Sharing the Love of Christ Around the World

THE ORACLES OF GOD

“What advantage has the Jew? Much in every way! For to them were committed the Oracles of God.” – Romans 3:1-2/

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The Oracles of God is a series of feature-length docudramas about the creation and canonization of the Bible. Featuring expert interviews, a cast of hundreds across three continents, and narration by actor Iain Glen (Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones), the project follows the history and archaeology behind the best-selling book of all-time. CBN Films is planning four parts:

• The Story of the Old Testament (now available)
• The New Testament (filming Summer 2023, release tentatively scheduled for Fall 2024)
• The Canon (Fall 2025)
• The Manuscripts (Fall 2026)

THE OLDEST WRITTEN LANGUAGE

The Bible, spanning 1,500 years and written in multiple languages by various authors, is believed to be guided by the Holy Spirit to convey God's truth on theology, history, and ethics.

The Hebrew Bible, known as the Old Testament, consists of three sections:

• The Law: The first five books, also called the Torah/Pentateuch.

• The Prophets: Including Joshua, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and more.

• The Writings: Wisdom Literature containing Psalms, Proverbs, Job, etc.

Moses is traditionally credited as the author of the Law, with evidence supporting his familiarity with the world's first alphabet. However, Moses couldn't have been the sole author, as his death is recorded. It is likely the Torah originated with Moses, with later editors adding their own contributions.

Around 1000 BCE, during King David's time, the Torah and Hebrew traditions were compiled into book form. Scribes recorded the songs of David, including many Psalms attributed to him. King Hezekiah continued editing and compiling sacred texts around 800 BCE.

The world's oldest biblical text, dating to this period, contains the Priestly Benediction found in Numbers 6:24-26:

"May the Lord bless you and keep you...

May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.

May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace."

In 587 BCE, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar exiled the Hebrews to Babylon. During the exile, scribes copied manuscripts extensively due to the availability of materials.

After 70 years, the Jewish people were allowed to return from exile. Ezra, a skilled scribe, copied the Torah and collected historical, prophetic, and other writings. Ezra aimed to revive Hebrew language, customs, and knowledge of the laws.

THE SEPTUAGINT

The Torah was translated into Greek in the 3rd century BCE, known as the Septuagint (LXX). It became the Bible for Jews outside the Holy Land and was often quoted in the New Testament. The Greek Orthodox Church still uses the LXX. 

And while the Septuagint was probably the biggest translation job ever undertaken in the world, it brings up the question about accuracy. No translation is ever completely accurate, but a scholars will note that a word-for-word translation wasn’t necessarily the goal of the Septuagint project. Some parts are, in fact, very literal and close to the original Hebrew as could be rendered into the Greek. Others have been paraphrased to make the Hebrew text more intelligible or understandable. Scholars will also point out that the first Christians believed that the Septuagint was an accurate and faithful representation of what was said and what was meant in the original texts.

THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS

In 1947, Bedouin shepherds discovered scrolls and fragments in Qumran caves. The Dead Sea Scrolls, dating to the 1st century BCE and 1st century AD, provide insights into Jewish beliefs during Jesus' time. Comparisons with later Biblical manuscripts reveal remarkable similarities, indicating the accurate preservation of language.

The authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls formed a community in Qumran. Every letter and word in a scroll was counted, allowing up to three mistakes per page. Failure to correct them led to burning the entire manuscript.

Despite Roman campaigns against the Jews, the Dead Sea Scrolls survived while other artifacts were lost.

The discovery began with shepherds selling fragments to a shopkeeper. Professor Sukenik, an archaeologist, recognized their significance in 1947, coinciding with the UN vote for Israel's independence. His son later remarked, “It’s as if these manuscripts had been waiting in caves for two thousand years, since the destruction of Israel's independence, until the people of Israel had returned to their home and regained their freedom.”

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For more information regarding Oracles of God please visit www.cbnfilms.com.

