I Still Have To Live (Right?)

So all Israel was listed in the genealogical records in The Book of the Kings of Israel. The people of Judah were exiled to Babylon because they were unfaithful to the LORD. [1 Chronicles 9.1] 

No matter how distracted we may get with the details of the Old Testament, we cannot underestimate the significance of what is said in 1 Chronicles 9.1. God wants a faithful people and, His people who were not faithful suffered over and again for their unfaithfulness.

The first three of the Ten Commandments reveal what faithfulness looks like. Faithfulness is strictly and unmistakably God-centric:

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. “You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name. [Exodus 20.2-7]

Unfaithfulness, on the other hand, is not strictly God-centric but is instead centered around any number of things starting with "self." The way of unfaithfulness is self-centric.

A God-centric life revolves around God and a self-centric life revolves around itself. While a self-centric life may indeed make allowance for God, in contrast, a God-centric life makes no allowance whatsoever for self.

As should be expected, Jesus told us and showed us what a God-centric life looks like:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]

While we sincerely want to believe that "Jesus paid it all" by His being faithful on our behalf, we relieve ourselves of our responsibility to "give up our own way" in order to enjoy what He did for us. In assumed god-like authority, we selfishly defend our non-compliance declaring, "I still have to live" (as if we have higher priority than Jesus). Jesus however, was not vague about the requirement to give up your own way and refuted any notion of the statement, "I still have to live" with His demand (not suggestion) to take up your cross. 

Like His Father God in the first three of the Ten Commandments, Jesus demands all-or-nothing faithfulness to Himself: you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.

What's amazing is that in our "I still have to live" rebellion, we wonder why we experience all manner of curses for disobedience! All the while, the Bible repeats over and again that God's people suffered for their disobedience - specifically, their idolatry - their unfaithfulness to God and God ALONE. All the while, we maintain a firm grip on our man-made idols... because we "still have to live" ...and wonder why we still suffer.

Father, everything in my mind and intellect wants to find a work-around to Jesus' demand in Matthew 16.24. I know there are literally millions of books, doctrines, and theologies out there that allow a reasonable "work-around"  excusing our "I still have to live" reasoning, but I don't find any of those work-around's firmly rooted in Your Word. Your Commandments and Jesus are both very clear about my undivided faithfulness to You. May I be found giving up my own way, taking up my cross, and following Jesus. So be it.

Blasphemy - What Most Christians Don't Want To Hear

“But our ancestors were proud and stubborn, and they paid no attention to your commands. They refused to obey and did not remember the miracles you had done for them. Instead, they became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon them, even when they made an idol shaped like a calf and said, ‘This is your god who brought you out of Egypt!’ They committed terrible blasphemies. [Nehemiah 9.16-18] 

In this section of Nehemiah, a backstory of God's people is given. This backstory is actually included in a prayer following three hours of God's Word being read to the people followed by three hours of confession of sins and worship of God. The text indicates the people stood this entire time.

I discovered information today contained within the text of Nehemiah 9.16-18 that provides a huge revelation in regard to understanding "blasphemy."

...even when they made an idol shaped like a calf and said, ‘This is your god who brought you out of Egypt!’ They committed terrible blasphemies. [Nehemiah 9.18]

It was blasphemy to attribute "God-accomplishments" (Israel's miraculous deliverance from Egypt) to the calf idol Israel made.

How does this relate to us today? Most Christians, including myself, don't want to hear the answer... But. let's explore the facts anyway...

Man made the industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology just like Aaron made the gold calf. Man has increasingly grown to trust and rely on these industries for the benefits they provide - benefits God said He would provide... 

There is no irony whatsoever that while Israel was making their calf idol, Moses was on Mt Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments from God. 

THINK! There is a very good reason the 3rd commandment follows the 2nd Commandment! In His infinite wisdom, God gave the 1st Commandment to establish that He ALONE is God. From there, God knew that when man failed the 1st Commandment, he would begin to manufacture idols thus, God gave the 2nd Commandment. Then, knowing the way it would go, God gave the 3rd Commandment because He knew that man would then attempt to justify his idols by claiming they are gods, or worse, claiming that they are the works of God (in misuse of God's name), when in fact, they are purely the works of man.

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. “You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name. [Exodus 20.2-7]

"God's people" today vehemently defend man's idol industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology (just to name the most obvious ones) in pure blasphemy. It is stubborn and rebellious violation of the 3rd Commandment.

It is blasphemy when man claims that his man-made industries are God's way to provide him with benefits.

