Volume 6, Number 3
May/June 2008
As always, special thanks go out to Zola Levitt Ministries / T o The Jew F irst Ministry for their ongoing funding To First contributions to B’rit Hadashah Ministries, helping to make these mission trips to Israel possible.
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This publication is a bi-monthly newsletter, free of charge, from B’rit Hadashah Ministries. For more information about our ministry, or to be added to, or removed from, our subscription list, you may contact Elisa by E-mail at: bhm@brit-hadashah.org or by mail at: B’rit Hadashah Ministries P.O. Box 796127 Dallas, Texas 75379-6127 Visit our website at: www.brit-hadashah.org
In This Issue The “Seed” that Blesses All Nations Comes from Israel ................................ 3 Only In Israel ............................................. 4 Matthew 13 and the Prophetic Parables about the Present Age .......................... 5
Beloved readers and supporters,
W
e have returned from another Spirit-lead and successful mission trip to Israel! Thank you all for your prayers and financial support. We can’t all physically go to Israel to witness to God’s chosen people in their homeland, but by supporting this ministry, whether with money or prayers, you are there with us as the love of Yeshua, Jesus Christ, is shared with these precious people through whom He came. This year, we hope to have a special treat for those of you who visit our website. We recorded my verbal accounts of our encounters in Israel so that a “photo story” can be created, combining our photographs we took with the appropriate stories, for watching online. It’s something we’re sure you’ll enjoy, but it might take some time to put together. We will let you know when it is available. Oh, and just so you know, your copy of the Personal Letter that should have come out between this and the last newsletter did not get lost - I’m afraid we were just unable to put one together for you since I was in Israel at the time. Hopefully you did not forget about us though! Thank you again for your faithful support. Your servant in Messiah,
Refugees: A Two-Way Street ................... 6
Todd Baker
Picture on cover: Banais Falls in Caesarea Philippi
Don’t Forget about Todd’s First Book Available for Purchase on our Website
There is something subtle going on in the Middle East that is foretold in Scripture. It is a bookmark of the end of the age. Those who know the Word of God can see prophecy being played out and fulfilled in our newspapers and on TV. But underneath the media’s deluge of coverage of the Holy Land crisis, God is raising up watchmen to the house of Israel… Isaiah 62:6-7 I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem: They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the Earth. In an age of mega-Church and high-profile ministry, this book chronicles the heart and soul of a humble ministry that is reaching out one-on-one, on the streets of Israel, to prepare the Jews for the return of the Messiah, Yeshua. Much like John the Baptist who personally prepared them for the Messiah’s first coming to Israel, Todd Baker and his team are one group of Watchmen called “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17).
May/June 2008
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by Todd Baker
T
he spring 2008 Gospel outreach to Israel began with great difficulty. Due to a problem with our plane’s luggage compartment, American Airlines had to remove some luggage in Dallas, Texas. Our luggage, as you may have guessed, was with the group removed. The pilot promised that it would be flown to JFK airport on the next flight but ours didn’t make it before we were to fly out to Tel Aviv, Israel. All Paul and I had were the clothes we were wearing and our small carry-on bags containing some Gospel tracts and Hebrew Bibles. We were now in a desperate situation and had no choice but to simply trust the Lord day by day for our needs. When Jesus sent out the twelve disciples in Matthew 10, He commanded them not to acquire money or change of clothing or shoes, etc for their journey. The Lord Jesus deliberately prohibited the twelve from making these provisions so that God’s direct and supernatural provision could be inarguably seen. They were forced, in a way, to expect this and rely on it wherever they traveled in their evangelistic mission for the Messiah. They were not to fear or panic in such a situation, as the Lord Jesus would give the disciples power over any adverse circumstances dealing with impoverishment, disease, death, demonic power and persecution (Matthew10: 1-23). The Holy Spirit had impressed on my mind to read Matthew chapter 10 a week before leaving for Israel. I read this chapter to Paul Colley,
Paul Colley and Todd Baker truly on a Mission from God in Israel
