There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
(Mark Tapscott – PJ Media) Mark Twain famously said that a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth even starts putting on its shoes. Here is Exhibit A in contemporary proof of the most famous American writer’s maxim.
It only took four years, the courage of a handful of independent medical experts who risked their careers by contradicting the federal government, the mainstream media, and the medical establishment, and the fact that something resembling the free press remains viable in this country, thanks largely to the internet.
Now, finally, the truth about theCOVID
-19 vaccine is beginning to be made known to the public. It confirms the many previous warnings such as these: here, here, and here.View article →
I don’t share enough good news, so here’s a fun one. This is a diaper company taking the sort of stand that any self-interested diaper company should logically take – give us more customers! But with all the doom and gloom about population these days, it’s probably brave for even a diaper company to come out in favor of babies.
While they hang their baby endorsement on a statement from agnostic Elon Musk, there’s also an uncredited voice-over recognizable as American’s favorite pastor, Billy Graham (or, possibly, his son Franklin). So while they could get bolder – let’s explicitly proclaim God’s truth asGod‘s truth – these folk are certainly taking some baby steps in the right direction!
Way more teens are smoking way more marijuana than 10 years ago. And what they’re smoking is way more potent than what was around a generation ago. And it’s costing many teens their mental stability…
There’s been some good news on the state-sanctioned suicide front this week. On March 17 the “eligibility” of death-as-medicine was going to be expanded to include the mentally ill too. Rising costs have made it impossible to find a home? If that left you depressed, the government might have helped, not with more affordable housing, but a prescription of lethal drugs. But on January 29, the federal health minister announced they would suspend, at least for now, this expansion. You can read more, and what to do about it at theEuthanasia Prevention Coalition, andARPA Canada.
To find out how we ever got here, read the longer article, from REAL Women of Canada, linked above.
“”Canadians deserve to know the truth,’ Federal Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters earlier this week, regarding 2021 claims made — but never investigated — of unmarked graves at the Kamloops, British Columbia Indian residential school.”
And there’s a new book out highlighting how the media, and some of our elected leaders, steered us wrong.
How did transgenderism shift so quickly from a fringe movement to something taught in our public schools and affirmed by almost all our political leaders? This documentary gets to some of it.
While narrator Christopher Rufo doesn’t frame it in specifically Christian terms, what he highlights is how transgenderism is seen by its proponents as more than simply surgery, more than a personal decision, more than a struggle some small minority have to deal with: leading proponents view it as an all-encompassing worldview from which we are to interpret all else. Susan Striker, one trans proponent, spoke of his transgender manifesto as a “secular sermon.” That gives us all the clue we should need as to how best to counter this movement. Not with Rufo’s equally secular response, in which he’s left confused enough to refer to Striker with female pronouns. No, what’s needed is our own sermon of sorts, but a spiritual one. We need to lead with the facts as God as defined them, that He defines our gender.
News broke in January that Joe Biden will prioritize legal status for millions of illegal immigrants in the United States.
This comes after Joe Biden opened the borders and allowed over 10 million illegals from over a hundred countries to invade the United States. Republicans are still too afraid to impeach Biden for this criminal act.
President-elect Joe Biden’s decision to immediately ask Congress to offer legal status to an estimated 11 million people in the country has surprised advocates given how the issue has long divided Democrats and Republicans, even within their own parties.
Biden will announce legislation his first day in office to provide a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants in the United States illegally, according to four people briefed on his plans.
X owner Elon Musk responded to this report on Friday night.
Elon Musk tweeted:Biden’s strategy is very simple:
1. Get as many illegals in the country as possible.
2. Legalize them to create a permanent majority – a one-party state.
That is why they are encouraging so much illegal immigration. Simple, yet effective.
No one is fooled by the lawless acts of the Democrat leaders.
Biden’s strategy is very simple:
1. Get as many illegals in the country as possible.
2. Legalize them to create a permanent majority – a one-party state.
That is why they are encouraging so much illegal immigration. Simple, yet effective. pic.twitter.com/B9M5ypUOQB
CNN’s Walsh: U.S. Air Strikes on Iraq and Syria Less than Soleimani Strike in Iran, ‘Telegraphed’ Enough to Let Targets Avoid Them
Back when Barack Obama was enjoying his second term, he was forced to deal with terror group ISIS, and it was quite clear he didn’t have any appetite at all for doing anything that would actually get rid of them. In 2014, Obama ordered air strikes against ISIS in Syria, and yet somehow, those attacks didn’t seem to deter ISIS in any way or even slow them down. One reason for that was because most of the targets were empty buildings. In 2024, during his third term, it seems that Obama has once again ordered meaningless strikes on mostly empty targets through his ‘front man’ Joe Biden.