“I couldn’t lift it. It was awful,” said Rosalind Castro. “I started to get numbness, tingling.”
It was November 2015 when Rosalind woke up one morning to severe pain in her left shoulder. As a production designer, Rosalind thought she hurt it on her job at a furniture company. “I was working a lot of hours at my job. It was a very stressful time at work. I was afraid to take time off because we had a lot of deadlines,” she recalled.

The pain went on for weeks, months, and eventually years. None of the many doctors Rosalind went to could find anything wrong. Desperate, she tried everything from physical therapy to acupuncture but nothing worked. The only relief came through pain medication. “Sometimes I would get a shooting pain and it felt like I had little pieces of bone shattered,” said Rosalind. “It was interfering with my daily activities like showering, changing clothing. I couldn't lift it. I started to cry out to the Lord because that’s not a way to live. I started to pray to the Lord because I needed to get through the day.”

The pain would get even worse when Rosalind started taking care of her disabled mother, having to help her in and out of her wheelchair. “I just would pray all the time, asking for the Lord to gimme strength. I know that the Lord is a Healer and I’ll go to Him first and then whatever He guides me to do,” Rosalind stated. “I don't reject medication, and I don't reject doctors, and I don't reject any kind of medical treatment, but I'll always go to the Lord.”

Then on November 13, 2020, almost five years to the day since the pain started, she was watching The 700 Club. Ashley Key was praying. “Someone who is watching is having pain in your left shoulder,” explained Ashley. “It is very discomforting, pain all of the time, and you have been asking God to heal you, and He is answering that prayer now. You will be healed and pain-free in the name of Jesus.”

“When she gave that word, I screamed, ‘I receive it, I receive it,’ and I'm thanking the Lord. And I'm excited,” said Rosalind. “And I still had the pain, but I went to sleep. And when I woke up that morning…I'm healed. I don't feel anything.”

But Rosalind’s journey to healing wasn’t over. A month later, she re-injured her shoulder while helping her mother. “I felt a snap. I was trying to ignore it,” she said. “The pain came back and I was like, no, I don't wanna go through this again. I felt like I went back into the hole. I was asking the Lord to restore everything.”

Four weeks later, Rosalind was watching The 700 Club and again would receive a word of knowledge from the Lord. This one came from Terry Meeuwesen. “There is somebody with a rotator cuff issue. It’s not torn exactly, but it is very, very sore, especially when you move your arm around to try to lift anything above the height of your shoulder,” explained Terry. “God is healing that for you. You’re going to feel a warmth come into that part of our shoulder and it is being all put back in place.”

“And I can’t believe it. I grabbed it. I said, 'I'm grabbing that,'” shared Rosalind. “I went to bed, and I woke up in the morning, it was gone. And it's been gone till, praise the Lord till today, you know, no pain, nothing, like my arm is the way it's supposed to be.”

Although her pain was gone, Rosalind would need God’s touch again. In addition to taking care of her mother, she had started helping her father who was blind and had dementia. Rosalind felt overwhelmed and alone. “If I got one hour of sleep a day, that was a lot,” she said. “I was saying, 'Lord, let Your will be done. Gimme strength, gimme love, so I can do this with love.' You know, it was difficult. Praying to the Lord, ‘help me, gimme wisdom. Help me get through this day.’”

Then in January 2021, Rosalind received a third word of knowledge. Again, it was Terry. “Restoration is the word for you. And you are so discouraged and alone. God is answering the thing you asked of Him,” said Terry. “He is with you right now. You have never been alone, but put up your hands and receive it and thank Him.”

“I couldn't believe it. It was like, wow. I was asking the Lord to restore everything in my life...to tell me what His plans are,” explained Rosalind. “I have seen that word be fulfilled.”

Rosalind’s mother has since passed, and her father now lives with a caregiver. Today, Rosalind takes care of two uncles and says the Lord is giving her strength with each new day. “I'm seeing Him as a God that is of the impossible. That nothing is impossible for Him. That He is faithful to His word, faithful to His promises. And it's just been amazing,” she concluded.

