It is probable that more than a few of you
who are watching this program, have had experience
with a counterfeit product or currency at one time or another.
I remember a time, many years ago, when on a business
trip to a large Asian city, being beset by individuals
on the street trying to convince
me to buy a "genuine" Rolex watch for $20.
The watches looked authentic,
but anyone applying a bit of common sense would soon realize
that any relation to a real Rolex was at best,
very superficial.
They were of course cheap counterfeits,
along with the Gucci purses and Armani sweaters
that were available for similar prices.
In the dishonest world in which we live,
we are, unfortunately, assailed by counterfeit products
(obvious or not), and lies that generate misguided
ideas about everything from climate, to health
products, to what we end up believing from news reports.
The promotion of false stories or ideas
can be deliberately intended to cover up the real
story or truth.
Is there a chance that we, you and I, have at any time
been a victim of false stories
or counterfeit products or practices?
Could you, even now, be a victim of a cover-up
that is hiding a truth from you?
Stay tuned!
For centuries rulers and their governments
have struggled to prevent counterfeiting
of monetary currency.
While counterfeiting remains a problem today,
the shift to electronic currency transactions
together with new designs for bank notes
have made the process of counterfeiting
much more difficult and thus less profitable.
Still, we face an increasing barrage
of counterfeit products in our marketplaces.
Various consumer products of inferior quality
are being sold falsely under prestigious brand names.
This is a violation of trademark
or patent protection.
Often music is illegally reproduced and sold
in violation of copyright.
All of this represents counterfeiting and fraud.
The OECD, in a report published in April of 2016,
indicated that up to 5% of all imports to the European Union
are in fact fakes or "knock-offs".
The same report states the value of this fraud totals
nearly one half trillion dollars annually.
These products range from shoes,
pharmaceuticals, toys, baby formula and machine parts,
to medical instruments.
The International Organization
for Standardization described the effects in a 2014 paper:
Thus, from an economic perspective,
counterfeiting represents a major threat
to global economic health.
But what of ideas?
False ideas and rumors not based in truth
also can carry with them a terrible cost
and hideous consequences.
Today it has become common to refer to such
as "fake news".
Formerly we called it lies.
"Fake news" has been around for a very long time.
During the 14th and 15th centuries, bubonic plague
struck Asia and spread to Russia, Persia, Turkey,
North Africa and Europe.
It is commonly thought that up to one third
of the European population died in those tragic years.
In England in the early 1400's it is estimated
that up to 50% of the population was lost
in a few years.
This is likely the main reason why England lost
the 100-years War with France.
Relentlessly, the plague invaded every city,
hamlet or village.
Millions lost their lives to the "grim reaper."
What led to the incredible spread of the "black death"?
I should say there are several theories
as to what this disease really was.
In fact it was most likely a series of diseases,
hitting at different times, as the plagues
came and went over a period of about 80 years.
But what created the environment for such a series
of outbreaks?
Modern science now knows that unclean streets,
poor sanitation, and filth were great contributors.
In the l4th century, cities in Europe
were filthy, laden with garbage.
Human refuse was simply thrown in the gutter
in London and Paris, and became a breeding ground
for rats, flies and other carriers of disease.
In the year 1346 a town called Thenon,
near the present city of Strasburg,
was hit with the plague.
A Jewish physician living there, named Balavignus,
felt that the miserable sanitation of the time
was a major factor in the spread of disease.
He was familiar with the sanitation laws that had been
recorded in the days of Moses in the Torah,
the first five books of the Bible.
Based on this he instituted a cleanup
movement among the Jews, in the ghettos or sections
of the city where Jews were permitted to reside.
The rats, carriers of the fleas that carried bubonic plague,
consequently left the Jewish ghettos
and moved into the "Gentile" sectors of the city.
In addition, to protect themselves from rats,
Jews often kept cats, an animal about which the non-Jews
were superstitious and did not keep.
The effects of Balavignus' work are described
by Dr. Donald T. Atkinson:
Counterfeit news, that which changes reality
to a false story, is a very dangerous thing.
In Thenon it resulted in riots and a general massacre,
with Balavignus himself being arrested,
tortured and killed.
I think we are all carrying, to one degree or another,
some ideas that we feel are true but are in fact false.
Sometimes this is a result of a misunderstanding,
but all too often it is a result of hearing something
and believing it, just because it sounds true,
or in some cases, like the population of Thenon,
because everyone else around us seems to believe it.
In the next part of our program I shall
be examining a piece of our common cultural history
that does not rest on as firm a footing
as you may currently think.
I shall be right back.
In the first part of the program today we examined
the rather horrid consequences of deception,
the deliberate spreading of a lie - the marketing
of products or ideas as something other
than that which is true.
One interesting aspect of counterfeiting a product
or idea is that it must be presented as real,
while at the same time covering up or destroying the truth.
Counterfeiting or promoting that which is not true
is not only engaged in by those crating fake currency,
products or news.
