The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Pamphlet #4491

John 10:22  And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
23  And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.
24  Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
25  Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.
26  But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
My highlighted verses:John 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand
29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
30  I and my Father are one.
29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
30  I and my Father are one.
31  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32  Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
John 10:33  The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
34  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
35  If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36  Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
37  If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
38  But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

[23] And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.
Knowing that we have just been given the time of the year, then why do suppose Jesus walked in the temple to Solomon's porch? Of course there was a reason, or it wouldn't be given to us. There is a purpose and lesson to be learned from each and every action of the Messiah.

Jesus walked there in order to have the following conversation with those who had worked their way into the temple and were now in charge. Remember we discussed the Nethinim in our last study and how Christ said that the scribes and Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses? It was Solomon who built the temple and who first brought those non-Israelite temple workers, the Nethinims, into God's House. You can look up the definition of "Nethinim" in your Strong's Concordance, but here's a few excerpt's from The Dictionary of the Bible, by John D. Davis.

Nethinim, in A.V. Nethinims [given].

Temple servants or slaves given by David and the princes for the service of the Levites (Ezra 8:20). Prior to their appointment, similar functions seem to have been discharged by the Midianites, whom Moses gave over to the Levites (Num. 31:47), and at a subsequent period by the Gibeonites, whom Joshua assigned as hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of God (Josh. 9:23). Even after the Nethinim were associated with them or superceded them, the number of the Nethinim may have been too small for the elaborate temple services instituted by David's son and successor, and been increased; for we find in the books of Ezra (2:55-58) and Nehemiah (7:57-60) the children of Solomon's servants, i.e. slaves, mentioned after and numbered with the Nethinim.  Although they were organized by David, it was probably under a different name; for the word Nethinim occurs only in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, with a solitary passage in 1 Chron. 9:2. They discharged the more menial duties required by the temple worship. Of the Nethinim and the children of Solomon's servants, 392 returned from captivity with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:58; Neh. 7:60), and 220 more with Ezra (Ezra 8:17-20).
[Now pay close attention to next two sections.]
The Nethinim seem to have been naturalized foreigners rather than people of true Israelite descent (1 Chron. 9:2. Ezra 2:59; Neh. 7:61), and several of the names on the list of their leading men have a foreign aspect (Ezra 2:43-54; Neh. 7:46-56)...

The children of Tabbaoth and Keros, and of Solomon's servants the children of Sophereth (Ezra 2:43,44,55), which mean the children of rings, of the weaver's comb, and of the scribal office, apparently denote the official duties in the temple which the men of these classes discharged.

[That's correct. Foreigners, i.e. kenites, became the scribes for the lazy Levites. It would be these scribes that would work their way "up the ladder", so to speak, and eventually sit in the seat of Moses by the time Christ arrived at His first advent.]
Some of them lived on Ophel, a southern prolongation of the temple hill...
[The tower of Ophel, where these kenites lived, was above the conduit through which the water from the Virgin Fountain flowed into the Pool of Siloam. So even though these false shepherds of the sons of Cain were in charge of the temple, the Living Water flowed right beneath them. Talk about symbolic?]
Holding an official position at the temple, although the office was menial, they were exempt from imperial taxation (Ezra 7:24).
[Now there's a surprise! Kenites avoiding taxes! Just shows there is nothing new under the sun.]
They seem to have adopted with some cordiality the covenant made at the instance of Nehemiah to worship Jehovah (Neh. 10:28,29).
Yes, they embraced the covenant so cordially! Bah humbug! They embrace only the gods of money, power and ego! But at least now you should have a little better understanding of the mixing in of the kenites into the temple and their claim to be of the tribe of Judah. And yet the major portion of these "foreigners", i.e. kenites, would later in history be mixed in with Judah. That occurred around 650-750 A.D. Read the article in the Encyclopedia Britannica (preferably an older version) about the "Khazars". Here is one paragraph:
"Khazar civilization shows a fairly complex texture and their religious life raises more than one problem. Christianity, Islam, Judaism and some sort of "pagan" worship are all attested by sources. About 740 the Khazar ruler - and probably the greater part of the ruling classes - were converted to Judaism. The circumstances of their conversion remain obscure, the depth of the Jewish layer difficult to assess; the fact itself is, however, undisputed and unparalled in the history of central Eurasia."
You should also look up the meaning of the word "Khazar". You see, it was not Christ's sheep from His sheepfold (which included Judah) that crucified Him. It was those robbers and murderers who had entered in another way. Of course Judah has been blamed for it.

So let's now return to Solomon's porch during the celebration of Hannakah and see what the imposters, those who claim to be of Israel, but are not, yet who are in charge of the temple have to say to the Messiah.

John 10:24
Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
Again, as we have noted in past studies, the Greek word Ioudous, translated "Jews", means either a person of the tribe of Judah or a resident of Judea, which was also where the Nethimin lived.

They want Jesus to just say, "I am the Messiah", and yet these thieving, murderous, rogue shepherds have already seen the miracles Jesus has performed, and Jesus already said several times, I AM, but they didn't "hear" Him.

