Does a Christian need to be only a hearer of the Gospel of Christ and accept it? The Apostle Paul wrote: “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” (Rom. 2:13, English Standard Version) As these words indicate, walking in the Christian way requires being both “hearers” and “doers” of God’s law. By this the Christian will mature in faith and bring forth spiritual fruit. “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. … and increase the fruits of your righteousness.”—II Cor. 9:8,10, New King James Version

An oft repeated theme in the Apostle Paul’s ministry is that none will be made righteous by works of the law. This has frequently been misunderstood by Christians to mean, “No works are required.” This has contributed to a misunderstanding. It is the works of the law given to Moses that will not, and cannot, make us righteous. However, being made righteous by faith in Christ and his shed blood, works will come forth. This is the fruit-bearing Jesus spoke of in the Gospel of John, and it is an evidence of our union with Christ and the working of his spirit within us. “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”—John 15:8, ESV

Faith is manifested in actions. Paul acknowledged this Christian ethic in I Corinthians 15:10. “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” (ESV) Paul clearly understood the purpose of God’s grace manifested toward us. His grace makes our works of faith acceptable, even when they are inevitably stained by our human sinfulness and frailty.

James affirmed the relationship between our standing with God by faith and the consequent works that must accompany it. “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”—James 2:17,18, NKJV

James affirmed the relationship between our standing with God by faith and the consequent works that must accompany it. “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”—James 2:17,18, NKJV

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For Christians the holiest time of the year is the commemoration of Jesus’ death and the resurrection. They understand Jesus’ willing
and perfect sacrifice satisfied God’s justice for Adam’s disobedience that brought the condemnation of sin and death upon all mankind. Through Jesus’ acceptable sacrifice, in due time the curse of death would be lifted and a resurrection of the dead would take place. “For since by man [Adam] came death, by man [Jesus] came also the resurrection of the dead.”—1 Cor 15:21

To redeem Adam, Jesus had to become flesh and as a perfect man, take Adam’s place in death. He would need to be a ransom for Adam—a perfect life for a perfect life. “The Son of man came … to give his life a ransom for many.”—Matt. 20:8

The night before his death, Jesus and his apostles gathered in an upper room to celebrate the Passover supper which commemorated Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage. This deliverance came via the tenth plague God brought upon Egypt—death of the firstborn. Jesus desired to eat this Passover with them knowing this would be his last night on earth with his apostles. He still had lessons to teach them before he returned to the Father.—John 16:12

In one lesson Jesus washed his disciples’ feet showing them to care and sacrifice for one another. (John 13:3-17) Another lesson was to love one another as he had loved them. (John 13:34,35) That same night Judas betrayed Jesus to the Jewish leaders who had him arrested, tried, and put to death. It was a life-changing night for the apostles and all those who would become followers of Jesus.

The Passover supper Jesus and the apostles celebrated foreshadowed Jesus’ death the next day. This fulfilled Jesus’ statement: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Jesus was “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”—John 1:29

Following the Passover supper, Jesus instituted a new feast for his disciples to observe. (Matt. 26:26-28 New American Standard Bible)
“While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.’”

Jesus’ mission to die as a ransom for Adam was about to be completed. He was the fulfillment of the Passover lamb whose blood protected the Jewish firstborn from the tenth plague. While the tenth plague led to Israel’s release from Egyptian bondage, Jesus’ sacrifice would release Israel and mankind from the penalty of sin and death. “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22) Through Christ’s sacrifice, all that are in the grave will hear Jesus’ voice and come forth to an opportunity for everlasting life.—John 5:28,29

Jesus instituted this new feast in remembrance of his death. “Do this in remembrance of me.” (1 Cor. 11:25 NASB) Remembering Jesus’ actual death would replace remembering the Passover lamb which pictured Jesus.

What was the meaning of the bread and the cup which our Lord used in this new feast? These symbols mirrored the flesh and blood of the Passover lamb and Jesus’ statement in John 6:54-56 (NASB): “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. … He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.” The bread and cup represent the benefits Jesus’ sacrifice and death made available to all mankind.

