Exodus 17:12 “Wherefore the people did chide or argue with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide with me? Wherefore do you [tempt] the Lord?” Commentary: The word “tempt” in the Hebrew means to test! Just like the Greek word for “tempt” the only thing that will tempt or test the Lord is our sin! Unbelief! Unconfessed sin! Unforgiven sin! Under these conditions we fall under judgment! Confess your sin to Christ and come under grace! Remember grace is God doing for you what you cannot do for yourself! There is a scripture that tells us that if we are in sin against God our prayers will not be answered! So even our
prayers can become sin if we have unconfessed sin to Christ! In both the Old and New Testaments the word “tempt” conform to the overall redemption plan of God! So Christ was prophesized in the Old Testament and came to earth in the New Testament as Savior of all men! So what happened to the Old Testament Saints when Christ had not come yet? Remember between the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross and his Resurrection from the dead where was Jesus for those three days? The scriptures declare he went down to the heart of the earth and preached to the captives! So those Old Testament Saints that were looking for him with a redemptive attitude saw him and received him as Savior! Those that rejected him received his judgment! Are you looking for Jesus? Everyone will one day stand before him! Some to everlasting life and some to eternal judgment! The choice is yours to make! James & Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Tag: testament
Christmas & Taxes! Luke 2:1-7
The Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus got up on the wrong side of the bed one morning and decided the whole world should be taxed! This taxing was first made by Cyrenius governor of Syria! They must have been Democrats! So poor Joseph had to get on his donkey (hybred vehicle), along with his pregnant wife Mary and ride down to Bethlehem! Mary was also taxed along with Jesus still in her womb! The politicians played an important role in getting Jesus down to Bethlehem to be born fulfilling many Old Testament prophecies! Then another politician named King Herod who wanted to kill the baby Jesus caused them to flee down to Egypt for a couple years to fulfill more prophecy! Then after Herod died they moved to Nazareth where Jesus became known as the Nazarene! So the good bad and ugly of politicians helped to complete God’s promise of a Savior to the world! Many politicians today here in America try to stop Jesus second coming! Their strategy will help promote his second coming as they play the fool! The best way to celebrate Christmas is to understand no one can or will stop Christ from completing his mission to earth! No one can stop his love for the world even by changing his name to Happy Holidays! Rest in his peace and joy this season knowing all is well because of Christmas and Easter! Because his second coming is as sure as his first coming! Only his life and death can assure you of eternal life now and forever! Merry Christmas! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Burning Bush! Exodus 3:2
This is not a California wildfire! The bush the Angel appeared out of was burning yet not consumed? Some theologians believe this Angel was Christ! We have some other examples of this in our Bible! Remember Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? The angry King threw them into the fiery furnace! They were in the fire but not consumed along with the 4th man believed to be Christ! It was the same Angel in the burning bush! Did you know the souls in Hell are not consumed by the fire! However they feel the flames forever! Remember the rich man and Lazarus? The rich man begged Lazarus who was a beggar while on earth to bring some drops of water to cool his tongue! To warn his family still living on earth of his plight! Interestingly when God is in the fire with you there is no burning on your body! I am not a cremation fan because fire represents judgment! In the Old Testament the sacrifices were no good unless the animal was completely consumed! God never allowed human sacrifices because man a sinner could never atone for his own sin! Only God sacrificing himself for us would be enough! Remember Jesus after he was crucified descended to the heart of the earth and preached to the captives! The fire did not touch them! One day soon at the judgment seat of Christ both the living and the dead will stand before Christ! Those who rejected Christ are taken into the Lake of Fire! Where the worm dieth not and the fire is never quenched! Would it not be better to be with Christ in the fire and protected than apart from him and burned forever? Only a fool would reject Christ! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
John 3:16 Word Study “Loved”