[25] Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.
There is a reason they did not believe.
[26] But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
They were not children of Abraham. Remember, they were FOREIGNERS claiming to be descendents of Abraham. Worse yet, they were not only liars (Rev. 2:9; 3:9) but they were direct descendents of their father Cain, whose father was Satan himself. Remember Christ told them just that in John 8:44 - 47? They were not of God. They were of Satan, the devil.
John 10:27
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Had the scribes and Pharisees been who they claimed to be, they would have followed Christ. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea were who they claimed to be, and they did follow Him, didn't they?

One more verse:

[28] And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
He meant every word of John 3:16. And when you are of the sheepfold of the True Shepherd, no little goat herder can close your eyes and lead you blindly off into some other sheepcote!

The Jews had encircled Jesus (vs. 24) and demanded that He say the words, "I am the Christ". However, Jesus already told them that, but they didn't believe Him, even in light of all the works and miracles He performed that could obviously ONLY be from the Father. And He also told them the reason they didn't believe Him is that they were NOT His sheep.

Jesus then told the Jews that He gives eternal life to His sheep who know and hear His voice and that they shall never perish. Furthermore, He made it quite clear that no one can undo that which He does nor take away anything or anyone from His hand (vs. 28).

And the reason they couldn't take anyone from His hand is because God Almighty, His Father, the most powerful One in the universe, gave them to Him, and NO ONE takes anything out of the Father's hand, least of all some puny man.

John 10:29
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
There is much comfort in this verse. You see, once you are in His sheepfold you cannot be stolen or plucked out. Jesus Christ will not permit it. As it is written concerning these last days, no one can touch you if you have the seal of God, His Word, locked in your forehead (Rev. 9:4). So with that kind of security and guarantee why would anyone need to fly away in the Rapturemobile? As Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 6, we are to put on the Gospel Armor and take a stand, not run or fly away!
John 10:30
I and my Father are one.
The strength of the Almighty is with Christ. Verse 38 will explain.
[31] Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Uh oh! Now they are really "ticked off". Jesus has made Himself at one with the Father. Time to do the mature, adult, religious thing. Pick up stones and throw them.

But wait just minute! Jesus has a little question for ya'll!

[32] Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
This question is so perfect as it will cause these hypocrites to admit they ARE NOT stoning Him because of His "good" works. This will put them in a difficult position because you see, this subject of works and miracles will come up again as soon as they are once again put to shame for not knowing the scriptures they claim to know and teach! Here is their answer:
[33] The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
There was no doubt in their minds that He was making Himself equal with God.

OK fellas, it is once again time for your Bible lesson.

John 10:34
Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Have you ever noticed how Jesus always prefaced His answers to the scribes and Pharisees with, "It is written", or "Is it not written?", or "Haven't you read?" They claimed to be knowledgeable shepherds, trustees of the Laws of God, you know? What better way to convict them than by (1) scriptural documentation and (2) common sense reasoning!

So Jesus quoted Psalms 82:6 to them.

Psalm 82:6
I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
And now the perfect explanation by the Messiah, to which these goons have no "come back", no intelligent rebuttal, because the point is so well made.
John 10:35
If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
If those to whom the Word of God came were called gods, i.e. elohim or sons of God (the Hebrew word for children in Ps. 82:6 is "ben", which means "son of") and the scripture cannot be broken;
[36] Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
Then how can you say that the One whom the Father has sanctified, and sent into the world, and given such credentials to through mighty "good" works, is a blasphemer? Hmmm?

Like I said, there is no logical nor scriptural argument that be made in defense of their stated reason why they were going to stone Him. Therefore:

[37] If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
Back to the subject of works. Christ has totally undermined their "blasphemy" accusation using scripture and common sense and now He tells them if they can prove that the works He did were not good and of God, then they should have cause and justification to not believe in Him.

But who on earth are they going to convince that healing the sick and giving sight to the blind (on their own merits) is a bad thing?

Jesus then says, "Just focus a minute on the works and the miracles! They ought to tell you something, at least that God is present, that the Father is in me and I in Him."

John 10:38
But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
If a person has any spiritual sensibility about them at all then it should be self-evident that the Father was in Him. Never in the history of the world has any man performed such wonders.

Also, notice the further explanation of verse 10, "I and the Father are One", that "The Father is in me, and I in Him."

[39] Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,
Hey, where's the wisdom and rebuttal from the great scripture lawyers, the mouthy Pharisees? They are LOSERS!

And to prove that they are losers, they try to "take" Him again. They tried this before, but it didn't work! Remember, "Now you see Him, now you don't?"

To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits; to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you accomplish both.

This "American Wisdom Series" pamphlet

is.

Published by:

Rhine Publishing Co.
E-mail address:americanwisdomseries@verizon.net

If you would like to have your essay published
as part of the American Wisdom Series
submit your manuscript to Rhine Publishing Co
at the address above for consideration.

Click Here to Return to "The American Wisdom Series" home page.