The bread represented Jesus body or flesh. “This is my body.” (Matt. 26:26) But how do we eat Jesus’ body? The Passover lamb’s flesh was eaten by Israel during the Passover night. This gives us a hint. Additionally, Jesus said in John 6:63 (NASB): “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” We cannot eat Jesus’ literal flesh but we can feast on his words and example. Jesus abides in us through his word. “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” (Col. 3:16 NASB) If Jesus words and example abide in us, we will bring forth much fruit.—John 15:5,7,8

The second part of this new feast was the drinking of the cup. What was in the cup? Jesus’ blood of the new testament [covenant]. (Matt. 26:28) But how do we drink Jesus’ blood? The Passover lamb’s blood was splashed on the doorposts and lentils of the Jewish homes in Egypt protecting their firstborn from the 10th plague. This gives us a hint. It is the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all sin and protects us as members of the church of the firstborn. (1 John 1:7; Heb. 12:23) By accepting Jesus as our Savior, we are justified or made right in God’s sight by his blood. (Rom. 5:9) This is how we abide in Jesus, by maintaining our faith in his blood as the ransom for Adam.

What is meant by the new covenant in Jesus’ blood? (Luke 22:20 NASB) When the Israelites rejected Jesus, their house was “left unto them desolate.” (Matt. 23:38) But God promised them a future, new arrangement in Jer. 31:31-34. “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, … ‘I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. … for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.’” Israel was to be the first blessed under the covenant and an example to the other nations who would then flow unto her to learn of God and be blessed as well. “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” —Zech. 8:23 NASB

God sent Jesus, the promised Messiah, to redeem mankind and especially his chosen people the nation of Israel. (Amos 3:2) By Jesus’ willing and faithful sacrifice, the promise of restoring God’s chosen people to favor and life could be fulfilled. No longer would Israel be condemned under the Law Covenant because their fallen flesh could never keep its law perfectly. Under the New Covenant, God would write his law in their hearts and make them his people. Under the New Covenant, God would give to them a pure language so they would turn and worship God and he would bless them and be their God.—Zeph. 3:9

As the world observes Israel’s blessings under the New Covenant, they will come to the LORD to be blessed as well. “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”—Isa. 2:2,3

The blood of Jesus, pictured by the cup, was an offering for sin. As a sin offering, Jesus took Adam’s place taking Adam’s condemnation of sin and death upon himself. (2 Cor. 5:21) Jesus knew that his suffering and death as a man was required to provide for man’s and Israel’s redemption. (Isa. 53:4-6) His perfect human life, pictured by his blood in the cup, made it possible for the New Covenant to become operational in the Heavenly Father’s due time.

Why not put the New Covenant into effect immediately after Jesus was resurrected? God’s plan was that Jesus would have associates in administering the New Covenant. “For even as the body is one and yet has many members, … so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. … Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. (1 Cor. 12:12-13,27 NASB) By offering the bread and cup to his apostles, Jesus was offering to them the opportunity to become part of this group, his body. This opportunity is still open. All who come into covenant relationship with Jesus, by faith in his shed blood and being baptized into his death, thereby participate in his sacrifice and become members of his body. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” (Rom. 6:3 NASB) “It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him.”—2 Tim. 2:11,12 NASB

The Lord is using the time between his first and second advents to select and develop his body members in preparation for the New Covenant. “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” (Rom. 8:16,17) These will become a spiritual priesthood that will bless Israel and the world of mankind under the New Covenant, being prepared as “able ministers” of the New Covenant. (2 Cor. 3:6) This priesthood will be a sympathetic one, having had the same experiences as men, but having been obedient to God’s commands as was their head, Jesus. The entire priesthood, Christ and his body members, will then be able to teach mankind how to conquer iniquity in their hearts so they can become God’s people under the New Covenant and pass the test for everlasting life. Then, the human family will once again be in harmony with their God.—1 Cor. 15:24-28

This is the reason why our Lord Jesus gave up his heavenly position, was made flesh and then suffered and died—to redeem Adam and all his descendants from sin and death. He “brought life (for Israel and mankind under the New Covenant) and immortality (through baptism into Jesus’ death) to light through the Gospel. (2 Tim. 1:10 NASB) As we remember the great sacrifice of Jesus, “Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor. 5:8 NASB) Let us abide in Christ through faith in his blood and have his words abide in us that we may bear much fruit. (John 15:4,57) Let us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and let us partake worthily of this new feast set before us by our Lord and Master Christ Jesus.

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The Apostle Paul described our day in 2 Tim. 3:1-4 (New American Standard Bible): “In the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” This describes the attitude of many people, particularly mankind’s leaders.

