An Angel Of The Lord

 An Angel of the Lord

There are many angels, God has made them all

They have watched and cared for us ever since the Fall,    Matt 18:10, Heb 1:14

And though the Bible mentions them more than three hundred times

Only four are ever named, for their service or their crimes.

Lucifer, who fell from holiness for the sin of pride, 

Will in the final battle have Apollyon by his side,   Isaiah 14:12–18, Revelation 9:11

It is Michael the Archangel who’ll cast them down to earth,   Revelation 12:7-9

And it was Gabriel who brought news of our Messiah’s birth!   Luke 2: 9-12

Angels, God’s messengers, have gifts of untold might,

They can deny the senses, withholding voice and sight,    Lot in Sodom - Genesis 19:11

Or rally to protect in chariots of fire Elisha -   2 Kings 6:18-19

Bringing in God’s blessings or fulfilling His ire.

Now Gabriel, “Mighty Man of God”, is an “Angel of the Lord”, 

It is from him Messiah’s predicted coming we record.

The “rise and fall of empires” to Daniel was proclaimed

And the end of the Babylonian exile was named.   Daniel 8:15-26

To Zechariah in agedness, when the incense burned,  Luke 1:11-18

In the Holy Place as he slowly turned,

It was Gabriel appeared and promised him a son,

But because he doubted he struck the old priest dumb.

To Mary in Nazareth who descends from David’s line  Luke 1: 26-38

Gabriel announced the coming of the Savior of Mankind.

“Hail! richly blessed, most highly favored one,

The Lord is with you and you will bear a son.”

Now, the notion that Gabriel played the trumpet isn’t true

Though from the classic paintings you might that construe

The misconception started by John Wycliffe at a cost   John Wycliffe’s 1382 tract, De Ecclesiæ Dominio

Was echoed by John Milton in his poem “Paradise Lost”.   John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667)

But, I wonder was it Gabriel, told the shepherds on the hill

That the Savior had been born and the prophesy fulfilled?

Was he in that heavenly throng that filled the air with sound

Bringing peace and praising God, spreading glory all around?   Luke 2: 8 -14

Or later was it Gabriel told the Wise Men to retreat,    Matt 2:7-13

Foiling Herod’s wicked plan of murderous deceit?

Did he council Joseph to rise and flee away

To Egypt and save the Son to live another day?

There’s one last thing I wonder if in the final days

Gabriel might come again with face like glowing rays,

As one of seven angels playing trumpets for the Lord

Proclaiming Christ's return and a new earth evermore.   Revelation 10:1-4 , 21:1 

With grateful thanks to Dr Brad Klassen, Dr. Iosif Zhakevich, for their instruction, and Linda Damarjian for the encouragement and opportunity to perform,

Other Christmas poems are available on the book blog : https://neilmcleodbooks.blogspot.com/

The Altanduh Collection

 

The Altandhu Collection is a catalogue of Clan MacLeod related books and documents - a research library. It was published in January 2024.

What started as a few books and Clan Magazines, has become a library of over three hundred books, a growing collection of Clan Magazines, and should ultimately contain, MP3 audio and MP4 Video records of music and talks relating to the Clan MacLeod.  The name Altanduh, (Blackwater) relates to the name of the hamlet where the earliest known progenitor of my family line lived, a small collections of croft cottages on the coast line of Coigeach.  Coigeach is one of the four original MacLeod mainland territories, and sits opposite the Summer Isles, looking out over the Minch to the Long Island.

A printed version is available for $6 on Amazon and a kindle version is available for $2

Why Dentistry

 

Dr McLeod's "Why Dentistry"

Written for students persuing Pre-Dentistry at The Master's University or other colleges, Dr. McLeod's "Why Dentistry" covers dental specialties, shadowing, dental education, a changing profession, an overview of famous dentists and great medical discoveries, as well as an early history of dentistry and more.

The Witnesses

 

Image from Jake Jacobson's article https://skillmanchurch.org/uncategorized/simeon-and-anna/

Here is a new Christmas poem:

The Witnesses

 Luke -2: 25-39, Hebrews 12:1

There are many Advent stories told at Christmastide,

Of shepherds and the Wise Men, of Joseph and his bride,

There’s the baby in the manger and the angels in the sky

And the great star gleaming brightly hanging there on high.

They each provide a glimpse into what the answer is

To the most important question, “What Child is this?”

All of them attempt to catch the message of the season

And that is what compels us now and you shall know the reason.

For stories to be true they must have validation,

The evidence of two or three will give legitimation.

Together they make up what we could call the Christmas Lore

And here is a perspective that you mayn’t have seen before.

When Rome was in ascendancy and Athens in decline

Scribes still translated into Greek, the custom of the time,

Theirs was the word of culture of subtlety of phrase

And seventy men made transcriptions of Scripture in those days.

