin (however, Van Buren and Roosevelt are technically Dutch names). Eisenhower's two election wins are the exceptions that prove the rule. As a first-time candidate, he was the war hero who had overseen the defeat of the Third Reich, overshadowing his German name, and the second time he was a proven leader, having had a successful first term in office. Besides, in 1952 and 1956, he was contested by Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson, a weak, intellectual candidate, who in each election failed to muster even 90 electoral votes.

Evidently, "Huckabee" is an English name, a variant of Huckaby and perhaps of Huxtable. In Devonshire, England, a place exists by the name of "Huccaby" (from Anglo-Saxon, meaning "crooked river bend"), while in North Yorkshire there is an "Uckerby" (from Old Norse, meaning "farmstead"). Yet, Huckabee is just strange enough not to sound common or normal to the average American. Hearing it, many immediately think of Mark Twain's character, Huck Finn, and relate it to a "hick," a hillbilly, a hayseed, a redneck. In this regard, it does not help Mr. Huckabee that he hails from Arkansas, not the most cosmopolitan of states.

"Obama" is even more foreign-sounding. It is of African origin, most likely Swahili, but what it means is anyone's guess at this point. Its similarity to "Osama," the first name of America's number one enemy, Osama bin Laden, is unsettling to some. Of even more controversy has been his first and middle names, Barack Hussein. "Barack," is an Anglicization of a Swahili name, Baraka, of Arabic origin (from bariki, meaning "blessing"). His middle name, "Hussein," is obviously Arabic, and means "handsome one." It was the name of one of Mohammed's grandsons. It is ironic that, while the fight against Muslim extremism continues, a leading candidate for President has two Arabic names.

However, as mentioned earlier, one caucus does not a nomination win. While these two head their fields at the moment, the situation will probably change over the next few weeks as more primaries are held. We will see if America is ready for a President with an untraditional name. Ancient Israel followed Moses for forty years, and his name was Egyptian (Exodus 2:10).