These are the last days of this present evil world, under the control of Satan, the god of this world. (Gal. 1:4; 2 Cor. 4:4) Jesus has returned, as a thief in the night, to wrestle control of this world out from Satan’s hands. Ultimately, Jesus will bind Satan for 1,000 years so he might “not deceive the nations any longer.”—Rev. 20:1-3 (NASB)

Jesus said, “How can anyone enter the strong man’s [Satan’s] house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.” (Matt. 12:28,29 NASB) Jesus has returned to bind Satan and then, carry off the human family, currently Satan’s house through deception, bringing them back to God.

But this transition to Christ’s earthly kingdom will be difficult. Peter writes, “The day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” (2 Pet. 3:10 NASB) We are in the day of the LORD. The symbolic heavens [church systems] are being destroyed and the elements, earth and its works [this world’s financial, social and political institutions] are being burned up or destroyed. They must all be swept away to make room for Christ’s perfect, righteous, earthly kingdom so man can be taught righteousness and brought back to harmony with God.

This transition is described in Psa. 2:1-3 (NASB): “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!’” From the Ukraine war to Israel’s fight with Hamas, from the rivalry between the US and China to the struggle over immigration, inflation and people’s rights, the nations and the peoples are in an uproar. They are struggling against one another for solutions to these many intractable problems.

But they are also struggling against the establishment of Christ’s earthly kingdom which will solve all of these problems. Nevertheless, God has selected His king, our Lord Jesus, during Jesus’ first advent and is now installing Jesus as king, upon God’s holy hill of Zion. Zion pictures Jesus’ resurrected followers, the church of the first-born. (Heb. 12:22,23; Rev. 14:1). Once that process is complete, God will give the nations to Jesus as his inheritance, because Jesus purchased them with the sacrifice of his perfect human life nearly 2,000 years ago.

God is shaking the nations and then, the desire of all nations, Christ’s earthly kingdom, will come. (Haggai 2:7) Paul describes this desire, “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God (Christ’s kingdom). … that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Rom 8:19,21 NASB) Mankind wants to be free from its slavery to sin, sickness and death and that is what Christ’s earthly kingdom will bring.

This promised kingdom revolves around regathering the Jewish people to their promised land, Canaan, because Christ’s earthly kingdom begins with God making a New Covenant with the house of Israel and Judah. (Jer. 31:31-34) Paul writes, “What will their [Jewish people] acceptance be [back to God under the New Covenant] but life from the dead?” (Rom 11:15 NASB) This is resurrection of the dead Jesus promised in John 5:28,29. This resurrection will offer every human being who has ever lived the opportunity for everlasting life here upon the earth through obedience to the laws of Christ’s earthly kingdom. God “will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”—1 Tim. 2:4 King James Version

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Our first parents disobeyed the Lord’s command and put the human race into a dying condition. (Genesis 2:16,17; 3:17-19) However, God promised a seed (heir) that would destroy Satan (Genesis 3:15). This meant man’s return to favor with God, and no more death. Death would be swallowed up in victory.—Isaiah 25:8; 1 Corinthians 15:54

Eve hoped that her son Cain would be the promised seed. Thus, she named him Cain which means acquired. Little did Adam and Eve know that it would be thousands of years before the promised seed would come to save mankind. Several Millennia later, the prophet Daniel prayed for an understanding of the vision God had given him. The Angel Gabriel was sent to Daniel to explain the vision so Daniel could record it.—Daniel 9:23

God’s due time for the seed’s arrival is shown in this prophecy of the Seventy Weeks found in Daniel chapter 9. “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.”—Daniel 9:24-25

Here, the time length for fulfilment of the vision (prophecy) regarding Messiah’s coming was 70 weeks. The rebuilding of the walls at Jerusalem establishes the prophecy’s starting point. Bible chronology shows us this rebuilding of the walls and the city was accomplished in 454 B.C. Next, the prophecy tells us the overall time period covered is 70 weeks or 490 days. Numbers 14:34 reveals the concept that in time prophecies, each day represents a calendar year. “After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years.” With a starting point is 454 B.C., the Prophecy (490 years) would end in 36 AD.

Now, the focus of this prophecy is the coming of the Messiah, culminating in the death of our Lord Jesus on the cross. God made it possible for our Lord to become the satisfaction of justice for Adam’s sin by preparing a perfect human body for him. (Hebrews 10:5) This allowed Jesus to give his earthly life as a ransom for Adam releasing him and his descendants from the condemnation of death. “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: … And he shall confirm the covenant with many [in Israel] for one week.” (Daniel 9:26-27) Daniel 9:25 tells us that the vision was for seven and 62 weeks or 69 weeks. Thus, in the 483rd year of the prophecy, at age 30, Jesus was baptized at the Jordan river becoming Israel’s Messiah. For the next 3½ years he preached the good news of the Gospel—the promised ransom, restitution and resurrection of all mankind. His death—Messiah being cutoff—took place “in the midst” of week 69, or year 486 of the prophecy—Friday, April 3rd, 33 AD.

