The governments of the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union and many others across the world, are striving to overcome the devastating problems that unscrupulous seekers of power and/or indulgence are bringing to millions.

The title of this article was the nature of our invitation to readers of ‘The Rugby Register’ local advertising magazine, and anyone else who cares to drop in, to share with us our investigations into what can be done to mitigate or even escape from the apparent disasters that lie ahead.

First we must recognise the complexity of the problem and we have found a table that helps very much in that respect.

Just looking at these problems it immediately becomes apparent that they are caused by many different people and nations. Is there a place to go to deal with worldwide problems like these. Well, the horror of World War II, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history, involved more than 50 nations fighting on land, sea and in air in nearly every part of the world. The end of this war led to a meeting of the leading nations of the world in San Francisco. Within months 29 nations formed the United Nations on October 24, 1945, and now it has 193 member states and a very grand charter. Let’s have a look!

What grand aspirations and how miserably it has failed!

When you look at the history of civilization on the earth there seems to be little hope of success. The Egyptians, Jews, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans and all empires down the ages gained their power by fighting, killing and oppression.

Ancient scrolls found in a series of caves in Palestine

However, in the late 1940’s some extensive scrolls were discovered in a series of caves. Wikipedia tells us “researchers have assembled a collection of 981 different manuscripts – discovered in 1946/47 and in 1956 – from 11 caves.”

Paraphrasing Wikipedia, hundreds of professional researchers and scientists have worked on these largely Hebrew manuscripts, many of which are in fragments, to piece them together, date and translate. Below is an example of one of the larger scrolls.

Why are we telling you about these ancient scrolls? Well, It is because in looking at the modern world we have been unable to find the answer to our question, “Who controls our future ?”, if anybody in particular does in the modern world. By looking further afield, we found that manuscripts have been discovered that demonstrate the Old Testament of the Bible is a very old book and that it contains some amazing information.

We have been looking, very briefly, at the content of the caves discovered in the 1940s near the Dead Sea in Palestine. Wikipedia describes even more interesting to us, the contents of some caves found in 1957 plus, in the same area.

One of those researchers is Steve Rudd who had joined workers in several Archaeological sites in the Middle East as part of the team digging, co-ordinating their work schedules and compiling very detailed reports. Steve Rudd has compiled a long and detailed report of the content and age of some of these scrolls.^{[see end of this article]}

The first cave in this you collection was called “Cave of Horror” because it contained the skeletons of Jews, including women and children, apparently hiding from results of the national revolt from the Roman occupation in 135 AD.

Rome had promptly brought in their ruthless armies to destroy and carry off captive many thousands Jews out of their land and ban them from living there. This community of Jews had hidden in the “Cave of horror” and leaving the cave would have meant surrendering to the Romans below. They did not want to do this and when their food stores run out they buried their precious scrolls at the back of the cave, burnt their possessions in the cave and starved to death.

The “Cave of Horror”, when discovered find in 1957, was named “Nahal Hever” and the main manuscript labelled, 8HevXllgr “Dodekapropheton”.

Analysis of the new batch of manuscripts (mss) revealed they were of the Greek ‘Septuagint’ translation of the Hebrew, described by Wikipedia as, “the Hebrew Torah (Old Testament) … translated into Greek at the request of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–247 BCE) by 70 or 72 Jewish scholars: six scholars from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.” The long translation process of the Septuagint was completed by 132 BCE.”

It is these manuscripts made at least 50 years before Jesus was born that we want to tell you about. Steve Rudd realized the amazing significance of the manuscripts and built a website detailing all the work that was done on them. Below are some extracts downloaded from his website. ^{[see link to it given at the end of this article]}

Here we have a few of the pieces of mss of the ‘12 Minor Prophets Manuscripts’ dated 50 BC (copy mss) by a team of experts.

The prophet Micah was active during the last half of the 8th century BC so he wrote hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus. The translation of fragments highlighted here together with many more in other of our articles on this website are very significant. Here is a summary of parts of one of them.

What the Bible tells us

The Romans had occupied the land of Israel and put their man, Herod, an Idumean, on the throne. It is quite possible you will have heard how wise men came looking for a baby born to be king and thought Herod would be able to help them find him. Matthew 2 records they asked

²Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. ³ When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

As Herod wasn’t a Jew, and wasn’t religious he called the high priest and his associates to explain.

