The Feast of Peace

7/23/10 Updated

I wrote this article in 2000; seems like yesterday :).

The Feast of Peace

God instructed the ancient Israelites to leave their homes every year to observe a festival in a location He chose. What is the significance of this feast, and what does it mean for you?

by Jerold Aust

Many people have attended church services all their lives and never heard of the Feast of Tabernacles. The festival is seldom mentioned in churches, although it is mentioned prominently in the Bible. Jesus Christ observed this festival, as did His apostles long after His death and resurrection.

What is the meaning of this feast, and why don't we hear more about it?

Of those who have heard of it, most think of it as Jewish, if they think of it at all. The notion that the Feast of Tabernacles was only for Old Testament Jews is not only wrong, it is dead wrong.

Answers to big questions (first subtopic; click on link for "the rest of the story.")

http://www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn30/feastpeace.htm.

Have a great weekend and Sabbath and upcoming Feast.~jwa

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My article on Jeroboam in the Florence, Italy and Israel archives

7/5/10 Updated

In 2007, I was asked by Haifa University and I believe Nava Blum who maintains the Israel History Index, if they could archive my article on Jeroboam. I was surprised that they had read it and that they deemed it helpful to archive it. Naturally I was happy that it was noticed by them.

You can click on the link and find it. The print is very small so you will need to scroll down to my article under "Ancient Periods to the Diaspora" and from there scroll down to "The Two Kingdoms." There, the first article is mine. Hope you enjoy it.

http://vlib.iue.it/history/asia/Israel/index.html.

All the best.~jwa

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Early Solomonic Discernment

6/29/10 Updated

Solomon's early life was full of wisdom and good discernment. Let me share this article I wrote back in 1998. It's good today.

Profiles of Faith

Solomon: Lesson from a Wise King

by Jerold Aust

"Divide the baby with a sword, and let the matter be settled." As the king's shocking words echoed throughout his chambers, those who heard his decision were stunned.

It was a heartrending scene: Two women stood before King Solomon, each claiming to be the mother of the same baby boy. The first mother told of how she and the second woman had each given birth to a son, three days apart. Her son was born first. The second mother accidentally laid on her son while they slept, and he died. Discovering that her son was dead, the second mother switched the babies, placing her dead son beside the first mother—asleep at the time—and taking the first mother's living son to her bed.

When the first mother arose in the morning to nurse her son, she found the boy dead—but on closer examination discovered it was the other mother's child. She knew her son was in the arms of the second mother. Now, standing anxiously before the king, she hoped that he would somehow perceive she was the one telling the truth so she could be reunited with her baby.

Solomon issued his verdict: "Bring me a sword. Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other" (1 Kings 3:24—25). The two mothers' reactions were worlds apart. The first mother pleaded with the king: "O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!" But the second mother's words were chilling: "Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him" (verse 26).

Their reactions told the king all he needed to know. "Give the first woman the living child," he ordered, "and by no means kill him; she is his mother" (verse 27).

The source of Solomon's wisdom (Click on the link for the rest of the story...)

http://www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn15/profilesfaithsolomon.htm.

All the best.~jwa

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World Peace: The Impossible Dream?

6/25/10 Updated

Eight years back, I wrote an article on World Peace. I want to share it here with you.

World Peace: The Impossible Dream?

by Jerold Aust

A shocking headline on CNN's Web site on June 4 proclaimed: "Doomsday Clock Advances 5 Minutes." The accompanying article stated that "doomsday drew closer Thursday and is now just nine minutes away, according to the keepers of the symbolic Doomsday Clock. [Because of] recent nuclear test explosions in India and Pakistan, the minute hand of the clock—a measure of how close humankind is to destroying itself—was advanced to 11:51 p.m., with midnight representing a worldwide nuclear holocaust."

How close the world came to nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan we may never know. Nor, for that matter, is that particular danger past; it could easily heat up again and perhaps pass the point of no return.

The "wars and rumors of wars" that Jesus Christ foretold (Matthew 24:6) are here. But the peace He promised beyond them seems as elusive as ever.

Mankind has never known lasting world peace, yet peace for mankind is both planned for and guaranteed. But could the horrifying terrorist acts of Sept. 11, the senseless nail-studded suicide bombs that kill grandmothers and grandchildren alike, and the threat of nuclear war between Pakistan and India help signal the coming of a true worldwide peace?

It sounds like an obvious contradiction, but it isn't. Ironically, the worse it gets on the world scene, the closer we are to lasting world peace (Luke 21:29-31). The signs of the times laid out in Jesus' Olivet prophecy (recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21) suggest we're dangerously close to a holocaust. But what does that have to do with lasting peace?

Who defines peace? (subtopic: click on the link for the rest of the story)

http://www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn42/worldpeace.htm.

Have a great Sabbath and weekend.~jwa

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