Confirming this, Caesar’s decree for the census was B.C. 2. Thus, Jesus was born around September 29 of that year. He was baptized and began his ministry 30 years later—29 AD. Jesus was killed after 3½ years later, in the midst of the prophecy’s last weed—33 AD. Thus, the Scriptures provide the true dates for Jesus’ birth and death.

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Once again violence has taken place in the Middle East, this time between Israel and Hamas. On October 7^th, over 1,000 Hamas militants invaded Israel and killed over 1,300 Israelis. Hamas’ avowed mission is to destroy Israel and “raise the banner of Allah over each inch of Palestine.”

What do the Scriptures say about such an effort? Will Hamas succeed? How will Israel and its few allies hold back such an onslaught?

The prophet Isaish wrote, “Behold, I [God] will gather them [Jewish people] out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. … I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; …  I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.—Jeremiah 32:37,40,41 New American Standard Bible NASB 

Israel was driven away from the promised land (modern-day Palestine) because of their disobedience to God and their rejection of the Messiah, Jesus. Jesus prophesied this in Matthew 23:37-38 NASB: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, … How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.  Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!” He added in Luke 21:24 NASB: “Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

Israel’s punishment was to be only temporary as the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 11:25-27 NASB: “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery … that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;  and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” While Israel lost their relationship with God under the Law Covenant due to disobedience, they were not cast off forever. God promised to re-gather them from all the lands to which He had scattered them and make with them a new, an everlasting covenant.

“’Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,  not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,’ declares the LORD.  ‘But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more’”—Jeremiah 31:31-34 NASB 

The apostle Paul quoted this prophecy in Hebrews chapter 8 adding that Jesus is the one who makes this covenant possible. “We have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, … But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.  For if that first [Law] covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.  For finding fault with them [Jewish people], He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH.” (Hebrews 8:1,6-8 NASB) Because of their imperfection, the Jewish people could not keep the first covenant, established at Mt. Sinai. They needed a better high priest and a better sacrifice—a ransom for Adam—to be cleansed from sin so they can come back into harmony with God. Jesus provided that better sacrifice with his death on the cross and as a result, became that better high priest. As that high priest, Jesus is the guarantor and mediator of a better covenant, the New Covenant under which Israel and eventually, all mankind will be cleansed from sin and re-gathered to God.  

Since 1878, God has been re-gathering the Jewish people back to their promised land in preparation for the establishment of this New covenant. When this covenant is established with Israel, Paul writes, “What will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:15 NASB) The New Covenant will result in the resurrection of all mankind from the grave, both Jew and Gentile.

Now we see the Jewish people being re-gathered to their promised homeland. While the heathen, particularly Hamas and others rage against it, it is a sign that God’s plan for man’s salvation is progressing toward the promised result of blessing all the families of the earth. (Psalm 2:1-9; Genesis 22:16-18) God’s plan to re-gather Israel to their homeland and bring them back into harmony with himself, will not be thwarted by Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran or any earthly nation or organization. Neither will it be thwarted by spiritual wickedness in high places—Satan and the fallen angels.—Ephesians 6:11-12

By re-gathering Israel back to the promised land and establishing a New Covenant with them, “’I [God] will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, … Then the nations will know that I am the LORD,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘when I prove Myself holy among you [Jewish people] in their sight.  For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.’”—Ezekiel 36:23-28 NASB 

God has promised in this re-gathering of Israel that they will never be uprooted again. “‘I will bring My exiled people of Israel back from distant lands, and they will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them again. … I will firmly plant them there in their own land. They will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them,’ says the LORD your God.” (Amos 9:14-15 New Living Translation NLT) “They will possess their land forever, for I will plant them there with My own hands in order to bring Myself glory.” (Isaiah 60:21 NLT) “They will live in the land I gave My servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren after them will live there forever, generation after generation.”—Ezekiel 37:25 NLT

How we long for these wonderful promises to be fulfilled for they will mark the end of man’s nighttime of sorrow and death and the beginning of a bright, new day in the experience of all mankind, both Jew and Gentile.