⁴ And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

They were able to tell him straight away.

⁵And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, ⁶And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

You have already seen a copy of what the prophet Micah wrote long before Jesus was born.

Micah 5 ² But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. [Old Testament]

They had in their hands a copy of one of the many prophecies about Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Reading a little further in Matthew 2 we see …

⁹ When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was … ¹¹ And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.  ¹² And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

So there really was a child, Jesus, there. But see what was going on in the palace.

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.

Herod did not want to worship Jesus as he pretended to the wise men. He wanted to kill him to avoid any competition for the throne. This too was prophesied in the Old Testament, this time by the prophet Jeremiah active around 600 BC.

Jeremiah 31 ¹⁵Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. [Old Testament]

Ramah is an area where Bethlehem, Jesus’s birthplace is situated.

¹³ … Behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child too. ¹⁴ When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: ¹⁵ And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

And here is what the Old Testament prophet, Hosea, prophesied guided by God, over 750 years before Jesus was born.

Hosea 11 ¹When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

So there we have 3 prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled in these few verses in Matthew ^{[New Testament]}.

Note: Jesus was uniquely God’s Son because Mary’s pregnancy was by a miracle – no man was involved. As the Angel who told her she would have a son said.

Luke 1 ³⁴ Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? ³⁵ And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Returning to Old Testament prophecy, Alfred Edersheim, an 18^th Century Bible Scholar in his book, “The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah” ^{[still available]}, found 456 Old Testament verses referring to the Messiah or His times. Conservatively, Jesus fulfilled at least 300” of those prophecies in the 1^st Century.

So we have an amazing Truth

Adding together all the Hebrew and Greek Dead Sea Scrolls that historical, scientific and archaeological experts have confirmed are genuine and were originally written well before Jesus was born, we have fragments from every book of the Old Testament except for the Book of Esther. Isaiah is complete and a number are substantially so.

Thus, the Old Testament is undoubtedly a book of TRUTH, and it provides, for those who read the Bible the answer to our opening question.

WHO CONTROLS OUR FUTURE ?

It certainly is not man … …

Proverbs 16 ²⁵ There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

God uses His Word the Bible to explain His purpose in creating the earth.

2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

He goes into great detail largely in the Old Testament and this passage from Isaiah giving us a good start into learning the future He is going to establish on the earth in place of the ruination and hopelessness that man is bringing the earth to.

^5​​  I​​ am​​ the​​ LORD, and​​ there is​​ none else,​​ there is​​ no God beside​​ me: … …​​ ⁷​​  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the​​ LORD​​ do all these​​ things. … … ¹⁸ For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. ¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob*, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.    Isaiah 4   _{*One of the forefathers of Israel}

The earth or civilization certainly will not be destroyed, however near man seems to be bringing that about.

²⁹  The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever. Psalm 37

We could go on at length about these things, but the article would be far too long. So below links to articles that you might find interesting.

This presentation is one many on this website.  The subjects included in it listed below might be an interesting follow up to the one above at some convenient time.  To view please Ctrl+Click on any.

1. Why does God allow suffering
2. Remarkable changes are coming
3. He is risen (resurrection)
4. The Good Shepherd of his sheep
5. Following the Good Shepherd
6. Earth full of knowledge of God’s glory

PLUS another demonstrating THE BIBLE IS TRUE.

How can Israel be God’s witnesses?

Earth full of knowledge of God’s glory

Why are we here?

Many scientists say the purpose of life is first survival, followed by reproduction. The New York Times says ‘The universe doesn’t care about your purpose’, and leading physicist Lawrence Krauss in his latest book says, the fact that we evolved on this planet is just a “cosmic accident”. But we have far better facts to put before you on our website. And you have probably joined us from our Home Page by invitation.

Of course, science does not say anything. It is ‘certain people’ who use it, that say things. A more accurate assessment of science is one given by Professor Carl Sagan (1934 – 1996). He was a famous American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, science populariser, and science communicator in astronomy and other natural sciences.

He said, “Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.”

