The “cock crow” or “crowing of the rooster” is an idiom in scripture, and well may not be speaking of a literal rooster. The Talmud, The Mishnah, and Historian Josephus, all mention that chickens were not allowed in Jerusalem at the time. Historically there were priests who forbid anyone in Jerusalem from having chickens, to avoid dirty and wandering birds from desecrating The Temple, or worse yet, The Holy of Holies. The “crowing of the rooster” refers to a moment of time, beginning at 3 a.m. in the morning. Let’s look in the Bible to see its definition. Mark 13:35, (NASB), "Therefore, be on the alert-- for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning.” Every morning Roman troops were summoned from their barracks at the Tower of Antonia, situated at the northwest corner of the Temple in Jerusalem. They were summoned at the “cock crow”, the third watch of the night, at 3 a.m. in the morning. One trumpet blast summoned them. A second blast dismissed them. The U.S. military does the same, at their chosen time. It’s called “Reveille”. One horn sounds to gather the troops. A second to dispatch troops. The word for trumpet call in Latin is “gullicinium” which means, “cock crow”. The Romans used “gallicinium”, “conticinium”, and “diluculum” for “cock crow”, “end of cock crow”, and “dawn”, respectively. This may also speak to why the Gospels don’t all agree on how many times the “rooster crowed”. Matthew, Luke, and John, all say the cock crowed, then Peter denied our Lord for the third time. But Mark’s Gospel states that before the cock crows twice, Peter would deny our Lord three times. Early church father’s attest that Mark had been a scribe for Peter, therefore the detail is no surprise. We can deduce that Matthew, Luke, and John, were mentioning the cock crow as a single event. However, they had in mind the second “crowing of the rooster” or the second trumpet. Mark’s Gospel specifically mentions that the cock crowed twice, two trumpets, and it would be after the second trump that Peter denied our Lord for the third time.

Do we really understand the love and compassion of Christ? The tax collectors in Jesus’ day were literally called "Pariah dogs." They were considered as dogs who foraged off of the town dump. They were the lowest of all cheats, crooks, liars, and hated by all men. The tax collector in Jesus’ day was demanded to charge whatever the fee was that was owed, BUT in addition to that, whatever extra they could cheat you out of, was their own to keep. They were ruthless and the most hated of all men. Read any of the Gospels where it says that Jesus first saw Matthew, and they all will say that Jesus saw a tax collector. They saw a refuse eating pariah dog!! The chief of sinful men! Only Matthew, writing after the fact, and knowing the surpassing love of Christ wrote something different in his Gospel! Matthew wrote, "As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man," (Matthew 9:9). A MAN??? Yes, Jesus saw a man! The sinners of that day, and this day as well, very much needed someone like Matthew. They needed a pariah dog so they could look at him and say they were so much better than this lowly scum tax collector. Only Jesus, who needed no one to look at with contempt, was free to look in Matthew's eyes with the love of God and see A MAN.

Isaiah 9:6 - The church needs clarity on this verse, to show that Jesus is not the Father. In the ancient languages of Hebrew and Aramaic, if you say someone is "the Father of Strength", that means they are strong. If you say someone is the "Father of Knowledge", you are saying they are wise. If you say Jesus is The Father of Eternity, you are saying Jesus possesses eternity and He Himself is eternal. We even do this today. Augustine is known as "The Father of Theology", and Athanasius is known as "The Father of Orthodoxy." Augustine because of his tenacious effect on modern theology in the 4th century. Athanasius because of his staunch defense of the deity of Christ at the 325 A.D. Council of Nicea. "Everlasting Father" is an idiom describing Christ's relationship to time. Christ/God is The Father of Eternity. Isaiah can't be describing Christ's relationship to Himself, He obviously cannot be His own Father. Finally, you never base an entire doctrine on an isolated verse of scripture. Any verse that may appear ambiguous, must, must, must be interpreted with the numerous verses that are clear. Throughout the Bible we see that there is only one God. We also see that The Father is God, Jesus is God, and The Holy Spirit is God. And we see that The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are eternally distinct. Clearly, within The Godhead there are three separate Persons in a love relationship together for all of time. Isaiah 9:6, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Is the King James Bible the only acceptable translation? Is the KJV really an “Autogragh”. An “autograph” or “the autographa”, is the term for God’s original dictation of the books of the Bible. The church unanimously holds that the “Autographa” alone is authoritative, inerrant, and without blemish. Today’s versions like the KJV, the NIV, the NASB, or the NKJV are all comprised from copies, of copies, of copies of manuscripts, and those manuscripts all have (minor) mistakes. The errors are in punctuation, spelling, unwarranted additions, etc. Despite these errors, the substance of the Bible has not been compromised. God has preserved His word! Still, no translation of the Bible is an “Autograph”. The manuscript errors can easily be corrected; here’s how it’s done. Though each manuscript has errors, each copyist made a different error than other copyists. By comparing manuscript to manuscript, we can get back to what the “Autograph” said. This is done through the science of textual criticism. So how do we classify the KJV?” ALL Bible versions come from the available manuscripts. There are thousands of biblical manuscripts; recorded on papyri, uncials, miniscules, etc. The problem in thinking the KJV is the perfect bible (an Autograph), and others not, stems partly from the fact that the only bible available for years was the KJV. When modern Bibles appeared, people cried “foul”, not knowing that hundreds more manuscripts have been unearthed since the making of the KJV in the 7th century. The discovery of more ancient manuscripts gave scholars a chance to see how acccurate the KJV of the 17th Century was. The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) were discovered in 1947, dating back to 4 B.C. The manuscripts (Masoretic text) that were considered for the KJV dated only to 5 A.D. The DSS were more than 1000 years older, therefore closer to the original writings! In this discovery (and others), though the KJV proved to have been copied with concise precision, it was discovered that some minor mistakes had crept in, and in cases scribes and copyists added verses that were not in earlier manuscripts. A good example is the “Comma Johanneum” (1 John 5:7). Though this verse is consistent with what the bible teaches, it is an addition and not part of any earlier manuscript. Mark 16:18, is another that is not in earlier manuscripts and has been added. When newer bible versions came out (NIV, NKJV), they relegated (some of) these verses to the footnotes, noting that they were not in earlier manuscripts. The KJV is a great Bible, yet the newer translations are based on more manuscript evidence. To some, the Elizabethan English of the KJV has devolved slightly out of style with the evolution of language. Words that were once denotative, now are connotative. Personally, I do memorize from the KJV and the NKJV. I study and read from the NKJV.