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One of the most discussed topics in today’s world of technology is Artificial Intelligence, often referred to simply by its initials “AI.” Briefly stated, Artificial Intelligence is defined as the ability of machines to perform tasks that are typically associated with human thinking and intellect. Whether we realize it or not, most of us are users of AI in some limited way. When we search the Internet, watch a YouTube video, shop on Amazon, use voice recognition tools such as Siri and Alexa, or operate a self-driving car, we are often influenced, unknowingly perhaps, by Artificial Intelligence.

Such uses, as well as others, can prove to be of assistance to people in today’s technology-focused world. However, there are limitations to the value and validity of Artificial Intelligence applications. These limitations stem primarily from the fact that, ultimately, humans are responsible for the decisions made by AI systems. Are these decisions fair, ethical, transparent, and accountable? Humans must also take responsibility for any “unintended consequences” from AI systems’ failures. In many cases, such shortcomings of an AI application may require only minor adjustments. However, in a worst-case scenario, an AI failure could be catastrophic for an individual or for the masses.

At a more detailed level, the limitations of Artificial Intelligence can best be identified in three ways.  First, an AI system, developed and “trained” by humans, is only as good as the initial data put into it to act as its training. AI decisions and actions can be biased or flawed if the data it is given by their human trainers is likewise biased or flawed. Second, AI lacks emotional intelligence since it cannot factor human emotions, sentiments and mindsets into its decision-making. Third, although organizations are increasingly mindful of the need for adopting AI innovation, they often fail to approach it from a strategic, business-model, point of view.

The bottom line regarding Artificial Intelligence is that, given the limited and often faulty nature of human reasoning in this present sinful world, faith in the benefits of AI comes with a host of restrictions and cautions.

On the other hand, faith in the Almighty God of the Bible, the Creator of the universe, should be unwavering and limitless. God’s supreme intelligence, as well as his perfect character in the use of that intelligence, is not only far above that of any AI application, but also, far superior to any human mind which has designed these systems.

We note these powerful Scriptures: “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.” (Isa. 55:8,9) “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?” (Rom. 11:33,34) “Where wast thou [Job] when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof?”—Job 38:4-6

Thanks be to God that there neither has been, nor ever will be, any “unintended consequences” from the results of his intelligence. It is based upon his four supreme and unwavering character attributes: his foundation of justice, his infinite wisdom, his boundless love, and his almighty power. Indeed, “Faith can firmly trust him, come what may!”

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It seems as if Christianity is at a crossroads. Some promote “Christian nationalism” while others mix politics and the Christian faith. Christianity is being pulled into such conflicts as gender identity and racial, social and income inequality. How should the follower of Jesus navigate these conflicts?

Shortly before his death, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “What shall be the sign of thy presence and of the end of the age?” (Matt. 24:3 Revised Version Improved Corrected) How would they know when Jesus had returned? In his response Jesus said, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be thereafter. And except those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” (Matt. 24:21,22 RVIC) Jesus’ return would be identified by a great time of trouble.

Daniel prophesied about this same trouble in Dan. 12:1, New American Standard Bible: “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.” Michael (Christ) would stand up (return) and begin the process of bringing “the sons of your people” (Jewish people) back to their homeland. The reestablishment of Israel fulfilled this. At this time, Jesus would also reward his followers, “everyone who is found written in the book” with a resurrection to the spiritual home he promised them.—John 14:2,3

Peter described this troubled time: “The day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” (2 Peter 3:10, NASB) The returned Jesus is bringing this present evil world of which Satan is the prince, to an end so he can replace it with his earthly kingdom. (Gal. 1:4; 2 Cor. 4:4) “But according to his promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth (Christ’s earthly kingdom), in which righteousness dwells.”—2 Peter 3:13, NASB
Meanwhile, there is a great separation taking place in Christianity. The parable of the wheat and the tares promises the tares (imitation Christians) would be separated from the true Christians, grouped together in bundles, and exposed as imposters. (Matt. 13:23-30,36-43) Similarly, Jesus’ parable of the dragnet describes a great separation between true, and imitation Christians at this time. (Matt. 13:47-50) The conflicts mentioned above are doing that separation.

Not everyone today, who says they are a Christian, is a true follower of Jesus. In this trouble, the true Christians will be separated from the false and receive the great spiritual reward God has promised. The imposters will have a chance for an earthly salvation in Christ’s kingdom.—1 Cor. 2:9; 1 John 3:2

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