Ancient Words, Modern Message

In just a few days people in the United States and around the world will be celebrating Christmas 2024, but as that celebration concludes in the evening of December 25, Jewish people around the world will be beginning their observance of the eight-day Festival of Lights, Hanukkah.   In this episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message, you are invited to join Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship, for his eighth “Bagel-side Chat.”    There are numerous traditional observances and activities associated with the annual celebration of Hanukkah, one of which is a favorite among Jewish children, referring to the game played with a special spinning top called a dreidel.  But the dreidel is not just a toy; it is a teaching tool with which children are reminded of, and instructed about, the history of their people.     It is this instruction and its even greater application that is the subject of this “Bagel-side Chat,”  an episode entitled, “The Tale of the Top.”  Let’s listen in. . . -- Thank you for listening to Ancient Words, Modern Message. You can expect episodes twice a month on Monday. Ancient Words, Modern Message is supported by Hebrew Christian Fellowship. To learn more about our ministry, or to ask a question, contact HCFellowship4819@gmail.com. We might just answer your question on a future episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message. If you know a person that you think would benefit from this teaching, please share it with them. And if you’d like to support Ancient Words, Modern Message, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the podcast even better and reach new listeners. Ancient Words, Modern Message is produced by Studio D Podcast Production and hosted by Rev. Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship.

While it is fashionable and generally inoffensive—as well as correct—to speak of God as being a God of love, it is incorrect to neglect the equal truth that God is holy and just and therefore a God of judgment.   It is the balance between the demonstration of God’s mercy and grace, and his holiness and justice displayed in judgment against sin, that is the theme of both the book of Jonah and the book of Nahum in which the Assyrian Empire and its capital city of Ninevah are the case study.   Given the natural proclivity for sin of every human being and the prospect of divine judgment against our sin, a logical question arises:  How can I possibly withhold the trouble looming before me when I face God in judgment?   We will consider this troubling question and the comforting answer in this second and concluding study of the book of Nahum in the two-part series, “Nahum:  Good News, Bad News.”   So, let’s open the Bible to Nahum chapter three for this episode entitled, “A Stronghold in the Day of Trouble.”  --- Thank you for listening to Ancient Words, Modern Message. You can expect episodes twice a month on Monday. Ancient Words, Modern Message is supported by Hebrew Christian Fellowship. To learn more about our ministry, or to ask a question, contact HCFellowship4819@gmail.com. We might just answer your question on a future episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message. If you know a person that you think would benefit from this teaching, please share it with them. And if you’d like to support Ancient Words, Modern Message, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the podcast even better and reach new listeners. Ancient Words, Modern Message is produced by Studio D Podcast Production and hosted by Rev. Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship.

The previous series of studies in the book of Jonah closes with the account of God sparing the Assyrian Empire from His judgment of destruction because of their response to the preaching of Jonah, the reluctant prophet.   A “companion” book to the book of Jonah among the twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament is the little three-chapter-book of Nahum which again focuses on Ninevah over a century after Jonah’s preaching there.  Tucked into its forty-seven verses, the book of Nahum carries a powerful reminder of the disastrous consequences of ignoring God’s call to repentance and trust in Him and Him alone.   Welcome to the first in this two-part series of studies of the book of Nahum entitled, “Nahum:  Good News, Bad News” in an episode we call, “The Prophet’s Music with a Powerful Message.”

Sadly, there are those who maintain that the God of the Bible is a God of vengeance and wrath who seems to enjoy condemning and punishing people.  This could not be any further from the truth, as expressed in both the Old and New Testaments.   Ezekiel 33:11—Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. . .   2 peter 3:9—The lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.   In yet another demonstration of the Prophet Jonah’s human frailty—warts and all—the final chapter in the book of Jonah begins with him pouting because God chose to withhold judgment from Israel’s enemies, the Assyrian Ninevites, because they actually had “the audacity” to repent!   We’ll consider the various dimensions of the contrast between the nature and character of God and the nature and character of man as displayed in the fourth chapter of Jonah as we move through this fourth part of the series:  “Jonah:  I Did It MY Way,” an episode with a title drawn from an old Gospel song, “It’s Just Like His Great Love!” --- Thank you for listening to Ancient Words, Modern Message. You can expect episodes twice a month on Monday. Ancient Words, Modern Message is supported by Hebrew Christian Fellowship. To learn more about our ministry, or to ask a question, contact HCFellowship4819@gmail.com. We might just answer your question on a future episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message. If you know a person that you think would benefit from this teaching, please share it with them. And if you’d like to support Ancient Words, Modern Message, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the podcast even better and reach new listeners. Ancient Words, Modern Message is produced by Studio D Podcast Production and hosted by Rev. Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship.

