Words of the Bible

Passover, the Key That Opens the Gates of Heaven

There are many churches in the world that say they believe in God. However, only the Church of God celebrates the feast of the New Covenant Passover, which contains the promise of salvation. As the Bible says, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hos 4:6), many people do not understand the Bible correctly and regard the Passover as something trivial and unnecessary. They think that the Kingdom of Heaven will be given to them automatically if they just believe in God. Through the words of the Bible, let us study about the meaning of the Passover to discern truth from falsehood. Those Who Shut the Kingdom of Heaven in Men’s Faces When Jesus came 2,000 years ago, the…

I am taught that the history of the Israelites was written to teach us. Israel was destroyed by Rome in AD 70. The people of Israel were very proud of being God’s chosen people. Yet, why and how were they destroyed? And what lesson does this history give us today?

It was around AD 30. The religious leaders of Israel accused Jesus―God who came to this earth in human form for the salvation of mankind―and brought Him before Pilate, the governor of Judea. The Jews, who were gathered at the place of judgment, raised their voices and kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate found Jesus innocent of all charges, but he was afraid that the crowd might riot if he did not crucify Him. So he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am innocent of this man's blood. It is your responsibility!” “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” (Mt 27:25). The shout of the Jews, who had…

Before It Gets Too Late

The Four Things That Matter Most is a book written by Ira Byock, who has been in hospice care (a type of health care that helps terminally ill patients to spend their last moments of their lives in peace) for over four decades. In his book, he gives suggestion to terminally ill patients and their families. It is to say four phrases: “Please forgive me,” “I forgive you,” “Thank you,” and “I love you.” He came up with this after witnessing many cases that the patients and their family members regret later for not having confessed what was in their hearts. In fact, a man, who had not talked to his father for twenty years, let go of old hurts…

DNA, the Blueprint of Life

“Today we are learning the language in which God created life. We are gaining ever more awe for the complexity, the beauty, the wonder of God’s most divine and sacred gift.” On June 26, 2000, an initial draft of the human genome was released. The then U.S. President Clinton left the statement above while announcing the completion of the initial draft of the human genome project which had been the biggest issue in the field of science for the last decade of the 20th century. Let’s look into the mystery of the human genes which even brought awe to many people. Gene, the key of mystery Genome is a compound word of gene and chromosome, indicating all genetic information that…

Disaster and the Passover

We hear the news of numerous disasters on a daily basis. Among many kinds of disasters, what is the greatest disaster? To save us from a very specific disaster, God prescribed the Passover as medicine for mankind. Then, what is this disaster? Disasters occurring in the world have no effect on us after we die. However, according to the Bible, there is a disaster that lasts for eternity; even though people want to end their extreme torment and die, it is impossible. For this reason, God, who earnestly desires to save us from such a horrible disaster, has given us the New Covenant Passover. The Everlasting Disaster Many people throughout the world are suffering from unforeseen accidents and natural disasters.…

Passover, The Last Supper

Do You Know the Passover of the New Covenant?

The Resurrection of Life & the Resurrection of Condemnation

Let’s study about the resurrection of life and the resurrection of condemnation, through the truth Jesus taught to His disciples, and find out the way to participate in the resurrection of life in this age. “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.” Jn 5:28–29 Through the words of Jesus, we can understand that there are the resurrection of life and the resurrection of condemnation. The Apostle Paul too testified that there would be two types of resurrection. . . . and I have…

The Bible calls Jesus the “High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek.” What does it mean?

The Meaning of Order The word order from the “Order of Melchizedek” refers to the order of performing priestly duty. In the earthly temple, many priests took turns performing the same priestly duty. And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course . . . Lk 1:8, KJV The Order of Aaron and the Order of Melchizedek In the Bible there are two orders of priesthood: the Order of Aaron and the Order of Melchizedek. Aaron, the older brother of Moses, became the first high priest after the Law of Moses was established in the Old Testament times. The Order of Aaron is an expression that represents the priesthood…

God’s Word and Food

Without food, humans cannot function properly, think clearly, or carry out their goals and plans. This also applies to our spiritual life. Without spiritual food, we cannot achieve gracious results for the gospel. The Bible teaches us that God’s word is the food of life for us and it has the power to revive our souls. Jesus said, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life” (Jn 6:27). Jesus warned against neglecting God’s word [spiritual food] to pursue worldly desires [food that spoils]. Now, let us take some time to realize the value of God’s word, which is the food of life for our souls. The Difference Between a Worker Bee and a…

What Is the Composition of the Bible? Some people insist that the Bible has more than 66 books. Is that true?