So what about those hypocrites? We see others as hypocrites, but have we ever stopped to look at ourselves? A hypocrite can be anyone who says one thing, but does something other than what they say. We have all played that part before, and it’s very easy to fall into this sin again. We all stand as equals before the cross. We are all sinners. No one towers over the other. I find it true in ministry that if we commit acts of sin, we are sometimes labeled, “hypocrites”. It’s good to make correct judgments, and not get bitter, so it helps if we remember, “we are all sinful”. We need to forgive those in ministry, for we know all are sinners. What we can do to get back on God’s straight and narrow is to ask for His forgiveness (1 John 1:9, Psalm 32:5, Proverbs 28:13), then seek God’s Spirit to live through us and show us His way. May The Lord God bless you today, and give you strength to face all of life’s challenges. May you know who you are, and Whose you are. You are God’s Property, and God don’t make no junk, Got it!

The Bible was written over a period of sixteen hundred years, by forty different authors, on different continents, in three different languages, and on hundreds of subjects yet no other holy book can approach the divine fingerprints that lay upon the Bible. When it comes to the world's holy books; they can all be wrong, but they cannot all be right! Both The Quran and The Book of Mormon are plagued with information that does not correspond to reality. The Bible is different in that it is historical and evidential. They say the Bible is the world's best seller, and that's where I say, "The Bible is also man's best purchase!" While many of the particulars within the Bible have been discovered through archaeology, there has never been an archaeological dig that has contradicted its Biblical parallel. From the glorious Psalms to the wisdom of Solomon, to the creation account by Moses, and the subsequent fall into original sin, to John's Apocalypse, to The Four Gospel's glorious news of what God has done; The Bible towers far above all literature as a literary masterpiece of such great wisdom and precision, that no human being could ever hope to accomplish such a task. The Bible is the only holy book with fore-told prophesy that came to pass. Predictive prophesy is a sure sign of the Hand of God, as foretelling the future is beyond the ability of what God endowed humans to have. Lamentations 3:37, "Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?" Jeremiah 28:9, "But the prophet who is of The Lord is so only if his prediction comes true." Deut. 18:22, Ezek. 33:33.

Who was the Bible written to? Today I am addressing a controversial way to approach the Bible to insure proper understanding. It’s controversial because people are not trained in the art and science of biblical interpretation. Yes, in a lot of cases, people just wing-it! Let’s turn to some key passages now, (note bold print carefully). Romans 1:7, “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be His holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from The Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 1:2, “To the Church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus.” 2 Corinthians 1:1, “To the Church of God in Corinth, together with all His holy people throughout Achaia.” Galatians 1:1, “Paul, an apostle, sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead. To the Churches in Galatia.” Ephesians 1:1, “Paul, and apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:1, “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons.” Colossians 1:2, “To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.” Thessalonians 1:1, “Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the Church of The Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” I could go on but maybe you see my point. Check other books as well, but you will find that none of the Bible was written to us. All of the Bible was written for us. It is of the highest hermeneutical importance that we know who the audience is when we read books of the Bible. In Christian Apologetics one is eager to present the Gospel to those whom God desires to be saved. On the other hand, equipping (and reforming) the church through the art and science of Biblical interpretation is a full time job, as one seeks to circumvent the damage done by people who think the Bible is their wish list catalog, and who strip passage after passage from its historical context and its intended audience. This is just one tool of interpretation that will bring clarity when applied.