The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah reminded the Jewish people of his day that God’s ways are very different from man’s ways as God spoke through him declaring:   For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.  (Isaiah 55:8-9)   Nowhere is this contrast between God’s ways and man’s ways clearer than in the account of another Old Testament prophet who lived a century before Isaiah, the prophet Jonah.   What happens when one who should faithfully determine to “do it God’s way” decides instead to “do it my way”?  One such scenario is displayed in this next study of the book of Jonah.   Chapter three of the book recounts a most unlikely response to a most unlikely message preached by a most unlikely prophet, but even more dramatic is the contrast between the character of God and His ways and the character of the prophet and his ways.   Let’s turn to Jonah chapter three for another study in the series, “Jonah:  I Did It MY Way” in an episode with the intriguing, but perplexing title:  “I Was Afraid That Would Happen!”  --- Thank you for listening to Ancient Words, Modern Message. You can expect episodes twice a month on Monday. Ancient Words, Modern Message is supported by Hebrew Christian Fellowship. To learn more about our ministry, or to ask a question, contact HCFellowship4819@gmail.com. We might just answer your question on a future episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message. If you know a person that you think would benefit from this teaching, please share it with them. And if you’d like to support Ancient Words, Modern Message, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the podcast even better and reach new listeners. Ancient Words, Modern Message is produced by Studio D Podcast Production and hosted by Rev. Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship.

Arguably one of the more flawed characters in the Old Testament Scriptures is the prophet Jonah who, in the candid words of some commentators, appears in the text, “warts and all.” While we would expect that a “man of God” would always respond obediently to God’s call, immersing himself in prayer, Jonah is the antithesis of this expectation as he runs away from the divine call of duty and uses prayer only as a last resort. In today’s study in the series, “I Did It My Way—Studies in the Book of Jonah,” we look at Jonah, chapter two, which finds the prophet in the belly of the great fish, about as low as any man could go.   What happens next is yet another example of God’s grace and mercy, as well as HIs persistent hand on those He would use to fulfill HIs purpose.   So let’s turn now to the second chapter of Jonah for this episode entitled, “Prayer from the Depth of Despair.” --- Thank you for listening to Ancient Words, Modern Message. You can expect episodes twice a month on Monday. Ancient Words, Modern Message is supported by Hebrew Christian Fellowship. To learn more about our ministry, or to ask a question, contact HCFellowship4819@gmail.com. We might just answer your question on a future episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message. If you know a person that you think would benefit from this teaching, please share it with them. And if you’d like to support Ancient Words, Modern Message, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the podcast even better and reach new listeners. Ancient Words, Modern Message is produced by Studio D Podcast Production and hosted by Rev. Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship.

In 1968 Frank Sinatra recorded a song which quickly became his signature musical theme.  It was an immediate hit and was later recorded and released by Elvis Presley with similar reception by listeners around the world.  No doubt the song’s rapid climb and enduring presence on the charts, including induction of Sinatra’s version to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000, was due to the compatibility of the lyrics with the spirit of self-centered individualism dominating modern thought. It is one thing for people, in general, to agree with Frank’s musical philosophy, but it is quite another when those who know God and are called to serve Him adopt that same philosophy, resolving to do it their way.  However, this is exactly the case with the prophet Jonah as demonstrated in the Old Testament book which bears his name. We will examine the pitfalls and consequences of that kind of thinking in a four-part series aptly entitled, “I Did It My Way:  Studies in the Book of Jonah.”  Join us now for the first episode which we call, “In the School of Big Fish.” --- Thank you for listening to Ancient Words, Modern Message. You can expect episodes twice a month on Monday. Ancient Words, Modern Message is supported by Hebrew Christian Fellowship. To learn more about our ministry, or to ask a question, contact HCFellowship4819@gmail.com. We might just answer your question on a future episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message. If you know a person that you think would benefit from this teaching, please share it with them. And if you’d like to support Ancient Words, Modern Message, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the podcast even better and reach new listeners. Ancient Words, Modern Message is produced by Studio D Podcast Production and hosted by Rev. Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship.