“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” Proverbs 29:2 (KJB)
When I got up this morning, I was hoping to read, in any publication anywhere, encouraging reports of all the damage that Biden’s air strikes had done last night, but sadly, there were none. In fact, on the ‘Situation Room’ over at fake news CNN, they were talking about how Biden’s air strikes were ‘telegraphed’ to Iran to provide the least amount of damage possible. You know it’s bad when even CNN cannot cover it up. These staged air strikes have done nothing to avenge the deaths of the 3 US soldiers killed in the Iranian sponsored drone attack earlier this week. Iran can rest easy knowing that their buddy Barack Obama is still calling the shots over at the White House, what a dark time for America.
The U.S. strikes in response to the fatal drone attack on U.S. soldiers ‘seem to be essentially telegraphed’ to avoid damage
FROM BREITBART NEWS: On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” CNN Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh stated that the U.S. strikes in response to the fatal drone attack on U.S. soldiers “seem to be essentially telegraphed enough to give those on the receiving end enough time to relocate or lessen the damage that potentially could have been done” and the strikes are smaller than the strike that killed Qassem Soleimani under the Trump administration.
Walsh cautioned that there may be further strikes, but “it does seem to be essentially telegraphed enough to give those on the receiving end enough time to relocate or lessen the damage that potentially could have been done. It seems carefully packaged, with the use of B-1 bombers — abnormal –, and the declaration that 85 targets were hit…to make it feel as though this is significantly more substantial. It may indeed prove to have been the case, but so far, we are looking at, geographically, areas that have been hit before over previous years, and we are, as I say, looking at a telegraphing of a response that will likely have reduced its effectiveness. We’ve heard from the Pentagon saying the weather was potentially behind some of the timing here, too.” READ MORE
Despite economists and market analysts promising that 2024 would be the beginning of a labor market slowdown, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shocked the world again by delivering gangbuster headline figures in its most recent jobs report. The surface numbers were impressive, but the deeper data painted a different picture of what is occurring across the country.
The January Jobs Report
Last month, the US economy added an eye-popping 353,000 new jobs, up from the revised 333,000 of November. This also topped the consensus estimate of 180,000. The unemployment rate was flat at 3.7%, below economists’ expectations of 3.8%. Average hourly earnings rose a better-than-expected 0.6% month-over-month and jumped to 4.5% year-over-year. Yes, real (inflation-adjusted) earnings are still down, but the sudden increase in nominal wages was driven by the month-over-month drop in average weekly hours (34.3 to 34.1). Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate was unchanged at 62.5%. The U-6 unemployment rate, which includes the unemployed, discouraged, and marginally attached workers, swelled to 7.2%.
Indeed, these are numbers that any president running for re-election should be proud of and celebrate daily. However, when economists dig deeper into the non-farm payrolls report, conditions are different.
What Else Is There?
To kick off 2024, the most significant drivers of the employment gains were professional and business services (74,000), health care (70,000), retail (45,000), government (36,000), and social assistance (30,000). Manufacturing also contributed 23,000 positions. These numbers are compelling for two reasons. First, the government accounted for 39% of the job creation. Second, this comes as Challenger data highlighted that US-based employers terminated roughly 83,000 workers last month, and ADP showed the private sector created a little more than 100,000 employees.
As Liberty Nation has reported, there is typically a divergence between the establishment and household surveys in the monthly jobs report. The former includes every job someone has, and the latter removes the duplication of individuals. So, while the establishment component confirmed 353,000 new jobs, the household portion showed 175,000 lost positions.
The BLS showcased another widening gap between full-time and part-time work. Last month, full-time jobs declined by 63,000, and part-time employment opportunities rose by 96,000. Additionally, the number of individuals working two or more jobs eased from an all-time high in December, sliding to a three-month low of 8.272 million.