Loved Strongs #25 Agape (Greek). This love is from the direction of the will finding joy through this choice! Love is a choice! Judgment is also a choice! Our judgment is based upon the rejection of God’s choice to save us! The word ‘Agape” is not a word found in classical Greek. It expresses God’s love towards man! Sometimes the word “charity” is used. This word expresses compassion! Compassion means to suffer with! God’s love is a sacrificial love! There are three other Greek words used for love but they are lower level’s of love! This love is a gift and is not given to us by what we desire but by what is needed for us to save us! It is a love we do not deserve! It is God’s willful choice for man! To love God we must show his love that is expressed to us! Without his love we cannot love him and others! It is the love we do not think we need that is the only love we need! We must chose to receive his love! If you chose to receive God’s love, Jesus Christ on the Cross for you then you have a new ability that is divine to share his love with others! The angel’s also have a choice! They are created beings just like we are! Lucifer decided one day in heaven not to receive and show love! He rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven! Even in heaven you will still have a choice about “Agape”! If you make heaven then as now here on earth you still will have a choice! Love demands a choice! When you do your Bible study remember every time you see the English word “love”, the Greek root word may not be “Agape” but another Greek word in the New Testament! It helps in our understanding if we know which word is being used for love! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Work of Holy Spirit! John 16:13
Greek Translation: “Now when the breath of God blows on you at the reality of my appearing he will show you the way into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear with the ear of the mind, that shall he announce to you things to come.” Comment: Jesus was not talking about fortune cookies here! The Apostle John also went on to write the Book of Revelation! Want to know the future? Do not go to a palm reader! Read the Word of God! Yes! Your Bible you never open! Most of the Church avoids the Book of Revelation? They pretend it does not exist? Is the church interested in the future? Does your future interfere with God’s plan for your life? What makes the Book of Revelation challenging is that John makes many references to Old Testament prophecies out of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Psalms and others but he does not reference these scriptures! So if you are not a student of the Old Testament it will be hard for you to understand! Remember the Old Testament prophets predicted the time and place of the arrival to earth of our Messiah! Hundreds of years before! They also predicted events today in the 21st Century! Tim Clement was probably the best prophet I have seen in my life time! I first met Kim back in the early 1990’s when he came to our old church Harvest Cathedral in Macon Georgia. After hanging around him and his piano a few minutes revelation would begin to come to you! Kim went on to prophecy in 2007 a leader by the name of Trump would come to power to turn America back to God! In 2013 Kim prophesized his first name “Donald!” This is why the left hates Trump so much! He is God’s choice and not their choice! Kim’s video’s are all on YouTube so you can check them out for yourself! Kim has gone on to the Lord! Kim was not a 50 percenter! Will it be Hillary or Trump in 2016? Even the Gamblers in Vegas can hit on this one! Kim did not divine for money! He was the real deal! God can use you just like Isaiah, Ezekiel and Kim! Remember that old song, “The future is not ours to say?” A big lie! We choose our future by accepting or rejecting Jesus Christ! God has predicted the future because he has written the future! Is your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life? God has spoken his word through his written word (logos) from the pages of your Bible! Our future is our choice! Speak the Rhema or spoken word from his written word and the life of God will come to you! God will then dwell in you and you will speak the things he gives you! Excitement will come to your life! An eternal purpose will come to you! To see the future before it happens and to then see the newspapers report these events and confirmed through history is about as exciting as it will ever get for you! Are you bored? Get on with God! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
No Firemen in Hell Isaiah 53:4
Hebrew and Greek Translation: “Surely he has taken away and carried off our griefs as a horse carries us off away from danger! He also carried off our sorrows! We did count and judge his crippled body through violence with touching him as Adam and Eve touched the forbidden fruit! He was pierced and slain and afflicted by God to establish a hold up against the judgment of sin.” Comment: The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Using this resource will sometimes help us to get a little more insight into the scriptures! Use every resource you can to understand what God is trying to tell us! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Why get Baptized? Acts 2:38
Greek Translation: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent! Have a true change of heart towards God understanding that your future is not dependent on your past! Be baptized! That is make a public identification with Jesus Christ through water immersion. Be baptized in the name and character of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your willful and intentional acts against God! Be baptized with the purpose of serving God by the free gifts of God’s character through the Holy Spirit!” Comment: Believe it or not this church doctrine has been controversial for the past two thousand years! You would think it would be a slam dunk but not the case! Some believe infant baptism is enough! However there is no conscious decision on the part of the infant to do this! Some believe there is no need of baptism because the thief on the Cross was not baptized yet he was saved! Baptism is connected to forgiveness but not dependent on it! Baptism is about power for ministry! It is about an effective work here on the earth! Jesus was baptized yet he did not need to be saved! Some say I am saved and therefore do not need to be baptized! If it is good enough for Jesus it is good enough for me! Remember the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus after baptism! The Holy Spirit will empower you for effective ministry here on the earth! Without His love you will be abusive in the ministry! Your human capacity will never be enough! We need the character of God to do the work of God! The thief on the Cross was headed for heaven! No earthly ministry time left for him except to say he was saved without baptism! The Holy Spirit saves us until the rapture or Christ’s return to earth! The Spirit is the down payment or escrow to hold us until his return! Remember Jesus said greater things will you do after I send the Holy Spirit! We have examples of baptism in the Old Testament! The evidence is strong for baptism unless you want to go it alone! Do not try to figure it out just do it! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Volcano’s! Acts 2:19
Greek Translation: “And I will show wonders or strange appearances in Heaven with different qualities of the same miracles in higher places in Heaven above, and signs or miracles with a moral purpose in the earth beneath with time and age; blood, fire and vapor of smoke.” Comment: Volcano’s have been in the news lately! The Bible speaks about them in both the Old and New Testament! Volcano’s can be used for good or bad! The Hawaiian Islands were built by volcano’s and so was Iceland! Other islands and land masses were formed by volcano’s on the earth! Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by a volcano! Remember Pompeii and several other cities in Italy were destroyed by a Volcano in 79 A.D.? The city was in idol worship with all the Roman, Greek and Egyptian gods! They worshiped ISIS the Egyptian goddess! Ice is formed with volcano’s on the moons of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune! Volcanic winters have caused catastrophic famines on the earth! Noah and his family were saved by the flood yet the rest of the earth was drowned by the same water! Here is an important point to get out of this Bible verse! God will use signs and wonders or miracles to render a moral purpose in the earth! The same water that rescued the Jews and Moses through the Red Sea was the same water that drowned the Egyptians! Judgment or Salvation can come through the same elements of the earth and Heaven! The same blood of Jesus Christ will save some and condemn others!You can either receive God’s love with Mercy or you can reject His love with Judgment! The choice is yours to make! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Who is the Woman? Revelation 12:1
First when you look at the Greek this woman translates as a married woman! So why did the English translation say just woman instead of married woman? Because the translators use just one English word to translate from the Hebrew or Greek to best represent the meaning! From verse two she is pregnant so we can assume she is married however the woman riding the beast in Revelation chapter 17 represents Satan! She is also married but to Satan! In verse one here heaven is translated as God’s dwelling place which includes the sun, moon and the stars! So heaven is inclusive of God’s creation including us! This woman in her brilliancy is clothed with the sun, moon and stars! The word crown means a conqueror rather than a crown just worn on her head! So who is this woman married to? The number twelve is significant! Who represents the twelve stars? We have twelve apostles! We have twelve patriarch’s in the Old Testament! We have the twelve tribes of Israel. Many believe the woman represents the church for we are the bride of Christ! However some believe the woman represents Israel. Some others believe the woman represents the virgin Mary! She gives birth to the church though Israel. I have no problem with all three interpretations! If you make the church exclusive and end up with replacement theology church history has shown us you can become anti-Semitic then much harm can come to the Jews and God’s Kingdom through the church! Israel is included in the Book of Revelation with the 144000 Jews out of 12 tribes redeemed during the 7 year tribulation period! Studying the Book of Revelation is challenging but there is a special blessing for reading and studying this Book! (Revelation 1:3) Scholars say that there are more references to the Old Testament in this Book of Revelation than any other New Testament Book! Problem is the Apostle John does not directly quote these but weaves them into the Book! Many referrals to Book of Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah and the Psalms! The most important point here is what is God telling you about the prophetic Book of Revelation? You have to read it and study it yourself if you want the answer! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Old versus New!
The Old and New Testament are on the same page! They compliment each other! You see the old in the new and new in the old! Here is an interesting quote from and Pastor out of India: “In the Old Testament the shepherd prepared the lambs for a sacrifice of worship but in the New Testament the shepherd prepared Himself as the sacrifice for the sheep! The only sacrifice that would be enough to atone for our sin! The only sacrifice that would please the Father! Now our worship is acceptable to God through His only Son Jesus Christ! Jesus rejected by men is accepted by the Father in Heaven! The son’s of men now have the opportunity to live for Him serving God and man! A sacrifice by love to worship our King! Words of Praise from mortal men to the Word of God fulfilled in flesh!” Pastor Jestin, Madurai India