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my partner on this trip, and members of the Shalom, Shalom congregation Friday night before we left for Israel that following Sunday. After I read the chapter, Paul turned to his wife, Jennifer, and said that could only be true if we lost our luggage. It was as if the Lord was preparing us for this eventuality before we left so that we had to trust Him for everything, having virtually nothing when we arrived in Israel - no clothing, shoes, toiletries, nor most of our Bible and witnessing materials. This was to last four and a half days while in Israel and God spectacularly provided for us during this time. Paul and I found ourselves in the same situation in which the disciples in Matthew 10 were. On the plane ride from Dallas, I was able to briefly witness to a Jewish couple from Argentina. I was able to give the elderly man a Messianic Gospel tract. He accepted it warmly and thanked me for it. After we arrived at JFK airport in New York, we went through El Al airline security. One of the El Al security personnel by the name of Karen started a conversation with us as she escorted us to our gate. We learned that she had just graduated from college with a major in acting and drama. Paul and I talked about various actors and their acting methods. I told Karen that when I was younger I had looked into going to acting school. She asked me why I didn’t enroll. I frankly said to her that the Lord had another plan for my life. She then asked why we were going to Israel. Paul and I shared with Karen that we annually visit Israel to share with the Jewish people the love God has for them that was supremely revealed when HaShem sent Yeshua, the Messiah. We offered her a Gospel tract to read. At first, she hesitated receiving it but eventually took it after we ministered to her further. I believe that in such a short period of time the Holy Spirit softened her heart to hear what we had to say about Continued on page 8
May/June 2008
from Stuart Arden
In this issue, we continue with our “photo-essay” series by our resident Israeli correspondent, Stuart Arden. These photos and captions will explain some of the behavioral, cultural, and religious practices of Israel and Israelis; some are unusual, most are unique, and all are informative.
Israel’s Independence Day All Jewish/Hebrew holidays begin in the evening because of Genesis 1:5. The day before Independence Day, Israelis obser ve Remembrance Day for Fallen Members of the IDF and Terrorism (the week previously there is a Remembrance Day for Victims of the Holocaust). At the conclusion of Remembrance Day, Israeli flag on the Knesset with Independence Day fireworks in the Independence Day begins with a background gathering on Mt. Herzl where the Yizkor (Remembrance Prayer) is recited, twelve torches (signifying the twelve tribes of Israel) are lit by people chosen for their symbolic significance, the speaker of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) gives a speech, there is a march-by and flag exchanging between various military units, and a fireworks display. In city centers there are various venues of live entertainment, people do folk dancing in the streets, and young people bang others on the head with a plastic hammer – two visits to city centers convinced this writer, lacking tonsorial splendor, to stay out of city centers at this time. On Independence Day a classic Israeli film is shown on television, the World Bible Quiz takes place, the winners of the Israel Prize (in various academic pursuits) are announced, some military bases and significant sites are open to the public, Israelis have barbeques called steakim al ha-esh (“steaks on the fire”), and military cemeteries are crowded as the nation pays tribute to those who have fallen in defense of Israel.
Planning on moving? Please let us know what your new address will be so that you don’t miss an issue!! You can write us at BHM@brit-hadashah.org, or send a change-of-address postcard to the mailing address on the back.
May/June 2008
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T
he pearl is a much desired object in both Western and Near Eastern cultures. In ancient times, kings and royal monarchies would dispatch their naval fleets and ambassadors of the sea to sail the oceans of the world in search for priceless gems such as the pearl. Once found, the king would usually adorn his tiara with these studded pearls of luminous quality. Pearl oysters are located in the profound depths of the sea. One usually has to travel considerable lengths to the bottom of the sea to obtain them. The location of a pearl is far and remote from the easy reach of men. However, when one is properly equipped with a diving suit and sufficient scuba gear, then he is able to better obtain the pearl oyster from the sea. Unlike mineral gems, a pearl needs no additional refinement to improve the quality of it. Except for a little polishing, the pearl is already a finished gem once it is carefully extracted from the oyster. The blood of Jesus Christ, like the nacreous substance of the pearl, is the supreme cleansing agent in giving the soul a new and regenerated existence. Without the mother-of-pearl solution, the oyster would never have been able to give the world the pearl of uncanny and exquisite beauty. The blood that our precious Savior shed is the only means whereby a person is forgiven and washed clean from all his sins and made a new creation. There is no other legitimate way.