“Father we just thank you that in You we find everything we need. Jesus you are the way and the truth and the life . . .” prays Cristina Baker. During the dark days of the pandemic her sixty second prayers went viral on TikTok. She now has over 1 million followers.

She reminisces, “In my heart it was like, 'If I could just reach one person with this prayer.' Just like I was reached in the hardest, darkest moments of my life.”

Her desire to bring hope through prayer came after her own time in turmoil. Most of Cristina’s life was consumed with pain and spiritual darkness as a result of her parents’ divorce.

“I felt like the person inside me had died. And that's where I turned to cutting and self-harm. I started getting into Marilyn Manson, uh listening to a lot of death metal, you know, joined a band, started, you know, smoking weed, drinking, partying, going out to the bars, and that's where I began to find what I thought was life,” says Cristina.

Her mom couldn’t help her and sent her to live with her father in Hawaii. They didn’t know he was homeless and addicted to drugs. Her time with her dad left Cristina with more questions than answers. She recalls, “I was strung out on drugs. My dad was an atheist, I followed in his footsteps. I was lost, I don't know how I'm gonna eat. Where am I gonna take a shower? Am I going to school anymore? Am I safe here? What's gonna happen to us? I want to die.”

A glimmer of hope came when her brother helped her move in with a family back on the mainland. They were Christians and showed her God’s love.

“She would ask me, 'Why don't you believe in God? Why do you believe in abortion? How are you okay with all of the other religions? I would give her my honest emotion – very emotional responses. And she was okay with it. She wasn't trying to convert me. She didn't have an agenda. She wanted to display the love of Jesus to me, and that was something I had never experienced before,” says Cristina.

After high school she moved out, got pregnant and had a son when she was 20. She had a good job but continued to use drugs and struggled to find purpose in life. “I was a counselor. So, I was telling people how to live their life during the day and then drugging at night. So, I felt like I was justified on the outside, even though deep down inside if there was some true reflection, I felt like nothing. I felt like the worst person in the world,” Cristina sadly states.

The consequence of her life choices hit hard when she was arrested while driving high. “I'm thinking about my son. He was just a baby. And I'm like, 'What am I doing with my life? What kind of mother am I?' Like he doesn’t deserve this.”

She was released on bond but overwhelmed with thoughts of suicide. The next day a coworker invited her to a prayer meeting. Cristina remembers, “He has a Bible open and he starts reading to me out of the book of Jeremiah. And he said, 'This is a matter of life or death.' And so he says, 'Do you want to accept Jesus into your heart?' And I'm like, 'Yes, I'll-I'll accept Jesus into my heart.' And at that very moment, from the top of my head to the tips of my toes, I felt like a filling of peace that I had never experienced in my life. Instantly, the boulders that I had been carrying around for 20-plus years of my life were instantly lifted. I had a revelation instantly, He is the one I've been looking for all of my life. He's the one that I was looking for in all of the wrong places. And He's been here my entire life.” 

She got clean and sober as God radically transformed her life, though she still faced the possibility of time behind bars for possession and driving under the influence. Against her lawyer’s advice, during her arraignment, she spoke to the D.A. She told him, “'I'm not the person that was in that car September 2nd. Jesus Christ has saved me, and I'm deeply sorry for what I've done. The drugs were mine. And I'm so, so sorry.' And he's like, 'You know, we all make mistakes sometimes. Have a great day.'"

To her lawyer’s amazement, all charges were dismissed. Cristina knew God was with her, then and always. 

She smiles and says, “He was here the whole time. He was watching over me when I was homeless on the beach. He was watching over me when I got arrested and went to jail. He was watching over me when I was about to abort my child. He was about – watching over me when I was about to overdose, not once, twice, but many times. I found the hope, that hope wasn't just this idea. Hope was a person. And when I met Him, my entire life changed.”

Cristina’s book, “Hope in 60 Seconds,” shares her journey out of the darkness. She continues to encourage people with her 60 second prayers. Warmly she says, “Sixty seconds might not seem like a lot. Sometimes people think, 'Well, God needs a lifetime to deliver my child, to heal, to do whatever impossible situation it is that somebody may be believing for.' He doesn't need a lifetime. He doesn't even need ten minutes. He doesn't even need 60 seconds. All He needs is a moment of surrender. A moment of an open heart, a yieldedness, where God can come in and have His way through us.”

Today Cristina is thankful for her husband, Ryan, and the chance to raise their son together. Her desire is for everyone to know the goodness of God that saved her. “Jesus delivered my soul,” says Cristina. “He saved my life. He took me from the bottom of the pit and pulled me out. He healed my heart. He healed my body. He healed every part of me that was broken. And I want to live the rest of my days for Him, all of eternity, telling everybody what He's done for me.”
 
 

Born and raised in the Philippines, Jim and Ailyn Tan, have seen first-hand the work CBN is doing there. Ailyn says CBN was, “Showing Jesus' love, not just through words or sermons, but actually in tangible ways to actually ease their suffering and improve their lives.” So, when the couple moved to the U.S. in 2001, they knew CBN was a ministry they wanted to support.  

In addition to tithing at church, the Tans joined the 700 Club, pledging $40 a month. Jim says, “Seeing CBN, helping out people in need. It inspired Ailyn and myself because it's not just a ministry of building churches and spreading the word. It's also a ministry of helping people out.”

The Tans used Ailyn’s salary as a nurse to live on and Jim’s salary was set aside for savings. They always made tithing a priority before paying any bills and increased their giving to CBN over the years. Jim says, “All our resources are from God. We are just stewards of it.”

Then, in 2016, Jim was laid off from his job. With their older daughter, Pia, starting college in two years, the Tans wondered what they should do. Ailyn recalls, “We were really banking on that income for her college expenses. So ‘worried’ was probably an understatement.”

During that time Ailyn says God prompted her to do something unusual with their tithe. She recalls, “I was doing the budgeting one night and of course, silently whining to the Lord, like, ‘Why is this happening?’ And the Lord impressed upon my heart to go up to 11%, and try to increase 1% every year until I tell you to stop.”

Jim says, “It kind of surprised me though, when she said that she was going to increase it. But I trust my wife. She has a good judgment on that.”

So, the Tans increased their giving by 1%. Ailyn says, “There's just blessings that came in, you know, a raise, or I move up a tier in my nursing. I just feel like it was the Lord that carried us through that.”

Jim found temporary work as Ailyn was offered better and better positions. They obeyed God and increased their giving by 1% each year, as well as increasing their CBN Club level over the years. Jim says, “To a normal layman it would be illogical because your income is smaller, but it won't bother you actually, you just be surprised by the blessing that you get afterwards.”

After 7 years, the Lord told them they no longer needed to add 1% to their giving. The Tans saw God provide, in fact, their daughter was able to graduate from UCLA without any student debt. Ailyn says, “I credit that to God's faithfulness. You know, if you just obey, then he's faithful to just see you through.”

Jim was able to take early retirement. As 2500 Club Members, the Tans enjoy seeing the work their gifts are doing around the world, especially in Israel. Jim says, “We strongly support Israel. To be able to channel the resources that have been given to us, back to God. And then also to Israel. We're happy with that, super happy with that.”

Ailyn says, “Seeing CBN Israel reach out to the Jewish people is very important to us, and it makes us happy.”

By trusting God with their finances over the years, Jim and Ailyn have seen God’s blessing over them. Now their younger daughter is headed to college and the Tans have no concerns about paying for her education. Ailyn says, “So unlike the time when Pia left for UCLA, where we’re like, okay, where are we gonna get the money? This time the Lord has provided for us for her tuition already.”

They encourage everyone to step out in faith and see how God will provide. Ailyn says, “For those that are hesitant about giving or worried, I was there, I know how it feels. Just obey and take that leap of faith.”

Jim says, “It may not make sense, but you just have to learn to trust the Lord, and you will be blessed.”