Here is an excellent question: when have you ever heard one of man's major idol industries declare that they are a gift from God? Or, how about this: when have you ever heard one of man's idol industries give glory to God? In fact, it is only God's people who make these silly blasphemous claims!

The reality in all of this is that, in God's people's vehement and blasphemous insistence that their idols are not idols, God's miraculous blessings are withheld (as the 2nd Commandment warns) and they perceive and therefore justify that they need their idols only that much more.

No amount of "faith teaching" can overcome the curses for idolatry because faith in God will not fight against faith in idols. Jesus revealed this universal principle:

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. [Matthew 12.25-30]

What's more, in Matthew chapter 12, Jesus addressed blasphemy against the Spirit of God which, in context, was the religious people's claim that the power of the Holy Spirit seen in Jesus' works were instead the works of Satan. The principle Jesus taught was that faith in God cannot share space with faith in Satan and neither can faith in Satan share space with faith in God.

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. [Matthew 12.33]

And, speaking of "fruit" how can God's people even begin to attribute the benefits of man's industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology to God and His power when, in their public advertisements, they all openly depict homosexuality, transgenderism, and the likes (that God detests) as normal behavior? 

God NEVER suggested or even hinted that man should look anywhere but to Him ALONE for provision, protection, health, or knowledge. But, in man's impatient and insatiable appetite for self-preservation, he created his own gods to provide benefits for himself and then, in the same guilt Adam and Eve revealed in the Garden of Eden, God's people blasphemously justify "covering themselves."

For the record, every mention of God's people here is a mention of me. I find myself waiting on a wave of God's people to see the truth of God's Word ridding themselves of their idols before I "jump in" myself... What I really need to be doing is reconciling with Jesus:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]

Father, once again, I find myself at an impasse with myself as Your Word reveals my true self. Your Word could not be more clear - You detest idols - You detest Your people trusting in anything to any degree instead of or in addition to You. You detest and strictly forbid Your people claiming that our man-made idol industries have anything whatsoever to do with You. Jesus was just as clear in demanding that I give up my own way, take up my cross, and follow Him. May I be found following Jesus even if I am found alone so doing. May I be found methodically giving up every idol that I have intentionally or unintentionally become beholding to. So be it.

God's Word Changes Things

Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were interpreting for the people said to them, “Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the LORD your God.” For the people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!” [Nehemiah 8.9-10] 

God's Word changes things. Two things are made clear about God's Word here: 1) it brings remorse, and 2) it brings rejoicing.

From the context however, it seems that remorse was a natural emotion to God's Law, while rejoicing was a choice.

If we back up, we see something else about in regard to the Law of God that carries great significance. 

Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform that had been made for the occasion. To his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah. To his left stood Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. Ezra stood on the platform in full view of all the people. When they saw him open the book, they all rose to their feet. [Nehemiah 8.4-5]

We have no indication that the people were told to stand, but that it was a voluntary action of honor. 

And then, something else occurred resultant to the Law being read to the people:

Then Ezra praised the LORD, the great God, and all the people chanted, “Amen! Amen!” as they lifted their hands. Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. [Nehemiah 8.6] 

After reading the Law, Ezra praised God, the people chanted, "Amen!" with raised hands and then they bowed down and worshiped God with their faces to the ground. Oh, and it was men, women, and children old enough to understand.

We would be amiss however to fail to see how it all started:

In October, when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled with a unified purpose at the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had given for Israel to obey. [Nehemiah 8.1]

The people asked Ezra to read the Law of God to them.

Here would be a good place to stop and read all of Psalm 119. Psalm 119 is all about God's Law - His Commandments - His Word. Psalm 119 reveals a deep desire for God's Law that is sadly all but completely absent in "God's people" today.

The thing is, without this deep desire for God's Word, everything else that took place was just protocol - lifeless liturgy. 

I am going to share my experience with God's Word here because it is relevant to this topic. 

In the year 2006, I began a practice that I had little idea would affect my life as much as it has. Although I had some experience trying to read the Bible through before that time, I had never had any measurable success at it. No matter how zealously I started, it typically fizzled. In mid-2006, I began to make myself write something in response to my daily reading.

Words fail to accurately describe what transpired from 2006 to the present 2026, but try to imagine something unexpected taking place. From the beginning of my somewhat forced "liturgical" practice of reading and writing until now, I have witnessed a change in my understanding of God and His Word; I have witnessed a growing desire for God's Word. I would say I am developing a deep desire for God's Word! My day starts with a welcome anticipation of God's Word - I honestly look forward to it.

