On Feb 18, the Good TV broadcasting ministry broadcasted a sermon delivered by Dr. Chen Xi Zhen’s Bible seminar officially begins. The topic of the seminar was titled, "The Miracle in History: Israel."
The Good TV broadcast last Friday took place at the Taipei Wesley Methodist Church. During the weekend, Dr. Chen’s seminar included topics such as “The heavenly good news.”
Near the beginning of his sermon, Dr. Chen told listeners to examine a miraculous happening in history – the existence of Israel. This country, he said, has a land area and population that is less than that of Taiwan. He added that Israel, however, is a nation where much influence and contributions toward mankind originated. He told listeners to consider one moment that perhaps the Jews were blessed by God because they truly did belong to the ‘chosen nation.’
He mentioned that examples of the Jewish influence and contributions include the oil, soft drink, computer, hotel, and movie. Great names in the movie industry, Dr. Chen said, included Steven Spielberg whom is also a Jew. He added that what is more amazing is that the Jewish community controls the majority of the international mass media, including Yahoo, Google, the Associated Press, New York Daily News, New York Post, CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, London Times, Washington Post etc…Dr. Chen said, “Since they can control the television network, then they can unleash an even greater influence.”
Besides this, amongst the Nobel Prize Award recipients from 1901 till 2004, 22% of them were Jewish. Even though this is the case, Dr. Chen said, one should not overlook the fact that the Jewish population only makes up 0.25% of the world’s population. In addition, many influential thinkers whose teaching, thoughts, and intellectual-discoveries have had major influence toward the way people think are Jewish. Revolutionary thinkers include the revolutionist Marx, psychologist Sigmund Freud, and physicist Albert Einstein. Through this realization, he said, no one can deny that almost every aspect of human life [worldwide] has been influenced in some ways by the Jews.
At the Seminar’s beginning, Dr. Chen read several verses from the bible: Genesis 12:1-3 and Micah 5:7. He proceeded to explicate the meaning of each verse. In Genesis 12, it said that because of Abraham’s obedience, Israel became God’s chosen people. And one of his descendants became the messiah and savior of mankind. He is our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave the saving grace to all mankind.
In Micah 5:7, it says, “The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass…” In Jewish history, the Jews have been enslaved twice and freed twice. Through 1800 years of being a nation without a home, the declaration of independence on May 14, 1948 was a world-shocking miracle in history.
Dr. Chen continues to explain, “Is it simply because the Israelites are the chosen people of God that they are able to cause such a big influence in the world?” The Israelites, he said, wandered for many years, and experienced much suffering. He pointed out that the Book of Micah often made references to dew. How does dew form, he had asked. Dew, he says, come during from the coast. The salt from the sea in the air would cool down bringing in a mist inland. He argued that Jews have in history experienced darkness, endless wandering, and persecution as seen in their history. Even through the wisdom is the same, he said, the experience is different. Since the Israelites experienced much pain suffering, Dr. Chen argued, they have developed a special kind of endurance that has provided them with a means for success.
Lastly, Dr. Chen concluded, “No matter if you like Jews of dislike the Jews, in reality, the Jews have already established a kingdom on this earth. Looking at the kind influence and impact that Jewish people in different levels of the society has made, we can see the fulfillment of promise in the Bible as said in Genesis 12, 'all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.'"