The one positive was the upward revisions, breaking the six-month streak of downward changes. The December numbers were adjusted higher by an amazing 117,000 to 333,000. Unfortunately, the celebration stops there because it is likely these numbers will be revised downward in the coming months or years. The BLS recently altered the 2023 second-quarter jobs data that revealed the economy only added 332,000 positions, well under the initially reported 603,000. Even when the private sector is factored into the calculations, the government had a little more than 500,000 new jobs in the April-June span. Of course, nobody cares anymore by the time the numbers are fudged.
Election Year Data
Skeptics have questioned the reliability of the BLS’ latest jobs data. Remember, many companies have been laying off scores of their workforce in the past month, such as UPS, Hasbro, and Twitch. So, why would anyone doubt the veracity of government numbers? Well, it is an election year, after all. Zero Hedge said it best: “It’s safe to assume that all Establishment Survey numbers are now completely made up.” Suffice it to say that none of the figures made much sense. As a result, data users, as the BLS calls anyone who combs through the numbers, should anticipate plenty of revisions in the future. The federal agency certainly puts the BS in BLS.
On the surface, it was an blockbuster jobs report, certainly one which nobody expected. Starting at the top, the BLS reported that in January the US unexpectedly added 353K “jobs” – the most since January 2023 (when the print was 482K compared to 131K) , double the consensus forecast of 185K and more than the highest Wall Street estimate (300K from Natixis). In fact, this was a 4-sigma beat to estimate, unheard of in the past year.
The headline data was stellar across the board, starting with the unemployment rate which once again failed to rise – denying expectations from “Sahm’s Rule” that a recession may have already started – all the way to average hourly earnings, which unexpectedly spiked from 4.1% (pre-revision) to 4.5%, the highest since last September, and a slap in the face to the Fed’s disinflation narrative…
The state of our nation today reminds me of “The Twilight Zone” reruns that I watched as a young boy. They were always very eerie and unsettling.
This is fact not fiction
For those unfamiliar with “The Twilight Zone,” it was a science fiction horror series that ended in 1964. Each episode began with an introduction from host Rod Serling telling the viewer they were entering “the Twilight Zone,” and featured a story where the actors experience very disturbing or unusual events, sometimes scary, sometimes comical.
But for us today, this is no TV series— manydisturbing events we hear of in the news and in our communities are real. For example:
The support for pro-terror groups who butcher women and children: University of Maryland Palestinianrallyunder investigation after apparent calls for ‘Holocaust 2.0’
The battle over ridiculous pronouns and the support for mental health issues surrounding illicit sexual behavior while silencing those who dare to challenge them. Instead of offering hope and direction, they are given accolades and applause: “The wicked freely parade and prance about while evil is praised throughout the land” (Psalm 12:8).
The alarming increase in school shootings and the manifestos that reveal who should also be held responsible for their destructive influences.
The enemy has penetrated our walls (borders). Like the Trojan Horse, it’s no longer a matter of “if” but “when” the hammer falls.
The debilitating effects of the opioid and fentanyl crisis, especially in major cities.
The drag queen story hours where godless and perverted men get permission to groom children.
The thunderous applause from California, Ohio, and New York because they can kill their babies up to birth.
The incredible stupidity that suggests men can have babies. Not even “The Twilight Zone” dared to go there!
The weak and woke pastors who lack the courage and the backbone to boldly stand for the truth.
And finally, the brokenness of families that few seemed concerned about. Michael Reagan, the son of Ronald Reagan, wrote of his parent’s divorce, “Divorce is where two adults take everything that matters to a child — the child’s home, family, security, and sense of being loved and protected — and they smash it [to pieces], leave it in ruins on the floor, then walk out and leave the child to clean up the mess.”
Running from the remedy
What alarms, shocks, and hurts the most is that most Americans are provoking God by running from the remedy and cursing the cure!
You may say, “Shane, this is hard to hear!” Yes, it is, but at this stage in the game, it’s very healthy to mourn and weep at the mess we’ve created.
We must procure the aid of God via the blessing of brokenness and the gift of humility: “The call to repentance is not cruel, but caring. The call to holiness is not enslaving but liberating” (Rob Fultz).
We all fear something
We all fear something and fear controls our actions. The Left fears the Right, and the majority of the Right fears the Left. We need to start fearing God again: As we’ve learned throughout history, men are either controlled by the Bible or by the bayonet.
