November

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

By the time you get this letter I should be in Kuwait. Please pray for my soldiers as they spend their holiday season away from home and in a warzone.

We should head up to Baghdad in about three weeks to a month. Most of next year I will be in Iraq. I will be coming home on "leave" (what the army calls earned vacation) for February and March.

King Melchizedek

According to the Epistle to the Hebrews in the New Testament, Jesus became "a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 7). This priesthood, to which Jesus belongs, is an ancient pre-Abrahamic priesthood of the Jebusites. Melchizedek was the gentile King of Salem (Jerusalem) and priest of the "Most High God" who offered an unbloody sacrifice of bread and wine in thanksgiving for Abraham's victory over the eastern kings who had held Abraham's nephew Lot hostage (Genesis 14:17-20). The Melchizedek, also called the Adoni-zedek, was the priest king of Jerusalem (Joshua 10:1, 3). David apparently became the Melchizedek priest when he came to rule over Jerusalem. (2 Samuel 8:18 in the Hebrew says that "David's sons were priests." As the Messiah, Jesus is the Son of David. He is the Priest of all priests as well as being the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.) In his glorification Jesus became the Great High Priest, far superior to the high priest of the Jewish Temple.

Melchizedek means "Zaddiq is King." Of course Tzedek is Hebrew and Aramaic for "Righteousness." Apparently, the Jebusites worshiped "God Most High" by the name of Tzedek. So, Zaddiq is a title or attribute of God. Note how the Jebusite king of Jerusalem whom Joshua fought was named "Adonai-Zedek" meaning "Tzedek is Lord." According to later Jewish tradition, Melchizedek was the same person as Shem the son of Noah, but this seems very doubtful to me. The writer of Hebrews compares Christ to Melchizedek noting that Melchizedek can mean "King of Righteousness" and that he was the king of Salem (Shalom) meaning the King of Peace. (Of course "Salem" is Jerusalem.") It seems to me that the Melchizedek is an example of gentiles who had knowledge of God. Paul speaks of this in Romans 1:19-20, 2:13-16 and also in the Old Testament this is mentioned in Malachi 1:11.

Prayer Requests

 

Pray for me to be able to effectively minister to the troops. Pray that all the troops under me will be kept from harms way. Please pray that all of these troops will come home with me.

 

Pray for all of our troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also remember the Christians of the Middle East, especially the Copts of Egypt and the Assyrians of Iraq and Iran, who are our persecuted brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.

 

 

The Hammer of God

 

Hanukkah is when we remember how Judah Maccabee (from the Aramaic "Maqqaba" meaning "the Hammer") fought for religious freedom. I have five comic books on Judah "the Hammer of God" Maccabee available and they make wonderful Hanukkah-Christmas gifts and are very educational.

 

Books and Comics

 

Remember my books: 1. The Words of Jesus in the Original Aramaic 2. Mary of Magdala 3. Treasures of the Language of Jesus and 4. Aramaic: The Language of Jesus of Nazareth. The books are available from

 

Remember my comic books 1. The Assyrians: The Oldest Christian People 2. The Hammer of God: Character and Historical Reference 4. The Hammer of God Minicomic 5. Chronicles: Facts from the Bible and 6. The Hammer of God Coloring Book. The comic books are available from