The autumn of each year is a very important time for Jewish people around the world as they observe one of the most festive days on their religious calendar, followed shortly by the most solemn day on their religious calendar.   In this episode of “Ancient Words, Modern Message,” Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship, invites listeners to put a “shmear” of cream cheese on a bagel and “gnosh” away as he offers his latest informal discussion of all things Jewish in this seventh “Bagel-side Chat.”   For Jews and Gentiles alike, the tension between our sinful imperfection and God’s standard of  absolute holiness and righteousness poses a major problem, causing us to ask, “Can I ever be certain of God’s forgiveness?” and “How can I know for sure where I’m going when I die?”   That’s the subject of this chat, with answers from God’s Word, the Bible, so welcome to this episode entitled simply “Blessed Assurance!” --- Thank you for listening to Ancient Words, Modern Message. You can expect episodes twice a month on Monday. Ancient Words, Modern Message is supported by Hebrew Christian Fellowship. To learn more about our ministry, or to ask a question, contact HCFellowship4819@gmail.com. We might just answer your question on a future episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message. If you know a person that you think would benefit from this teaching, please share it with them. And if you’d like to support Ancient Words, Modern Message, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the podcast even better and reach new listeners. Ancient Words, Modern Message is produced by Studio D Podcast Production and hosted by Rev. Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship.

The title of this six-part series of studies in the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel, “True Grit, Great Glory,” is a spin-off from the 1969 film, “True Grit,” starring John Wayne in the role of Rooster Cogburn, the living embodiment of “true grit,” getting the job done, no matter how difficult.   Arguably the best example of “true grit” in the Old Testament Scriptures is the prophet Ezekiel who “got the job done” in spite of adverse circumstances, “the job” being that of proclaiming God’s message concerning the future of Israel and the Jewish people.   Ezekiel’s stye was certainly eccentric, though admittedly driven by God’s unusual demands on him, but his obedience was unwavering and his message was clear and powerful.   Who would think that a clear and powerful message could be drawn from a handful of sticks, but that is exactly the point of our study of Ezekiel 37:15-28, the last in this series, an episode we call, “Two Sticks, One People, One Promise.” --- Thank you for listening to Ancient Words, Modern Message. You can expect episodes twice a month on Monday. Ancient Words, Modern Message is supported by Hebrew Christian Fellowship. To learn more about our ministry, or to ask a question, contact HCFellowship4819@gmail.com. We might just answer your question on a future episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message. If you know a person that you think would benefit from this teaching, please share it with them. And if you’d like to support Ancient Words, Modern Message, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the podcast even better and reach new listeners. Ancient Words, Modern Message is produced by Studio D Podcast Production and hosted by Rev. Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship.

There may not be many folks within the sound of my voice who are old enough to remember the television western series, “Death Valley Days,” but I am! The series, first aired in 1952, was set in what has been identified as the hottest place on earth in the summer, a place where dry, lifeless, parched bones are scattered, a reminder of the irreversible nature of death. It was to such a place that the prophet Ezekiel was taken in a prophetic vision where he received a revelation of the future of national Israel and the Jewish people displayed in a strange, but vividly dramatic way. Many people are familiar with this story of Ezekiel and the dry bones—even those who don’t know much else about the Old Testament prophets—but most are unaware of the real message contained in the story, namely that God is not finished with national Israel and the Jewish people as a whole, that their ultimate future is as amazing and miraculous as dry bones in Death Valley restored to vibrant life. Especially now, as once again the state of Israel is surrounded by enemies bent on its destruction, it is important to turn to God’s Word for a glimpse into the future to provide strength for today.  Let’s do that as we consider Ezekiel 37 in the fifth segment in this series, “True Grit, Great Glory:  Studies in the Book of Ezekiel,” an episode entitled, “Lessons from Death Valley.”   --- Thank you for listening to Ancient Words, Modern Message. You can expect episodes twice a month on Monday. Ancient Words, Modern Message is supported by Hebrew Christian Fellowship. To learn more about our ministry, or to ask a question, contact HCFellowship4819@gmail.com. We might just answer your question on a future episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message. If you know a person that you think would benefit from this teaching, please share it with them. And if you’d like to support Ancient Words, Modern Message, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the podcast even better and reach new listeners. Ancient Words, Modern Message is produced by Studio D Podcast Production and hosted by Rev. Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship.