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Jonathan Cahn’s Inaugural Message to President Joe Biden

 
Jonathan Cahn's Message to Joe Biden

Prolific author, teacher, and Messianic leader Johnathan Cahn has produced a 13-minute video titled A Prophetic Message to Joe Biden. His ministry distributed it on all of the many social media outlets in which they participate, and it was there that I first viewed it. I was mightily impressed and deeply moved.

Unfortunately, it seems that the video’s meteoric rise in popularity would soon be overtaken by its sudden disappearance. Here is what Cahn and his ministry wrote to us about it:

          Immediately after its posting, the video went viral. By the end of the first day, over 600,000 people had seen it. By the middle of the second day, it had surpassed a million views.
          That’s when things got strange. It turned out that “Big Tech” was trying to suppress the video. The only places it remained were on the sites of those who had reposted it in the first 24 hours (most of those sites were small). The video no longer came up in searches. Readers had no way to get to it. It just disappeared and was as if it had never existed.

 
We have no way of knowing if President Biden has viewed this special message, but in my opinion all of those who call upon the name of God as Father and of Christ as Savior will find this video uplifting and inspiring. It comprises a message that is not only timely but also vital for our country.

So, in an effort to make Cahn’s message available in at least one more location, I have provided a link to the video, which may be watched right here in this essay. I have also transcribed the entirety of Cahn’s message, and you may read it here, as well. (See below.)

May God stay with our country, continue to bless it, and send a mighty wave of His Spirit throughout the land to turn the hearts of everyone — most especially our leaders, for whom we pray daily — back to Him.

With special thanks to Jonathan Cahn, whose call for Repentance and Return is one we all should heed, here is his message.


Jonathan Cahn (author of The Harbinger and The Harbinger II)


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Jonathan Cahn Inaugural Message, 2021

Transcription by Grover B. Proctor, Jr. (1 February 2021)

This is Jonathan Cahn.
Two hundred and thirty-two years ago, in the first ever presidential inauguration, the nation’s first President addressed a jubilant multitude, in a nation that was united in shared values and a common hope in America’s future. In that first ever presidential address, George Washington gave the newborn nation a prophetic warning. He said this:
The propitious smiles of heaven cannot be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right that heaven itself has ordained.
In other words, if America followed the ways of God – His eternal rules of order, and right – the blessings of God would remain upon it. But if America should ever depart from the ways of God, then His blessings would be removed from the land.
And now, January 20th, 2021, another presidential inauguration takes place, and the nation’s capital city, named after that first president, has become a military zone. For the first time in American history, a presidential inauguration is devoid of people. Instead of a jubilant crowd, 25,000 American troops stand guard over the National Mall, in which flags stand in for the missing people, and barbed wire surrounds the halls of American government.
There is no war. There is no overt threat from beyond its borders.
Rather, the threat comes from within. Division infects the land, as does a plague that has kept its citizens masked and locked in their houses, as the nation’s functioning has been in large part, paralyzed. For months, America’s cities have seen protests and riots and doors and windows shuttered and buildings set on fire. And the nation’s most revered edifice of government, the Capitol building, taken over by an angry mob with the nation’s leaders fleeing for safety.
And so, the prophetic warning that was given on that day of that first inauguration, the smiles of heaven are being removed from the land. And so, the question must be asked: Have we then disregarded the eternal rules of order and right that heaven has ordained?
America, as did ancient Israel at the height of its prosperity, has turned away from God. We’ve driven Him out of our public squares, out of the schools of our children, out of our culture, out of our lives.
And as did ancient Israel, in place of His absence, we’ve let in other gods and serve them.
We’ve rejected His ways and embraced the ways of immorality. We’ve called evil good and good evil. And as did ancient Israel, we’ve lifted up the most innocent among us, our babies, and shed their blood. Israel sacrificed thousands of its children. We’ve sacrificed millions – 10s of millions – unborn children who are not here this day, this inaugural day, because we took their lives. And their silent screams ascend to heaven, and their blood is on our hands.
We’ve passed down rulings from Washington DC that war against the eternal laws of heaven, on human life, human nature, gender, marriage. We’ve indoctrinated our children against the ways of God. We have done as we were warned not to do, and then we wonder why the blessings of heaven are being removed from our land.
When judgment came to ancient Israel, it manifested in the form of an enemy attack, a strike on the land, a wake-up call. It came to America on September 11th, 2001. And it came to the very place where George Washington stood and prayed on the day of America’s first presidential inauguration.
The biblical template of national judgment then ordains a period of years in which the nation is given the chance to return to God, or else head to judgment. In the case of ancient Jerusalem, that period – from that first enemy strike to the year when the greater shakings began – was 19 years. From the strike on American soil in 2001 to the 19th year brings us to the year 2020, the year when the Great Shakings began.
The danger that this window of time is drawing to an end is now upon us. We stand in a most critical moment.
Mr President, President Biden, you have called for unity and peace. But how can a nation have unity and peace when it wars against the very foundation on which it stands? How could a nation have unity and peace when it has turned against the God who brought it into existence?
And it has turned. The nation that once led its schoolchildren in prayer and taught them of His word now declares such prayers and teachings to be forbidden, and now instructs its children against the ways of God.
How can that nation have unity and peace? How can we have unity and peace in America, if we have no unity and peace with God?
We are a house divided against itself, and a house divided against itself cannot stand.
Mr. President…
How can you place your left hand on the Bible – the word of God – and then with your right hand sign laws into existence that war against His word?
How can you place one hand on the word that ordains human life as sacred, and in the image of God from conception, and then with the other hand sign laws into existence that will promulgate the killing of that human life, of those children?
How can you invoke the name of God in your oath and lay your hand upon His word and then implement laws that will suppress the going forth of His word – that will censor His word and those who advance it?
You plan to enact laws that will disregard the distinction between male and female, man and woman. Did not the warning of our first president involve that very thing – if we disregard the eternal rules of order, that heaven itself has ordained?
You plan to enact laws that will specifically neutralize the protection of religious freedom.
You plan to strike down the Hyde Amendment so that more children will be murdered and those Americans who recognize abortion as murder will be forced to support the act of murder with their taxes.
And you plan to empower the act of killing unborn children, not only within the borders of America, but throughout the world, to the end that yet more rivers of blood will flow.
How does one do such things and name oneself as a believer in God and a follower of Jesus? How does one sign the sign of the cross and then sign decrees that rage against what God has so clearly set forth in His word concerning life and death, holiness and sin, righteousness and immorality, good and evil.
To you, Mr. President, and all who have joined you in this agenda – from the Vice President to the leaders of the Senate and the House and all who sit in halls of power and have embraced this agenda – heed this warning.
This day will pass. The applause of men will fade. This administration will inevitably be over. This world will pass away. But you will stand before God and give account. For it is written in His word that we will each stand before God and give account. And on that day, all the power you once wielded will be gone, and all of the world’s approval and praises will have faded away, and all the fame and glory you receive will amount to nothing.
In the day when the Book of History is closed and the Book of Life is opened, none of that will matter. It will be you and Him And you will be required to give account of what you have done. Did you follow the will and word of God, or did you not? If you pursue these things, then you did not, and the blood of children will be on your hands, and then will come eternal life or eternal judgment.
The voice of God calls out to you and to all to turn and follow Him with all your heart, Who gave all His heart and life that you might be saved.
As for America, the problem is not social or economic or cultural or political. The problem Is ultimately spiritual, and so must be the answer.
America has turned away from God. And its only hope is that it return to God. Choose true greatness and lead in that return, or continue in this departure from God to destruction and judgment.
As for those of you who love this nation and are burdened and fearful for its future, America’s only hope is revival, return. Without it, the nation is lost, and revival only comes through repentance and return.
It’s time to pray as never before that return and revival would come. But it’s time not only to pray for revival, but to choose revival, to choose to live in revival now.
And for that we must each commit to return to God – to put away from our lives that which must be put away – and take up that which must be taken up, and walk in His ways, and live in His spirit, as we have never done before.
For the eyes of the Lord search to and fro, throughout the entire earth, looking for the one whose heart is completely His, to show Himself mighty on their behalf.[2 CHRONICLES 16:9]
Let us be that people and revival will come.
And if the darkness must come, whether by persecution or disorder or disintegration or apostasy, do not fear. For God is still on the throne, and the darkness cannot overcome the light, but only magnify it. And if the darkness should grow darker, then it’s time for the lights of God to shine even brighter.
For it is no longer the time of the candle in the day. It is now time for the candle in the night. We are now the candle in the night that shines against the darkness and lights up the night – the world – with its radiance.
We pray that the civilization that was established and consecrated to be a city on a Hill – America – would once again shine with the light that once illumined it. But whether or not it does, it is time that each of us shine with the light of His glory.
It is time to live unhindered, uncompromised, unbound, bold, and all out on fire, and mighty in the power of the living God.
For thus says the Lord, “Arise and shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Deep darkness shall cover the earth, but the glory of God shall rise upon you.[ISAIAH 60:1-2]
In the name above every name that is named – the name of Yeshua Ha Mashiach, Jesus the Messiah – the way, the truth and the life, the King above all Kings, the Lord of all, the hope of the ages, and the answer to every life, the star of Jacob, the Prince of Life, the glory of Israel, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the name that will remain above all names when all is passed away – Yeshua Jesus – the same yesterday, today and forever! Amen.

FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM, ABOUT, AND BY JONATHAN CAHN,
CLICK ON HOPE OF THE WORLD.

 
 
 
 
 

 

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Let This Be a Day of Prayer and Repentance

 
I am writing this on September 11. I was born exactly 50 years and 11 days before that dreadful day in 2001. This 50-year Jubilee connection is just one of many reasons that 9/11 has especially deep meanings for me.

It has been 18 years since the heart-breaking tragedy, when terrorists attacked our country, killing 3000 people, injuring over 6000, and inflicting massive physical damage.

Those of us old enough will remember watching the television coverage in agonized shock. We were stunned, and later that turned into terrible hurt and anger for all that we had lost. Many of our leaders sought to stand tall and speak bravely in order to console us. A President demonstrated American strength and courage, vowing retribution by assuring the world that “the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!” Nationalist fervor welled up in our leaders, and their continual rallying cry became “We will rebuild!

After 9/11, the churches filled with people needing answers to their own pain and confusion. They prayed for those who had been killed; U.S. flag lapel pins were everywhere; and “God bless America” became a catch-phrase. But it didn’t take long for the church-going trend to wither away, and attendance reverted back to pre-9/11 levels. There was no lasting “great awakening” or quickening of our spiritual fervor. There was no unified plea to God to forgive our national sins and to heal us as a people.

Time passed, and a new wave of leaders emerged. Another President assured us that, to heal our 9/11 wounds and to unify the country, all that was needed were “the smallest acts of service” and “the simplest act of kindness.” Others would seek to minimize the terror and the terrorist origins of 9/11 by describing it with such toss-off lines as “some people did something.”

And so, every 9/11, we Americans have a deep-seated need to memorialize it somehow. We flood social media with memes demanding that we “Never Forget,” but which fail to tell us how to deal with what we remember. We experience each 9/11 knowing that our response is somehow incomplete, but there have been precious few strong voices to tell us why we still feel empty and desolate. All we know is that we are unable to find our way back by minimizing the importance of the event, or by fist-shaking patriotic bravado — or even by rebuilding taller and better.

At least subconsciously, we kept trying to answer seemingly unanswerable questions. What is missing? What don’t we know or acknowledge? Why do we still feel empty and incomplete?

Jonathan Cahn“We Will Rebuild”
Exactly 10 years after the bin-Laden-inspired attack, a book hit the market, written by Jonathan Cahn, a Messianic Jewish Rabbi, of whom few had heard by that time. The book was titled The Harbinger, and it spent 100 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. Word of mouth won it a huge readership, particularly throughout the conservative and evangelical Christian communities and churches, and in Jewish Messianic congregations.

I had heard a little about the book, but I had not yet found a compelling reason to read it. But after it was strongly recommended to me by a cousin of mine and his wife (thanks, David & Joan!), I bought a copy and (to quote an old phrase) I couldn’t put it down. The author’s huge and important message centered around three main things: (1) 9/11, (2) a brief passage from the book of Isaiah, and (3) the author’s seemingly inexhaustible knowledge of Old and New Testament scriptures.

This is not a “book report” on The Harbinger, by any means. Suffice it to say that the book draws startling and undeniable parallels between events in the final days of the ancient kingdom of Israel and the 21st century nation of the United States — up to and including 9/11.

I’ve had many conversations with people about the book in the intervening years, and they almost always have been very positive about it. Virtually every one of them, however, talked mainly or exclusively about the book’s prophecy content. “If ancient Israel had an event that mirrored our 9/11, and therefore was a kind of prophecy for it, then what happened to Israel afterward? Is that also a prophecy for what is going to happen to America??” And to be fair, there is no doubt that these are important questions that Jonathan Cahn wanted his readers to explore and take to heart.

But after my second reading of The Harbinger, I came away convinced that the prophetic teaching of the book, however large and captivating, is not its most important message. Here’s why.

As I mentioned above, author Cahn began by demonstrating the parallels between the terrorist attacks suffered by ancient Israel and those of 9/11 in this country. One thread of the book goes forward from there and fleshes out the prophetic meaning of those parallels. But there is a much more important thread (or so it seems to me) which explores how we as a nation can avoid the calamities suffered by ancient Israel after those terrorist attacks. That second thread is one concerning Prayer and Repentance.

After I separated those two threads in my mind, I began to notice that when Cahn was interviewed about the book, he was inevitably (and understandably) asked about its prophetic message. And he always found a way to turn the conversation back around to his book’s (and the Bible’s) call for our nation to turn to prayer and repentance.

The Second Thread
Here’s what that second thread comprises. If you have read any Old Testament history at all, you will remember that ancient Israel was warned by God’s Prophets that He would punish them severely if they did not stop their sinful, evil ways, return to Him, and keep His Covenant. The Prophet Isaiah tells us that, as a warning, ancient Israel was attacked by a terrorist nation that shook them as badly as 9/11 shook America. The early verses of Isaiah chapter 9 remind the reader of that event:

The Lord sent a message against Jacob; it came against Israel.
All the people — Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria — will know it. They will say with pride and arrogance:
“The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with cut stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.”
The people did not turn to Him who struck them; they did not seek Yehovah of Hosts.
Isaiah 9:8–10,13

Did you notice in this passage the similarities to 9/11 and its aftermath? “We will rebuild” is not considered by God to be a statement of courage or strength — even though post-9/11 American leaders thought it was. God instead calls it “pride and arrogance” when they (we?) assert that “the previous building has fallen, but we will rebuild with better, stronger materials.” Why does God say that? Isaiah tells us in verse 13: “The people … did not seek Yehovah of Hosts.”

Here is how Cahn lays it out: God allowed the destruction of ancient Israel’s buildings (also a tower, as it turns out) for several reasons:

  • (1) to get their attention,
  • (2) to give them a reason to turn back to Him,
  • (3) to bring them to Him on bended knees, and
  • (4) to persuade them to ask for forgiveness of their national sins.

And here’s a truly astounding point, which we might easily read past without noticing. The first part of verse 13 (see above) says that it was God, Himself, “who struck them.” The attack was God’s will and He caused it to happen. In The Harbinger, Cahn makes the case that this is the same reason God allowed (caused) 9/11.

Isaiah 9:13 tells us that God purposefully caused the terrorist attack on ancient Israel, in order to accomplish His will for His people. Are we, today, less in need than ancient Israel of such a wake-up call from our Creator God?

Did ancient Israel heed God’s wake-up call and turn back to Him in prayer and repentance? No.

Did America heed God’s wake-up call and turn back to Him in prayer and repentance? No.

Must we in America turn back to God in prayer and repentance, to avoid further punishment for our sins? Almost certainly, Yes.

After the “shaking” of the terrorist attack, God gave ancient Israel a time to listen to His prophets, to abandon their sinful ways, to return in humility to their Creator God, and to repent of the evil in the land. We must never forget that ancient Israel did not listen to God’s calling. In their “pride and arrogance,” they boasted that they would recover through their own strength, and they ignored God’s call to Prayer and Repentance.

And what happened? God caused the Kingdom of Israel to be destroyed and its people to be taken into captivity by the nation of Assyria as punishment.

If their terrorist attack was God’s wake-up call to them to prayer and repentance, is it possible that 9/11 was the same thing for America — a country which has long boasted of being a Christian nation, built on a Judeo-Christian foundation? And if we ignore this call to prayer and repentance, are we in danger of a national calamity equal in size, scope, and purpose for defying our Creator God?

A Day of Prayer and Repentance
I said above that our hearts and minds realize every year that our feelings about 9/11 are still uneasy and incomplete. God is trying to tell us that it is only through Him that our lives can be whole, complete, positive, and forgiven.

We must as a nation drop to our knees, bow our heads toward the ground, and humbly ask God’s forgiveness for our own individual sins and those of our nation. In the words of the king of Nineveh,

Everyone must call out earnestly to God. Each must turn from his evil ways and from the violence he is doing. Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His burning anger so that we will not perish.
Jonah 3:8–9

And so, it was to Jonathan Cahn that I turned today to find a prayer that would articulate exactly what we as a nation need to bring to our minds and hearts and, in humility, to say to God. Cahn used the phrase “Prayer and Repentance” in introducing his prayer, and I have borrowed it in my call to all of us to commit to making 9/11 A Memorial Day of Prayer and Repentance.

Actually, it should be our mission every single day. And in our heart of hearts, I think we all know it.

So below is the video Cahn made of a 4-minute Prayer for America on 9/11, exactly 5 years ago. It is my gift to you who read this, in the hopes that it will become your goal to bring these same petitions to our Creator God continually and fervently. I have also made a complete transcription of the prayer and appended it below the video, so that you can easily go back and re-examine it in detail.

God bless you, my readers, and may God find in us both genuine humility and abject repentance so that He will continue to bless the United States!


A PRAYER FOR AMERICA ON 9/11  —  JONATHAN CAHN   (4.22)
 


 

A PRAYER FOR AMERICA ON 9/11
Jonathan Cahn

Jonathan CahnLord, we ask for Your mercy on this land.
We ask for your hand upon this land.
Lord, we have sinned.
We have turned from You.
We have turned from Your ways.
We have ruled You out of this culture.
We have mocked Your name.
We have blasphemed Your name and the name of Your Son.
We have called what is evil “good.”
We have called what is good “evil.”
We have promoted immorality, not only here but around the world.
We were called to be a “city on a hill” and to spread Your light throughout the world.
But Lord, we confess on behalf of this nation, and we intercede on behalf of this nation —
      Lord, we have turned from the light as a nation.
      We have spread darkness and immorality, as well, around the world.
We have pursued idols.
We have served idols of greed and money and success over You.
Even in the Church, even among Your people, we have promoted prosperity over righteousness.
We have watered down the Gospel.
Father, we ask for Your hand upon this nation.
We ask for —
      Your hand upon Washington, DC.
      Your hand upon the White House, Lord; have Your way with the White House.
      Your hand upon the Capitol; have Your way with Congress.
      Your hand upon the Supreme Court; have Your way.
      Your hand upon the governments of every state, every governor, every house of governing in every state; Lord, we ask Your hand.
We ask Your hand upon the cities; let there be revival.
Lord, whatever it takes, let there be revival in this land.
Lord, let there be revival in the cities.
Lord, let there be revival in the coastland.
Let there be revival, Lord, from New York City to California.
Let there be revival in the heartlands.
Let there be revival among the young, Lord; revival among the old.
Let there be revival in the churches, Lord.
Lord, let there be a move of holiness, a move of righteousness, a move of Your Spirit.
Lord, let there be revival in us.
Lord, we cannot ask for revival for others, if we are not ourselves willing to live in revival now.
So, Lord, whatever it takes, have mercy on this land that was dedicated to Your Name and to Your purposes.
Have mercy on the “city on the hill.”
And, Lord, let it again shine with the light of Your glory, with the light of Your righteousness.
Lord, let the ones who have ears to hear, let them hear; let them be saved; let them turn.
Lord, let there be a massive outpouring of Your will.
We praise You, and we thank You for Your mercy, for your grace.
For we ask all these things in the name of Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Messiah.
By His blood, by His atonement, in the mercy of that sacrifice, we ask that You have mercy on all of us and upon this nation.
And let there be revival, Lord.
Let there be the Gospel going forth to this world, to the nations, for an end-time revival.
And we pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the coming of Your Kingdom.
In the name of Jesus the Messiah, the Lord of all and the Hope of America.
Amen.

 

ARTICLE © 2019, DR. GROVER B. PROCTOR, JR. — ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

 

 

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[Do] Love [to] One Another

National Day of Prayer 2019 
As I sit here writing today, I am reminded that this Thursday (first Thursday in May, by law) is our National Day of Prayer. This year’s theme is “Love One Another.”

We should also make it a day for a refresher course in Biblical, God-like, Christ-inspired love. Our calling as Christians is not to love only the loving — or only the lovely, or only those of our tribe, or only our church friends, or only those in our political party, or only the rich and famous, or only the blessed.

The commandment to “Love one another” has no boundaries, no excuses, no man-made exceptions.

Jonathan Cahn 
“If people sin against you and give you no cause to love them, that’s the cause! Love them! The person in your life who has given you no reason whatsoever to love them, that’s the one you have to love.”
— Jonathan Cahn, “YHVH: The I AM Mysteries”


Scripture (and therefore God) is pretty clear who is included on the list of those you are commanded to love:

  • your enemies
  • those who hate you
  • those who persecute you
  • those who curse you
  • those who mistreat you
  • those with whom you are angry
  • those who abuse you
  • those who steal from you
  • those who are ungrateful
  • those who do evil to you
  • those who are wicked
  • everyone (past, present, future), including…
    those who are responsible for Your death, even as You hang on a cross.

As we go about the business of living our lives, if we encounter a conservative or a progressive — a White-supremacist or Black nationalist — a socialist or a capitalist — a fascist or communist — someone who voted as we did or someone who did not — in fact, anyone of any worldly ideology or religious affiliation — we are specifically commanded that everything we do to/for/with that person should be done with love.

I can hear the chorus of anguished replies even now. “But I simply cannot work up any love in my heart for Osama bin Laden or Adolf Hitler (or even Trump or Hillary)!” As it turns out, no one is asking you to do that.

“To Love” is an active verb — in both the grammatical and metaphorical senses. The good and Godly things we do for each other are the acts of love. And that’s what Scripture is talking about when it tells us to love one another. Don’t believe it? Look at what Scripture says about “doing” love:

  • whatever you want others to do for you, do it for them
  • do good to those that hate you
  • pray for those who persecute you
  • bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them
  • if your enemy is hungry, feed him
  • if your enemy is thirsty, give him drink
  • do not repay evil for evil, but on the contrary, bless
  • to him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also
  • from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic
  • give to everyone who begs from you
  • and, as He hung on the cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them.

Scripture tells us to do love (loving things). By doing, the “feeling” will come. It’s part of the process of building Christ-like character.

Most of us read the above commandments to do love and are overwhelmed by how enormously impossible they seem. Let us, instead, be overwhelmed by their enormous potential for good and Godliness and reconciliation in a hate-filled world. Let’s overwhelm the world by Doing God’s Love!

How will each of us Do God’s Love
to everyone we meet today?

When we pray as a Nation on Thursday,
may God bless us and help us always to
Love One Another!
__________________________________

Christ: “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34–35)

“Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7–8)

“Your every action must be done with love.” (1 Corinthians 16:14)

Christ: “Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them.” (Luke 6:31)

National Day of Prayer 2019

 
 

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‘Truly, before Abraham was…’

 
I have seen several Facebook memes similar to the one shown here, all with the identical Christian message. Maybe you’ve run across them, too. They display what are called the seven “I AM” statements of Jesus:
       • I am the bread of life.
       • I am the light of the world.
       • I am the door (or gate).
       • I am the good shepherd.
       • I am the resurrection and the life.
       • I am the way, the truth, and the life.
       • I am the true vine.

Each of the seven “I AMs” may be found in the Gospel of John, and of course — inescapably and profoundly — Jesus is most certainly each and every one of them. That knowledge is vital in our attempts to more completely understand Him, His earthly Mission, and His plan for our salvation.

But I can’t help it. Every time I see one of the “Seven I AMs of Christ” memes, my response is always the same: Yes, you’re right! Jesus is all of that. But you’ve left out His most astounding, and perhaps the most important, “I AM” claim of all.

 
That greatest “I AM” is also found in the book of John. In Chapter 8, Jesus is responding to increasingly virulent verbal questioning and accusations from a group of Pharisees (or “the Jews,” as John refers to them). As the replies from Jesus hit closer and closer to home, the Pharisees finally (metaphorically) throw down on the table their ancestral trump card: “We are the descendants of Abraham!” they cried. The implication was clear: “We are Abraham’s offspring! As such we are God’s chosen — and therefore we cannot possibly be guilty of the accusations You are making against us!

It all comes to a head when Christ tells them that they are far from acting like God’s Chosen People. You are instead, Jesus tells them, “of your father the Devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires.” Their response to this is the classic playground bully retort, used by those who have no rational, legal, or (in this case) spiritual arguments to fall back on — “Yeah, well if we’re bad, you’re worse!”

The Jews responded to Him, “Aren’t we right in saying that You’re a Samaritan and have a demon?”
“I do not have a demon,” Jesus answered. “On the contrary, I honor My Father and you dishonor Me. I do not seek My glory; the One who seeks it also judges. I assure you: If anyone keeps My word, he will never see death — ever!”
Then the Jews said, “Now we know You have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste death — ever!’ Are You greater than our father Abraham who died? Even the prophets died. Who do You pretend to be?”
“If I glorify Myself,” Jesus answered, “My glory is nothing. My Father — you say about Him, ‘He is our God’ — He is the One who glorifies Me. You’ve never known Him, but I know Him. If I were to say I don’t know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him, and I keep His word. Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day; he saw it and rejoiced.”
The Jews replied, “You aren’t 50 years old yet, and You’ve seen Abraham?”
Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am.
At that, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple complex. [John 8:48-59]

 
I truly believe a strong case can be made that, of all the things Christ is quoted as saying in the Bible, this one statement packs the biggest explosive power. The Pharisees understood perfectly well what He was telling them. They needed no sages, commentaries, or apologists to explain it. But just in case the full meaning is not yet completely clear today, 2000 years later, here is what two highly respected New Testament Commentaries say about Christ’s “I am” statement and its profound message:

Jesus gave one of the most important answers to any question posed to Him in the entire Gospel of John. “‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’” What was Jesus saying? That He was God Himself! The only other time the phrase “I am” was used to describe someone was in Exodus 3:14, where God used that very phrase as His name. Here Jesus claimed that name for Himself. No identity statement could be clearer. Jesus claimed to be God Himself in human form.
[Holman Concise Bible Commentary]

The words rendered “was” and “am” are quite different. The one clause means, “Abraham was brought into being”; the other, “I exist.” The statement therefore is not that Christ came into existence before Abraham did, but that He never came into being at all, but existed before Abraham had a being; in other words, existed before creation, or eternally [John 1:1]. In that sense the Jews plainly understood Him, since “then took they up stones to cast at Him,” just as they had before done when they saw that He made Himself equal with God [John 5:18].
[Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible]

Greek: Before Abraham was...

SOURCE: BIBLEHUB.COM


Now, don’t panic. I know you’re eyeing this chart with all the Greek writing in it with trepidation, bordering on fear and loathing. Don’t let your eyes (or your brain) glaze over. Breathe in; breathe out.

Understanding Greek is not in any way a prerequisite for continuing to read this article! I’ve only included this graphic because I want us to fully share and savor the meaning and import of every single word and phrase in Christ’s momentous declaration. Read through the English on the bottom line, and when you are finished, we’ll walk together on a journey through Christ’s amazing declaration.

On first reading, Jesus’ “I AM” statement (bottom line, in brownish-orange on the chart) might seem simple. But then you notice that, strictly speaking, it doesn’t make grammatical sense. (Past tense and present tense, in the same sentence?) By the time we’re finished, however, I hope you’ll agree that Jesus said it perfectly correctly and that it contains an infinitely powerful truth.

Scholars used to be unanimous in believing that Jesus spoke this sentence in the Aramaic language, but more recently (thanks in part to the finds in the Dead Sea Scrolls) some have come around to suggesting Hebrew was the language of dialogue and learning in first-century Judea. Either way, John’s translation of His statement into Greek comprises only 9 words. In order to understand the profundity inherent in the message of those few words, let’s take them word by word (or phrase by phrase) and see how Christ’s one-sentence reply to the Pharisees answered the one largest question about who Jesus was — and at the same time raised a huge number of other questions.

A Walk Through John 8:58. Each of the five large text blocks below tackles one word or phrase from Christ’s sentence. In a box in the upper left of each text block, I have mirrored the Interlinear graphic above, putting John’s actual Greek word(s) on the middle line, the English transliteration on the top line, and the English literal translation at the bottom in red type. *

My commentary, inside each larger text block, attempts to reflect the thoughts that might have rapidly gone through the mind of someone present at the time Jesus had this confrontation with the Pharisees. As such, the phrases and sentences are often fragmented and jump quickly to new considerations. They are also repetitive, as one might go back to a previous thought in order to add a new insight gained and see if total meaning is emerging.

Just read the following in a flow, and with luck and God’s guidance, we’ll trust that His meaning will become clear.

Amēn amēn
Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν
Truly, truly

Did you know that every time Jesus began a sentence “Truly” or “Verily, verily,” He was using the Hebrew word “Amen”? It’s true. It means “Truth.” (The English equivalents most often given by NT Greek Lexicons for “amen” (pronounced “ahm-AIN”) include truly, verily, surely, certainly, of a truth, it is the truth, and so be it.) Using it to precede a statement of fact or an announcement was a common idiom at the time, indicating not only its veracity but also that it was of some significance. We do a similar thing in English when we start a sentence like this: “I’ll tell you the truth, that was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done!” or “In all honesty, I think his new haircut looks silly.” [We even have a way of doing that in the vernacular (slang) when we start a sentence with “Seriously.” “Seriously, dude, where’s my car?” However, I don’t think I would use it to translate a statement made by Jesus!] That Christ used the word “Amen” twice to begin this sentence signified major emphasis. He was calling attention to the fact that what He was about to say was not only true, but also important. When we get to the end of Christ’s sentence, that will seem like an understatement.

legō
λέγω
I say

Time is important and will play a large role in the meaning of this sentence. We’ve already gotten the message that the sentence is true and important, and now this single simple word communicates both subject and verb — “I say” (or “I am saying”). We can read a clear subtext in this one word: We start with “Truth. Very important.” and we add “Now. In the present. At this moment. As I look at you and you look at me, I SAY this to you. We are locked together in this time of the now. This is not something you heard in the past, and no prophecy of the future has revealed it to you.” Also by this, Jesus takes full responsibility for the unbelievable magnitude of what He is about to tell them.

hymin
ὑμῖν
to you

With the addition of this word, Christ’s hearers have been given this introduction: “Truth. Important. Present tense. I am saying… to you.” Still locked eyeball to eyeball, Jesus and the Pharisees have been engaged in a “knock-down, drag-out” verbal battle, and He has just heard the Pharisees play their ancestral “trump card” — “We are the descendants of Abraham! We are the spiritual Leaders of God’s Chosen People! And who are you? You are one of the hated, heretical Samaritans and are clearly demon-possessed!” The carpenter’s son from Nazareth — the Creator of the Universe — looks at them calmly and assures them that this “truth,” this “important truth,” is specifically for them. They will have to deal with its ramifications.

prin Abraam genesthai
πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι
Before Abraham was [born]

Jesus now makes time move within a single sentence. He started with the present tense: “Truth. Important. I am saying this now to you.” But He immediately reverses gear and casts them back to the ancient past: “What I am saying to you, the message I have for you, carries implications about and derives its authority from — the past.” In telling the Pharisees just before this that “Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day; he saw it and rejoiced,” He was giving one huge hint of what He was going to tell them. But as we’ll see, the Pharisees never saw it coming. Jesus had picked this day, this time, this “now” to reveal His own “trump card” — His identity. And the Pharisees took the offered bait and ran with it. One can imagine the sneers on their faces and the revulsion in their hearts as they snapped back at Him: “You aren’t 50 years old yet, and You’ve seen Abraham?” They knew that Abraham’s day was estimated as much as 1800 years (!!) before this conversation. Preposterous, they were thinking! He’s mad and he has a demon! But now, the end of the sentence is almost here. Christ tells them “The important truth that I am saying to you now requires you to cast your mind back to the time ‘before Abraham was born’…

egō eimi
ἐγὼ εἰμί
I am.

I AM.”
Simple.
Wait, what did He say?
It hits our modern ears as incorrect, because He has switched back to the present tense. Or has He?
tick… tick… tick…
2, maybe 3 seconds of complete silence, as the universe-sized import and unbelievable meaning of what Jesus of Nazareth just said hits each of the Pharisees. There would have been no one present in the Temple that day who did not understand the clear reference just made to “I AM.”
Boom!   Explosion.   “Kill him! Stone him!! He is claiming to be God!” Actually, that last sentence may well have been the truest thing the Pharisees said the whole day.
I AM. The burning bush. “I am that I am.” “I am the one Who said, ‘Let there be light!'” “I am Yehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” And then, the climactic truth becomes clear…

Jesus of Nazareth, staring at the Pharisees,
has delivered to the Pharisees an unmistakable message, which hangs in the air…
I AM your God


 
So now, with all of the above, the following three quotes have merged into one major, astounding, earth- and human-changing TRUTH: The eternal God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the Creator of the Universe — emptied Himself into a human form for the benefit of each individual one of us, and He told us His Name as a sign, a token, and an unalterable proof of that fact.

Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them: The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what should I tell them?”
God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”
God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: Yehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.

— Exodus 3:13–15 (HCSB)

“Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day; he saw it and rejoiced.”
The Jews replied, “You aren’t 50 years old yet, and You’ve seen Abraham?”
Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am.”

— John 8:56-58 (HCSB)

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb?
That sleeping child you’re holding is the great I AM !

— Mark Lowry

Before Abraham was...

Jonathan Cahn videos, volume 4

YHVH: The I AM Mysteries is available in the 3-DVD set of Jonathan Cahn’s Biblical Teachings, volume 4, from WND Films.

A Parting Gift. To close out this study of Christ as the great “I AM” and of John 8:58, I have a gift for you. Noted teacher (rabbi) and Christian author (The Harbinger) Jonathan Cahn has some startling and uplifting conclusions about “I AM” as the name of God, and the fact that Jesus revealed that He was “I AM.”

Describing the facts he has uncovered as “cool” and “amazing,” Cahn makes the strong point that the study of God’s name is not just some dry, boring historical or theological stuff. Rather, he says, this has “everything to do with your life. The name of God actually applies to your life! In an amazing way, this can change your life.

Below, you will find a video (audio only) of a message he delivered titled YHVH: The I AM Mysteries, and I strongly urge you to set aside 33 minutes of quiet time to listen to it. Once you get to the 8-minute mark, put your mental roller skates on, because he’ll be taking you for a wind-in-your-hair, joyful, inspiring, and amazing ride!

To whet your appetite, but without spoilers, here are some of the truths Cahn talks about in the video. (Yes, including Moses’s socks.) I predict you’ll find it fascinating and uplifting.

  • Topic: Moses’s Socks — The dramatic way Yehovah revealed his name as “I AM.” (Exodus 3:13-15)
  • Topic: The Name — Does God have more than one name?
  • Topic: The Name — “Knock, knock.” “Who’s there?” “It’s me.”
  • Topic: Goodness — We have the order of “doing good” and “being good” backward.
  • Topic: Love — “If people sin against you and give you no cause to love them, that’s the cause! Love them.” and “The person in your life who has given you no reason whatsoever to love them, that’s the one you have to love.”
  • Topic: Biblical Grammar — In Genesis 1:1, “God” is plural and “created” is singular. It’s not a mistake, and it reveals huge Truths.
  • Topic: Your Identity — “Who are you?” “I am Grover.”
  • Topic: Living Your Life — Joining your “I am” to His “I AM.”

Jonathan Cahn — YHVH: The I AM Mysteries (39:34)


 

Asking the Next QuestionsThese are questions you might want to prayerfully ponder, and perhaps take back to Scriptures for help in answering.

  1. What would you consider the most valuable meaning of God’s name “I AM” to your own personal life?

  2. How important is it for you to know that Jesus was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? And why?

  3. If you, knowing everything you know living in the 21st century, could be transported back to the moment that Jesus made the “I AM” statement — and if language were no barrier — what would be the very next question your mind would want to ask Him? What would your heart want to ask Him?

  4. How did you feel when you read the things that the Pharisees were accusing Jesus of and that they wanted to stone Him? How do you think they would have justified their words and actions?

  5. The song Mary Did You Know was mentioned above. How do you think Mary would have felt when she heard that her son Jesus revealed Himself to be “the Great I AM” ? How do you think this would have changed her already very special life?

    Extra question for those who listened to Jonathan Cahn’s message:

  6. What do you feel is the most valuable meaning to your life after hearing Rabbi Cahn talk about living one’s life “in God” — that everything you do, you do with God doing it with you? How might this insight change your ideas about God? How might this insight change your feelings about God?

In honor of my mentor and dear friend Dr. Leonard Kaplan (1935-2013).


 

NOTES:

 * The word “transliteration” seems to give some Christian teachers great problems. I’ve seen it often confused with “translation” or “paraphrase.” Here’s what it really means. Merriam-Webster defines “to transliterate” as “to represent or spell in the characters of another alphabet.” Greek to English is a perfect example. Because the Greek alphabet is different from the English alphabet, it is often helpful to substitute the letter in English that makes the same sounds as each Greek letter in a word. Take the word Λόγος. In English its translation is “Word” and its transliteration is “Logos.” Here’s how we got that transliteration:
Λ = L, ό = o, γ = g, ο = o, ς = s and that gives us the English transliteration of Λόγος, which is Logos.
It can even be done with languages that have no alphabet, such as Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese). The Chinese call this transliteration pinyin (pronounced peen-yeen). Since there is no Chinese alphabet, the transliteration is done just using the sound of each word. The capital of China is pronounced BAY-JING (with the “j” sounding like the j in “jingle,” not the sound of “prime rib au jus” or “Zsa Zsa Gabor”). So the people who created the transliteration pinyin for Mandarin used the Western alphabet letters “Beijing” to create that word’s pinyin.

 

SOURCES:

  • Brannan, Rick; Harwood, Theodore; Curtis, Andrew. English-Greek Reverse Interlinear Holman Christian Standard Bible: New Testament. Lexham Press, 2017.
  • Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 145). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
  • Kaplan, Leonard. Asking the Next Question. Tichenor Publishing, (1986).
  • Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield, MA. 2015.
  • Nestle, Eberhard. Η ΚΑΙΝΗ ΔΙΑΘΗΚΗ, Text with Critical Apparatus. British and Foreign Bible Society, 1904.
  • Van Der Pool, Charles. The Apostolic Bible Polyglot. Apostolic Press, 2006.
  • White, J. E. (1998). “John”. In D. S. Dockery (Ed.), Holman Concise Bible Commentary (p. 477). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
CREDITS:

IMAGE CREDITS —
(THE SEVEN “I AMs”) CatholicLink Library of Resosurces
(JOHN 8:58 GREEK) BibleHub.com
(“I AM”) Woodland Baptist Church, Columbus, MS
(JONATHAN CAHN DVDs, VOL. 4) WND.com
VIDEO CREDIT —
(YHVH: THE I AM MYSTERIES) Jonathan Cahn; Hope of the World

 

ARTICLE © 2018, DR. GROVER B. PROCTOR, JR. — ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

 

 

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What Sweeter Music?

The Timeless Music about Christ’s Birth

In this post, I am giving you a gift of Nativity music from my heart, which I hope you will enjoy and be inspired by. While music about the birth of Jesus is played and sung almost exclusively in December the world over, I’d like to make what some will see as a radical suggestion — that Christians use it in worship all year round, 365 days a year.

After all (as everyone from the Catholic and Jewish Encyclopedias to countless Protestant Commentaries all agree) we have no certain and unimpeachable knowledge as to when He was born — although it seems extremely unlikely that it was December 25.

The date of the birth of Jesus was never revealed to us, which in and of itself raises the question of whether we were intended to observe it at all. But that hasn’t stopped speculation throughout the last 2000 years. It seems to have been in Egypt after 200 A.D. when the very first feast of the Nativity was held, and Bishop Clement of Alexandria noted that the church there “curiously” selected the date of May 20, “apparently out of thin air.”

In modern times, because so much of the earthly ministry of Christ (our Passover) was linked to God’s Holy Days, some theologians have suggested He may have been born on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, and therefore circumcised on the 8th and Last Great Day of the Feast. It’s symbollically appealing, but (again) there is no evidence or proof.

Jonathan Cahn

Jonathan Cahn

More recently, a new and compelling theory of the birth date of Christ has come from Jonathan Cahn, the Messianic Jewish author of the best-selling books The Harbinger, The Harbinger 2, and The Mystery of the Shemitah. Drawing research from such widely diverse sources as the Talmud, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Greco-Roman astronomer and astrologer Ptolemy, the Vatican document archives, and numerous Scriptural references from both Testaments, Cahn believes that the most doctrinally, historically, and prophetically sound choice is Nisan 1 — the first day of the first month of the Hebrew sacred calendar — which falls each year somewhere from late-March to early-April in the Western calendar. (If you have an interest in hearing Cahn’s 30-minute explanation of his remarkable reasoning and findings, click here to watch his video.)

We Simply Don’t Know

Even with such interesting theories to choose from, the fact is that we simply do not know for certain when Christ was born.

Celebrating the FACT of His birth — taken in tandem with what His birth means for our personal salvation and eternal lives — seems far more important than celebrating solely on a day that seems highly unlikely to be the anniversary of it. So might we agree to use the Nativity story for worship at any time of the year, employing all of the glorious music written about it — regardless of our own theory as to the true day of His birth? This is literally, I hope, a “timeless” suggestion.

With that in mind, here are four works that are (in my opinion) up there among the greatest Nativity carols/arias/performances/recordings that I have ever encountered. While this article offers only four of them, I may well add more as time goes by.

As always, it will be true for each of these video/audio files that good quality headphones are almost mandatory, in order to appreciate the subtleties and nuances of the performances.
(I’ve given the complete lyrics for each selection at the bottom of this post, in case you want to follow along.)

ONE   “Mary Did You Know” (Pentatonix)

This first selection was originally a gospel song that many have come to love. Of the 15+ recordings of it I have heard, this performance is by far and away the most pure, inspirational, tender, and beautiful. It is performed with precision laced with abundant feeling by the a cappella specialists Pentatonix. The amazing musical climax they provide — beginning (at 2:20) with Jesus being “the Lord of all Creation” and ending with (most emphatically, at 2:48) the revelation He Himself made that He was “the Great I AM” — reflects and summarizes the most astonishing of all the aspects of the earthly-yet-eternal life of the Christ.

“Mary Did You Know” by Pentatonix


TWO   “What Sweeter Music” (John Rutter)

This gem is a modern setting of the 17th-century poem “A Christmas Carol” by Robert Herrick. And you may find, as Adrianne and I do, this to be one of the sweetest and most beautiful carols ever. Composer John Rutter is renowned for his short pieces about the birth of Christ, and he may have reached his pinnacle with this one. He is conducting his own Cambridge Singers here, in what is almost certainly the most moving, jewel-like performance of it on record.

“What Sweeter Music” by John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers


THREE   “Sweet Is the Song the Virgin Sang” (Ralph Vaughan Williams)

This sweet lullaby comes from a larger work, a cantata telling the entire story of the Nativity called Hodie (This Day), written by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. I strongly commend the entire hour-long masterpiece to you, but here I’m giving you one short section only — the endearingly sweet lullaby of Mary as she “ponders in her heart” the mystery of her being the mother of the Savior of the world. Sir David Willcocks conducts the Choristers of Westminster Abbey and the London Symphony Orchestra in this classic 1965 recording. The soloist is the incomparable Dame Janet Baker.

“Sweet Was the Song the Virgin Sang” by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Dame Janet Baker, Choristers of Westminster Abbey


FOUR   “All My Heart This Night Rejoices” (Alfred Deller)

Alfred Deller

Alfred Deller

2016 marked the 350th anniversary of the writing of this traditional chorale by German composer Johann Ebeling. I freely admit to having a sentimental attachment to this recording, performed by countertenor Alfred Deller. As far back in ancient history as my college days, I fell in love with Deller’s beautiful singing, his lyrical phrasings, the gentle counterpoint of the accompaniment as played by lutenist/guitarist Desmond Dupré, as well as the carol’s endearing message and the music’s graceful lilt. Some may be taken aback by hearing a man sing with such a high-pitched voice, but the countertenor (sometimes called male alto) voice has a long and distinguished history in Western music. (Mark Deller, Alfred’s son, is also one of England’s foremost countertenors.) If you think about it, our popular music also includes men with equally high ranges — but none, I would suggest, are as simply beautiful as Deller’s.

“All My Heart This Night Rejoices” by Alfred Deller


Lyrics

ONE   Mary Did You Know” (Pentatonix)

Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm the storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God.

Mary, did you know?

The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak the praises of the Lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb?
That sleeping child you’re holding is the great I AM !

(lyrics by Mark Lowry)


TWO   “What Sweeter Music” (John Rutter)

What sweeter music can we bring
Than a carol, for to sing
The birth of this our heavenly King?
Awake the voice! Awake the string!

Dark and dull night, fly hence away,
And give the honor to this day,
That sees December turned to May.

Why does the chilling winter’s morn
Smile, like a field beset with corn?
Or smell like a meadow newly-shorn,
Thus, on the sudden? Come and see
The cause, why things thus fragrant be:
‘Tis He is born, whose quickening birth
Gives life and luster, public mirth,
To heaven and the under-earth.

We see him come, and know him ours,
Who, with his sunshine and his showers,
Turns all the patient ground to flowers.
The darling of the world is come,
And fit it is, we find a room
To welcome him. The nobler part
Of all the house here, is the heart.

Which we will give him; and bequeath
This holly and this ivy wreath,
To do him honour, who’s our King,
And Lord of all this revelling.

What sweeter music can we bring,
Than a carol for to sing
The birth of this our heavenly King?

(“A Christmas Carol” by Robert Herrick)


THREE   “Sweet Was the Song the Virgin Sang” (Vaughan Williams)

But Mary kept all these things,
and pondered them in her heart.

Sweet was the song the Virgin sang,
When she to Bethlem Juda came
And was delivered of a Son,
That blessed Jesus hath to name:
“Lulla, lulla, lulla-bye,
Sweet Babe,” sang she,
And rocked him sweetly
on her knee.

“Sweet Babe,” sang she, “my son,
And eke a Saviour born,
Who hath vouchsafèd from on high
To visit us that were forlorn:
“Lalula, lalula, lalula-bye,
Sweet Babe,” sang she,
And rocked him sweetly
on her knee.

(anonymous Medieval lyrics)


FOUR   “All My Heart This Night Rejoices” (Alfred Deller)

All my heart this night rejoices,
As I hear,
Far and near,
Sweetest angel voices.
“Christ is born,” their choirs are singing,
Till the air
Everywhere
Now with joy is ringing.

Hark! a voice from yonder manger,
Soft and sweet,
Doth entreat,
“Flee from woe and danger.
Brethren come, from all doth grieve you
You are freed,
All you need
I will surely give you.”

Come then, let us hasten yonder;
Here let all,
Great and small,
Kneel in awe and wonder.
Love Him who with love is yearning;
Hail the Star
That from far
Bright with hope is burning!

Thee, dear Lord, with heed I’ll cherish,
Live to Thee,
And with Thee
Dying, shall not perish;
But shall dwell with Thee for ever,
Far on high
In the joy
That can alter never.

(original German lyrics by Paul Gerhardt, 1607-1676)

COPYRIGHT 2015, 2017, 2021 DR. GROVER B. PROCTOR, JR. — ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
 
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Posted by on December 18, 2015 in Worship

 

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