Today marks my #6,901 writing in response to God's Word! And, since January of 2015 until today, I have not missed a single day of reading the Word of God and writing a response. I am not proudly reveling in this fact, but instead, humbly rejoicing in it because "I know me"! I know the early struggles to make myself read and force myself to write something. I know what it is like to read Psalm 119 and absolutely not "get it" and now I know what it is to read Psalm 119 and feel like I could have written it myself! SOMETHING HAS CHANGED!

My testimony here is not that I now understand all there is to know about God's Word. Far from it!! In fact, the more I learn of God's Word - His Law - the more I realize how little I actually know it - BUT I KNOW FOR SURE NOW HOW MUCH I WANT TO UNDERSTAND! I see no end to this growth in my life - I only hope to share it.

Based on what is found in Nehemiah, it would seem there is indeed at least some protocol surrounding God's Law - His Word. Do we trust God enough to embrace His Word until it changes us - until it transports us from remorse to rejoicing? The alternative is to embrace the world and its ways.

Unironically, Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God, addressed this very subject:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24] 

To embrace God's Word, Jesus, is to embrace God. He indeed changes things! To embrace the world and its ways is idolatry - but one will never recognize this fact until he or she "sees God" like the people that Ezra read the Law to...

Father, Your Word has drawn me - causing me to see Jesus as never before. Your Word has caused a hunger and thirst in me for more. May I be found giving up my own way every day, taking up my cross every day, and following Jesus every day. May my testimony here inspire others to do the same. So be it.

 

My Opinion Doesn't Matter

Then I prayed, “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.” [Nehemiah 4.4-5] 

God has enemies. It is only right that we, as God's people, would have the same enemies as Him.

Blessings belong to those who are friends of God - who do His will - obeying Him.

Curses belong to those who are enemies of God - who disobey Him.

What right does a friend of God have to bless an enemy of God?

Somehow we must reconcile all of this information with what Jesus said:

“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you. “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return. “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. [Luke 6.27-36]

Why then, did Jesus drive the merchants out of the Temple in a great display of anger? 

When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” [Mark 11.15-17]

So, back to Luke 6... How could compassionate Father God ultimately send people to hell? 

“But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” [Revelation 21.8]

If we are to be compassionate like our Father Who banishes people to hell, what does that mean in real life? What does that even look like?

Just this week, I filed charges against a construction company who, against city ordinance, began to pour concrete next to my house at 2:30 AM in the morning. Was I right in doing that, or wrong?

According to what Jesus said in Luke 6.27-36, I was wrong. But, if my compassionate Father sends people to hell, did I do wrong just to demand accountability by pressing charges?

Oh, and how do I interpret Jesus' instructions in Luke 6.27-36, when He addressed the religious leaders as follows?

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? [Matthew 3.7]

Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. [Matthew 12.34] 

Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? [Matthew 23.33] 

Is not Jesus our great example?

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. [John 14.12]

Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” [John 20.21-23] 

It would seem we are at an impasse with this situation... The impasse however is not with God (or Jesus), but with ourselves. They both do what they do. The impasse is with myself - my own way of doing things. Do I insist on an explanation for everything, or do I follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit in every situation in life? Do I demand an explanation of Divine God to satisfy my own mind? Jesus said it like this:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24] 

It is not up to me to reconcile my compassionate Father with Jesus' calling names or violently turning over tables... It is up to me to be led by His Holy Spirit to do His will in every situation. Period. It is up to God what that will look like. The same Jesus Who called names and turned over tables, gave up His life on a cross - all at the leading of the Holy Spirit. Who am I so say it is one way or the other? It is up to me to simply follow Jesus. I have the same Holy Spirit.

Father, help me to accept that my opinion doesn't matter. Help me to accept that Your will is all that matters. Help me to understand that You are at once fierce and dreadful to Your enemies, and then at another time compassionate. Help me to see that the decision is never mine, but always Yours. May I be found having given up my own way, taking up my cross, and following Jesus... So be it.

Rogue Faith Must End In Divorce

When these things had been done, the Jewish leaders came to me and said, “Many of the people of Israel, and even some of the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the other peoples living in the land. They have taken up the detestable practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. For the men of Israel have married women from these people and have taken them as wives for their sons. So the holy race has become polluted by these mixed marriages. Worse yet, the leaders and officials have led the way in this outrage.” [Ezra 9.1-2] 

Then Ezra the priest stood and said to them: “You have committed a terrible sin. By marrying pagan women, you have increased Israel’s guilt. So now confess your sin to the LORD, the God of your ancestors, and do what he demands. Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from these pagan women.” [Ezra 10.10-11]

In 2017 I wrote the article We Must Divorce The World. Since that time, and having remained faithful to read and meditate on God's whole Word every day, my understanding of Ezra's 9th chapter has only become more congealed. 

The course of action Ezra led God's people to in Ezra 9-10 is indeed the course of action necessary for God's people to take today. The problem then and the problem now are one and the same: idolatry.

Ezra's reference to the detestable practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites is summed up in the word idolatry. These people groups were all well-known and well-documented in the Bible for their gross idolatry. Instead of trusting in and relying only on the LORD God, they were beholding to a plethora of idols. And from that base of idolatry, all manner of detestable practices was the norm. For this reason, God's people were strictly forbidden from intermingling with the idolatrous Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.

The reason God prohibited comingling with idolatry and idolatrous people is because it renders the faith of the comingling offender ineffective. It did then, and it does now. Faith in anything other than, or even in addition to, God is "rogue faith" finding its basis in the reasoning of man. This rogue faith was first identified in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve, at the behest of Satan, believed a "reasonable" assumption about God over what God had specifically said. 

Rogue faith sounds good and makes perfect human sense - however, it disregards God's Word thus removing itself from God's protective and abundant blessings (see Deuteronomy 28) thereby earning curses instead. In this condition, the idolater must rely on his own ways and means (his man-made idols) for blessings otherwise provided miraculously by God.

Rogue faith is exactly what Jesus prohibited (as should be expected from the Son of God) in His version of the first three Commandments:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24] 

Rogue faith believes that man's industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology are allowed by God. So perverse has this idolatry become that God's own people have even come to believe that these idol industries are gifts from God! IT'S NO WONDER GOD'S MIRACULOUS POWER IS GLARINGLY ABSENT FROM THE MODERN CHURCH! 

It is also unsurprising that the abovementioned man-made idol industries all promote perverse activities strictly forbidden in the Bible that are undeniably traceable to idolatry. Hardly a commercial advertisement of these man-made industries does not depict some form of perversion. And yet, God's people sign right up for the goods and services of these industries thinking nothing of paying for interest, premiums, prescriptions, and gadgetry that unashamedly have "nasty" written all over them. 

Again, it is rogue faith that believes God uses these industries and, is in violation of the first three Commandments: #1) Only God, #2) No idols, and #3) Don't confuse the two (misusing God's name).

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. “You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name. [Exodus 20.2-7]

I am not presenting new theology here. I am simply uncovering the truth that has always existed in the pages of the Bible but has been masked by centuries of growing unchecked idolatry. "Divorce" is in store for God's people (if they are indeed God's people) to rid themselves of the idols they have adulterously become a common-law spouse to. Jesus is returning for a spotless bride (Ephesians 5.27) - not one in bed with every idol known to man.

Father, "divorce" is a hard word. And yet, after years of living in rogue faith sin with man-made idols, it is the only solution. How will we survive without our idols? We will survive trusting only in You through Your Son, Jesus Christ giving up our own way, taking up our cross, and following Him! May we be found so doing!

Christians, Have We No Shame?

This is a re-post of Have We No Shame? (A Letter To The Church) from this date in 2024.

And there by the Ahava Canal, I gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before our God. We prayed that he would give us a safe journey and protect us, our children, and our goods as we traveled. For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, “Our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him.” So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer. [Ezra 8.21-23]

Dear Christians,

May all praise be to God Who has promised to protect and keep those who worship Him, those He cares for as a father identifies and cares for his children.

In light of Ezra 8.21-23, have we no shame in proclaiming God is our one and only provider, protector and peace while giving ourselves to the world's idols of debt, insurance, medicine and technology? Should we not fast and pray trusting in God alone for all the provisions He has so generously promised in His Word? Should we not repent and turn from these idols?

Brother and sisters, should we not see and understand that all the curses we remedy with debt, insurance, medicine and technology are identified in His Word as the expression of God's fierce anger against rebellion and disobedience? Again, should we not correctly repent instead of adding to our sin by turning to idols despising the name of our God: God Our Provider, God Our Protector, God Our Peace?

Should we not deny the world any claim to our sustenance strictly reserving ourselves for the One True God to Whom we belong and Who compels us to worship Him singularly?

