A. First records the early church at Jerusalem ~ cont.
3. Power and persecution of early church ~ cont.
g. Stephen's life and death - Acts 6:8-15; 7:1-60; 8:1-4
h. Ministry of Philip - Acts 8:5-40
Stephen - ahhh, as I have a son named Stephen (specifically because of this passage) this is another favorite portion of Scripture for me. :-)
He was full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. The wisdom and spirit in which he spoke could not be resisted.
Men of the synagogue who were Libertines, Cyrenians, Alexandrians and those of Cilicia and Asia disputed with him. Suborned (to throw in stealthily, that is, introduce by collusion) men which said that Stephen had blashphemed against Moses and God; the holy place and the law; that Jesus of Nazareth would destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered.
As they looked upon his face, as it had been the face of an angel as he spoke. I wonder if this how the Israelites perceived Moses when he'd been the presence of God and had to veil his face?
Stephen recounts the history from Abraham to Jesus - reminding them of how they served the false gods of Moloch and Remphan.
And this is where I got stuck...I should know by now that a simple look it up will not suffice. :-)
What does Moloch and Remphan mean? A quick google search - grab an overview of those pagan gods and zip right along. Right? Wrong. I got completely blown out of the water. Frankly, I was so discombobulated by what I initially read, I was ill.
The first page I came to made me dig deeper. Surely, thought I, the information is wrong - this is just one person's perspective.
I have had reservations about the 6 sided 'star of David,' nothing severe, just a inner 'its not right' - 6 is the number for man. Now I know why 'it' did not set right within me. At this juncture, I have been all over trying to verify the initial information or disprove it. Disprove it I can not.
According to what I have found thus far - the 'star of David' came into being not with David, but with Solomon. Specifically when the foreign wives turned his heart away. 1Kings 11:4-11 states that he went after Ashtoreth, Milcom, Chemosh, Molech.
All I could think about after reading and researching was, I wonder if this is how someone feels when they find out that all of the 'Christian' holidays are pagan in origin.
The symbol used by the Nation of Israel is a hexagram - now I knew it was 6 pointed - that was obvious. I knew that the occult symbol was 6 pointed. I NEVER equated them as being the same.
It has taken me days to work my way through what I have read and researched, to absorb and be able to complete this post. Tickling my mind over and over again was the thought, Father never told Israel to have a national flag. Standards were raised for each tribe according to their father's house when they came out of Egypt - and Father is pretty explicit on how to build a tabernacle, where everyone is supposed to be, the type of materials to use, how to make them, where to place, etc. Had HE a national flag for Israel, He would have made it known.
I think the majority of my perplexity comes in complete wonderment at having blindly accepted something as 'true' when there is nothing Scriptural about it. This will make me think long and hard about other areas of the Christian life, and about Israel that I currently take at face value, or have just 'accepted' as being true. Anything we know or do should be based upon the Bible - not what someone thinks, or that is how it has always been done, or we've always done it this way, my (fill in the blank) always did it this way. What harm does it do? What's wrong with it?
The real question we ought to ask ourselves is what is RIGHT with it? How does anything we are thinking, feeling, acting, etc. measure up to the plumb line of the Word?
One of the websites I visited had this:
When believers 'don't care' about the origin and occultic practices that they participate in (i.e. Sunday, Easter and Christmas, etc.), or the wearing of occultic objects (the cross, the fish, and the Star of David), it tells me that their flesh is overruling the Spirit. IEUEsho said, 'But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the Truth...' (John 16:13).
I haven't researched the comment about the cross and fish being lifted from the occult - yet.
h. Ministry of Philip - Acts 8:5-40
Stephen - ahhh, as I have a son named Stephen (specifically because of this passage) this is another favorite portion of Scripture for me. :-)
He was full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. The wisdom and spirit in which he spoke could not be resisted.
Men of the synagogue who were Libertines, Cyrenians, Alexandrians and those of Cilicia and Asia disputed with him. Suborned (to throw in stealthily, that is, introduce by collusion) men which said that Stephen had blashphemed against Moses and God; the holy place and the law; that Jesus of Nazareth would destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered.
As they looked upon his face, as it had been the face of an angel as he spoke. I wonder if this how the Israelites perceived Moses when he'd been the presence of God and had to veil his face?
Stephen recounts the history from Abraham to Jesus - reminding them of how they served the false gods of Moloch and Remphan.
And this is where I got stuck...I should know by now that a simple look it up will not suffice. :-)
What does Moloch and Remphan mean? A quick google search - grab an overview of those pagan gods and zip right along. Right? Wrong. I got completely blown out of the water. Frankly, I was so discombobulated by what I initially read, I was ill.
The first page I came to made me dig deeper. Surely, thought I, the information is wrong - this is just one person's perspective.
I have had reservations about the 6 sided 'star of David,' nothing severe, just a inner 'its not right' - 6 is the number for man. Now I know why 'it' did not set right within me. At this juncture, I have been all over trying to verify the initial information or disprove it. Disprove it I can not.
According to what I have found thus far - the 'star of David' came into being not with David, but with Solomon. Specifically when the foreign wives turned his heart away. 1Kings 11:4-11 states that he went after Ashtoreth, Milcom, Chemosh, Molech.
All I could think about after reading and researching was, I wonder if this is how someone feels when they find out that all of the 'Christian' holidays are pagan in origin.
The symbol used by the Nation of Israel is a hexagram - now I knew it was 6 pointed - that was obvious. I knew that the occult symbol was 6 pointed. I NEVER equated them as being the same.
It has taken me days to work my way through what I have read and researched, to absorb and be able to complete this post. Tickling my mind over and over again was the thought, Father never told Israel to have a national flag. Standards were raised for each tribe according to their father's house when they came out of Egypt - and Father is pretty explicit on how to build a tabernacle, where everyone is supposed to be, the type of materials to use, how to make them, where to place, etc. Had HE a national flag for Israel, He would have made it known.
I think the majority of my perplexity comes in complete wonderment at having blindly accepted something as 'true' when there is nothing Scriptural about it. This will make me think long and hard about other areas of the Christian life, and about Israel that I currently take at face value, or have just 'accepted' as being true. Anything we know or do should be based upon the Bible - not what someone thinks, or that is how it has always been done, or we've always done it this way, my (fill in the blank) always did it this way. What harm does it do? What's wrong with it?
The real question we ought to ask ourselves is what is RIGHT with it? How does anything we are thinking, feeling, acting, etc. measure up to the plumb line of the Word?
One of the websites I visited had this:
When believers 'don't care' about the origin and occultic practices that they participate in (i.e. Sunday, Easter and Christmas, etc.), or the wearing of occultic objects (the cross, the fish, and the Star of David), it tells me that their flesh is overruling the Spirit. IEUEsho said, 'But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the Truth...' (John 16:13).
I haven't researched the comment about the cross and fish being lifted from the occult - yet.
For the inquiring mind - this is the first site I came across Star of David? as I searched for the word Moloch. I launched further, finding this site Star of David Pagan?, and this about the Six Pointed Star, and this site 666 - Star of David (which I found interesting as the author states he set out to PROVE that the star was legit).
I found one site which put a positive spin on it Origin of the Star of David, which came across pretty lamely in defending the position for the 6 sided star (my opinion).
I have not vetted these sites, it is the readers responsibility to review, analyze, research and discern. God forbid that we should allow the traditions of man to rule.
I will leave you with:
Isa 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
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