Five of those transcribers bore the name of Simeon

They wrote on vellum producing what is called the Septuagint.

They transcribed the Hebrew Bible, complete and faithfully,

A version of the Tanakh for the Alexandrian Library.

In Luke we read about a most devout and holy man

Who was very old, named Simeon, living in Jerusalem,

He’d been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die

’Till he had seen the Lord’s Messiah, and here’s the question - “Why?”

All we know is in the gospel and that must be our position

As we search for an answer, the rest is supposition.

Had he been working in Isaiah, it was speculated?

And on reading of the virgin birth his thinking was conflicted?

Simeon was then a young man filled with exegetical fire

And making the most accurate transcription his desire.

Did he falter when he read the line about the virgin birth?

And pausing asked himself the question, “How on Earth?”

Some even say that it was then he took a velum knife

And about to shave the word away that caused him to feel strife,

When an angel then appeared to him and made him still his hand

And promised complete fulfilment and consolation to the land.

But that was many years before, now Simeon was old,

He waited for the virgin birth of Messiah as was foretold.

He knew the Jewish tradition that every first born son

Must be brought to Temple for the rituals to be done.

Perhaps he heard about the shepherds and message they proclaimed,

And of Zechariah being struck dumb until his son was named,

Sifting through the snippets he assessed the information,

Knowing that parents must bring their son for purification.

Guided by the Holy Spirit he approached the Temple Court

And there he looked into the eyes of the great I Am he sought.

Smiling he took Him in his arms, he begged for “Peace to die...”

“I have seen Your salvation!” he began to prophesy.

“Lord, I see the Salvation that you now prepare,

A light to all the nations for people everywhere.

This babe will cause the rise and fall of many in the land

And many will oppose Him, just as you have planned.”

Mary and Joseph were astonished by what was being said   

It caused them both to wonder, it caused then both to dread,

Turning to Mary, Simeon continued in this role,

“The thoughts of many will be revealed, and a sword will pierce your soul.”

Then upon the scene appeared another respected  soul,

It was the widow Anna who was eighty three years old,

She was considered a prophetess and seeing Jesus she smiled,

And giving thanks to God told everyone about this Child.

Simeon confirmed that there was a virgin birth,

Anna confirmed redemption for Jerusalem and the earth,

Mary was His mother who had not known a man,

And Joseph was a witness from the moment it began.

So the result of these meanderings which we have contemplated

Is the fulfilment of prophesy for which Simeon had waited,

From the evidence which he and Anna gave us we acquire

The confirmation that the babe they blessed was our Messiah.

Now we join the “cloud of witnesses” who have seen the light,

Looking for His Second Coming, walking by faith not sight,

Like Simeon we are waiting, we are waiting for Christ’s return

To see Him come in Glory, it is for this we yearn!

Amen

Now in the third edition of Christmas Poems on Amazon

A Blog spot just for my books

 

Here is a new venture.  I am constantly being approached by sales representative of so called publishing companies who offer to take my money to help me sell my books.  It is very frustrating. The first thing they ask is "Have you got a website for your books?", the answer to which is, I was sold a bill of goods and it was taken down because they wanted more money annually to keep it going.

So I have opened up a new blog called neilmcleodbooks.blogspot.com. please visit it and make comments

All for the Glory

Neil

 I strongly recommend this book.  It makes the case clearly that our society is corrupting at a remarkable rate and that the primary victims are our children.

The Publishers have written the following:

This world has declared war on our children. Every day, on a multitude of battlefronts, Satan is deploying weapons of mass corruption against our children. Modern culture has been systematically designed with an agenda that is aggressively anti-God, anti-Christ, and anti-Scripture, intended to corrupt and consume young, impressionable hearts and minds. As God’s people, we need to teach our children God’s Word; train them in righteousness; and above all, give them our extravagant love.

About the Author:

John MacArthur is pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, California, Chancellor of The Master’s University and Seminary, teacher and voice heard globally through his media ministry Grace to You, and author of numerous best-selling books, including his New Testament commentary series and The MacArthur Study Bible. He has spent over 50 years preaching through every verse of the New Testament and much of the Old Testament while being a featured speaker at conferences around the world. John and his wife Patricia have been married for over sixty years and have four children, fifteen grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

The Seventh Slam - A new collection of poems

 In November of 2023 eighteen young poets, students at The Masters University, took part in the seventh annual Charles Miller poetry slam. The evening was hosted at the Powell Library and the master of ceremonies was Bob Dickson. As curator I collected the nearly fifty submitted poems in this anthology, which cover a broad range of topics and will serve as an encouragement to other budding authors.

The book is available on Amazon here: The Seventh Slam

It will be interesting to see what these young poets accomplish in the years ahead!