Let’s be crystal clear here: A national awakening sparked by the fear of God is our only hope (cf. Ex. 20:20). Christian galas, events, festivals, and conferences are great, but they will never usher inGod’s presence. Business as usual is not going to cut it anymore.
The early church spent days waiting in an upper room before the fire fell. They understood that the secret to revival was thesecret place. Spiritual awakenings aren’t birthed in arrogance; they are born in the womb of brokenness.
The real question
If you think salvation is coming in 2024, you’ll be gravely mistaken. God only knows the chaos that may ensue. The real question is, are you ready?
In the depths of a despairing world, we cannot forget about God’s grace and love. You may feel that you’ve done too much damage, but don’t lose heart. You will be amazed at what God can do with humility, brokenness, and repentance. Humble yourself today and begin to fear God again.
Someone must light the flame
At a critical time in Israel’s history, Elijah approached the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him!” The same call goes out today: How long will you waver?
Is His word in your heart like a “burning fire?” (Jer. 20:9). We must begin here. God still looks for men and women to light the fire and fan the flames: “It is only when the whole heart is gripped with the passion of prayer that the life-giving fire descends, for none but the earnest man gets access to the ear of God” (E.M. Bounds).
“Look at the world around you. It may seem immovable. It is not. With the slightest push — in just the right place — it can be tipped” (Malcolm Gladwell).
When God commands you to do something, never rely on someone else to see it through. This is our hour … our moment. Breakthroughs always cost someone something. We must be willing to pay the price. Are you? There is always repentance before restoration.
This week President Joe Biden was stuck in 2020. He referred to Donald Trump as a “sitting president” and touted his foreign policy achievements during “the previous administration.” In other words, it was a pretty good week for the 81-year-old, who typically describes himself as a member of the U.S. Senate, where he served from 1973 to 2009.
Alas, Biden did not have a good week when it comes to pronouncing words. He struggled with “asylum” and “inspection,” among others. We’re actually starting to worry that Biden’s cognitive decline is rubbing off on members of the White House staff, that his brain disease might be contagious.
On a positive and somewhat related note, more than 60 percent of registered voters said Biden doesn’t deserve a second term, according to a recent Gallup poll.
The speaker introduction goes for 6 minutes, then Dr. Craig speaks for 35 minutes, then it’s a period of questions and answers with the audience. The total length is 93 minutes, so quite a long period of Q&A. The questions in the Q&A period are quite good.
Introduction:
Many people who are willing to accept God’s existence are not willing to accept the God of Christianity
Christians need to be ready to show that Jesus rose from the dead as a historical event
Private faith is fine for individuals, but when dealing with the public you have to have evidence
When making the case, you cannot assume that your audience accepts the Bible as inerrant
You must use the New Testament like any other ancient historical document
Most historians, Christian and not, accept the basic minimal facts supporting the resurrection of Jesus
Fact #1: the burial of Jesus following his crucifixion
Fact #1 is supported by the early creed found in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 15)
Fact #1 is supported by the early Passion narrative which was a source for Mark’s gospel
Fact #1 passes the criterion of enemy attestation, since it praises one of the Sanhedrin
Fact #1 is not opposed by any competing burial narratives
Fact #2: on the Sunday following his crucifixion, Jesus’ tomb was found empty by some women
Fact #2 is supported by the early Passion narrative which was a source for Mark’s gospel
Fact #2 is implied by the early creed found in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 15)
Fact #2 is simple and lacks legendary embellishment, which argues for an early dating
Fact #2 passes the criterion of embarrassment, because it has female, not male, witnesses
Fact #2 passes the criterion of enemy attestation, since it is reported by the Jewish leaders
Fact #3: Jesus appeared to various people in various circumstances after his death
Fact #3 is supported by the early creed found in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 15)
Fact #3 is supported by multiple, independent reports of the events from all four gospels
Fact #3 explains other historical facts, like the conversion of Jesus’ skeptical brother James
Fact #4: the earliest Christians proclaimed their belief in the resurrection of Jesus
Fact #4 explains why the earliest Christians continued to identify Jesus as the Messiah
Fact #4 explains why the earliest Christians were suddenly so unconcerned about being killed
Dr. Craig then asks which hypothesis explains all four of these facts. He surveys a number of naturalistic hypotheses, such as the hallucination theory or various conspiracy theories. All of these theories deny one or more of the minimal facts that have been established and accepted by the broad spectrum of historians. In order to reject the resurrection hypothesis, a skeptic would have to deny one of the four facts or propose an explanation that explains those facts better than the resurrection hypothesis.