Let us humbly acknowledge our adultery against God: our polytheistic trust in and reliance upon the world's idols. May we be found repentant for our idolatry, repentant for our faithlessness, repentant for our hypocrisy before all who are watching, including our Heavenly Father.

Let our prayer rise up to God in humble sincerity:

Father in heaven, forgive us for our adulterous and idolatrous ways. Forgive us for our shameful testimony claiming Your protection and provision with our mouths while fully engaging the world's idols with our actions and our money. May those who truly trust in You heretofore be set apart, sanctified, from the world and its ways. May Your glory be seen in and upon us, not in the shallowness of our words, but in the fathomless depths of Your miraculous provision for us. God help us. So be it.

God's People By Choice

In every province and city, wherever the king’s decree arrived, the Jews rejoiced and had a great celebration and declared a public festival and holiday. And many of the people of the land became Jews themselves, for they feared what the Jews might do to them. [Esther 8.17] 

Wait a minute... people who were not Jewish became Jews by choice?

What is revealed in Esther 8.17 supports the fact that "Israel" in the Bible, while certainly identifying the lineage of Jacob and his twelve sons, also identifies people who were not of Jacob's lineage but became "Jews" by choosing to serve the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - living their lives God's way.

The Apostle Paul actually cleared this up:

For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. [Ephesians 2.14]

What is revealed here is that being a Jew by lineage was not differentiated from being a Jew by choice because the whole point of being a Jew was about being God's people - not about lineage. Yes, lineage was important for the sake of prophecy in providing a clear line to Messiah, but then, Jesus came to earth. In other words, "God's people" were identified as "Jews" up until Jesus came, and then, after his Advent, "God's people" were identified as "Christ-followers."

The New Testament records this transition from Jews as God's people to Christ-followers as God's people in great detail. It was indeed a difficult transition and, for many, it still has not taken place. People, by and large, have not accepted Jesus as the only way to God... even though Jesus said:

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. [John 14.12]

In his letter to believers in Galatia, Paul confirmed this: 

Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” [Galatians 2.16] 

Yes, the way to God - being "God's people" - for a time required strict human adherence to the rules and rituals associated with being "God's people" (whether they were Jewish by birth or Jewish by choice as seen in Esther 8.17). However, after Jesus died on the Cross, effectively completing the purpose of all those rules and rituals, strict human adherence to Him became what is required to be "God's people."

Jesus said it like this:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24] 

Strict human adherence to rules and rituals, even though demanded by God at first, and for centuries, eventually became "man's way" to God. For all who can see it, the rules and rituals were necessary in order to give contrast between man's strict adherence to rules and rituals (that he failed miserably at), or man's strict adherence to Jesus Christ, entirely giving up his own way and depending only upon Jesus' work on the Cross. 

Both before and after Jesus' Advent, man's greatest struggle has always been, idolatry: adhering to (trusting in) anything other than, or in addition to, God. God sternly warned of it in the 1st and 2nd Commandments, and Jesus, accordingly, sternly warned of it in Matthew 16.24.

It amazes me how much fuss is made today over being a Jew - almost as if it is a huge distraction - when the only and most important thing on earth is to be "God's people." We hear national leaders and people alike crying out "I stand with Israel!" not realizing that "Israel" was and is God's way, from ancient times, to identify "His people." To stand with Israel is to stand with "God's people" who are distinctly "God's people" by the Way of following Christ.

I do not deny the obvious and clear revelations and manifestations regarding the modern-day nation of Israel. I am suggesting however that "Israel" means more than just a geographic location and people group as Paul wrote in Ephesians 2.14. While, what happens in and to Israel today indeed may have Biblical significance, it very much has symbolic significance to "God's people" the world over. As the Book of Revelation reveals, every living soul who has, or ever will live, will be determined as "God's people" ONLY by Jesus Christ. 

I believe much of the confusion about God's people and end times today comes from insistence on differentiating between Israelite and non-Israelite... "God's people" are all "God's people" and there is only ONE way to be "God's people": strict adherence to (faith in) Jesus Christ. That decision to follow Christ, foretold by the decision to become Jews by those who were not in Esther 8.17, is the ONLY Way to God. Anything else man turns to is an idol.

Father, help us to process and accept what the Bible actually says in spite of popular opinion. And, while many may choose to argue about my thoughts here, may they, more importantly, give up their own way, take up their cross, and follow Jesus. He is the ONLY Way to You, Holy Father, regardless of nationality... So be it.