--------------------
The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to
observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to
the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19,20).
--------------------
December 30, 1990
--------------------
Contents:
1) The Names of God's People in the Old
Testament (Tom Edwards)
2) Just Drifting (anonymous)
3) Are You Sure It Doesn't Matter? (Greg Gwin)
---------------------
-1-
The Names of God's People in the Old Testament
by Tom Edwards
"Hebrew"
Have you ever wondered where the names for God's people in the Old
Testament originated? The earliest designation is the term "Hebrew,"
and it means "stranger" or "foreigner." This word was first applied to
Abraham -- who at that time was called Abram -- because he had come out
of Ur and lived as a foreigner among his Canaanite neighbors (Gen.
14:13). In Gen. 39:14, Potiphar's wife refers to Joseph as being a
Hebrew. If you were to grab an unabridged Bible concordance and look up
this term, you would find its usage in many other Old Testament
passages as well.
In the New Testament, the term "Hebrew" is used to distinguish the true
Jew from the Hellenized Jew -- the Hellenized Jew being one who had
accepted the Greek customs and ways; a Hebrew who had done so was also
referred to as a "Grecian" in Acts 6:1 of the King James Version. A Jew
who described someone as a Hebrew was paying him a compliment and in no
way attempting to denigrate his good name. If Paul wanted to live
according to Judaism, his qualifications would have elevated him above
many of his contemporaries. In Phil. 3:5, he mentions that he was a
"Hebrew of Hebrews," which indicates his pure Jewish blood and
upbringing.
"Israel" or "children of Israel"
Another name commonly used is "Israel" or "children of Israel." This
appellation would identify the wearer as being a descendant of Jacob,
whose name God had later changed to "Israel." It is the most commonly
used designation for God's people in the Old Testament, and the one
which the Israelites preferred because it also identified them with
Abraham, the grandfather of Jacob. Many of the Israelites seemed to
have boasted in their relationship to this great patriarch and assumed
that the blessings of Abraham would naturally be extended to them.
During the period of the Divided Kingdom, the ten northern tribes
arrogated unto themselves a special usage of the term "Israel." They
used this term in differentiating themselves from their fellow brethren
in the Southern Kingdom (the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and some
Levites who later returned) who were now referred to as Judah.
Concerning the name "Israel," Unger's Bible Dictionary makes the
following remark: "After the Babylonian captivity the returned exiles,
though mainly of Judah, resumed the name of Israel as the designation
of their nation, but as individuals they are called Jews in the
Apocrypha and New
Testament."
"Jew"
And that now brings us to the last name we will consider -- the term
"Jew." In our day, this is the most common term for referring to this
group of people, but it has not always been so. It did not come about
until late in Bible history. It was first applied to that Southern
Kingdom of Judah, during the Divided Kingdom. It later designated any
Israelite in captivity. Then its application evolved to mean those few
Jews who returned to their homeland from the captivity (536
B.C.). And lastly, it came to be used as the name for Israelites
scattered everywhere.
--------------------
-2-
Just Drifting
The book of Hebrews declares that "we ought to give the more earnest
heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let
them slip" (Heb. 2:1). Another way of translating the final phrase of
this verse is, "lest we drift away."
Nothing in the world is easier than drifting. No person drifts
upstream, only downstream. It is so easy. All you do is sit back and
relax and let the boat go. You may not even be aware you are drifting
until it is too late and the boat is on the rocks. Satan is very wise.
He seldom urges a Christian to leave the church or to give up his faith
in the Lord. Instead he causes us to relax, rest on the oars and drift
along in the Christian life.
All around us are Christians who have drifted into a state of coldness
and indifference. They have stopped caring about others who need to
hear the message of God's saving grace.
Are you drifting? Wake up now! Grab the oars and pull. Your active
concern is needed as we seek to lead others to find Christ and His will
for their lives.
-- author unknown
--------------------
-3-
Are You Sure It Doesn't Matter?
by Greg Gwin
Imagine yourself walking into a drug store to have a prescription
filled. You hand the pharmacist the form from your doctor, and then
watch in amazement as he throws it in the wastebasket without even
reading it. Then, without reading the label, he hands you a bottle of
pills. By now you've gotten your nerve up, and you ask, "Man, what are
you doing?" "Well," he answers, "I'm giving you some medicine." "But
you didn't read the prescription, and you didn't even look at the label
on these pills." "It doesn't matter," he says. "Medicine is medicine --
one pill is as good as another." "No sir!," you object, "I want the
pills that my doctor prescribed, and no others." There's very little
chance that you will ever visit that drug store again. Common sense
says that this is no way to handle the important business of our
physical health.
Why not allow the same kind of common sense to help us in the far more
important realm of spiritual things? For some reason folks have decided
that "anything goes" in religion. "Join the church of your choice" has
become more than a mere slogan -- it is the rule that most people live
by. "One church is just as good as another," we are told. How can this
possibly be so?
Jesus said, "In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men" (Matt. 15:9). The Lord says that some worship is
"vain," meaning worthless or good for nothing. He explains why it is so
-- because it follows the commandments of men rather than the will of
God (Col. 3:17). Are you sure that one church is as good as another?
Think!
--------------------
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust
destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys,
and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:19-21).
--------------------
The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel,
for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the
deity of Christ (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent of sins
(Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ
(Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water
for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4;
Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21).
6) Continue in the faith;
for,
if
not,
salvation
can
be
lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet.
2:20-22).
--------------------
First published for the Tri-state church of Christ in Ashland,
Kentucky, at 713 13th Street.
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards
tedwards1109@gmail.com
--------------------