I listened to the Q&A period while doing housekeeping and I heard lots of good questions. Dr. Craig gives very long answers to the questions. One person asked why we should trust the claim that the Jewish leaders really did say that the disciples stole the body. Another one asked why we should take the resurrection as proof that Jesus was divine. Another asks about the earthquake in Matthew, which Mike Licona and I doubt is intended to be historical, but is more likely to be apocalyptic imagery. Dr. Craig is also asked about the Jewish scholar Geza Vermes, and how many of the minimal facts he accepts. Another questioner asked about the ascension.
You can see this evidence used in an actual debate, against a historian who disagrees with Dr. Craig. That post contains a point by point summary of the debate that I wrote while listening to it.
Hi, I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you’re listening to Share Life Today.
How would you like to learn an easy-to-remember, hard-to-forget Gospel presentation? Using the five fingers of your hand, we’re going to put one word to each finger. The five words are GRACE, MAN, GOD, CHRIST, and FAITH. We’ll look at one word for each day this week. Word number one is GRACE – picture your thumb pointing toward Heaven. Grace, heaven, eternal life, is a gift. Romans 6:23 says, “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And, like any gift, it is not earned or deserved. The Bible tells us that we’re saved through faith, not works. What a relief! Every other religion teaches that people must earn their way to Heaven, but not Christianity. Christianity alone proclaims that God’s favor and entrance into heaven are absolutely free to us because of Jesus’ sacrifice. So, word number one of the Gospel is GRACE. And we need it desperately. To see the hand presentation video, go to http://www.sharelife.today. That’s http://www.sharelife.today.
Hi, I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you’re listening to Share Life Today.
This week, we’re learning an easy-to-remember Gospel presentation. We’re using the five fingers of our hand to remember five Gospel words – one each day. Yesterday was GRACE – and we used our thumb pointing toward Heaven to remember that Heaven is free…not earned or deserved. Today, we’re using our second finger, our pointer finger for the second word – MAN – meaning the entire human race. The Bible clearly states that man is a sinner and cannot save himself. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” are the words of Romans three twenty-three. Sin is anything that falls short of God’s perfect standard. An action, a word, a thought, an attitude… …and because we are sinners, we cannot save ourselves. But the Gospel is Good News! There is a way to be saved, but it’s not man’s way…it’s God’s way. We’re in great need of His grace to cover our sins! You can visit http://www.sharelife.today and view the Gospel Hand Presentation video. That’s http://www.sharelife.today.
Hi, I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you’re listening to Share Life Today.
This week, we’re learning an easy-to-remember Gospel presentation. And we’re using the five fingers of our hand as a learning aid. Today we’ll focus on Word #3 – God, and picture your middle finger – the longest, greatest finger representing the greatest being in all the universe which we know to be God. Of the many aspects of God’s character, we’ll emphasize two: First, God is MERCIFUL and doesn’t want to punish us. The Bible tells us that “God is love.” But the same Bible that teaches us that He is love, also teach us that He is JUST and He cannot tolerate our sin. In Exodus 34:7, God says, “By no means will I clear the guilty.” This presents a problem. Notice that I did not say God has a problem. The problem is ours. For God’s solution to our problem, we’ll turn our attention tomorrow to Word #4 – CHRIST. God solved our problem through Jesus Christ! Visit http://www.sharelife.today to see this “Hand” Gospel presentation video. That’s http://www.sharelife.today.
Hi, I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you’re listening to Share Life Today.
Today, we are going to learn an easy-to-remember Gospel presentation. Our pattern to share the Gospel is based on five main words – Grace, Man, God, Christ, and Faith and we are pairing each one with a finger of our hand as a learning aid. Today we’ll focus on the fourth word – picture your ring finger and think of the Bridegroom because today’s word is CHRIST. Jesus Christ is both God and Man. John’s Gospel opens with this emphasis, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” While Jesus had many great accomplishments, there’s no doubt about His most important: He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin…and rose from the dead to prove He has purchased a place in Heaven for us. This gift is received by faith. You can visit http://www.sharelife.today to view a video demonstrating the Hand Presentation of the Gospel. That’s http://www.sharelife.today.