“Albert Einstein, was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time, made the following profound statement.

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”

And we support the view of many scientists that true religion and science go hand in hand especially as the claim that the truth of the Bible is based wholly on faith is false.

Hebrews 11 ¹ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Let us show you an example.

First you need to be aware of the make up of the Bible. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so let us give it a try.

`

If you are not familiar with the Bible, please have a good look at the above diagram. You will see that the Bible is written in two parts – the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament tends to be called the Hebrew Bible because it was written down and preserved by the Jews for centuries. They kept copies of their Bible in the temple in Jerusalem and their synagogues across the country long before Jesus was born.

What the Bible tells

We can read in the Bible in the first book of the New Testament how one day some men came from outside Israel to see Herod, the king, in Jerusalem. It is quite possible you will have heard about it, even if you have never read a page of the Bible.

Matthew 2 ¹Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

They had a question about a king and thought he would be able to help them.

²Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. ³ When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

Herod wasn’t a Jew, and he wasn’t religious. So he called the high priest and his associates to explain.

⁴ And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

They were able to tell him straight away.

⁵And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, ⁶And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

We will stop here a moment to be sure that you appreciate the significance of the priests words. This is what the prophet Micah wrote around 500 years before.

Micah 5 ² But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

You can read it for yourself in any Old Testament Bible in Micah chapter 5. And this was not just a lucky guess. There are many prophecies about Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Let’s just read a little further in Matthew 2 .

⁹ When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was … ¹¹ And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.  ¹² And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

So the child, Jesus, was really there. But see what was going on in the palace.

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.

Herod did not want to worship Jesus as he pretended to the wise men. He wanted to kill him to avoid any competition for the throne. This too was prophesied in the Old Testament.

Jeremiah 31 ¹⁵Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in *Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

Did Herod succeed in killing Jesus. Of course, not.

¹³ … Behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child too. ¹⁴ When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: ¹⁵ And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

And here is what the Old Testament prophet, Hosea, wrote,

Hosea 11 ¹When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

Prophecy proves the Bible is true and God is our Creator.

We have identified above at least three fulfilled prophecies in the second chapter of Matthew.

• The Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem
• Herod’s attempt to murder Jesus
• The removal of Jesus into Egypt to escape Herod.

The only way this is possible is if there is an all knowing, all powerful, Creator God, in charge of what happens on the Earth and what is recorded in the Old and New Testaments.

Isaiah 45 ¹¹  Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. ¹²  I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.

Thus, the basis of belief in our God (Heb: Yahweh) as Creator and Sustainer of all life and things throughout the universe, is not blind faith. It is based on the evidence of prophecy in the Old Testament of what happened later in the New Testament. Faith comes into our dealings with God as our Heavenly Father.

Why we are here.

Now the answer is straightforward!

Genesis 1 ¹  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. ²  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. ^{3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.}

And He tells later,

Isaiah 45 ¹⁸  For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

So He had a purpose with the Earth and it involved people. In fact, if you read the first chapter of Genesis it describes the whole clothing of the earth with vegetation, trees, insects, animals, and so on, right up to man at the top.

Genesis 1 ²⁷  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ²⁸  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

The highlighted phrase tells us that God needs thinking beings that can understand Him. The word ‘image’ in Genesis in the original Hebrew is ‏צֶלֶם‎ and means ‘similar’, rather than, ‘the same as God’. The similarities God gave human beings includes a mind that could think, reason, remember and have emotions in the same way as God can, and the ability to communicate with Him.

We suggest that God did not want to live in isolation, but rather with people around Him that are responsive and appreciative of what he does for them. For example, Moses was a man who showed much concern for his Heavenly Father.

God had chosen the nation of Israel to be His own people. He made a promise to them that He would love and care for them if they would do the same for Him. The blessings He lavished upon them, with the promise of even better times to come were amazing. And yet within a little time they were worshipping an idol that they had made and behaving abominably before Him so that God threatened to destroy them and start again with Moses. But rather than glow with pride, Moses’ first thought was for his Heavenly Father.

Exodus 32 ¹¹  And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? ¹²  Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. ¹³  Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. ¹⁴  And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

That is the kind of mutual relationship that God is looking for. Appreciation of what He does for people in return for remarkable protection and wonderful benefits top come.

John 3 ¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

We shall receive a new transformed body like the body Jesus now has.

1 John 3:2 ²  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

What an amazing body to have. But we must do our part to receive that huge honour of a body like Jesus with the ability to do the things he has done in the past and will do in the future, but plus much more. So let us hear and respond faithfully to the words of Jesus.

Mark 12 ³⁰  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. ³¹  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~

If you would like to know more about these important matters, we have Bible talks and invite you to come and listen to one. They are held every Sunday, God willing, and the coming subjects can be found on the “Sunday Bible talks details” page at the top of the page.  (Please us red arrow on right.)   We also have more articles and some audio and video recordings covering many Bible topics in our “Bible study” section.

Artificial Intelligence

Wikipedia reports “Artificial Intelligence” (AI) is intelligence demonstrated by machines”. AI tells of “the formation of our universe and the evolutionary events which created life as we know it.”.

But hear what God says,

“I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.”        Isa 45:12
~                                           ~   ~   ~   ~   ~
.                                     Artificial Intelligence

We emphasise, AI is not truly intelligent, but rather, it is well-designed to perform specific tasks within a set of man-made rules. AI lacks the ability to think independently, and understand the nuances of human speech and behaviour.

Professor Crawford has published a number of scientific books on her subject area. Her latest book, “Atlas of AI,” was published by Yale University Press in May 2021, and has been described as “timely and urgent” by Science.

”AI is made from vast amounts of natural resources, fuel, and human labour. And it’s not intelligent in any kind of human intelligence way. It’s not able to discern things without extensive human training, and it has a completely different statistical logic for how meaning is made. Since the very beginning of AI back in 1956, we have made this terrible error, a sort of original sin of the field, to believe that minds are like computers and vice versa. We assume these things are an analog [equivalent] to human intelligence, and nothing could be further from the truth.”

One of the most fundamental aspects of human consciousness and intelligence is the ability to understand the subtle art of language, from sarcasm to figures of speech. Robots simply cannot do that, which is why we can be confident true artificial intelligence will be impossible to develop. Here is the foundation to our confidence.

.                          Our God and Heavenly Father.

Turning our thoughts to God, the designer, creator, and sustainer of the universe, the situation is so very simple. As we have indicated,

¹⁸ For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob [Israel], Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.       Isaiah 45

As man’s creator God knows exactly what He has made. Especially as He has made man to be part of His purpose with the Earth.

²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.       Genesis 1

That tells us that God needs thinking beings that can understand Him. The word ‘image’ in Genesis in the original Hebrew is ‏צֶלֶם‎ and means ‘similar’, rather than the same as God. The similarities God gave human beings includes a mind that could think, reason, and have emotions in the same way as God can, and the ability to communicate with Him.

So intricate is His understanding of man that he knows the thoughts of man,

¹ O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. ² Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.      Psalm 139 

God can even foresee the actions of people as we will see in the quote below. It describes the future actions of the army of a nation that is the enemy of God’s people – Israel.

¹⁰ Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: ¹¹ And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, ¹² To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.      Ezekiel 38

You will see that those few verses describe the attack of one nation on another people in detail, and thus a prophecy, in this chapter and the next, of a war which is yet to come.

This war is not the subject of this article which is aiming to give you an idea of how the Bible describes life on our planet Earth as wholly the work of God and completely under His control.

Obviously, this is only a short description of a small part of the workings of life on earth which is under the control of a greatly superior intelligence to human beings and their inventions.

Now, there is a very important thing we must emphasise about God’s book from which we learn about Him and His purpose with the world. It contains absolute proof that it is a book of truth, and that God exists.

The Old Testament contains many prophecies of the coming of the Lord Jesus to the earth and it was complete before his birth. When Jesus was born the Old Testament was in the hands of many Jews around him and therefore they had read it and were expecting Jesus. Here is an amazing example in an incident remembered every year by millions of people! It is recorded in Matthew 2.

.                          THE TRUTH OF THE BIBLE

Soon after the birth of Jesus, we can read wise men wanted to see the child. They came to king Herod and asked,

² Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.        Matthew 2

Herod called the priests to ask if they knew about this and they referred him to their scriptures, now known as the Old Testament, and the prophet Micah who lived over 700 years before Herod’s day.

Prophecy: Micah 5: ²  But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

 ⁴  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. ⁵  And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, ⁶  And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel       Matthew 2

We know from the New Testament that is where Jesus was born!

It is clear that even the priests, who reject Jesus, as the prophesied Messiah they were expecting – the Jews longed for a king and deliverer from the Romans.

But when Herod heard this he saw him as a possible rival and wanted to kill him. So, he sent soldiers into the Bethlehem area to kill all the children under two years old, a second prophecy (Jeremiah 13:15 ) thus fulfilled, but for time we will move on to a third fulfilled prophecy.

Also an Angel warned Joseph, the ‘father’ of Jesus, of the danger and sent him to safety In Egypt.

Prophecy: Hosea 11 ¹  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

 ¹⁴  When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: ¹⁵  And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Matthew 2

There are many fulfilled prophecies from the Old Testament in the New Testament. Thus, the Bible itself contains undeniably fulfilled prophecies.

And interestingly, there is outside support for the truth of the Bible in the form of the “Dead Sea Scrolls”. The BBC broadcast a programme with that title in their series “IN OUR TIME” on Thursday, 4th May 2023 now available on “BBC sounds” (on line). The many scrolls found in the caves on the shores of the Dead Sea included at least fragments from every book of the Old Testament except for the Book of Esther and up to a nearly complete one of Isaiah, all date back to at least 250 BC. Many are older.

.                                          Conclusion

So, we can assure you that true “Artificial Intelligence” does not, and cannot exist in the universal realm of The Supreme Intelligence of Almighty God.

¹⁷ Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.  1 Timothy 1

¹⁵ … who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; ¹⁶ Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen. 1 Timothy 6

Most of the many Bibles in the world never leave the bookshelf or are banished to the bottom of a cupboard. This is sad because Jesus said the Good News it contains is “like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” As soon as he recognised the value of it he wanted it at all costs.

The Bible is a treasure that men have died to save from it’s enemies. William Tyndale (see left) was burnt at the stake for translating the Latin Bible into English so the common man could read it; when he cried, “Lord open the king of England’s eyes.” (From an Elizabethan edition of Foxe’s Martyrs.)

What can the Bible reveal to the reader that is so valuable? Jesus likens it’s message to a farmer who unexpectedly finds treasure in the field he rents that is so valuable he totally changes his life to claim it? And Jesus adds power to that with another short parable.

⁴⁵ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: ⁴⁶ Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Matthew 13

This time a merchant searching for a pearl more valuable than those he had, to someone who was looking for the true way to future life and when he found the gospel Jesus taught, he gave up all other ideas or future life that he had heard, like the Law of Moses, because he could see Jesus was offering “The Truth”.

¹⁴ … Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵ And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. Mark 1

Jesus brought the true hope of it eternal life to his people, Israel, so let us follow the gospel of the kingdom of God Jesus taught. When Jesus’ disciple Thomas could not understand how to follow him, …

⁶ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14

If you don’t know much about the great treasures to be discovered in the Bible that can thrill and amaze the reader we hope that by introducing you to it you will want to dig further to learn more about it for yourself. We can tell you it is essential to read Jesus’ own words for yourself, as many who claim they can tell you what he says get it wrong. That is why there are so many different churches and chapels today

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

DON’T RELY ON ANYONE ELSE

Writers of commentaries or paraphrase versions of the Bible tend to impose their own views upon the Bible. Using such sources alone is very unlikely to accurately reflect the contents of the Bible.

We use the Bible throughout all our articles to show you the Gospel message.

Today there are many versions of the Bible. The serious Bible student must use a translation that remains faithful to the original language. We are using the well-established King James Version of the Bible. When using any additional material apply the test that the Bible itself advises …

“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20

START WITH AN OPEN MIND

The key to this article is those words of Jesus we quoted above, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”^{John 14:6} Let’s think about those three matters.

First, “The way” to what? Jesus said in that same quotation from John 14. “No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” God told Moses what His purpose was,

²¹ But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Numbers 14

Just think of that! a world without wickedness, or evil, or ugliness.

