When Sherry and I visited Israel, we stood by the Jordan River perhaps near the place where Jesus was baptized by his cousin John. Just as Jesus was a prophet “like unto” the Prophet Moses (Acts 3:22; 7:37), John was a prophet like the Prophet Elijah. John’s coming was predicted by another prophet, Malachi.
On the road again! We’ll be taking a shortcut from the time of Jesus’ birth directly to his family’s trip to Jerusalem when he was twelve years old. If you’d like to see what happened from just before his birth to his move to Nazareth as a young child, you can read Moving to a New Home.
Continuing to follow the True and Living Way through the gospels, we come across these significant prophecies about our Lord Jesus Christ around the time of his birth. Let’s sit awhile and contemplate each occasion, considering the influence on those who initially received these words, and then how they speak to us today about him whom we love.
Browsing through a small bookstore in Portland, Maine, I found an old book about the ministry of Jesus and asked the clerk, James, how much it cost. That started us on a conversation about the Bible and he said that he believed it was a book full of errors and inconsistencies. I maintained that the Bible was the Word of God without error or apparent contradictions when properly interpreted.
Gene and I lived on Guam for seven years. While there, he wrote for the Pacific Daily News, including feature stories about interesting characters on the island.
This blog marks the beginning of a new journey for me and I plan on taking you with me, dear reader, if you are willing. I recently pulled out an ancient map that was a beloved part of my youth, and it is the map of Jesus’ life on earth, the good news of the Savior as recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Part 1 showed how God gave revelation to holy men of God to write down what we have as the Bible today. We saw that prophets, including Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Ezra and Nehemiah, David, and Solomon, made known what God wanted them to. Part 2 will show how we got the other books of the Bible from our heavenly Father, and how we can trust His Word for a sound, true foundation in our lives.
I once worked on a team of four studio camera operators. Each of us had a different angle and emphasis on our subject, usually a person speaking on stage. Back in the tech room, the director had a large computer screen that showed all four camera views at once.