Hi, I’m John Sorensen, President of Evangelism Explosion International, and you’re listening to Share Life Today.
Today, we’re coming to the final day of learning an easy-to-remember, hard-to-forget Gospel presentation. We’ve been using the five fingers of our hand as our learning aid. Picture the smallest finger on your hand – it’s going to represent faith. Grace, Man, God and Christ, Faith. Faith, in a Biblical sense, is the means whereby people make a personal response to the Gospel. Saving faith isn’t simply head knowledge about Jesus. Many know about Jesus, but have never experienced saving faith. Saving faith is also not just “temporary faith,” trusting in Jesus for health, safety, finances. Saving faith is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life, and it’s necessary for salvation. In the book of Acts, the apostle Paul was asked, “What must I do to be saved?” His answer was this: “Believe – have faith – in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved…” You can watch a brief video demonstrating the Gospel presentation on our website, where you can find resources to help you share your faith. That’s http://www.sharelife.today.
then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. (2:28–33)
Having met Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, Simeon took Jesus into his arms. It is hard to imagine how thrilled he must have been as he realized that God’s promises had come true. Salvation had come to Israel, and he was holding the consolation of Israel, the Messiah, in his arms. Overwhelmed with joy and gratitude, Simeon blessed God.
His song of praise (cf.1:41–45, 46–55, 67–79; 2:13–14, 38) is known as the Nunc Dimittis (Now Lord), from the first two words of the hymn in Latin. God was releasing His bond-servant to depart (die) in peace, according to His word of promise revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit. His hope fulfilled, his joy complete, his heart at peace, Simeon was content to die. With his own eyes he had seen God’s salvation, personified in the infant Jesus (cf. 1:69; 2:11). He understood that salvation for Israel involved much more than the national deliverance promised by the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants, whose blessings will not be fully realized until the millennial kingdom. In the incarnation, Jesus came not to save His people from their enemies, but from their sins (Matt. 1:21; cf. Acts 4:12).
Simeon’s next statement would shock Jewish sensibilities. Fiercely proud of their status as God’s chosen, covenant people, the Jews believed Messiah was their deliverer. They assumed He would establish their kingdom, which would then rule over the infidel Gentiles. The truth that God had prepared salvation in the presence of all peoples, and that Messiah would be a light of revelation to the Gentiles (cf. Acts 26:23), as well as the glory of God’s people Israel (cf. Isa. 46:13; 45:25), ran counter to all their preconceptions. Even after the resurrection, the apostles still did not understand. Shortly before the Lord ascended to heaven “they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’ ” (Acts 1:6).
Centuries of animosity toward the idolatrous Gentiles, whose corrupting influence had contributed to Israel’s downfall, was not easily set aside. The Jewish believers in Jerusalem were horrified that Peter “went to uncircumcised men and ate with them” (Acts 11:3) because, as Peter reminded the Gentiles gathered in Cornelius’s house, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him” (Acts 10:28). But salvation is offered to all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, since Christ “made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall” (Eph. 2:14) and “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for [believers] are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). Thus the Lord directed that “repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47; cf. Matt. 28:19–20).
Speaking prophetically of Messiah’s ministry Isaiah wrote,
But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. (Isa. 9:1–2; cf. Matt. 4:12–16)
According to Isaiah 42:6, Messiah would be “a light to the nations,” while in 49:6, the Lord said to Him, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” In Isaiah 51:4–5, God declared, “A law will go forth from Me, and I will set My justice for a light of the peoples. My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, and My arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands will wait for Me, and for My arm they will wait expectantly.” Isaiah 52:10 notes that “the Lord has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God.” In Isaiah 60, God once again addressed His Servant, the Messiah:
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. (60:1–3)
With each confirmation of their Son’s true identity, Joseph and Mary’s astonishment grew. After hearing Simeon’s song of praise, they were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. Their son, in every sense a normal human baby, was the Divine Savior of the world, the Messiah who would fulfill all the Old Testament promises of salvation and blessing.[1]
30–32 Simeon does not say, however, that he has seen the Messiah but rather that his eyes have seen God’s salvation. To see Jesus is to see salvation embodied in him—a theme prominent in Luke (cf. 1:69, 71, 77; 19:9, and comments). Luke’s concern for the universal application of the gospel finds support in the words “in the sight of all people” (v. 31). Verse 31 echoes Isaiah 52:10 and Psalm 98:3.
The parallel structure in v. 32 may involve a detailed contrast as well as a larger one. That is, not only are Gentiles and Jews put in contrast, but also the same light (Isa 49:6) that brings “revelation” to pagans (cf. 1:78–79) brings “glory” to Israel (cf. 1:77). Note also “all people” (v. 31) and “your people” (v. 32; cf. comments on 1:77).[2]
2:30–31 / For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people: Isa. 40:5 (see Luke 3:6); 52:10. Luke’s word for “salvation” (sōtērion) is relatively rare in the nt, with three of its four occurrences in Luke–Acts. Tannehill (pp. 40–42) notes that Luke borrowed it from the lxx (as seen in the evangelist’s citation of Isa. 40:5) and probably wanted the reader to understand that Simeon was one of the first to see God’s salvation, a salvation which, thanks to the apostolic mission, the whole Roman Empire would eventually see.
2:32 / a light for revelation to the Gentiles: Isa. 42:6; 49:6; 60:1. Isa. 49:6 will be quoted later in Acts 13:47; 26:23.
and for glory to your people Israel: lxx Isa. 46:13.[3]
2:30my eyes have seen your salvation. Simeon echoes the Old Testament hope of “seeing” God’s salvation (Isa. 52:10; cf. Ps. 98:2), but now it is not in the future but rather in the present. The fact that God’s salvation is “seen” in a six-week-old baby born to parents who cannot even afford the regular sacrifice underlines the note of glorious paradox that runs through these first two chapters.
2:31–32in the sight of all nations … revelation to the Gentiles. The inclusion of all nations in God’s purpose of blessing for Israel was declared as early as the call of Abraham (Gen. 12:3). Here there is a clear echo especially of the role of God’s “servant” in Isaiah 49:6 (cf. 42:6), who, in addition to restoring Israel, will be “a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Luke’s two-volume work will show how this prophetic vision began to be realized, in fulfillment of the apostolic commission in Acts 1:8.[4]
30. For my eyes have seen. This mode of expression is very common in Scripture; but Simeon appears to denote expressly the bodily appearance of Christ, as if he had said, that he now has the Son of God present in the flesh, on whom the eyes of his mind had been previously fixed. By saving I understand the matter of salvation: for in Christ are hid all the parts of salvation and of a happy life. Now if the sight of Christ, while he was yet a child, had so powerful an effect on Simeon, that he approached death with cheerfulness and composure; how much more abundant materials of lasting peace are now furnished to us, who have the opportunity of beholding our salvation altogether completed in Christ? True, Christ no longer dwells on earth, nor do we carry him in our arms: but his divine majesty shines openly and brightly in the gospel, and there do “we all,” as Paul says, “behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord,”—not as formerly amidst the weakness of flesh, but in the glorious power of the Spirit, which he displayed in his miracles, in the sacrifice of his death, and in his resurrection. In a word, his absence from us in body is of such a nature, that we are permitted to behold him sitting at the right hand of the Father. If such a sight does not bring peace to our minds, and make us go cheerfully to death, we are highly ungrateful to God, and hold the honour, which he has bestowed upon us, in little estimation.
31. Which thou hast prepared. By these words Simeon intimates, that Christ had been divinely appointed, that all nations might enjoy his grace; and that he would shortly afterwards be placed in an elevated situation, and would draw upon him the eyes of all. Under this term he includes all the predictions which relate to the spread of Christ’s kingdom. But if Simeon, when holding a little child in his arms, could stretch his mind to the utmost boundaries of the world, and acknowledge the power of Christ to be everywhere present, how much more magnificent ought our conceptions regarding him to be, now that he has been set up as a “standard to the people,” (Isa. 49:22,) and has revealed himself to the whole world.