It is unfortunately engaged
in by those we tend to trust the most.
If one is familiar with the Bible, then the concept
that one day of the week is identified
as a day of worship is not likely new.
All too often however, people have accepted
religious ideas and practices, such as which day
is the day of worship, as long-standing
traditions, assuming the text upon which their faith
is based actually supports such traditions.
In the case of most professing Christians,
their accepted day of worship has long been
the first day of the week, or the day we traditionally know,
in the English world, as Sunday.
I should interject here that on many new calendars,
particularly those printed for use in the European Union,
one may note that the first day
of the week is usually indicated as Monday,
with Sunday being the last.
These types of calendars however are a very recent
innovation from the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
In 1988 the ISO issued a directive labelled ISO 8601:
Sunday in fact has been recognized as the first day
of the week in Europe and the West since
at least AD 325 and the rule
of Roman Emperor Constantine.
The peoples of ancient Israel and even ancient
Babylon also had a seven-day week
from earliest antiquity, each recognizing one day
in seven as a sacred day.
In fact when you read the Bible, you do not have to read
very far to find it also teaches
that there was one day in seven that was to be treated
differently from other days of the week.
This was reinforced in the Biblical record.
About 2500 years later, Moses, receiving instruction
from the same divine Being,
was given explicit instructions to tell all of the Israelites
to be sure and keep that same seventh day
as a Sabbath or rest, and as a day of worship
to their Creator.
History bears out that the seven-day sequence Israel
started to keep that year at Sinai,
has been continuously preserved, so the seventh day of the week,
as identified in Exodus 20 is the day we call
Saturday today.
The Biblical record, even when it transitions
to the New Testament writings, chronicles Jesus
as observing the same Sabbath while He was on the earth.
The New Testament writings, including
those of the Apostles, are quite consistent
with the special distinction they gave to observing
the Sabbath Day, as was identified in the Old Testament,
and was practiced by Jesus
(while He was on the earth).
In fact, in all they taught and practiced there is,
as numerous commentators admit,
no hint suggesting the day of worship should be moved
to another day of the week.
Note some of the teachings of the Apostle Paul
that can be read in your own Bible.
The Book of Acts records that the Apostle Paul,
early in his ministry (and after Christ's death
and resurrection), came to Antioch in Pisidia
(west central Turkey today).
Here there was a small Jewish population in a city
where the vast majority was non-Jewish.
Later we see the Apostle Paul going to the Greek
city of Corinth, in which there developed a large
congregation consisting of both Jews and Gentiles.
Here again Paul taught both groups to observe
the same day of the week as a Sabbath.
The scripture is very clear that Paul,
as in all other locations, kept the seventh day Sabbath
and taught Jews and Gentiles to observe that day as well.
In fact one can show from the New Testament
that Paul taught the observance of all of the Ten Commandments.
In the final portion of today's program,
we will see that there is no scripture contained
in the biblical text authorizing a change to the day,
which the Scriptures stated, should be held as a sacred day.
We will also see some very startling admissions
from leading scholars of religion.
You may well be very surprised.
In the meantime, please take time to order
our free special offer,
"Which Day is the Christian Sabbath?"
This answers the question from history and the Bible
as no other resource will do.
The booklet is very well referenced
and can be an excellent tool to inform
yourself on this important question.
Today we are examining counterfeits.
As you know, there many such products claiming
to be one thing when in fact they are not.
Some counterfeits look very real, requiring great
expertise and time to determine the authenticity
of the item.
We have also raised the question as to whether
traditions, even very sincerely held religious
traditions, could in fact be a counterfeit.
For instance, we have seen that the Bible,
from cover to cover only instructs the observance
of the seventh day of the week as a sacred day,
and yet the vast majority of the professing Christian world
sincerely observes the first day of the week.
So what happened?
The actual story is very interesting.
Thirty-five years after the founding
of the New Testament Church.
In AD 31 war broke out between the Jews and the Romans.
The conflict ended in AD 70 with the destruction
of Jerusalem and the Temple.
Throughout the Empire where Jews had formerly
been highly favoured, hostility grew.
Later, between AD 132 and AD 136, another even more
serious Jewish revolt occurred under the command
of Simon Bar Kokhba.
Huge losses occurred on both sides, but in the end
the revolt was crushed.
Subsequently, after AD 136, prohibitions
on Jewish worship were imposed,
including forbidding the observance of the Sabbath.
Thus for the early Christians, keeping the Sabbath
was a problem, making them look Jewish
thus becoming targets of persecution.
Yet those who remained faithful to what had been taught
to them by the Apostles continued
to observe the Sabbath on the seventh day.
Historians acknowledge this.
This and similar records show the keeping
of the seventh-day Sabbath was continuous in the Roman Empire,
despite the risks, up until the Council of Laodicea
in AD 364, over 3 centuries after the original apostles.
The Council of Laodicea outlawed the keeping
of the seventh-day Sabbath in the Roman Empire,
prescribing in many cases a death penalty for violation.