The Bible we have today is a collection of the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament. This collection of 66 books is known as the “canon” of Scripture. The term “canon” is derived from the Hebrew word קָנֶה(kaneh) which means “reed.” Reeds were often used as measuring rods, so the word “reed” came to mean “a criterion or standard.” Later, the word “canon” was used to refer to the 66 books of the Bible, which is the standard of faith (R.K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament, pp. 327-328). Other books excluded from the Canon are called the “Apocrypha,” which refers to the books that are not included in the Hebrew Bible.…

God Is the Only Solution

Whenever we face a problem, we tend to seek help from someone who seems to be able to solve the problem and depend on him or her. Things on earth are a shadow of the things in heaven which is the reality (Heb 8:5). Nevertheless, we often try to follow the shadow when we do something. It is no use following the shadow. We must follow the reality. It is God who leads and accomplishes the gospel work. Everything on earth can be done or achieved when God approves of it in heaven. No one can do God’s work or stop it with his or her wisdom, ability or power. So, I would like to ask you to look to…

I Followed My God Wholeheartedly

After completing the long life in the wilderness, the Israelites finally enter the land of Canaan. By God’s command, each tribe casts lots for the inheritance of the land. When it comes time to divide the land west of the Jordan, Caleb approaches Joshua. “I am today, eighty-five years old, but I am still as strong and vigorous today as the day I explored the land of Canaan. Now give me this hill country [Hebron] that God promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, God helping me, I will drive them out just as He said,” says Caleb. Forty-five years ago, through Moses, God promised Caleb…

The gospel of Christ was preached to the Gentiles in the New Testament times (Ac 10:11). Then, what about in the Old Testament times? Was the gospel preached to the Gentiles in the Old Testament times, too?

When we read, “No foreigner is to eat of it. Any slave you have bought may eat of it after you have circumcised him” (Ex 12:43–45), we can understand that those who got circumcised could keep the Passover even though they were Gentiles. And as it is written, “An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the LORD’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land” (Ex 12:48), those who get circumcised with faith in God could become God’s people even though they were Gentiles. In the book of Isaiah, it is written that those who keep the Sabbath and hold fast to God’s covenant with…

Beautiful Trace

If you cut the trunk of a tree and look at the cross section of the tree, you can see a pattern of concentric tree rings. Tree rings form when there are differences in growth speed as the weather changes. Between spring and summer, when cell division is vigorous, the wood texture inside the tree is soft and the color is bright, while cell division is slow starting from late summer or autumn, resulting in a hardened texture and a darker color. As such process repeats, a distinct pattern of tree rings is formed in the trunk of a tree. If you look at tree rings, you can tell not only the tree’s age but also what had happened during…

The Kingdom of Heaven in a Mustard Seed

In the Bible, we can find the fact that God has fulfilled His great work even with the very small things, and that puts an important meaning in something that seems trivial at a glance. God has achieved the great work of the gospel in the Church of God which was small and weak, as He prophesied, “The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation” (Isa 60:22). Now we see the gospel being preached throughout the world; many brothers and sisters, though they have little strength, continuously go to Samaria and to the ends of the earth and they are displaying God’s glory to all people around the world in a great and amazing way,…

The name “Samaria” appears often in the Bible. What kind of place is Samaria? Why did the Jews distinguish themselves especially from the Samaritans?

Division of the Kingdom of Israel In order to know about Samaria, let’s take a brief look at the history of the Kingdom of Israel first. The first king of Israel was Saul. However, as Saul disobeyed God, the throne was taken from him and given to David. At the age of 30, David became king of Israel and followed God wholeheartedly; he loved the law of God and observed it diligently. In addition, he tried to build the temple for the ark of the covenant, so that he would please God. Under the grace of God, he reigned over Israel for 40 years (1 Sa 15:22-23; 2 Sa 5:4; 2 Samuel 7). After the death of David, Solomon became…

Apoptosis, Wisdom of Emptying

Autumn is a season of tinged leaves. The trees that boasted about their green leaves in midsummer and made dense forests change the color of their leaves one by one. Tinged leaves present the final magnificent view with all their strength and become fallen leaves. The falling leaves may look lonely, but the trees are preparing the cold winter when they cannot get enough water and nutrients by dropping the leaves. It’s also preparation for the upcoming spring because the leaves make space available for new sprouts. An action that is similar to the leaves falling in the autumn is also taking place inside our bodies. It is the programmed death of the cell, called apoptosis. Apoptosis is derived from…

Mother’s Heart and the Gospel

When autumn comes, we see the yellow-tinged leaves of gingko trees on the streets, which create a beautiful scenery. When we look carefully at the trees, some of them have fruit hanging off of them, and others don’t have any fruit. It is because there are separate male and female ginkgo trees and only female trees bear fruit. The providence of God who created all things is truly profound (Rev 4:11). All living things are given life and bear fruit through their mothers. In Zion, God allows us to bear fruit for the gospel; we can bear fruit when we take care of our brothers and sisters devotedly with the heart of Mother and feed them the food of God’s…

Foods That We Can Eat & Foods That We Must Not Eat

There are many differences between Judaism that follows the Law of Moses and Christianity that follows the Law of Christ. One of them is the regulation about food. Let us study the regulations about food in chronological order, starting from the time of the Garden of Eden, via the age of the Law of Moses, to the age of the early Church, and then find the teaching that we ought to observe in the age of the New Testament. Food given in each age 1. Food given in the Garden of Eden In the Garden of Eden, God gave mankind every seed-bearing plant and every kind of fruit for food. Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on…