“Again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchantman seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
- Matthew 13:45-46
“And almost all things are by law purged with blood, and without shedding is no remission…for if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:22; 13-14). A remarkable similarity between the pearl and the Church is seen in the gradual formation of the pearl. The pearl is gradually formed through a slow process. The pearl undergoes a laborious method of formation while it is secretly and securely formed. The pearl’s completion is sure and irreversible. Is not the reality of the Church the same? For nearly two thousand years, the formation of the Church has been developing via the excruciating suffering and death of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit continues to add dayto-day more lively stones to the one holy habitation of God composed of
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redeemed Jews and Gentiles from the eventful day of Pentecost until the glorious return of Christ for His bride, the Church. When the oyster suffers a fatal wound on its side it is unable to physically remove it. The oyster then proceeds to cover the wound over with successive layers of the beauteous nacre liquid. In like manner, it was from the wounded side of the lance-pierced Christ that God has, through each succeeding generation, gathered a remnant from the world to add to His holy blood-bought Church of redeemed saints which He is currently building, and has been for nearly two thousand years. At first, the pearl is enclosed within a mass of corruptible tissue, and then it is separated, taken, and cleansed from its decadent surroundings where it once inhabited. Once this is accomplished, it will be manifested for all to see its brilliant luster. And so it is with the Church. The saints of the living God shall exchange their corruptible bodies of flesh for incorruptible glorified bodies of heavenly immortality at the Rapture of the Church (see 1 Corinthians 15:51-58). Even now, the victorious Church of the living God is saved from their sins and “seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). Presently, the overcoming Church here on earth is still surrounded within the confines of fallen and depraved men of the flesh. It goes without saying that much of the professing “church” is preoccupied with worldly and carnal things. Nevertheless, Christ Continued on page 10
May/June 2008
BY
STUART ARDEN
ISRAELI CORRESPONDENT
An Arab refugee camp, 1950s
T
he world is quite aware of the Arab refugees from the former-Palestine, but not until recently has it been mentioned that the number of Jewish refugees (from Arab lands) is greater in number, and also greater in lost property and possessions. The number of Arab refugees varies according to the source; Israel says 520,000; the Arabs with their usual penchant for hyperbole say 800,000; a figure in-between seems more logical . UN General Assembly Resolution 194, passed in December 1948 stated that “refugees wishing to return to their homes . . . should be permitted to do so . . . “ However, resolutions of the General Assembly are not binding in international law, whereas the right of sovereign states to self-determination is jus cogens (Latin for “compelling law”) meaning that the State of Israel has the right to decide what takes place within its borders and that includes not accepting refugees who would have no loyalty to the State of Israel and in fact would constitute a “fifth column.” If a Palestinian (sic) state were established, that would be the logical place for refugees who call themselves “Palestinian,” not Israel. The term being repeated is “Right of return,” but the higher Arab birth rate (contrasted with that of the Jews) would soon spell the end of the Jewish state; however, that IS the aim of the “right of return.” Yasser
May/June 2008
A Jewish refugee camp, 1950s
Arafat was fond of saying that the “Arab womb” was their greatest weapon: “If we can’t defeat them in war, let’s outbreed them.” As reported in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Misri, on 11 October 1947, Egyptian Foreign Minister Muhammad Salah al-Din said, “It is well-known and understood that the Arabs, in demanding the return of the refugees to Palestine . . . mean the liquidation of the State of Israel.” On 8 June 1951, The New York Lebanese newspaper Al Hoda contained an article about Azzam Pasha,
Yasser Arafat was fond of saying that the “Arab womb” was their greatest weapon: “If we can’t defeat them in war, let’s outbreed them.” Secretary General of the Arab League at the time of Israel’s War of Independence, saying (among other things) “it would be a simple matter to throw Jews into the Mediterranean. – Brotherly advice was given to the Arabs of Palestine to leave their land, homes, and property and to stay in neighboring fraternal states, lest the guns of the invading Arab armies mow them down.” [Throwing the Jews into the sea is an on-going Arab fantasy!] On 1 September 1951, former Egyptian President Gamal Abd alNasser said, “If the refugees return to Israel, Israel will cease to exist.” In his 1955 book, The Arabs, Edward Atiyah, who had been