The Christians who kept the Sabbath thus had to flee
the Empire, leaving behind a Church that enforced
the observance of the first day of the week.
It is noteworthy that the Apostle Jude, writing
about 40 years after the death of Christ, states:
Jude's comment is quite definitive -
there were to be no changes in the doctrines of the Church
that had been delivered and confirmed by Christ
and the Apostles.
Whatever was written in the Scriptural canon
was the final word on beliefs and practice.
Thus to make a change in a day of worship
that is not stated in Scripture is a serious matter.
Long ago, about 930 BC, upon the death of King Solomon,
the nation of Israel was torn by civil war.
The conflict resulted in the nation being divided,
with Judah and Benjamin forming the nation of Judah
in the south, and the remaining ten tribes
forming the nation of Israel in the north.
The first king of the northern nation was the general
of the Israelite army, Jeroboam I.
He was a very able man, but feared that the Israelites
would go to Jerusalem to worship
on the holy days Israel was commanded by God to observe,
as are noted in Leviticus 23.
So he made the choice of creating,
against God's direction, two centers of worship
in his territory, and moved the main fall holy day period
by one month.
The story is contained in 1 Kings 12.
Jeroboam was warned by God to repent of this,
but he refused, and this led all Israel into sin.
God was not amused.
Later in 721 BC Israel was completed destroyed
by the armies of Assyria.
This comment is recorded in 2 Kings 17:21:
Clearly man does not have the authority to change
a holy day that God has ordained.
Thus it is interesting that even the scholars
of many large Christian denominations will admit
that there is no Biblical authority for changing the day
of worship from the seventh day
to the first day of the week.
Note some rather stunning admissions:
The following was written in a text entitled
"Faith of our Fathers", first published in 1876,
by a senior expert in Roman Catholic doctrine,
James Cardinal Gibbons:
Leading Methodist theologian and author
Dr. Clovis Chappell, and author of over 35 books
expounding the Methodist perspective on faith,
wrote the following:
In other words, each of these men,
experts on the Biblical text, are admitting that the Bible
does not authorize a change of the day of worship
that God commanded.
We saw what God thought of Jeroboam's decision.
We have seen what the Bible teaches on this subject.
A question each of us then needs to ask, is:
Is there a chance we have been deceived by a counterfeit,
which has been covered up by the promotion
of theology that is not based on the Bible?
God's Law is very clearly stated in the Scripture.
Just as was the case with the early Christians,
keeping that Law takes courage, but exercising
that courage comes with the approval and support
of the Lord God of the Universe.
There is a great deal more information about this subject
in our free offer today.
"Which Day is the Christian Sabbath?"
It reveals the counterfeit and how the truth
was covered up and suppressed.
This knowledge could be literally a life saver.
Thank you for watching and I hope you will stay tuned
for Tomorrow's World Answers
which will air momentarily.
Join us next week when Gerald Weston, Michael Heykoop
and I will bring you understanding of the present
world and the good news of Tomorrow's World.
To learn more about today's topic,
visit www.TWCanada.org
Welcome to Tomorrow's World Answers where we answer
your questions, straight from the Bible.
Some have taken Paul's instructions to the Romans
to mean that the Sabbath can be observed on any day
one deems appropriate.
Is that what he was really saying?
Does it matter which day Christians keep holy?
Let's review Paul's statement and notice
first that he does not use the word Sabbath
once in this passage.
Romans 14:5
New converts who were not yet spiritually strong
were being intimidated and judged for abstaining
from activities that were neither condemned nor commanded
as part of the law of God.
Notice verse 1:
Notice the dispute arose concerning doubtful things.
Observance of God's Sabbath
is one of the Ten Commandments.
Would we count any other commandment
as a "doubtful thing"?
It is likely similar to the situation
in 1 Corinthians 8 where Paul dealt with the issue
of eating meat which had been offered to idols.
Some, who were not yet mature in the faith,
didn't fully understand that those idols
were nothing and so refrained from eating meat entirely.
We know from Luke 18:12 that the Pharisees
commended themselves for fasting twice a week.
Is it a stretch to believe that some were teaching
that certain foods should be avoided on certain days
or some days were better for fasting than others?
Even today, there is a large denomination
which professes Christianity and many adherents refuse
to eat meats on a particular day of the week,
a day that even that church does not observe as holy.
Paul made his thoughts on God's law and commandment
clear, they were not "doubtful things"
Paul encouraged patience with those who were new
to the faith.
If you read thought the book of Acts,
you'll see that he consistently taught,
even the predominantly Gentile congregations on a specific
day of the week, the Sabbath.
A key purpose of God's law is to teach us that He declares
right from wrong, holy from unholy.
It is not left for everyone to choose for themselves.
To submit a question for the show, email us at
TWAnswers@tomorrowsworld.org.
Be sure to watch us online at TWCanada.org
or by searching Tomorrow's World Answers on YouTube.