32. A light for the revelation of the Gentiles. Simeon now points out the purpose for which Christ was to be exhibited by the Father before all nations. It was that he might enlighten the Gentiles, who had been formerly in darkness, and might be the glory of his people Israel. There is propriety in the distinction here made between the people Israel and the Gentiles: for by the right of adoption the children of Abraham “were nigh” (Eph. 2:17) to God, while the Gentiles, with whom God had made no “covenants of promise,” were “strangers” to the Church, (Eph. 2:12.) For this reason, Israel is called, in other passages, not only the son of God, but his first-born, (Jer. 31:9;) and Paul informs us, that “Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers,” (Rom. 15:8.) The preference given to Israel above the Gentiles is, that all without distinction may obtain salvation in Christ.
A light for revelation means for enlightening the Gentiles. Hence we infer, that men are by nature destitute of light, till Christ, “the Sun of Righteousness,” (Mal. 4:2,) shine upon them. With regard to Israel, though God had bestowed upon him distinguished honour, yet all his glory rests on this single article, that a Redeemer had been promised to him.[5]
2:30 This emphasis on seeing God’s salvation may come from OT prophecy (cf. Isa. 52:10) or reflect the same message.
In these opening chapters of Luke the term “salvation” has two connotations:
1. In the OT texts quoted it refers to the physical deliverance of Israel.
2. In light of the gospel it refers to spiritual salvation, which is brought through faith in Jesus’ person and work.
In the OT, Israel is saved from the nations, but now Israel’s Messiah will save the nations!
2:31–32 “all peoples … light … Gentiles” This is the universal gospel, which must have been very shocking to the Jews (I wonder if Simeon fully understood these prophecies in light of Christ), but was thrilling to be heard by Luke’s Gentile readers (cf. Isa. 9:2; 42:6; 49:6; 51:4; 60:1–3). This phrase could mean “in the presence of the Gentiles” (cf. Ps. 98:1–3; Isa. 52:1–10); however, this does not fit the context. It is amazing how many allusions there are to Isaiah’s prophecies in the first two chapters of Luke. Isaiah, of all the prophets, saw this universal salvation.[6]
[1] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2009). Luke 1–5 (pp. 180–182). Moody Publishers.
[2] Liefeld, W. L., & Pao, D. W. (2007). Luke. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Luke–Acts (Revised Edition) (Vol. 10, p. 83). Zondervan.
[3] Evans, C. A. (1990). Luke (p. 45). Baker Books.
[4] France, R. T. (2013). Luke (M. L. Strauss & J. H. Walton, Eds.; p. 40). Baker Books.
Israel declares Hamas’ defeat in Khan Yunis. Mothers of IDF soldiers protest President Bidens policies and Israeli military experts assess what’s next in the war. Plus, rabbis and Christian leaders raise bi-partisan support for Israel at Congress.
“Popular sites like Sports Illustrated, Buzzfeed, CNET, and Gannett have all been caught using AI in recent months. The Associated Press admits it uses AI to generate some stories, but it at least lets readers know that AI was used to assist in creating the content.”
(Paula Bolyard – PJ Media) “Is it live or is it Memorex?” was an advertising slogan for a line of cassette tapes in the 1970s and ’80s, the idea being that the quality of Memorex was so good that users couldn’t distinguish taped material from live.
We should all now be asking a similar question about the news media: “Is it real, or is it artificial intelligence?”
According to The Verge:
… 90 percent of newsrooms are already using some form of AI in news production, 80 percent in news distribution, and 75 percent in news gathering. News gathering tasks include automated transcription and translation, extracting text from images, and scraping the web or using automated summarization tools. News production could include translating articles into other languages, proofreading, writing headlines, orwriting full articles. Distribution includes using AI-driven search engine optimization as well as things like tailoring content to a specific audience. [Emphasis added] View article →
(Mark Tapscott – PJ Media) Mark Twain famously said that a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth even starts putting on its shoes. Here is Exhibit A in contemporary proof of the most famous American writer’s maxim.
Indeed, these are numbers that any president running for re-election should be proud of and celebrate daily. However, when economists dig deeper into the non-farm payrolls report, conditions are different.
“Popular sites like Sports Illustrated, Buzzfeed, CNET, and Gannett have all been caught using AI in recent months. The Associated Press admits it uses AI to generate some stories, but it at least lets readers know that AI was used to assist in creating the content.”
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