Think Outside the Boxes

In the Bible, the use of the word heaven can refer to everything from the ground up. What we today call the atmosphere is encompassed in the word heaven because all winged animals, such as birds or butterflies are called "fowls of the heavens." (Job 35:11) Also, Revelation 19:17 uses the words "fowls that fly in the midst of heaven."  Everything outside the earth's atmosphere, outer space, is referred to as heaven, which would include the realm of the moon, the sun, the galaxies, and the physical universe, Deuteronomy 4:19 says, "And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven..." The place where the angels reside is referred to as heaven. Mark 13:32 states, "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." The place where God personally resides is also referred to as heaven.  Understanding...

Religious leaders call the events surrounding Jesus’ birth in the Gospels “the First Christmas.” However, nowhere in the New Testament will you find Jesus’ disciples celebrating his birthday. In fact, the day and month of Jesus’ birth are absent from the Bible—and there is a reason for that. The simple and truthful answer is that first‑century Jews did not celebrate birthdays. The Jewish historian Josephus stated, “Nay, indeed, the law does not permit us to make festivals at the birth of our children and thereby afford occasion of drinking to excess” (Josephus, translated by W. Whiston, Against Apion, Book II, Chapter 26). Encyclopedia Judaica is equally direct on this topic: “The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.” Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that Joseph and Mary, who were Jews, would not have celebrated their children’s birthdays. It is also reasonable to believe that Jesus would not have celebrated birthdays and would not have desired his ow...

Bible chronology indicates the destruction of Jerusalem, and the beginning of the Hebrew exile occurred in 607 B.C.E. Jeremiah prophesied this for Israel, "And all this land will be reduced to ruins and will become an object of horror, and these nations will have to serve the king of Babylon for 70 years." "For this is what Jehovah says, 'When 70 years at Babylon are fulfilled, I will turn my attention to you, and I will make good my promise by bringing you back to this place.'" According to many historians, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians took place in 586 B.C.E., and the surviving Israelites were taken into exile to Babylon and its territories leaving Israel literally emptied and desolate. Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon. Due to his policies of religious tolerance, he decreed in 539 B.C.E. the Israelites to be freed to return to their homeland. A remnant that numbered 42,360 made the journey back to Israel, arriving in Judah in 537 B.C.E....

This is the truth about the star. From examining Matthew’s gospel account, it is clear the star was not an ordinary star one would see in the sky. Rather, it had an evil intent and was not divinely inspired. Matthew’s account reads: "And after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is the King of the Jews who has been born? For we saw his star rising and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him..." The first thing to note about Matthew’s words is that the star did not lead the Magi directly to Jesus but first to Jerusalem and King Herod. If the star had a good intent and was divinely inspired, why would God lead the Magi to the very man who would seek to kill Jesus? It is evident the star’s intent was to harm Jesus; therefore, it was a manifestation created by the Devil. Jerusalem, King Herod, and even the chief priests were...