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secretary of the Arab League Office in London, wrote: “This wholesale exodus was due partly to the belief of the Arabs encouraged by the boastings of an unrealistic Arab press and the irresponsible utterances of some of the Arab leaders that it could be only a matter of weeks before the Jews were defeated by the armies of the Arab States and the Palestinian Arabs enabled to reenter . . .” [Notice Atiyah’s wording, “Palestinian Arabs.” All residents of pre-state Israel were Palestinians. There were Jewish Palestinians and there were Arab Palestinians, and the word Palestinian did not denote an exclusively Arab “people!”] According to the Beirut al Massa newspaper, 15 July 1957, a resolution passed at a Refugee Conference at Homs, Syria, said: “Any discussion aimed at a solution of the Palestine problem which will not be based on ensuring the refugees’ right to annihilate Israel will be regarded as a desecration of the Arab people and an act of treason.” Did you get that one? THE RIGHT TO ANNIHILATE ISRAEL! In August, 1998, Sakher Habash, a member of the Palestine National Authority, speaking at al-Najah University, said, “To us, the refugees issue is the winning card which means the end of the Israeli state.” It is a fact that some Arabs were forced out, and that some Arab villages were destroyed by the Jews during the course of the War of Independence (forced on Israel by its Arab neighbors) but there are numerous quotations attesting to the fact that various Arab sources told the Arabs of Palestine to leave of their own accord. On 3 April 1948, Near East Arabic Radio announced, “It must not be forgotten that the Higher Arab Committee encouraged the refugees to flee from their homes in Jaffa, Haifa, and Jerusalem and that certain leaders . . . make political capital out of their miserable situation . . . “ On 22 April 1948, Aubrey Lippincott, the U.S. Consul General in Haifa, wrote “local mufti-dominated leaders” were urging “all Arabs to leave the city and large numbers did so.” As reported by the London Daily Mail, 12 August 1948, John (Pasha) Glubb, the commander of Jordan’s army, the Arab Legion, said, “Villages were frequently abandoned even before they were threatened by the progress of war.” Sir John Troutbeck, head of the British Middle East Office in Cairo, reporting from Gaza on a fact-finding mission in June 1949, wrote (regarding some of these refugees): “‘We know who our enemies are,’ they will say, and they are referring to their Arab brethren who, they declare, persuaded them unnecessarily to leave their home . . .” [So that Arab civilians wouldn’t obstruct the war of annihilation against the Jews] The United Nations General Assembly set up a fund on 19 November 1947 called the United Nations Relief for Palestinian Refugees (bear in mind that this meant people displaced from Palestine, and DID NOT in any way refer to a people called Palestinians!). UNRPR was replaced by UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) on 8 December 1949, an organization which exists to this day. The original intention of UNRWA was to put people to work on large-scale development plans (i.e., infrastructure). However, neither the Arab refugees nor their host countries showed any inclination to cooperate in this project. Consequently there are Arabs in refugee camps to the third and fourth generation, still “on the dole” with UNRWA, which has
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cost millions of dollars in its more than half-century of existence. In August 1958, Ralph Galloway, a former UNRWA official, summed up UNRWA’s situation: “The Arab states do not want to solve the refugee problem. They want to keep it as an open sore, as an affront to the United Nations and as a weapon against Israel. Arab leaders don’t give a damn whether the refugees live or die.” Now let’s take a look at the Jewish refugees, whose direction, both physically and socially is the reverse of that of the Arab refugees. The situation of Jews living in Arab lands (some of these communities having been in-existence for 2,500 years) had been an insecure one under Islam. They were usually labeled dhimmi (protected minority), subject to additional taxes and certain restrictions. Then in 1947, as the talk of the re-establishment of Jewish sovereignty in its ancient homeland, and with some who had never left that land, the Jewish presence in Arab countries became even more precarious. During UN debates over partitioning western Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state (eastern Palestine having already been given to the Hashemites of Arabia by the Mandatory Government [Britain]), Arab leaders began threatening Jews. Egypt’s delegate to the UN told the General Assembly: “The lives of one million Jews in Muslim countries would be jeopardized by partition.” The implication was not wasted on the Jewish citizens of Arab nations. Thus, Jews “ran away” from Arab countries because their lives were being threatened by the Arabs, whereas
N.Y. Times headline, May 16, 1948 (No such headlines about any danger to Arabs!)
Arabs “ran away” from what became Israel at the behest of their fellow Arabs, even though Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, future Prime Minister Golda Meir, Haifa Mayor Abba Khoushy, and the Israeli Proclamation of Independence all assured Continued on page 9
May/June 2008
Have you wanted to meet with us on Friday nights but haven’t been able to make it? Would you like to be able to get the great teaching in a form that you can listen to whenever you want?
We’ve got good news for you! Todd has been recording his teachings on the “Illuminations from Isaiah” series, the “Daniel’s Seventy Weeks of Years” series, and the latest series, “The Eternal Security of the Believer,” in order to make them available to you. They will be put on the website as we get them cleaned up and ready to go. These lessons are available in two formats: •As an MP3 file which you can download, and •as an audio CD delivered by mail, available for a donation of $10. Order your CD or download the MP3 from the website today! Check back from time to time to see which new installments are available. Go to www.brit-hadashah.org and visit the Books & Media page.
March 2008 Mission Trip... Continued from page 3
Messiah’s love for her given in both the written Word (Scripture) and the living Word (Jesus the Messiah—John 1:1-3). Once aboard the plane headed for Israel, Paul and I had an additional oppor tunity to talk with an El Al stewardess named Liat. She was genuinely open and interested in what we shared with her about God’s plan and purpose for the Chosen people outlined and prophesied in the Bible. This began when God called Abraham to be the founding father of the Jewish people so that through their descendants they would bless all nations of the earth as the Lord foretold in Genesis 12:3. The text states that through Abraham’s seed (descendants meaning both collectively and ultimately through one of them) will the nations of the world be “blessed” by Elohim. We went on to say that this prophecy was ultimately fulfilled in the greatest Jew alive today—Jesus of Nazareth, who brought the blessings of salvation to the whole world through the Jewish message of the Gospel (see Galatians 3:6-9, 14-16). In the
May/June 2008
present day, the Messiah has brought His Chosen People back to the land of promise for His return in fulfillment of what Moses and the prophets foretold in the Tenach so that He can be reconciled and redeem the Jewish people with His glorious presence and reign over all the earth. Liat honestly inquired of us how this Jesus can return when He died. We eagerly answered that Jesus died for our sins but God raised Him from the dead to show the Father had accepted the Son’s sacrificial death for mankind’s
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sins —an event that was seen by over 500 eyewitnesses (1 Corinthians 15:58). Liat retorted, saying: that was “kind of creepy.” Paul and I responded by telling her that this great event was not strange at all but was foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures by King David in Psalm 16:11 who predicted the resurrection of the Messiah. Yeshua’s resurrection from the dead means that mankind’s greatest enemy and threat to his existence has been conquered for those who put their trust in Him (see Job 19:25-25-27). Those who commit themselves to the risen Savior of Israel can face death boldly with unshakable confidence knowing that Yeshua has permanently gained victory over death for us and offers eternal life with Him. Liat happily accepted a few Messianic Gospel tracts that explained all of this in detail and provided a list of the major Messianic prophecies given in the Tenach and how and when Jesus fulfilled them in His life; proving from this that He is the Messiah of Israel and worthy of belief and trust from every Jew and Gentile. ✡✞✡
Refugees: A Two-Way Street Continued from page 7
them that their lives and property would be safe. It would be disingenuous to say that the expulsion of the Arabs or the transfer of Arabs from areas claimed by the Jewish State hadn’t been broached at various times
in Arab lands has been estimated at 100,000 square kilometers (four times the size of the State of Israel).” However, in another of the asymmetrical comparisons of these two groups of refugees, the Jews from Arab
Jewish refugees from Arab lands
Arab refugees from then-(western!) Palestine
(even the partition plan of the 1937 Peel Commission contained plans for the transfer of Jews to Jewish areas and Arabs to Arab areas!), but the idea of transfer had NEVER been the official policy of the Israeli government, whereas the expulsion of Jews from Arab lands after 1948 WAS the official government position of the Arab States. In some cases the Jews were told that they could only take one suitcase and $50, while
... Arabs who remained in Israel have the highest standard of living in the Middle East ... the Arab governments confiscated millions of dollars in Jewish bank accounts, as well as their property and possessions, sums greatly in excess of the Arab refugees’ assets. Conversely, Israel returned 90% of all impounded Arab-refugees’ assets in the 1950s. Here is a quote from Wikipedia regarding Jews who left Arab countries: “According to official Arab statistics, 856,000 Jews left their homes in Arab countries from 1948 until the early 1970s. Some 600,000 resettled in Israel, leaving behind property valued today at more than $300 billion. Jewish-owned real estate left behind
lands were absorbed into Israeli society and instead of four generations of people “on the dole” living in squalid, overcrowded refugee camps, there are generations of Jews, expelled from Arab lands, leading productive lives. Today’s Israel has world-class medicine, science, technology, and agriculture, but in 1948 it did not, and it has never had the fabulous oil wealth of some of its neighbors; furthermore, in 1948 the population of Israel was 800,000; yet, with its meager resources, it accepted and assimilated Prof. Shmuel Moreh, from 6 0 0 , 0 0 0 Iraq, lived in a refugee refugees. By the camp upon his arrival in way, Arabs who Israel. Today, he and his remained in two brothers are all Israel have the university professors. highest standard of living in the Middle East, have availed themselves of Israeli health care, gotten university educations to become doctors, lawyers, etc., and have even become members of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. After half a century, this fascination and fixation on the mythical “Palestinian people” has suffered a blow to one of its sob stories of exclusivity. In April 2008, the U.S. Congress adopted Resolution 185 which says that discussions regarding Palestinian (sic) refugees have to “also include a similarly explicit reference to the resolution of the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries.” Fur ther more, to the charge of ethnic cleansing, sometimes leveled against Israel, Ashley Perry, in her article “The Sephardi Perspective: The ethnic cleansing of the Jews,” writes, “one cannot possibly be ‘ethnicallycleansing’ a people [Arabs] from areas where they have seen growth double that of their neighboring areas. However, a people [Jews] who have lost more than 150 times their number from an area over a few decades can clearly make a very strong case for being ‘ethnicallycleansed.’” ✡
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May/June 2008
UPCOMING FRIDAY NIGHT MESSAGES Topics for May and June’s lessons are: • The Eternal Security of the Believer series • Illuminations From Isaiah series
Matthew 13... Continued from page 5
continues on with the holy purification of His own heavenly elect and will finally present to Himself a glorious and holy Church so that “He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the Word, that He might present to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:26-27). The blood of Jesus Christ is the prolific seed of the Church. The Church, like the pearl, is formed by gradual accretion. Thus, in the figure of the pearl, there is a marvelous picture of the gradual formation of the Church of Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 12:12-28; Ephesians 2:18-22; 4:4-6). A genuine pearl can only be formed at the painful expense of the oyster. This fact points to the great spiritual truth that out of Christ’s bitter sufferings and death the redeemed Church was born. The pearl is created through the death of the oyster. When oysters are brought to the surface to be opened, they are first permitted to die a slow and agonizing death. The shell of the oyster is not opened immediately, lest the pearl should be marred and its beauty destroyed. It was exclusively through the sacrificial death of Christ that the Church came into being and was redeemed.
May/June 2008
The pearl of great price is richly symbolic of the true Church that Jesus gave His all to buy and redeem it for His noble ownership. “Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, which He has purchased with His own blood” (Ephesians 5:25; Acts 20:28). The gorgeous pearl originally comes from an ignoble origin. This of course is an exact parallel to the lowly origin of the Church. The home of pearl oysters is found in the depths of the sea. They lie on the hard sea bottom at depths of fifty to one hundred fifty feet beneath the ocean surface. Oysters are known for being marine scavengers of the sea. It is here in the miry squalid depths of the sea that the wondrous pearl is formed from the unattractive mollusk in the profundity of the ocean. This is a practical lesson to remember for all born-again Christians. Fellow believer, let us never forget, but with sincere humbleness greatly acknowledge with worshipful thanksgiving that it was by the benignant grace and mercy of God that Jesus lead us out of the quagmire of immoral darkness, from the filthy disgrace of sin and the ruination of the fall, into His light of salvation. Praise God for His exceeding riches in Christ who dug us out of the horrible pit from whence we were once entrapped. “I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a Rock, and established my goings” (Psalm 40:12). The pearl is immersed in the deep recesses of the sea. So too, Jesus descended into the turbid sea of this ungodly world to retrieve saved sinners from its evil domain and deliver them from the power of darkness (Colossians 1:13). ✞
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T
✞ PARTNER WITH US ✡
his is a humble but effective ministry whose goal is to bring the gospel of Yeshua to Israel and to raise awareness in America about God’s preeminent call to take the Gospel to the Jews - Romans 1:16. Because of the support of our faithful partners, there is a young Jewish woman attending a university in Jerusalem who now has a B’rit Hadashah (New Testament in Hebrew), and IDF soldiers in Haifa who can read that the Messiah Yeshua has come to bring hope and peace to their souls. Your donations have changed the life of an Arab shop keeper in Make checks and money orders payable to: B’rit Hadashah Ministries PO Box 796127 Dallas, TX 75379-6127
Tiberias who has accepted Yeshua as his Messiah and Savior. Please consider (if you have not already done so) becoming a monthly partner. As you can read for yourself in the newsletter articles, these worthwhile donations are directly impacting individual lives in Israel. Isn’t that what Yeshua’s earthly ministry was about? We thank you deeply for your support, whether you are able to give monthly or a onetime donation. It all goes a long way in helping us achieve God’s purpose and plan for this outreach ministry. We also accept: You can also make your donation online at: www.Brit-Hadashah.org
* Donations are tax deductible in the U.S. as you give to this 501(c)(3) Non-profit ministry. *
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
AUSTRALIA SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT!
If you would like to have To dd as Todd a guest speaker at your church or function, visit our website:
Great news for our readers living in “the land down under”! Todd will be speaking at the Feast of Tabernacles Conference in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia October 3-5, 2008. The Conference is being hosted by Heart of David Ministries. If you would like more information, you may contact Todd at Todd@brit-hadashah.org, or by mail at the address above.
www.brit-hadashah.org
or contact us at:
BHMengagements@gmail.com or call 214-356-2583.
About the Author Dr odd Baker is president of B'rit Hadashah Ministries and Pastor of Shalom, Shalom Messianic Dr.. T Todd Congregation in Dallas. He has been a chaplain at Medical City Hospital for over a decade. Todd holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biblical studies, a Master of Theology Degree from Dallas Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Apologetics from Trinity Seminary under the auspices of Liverpool University at Liverpool, England. He is a theological consultant and writer for Zola Levitt Ministries and has appeared on Zola Levitt Presents. With his extensive experience in Jewish evangelism, he has led several Gospel outreaches to Israel. ✞
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May/June 2008
May/June 2008 issue Visit our website: www.Brit-Hadashah.org
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Suffering and pain affect every human being. They are the results of evil in our world. The problem of evil is something both Christian and non-Christian must face and answer. How do we deal with such unpleasant realities? If there is an all-powerful, all loving, perfectly good God, why is there so much evil? This book honestly grapples with these and other fundamental questions that are related to the problem of evil and the existence of God. The existence of evil is the chief argument traditionally used against the God of the Bible. The author argues the opposite: that the existence of evil actually justifies the argument for the existence of the God of Christianity. The answer proposed in this book is not one of theory and hypothesis alone, but comes from the historical life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through a combined theodicy (defending the justice of God for allowing evil) of the cross and resurrection, the case for the Christian faith is reasonably presented and defended. Published by Elisa Retzlaff using Adobe PageMaker and Jasc PaintShop Pro copyright © 2008 B’rit Hadashah Ministries
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