Identifying Israel - Part 7

Out of Asia and Into Europe

By Jim Jester

Complete series available in book format:  Will the Real Israel Please Stand Up?

“And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations…” Deut. 4:27

The fall of Parthia

The Sassanian Persians conquered the Parthian Empire in 226 A.D. So where did such a large and widespread group of Parthian Israelites go? Many men were killed in the two preceding wars; the Parthian-Roman War of 216-217, a Parthian victory, and the Parthian-Persian war, three battles of rebelling Persians beginning 220 A.D. ending 226 A.D. with a Persian victory. The Sassanian Persians acted quickly to expel Parthians from the region, completely destroying the city of Hatra which would not recognize Persian rule. They also killed all Arsacids (royal family) they could find. Anyone opposing their authority had reason to fear for their lives. The Parthians really had no place to go but toward the northwest. To the west was the Roman Empire, to the south were the Arabian Desert and the sea, to the east and northeast were the expanding oriental populations which had driven other Scythians westward into Parthia centuries ago.

To the northwest they could expect to find refuge because of their kinsmen, the Scythians. Also, the Parthian rulers had established good relations with the Dacians of eastern Europe, who were also enemies of Rome. But the best reason to migrate to the northwest was because of Parthia’s farthest province, which had repelled the Persians in battle and retained their independence and Arsacid ruler! That province was Armenia and it was there that “a number of the princes [of Parthia] found refuge in Armenia, where the Arsacid dynasty maintained itself till A.D. 429.” (Encyclopedia Britannica, The Sassanian Empire, p. 580)

Why We Are Sick

By Rik Huffman 

Why do we call our doctors for every little sniffle? Why do we line up for flu shots that they say will protect us from the coming PANDEMIC only to get the flu anyway?  Why do we believe them when they tell us sunshine (Vitamin D3) will cause skin cancer and instead we slather on sunscreen which has cancer causing ingredients?  Why do we let the FDA prevent supplement companies from telling us the healthy benefits of real food and health supplements?  Why are we obese?  Why do we have a diabetes epidemic?  Why do we let them force cervical cancer vaccines on our young girls?  Why do we let them give our newborn 15+ different kinds of vaccines before they leave the hospital?  Why do we not recognize our own sons and daughters who come to visit us in the “old folks home”?  And on and on and on I could go.  Where do I start….at the beginning I suppose.   

Identifying Israel - Part 6

The Missing Years of Jesus

By Jim Jester

Complete series available in book format:  Will the Real Israel Please Stand Up?

Does it not seem odd that very little is known about most of Jesus’ life (the central figure of the New Testament)? The Bible tells us a little about his first twelve years, a lot about his last three and a half years, but nothing about an eighteen year span between ages twelve and thirty. This is the rest of the story.

The Early Years of Jesus

Luke 2:46-52, “And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, how is it that ye sought me; wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”

Crossroads

By Pastor Don Elmore 

Back in the 1930’s, a lot of highways were still made of dry, dirty mud roads.    This was especially true in the state of Mississippi.  At the intersection of US Route 49 and US Route 61 in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Robert Johnson made his pact with the devil.  It happened shortly after midnight.

Robert Johnson, who was born to an father that he barely knew, was a lazy black boy.  Hedidn’t want to do much work—he just wanted to make a living playing and singing the music of his race.It is kind of difficult to understand what it was like then while living in today’s world—for today’s world is so drastically different.  It is not just the improved technology—but just about everything else too.Mississippi is very close to New Orleans, Louisiana.New Orleans had their own company of Voodoo worshippers who emigrated here from Africa and the islands of the Gulf of Mexico.   

The Destruction of the Third Branch

by Pastor Don Elmore

The United States has three main branches of government:

  1. Executive
  2. Legislative
  3. Judicial

Of these three branches, the Judicial is now in complete and total anti-christian apostasy. It consists of 6 Roman Catholics and 2 Jews -- the only Protestant has announced that he will retire. The person nominated by Obama to take his place is Elena Kagan. She has never held the office of any judge--but was a professor at Chicago University and Dean of Harvard Law School and a former clerk to Supreme Court Judge--Thurgood Marshall--who as lawyer for the NAACP successfully ENDED segregation in the U. S.

Separation of Church and Hate

by Pastor Mark Downey

After church a few weeks ago we went to a restaurant and in the parking lot we saw a bumper sticker that said ‘Separation of Church and Hate’ in the rainbow colors of Sodom and Gomorrah. These two ancient cities pale in comparison to modern San Francisco and Washington D.C. (district of corruption). I got the feeling that this bumper sticker was directed against folks like us whom radical leftists like to label as ‘hate groups’; probably the same kind of degenerates who whine about ‘separation of church and state’, which is a euphemism to remove God from government. And evidently they don’t like the idea of churches being in opposition to their sexual orientations, which is a euphemism for aberrant perversions and immoral lifestyles.

They don’t want God’s Laws imposed upon our nation and yet this tiny minority wants to impose their legislation on us: hate crime laws do not pertain to anyone except White Christians. A bumper sticker like this (separation of church and hate) is very telling of the kind of society that we’ve become.  You can walk into almost any church today and hear the refrain that denounces hate and says God loves everybody. It’s as if God has gone through a metamorphosis of once condemning what He himself called abominations and now gives divine sanction and unconditional love to.

Civil Rights Game

by Pastor Don Elmore

This year, 2010, will be the second Major League Baseball’s Civil Rights Baseball Game.  For the second consecutive year, the game will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio. The hosts team will be the Cincinnati Reds.  

This game which at first was an pre-season exhibition game, last year became a regularly scheduled ball game between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds.  This year the opponent for the Cincinnati Reds will be the first place St. Louis Cardinals.  

But it is more that just a game—it is a weekend of events.  On Saturday, May 14th will be a roundtable discussion held by Charles Ogletree, Harvard law professor.   It will be held at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center which is adjacent to the baseball stadium.  The panel will include Cincinnati’s Hall of Famer, Joe Morgan, and former star, Barry Larkin; Cincinnati Bengal’s head coach, Marvin Lewis; actor Mark Curry and tennis legend Zina Garrison.