³⁸ But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off. Psalm 37

And how does Jesus offer, “The Truth”?

⁴⁹ For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. John 12

And always remember God does not, and cannot lie.

¹⁹ God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Numbers 23

And finally, how is Jesus “The Life”?

¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3

Make no mistake – the value of his offer is vast and we can only give you a brief look into its wonder in this article.

OUR PERSON

Resurrection

²⁸ Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, ²⁹And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. John 5

A new body

²¹ who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Philippians 3 NKJV

A new life without suffering, distress or death

⁴  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Revelation 21

THE WORLD TO COME

Unspoilt beauty of the countryside and the characters of the population

¹⁴ For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Habakkuk 2

Animal Kingdom at peace 

⁶ The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. ⁷ And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. ⁸ And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. Isaiah 11

Contrast that with the world today – war, earthquake and terrorism,

to the world when Jesus returns and rules the world from Jerusalem.

Peace and harmony for all

⁴And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.  Isaiah 2

The true worship of God will be desired by the survivors.

² And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. ³ And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.  Isaiah 2

The situation in the world that will bring Jesus back.

You may be wondering how such huge changes can be brought about in our world today. Especially as the conditions in the world are going to get worse before they get better!

This is predicted by a number of prophets like Joel, Zechariah, Isaiah, Daniel and others, including Ezekiel where God speaks to Gog, which leads a band or alliance, of nations in the Middle East to attack Israel – whose people, only in the middle of the last century, returned to their land to escape the murderous intent of Hitler.

God’s message continues.

⁵ Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: ⁶ Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. ⁷ Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. ⁸ After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Ezekiel 38

This chapter is well worth a read, with a good atlas at your side, to see what nation is the leader of the many peoples described in this prophecy (vs 6-8).

And this is only one of the prophets that between them give a detailed description of a large fighting force who will attack God’s people of Israel. See these verses from Zechariah 14.

² For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captFivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Clearly, Israel will be in great trouble, and something must be done to save God’s people from destruction. Zechariah immediately tells us God will act urgently as He has in the past.

³ Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. Zechariah

The new life that we have been showing you is a huge change from the war that the prophets predict. Obviously, someone with great power will be needed to save Israel from destruction and bring about the marvellous changes in the Earth we have begun to outline. Especially as many powerful nations will resist giving up their soverFeignty at all cost. A good example of such a leader is Vladimir Putin the present President of Russia.

Maybe you have worked out who will save Israel’s saviour.

³⁰ And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹ And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24

The return of Jesus to the earth and all that he must do is a large, detailed subject and beyond the scope of this article. It is also a very interesting subject since those to whom Jesus gives eternal life are vitally involved. But, if there is enough interest we will undertake that task, God willing, very soon. Do let us know if you have any comments about this article or future articles using our comments box at the top right of this page.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

WHAT NEXT?

Time is precious – we need to use it well. Check our Article Index for other articles on many subjects relevant to our day and age.

Or, tell us your chosen subject, in our contact box contact box at the top of this page and on the right. We have many titles in the ‘Stepping Stones’ series available free of charge. We will search our data base of over a hundred articles and send you a link to one or, if you prefer, a printed copy to read.

You can then keep the link on your phone, or one of our mini booklets in your pocket to occupy those spare waiting moments, in a queue, over a coffee, after a meal, or on a journey.

ALSO AVAILABLE

A Bible Reading Plan and Guide consisting of fourteen booklets each containing guidance notes for four weeks of the twelve-month plan.

God offers men and women a part in His marvellous purpose with the earth that He reveals in His word, the Bible. Since benefiting from the great blessings God offers is dependent upon fulfilling certain conditions He lays down, it is essential that all who would have a part in His glorious purpose read and

Understand the Bible for themselves. This plan is therefore designed to introduce the reader directly to God’s message and the accompanying guidance notes highlight the straightforward teaching of the Bible, deal with difficulties which people have expressed in the past and draw attention to many examples of divine authorship which reinforce the absolute assurance that this is the Word of the Living God.

A copy of the first issue, together with a bookmark of the year’s reading plan. Questions about what you read in the Bible can be asked in the “Contact Us” box on this website, by phone or by post.